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Armin arrived at their post right on time, but he couldn’t say the same for Jean. It seemed he was always late regardless of where he was supposed to be or what he was supposed to be doing. When he got there, Sasha and Connie were waiting to be relieved of their watch duty, and Armin told them to go on, that he was sure Jean would be here soon. They didn’t seem to be convinced, but they decided to take Armin up on his offer and take their leave.
He had been right, and Jean showed up only a few minutes later, looking tired and ready to go back home already. With a yawn, he greeted Armin as he took his spot on the top of the battlements. The perks of turning old castles into HQ for the different regiments of the military meant that they had good spots for lookouts to keep an eye on the surrounding areas.
“Armin,” Jean says his name in greeting, offering a slight wave of his hand as he leans against the top of the battlement, his elbows supporting his weight.
“Hey, Jean. You look like you just crawled out of bed,” Armin answers with a slight smile.
“Yeah, well, having watch duty overnight is hard on me sometimes. I have to nap during the day or it’s hard for me to stay awake all night.”
“Mm, that’s why they always assign two of us for this job, just in case one of us can’t stay awake.”
“Are you tellin’ me you’d be okay with me just falling asleep up here and leaving you with all the work?” Jean asks, half joking. Armin feels like he might be a little more serious than he’d like to show.
“W-well, I’d rather that not happen. I kind of always look forward to watch shifts with you, regardless of what time they are.”
He’s not really sure what made him say it, but the words are out before he can stop himself, and he’s blushing like an idiot when he realizes he’s actually said them.
“Oh yeah?” Jean asks, and Armin swears he sees a slight blush on his cheeks as well. “Well, I kinda look forward to watch shifts with you, too.”
Jean is nervous, scratching at his nape in the way he does when he’s anxious about something. It’s just another endearing trait that Armin has noticed in Jean. Of course, it seems like Armin thinks all of Jean’s traits are endearing, in one way or another.
His blush darkens a bit, knowing that the other man feels the same way just confirms what he’s been thinking. They’re both crushing on each other pretty hard. It’s been evident to Eren and Mikasa since they tease Armin about it regularly, and he wonders if Jean has been just as obvious about it with Connie and Sasha.
“U-uh…good. I’m glad you like to spend time with me, even if we just have to sit here and watch out for a threat that doesn’t exist all night.” Armin finally answers, stuttering out his words in that nervous way he has. He always seems to get anxious like this around Jean.
“Ah, it gives us time to talk and relax. We don’t get a lot of time to just sit around and talk to each other, you know? I mean, I know we’ve known each other all through our training and stuff, but it seems like we don’t get to really talk to each other much and learn what makes the other tick.” Jean doesn’t look at Armin when he says any of these things, and Armin is thankful for the quickly setting sun so that Jean can’t see just how bright his blush actually is.
“Well, we’ve got all the time in the world right now. What do you wanna talk about?” Armin gazes out at the darkening landscape, the final rays of the sun fading in the distance and giving way to the moon and stars. It’s kind of…romantic, in a way. If he can forget that they’re both soldiers and are on duty right now, that is.
“Mm, I don’t know…uh, how was your day?” Jean starts. It’s a cliche question, but Armin likes the idea of sitting and talking about their days with each other. It seems so mundane and domestic, and Armin craves things like that with Jean even if they aren’t a couple.
“O-oh…it was okay. I spent some time with Eren and Mikasa, we had some other duties together today. How about you? Was your day alright?” He realizes his answer doesn’t give much to go on as far as conversation starters, but he hopes that Jean is the type that can create a conversation out of nothing.
“Yeah, it was good. Didn’t see Connie and Sasha today, but I’m sure they’ll be around to annoy me tomorrow.” Jean slightly rolls his eyes and Armin giggles.
“Aren’t they supposed to be your friends? Are you really that annoyed by them?”
“Ah, not really. I just like to give them a hard time. They do the same for me, too, don’t worry. Sometimes I think just being around them is making me stupider.” Jean chuckles at the end of his sentence and Armin can’t help but bark out a laugh.
“I don’t think that’s how it works, Jean.” He says, trying to cover his laughter, though it seems Jean is enjoying it. His face seems to have lit up as he turns toward Armin.
“Yeah? How do you know? I think they’re sucking the intelligence out of me every time I’m around them. I can feel it.”
“That would have to mean that they’re getting smarter, and I don’t think that’s the case,” Armin says, though he feels a little bit bad for openly calling some of his friends stupid.
“I guess you’re right. That’s definitely not happening.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t be so mean to them when they aren’t here to defend themselves. I think they’d be offended if they knew we were saying all these things.”
“Nah, it’s all in good fun. They wouldn’t care,” Jean reassures him. “I’m kinda glad they aren’t here though. Walls know what stupid things might come out of their mouths.”
He rakes a hand through his hair, it seems to have gotten a little longer lately, and Armin finds that he likes the way it looks.
“Um, your hair looks nice that way,” He says, immediately biting at his lip nervously as he finishes the compliment.
“Y-you think so? Thanks…I was thinking about growing it longer. Connie says it looks stupid.” Jean rolls his eyes, messing with his hair for a few more moments before he drops his hand back to his side again.
