There is a lot of things he wants in life, he admits to that: Eren and Mikasa to be happy, all of them surviving this hell, Eren and Mikasa admitting their feelings for each other, seeing the ocean with his longest friends (family), sealing up the hole in Wall Maria, all of them surviving this hell, finding out the mysteries that Dr. Jaeger had in the basement of his best friend's home, and seeing his friends make it out of this hell alive.

Did he mention that he wanted all of them to survive this hell?

A disgruntled sigh leaves him as he leans back against his chair, shoulders slumping. There's too many things going on, is the thought that spins around inside his mind as he goes about the days after the coronation of the new monarch of the Walls. Sure, with a new leader things are starting to turn around for the better these days, but there's still so much that they don't know about.

Groaning, he raises a hand and palms his face, willing his active mind to slow down for once. It's one of his rare days off, one that he was planning on using to take a rest, but it looks like that's not going to happen. Not with how he keeps turning things over and over in his mind without him meaning to.

"Oh?"

The soft, surprised voice from the doorway startles him and Armin straightens in his seat and cranes his neck to see who it was. Dark blue meets sky blue and he blinks a few times to register that, at the doorway, is Historia, equally as surprised to see him as he is to see her. He takes note that she's in her white robes, the same ones she wore during her coronation and briefly entertains the thought of why she's wearing them again, but pushes it to the side. If he doesn't know, then it's not his business.

"What are you doing here," Historia asks, steps into the room after taking a quick look around.

He blinks and looks around himself. He's honestly not sure where he is, just that he had finished some business with the scientists, ran into Hanji and Moblit, gave them his report, and just sped out of the room before Hanji could drag him back into the room that he left. (He didn't miss the understanding look on Moblit's face.) He promptly then dumped himself into the nearest door that was open and has sat here for the better part of two hours trying to collect his thoughts and the fact that he hasn't had a good rest in over three weeks.

Now that he's not reeling from everything, he takes a proper survey of the area and quickly realizes exactly what this room is after spotting the red cape and crown that sits by the corner of the wall. Yelping, he shoots to his feet and raises his hands in front of him as he turns his attention back on Historia, who stands directly in front of him, puzzled.

"Sorry, I was just, er… Actually, I was just, uh, leaving!" A nervous laugh escapes him as he tries to slip past the Queen, only to stop when she steps in his way, a calculating look crossing her features as she looks him up and down. Which does nothing with his frayed nerves as he shifts under her critical stare.

"...It definitely didn't look like you were leaving when I walked in," she says after a moment and he forces himself to not grimace at having been caught. If there's one thing about Historia that he didn't expect from (and is still getting used to) it was the no nonsense attitude she has. Combined that with her no-tolerance to bullshit and there's no way he can crawl out of this one. (He has to ignore the small part of himself that keeps telling him that the way she acts is so vaguely similar to Ymir—that is a book he refuses to open and has left closed, locked, and buried somewhere that he hopes he'll never find ever again.)

"Uhm…" He really can't find any way of escaping this situation he's gotten himself into. Embarrassed, he averts his gaze away from the shorter blonde and hopes that she'll show some mercy on him.

"Armin," —he stiffens at the tone in her voice— "when was the last time you actually slept?"

"Four—huh?" Thoroughly confused, he turns back and blinks down at the girl, sees the concern that has settled on her features. He blinks, feels more unsure of himself than when this conversation started. "Uhm, what?"

Her eyes narrow. "When was the last time you actually slept?" There's a harshness in her tone that signals to Armin that if he says the wrong thing, she definitely will not show him any mercy.

"Er… Four…days…ago?" As he slowly tries to recount the last time he's closed his eyes for more than three minutes, he shrinks further and further away from the shorter blonde upon noticing her stormy expression.

"You don't even remember the last time you rested?"

His eyes dart around her form, tries to hurriedly find a way out, but he quickly looks back when he notices how close she is to him; he can feel her body heat and having those light blue eyes of hers glare him down is starting to mess with his nerves.

"Uhm, n-no, that's, uh…" Figure something out, Arlert!

"Armin Arlert, are you trying to find some way of talking yourself out of sleeping?"

Caught and sweating nervously, he looks back and shrinks even further away from Historia upon seeing the glare she sends him. He always marveled at how strong she is during their cadet days, which translates very well to now, and why he's so anxious about how he speaks to her. He knows very well that she can kick his ass.

"...No?"

A deep sigh leaves her and he watches as she visibly sags with exasperation. Now, he feels bad and quickly tries to scramble for an apology before he starts when she grabs his hands with her own and begins to pull him to another part of the room that he neglected to take into account during his first observations. Namely, the bed that rests in the corner. Which causes him to panic.

"W-wa-wait…!" He tries to tug his hands free, but it seems Historia knows him well enough for her grip on him is tight enough not to be hurtful, but restricting. "Historia, wait!"

"No–you're running yourself ragged." Her tone is sharp and tense. She's obviously not happy with him, but he really doesn't think it'd be acceptable for a soldier of his status (no matter if he is her friend) to be in the Queen's personal quarters. "You're resting before I have to talk with Commander Ewrin."

"Ah, that's…!" He did not expect her to bring the Commander into this—he expected her to bring Captain Levi, or even Hanji, not the Commander. "It's not his fault!"

She whirls on him immediately and he flinches back at her glare. "So, you admit that you've been doing this yourself." It's not a question, even though it's supposed to be.

He hesitates for a second, but it's a second too long and it pretty much confirms everything that she's said so far.

