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“What are you even getting done, Jaeger?”
“Dunno, I thought about getting my tongue pierced.” Jean shutters at the idea of a needle going through his tongue. Luckily, he’s not the one dumb enough to do it. It’s Eren’s birthday and he’s insisted he wants to do something cool now that he’s old enough. “cool”.
“That’s dumb, dude.” Eren squints at him, dumbfounded by his brash honesty even though he expected it. “Are you gonna make me hold your hand? Pussy.”
“Oh fuck off.” He brushes off the flirtatious insult as he usually does when Jean runs his mouth. The tattoo shop is on main street; the outside is compiled of old red bricks and a plain white sign that simply says “Tattoo”. The window is painted with some elaborate design involving skulls and the usual nonsense. Jean thinks the place looks a little sketchy but he doesn’t tell Eren this because he’s pretty excited to watch the other male go through with some dumbass piercing.
Once in the doors, Jean shoves his hands into his pockets and watches as Eren explains to the large…frightening looking guy what he wants done. For a second he thinks he can see the man, whom slightly resembles a biker, chuckle at the thought.
“He’s gay, in case you were wondering.” Jean chimes in from the back and when Eren turns to him he expects to see a glare but he’s smiling. The blond had never been one for broadcasting their relationship but for some reason Eren seems to love it. So he tries, and he’s always so charismatic when he does. Even the intimidating older man laughs. Not that being gay even had anything to do with a dude getting his tongue pierced but Jean thought it was a good time to make his presence known as well.
So, they’re led through the shop to a small room that doesn’t even have a door, instead an old white shower curtain blocks their view. The flooring is tacky, black and white tiles and it remind him of a 60s-barber shop but he doesn’t bring it up because maybe it had been a barber shop in the 60s. The building was old enough that he’d believe it.
“You scared?” He questions his boyfriend, Eren is currently occupied climbing into the seat. Jean stands in the corner, holding his lover’s coat. He’s always holding something of Eren’s it seems. He likes to think of it as retribution for the way Eren is always carrying around his heart. Maybe someday he’d ask for it back…but he highly doubts it.
“Nah, you gonna hold my hand though?” The blond laughs at the question but the truth is that he was hoping Eren would ask.
“Of course.” He waits for the piercer to sit down in the stool before moving to his boyfriend’s side, protectively grabbing the smaller male’s hand to hold within both of his. Eren’s jacket now tossed over his shoulder. As he looks down he notices everything about Eren’s face. From the eyelash on his cheek to the bothersome furrow to his brow. He’s carefully watching the man put on gloves and sterilize his equipment, he’s always been meticulous about these sorts of things and Jean absolutely adores it. As unkempt as Eren is, he’s always thorough about cleaning up around the house while Jean is the exact opposite. The brunet seems to always be cleaning up after him.
“He’s very worrisome.” He explains to the man as he prepares the needle because he can see the man watching Eren as if he half expects him to come jolting out of the chair.
“I can see that.” The man, for some reason he believes his name is Joe, responds. He feels Eren’s body tense up as his boyfriend is asked to open his mouth to reveal his tongue. He makes that silly noise when he sticks his tongue out and the sound brings a smile to the blond’s face. He’s madly in love with all Eren’s dumb little things.
Jean messes with his boyfriend’s fingers gently to distract him from the pain. He hears small whimpers as the needle is pushed through and it’s enough to make him worry even if he knows this is a professional. Eren’s face contorts in pain and his eyes shut, a shuttering whine being the last sound that leaves him as the piercing is shoved through the fresh wound and “Joe” moves away.
“All done kiddo.”
His tongue stays out of his mouth as he reaches for the mirror that’s being handed to him. Eren admires the fresh piercing and mumbles a thank you that’s barely understandable because his tongue is still hanging out. Instructions are given on how to take care of the fresh piercing. Hell, Jean is proud of this small accomplishment for whatever reason he doesn’t know. Seeing the person he cares for overcome even the smallest personal victory is exciting. He helps Eren out of the chair, reaching for both hands to pull him up. A lighthearted smile on his face as he does.
