Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/1699676. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Underage Category: F/M Fandom: Shingeki_no_Kyojin_|_Attack_on_Titan Relationship: Armin_Arlert/Reader Character: Armin_Arlert Additional Tags: Smut, Lemon Stats: Published: 2014-05-27 Words: 2739 ****** Overdue ****** by Falconette Summary Sometimes the past is not best left buried Notes See the end of the work for notes OVERDUE The long ride had exhausted you more than you were willing to admit. Paired up with Armin, your task was to sweep the perimeter between your base and the furthest secured post to make sure the route was still passable. It was a chore that took most of a day, but unexpected problems with Armin’s horse made you lose valuable hours on your way back, so when you decided it was too perilous to drive the animals further in ever thicker dusk, your base was still nowhere in sight. “Do we walk back?” you dismounted beside Armin who was checking the rear left leg of his horse, assessing the damage. It was the hoof that had lost its horseshoe during the ride and was causing the delay. “They will be worried.” “I don’t think we have covered even half of the distance.” he looked around, taking in the surroundings for orientation. “And I don’t want to risk horses stumbling in darkness and breaking their legs.” He was right; the animals were far too valuable to risk a blind trek across uneven terrain. You must have given him a stranded look because he reassuringly patted the saddlebags on his horse’s flank. “We will just stay put for the night, like we used to do during our training, remember? I have sleeping bags right here and there is plenty of dry wood around. Do you think you could build a camp fire?” “Of course.” you masked your insecurity with a defiant tone, reluctant to remember your days of training. You had a crush on Armin then, you recalled too well for comfort, and if he had missed the cues, he must have had it figured out the day you tried to kiss him in the forest. It was a clumsy and harmless attempt, no more than a peck on a cheek, but you could still vividly remember his wide eyed shock followed by stuttered apologies and his hastened departure. You never mentioned it again, but you made sure you were never deployed in the same unit with him afterwards. Looking at his good-humored gaze now, you could sense no trace of mocking or taunting. That was ages ago, he probably forgot all about it, he must have.   You cleared out a small circle on the ground and gathered a heap of dry twigs in its centre, kindling fire with flints. In the meantime, Armin had secured the horses, spread the improvised shakedowns and was intently watching you create sparks from the stone, making the fire dance. In growing thickness of the night, it was a welcoming sight. After you stood up and made sure the flames wouldn’t go out, you couldn’t help noticing that both beddings were on the same side of the camp fire. You were about to comment on that, but Armin handed you a ratio of dried meat, bread and fruit for a light but invigorating supper. “Eat up. We will need the energy for tomorrow.” he beamed a smile at you and once again you felt a painful stir of something you thought you had buried deep. So you put the dried meat in your mouth and started mechanically chewing, listening to him plan your tomorrow’s route. He was not the timid, weak boy that entered the training program with you, but since you knew him well, you knew where to look to find the old Armin beneath the confident surface. He still had the brightest and the most intelligent gaze you have ever seen; only, recently you have often caught a glimmer of cunning and soldier’s ruthlessness in his eyes. It was what he was trained for, you knew, you must have changed yourself; the survivors change, the ones who don’t die. That was the price of your lives. Half covered with your blanket and well fed, facing the fire which gently caressed your skin with its warm fingers, you started to doze off while listening to Armin’s strategic breakdown of some old training scenario in the forest. “Reiner’s platoon had the same number of points, but they were stuck in the part of the woods that had already been cleaned out so they had to lose valuable time just to find the enemy. Meanwhile, we were lying in an ambush waiting for the enemy to come to us, so we could pick them off, one by one. Simple and clean. It was just a matter of time.” his voice was becoming more distant, your eyelids heavier until you couldn’t keep them open anymore. “However, I failed at that particular time. Not because the enemy bested me, but because I let the fear paralyze me.” “You know,” Armin’s voice was very close behind you now, soft and deliberately slow, “I never could find it in me to forgive myself for not kissing you back that day. It’s been haunting me ever since.” Your eyes flew open but you dared not move, not even when you felt Armin’s face snuggle up against the nape of your neck. Something gently tugged at your cloak and an unexpected, soft kiss smoldered the skin where your neck met your shoulder. “Will you let me right that injustice?” he quietly pleaded in your ear, making your skin prickle with unfamiliar sensation. “That was a long time ago, Armin”, you squeezed through your teeth. “I was an idiot. And