Chapter Text
On a morning that the scouts had free time, Armin had insisted that everyone went to the local fair in town, “Come on! It’ll be fun!”
“Fairs? Aren’t they for children?” Annie asked, shaking her head in disapproval.
“It doesn’t matter who they’re for. We all need a little time to relax, right?” Armin replied, he had known Annie would not be the easiest to convince.
“Well,” Jean piped up, “I suppose it beats sitting around all day doing nothing. I’ll go fetch Sasha and Connie, be ready for in half an hour?”
Armin’s face lit up after hearing Jean. “Yes! In half an hour! We’ll meet up outside and walk there.”
Reluctantly, all the others came to agree that they would visit the fair.
A fair. What a boring idea, Eren had thought to himself.
“God damn it!” Eren shouted as he missed again. He had tried his hand at archery, despite being terrible at it. He kept trying, but could not hit the bullseye no matter how many arrows he fired.
Eventually, he found himself staring at a wall of prizes. If you could hit the bullseye, you would win tickets. In return for the tickets, you’d win a prize. Maybe he could get something nice for himself? Or perhaps, for someone else, he thought, pondering what sort of gift Armin would like. Some things were small and basic, little packs of sweets and the like. Whereas others were bigger, the most notable thing of all was a huge plush in the shape of a penguin.
Eren stared at it. Armin would surely enjoy a gift like that. Something soft, cute and cuddly. A perfect gift for a boy who met all those qualities himself.
Eren had made up his mind. He wanted it, no; he needed it.
Or rather, Armin needed it.
But what could he do? He had tried so many games. Archery the most, but he had also tried other games. A game where you throw rings over a target, a game where you have to hit a pinata when blindfolded. All the games should have been easy, but he had somehow not won any tickets at a single one.
He walked around, staring at the stalls. Eventually, he paused when he saw Annie Leonhart standing in front of him. She was playing a dart throwing game, and she was extremely good at it. Every dart she threw hit a balloon right in the centre, popping it instantly each time.
“I thought you said fairs were for children?” Eren said with a sly grin.
“Shut up.” Annie countered, not even turning to look at Eren. As she spoke, another dart flew out of her hand, hitting a bigger balloon. The vendor picked up the tickets off the floor and handed them to Annie. “50” he said. Counting up the number of tickets she had won whilst playing.
Annie smiled softly, and turned to look at Eren, “Did you need something, Yeager?” She asked, her normal, dull expression returning as she stared at Eren.
“Well, no, it’s just that you seemed focused at that, trying to win something for someone?” He teased.
“And what if I am? I spotted a scarf at the prize wall, maybe Mikasa might like it.” After she had spoken, she walked off, but paused in her tracks. “If you want to win something for someone, Yeager, try the dart game and hit the small ones.” Eren stared at Annie as she walked off. She was winning something for Mikasa?
That was the least of Eren’s worries now, however. He strolled up to the stall, fumbled around in his pockets, and found the remaining change he had left. “How many dart throws can I get for this?” Eren asked the vendor. The vendor took the money out of his hands, counted it, “3,” he replied. “I’ll go for three then.” Eren said.
The rules were explained to Eren. The balloons each had a specific number of tickets inside of them. Smaller ones would get you the most tickets as they were harder to hit, and the bigger ones would get you fewer tickets. He needed 50 tickets for the penguin, just the same amount Annie had won.
Eren stood back, the dart between his fingers. When the vendor had moved out of the way, he let go of the dart, throwing it at the balloons. It hit one of the bigger balloons, one labelled as being worth 2 tickets. He took a deep breath, throwing the next dart, this time in a more graceful, coordinated manner. It hit a medium-sized balloon, one labelled with a worth of 8 tickets.
10 tickets. He needed 40 more. His eyes scanned the stall, trying to identify the balloons were worth the most. There was one that caught his eye, a small, red balloon in the middle of all the balloons that was labelled with 40. It was filled to the brim with tickets, and looked as if it would pop merely from being so full.
Eren breathed in deeply once more, focusing fully on the thought of plunging the dart into the balloon. As he opened them again, he threw the dart.
Eren stared, it had hit. And it had hit the one he wanted to hit. 40 more tickets for him. He had got just the right amount! The vendor picked the tickets up from the floor, handing them to Eren, “50”
He ran to the prize stall, not wanting the penguin to be snatched up by anyone else. He couldn’t wait to see the expression on Armin’s face when he handed him the prize. When he reached the stall, he bought the penguin quickly, using every last one of his tickets. The festival was almost over, so he set out to find Armin.
Eventually he spotted him, sitting at a bench with Annie and Mikasa. Eren tried, as best as he could, to hide the penguin behind his back. Annie left, hand in hand with Mikasa as soon as she noticed Eren, looking back and smirking at him as she walked off.
Armin noticed Eren walking towards him a few seconds later. At first, the blond smiled at him, then tilted his head in confusion as he wondered what Eren was trying to hide.
“Did you err, win something Eren? Whatever it is, it looks like its pretty big…” Armin said, trying to peek at what Eren had hidden
“I did Armin, and I um, I want you to have it…” Eren pulled out the penguin, showing it to Armin. His face lit up with delight, his mouth widened into a huge smile, he pulled the plush into his arms and hugged it, staring up at Eren.
“Th-thank you Eren, I think this is one of the nicest things anyone’s done for me…” Eren was taken aback by how well Armin had reacted, never expecting this much of a reaction, but he didn’t mind. If Armin was happy, then Eren was happy too.
“Wanna walk home together?” Eren said, stretching out his hand to Armin. Armin pulled himself up and intertwined his own hand with Eren’s.
“Of course, Eren.”