With a huff, she continues pulling him towards the bed, grumbling all the while and he wonders whether he can sneak his way out of here without her realizing as he takes a more alert survey of the room. It's only when he almost bumps into her that he turns his attention back on her and notices how close they are to the bed. He can fall forward and land face first into the mattress. Swallowing, nervous and embarrassed, he glances at the shorter blonde to see what it is she wants him to do. The expectant look she gives him has him chuckling slowly as he turns his attention back onto the mattress.

"Uhm, you know, now that I think about it, there is something I need to—urk…!"

Armin can't even finish the sentence as he's pushed onto the bed. He bounces lightly and scrambles to get himself up, only to grunt in surprise and pain when weight slams itself on top of him. He looks behind him and spots Historia casually laying on him, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck as she buries her face in between his shoulder blades.

"H-Historia…?" he asks, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment, as well as the very close proximity the two of them have with each other. Considering he's currently wearing his civilian clothes and she's wearing her robes, he can feel every curve of her body.

…Every. Curve.

Walls, help me!

"You were thinking of sneaking out of here, anyway, weren't you," she responds to his question, voice muffled into his clothes. He stiffens at that, shocked that she's figured him out so quickly. "Sometimes it's hard to read you, but you're not acting like how you usually are—it's too easy to see how tired and out of it you are, Armin."

Groaning, he finally gives up and slams his face against the covers. "...There's so much that needs to be done," he finally admits to her, raises his head as he speaks to stare dully at the window, which is covered by the curtains. "There's no time to rest."

A sigh comes out of the tiny Queen, one that he feels he should apologize for bringing out of her. "I know." It's a quiet admission, one that he wasn't expecting, but because she speaks into his form it's possible for him to hear her soft murmurings. "There's a lot of things that need to be done, you're right. However, that doesn't mean you need to push yourself to the point of exhaustion."

"I—"

"Don't you dare try and defend yourself over your bad habits, Arlert." Her arms tightening around his neck is another warning if her words didn't do their job.

He takes it for what it is and sighs. "...Sorry."

"Apologize to me by taking this time to rest for the entire day. And," she continues just as he opens his mouth to speak, "if you have anything going on, then they can be put on hold or handed off to someone else."

He shifts under her, ignores the heat on his face at how her body moves slightly with his own as he tries to get comfortable with his new position and her weight on him. "What if they ask for me?" he asks her, voice shaky and exasperated because he figures he can correctly guess what her response is going to be.

"I'll tell them to screw off and figure it out themselves." Historia's reply is quick and sharp and the deadpanned way she says it causes him to chuckle. She huffs into this shirt. "Honestly, it sounds like they have no idea how to function without you there. Maybe I should have a talk with the Commander over the other Scouts incompetence."

"It's not his fault—it comes with the new ranks, I suppose."

"'Comes with the new ranks' my ass. If they come knocking and ask for you, I will personally have them scrub the castle from top to bottom."

This brings a laugh out of him, one he wasn't expecting. From the way her arms tighten around him, she probably wasn't expecting it either. "I think the Captain will approve of that punishment too much." His lips quirk into a smile as he shifts to lock eyes with her once he feels her shift on top of him. Dark blue clashes with light blue and he feels something constrict inside him at the softened expression on her features. Her lips curl into a smile, as well, then quirks into a devious grin.

"You think the Captain would like to oversee the cleaning?" she asks innocently, yet the mischief tells him another story.

He chuckles. "The Captain wouldn't even need to be asked to oversee—he'll be there as soon as you tell him 'they're cleaning the castle as punishment.'"

A giggle leaves her, her eyes bright with humor and he feels his form relaxing almost immediately upon how happy she looks. Sure, there's still the burden of being Queen of the Walls, but she definitely seems happier and lighter than when she played off as "Christa Lenz."

The atmosphere is different and he'll take that, twists his head back around to lay his cheek against the covers of the bed as he sighs in content. Maybe Historia is right, maybe he needs to just ignore everything for a day and have it to himself.

"Hey, Armin." Historia calls out to him softly, gently.

He hums sleepily in response, his eyes closing.

"We need a different position before you fall asleep."

Armin forces his eyes open and he grunts his acknowledgement, vision blurry as he had just almost drifted off. When he feels her shift herself off him, he lazily moves himself to rest on his back, head plopping against the pillows. He blinks at Historia, sees the small smile on her lips as she pushes a strand of hair behind her ear, and quickly makes a hasty decision based on how tired he is and how pushy she's been. He lifts himself up halfway and reaches for her, arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her flush against his chest as he slams himself back down against the bed.

"Armin!" she cries out in shock, a small bout of laughter leaving her.

He grunts and tightens his hug around her, rests his chin on top of her head as she nuzzles her face against his collarbone. "Soft," he mumbles, mind hazy with only the thought of sleep.

"Oh? Am I a pillow to you now?"

"Mmm… No—too warm." He buries his face against the top of head, eyes closing as he inhales her scent softly, feels whatever remaining tension leave him immediately. "Like you better."

His hazy mind doesn't register the way she freezes in his arms, instead, he shifts her a bit so she can properly rest on top of him as his arms wrap loosely around her waist. He's almost fallen asleep when he feels a hand softly run through his hair, feels the gentle press of nails scratch as Historia pets him. He's not sure what sound he made, but it definitely would be very embarrassing for him if he was fully conscious to hear it. Before he finally succumbs to the much needed rest his body desires, he swears he hears a whispered voice gently speak to him.

"There's not a lot of things I want in life, but you taking care of yourself like how you do for all of us would be high on my list."