have been ever since for waiting so long.” his tone was stern, matching the glints you have been seeing in his eyes of late. Man’s eyes, man’s words. “Let me make it up to you.” As if confirming his intentions, his hand slid across your shoulder and turned your body towards him, your face to his. After meeting your eyes, his resolve melted, “Now I see how brave you have to be to kiss somebody first.” He smiled wanly, a painful tinge twisting his lips. “Brave or stupid?” you asked, hearing your voice tremble despite your will. The things buried deep were buried for a reason and dragging them outside meant the shell they were in had to break, disclosing other, painful memories. “Without a doubt, brave” Armin whispered with a serious and gentle expression, brushed stray locks of hair off your face and leaned in to meet your lips with his. The long overdue kiss made you forget the hardness of your makeshift bed and the harshness of the elements you were exposed to, the shame and the rejection you had to swallow along with the longing and the broken heart. Unwanted, tears spilled down your cheeks and Armin scooped them with his lips, all the while murmuring “I am sorry, forgive me.” He kissed you in silence, carefully and tenderly, taking his time, like he wanted to make up for all the passed up opportunities and time wasted, studying every little feature of your face, neck and hands. You reached up, let your fingers entwine and Armin smiled at you as his grip tightened. He brought your hand to his mouth without taking his eyes off you. Lips that brushed across your fingers were soft and investigative, sending tingles of pleasure up and down your spine, making you feel more alive than ever. Looking you directly in the eye, he let his tongue continue where his lips had left off and this woke up a world of new, thrilling sensations in your body that made you aware of the hollow, longing ache in your lower belly. You shifted your legs, trying to alleviate the growing discomfort and his sharp eye must have taken note, like you hoped it would. His fingers tenderly worked their way down your stomach and between your legs as you suppressed shudders of ticklish embarrassment. When his fingertips gently nudged to make their way to the center of your moistness, your thighs instinctively clenched together. Armin’s breath was hot in your ear, sweet and persuasive, “Let it happen.” You relaxed just enough for him to slip in your softness, blindly feeling his way deeper and massaging  sensitive spots you didn’t even know you had. You closed your eyes and bit your lower lip, concentrating on his touches. The delicate fingers worked their magic, making waves of pleasure within you ebb and flow at their command, like a harp your body squirmed and writhed beneath them. You could hear his breath becoming ragged and hastened so you opened your eyes to see his face, just inches from yours, slick with sweat, bathed in remains of smoldering wood. The ruddy light reflected in his fair, attentive orbs gave him a fiery gaze that was hungrily fixed on your half-parted lips. When your eyes met, he could hold back no longer. Leaning in to kiss you, his long locks pleasantly tickled your cheeks. Your instinctively hand moved to your face to brush them away. “Your hair is so soft.” you stated the obvious, in loss of more suitable words. “It bothers you?” Armin’s voice was careful and quiet, his lips reluctant, his fingers hesitant again. From the tone it was clear he wasn’t talking just about his hair on your face. “How could it?” you gave him a shadow of a smile, gently but firmly grabbed a fistful of flowing golden locks and pulled him closer. Your lips met again, the desire in them now open and unhindered. Armin closed his eyes and let his other senses take you in, feeling you underneath his tongue, his fingertips, his skin, noting by slight change in your pulse or your soft moans where to touch and how to titillate you to bring you closer and closer. Your hands cupped his face, the fine hair on his jaw only starting to resemble stubble, and slid them down his neck to his collarbone, then around his shoulders, back and ribcage. He was slight but the muscles there were tense and firm like deftly spun wires, a fact that he hid underneath layers of clothing. Your fingers undid buttons of his shirt, exposing pale chest and skin, immaculate and milky in the moonlight, reddish where glowing remains of campfire licked across their ripples. Every muscle, every bone, every joint was finely chiseled and in harmony with the whole, perfectly befitting his slender frame. Your fingertips fervently glided down the smoothness of his torso to his navel and up again, thrilled by the unexpected finding, drawing an incredulous look from him. “It bothers you?” you taunted, partially to get the focus off the increased wetness his fingers stirred in your body, and he hastily shook his head, kissing you on the brow. “You can touch all you want.” he breathed in your ear, nibbling on it. “I never knew somebody’s touch could feel so good.” “S-same here.” you replied nervously, shifting to a more comfortable position which brought him right on top of you. “You know,” you began hesitantly, “I am not sure what am I supposed to…” He looked at you from above, his long, heavy hair framing his face like a waterfall, asking