The lockers beside Armin clatter loudly, and he looks over to see his best friend intensely staring at him. He gets a little nervous under the gaze, as it's a realization that he's going to have to lie to him yet again. For quite some time.
Oh dear.
"How was your date with Erwin?" Eren's bitterness is far from subtle.
Armin sighs. "Don't call it that, Eren. You know I'm not attracted to men. And that I'm not going to try and steal someone else's partner."
Eren groans. "Please don't remind me of that."
"You're the one who always complains about it. I wouldn't have even known Levi's with Erwin if not for you talking about it nonstop."
Large green eyes move from Armin's face to over his shoulder, and they harden. "Speak of the fucking devil."
Armin turns and sees Erwin walking down the hallway with an arm draped around Levi's shoulders. The shorter male seems a little irritated by the touch, but makes no effort to stop it. So far, this is playing out exactly as Erwin said it would. And judging by the way Eren's body tenses, and because Armin has known Eren for-basically-ever, he's positive the older blond's theories are going to continue to be true.
Neither of their upperclassmen pay them any mind, but the way Erwin glances down at Levi with a glimmer of interest in his eyes tells Armin that he knows they're there.
Eren growls and Armin looks back over at him.
"That guy really pisses me off."
"Because he's with Levi? Is that the only reason?"
"Of course that's not the only reason. He's arrogant. He thinks that just because he's smart and talented and hot that he's better than everyone else. He walks around with this holier-than-thou aura and it's annoying because he's not. He's an asshole."
Armin decides that he shouldn't tell Eren that he acts that way as well. Jean does it for him as he's passing by. He and Marco have to physically hold back the two hot-heads so that they don't tear each other's throats out.
This is going swimmingly.
He's walking down the hallway with Eren and Mikasa as they go to their art course, which is the only class the three of them share together. It's not uncommon to see Levi walking this route, usually with soccer team captain Gunther Schultz or fellow football player and debator Mike Zacharias if not alone. However, today he's accompanied by his "boyfriend." They aren't touching, but just the sight of Erwin gets the brunette standing to Armin's right fuming with petty anger.
"I can't fucking believe it," Eren grumbles, glaring holes into Erwin's seemingly oblivious approaching frame. "Now he's ruining my transitions between classes? It's like he's out to get me, I swear."
Armin feels Mikasa roll her eyes.
Levi and Erwin are engaged in a conversation, though they aren't looking at each other. Erwin is looking down at the open notebook in his right hand, and Levi is impassively staring straight ahead. The blond's left arm moves and Erwin puts a hand on the middle of Levi's back. A "What the fuck?" is clearly asked, but Erwin doesn't seem to address the question.
Armin glances over at Eren. As figured, he looks extremely pissed off. Mikasa rests a pale hand on his leather-covered arm, which seems to make the tanned male relax a little. The two "lovebirds" are even closer when Armin looks back in their direction.
Icy grey eyes briefly look over at the trio and Levi gives Mikasa's shoulder a small squeeze as he and Erwin walk past. The two siblings pretend to hate each other and have some sort of odd rivalry going on, but they're always looking out for each other - especially Levi for Mikasa, even though she doesn't really need it; they really make a great team. Sometimes seeing their chemistry makes Armin wish he wasn't an only child. He usually rethinks that when he visits their house and hears their constant silly arguments.
In fact, Armin is pretty sure that Levi's tenderness when it comes to Mikasa - in combination with his smarts, skills, good looks, and cold, dark, and mysterious personality - is what initially spurred Eren's huge crush on the guy. The slight contrast between at-home Levi and at-school Levi is one of the first things Eren started talking about at the beginning of his infatuation, as well as how nice his skin is (that one was definitely the weirdest at the time; yes, some of Eren's babblings have been even weirder).
"Armin," Eren's voice causes the blond to look up from his book. "I need you to be there at practice today to keep me sane and make sure I don't kill anyone."
"I have a feeling Mikasa put you up to this."
Eren sighs. "Yeah. She told me to say those words exactly. It'd be cool to have you there, though. We could grab some burgers afterwards or something."
Armin nods. "Sounds good."
He's sure Erwin has things planned for practice. No one on the team knows how to calm Eren down, so it'll be good Armin will be there to monitor his behavior. The only problem is that Coach doesn't allow him in the locker room. Hopefully Erwin won't make any fake advances without Armin around, because Eren certainly isn't able to contain his anger himself.