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Sleeping
The first time was after a particularly grewling mission. Eren, Armin, Jean and Sasha were sent to infiltrate a hideout seeming to belong to their enemy, who was only recently identified as Kenny.
Luckily, by the end of the fight, none of the Scouts were injured. They were physically fine besides their utter exhaustion. To their credit, they got plenty of information and good news to tell Levi and the others, but did it have to be so draining?
“Go go go!” Jean was holding the van door open, the other three members rushing inside. He yelled at the man sitting behind the wheel, barely one step into the vehicle. “Start driving!”
Eren fell into the first seat he could, releasing a worn out sigh. It felt like he hadn’t sat down in years. He gathered enough energy to keep his eyes open, watching Sasha copy his actions in the seat right next to his.
“Jesus Christ.” Sasha wiped her forehead as she spoke. “I swear to God I blinked, and they all multiplied. Like… osmosis or something.”
“That’s not even…” Jean turned around, slamming the door behind himself. The van started to move. “It’s meiosis, Sasha.”
Eren didn’t have the power to raise an eyebrow at the words, but watched as Armin shook his head. His eyes were only half open, his body swaying a little with the motion of the van. He stumbled toward the back, collapsing into a seat.
“Not meiosis.” Armin grunted as he tried to get comfortable. “It’s mitosis.”
Jean copied the blond’s actions, walking towards the back before sitting next to Armin, taking up two seats. He leaned his head back, closing his eyes. “It’s not meiosis?”
Armin turned, unintentionally leaning towards Jean. His bones felt like jello. “If you’re saying that someone multiplied, like, made another copy of themself, it’s mitosis.”
“But I thought… aren’t they like, the same thing?”
“What? No.” Armin closed his eyes. “When a cell divides and makes a copy of itself…”
Sasha grabbed Eren’s attention, groaning and giving him a look only they and Connie shared. “We just fought a million guys, and they still have the energy to geek out.”
“Technically, I think it’s nerd out.”
“I didn’t realize I was with the fucking word polic e today.”
Eren shrugged. “I’m just sayin’.”
Sasha rolled her eyes, before slowly turning around to face the men seated behind her. “Guys, would you say you’re geeks or nerds, because I think- … awww, that’s adorable.”
As Sasha snickered, Eren grew curious. He turned around, scoffing at the sight in front of him.
The two weren’t talking anymore. They had seemingly fallen asleep, Armin’s head on Jean’s shoulder, Jean’s head resting on Armin’s. Eren took a moment to take it in; the chance to rest was far and few between for all of them.
Sasha’s voice broke his train of thought. “I wish I had my camera. Those two are so cute.”
Eren felt his chest go tight. He tried to ignore it, glancing back at the two in the back. He didn’t know what Sasha was talking about. Armin was cute, no doubt. But Jean? Jean and Armin? Cute? Together?
“If you think that’s cute, you should see what Armin and I do when we-”
“Dont.”, Sasha held her hand up. “I get it. I didn’t realize you’d get so jealous.”
“What?! Jealous? Please.”
“Whatever you say.”
Eren scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning his head back. “I’m gonna ignore that and close my eyes now.”
Sasha copied his actions. “I’m way ahead of ya.”
Eren could never be jealous of Jean. Ever. Not even when it came to Armin.
Lifting
The second time seemingly came out of nowhere. It was just Eren, Armin and Jean on the next mission. This one was a lot less ballsy, the trio sticking to the shadows and taking their enemy down by surprise.
Armin was loading his sniper, turning towards the taller men before speaking. “Do we have a clear shot?”
Eren glanced at the highly-raised window in front of him. They were blocks away from their enemy’s estate. Luckily for them, there was a bunker nearby they could hide in. The only downside was the best way to remain hidden was to go into the basement, where a single window right aboveground would serve as the perfect vantage point.
“You can get a good angle from this window. You might need a stool or something.”
