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Jean landed, his feet wobbly as he struggled to gain his balance. He held a hand to his head, which was throbbing painfully, and groaned, leaning against a tree.
“Hey, you OK?” Connie asked, maneuvering so he would land next to Jean, the cables of his 3DMG whirring.
Jean nodded, rubbing his head. The world was spinning and Connie had three heads. Maybe he wasn’t OK.
“Dude, this is like the third time this week! I thought you were good with the gear,” Connie said. Jean growled at him.
“I am good with the gear, you fuck,” Jean mumbled, each word punctuated with a throb from his wound. He groaned and leaned heavier against the tree.
“Well try not to get distracted and run into a tree again, O Mighty 3DMG Master,” Connie taunted. Jean growled and batted at him half-heartedly as he flew off into the trees with the rest of the group.
“Distracted…” Jean scowled at the word. Fuckin’ Connie, turning everything into some goddamn sexual innuendo. He wasn’t interested in anyone, save for Mikasa, but he was sorta over that since there was no way in hell she would screw him.
No, what was making him run into trees was pure competition. Jean wasn’t going to let that little shit Jaeger complete the courses before him – that idiot almost failed his first ever 3DMG test! Jean was way better than him, and he was going to prove it!
But then he would look over at Jaeger during the course – to make sure he was a good ways behind Jean, of course – and Jaeger would do something stupid, like smirk at him, or stick his tongue out, and then Jean would spin out of control into a goddamn tree and get tangled in his gear, Eren cackling as he finished the course first, the fucker.
See, there was nothing weird about that! Maybe a little embarrassing, and most definitely irritating, but whatever Connie was waggling his eyebrows about was all in that kid’s perverted little head.
Right?
Jean pushed himself up so that he was standing and not leaning on the tree. He waited until his head stopped spinning and walked over to the finish line of the course, where that little shit Jaeger was laughing with Reiner. Jean scowled at him. Eren caught the glare and stuck his tongue out. Jean stuck his thumb under his nose and waggled the remaining fingers in Eren’s direction.
“You’re an uncoordinated dickwad, Kirstein!” Eren called, grinning at Jean. Jean scrunched his nose up in annoyance.
“Suck my dick, Jaeger!” Jean called back, licking his chapped lips as he undid the clasps that held the scabbard and gas tanks on his 3DMG and placed them in the proper storage units.
“You’d like that wouldn’t you!” Eren taunted. Jean’s cheeks reddened. That was a low blow, even from Jaeger.
“God, you’re gay” Jean shook his head and kept his attention on putting away the 3DMG so that Eren wouldn’t see the embarrassing blush that had spread across his face. And no, he didn’t like Jaeger, the comment just… caught him off guard was all. Yeah.
“Struck a nerve there?” Eren said, and his voice was like inches away from Jean and it terrified him, so he snapped his head up and cracked Eren in the skull. It didn’t do much to help Jean’s head injury, but it did earn him a yelp and a loud “fuck!” from Eren. Jean chuckled to himself as he wobbled on his feet from the contact.
“You dick!” Eren yelled, tackling Jean to the ground and almost knocking over the stack of 3DMG. Jean was still reeling from the headbutt, and his eyes only widened in surprise as he fell to the ground, grunting as Eren’s full weight was placed on him.
“Get the fuck off me!” Jean growled, catching Eren’s wrists in his hands, their legs tangled together as they wrestled on the ground. Jean was able to turn them over so that he was on top, but soon Eren had turned the tables once again. Jean released one of Eren’s wrists to swing at Eren’s head. He hit the boy in the jaw, and Eren soon retaliated with a knee in the ribs and a chop to the temple. Jean saw stars and groaned, unable to do much to retaliate now that his world was spinning.
“Kirstein, what the fuck?” Jean heard, but it sounded distant, like he was underwater. Jean reached out and grabbed Eren’s shoulders somehow, causing Eren to yelp. Jean closed his eyes and tried to take deep breaths. Hopefully his vision would return soon.
“Jean?” Jean could feel Eren shaking his shoulders and groaned. That hurt his head. “Jean! Jean!”
When Jean woke up, it was in the infirmary. He groaned. How many times had he found himself in here over the years? He had some sort of affinity for contracting every contagious disease spreading through the barracks, as well as injuring himself whenever possible. It’s not like he could just repair himself like Eren.
Speaking of the asshole…
Jean leaned on his elbows to push himself up, and there was Eren, snoring on the chair next to his bed, arms crossed and head tilted back, his neck long and exposed. Jean swallowed thickly and bit his lip. Nope, he was not thinking of kissing Eren’s neck, not at all. Nope, nope, nope.
