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Choosing the right treats for the day of love wasn't exactly the easiest task in the world.
Jean was determined to do his best with it, though. The only real difference was that this time, he had to get things for three people, not just two. As he perused the typical (if a bit cliche) chocolates, he tried to keep everyone's interests straightened out. He had months, if not roughly a year, to figure them out, but sometimes Jean was just too boneheaded to remember anything of that effect-
"Can I help you find something?" Jean snapped his head up to see a chocolatier with blonde hair (basically girl Armin) standing before him, with a demure smile. He glanced back towards the display cases of sweets before turning to directly interact with her.
"Uh, I don't know..." He peered at her nametag. "Krista. What should I get for three people with different tastes?"
Krista looked deep in thought for a little bit, tapping her finger against her cheek. "Depends on who you're buying for, and what their tastes are." The next part was still a little complicated for Jean to explain, mainly because most people didn't have his current living conditions.
"They're for my mother, my ex-husband, and my current husband." Hearing this made Krista's eyes bug out, staring at him while still holding her contemplative pose. "Yeah, I get that face a lot when I tell people. It is a lot better than it sounds, though, I promise."
Thankfully, Krista was still willing to help Jean, even with that in mind. "Well, then what do they all like with their treats?" Now it was Jean's turn to think hard. He did so while following Krista through the place, and explaining all three of his loved ones and their interests.
-some time later, once everything was chosen and Jean realized he was kind of a sucker-
With purchases in hand, Jean was on his way back home. Several times, he checked to make certain that he got the right labels on the right gifts.
As it turned out, Krista could only really help with his mother and Marco. For Armin, he had to go elsewhere, since there wasn't really such a thing as 'edible Valentine's chocolate books' (thank goodness for the local bookstore that had actual books one could read).
Once he got home, Jean had to knock on the door with his forehead, and shout that one of them needed to open the door for him. He waited for what felt like forever, until Marco yanked the door open as best he could.
"I didn't miss story time, did I?" Marco grinned and shook his head.
"He hasn't even picked out a book yet," he answered with a chuckle. In the kitchen, Miss Kirstein was busy making the typical heart-shaped cookies for the boys. Were it not for her rule that they had to wait until story time, Jean would've run right over and grabbed a nice warm handful.
By the time Armin did come out (with his book of Hans Christian Andersen stories, naturally), Jean had already handed the purchases to his mother and Marco. He was quite grateful to see that Jean even had a present for him. Unlike with the other two, however, Jean was blushing as he handed Armin his present.
"Isn't that precious?" Miss Kirstein asked when she'd already opened her gift (a box of Cherry Cordials, for the record). "Just like when they were first dating."
"I know," Marco said as he looked up and unwrapped his own box of handmade dark chocolates. "I'd say he's awfully head over heels for Armin, if his actions the last few months say anything."
Jean scoffed. "Says the first one."
...
Later that night, after storytime proper had ended and everyone was in bed, Armin flipped through the book Jean had gotten him (The True History of Chocolate). At his side, Jean looked through it with him while leaning on one of his arms.
"So, what's it all talk about in regards to everyone's favorite fattening treat?" Jean asked. Nearby, on his own cot, Marco lay down and listened. He kept trying to clean the sleep out of his eye as he did so; he didn't want to miss anything important.
Armin flipped back a few pages. "Well, according to this, chocolate was originally consumed as a drink by the Aztecs. The people believed that the cacao seeds were once a gift from the God of Wisdom, and they actually used it as a type of currency." In order to make it clear that he'd been listening, Jean made a noise of quiet fascination.
"And here I thought some people were too obsessed with the stuff." He looked up at Armin, before reaching up and stroking his cheek. "Think maybe you can save the rest of that for tomorrow? I kind of want to get to cuddling while it's still V-Day." Over the last few months, Armin had caught on that 'cuddling' often turned into something far more adult.
"What about Marco?" He gestured toward him with the book.
Marco just winked at them with his one eye. "I won't look." To prove he wouldn't, Marco then did his best to roll over so he faced away from his two best friends. Both Jean and Armin couldn't help but snicker at this.
"Gotta love a man who doesn't mind his ex-husband doing it in the same room as him." The two of them then sidled closer together, turned the light off, and pulled the blanket over themselves.
...
Still awake in his house, Eren was going through the treats he'd gotten from Mikasa, Armin, and all his other friends (but mostly Mikasa). As much as he didn't mind chocolate, he was starting to get sick from eating so much of it over the day. Now, there was one box left.
"Huh...?" The label stated that it had come from Armin's new husband, who Eren had a tendency to butt heads with. Regardless, he opened the box. Within was something oddly fitting from Jean, if sort of mean-spirited: It depicted a solid block of chocolate with a middle finger carved on top of it. Underneath it said something that was also fitting coming from Jean to Eren:
Happy Valentine's Day Jackass
Eren was going to have a few words (and maybe a punch or two in the face) with Jean the next time he saw him.
At least it tasted good.