“Oh come on. I’m really not that sho-” Armin interrupted himself. He turned around to see the window Eren was pointing to; it had to be at least eight feet high. “Oh. You weren’t kidding.”
As Eren snickered, Jean suddenly walked forward. He pressed his ear piece, muting his microphone. “Mikasa says they’re in position. Are you guys ready?”
“Sorta.” Armin nodded his head towards the window, giving Jean a moment to look at it. “Wanna give me a boost?”
“Uh, yeah sure. Get on my shoulder.”
“Eren, hold this for a sec.”
Eren’s eyebrows furrowed as Armin handed him the sniper. He watched as Jean walked forward, and when Armin started grabbing the man’s shoulder Eren couldn’t help himself.
“I could’ve done that.” He could only watch as Jean hoisted Armin up, putting all the blond’s weight on his right shoulder.
Armin didn’t bother looking at Eren to reply. “Jean’s taller.”
Eren scoffed. “By like, one inch.”
Armin sighed before turning around. “Just give me the sniper.”
Eren bit the inside of his cheek, reluctantly giving Armin his gun back. He couldn’t help but give Jean a glare, because he knew exactly what the older man was thinking. That he’s stronger and taller and all the other bullshit that was probably floating through his inflamed head. Eren couldn’t stop from rolling his eyes and crossing his arms at the thought.
“The only reason he’s taller is because of his massive head.”
Jean turned around and glared. “The fuck is that for?”
“What? Am I not allowed to tell the truth?”
“You are so-”
“Guys, shut up!” Armin shouted as he began to aim, lining his gun as he shut one eye. “I’m trying to get a good shot. I need to focus.”
Eren and Jean didn’t make another peep, but continued to glare at each other. Eren didn’t care; he knew that Jean knew what he was doing. He was purposely putting his hand on Armin’s hip unnecessarily, he was just trying to get a rise out of Eren. Screw Jean.
“I think I’m gonna go for it.” Armin lowered his voice to whisper, concentrating on his target. “C’mon…”
Jean was quick to speak. “You can do it.”
Eren’s temper flared. “You got this, Min.”
Jean rolled his eyes, preparing for the shot in his ear. Five seconds later, two bangs left Armin’s gun. There was a moment of silence, before Armin slowly relaxed his arms.
“...I think I got him.” Armin raised a free hand to his ear piece, tuning into Mikasa’s channel and trying not to sound too excited. “Did I get him?”
There was a beat of silence.
“It was a direct hit, he’s down!”
“Yes!” Armin dropped his gun, turning towards the others in the room. “Did you hear her?”
Jean smiled, repositioning his arms to help Armin down. “Yeah! Good job, kid.”
Eren watched as Jean put Armin down, and he felt a familiar tightness in his chest when the two shared a quick hug. It couldn’t have lasted more than two seconds, if anything it was a product of Armin getting off of Jean’s shoulder. Yeah, had to be. Definitely was not intentional.
He shifted his focus when Armin walked up to him, a big smile on his face that almost, almost, made Eren forget about Jean’s presence entirely. Eren chose to speak, trying to get the bad taste out of his mouth. “You might replace Sasha as our sharpshooter.”
Armin laughed, and Eren couldn’t help but ruffle the blond’s hair. He let his hand rest on Armin’s shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. “You did great.”
Eren let himself relax when Armin blushed. “Thanks.”
“Maybe I’ll… reward you, later.”
Armin processed what he heard, before giving Eren a look. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I-”
“Can you guys get a room?” Jean’s voice, Jean’s irritating voice, made Eren leave Armin’s eyes. “We need to get going.”
“Jealous, horseface?”
Jean rolled his eyes as he walked away. Armin raised a confused eyebrow. Eren chose not to continue.
Like he mentioned, he could never be jealous of Jean. If anything, Jean was the jealous one.
Fighting
The third time, in Eren’s defense, was entirely Jean’s wrongdoing.
