ice cream and glares

Characters: Annie Leonhardt, Armin Arlert

Summary: And suddenly, she seemed human.

They had had a rough start. She was intelligent enough to pass all her exams, however, in regular tests, she simply did not even try and gave lazy, half-assed answers. The teachers only tolerated this so long and one nice day, they had decided that to make her a little more motivated in academics, she needed a tutor.

And by tutor, they meant everyone's darling, super class president – Armin Arlert who was not only a brilliant leader and managed to plan every little school event, he was also academically brilliant. It was not like Annie hated the boy. She appreciated his genius just as much as any other student, if only because with him in class there was always someone who could answer the trickier questions so they never became homework. Also, the boy's mind was deep and tricky for someone who had such a sunny smile – this was at least something Reiner always said.

In short, Annie liked Armin. And while this was not necessarily a bad thing, it still might lead to uncomfortable situations, especially since her sworn enemy – even though it was probably a rather one-sided and childish rivalry since Annie had really no interest at all in Eren Yaeger – was Mikasa Ackermann who was one of Armin's best friends, along with the aforementioned Eren Yaeger. However, because Armin was funny and could make her laugh and smile even though she had not done this in years, Annie found herself putting up with both Mikasa and Eren appearing all of a sudden when she was over at Armin's place for yet another study session.

She did not know why but she felt like they were doing it on purpose, like they did not trust her around Armin at all – which was actually kinda cute.

However, for this reason, she halfway expected them to be there when she entered the café where she was supposed her tutor. It was only a week or two until the final exams and while she was generally always scoring there – her father would kill her otherwise – she felt like her preparation this time around was even better. But, oh shock, neither Mikasa nor Eren were in sight as she slid onto the chair.

"Hey," she greeted as she grabbed the menu.

"Hello," Armin replied, friendly and sunny as always, as he hurried to pocket the flyers he had been reading. And yet, one gets caught in Annie's hand.

"You want to travel?" she asked after scanning it for a moment.

He nodded hesitantly. "I want to travel across the sea," he said. "I … I want to see the world."

She was silent for a moment. "That sounds … nice," she admitted. "Uh, can I take a look at this?"

He hesitated only for a second before he pushed over the stack of flyers that told stories of places she had never been to, places that seemed exotic and fascinating. "What are you doing when it's all over?" he asked. "School, I mean."

She froze. "Nowhere, I guess," she admitted. "But it looks interesting. Those places, I mean. I guess Yaeger and Ackermann will go with you?"

"Eren wanted, he even got the ticket for himself and wanted to buy one for Mikasa … but now that his mom is so ill, he will rather stay home," Armin said with a sad shrug. "Hey, if you want to, you can come with me."

"Come with you where?"

If Reiner's timing had been bad a week before when he had caught Annie looking after Armin with a confused expression on her face, it had become even worse now.

"Armin and I were talking about where he wants to go after the graduation exams," she replied, gaze hard and cold. "And because Eren and Mikasa won't join him and a ticket may go to waste, he asked me whether I'd like to go with him."

"…and you are seriously considering it?" the burly teenager asked.

Annie was silent for a moment. "He made the offer seconds before you suddenly appeared, Reiner," she said harshly. "I will consider his offer. Now leave, I want to enjoy my ice cream and my conversation and you – are – in – the – way."

Her foster brother was highly aware of her temper and made sure to get away, leaving Armin and Annie in this uncomfortable silence they both loathed so um.

"Yes," the girl said a little too loud, too harshly. "Why did we meet here instead of at your place?"

"I though a change of scenery would be nice," he replied. "Also, I had the impression that you were not all that fond of Mikasa's and Eren's, uh, control visits. They meant well, I think."

"This looks awfully much like a date to me," she stated calmly and was surprised by herself. She did not go on dates. It was a waste of time. Dressing up in uncomfortable clothes, spending too much money on food and/or cinema. Also, she did not like Armin that way, did she? However, if this was what dating Armin Arlert would be like, she seriously wondered why he did not have tons of girls after him – a thought that slightly upset her for some reason.

"Mikasa told me that everyone likes ice cream and since my duty as your tutor has officially expired yesterday, I thought it would be nice to go somewhere else for the, well, last meeting," he explained as the tips of his ears grew crimson.

"If you don't mind," she said slowly, "I think that date sounds nicer than last-meeting-of-two-people-who-have-never-spoken-b efore-one-was-assigned-as-the-tutor-of-the-other. And it's shorter, too."

He then laughed and so did she and that moment, she decided that going with Armin on a journey was something she could and would do.

Because after all, Annie Leonhardt was a human being as well.