tentatively, “Do you want me to stop?” “No.” you said, a little too hastily and bit your lip in embarrassment. Armin noticed your uneasiness and swept it away with a long kiss. “Does it feel good?” he asked with lips barely touching yours, his hot breath warming your face in the chilly night. You nodded, pulling yourself closer and sliding your tongue between his teeth. “Then let me make you feel even better.” Your thigh shifted between his legs and he gasped under the unexpected touch. You could feel his hardness rubbing against the length of your muscle, making him catch his breath every time you pressed at it. ”What about this?” you asked, already going for his crotch. “I was going to wait until you fell asleep….” even in waning firelight you could see his pale cheeks violently blush. “I am sick of waiting.” you retorted bluntly and got his penis out of his pants before he could so much as protest. It was hot and sturdy in your hands, pulsating like a separate living being with every beat of Armin’s pounding heart. You tugged at it and he gasped loudly in the silence of night, surprising you with intensity of his emotion. It took only a couple more jerking motions for his body to contract and for the semen to spurt out to grass around you. Armin’s cry of pleasure had a surprised and aching tinge to it; he didn’t even get the chance to take his hand out of your panties. “I haven’t… in a long time…” he explained, catching his breath. He leaned his forehead against yours, waiting for his heartbeat to steady again. “I wanted it to be with you.” “Armin…” you called out softly. “Mmm?” he answered from deep in his throat, distracted by the sudden drowsiness you caused in him. “I have something to tell you.” your voice was barely a whisper, but his breath caught immediately. “Don’t tell me you have somebody…” “It’s nothing like that.” you put an arm around his neck, massaging the sudden stiffness away. You were looking him straight in the eye when you said: “I know that you losing that horseshoe was no accident. A guy like you, who always thinks ahead and double-checks everything… no way.“ The tendons in his neck and shoulders were like iron under your fingers. He stopped moving and just stared at you silently in the light of the dying fire, an expression of apprehension etched in his youthful features. “I am sorry.” he muttered regretfully and looked away, “I did plan this to happen. Well, not THIS, but the delay… The horseshoe is in my knapsack... I wanted a chance to be alone with you…”   “I forgive you.” you interrupted his stream of words and brought the focus of his blue eyes back to you, “For making me wait all this time.” The expression of relief that swept across his face made him so irresistible in that moment that you pulled him down by the collar and gave him a wet smooch on the lips, deepening the kiss as his fingers moved closer to their goal, sending hot and cold waves over your skin. “What do I do?” he asked panicky when your body started to shudder and tremble of its own accord, gripped in sudden, unbearable pleasure that edged with ache so closely, it drove tears to your eyes. “Just… keep up… what you were doing…” you gasped, pressing a ball of your hand against your mouth and grazing the flesh with your teeth, oblivious of the pain. “It is… ahh… it is so…” Under pressure of Armin’s fingers your body suddenly became weightless, as if tenderly lifted from the hard floor and uncomfortable bedding, a blissful release flooding up your legs to your lower belly, then through your spine, breasts and neck until your entire skin tingled and pricked with orgasmic pleasure. “… intense…” you finished the sentence in a hoarse, sticky voice, half-aware you were crushing his hand with your cramped thigh muscles. A pleasant limpness overcame you and you sank back on the improvised cot, feeling feather light and heavy at the same time. Armin tactfully retrieved his hand and pulled the covers over your exposed skin, a big grin he vainly tried to suppress adorning his face. He examined his glistening fingers with a pleasant surprise. “I didn’t know I could do that.” he whispered to himself. “I didn’t know you could to that either.” you said, regaining some of your composure, feeling your cheeks redden anew. He shrugged humbly, “I guess finger coordination drilled for 3D maneuver gear operating can have versatile utilization. I just never thought it could be this… practical outside the military.” “You still are an idiot.” you mumbled, relishing the serenity that engulfed you from within, making you drowsy, blunting your awareness. “I don’t care what the high command says.” “You are the only one who knows the truth.” he winked and combed your sweat- drenched hair with his fingers, pulling your hood over it so you wouldn’t catch a cold. Fire was a barely visible by now and, instead, a million stars shone upon you. “Don’t be afraid to fall asleep.” in darkness, his voice was close and reassuring, his palm on your face warm and comforting, sending you gently to dreamland, “I will be here when you wake up.”   THE END End Notes I tried to make Armin a bit more assertive, I know he has it in him and would make it happen if he really felt passionate about something. I hope he won't seem out of character to you :) Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!