The attack after Armin’s successful sniping was even worse than the one before it. Kenny didn’t seem to accept his losses and charged at the Scouts with full force. Everyone was on deck for the attack, and luckily the Scouts seemed to be coming out on top.
It was nearing the end of the fight, and Eren, Armin and Jean found themselves in the third floor of Scout’s headquarters. There were only two guys left, and Armin took it upon himself to run towards the few computers they had in the room.
He ran, and after quickly logging in he realized that Kenny’s squad wasn’t just here to take them out, they were hijacking their system.
“Guys! Keep one of them alive enough to talk!” Armin shouted, not taking his eyes off the computer. “I’m gonna need info, like now.”
He didn’t hear either man give a confirmation, but continued to work on the computer. He could survive for now without the needed codeword to shut their program down, if he could work through their defenses…
As Armin typed away, Jean and Eren were fighting the remaining attackers. While Eren was busy with his own battle, Jean took on the only other guy. As they brawled, Jean surprisingly found himself being overpowered. The man had managed to get a good hit to the side of his head, before kicking out his leg and letting him slip to the ground.
“Shit!” Jean fell, putting his hands up defensively. “I need backup!!”
Armin stopped typing and glanced over. “I got you!”
On the sidelines, Eren quickly knocked out his attacker. He grunted as he stood up from the body beneath him, quickly scanning the room to find Armin and Jean. When he saw Jean on the ground and the stranger standing over him, Eren’s immediate instinct was to pull out his gun and shoot.
He barely caught himself from pulling the trigger when he saw Armin running over. Once again, his chest tightened. Something about Armin rushing over to Jean’s defense made his heart feel a certain type of way. Not only that, but he almost shot at Armin.
Armin ran as fast as he could, coming from behind Jean’s assaulter. He wrapped his arm around the man’s neck, and grunted as the two of them struggled for power. The man suddenly elbowed Armin’s ribs, which made the blond curse before releasing his hold. The man turned around, and before Armin knew it the two of them were in a fist fight.
Everything happened too fast for Eren to register. He chose to run towards the two to help Armin out, and Jean was still trying to get up and clear the fog from his brain.
Suddenly, Eren saw a knife. He panicked, and yelled incoherently for Armin to look out. From his view he couldn’t see much, but saw red when he saw Armin’s arm, now bleeding, and Armin started to hunch over himself..
“Fuck!” Armin suddenly yelled, keeping his arms up as he stepped backwards. He was out of ammo and he didn’t have time to grab any other weapons. In a moment of desperation, Armin called out the only person he could think of.
“Eren!”
Armin stopped moving when a black blur jumped in front of him. He heard grunting and cursing, and he slowly looked down to see Eren tackling the enemy. Armin took a moment to breathe, and it was then when he felt his left hand becoming wet. He looked down, and his eyes widened at the amount of blood dripping down his arm, onto his hand and onto the floor.
There was a lot of blood. The only thing keeping Armin’s adrenaline going was the computer system.
“Eren! Don’t kill him!” Armin’s voice, although weaker, managed to get through to Eren. Armin jumped down, and watched as Eren held his pistol directly against the stranger’s forehead.
“Why the fuck not?”
“I need…” Armin blinked. He was getting lightheaded. He managed to look down at the enemy and get his thoughts together. “What’s the codeword?”
The man didn’t speak at first, and it made Armin yell. “What the fuck is the codeword?!”
“For what?!”
“You know what. To shut the hack down!”
The man glared. “I’m not tellin’ you shit!”
Armin huffed, and ignored the liquid between his fingertips. “I’ll let you live. Fucking… tell me the word and we’ll spare you.”
The man hesitated at first. Armin’s vision was getting hazy, but he was able to see the man look around the floor; his buddies were either dead or barely breathing.
“Fine… it’s Warriors.”
Armin put his weight on his right hand, fully kneeling on the ground. “Eren, you-”
Armin was interrupted by a loud bang. He didn’t need to look at the man to know Eren shot him. It was getting harder to see anyways.
