#jeanarmin

The brunette squatted down to Armin’s level, gaze softening as he noticed him shift and grimace, insinuating his discomfort. He stopped and pondered for a minute. would Armin be pissed at him for waking him up? He couldn’t possibly be comfortable on the splintering bench, and everyone was outside…

With the utmost care and caution, Jean gently maneuvered one arm under the sleeping blonde’s knees, and one around his shoulders, allowing the lolling head to rest on his chest.

He walked wordlessly to the barracks, ensuring to take an alternate route to avoid any worries gazes. Once he reached the building, he carefully laid Armin down feet first, recounting the time the blonde had rambled about how it will keep a sleeping baby from waking.

If it works on babies, it must work on Armins, Jean deduced.

He covered Armin with the blanket from the boy’s bed, along with his own blanket, and pulled the cord for the lightbulb.

—

It was around 3:00 when Jean had finally seen Armin resurface from the room, eyes bleary and hair disheveled. The blonde said nothing as he simply rose his hand to wave, and trudged to the dining table to try and continue the design that was stumping him.

The brunette frowned. “Armin…?”

“Mm?”

“How long have you been working on that?” Realistically, Jean knew the answer was not a pleasant one. However, he was not prepared for the time stamp that emitted from his comrade’s mouth.

“Two nights.” The boy murmured as he rhythmically tapped his pencil against the table.

“Nights? As in you didn’t-“

“Sleep, yes.” Armin interrupted rather wearily, “I can sleep when the Titans are all gone.”

“You fell asleep on a bench in the mess hall earlier, this isn’t like you.” Jean’s tone softened as he squatted at the blonde’s side. Resting a gentle, reassuring hand on his shoulder, he tried his best at sympathy. “You sound exhausted. Can I help you in any way?”

The boy sighed as he leaned into the touch. He relished in the warm feeling for a moment before speaking. “It’s not that I want to be up like this. I know the best out of everyone that sleeping is vital for a person’s physical and mental wellness. I just… as soon as I give them one, they come back and give me two more.”

“Do I have permission to pick you up again?”

“Again? I mean yeah, but what are y-“

Armin couldn’t finish his inquiry due to the yelp that emitted from his lips. Jean had carefully lifted him from his seated position, holding him securely onto his back. “Don’t let go, kay?”

“Jean I can’t-“

“Can’t sleep?”

“Mhm…” the blonde frowned, resting his head in between his companion’s shoulder blades. “Too much… g’tta do.”

“Hmm… that’s too bad. It seems like I’ll have to take the full-frontal force of Captain Levi’s wrath then.” And without letting his friend argue, Jean took the same path to the barracks, placed Armin down carefully, and covered the boy in the same two blankets. “You are going to stay here and sleep, and I will keep watch outside of the door for you.”

Murmuring a slurred “thangkyouu” Armin finally succumbed to his exhaustion. Jean smiled fondly and exhaled in relief. He pulled the cord for the lightbulb, shut the door quietly, and went to the dining room to retrieve the brainstormed notes.

—

When Armin awoke, he stretched in satisfaction, he hadn’t felt this rested in quite some time. As he sat up to put on his cape, he noticed a note on his bedside table…

“I told everyone that you were in an epic standoff with a bear, so you were resting. I don’t know if anyone actually believed me aside from Sasha, the captain and commander sure as hell didn’t.” Armin giggled as he read over the note once more. He noticed it wasn’t signed… weird.

Next to the note were his drawings and calculations for the design Hange had wanted him to tweak. He picked them up with furrowed brows, and that’s when he noticed a scribbled note in red pen.

“You forgot about the double negative, that’s why your dimensions were off. It’s amazing what you can miss when you’re sleep deprived. :P -Jean”