Jean raised a hand to his head and felt bandages there. He wasn’t quite sure why they were there, considering the fact that he hadn’t been bleeding or anything. He shrugged. He needed something to drink.
Jean leaned across the bed, reaching for the glass of water the nurses had left him. His hand was wrapped around it, he was almost home free… when he bumped it on the edge of the table and it fell to the ground, smashing into a million pieces.
“Fuck,” Jean huffed.
The noise woke Eren up. He jumped slightly in the chair, knocked his head against the wall, and shouted some sort of incomprehensible string of words that Jean didn’t even think were in English.
When Eren calmed down and blinked a few times, he turned to Jean.
“Oh, you’re up,” Eren said stupidly. Jean rolled his eyes.
“No shit, who do you think broke the glass?” Jean retorted. Eren frowned and looked down to see the destroyed cup on the ground.
“God, you’re such a fucking klutz,” Eren mumbled. Jean snorted. He wanted to retaliate with some taunt, but he knew that Eren spoke the truth.
“Go get the cripple some water, would ya?” Jean asked. He was thirsty and while Eren was there he might as well act as Jean’s personal slave.
Ah, holy shit he should not have just thought of Eren as his slave that was not helping at all.
Eren rolled his eyes but left the room to get Jean a drink, careful not to step on the shards strewn across the floor. Jean quickly adjusted his position in the bed so that he was more comfortable.
Eren returned with the drink, and promptly splashed half of it on Jean.
“Oops,” he deadpanned, his face blank. Jean glowered at him.
“Are you fucking serious, Jaeger?”
“It was an accident, I’m such a klutz…”
“You little!-“
Jean grabbed the front of Eren’s shirt, pulling the brunet forward so that Jean could growl in his face. But Eren slipped on the goddamn water and glass Jean had so skillfully dropped on the floor, and he fell forward. The water in the glass fell on Jean’s shirt and Eren dropped the glass – it shattered on the other side of Jean’s cot.
Eren stretched his arm out to try and catch himself, catching Jean’s arm with his hand and elbowing Jean in the ribs, his breath leaving him with an “oomf”. Jean caught Eren’s chest with the hand that Eren wasn’t currently strangling, and in three seconds they had regained their composure.
Jean looked up, and Eren was inches from his face, biting his lip and he caught his breath, his dark brown hair falling into his teal green eyes. Jean’s breath hitched. Fuck. No. Stop. Now.
“Eren…” Jean said, and he kicked himself because he used the idiot’s first name. Eren looked up at Jean, and Jean’s hair and chest and neck were wet with the water he had spilled. And then Jean swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down and fuck his neck looked nice…
Eren responded with some sort of strangled noise of affirmation, and Jean saw his cheeks get red. No. No way.
Jean moved the hand on Eren’s chest, just slightly, maybe to get the boy’s attention? Eren glanced down and saw Jean’s hand tangled in his shirt, then to Jean’s face, which was a mixture of fear and question, the light blush over his cheeks revealing that he actually kind of enjoyed having Eren this close to him. So Eren moved closer, waiting for Jean’s hand on his chest to stiffen and push him away.
The red on Jean’s cheeks darkened as Eren moved closer to him. He knew this was some sort of test, or trick, or something, but for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to push Eren away. And then their foreheads were touching, and Jean’s nose was brushing Eren’s cheek, and they were breathing the same air. All Jean had to do was push Eren away, that’s literally all he had to do. But Eren smelled like salt and grease from the 3DMG and it was intoxicating.
“Jean?” Eren breathed, and the sound sent a shiver down his spine.
“Yeah?” Jean replied.
“You know this doesn’t mean I like you,” Eren said, and they both knew it was a lie.
“Yeah,” Jean whispered, because it was a miracle he could even say that much.
Then Eren’s lips met his, and it was weird, how soft and gentle the kiss was. It was hesitant and Jean kissed back softly, his hand untangling from Eren’s shirt and wrapping around his neck to tug him closer. They sucked on each other’s lips and they made disgusting wet noises when they switched positions, but Jean would be damned if the kiss wasn’t fucking perfect and amazing, especially when Eren opened his mouth and Jean slide his tongue in, and Jean moaned into his mouth.
They broke apart soon after, just staring into each other’s eyes.
“That didn’t happen,” Jean breathed, still panting from the kiss.
“Yeah, I never want to do that again,” Eren replied.
And then he kissed Jean again.