“You okay?” He’s always so cautious and just plain old concerned when it comes to Eren. The brunet isn’t fragile at all but he treats him so. He treats him as delicate as their relationship feels sometimes. But he knows that he’s the weaker link between the two of them, even if it’s hard to admit. Sometimes the behavior frustrates Eren but most of the time he admires it. The way Jean holds doors open for him like he’s waiting for some sorta royalty to be passing through them. Jean makes him fresh coffee every morning and sundaes before bed. He carries him to their room after he’s fallen asleep on the sofa watching Die Hard for the 500th time. It all seems so cliché and perfect to Eren, but Jean finds himself embarrassed by his own actions.
In many ways, he’s the “wife” of the relationship. Meaning he does the cooking…and the nagging. He takes care of his lover and has always been the one to keep him out of trouble. For the most part. He’s reliable and considerate, everything Eren needs. Even if they fight a lot, they never let it ruin them.
“I’m fine, Jean. Really.”
“You look a little pale.” He laughs, although heavily concerned. But Eren pats his shoulder and nods to let him know it’s alright.
“I’m okay, you can stop acting like Mikasa any time now.”
“Sorry, you know I worry.”
“I know you do. S’ cute.”
“Shut up, it’s not.” Out of all his insecurities, his nurturing nature is by far the most troublesome. He hates that he can’t stop worrying about Eren. He hates that he feels responsible for his wellbeing. He’d always wanted to live a selfish, easy life where he only had to care for himself but those days weren’t even realistic anymore with as much trouble as Eren got himself into.
Usually it’s fights but he helps the male out of literally any situation he gets himself into. Which explains why he pulls his wallet out to pay for this stupid piercing. Eren grabs his arm to try and stop him but he knows it’s pointless. He’s quite the gentleman despite being such a jackass.
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
“Thanks, Jeanbo.” He nods, his floppy blond hair falling in his face casually. Eren hates how his boyfriend can do that, he always looks so cool. Without even trying he looks like some modern James Dean so who does that make him?
Eren is distracted from his thoughts by the taller male reaching for his hand to pull him out of the quaint little shop. He almost bites his tongue from how shocked his is by the sudden interaction but his mouth hurts so bad he somehow avoids it. They walk down the street and Eren mutters the occasional “ow”, to which Jean either rolls his eyes or grunts.
“You knew it wasn’t going to feel good. Now you’re gonna have trouble eating for a couple days.”
“Don’t remind me.” He scoffs, squeezing the male’s hand quickly.
“I can’t believe you actually went through with it. I thought you’d chicken out.” He really knew Eren would do it, his boyfriend is a bit of thrill seeker so something like this was to be expected.
“As if, you’re the pussy in this relationship, J.”
“Oh fuck off.” He says that to him so many times a day that he would feel guilty if this were a normal relationship however they’re anything but normal.
“We both know you don’t want me to fuck off anywhere.”
“Yeah,”
“Hey, Jean?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“Oh, you do?”
“Yeah, it’s sad right?”
“It kinda is. Never pegged you as the loving type.”
“Never pegged me in general.” Eren teases, laughing so hard at his own joke that he snorts and Jean falls miserably in love with the moment they’re in. Without realizing it, he stops walking and just stares at the male ahead of him. When Eren notices that Jean isn’t at his side anymore, he stops and turns around.
“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to burn you so bad.” He teases again, scoffing.
“Yeah I’m fine I just…I love you too.”
“Don’t be so dramatic about it then.” It was never Eren’s style; making a big deal out of things but pretty much every part of their relationship was a big deal to Jean. He’s hopeless when it comes to romance and there’s a part of him that wants nothing more than to beg Eren to spend the rest of his life with him.
But he doesn’t.
Instead, he settles for the rarely spoken ‘I love yous’ and the opportunity to hold his hand on the streets. It’s simple and right now they both need that.