The prompt for today's fic was 'glasses' and I decided that while I could write Armin or Jean wearing glasses I wanted to interpret the prompt a little differently. That being said, I hope you enjoy this and I'll see you tomorrow for the last day of Jearmin week!
The old Survey Corps headquarters is huge; when Jean has nothing else to do he finds new places in the castle, exploring only a small chunk of it at a time before he gets lost again. On one such afternoon – a hot, slow afternoon where the sunlight slants in through the windows to make bright square patches on the floors – Jean is exploring what he thinks is the south wing. He's wandering down a corridor, poking his head into various rooms or else encountering locked doors, on his way to where he's pretty sure the kitchens are, when he hears a deafening crash. It's unmistakably glass, and sets Jean's nerves immediately on edge. His gear and weaponry are all back in the bunks but he hunches down anyway, creeping quickly down the rest of the corridor, peering around the corner.
Armin stands with his back to Jean, staring down at his feet where there lies an ankle deep pile of broken glass. In his hands he's holding a large tray that clearly previously held the glass.
"Armin?"
Armin jumps, letting out a yelp, turning to look at Jean. When their gazes meet, Armin's eyes are wide and he's pale and shaking.
"Jean!" he squeaks, knuckles white on the tray. "I... Commander Smith asked me and Eren to carry these glasses to the mess hall but then Captain Levi asked Eren to go with him somewhere and so I had to carry them on my own and..." He looks down at the glass again and then back at Jean. "What am I going to do?"
His voice is thin and anxious, half breath and half sob: Jean knows he's panicking. With a few quick strides, he crosses to him and puts his hands on Armin's shoulders.
"First off, stop freaking out," he says firmly, squeezing Armin's shoulders gently. "We'll tidy this up and then I'm going to kick Eren's butt."
Armin shakes his head. "You don't hav–"
"He left you to do this on your own because he wanted to impress Captain Levi," says Jean with a frown. "He's being a selfish little shit – not that there's anything new there but he still should have stayed around to help."
With that, Jean takes the tray from Armin's hands and crouches down, starting to carefully pick up the larger pieces of glass and put them on the tray. After a wordless few moments, Armin gets down on his haunches and follows suit, delicately transferring bits of glass from the floor to the tray.
"How many glasses were on the tray?" asks Jean after a few minutes.
"Uh... I think about forty?" replies Armin.
"Fuck's sake," sighs Jean. "Eren's really for it when we get done here."
"What about the glasses?" asks Armin. "That's forty missing drinking glasses and there's no way they won't notice."
Jean shakes his head. "We'll figure something out."
They get the remaining bigger bits of glass onto the tray, followed by slightly smaller bits and then the last pieces they can safely pick up with their bare hands. When Armin tries to pick up one of the even smaller pieces, he hisses and draws his hand back, checking his skin for bits of glass before sticking his finger in his mouth.
"You okay?" asks Jean. Armin nods, finger still in his mouth. "We'll need to sweep the rest up. I'll go get a broo–"
"Arlert! Kirschtein!"
Both of their heads snap up at the sound of their names and they scramble to their feet, putting their fists to their chests.
"Commander Smith sir!" they say in unison as Erwin comes down the corridor towards them and comes to stand in front of them both. He looks between them and the floor, folding his arms across his broad chest.
"What is this?" he asks, gaze falling on Armin.
"Th-the glasses you a-asked me to c-carry sir," stutters Armin, body trembling as the Commander stares down at him.
"I believe I asked for you to take them whole," says Erwin.
Armin nods shakily. "That w-was the implication s-sir."
"Then why," asks Erwin, "are they broken on the floor?"
"I... I... I d-dropped them s-sir," replies Armin.
Erwin stands silent for a long few moments – Jean can feel the nerves coming off Armin like an aura – before raising one thick eyebrow.
"Toilet duty," he says. "For a week."
Armin's face falls.
"Problem, Arlert?"
Armin shakes his head. "N-no sir. Sorry sir."
"Good," says Erwin. "Now get this cleaned up."
He turns to go but then Jean lifts his head.
"It was my fault sir," he says.
Erwin stands still, staring down at Jean, who feels Armin staring at him too.
"What do you mean?" asks Erwin.
"I came around the corner and scared him sir," says Jean. "I thought it would be funny."
All three of them stand in silence: Jean prays that Erwin won't realise he's lying. He doesn't know why he's trying to cover for Armin like this – he spends half his time rolling his eyes at him and it's not like they're close, but he couldn't help it when the words left his mouth. It isn't Armin's fault, and he can't help but feel the need to defend Armin, even if it means lying to their CO. Under Erwin's scrutiny, he fights the urge to back away, keeping his head high.
"You scared him?" asks Erwin.
"Yes sir," nods Jean. "Armin was carrying the glasses and I thought it would be funny."
"And was it?"
"No sir."
Erwin looks between the two of them before saying, "Toilet duty for you instead Kirschtein. And both of you are doing extra situational awareness training for the next fortnight. Now get this cleaned up."
"Yes sir!"
Erwin leaves, boots tapping smartly on the flagstone floor, even after he's out of sight. Armin lets out a breath as Jean lets himself relax and they set off to get a broom and dustpan.
"Why did you do that?" asks Armin after a minute.
Jean shrugs. "I don't know," he admits. "I think I just... I was annoyed because it wasn't your fault."
"It wasn't your fault either though," points out Armin, coming to a halt.
"No, but..." Jean hesitates, unsure what to say. He isn't sure how to explain why he lied to Erwin for Armin's sake; in reality he barely understands why himself. All Jean understands is that when he saw Armin surrounded by broken glass and shaking like a leaf, he knew he wanted to rake away his fear and stop him getting into trouble. There's no way he can think to phrase it to Armin however, and so he simply shakes his head. "I just... I didn't like seeing you upset and I wanted to do what I could to help."
Armin stares wordlessly up at him for a long moment, and Jean nearly asks what's wrong but then he sees the tips of Armin's ears flushing pink, and the same flush creeping into his cheeks. Suddenly the air between them feels thicker, almost too close and weirdly intimate, despite the physical distance between them. Jean clears his throat to cover up the feeling of his heart thumping hard in his chest and Armin looks away, ducking his head to hide his face behind his fringe.
"We should get the broom," he says softly. Jean nods, following him down the corridor to a store cupboard.
They don't say anything beyond short affirmations about getting the rest of the glass in the dustpan, and by the time they get done things feel a little less awkward between them. After they throw the broken glass away, Jean puts a hand on Armin's shoulder again.
"Now we get to plan revenge on Eren," he says, his wicked grin answered by a small smile from Armin.