The whole night had been a back-and-forth experience of sleeping for ten minutes, trying to make himself comfortable for another. Eren was tired, definitely, but now he had no intentions of sleeping by then. He was so drowsy and focused on the absolutely nothing that he almost yelped in surprise as he heard the door open.

"Good morning." Armin's soft voice spoke. "Did I startle you? Sorry. I just wanted to check your temperature, since Mikasa told me to check on you again."

"Really? She needs to stop worrying about me so much." Eren groaned.

Armin couldn't help but smile, placing the thermometer into Eren's mouth. "You're all she has left... I'd be protective of you too. And well, you've been sick for almost a week with no signs of getting better. So I definitely want to watch out for you."

Eren grunted. After the two minutes went by, Armin removed the thermometer and held it up into the light. "101. Better than that unhealthy 103 you were stuck at yesterday, but you still have a fever. Mikasa will be happy to know there's some improvement, though!"

"Ugh. Maybe that'll get her to leave me alone." Eren huffed. "I didn't sleep much last night. Everything feels so gross and sore."

"That happens. But you're getting better, so it shouldn't be so bad tonight." Armin pulled a chair up to the side of Eren;s bed. He leaned over to give his forehead a fluffy kiss, but his long hair ended up getting in the way. "Oops, heh..."

"Your hair's getting too long. It's longer than Mikasa's and you look like a girl."

"Hey, Mikasa just likes her hair really short! If anything, she's just masculine..." Armin huffed. Self conscious, he dragged his fingers through his hair. "But... yeah, it has gotten in the way a lot recently."

"Here, I'll fix it. Turn around." Eren pulled himself up and opened one of the drawers next to his bed. He pulled out a hair tie and bunched some of Armin's hair into his hands, pulling it into a nice little ponytail. "There we go. You look cute."

"Heh, do I?" Armin touched the short ponytail with his fingers and glanced into the tall mirror on the other side of the room. "I guess so. But now I look even more like a girl."

Eren reached out and kissed him on the cheek. "A cute one. You'd look nice in a frilly dress and some pink bows, too."

"Heh, hey there. Inappropriate."

"You'd do it for me." Eren smirked. He began to say something else, but a fit of coughing stopped him from doing so. "Ugh."

Armin brushed a few strands of brown hair from the other's forehead, giving him a concerned look. "You should get some more rest. I'll be sitting right here." He gently rubbed Eren's chest in an attempt to comfort him. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll have some orange juice or something." Eren replied. "And then I want you to talk to me."

When Armin returned with a glass of juice, he was a bit confused at the second request. "Talk about what?"

"I don't know. Anything. I like hearing your voice. It's really... relaxing. Tell me about the outside world." Eren sipped from the glass of orange juice and placed it on the night stand, resting his head in his arms.

"Oh, um... well. I've been reading about the oceans lately. Have I told you about them?"

"Yeah, they're big bodies of water, right? And you told me they're filled with salt?" Eren said,

"Yeah! There's a lot of cool animals that live in them, too. My favorite is whales. They're really big. Bigger than a lot of titans, now that I think of it. They look sort of like fish, but they're actually mammals. And... gosh, I really just want to see the ocean. When we get to see the outside world together, it'll be amazing. It really is a beautiful place..."

"Eh. Whales seem a little suspicious. I won't judge, but if they have any sort of resemblance to a titan, I don't want to be near it."

Armin couldn't help but laugh. Of course Eren would say that. "Don't worry, you probably won't see one anyway. They're really hard to find."

"Good." Eren huffed. He pulled the blanket over his head and rolled onto his stomach. "Tell me something more calming. Are there any cute animals?"

"Hmm... Oh, yeah! Have I told you about dolphins? They're kind of big, too, but nowhere near as big as whales. They have really smooth skin, I've heard. And they always look like they're smiling. Some people think they're as smart as humans. I heard they're really friendly! Maybe we could try and pet one when we-" Armin stopped, the sound of Eren's snoring clear through the bed sheets. 'Either I bored him to sleep or my voice really is relaxing...' he thought, a warm smile spreading across his lips. He gave Eren a gentle kiss and rose from the chair, silently leaving the room.