Work Text:
1
"What 's that?"
Jean took the small rough-white cube between his fingers, studied it in surprise for a few minutes before putting it back on the plate on the metal tray that carried fine porcelain for tea. Pieck looked at him amused, when they were given the day off she and Jean had planned a little tea meeting to have a little rest, it had been less than a year of the rumbling and even less when they were rescued from Fort Salta and put back in a civilization.
"Test it!"
She said cheerfully as she took 4 of the cubes and put them inside her teacup. Jean looked at her in dread, while Pieck made a gesture with her hands that everything was okay.
Slowly the tall blond boy took the same cube that he had left before bringing it closer to his face to sniff it, when he saw that it did not smell at all, he stuck out his tongue and with the tip touched the slush texture, he opened his eyes comically which made Pieck laugh.
"It is sweet!"
"It's sugar, sugar lump," she answered as she stirred her cup with the little silver spoon. "Didn't they have sugar in Paradis?"
"No!" He replied in a stammer as he chewed the cube that he had put in his mouth "or maybe yes. I was never rich, I never knew."
"I see, " she said in a monotonous voice as she drank her cup, "mix it with your tea."
Jean looked at her with hesitantly look, he had grown up with the idea to mix honey or milk with tea was a sin, a sin that got bigger when he turned soldier under the command of Levi "not to waste my precious leaves of tea with that shit " Ackerman, but Levi wasn't here and Pieck had put 4 of those cubes into her cup, "lumps" his mind corrected. He decided to try one and then another and then another because his tea was getting sweeter and more delicious each time.
"This is the best you could show me! Thanks Pieck!"
"You're welcome Jean, it's a pleasure to feed you with sugar cubes" she laughed at a joke that Jean couldn't understand "now, muffins?"
Because yes, she had made those delicious sugar-coated sweet rolls that she put in a beautiful wicker basket with a lavender tablecloth. And maybe Jean had 5 of those sweet things and 5 were the lumps that he put in his tea every morning. And 5 months later he could understand the joke when he learned that in this strange land they were wasting sugar feeding the horses.
2
Jean had never taken a nap. When he was a child he loved to spend his days playing and falling asleep as late as his mother allowed him to wake up early to play again. When he became a soldier the possibility of sleeping even at night became scarce; there was always some danger, something that kept him awake as long as possible. Then he became an ambassador and met Pieck.
Pieck Finger loved naps, she could sleep all day if she didn't have a mission of peace to fulfill; when she was younger, her size allowed her to sleep comfortably in the most eccentric places: under the table, inside some piece of furniture, in the small angle that was formed with the cellar boxes; any place was good enough to rest.
"Come on, Jean! If you get enough sleep your bones will grow and you will be able to touch the sky."
Pieck leaned back on the three-length sofa, using her best honeyed voice and most charming smile Jean had ever seen.
"I think you didn't get enough sleep then, your bones didn't grow much."
His particular sarcastic tone was present as he watched the woman remove her heels and arrange the sofa cushions.
"That's why I need more sleep now! Come on Jean, it will be fun. We can cover ourselves with your jacket."
He slowly walked over to the sofa, taking off his jacket and shoes. It was ridiculous! He knew he would only stay awake while this adorable woman used him as a pillow and he was still allowing it. He could at least spend a little time with Pieck, something he was liking more than was amicably normal lately. He leaned back first while Pieck got into his arms making their bodies fit perfectly in the confined space; he felt the small woman's breath tickling his neck, her little feet colliding with his calves as they tangled in him. Then the delicate hands caressed his hair, while the sound of the birds nesting in the window broke the slight silence that had formed. It's the last thing he could remember before his heavy eyes closed.
It was the first time he had napped with Pieck and touched the sky, but not the last.
3
He had seen cars before, or "cows covered in metal" as Sasha and Connie had called them on that occasion. Big metal structures that served the function of a horse-drawn carriage, nice big metal structures that were used as a symbol of ostentation, and Jean had enough money now.
He had only accompanied Onyankopon to one of those stores and the salesman had been kind enough to the "saviors of humanity" , maybe Onyankopon's white car was nice and classic, but it was the blue as dark as the depth of the sea or the sky on a stormy day who caught his attention. And he ended up with a car at the end of the day, a car that he didn't know how to drive.
"Wow! Nice car Jean! very impressive!"
The voice of the pretty woman wrapped in the shoulderless red dress startled him, the pretty woman Jean wanted to impress lately, which had ended up with him buying a car that he couldn't move. He turned to look at her with a seductive smile affirming his body in the vehicle.
"Do you think?"
"Perfect for an ambassador," she smiled as she touched part of the vehicle's mirror.
"You want to go for a ride one of these days!"
"Can I drive it ?!"
They had both said in unison, which caused a blush in Jean and an easy smile in Pieck.
"you know how to drive?!"
"You do not?"
"We didn't have any of these in Paradis!"
"I've never had one, it's basic military training for the Marleyans ... you want me to teach you?"
Jean was amazed, how could Pieck be so smart? And have so much patience. He didn't consider himself a difficult student, his grades as a cadet could confirm it but he couldn't focus, not today when Pieck Finger looked so sexy driving a car in heels and a tight dress that matched her lipstick.
"So, if you press the brake without making the change, the car will probably stop and if you press the brake suddenly it is likely to be very abrupt and you end up hitting the windshield. Jean?"