“Eren-”
“He gave you the codeword. And you’re hurt. He deserved it.” Eren put his gun away, and while looking up he was met with a very pale partner. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m…” Armin attempted to stand up, getting off one knee. “I’m fine, I just need the computer.”
Eren got a lump in his throat when he saw the damage to Armin’s upper arm. He was bleeding a lot. Out of the corner of his eye, he was able to catch Jean walking their way. For once, Eren was thankful for Jean’s presence.
“Jean, stop whatever they did to the computers. The codeword is Warriors- Armin stop.” Eren held Armin’s shoulders, trying to get the blond’s attention. “Don’t stand up on your own. We need to stop the bleeding.”
“What the hell happened?” Jean got closer as he spoke, eyeing the two in front of him.
Eren’s eyebrows furrowed. He wouldn’t say out loud it was Jean’s fault Armin was injured but boy did he think it. “Go to the fucking computer! Use the word Warriors! Just fucking go!”
Armin was blinking rapidly, and Eren ignored Jean’s lingering as he shook Armin’s shoulders again. “Min, I’m gonna wrap your arm.”
“The computer-”
“Jean’s on it.” Eren glanced up, and glared at Jean, who for some reason was still standing right next to them. “Fucking go.”
Jean looked like he finally woke up, and quickly ran towards the computer systems. Eren stopped paying attention to his surroundings, and took his hands off Armin to tear off his sleeve. It took some force, but he managed to rip the cloth away and grab Armin’s injured limb.
“You’re gonna be alright, okay?” Eren quickly tied the cloth around Armin’s upper arm, making sure it was tight. “You won’t pass out on me right?”
Armin wasn’t looking at him, his eyes were half closed and his face was somehow paler than before.
“Armin?”
“Eren.” Armin swallowed as he spoke. “I-I don’t feel good.”
Armin suddenly turned away, and Eren suddenly heard the sound of someone vomiting. Oh shit that was Armin-
“Fuck fuck fuck-” Eren was scrambling, trying to keep Armin up while not interfering with his current state. “I think you’re in shock, just breathe.”
Armin wasn’t responding, and Eren took the silence as a chance to contact the others. He put his finger to his ear, and tried not to sound panicked.
“Anyone there? Third floor is clear and I need medical treatment.”
Connie quickly responded. “Seventh floor is clear too, I’m with Sasha and Mikasa.”
Mikasa was suddenly in his ear. “I’ll check Hange’s office, but it looks like we cleared them all out. Who’s injured?”
“Armin’s hurt, his arm.” Eren patted Armin’s back as the blond continued to empty his stomach. “He’s in shock. Jean’s on the computer and I don’t know what to do.”
“Lay him down, put pressure on his arm and make sure he stays calm. Don’t overwhelm him.”
“Okay, should I bring him to Hange?”
“Not yet, let me make sure it’s clear. Keep him there.”
“Got it.”
Eren looked back to Armin, who was vomiting less than before. Eren took it as a good sign and moved forward with his plan of action. He put his hands on Armin’s shoulders, and shifted them away from the pool of vomit, not to mention the dead guy two feet away. The air’s scent almost made Eren throw up as well.
“You’re gonna lay down, okay?”
Armin didn’t fight the action, but gave Eren a concerned look. “What’s going on?”
“You got hurt, but it’s okay. Just breathe.” Eren rubbed his hand down the arm that was injured, gently applying pressure to the wound. “Jean’s got the computer, the others are safe. Try to relax.”
Steps could be heard, and Eren quickly looked up to see Jean running towards them. The man took the scene in, looking back between Eren and Armin before kneeling down.
“Our system is back. What’s going on?”
“Armin took your hit, that’s what.”
Jean blinked. “Huh?”