“It doesn’t look stupid. I…I think you look handsome with it like that, actually…”
The conversation comes to a dead halt after that, and Armin wonders if what he’d said was out of line. He can’t seem to get himself to look over at Jean now, terrified of seeing a look of disapproval on the other man’s face.
“You do?” Jean asks softly, and the volume of his voice is a little bit startling to Armin. He turns his head to look at the taller man and sees the softest, sweetest look on Jean’s face. He hadn’t expected him to look like that, like Armin’s words really touched him.
“Y-yeah…I mean, I think it looks really good longer. But you should do whatever you want with it! It’s your hair, after all.” Armin tries his best not to get too deep with any of this. He doesn’t want to make Jean uncomfortable in any way. Though, his thoughts keep going to how soft Jean’s hair looks, how it would feel to tangle his fingers in those ashy tresses.
“Then it’s decided, I’ll grow it longer. Since you like it so much,” Jean answers, a cocky tone to his voice and that signature smirk on his lips. Walls , it drives Armin crazy.
“J-Jean! I was just complimenting you. Don’t make it weird!” Armin blurts out, not sure how to respond to Jean’s flirty nature. It always seems to catch him off guard.
“I’m not making it weird. I’m flattered, actually. It means a lot to me that you like it…” He answers, and Armin immediately turns to look at him.
“It does? W-why?” Armin asks the question like he’s afraid of the answer, and in a way, he is. He wants to know what Jean thinks of him, if he thinks that they could have something besides just friendship, but he’s also terrified that his feelings aren’t reciprocated.
“Come on, Armin…surely you know why…” Jean’s hesitant to answer the question, and his hand goes back up to his nape again. He’s nervous about this? Why? Is he just as afraid that Armin doesn’t return his affections?
“I’m not sure…” Armin answers, trying to pry more information out of Jean.
“It’s because I like you a lot…and I value your opinion on stuff like this. I-I wanna make sure I’m attractive…to you.”
It seems like Jean is having quite a bit of trouble with this particular topic, which makes sense. Armin has never known him to have an easy time talking about feelings. In fact, Jean doesn’t tend to talk about his feelings much at all, at least not that Armin knows about. The fact that he’d gotten even this much out of the other man is surprising to Armin.
“To me…?” He’s shocked, not sure what to say. “Why would that be important to you?”
“ Walls , Armin, are you really gonna make me say it?” Jean asks, looking away to avoid eye contact. Armin doesn’t reply, he just stares at Jean, eyes wide and unblinking, unable to process what’s happening, so Jean continues. “I like you, Armin. Like…a lot. More than I’ve ever liked anyone before and I…I want you to like me back in the same way. I get it if you don’t…but I hope you do…”
“Like…me…?” Armin repeats as if he can’t process what he’s just been told. “I…I…”
He’s too shocked to say anything else, and Jean seems to be getting a little bit fed up with beating around the bush. He steps a little closer, right into Armin’s personal space, and just stares down at him for a moment.
“Jean, I…” Armin starts again, but he still can’t seem to find the right words. All he can do is just look up at the taller man and search his beautiful hazel eyes for any indication that this is some kind of trick. All he sees when he looks up is hope, though, and a fondness that’s unmistakable.
“You don’t have to say anything, I guess that was kinda sudden. Still, it’s out there now, so…” Jean answers, trying to reassure Armin that he doesn’t have to have some grand reaction, but Armin thinks he deserves one. Because he’s been waiting so long to get confirmation that Jean feels the same way he does and now it’s here.
Before he can even think twice, Armin reaches up to wrap his arms around Jean’s neck and pulls him down closer. Jean seems shocked by the movement, but he’s even more shocked when Armin presses their lips together in a quick and somewhat frantic kiss.
For a moment, both of them are shocked. Armin pulls away, releasing the other man and taking one step back in case Jean needs room to breathe. Suddenly, it feels like the middle of a hot summer day, his face feels warm and his head is swimming. His heart is beating out of his chest. How did he think that was an okay thing to do? He’s panicking, afraid that he’s overstepped some sort of boundary until Jean closes the distance between them again.
“Can I take that as an agreement that you feel the same way?” He asks, gently reaching up to cup Armin’s chin in his large hand. Armin’s eyes are still wide as saucers, his breathing is quick and he has butterflies in his stomach. He doesn’t have to think twice before answering.
“Yes!” He says, maybe a bit too quickly and too loudly, but all Jean does is chuckle at the enthusiasm.
“Good, I was hoping you’d say that,” Jean smirks again, tilts Armin’s chin up, and dives in for another kiss. This one is slower, more delicate, and more meaningful. It’s not rushed and frantic like Armin’s kiss was, but calm and controlled, filled with all of the emotion that Jean was trying to convey with his words earlier. When they pull away, they’re both breathless, and they don’t move too far from each other.
“I…I think this is the best night of watch duty I’ve ever had.” Armin states and Jean chuckles, pressing their foreheads together.
“Yeah, I agree. I don’t think anything could beat this one.” He answers, closing his eyes for a moment and sighing contentedly.
“M-maybe we could spend some time together another time? You know…outside of our duties,” Armin suggests, and Jean nods.
“Yeah, I’d like that a lot, Armin.” He answers, and for the rest of the night, Armin feels on top of the world. He never expected to get his first kiss during a night watch duty shift, but he can’t say that he’s too upset with it.