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Armin Arlert x Reader
Synopsis: Armin and reader build their home together after the war, inspired by another Lana song <3
Tags: armin arlert x reader, post-canon, post final season/ch 139, cottagecore armin x reader, alluding to death, shameless fluff, fem!reader if you squint?
enjoy <3
You dip the paintbrush once more into the pail in order to scrape the bottom. Dribbling down from the bristles to the handle, the perfect sage color rolls onto your fingers. You had begged Armin to let you buy the paint for the shutters the second you spotted it.
Who would’ve associated picking a color of paint to luxury? Growing up within the walls, you both lacked knowledge that the outside world had possessed for so long. Your three years of freedom had been jarring, and often times heartbreaking; but it allowed choice. So, if you wanted green shutters, green shutters it was.
“How’re the finishing touches coming?” Armin called out, approaching the patch of grass in which you were seated.
Rolling up his sleeves, his face glistened in the heat. A tinge of sunburn creeping across his nose. Despite his role as a commander, Armin was never viewed as one of the athletically inclined soldiers during your shared days in the war. However, your husband was fairing surprisingly well building your shared house. Maybe the years of training weren’t totally useless?
“Just trying to use up the last of this paint,” you state, smiling up at him, “I’m on my last coat.”
“The sooner you get done, the sooner we can hang it up and go inside,” he returned your smile and inhaled sharply, wiping his sweaty hands on his slacks before kneeling down to your level.
“That paint is all over you…” Armin noticed, pointing at your green hands. The drops of paint that had made their way onto your clothes throughout the day.
“I know, but I’m already covered in it, it’s a lost cause,” you chuckle, holding up your palms to show him.
“You can’t track paint in the house on our first day in it,” he teased, running a hand through his sunlit hair, which had grown out to falling in front of his eyes; the length you love it at. He looks good. A little too good.
Acting on pure impulse, you swipe a paint-covered finger onto his cheek.
“Hey!” He laughs and brings his hand to his face to assess the damage.
“Now we’ll track paint in together,” you grin, pulling him in for a kiss.
Armin reciprocates, of course, softly smiling as he brushes a strand of hair behind your ear.
“I still can’t believe we have a house,” he whispers, seemingly dazed.
“Me neither,” you reply, voice hushed as you take his hands in yours, fingers intertwining.
Three years after your world was ripped apart, and who knew rebuilding it would feel almost as scary. Three solid years of time at sea, fulfilling commander duties and working as ambassadors. It was about time you and Armin made the decision to finally settle and put roots down somewhere.
You both had wanted a cottage, as long as Armin could stay close to the coast. You obliged, agreeing as long as you weren’t too far from your shared bookshop…and as long as it had green shutters.
And it was finally in front of you.
****
A few minutes of silence passed, the two of you in awe of the open front door looming before you. Once you walked in, it would be official; you two would finally have a home. How foreign it felt to finally belong somewhere.
“We’re doing this for everyone,” you break the silence with a choke of tears, rubbing your thumb over Armin’s hand in yours. Even in moments like this, insurmountable guilt and grief will always follow.
Armin met your glance with glassy eyes, gripping your hand tightly.
“….y’know, I think he would’ve loved it,” Armin added, sniffling.
“He would’ve hated the shutters,” you wipe your eyes.
“He absolutely would’ve,” Armin agreed with a tearful laugh, wrapping you in a hug.
****
I'm doing it for all of us who never got the chance
For…and for…
And all my birds of paradise
Who never got to fly at night
'Cause they were caught up in the dance
Sometimes it feels like I've got a war in my mind
I wanna get off, but I keep riding the ride
I never really noticed that I had to decide
To play someone's game, or live my own life
And now I do
I wanna move
Out of the black
Into the blue
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