Eren glared, his patience running thin. “Y’know, if you care about him as much as you act like you do, you would-”
“Eren, shut the fuck up.” The brunet paused at Jean’s tone. “Don’t even try to imply that I don’t care about him, or you, or anyone else on this squad. Seriously, what has been wrong with you lately?!”
Eren chose not to respond. He didn’t like when Jean took on that tone, it made him sound older than he really was. It was easy for him to forget that Jean was technically the leader of their squad; they bicker too much for Eren to take him seriously all the time. But moments like these, serious and pin-dropping, Eren almost felt like he was being scolded.
“Well?”
Eren looked down at Armin, who’s half-lidded eyes were staring at the ceiling. “...I’m not reliable, sometimes.”
Jean’s face softened, but his confusion remained. “What are you talking about?”
Before Eren could respond, Mikasa’s voice cut through. “The whole building is clear, you can bring Armin up.”
Eren swallowed, tapping his ear piece. “Copy.”
His gaze lingered on Armin’s body, but his eyes always found themselves traveling back to his injured arm. Before he could let his doubts get to him, he felt a heavy hand on shoulder. He looked up, and tried to keep a straight face as Jean looked him in the eye.
“You are reliable. You and Armin are fine, he’ll be okay.” Jean took his hand off Eren’s shoulder. “Let’s bring him up, okay? And get you a new shirt.”
Eren took a moment before nodding his head. He slowly began picking Armin up.
…
Armin couldn’t remember most of what happened after he heard Eren’s gun go off. He only remembered what he’d been feeling, which was confused, panicked, tired, sick, dizzy, and a few other things before falling asleep.
He woke up in his bed to his surprise. Looking around, his eyes landed on Eren sleeping on a nearby chair. Armin went to rub the sleep out of his eyes, when he felt pain shoot up through his left arm. He hissed, and looked down to see it was banaged. He somehow forgot why he was in bed in the first place.
“Eren?” Armin kept his voice soft, not wanting to frighten the brunet. “Hey, Eren. I’m up.”
Eren was suddenly blinking, his head raising from his hand. “Armin! How are you feeling?”
Armin sat himself up as Eren stood from his chair. He watched as Eren sat on his mattress, right next to him. He looked tired and beat up, and seeing the bags under Eren’s eyes abruptly brought back most of his memory.
“Kenny’s squad! The computer, did they hack-”
“Jean handled it.”
“What about everyone else?”
“Everyone’s okay.”
Armin paused. “Are you okay?”
Eren looked away. “Do you like Jean more than me?”
“...in what way?” Armin smirked when Eren gave him a glare. “I’m kidding. Believe it or not I actually like you a lot more than everyone I know.”
“Do you trust him more than me or anything?”
Armin waited a beat before nudging the brunet. “Why are you so jealous of him?”
“Wha- I am not jealous!” Eren’s eyebrows furrowed as he gave Armin a questioning look. “What’s there to even be jealous of?”
“Sasha told me you were jealous of him. So I…” Armin looked away for a moment. “...tested that theory out on the last mission.”
“That’s fucked up. I knew you would’ve asked me to help you with the sniper. That whole thing made no sense, he’s barely taller than me.” Eren shook his head. “You guys just, you got a lot closer lately, I thought you and I were close.”
“We are close! I don’t know… he’s kinda like an older brother.” Armin reached out, and held Eren’s hand. “Can’t I have that?”
“You don’t have that with me?”
“We’ve fucked one too many times to have that type of relationship.”
Eren scratched the back of his head. “Right…”
Armin rolled his eyes. He pulled Eren’s hand towards him to catch the man’s attention, their eyes meeting. “Cuddle me? ‘Till I feel better?”
Eren squinted his eyes. “Would you ask Jean that?”
“Not in a million years. Now shut up and come here.”
Eren laid down next to Armin, spooning his uninjured side. Turns out he was right all along. He really had nothing to be jealous of when it came to Jean. He would rather die than say this outloud, but Jean wasn’t that bad. For the most part.
…