He was mesmerized looking at those lips but not listening to what they were saying.
"I want to kiss you ."
He murmured and then simply passed, he slowly approached Pieck caressing her cheek, he looked into her eyes and seeing no resistance from her he kissed her affectionately.
Jean did not learn to drive a car that day, but he did learn many ways that a kiss can be handled.
4
He honked the car horn 3 times, he was a little impatient. He fixed his elegantly slicked back hair and blue tie that looked good with the white shirt and yellow sweater he had decided to wear. He waited, staring at the door of the two-story stone house, his hands were sweating, although he had gone out with Pieck before, they had never been on a date; a date! Just remembering it made his stomach turn with nerves.
The car door was abruptly opened, awakening Jean from his reverie, the delicate woman in a blue polka dot skirt and yellow sweater, made her entrance.
"Did I scare you?"
She asked with concern as she stroked the boy's cheek. Jean just smiled in wonder.
"You look very beautiful, Pieck ."
He said softly before kissing her and returning to his seat a little more serene.
"You look very handsome too! Our outfits match!"
"I could notice"
"And where will we go?"
The idea was simple. Jean would drive to the beach showing Pieck that the classes she had given him were of some use. They would have a joyous Picnic where he would kiss her a bit and then ask her what he had been avoiding for a while, because strangely enough, Jean Kirstein still hadn't asked Pieck Finger to be his girlfriend. There was only one small detail, the car had stopped working in the middle of nowhere because of the heat of the day, he did not even know that that could happen!
"Calm down Jean! You just have to let it cool down and we can continue with the drive"
Jean leaned his head on the steering wheel and watched as Pieck pulled out a small cube of colors from her bag and began to twist its parts.
"What is that?" He asked curiously.
"A Rubik's cube ... let me guess, they don't have one of these on the island either, do they?"
Jean just looked at her with a neutral face
"Jean, I didn't mean to bother you ... do you want to play? You just have to rotate the parts until all the faces are of a respective color."
"It looks easy enough!"
But it wasn't easy at all, because when the car got cold Jean was still turning the cube and when Pieck decided to drive to get to the beach Jean kept turning the cube, but when Pieck took off her clothes to get into the sea and revealed that outrageous two-piece swimsuit the cube was easily forgotten somewhere.
5
"a camera!"
He took the precious object that he had received as a birthday present this morning, his girlfriend only smiled at him in response.
"But I thought the cameras were bigger?"
"It's an instant camera sweetie, I got it for you on our last trip to Clue."
Jean smiled widely ... Pieck always made him happy that way, finding the things she knew he would like.
"You have to put the paper over here, find something to photograph and slide the shutter," she pointed to the back of the machine. "this big tab here, then you wait a few minutes, open the hatch, peel off the paper and that's it!"
"That easy?"
"That easy!"
The light was perfect entering through the large windows of Jean's house, drawing the shape of the leaves of that birch that grew in the garden. Pieck looked gorgeous with her hair down, the strappy black dress contrasting with her fair skin.
"Pieck, can I take a picture of you?"
She looked at him with a smile
"Of course, darling! I stay here?"
"Yes, the light is good."
Jean was thoughtful for a moment and if ...
"Can you lower the strap of your dress? I just want your shoulder exposed."
"What a daring Ambassador Kirstein! Like this?"
Pieck under both straps showing that there was nothing but skin and curves under that dress.
Satisfied Jean ended up burning those photos, after all he didn't want anyone other than him to see his beautiful girl that way.
+1
Pieck hadn't grown up with her mother. Her mother had died when she was too young to remember her. Of course she had had contact with other mothers, Porco and Marcel's mother had been very kind to her, giving away apples or other fruits; Berthold's mother had combed her a few times in her long waits at the hospital, but sharing with others' mothers was very different from having a mother. Pieck only had his father and that was it, but at the same time that was enough.
Jean had a mother, a father and a great family indeed. Despite having no siblings, he had a lot of cousins, a couple of grandparents, and a handful of uncles. A large family who was waiting for his return home, his return with a pretty girl with black hair hanging from his arm, a pretty girl who was paralyzed in front of the door of the little house in the Trost district.
"you don't feel good?"
He asked while gently stroking the girl's back, Jean could feel her cold skin through the pretty blue linen dress.
"I don't know how to behave ," she told him fearfully. "For years it was my father and I, I have never had a large family; I don't know what to say, I don't know how to act, am I even properly dressed to meet your grandparents?
Jean hugged her tightly
"Tell me what to do, Jean. What should I say? How should I act?"
"How Pieck Finger acts, being yourself. Loving, kind, understanding, you have so many good qualities that I'm sure they will love you more than they love me".
Jean looked into her eyes and kissed her lips lovingly. He had nothing to teach Pieck, Pieck was perfect and brilliant on her own. The front door slammed open.
"Jeanboy! Are you going to come in to introduce us to this beautiful girl or are you going to stand at the door all day ?!"
"Hello again, Mom! This is…"
Before the presentation was over Mrs. Kirstein was hugging, praising and ushering Pieck into the house. Jean just smiled, after all he was right, there was nothing to teach, Pieck Finger was precious and loved by all the members of the Kirstein family, especially his mother.
"And then ... When are you two going to get married?"
Yes, his mother adored her.