The sun was really bright today. It shone with an almost obnoxious quality, washing out the blue of the sky and reflecting off everything. Trees, grass, the stable, all of it somehow reflected the light a hundred fold. It glared into the eyes of a young man the moment he walked outside, dirt crunching under his boots.

Jean groaned and lifted a hand up to shade his eyes from the sun's glare, and meandered slowly to the stables. In the past, as a kid, the sun would lift his mood and he'd be thrilled to be done with the night. But now, as a soldier of the Scouting Legion, he thinks upon the sun with a certain amount of weariness. Sunlight energizes the titans. Titans roam beyond the walls. The walls have been broken by titans before. ...and titans were quite possibly originally humans. Every mission they had experienced, they'd killed titans. Every mission that they had experienced, titans had eaten humans.

Ahhh, now I'm thinking about that again. Great. If only I could just turn off my own thoughts.

Eager to escape the sun, Jean pushed open the door to the stables and quietly greeted the horses. Grabbing a brush from where the tack was stored, he strode down the hall to the stall where his horse was. She nickered at him and pushed her nose against his shoulder in greeting.

"Hey girl, easy now. I'm just here to brush you. And yes, you can have the apple." Jean laughed as he said this last bit, pulling the apple out of his pocket that she was nosing. He held it out with a flat palm, pleased to be able to give such a rare treat to his partner. Without a horse out here, he'd be stuck. And she'd come back to him and survived some rather brutal events. He was pleased to have such a horse as his partner.

The horse in the stall next to him let out a little neigh of remorse, watching the apple get eaten. Jean grinned to himself and made a mental note to bring something for Mikasa's horse next time.

His grin faltered then.

Next time they'd probably be out riding together again would be for the next mission. Which might be heading further in the walls with Historia, or maybe heading back out beyond the walls to hunt down Reiner and Bertholdt. He shook his head and focused again on brushing down the horse in front of him.

Maybe we can ride together someday when it isn't for a mission. Just the two of us. Somewhere peaceful.

He was about halfway done when the stable doors creaked opened and let someone in. Jean was focused on his own dark thoughts and ignored the door. Knowing his luck, it'd be Eren. They were on better terms now, but they still didn't have the greatest of friendships. If it could even be called that.

Footsteps echoed quietly in the stable, coming down towards the stall Jean was in. He glanced up to see Mikasa standing outside the stall of her horse, quietly petting her mare's nose. She looked over at him and smiled softly.

"Hi."

"Hi."

She stepped into her mare's stall and started combing her mane, humming a light tune to herself. Jean could feel his shoulders releasing some of their tension while she hummed.

"Hey, Mikasa?"

Mikasa's hair shone in the dim lighting, and she glanced up through her hair to look at him.

"Yes Jean?"

Jean paused from brushing and leaned against his horse. His eyes were shadowed and drawn together.

"I have a favor to ask of you."

She paused her work, putting her horse instead. Mikasa couldn't remember Jean ever asking her for a favor before. In fact, they hadn't really talked all that much until just recently. She nodded for him to continue, black eyes open and curious.

"So there's a good chance that all the titans we've ever fought were human, right? And that Connie's village disappeared, and that one titan resembles his mom, right? And we have no idea how they went from human to titan." Jean looked away for a moment, then looked back at Mikasa, eyes pleading. "If, somehow, I get turned into a titan, end me? Kill me before I can hurt someone. I wouldn't be me, and I don't want to get someone we know injured or...eaten." He shook his head at the idea. "It's not like I'd really know what's going on anyways, you know?"

Mikasa studied the young man in front of her for a moment before replying. He looked like he was tired, like he had lost sleep over this before. His question made sense, and it sure sounded like he'd thought this through before. She nodded once.

"Ok." Before he could look too relieved, she continued. "As long as you do the same for me."

Jean flinched back. "But-"

She gave him a look. "If it's a possibility that you turn into a titan, then it's only fair to assume the same for the rest of us. I too wouldn't want to injure or kill any of our team. I don't think it's really likely, but I do agree with you that there is that possibility, and that would be horrific. So, if you agree to do the same for me, then I'll do it for you."

He hung his head a moment, obviously warring with himself over this idea. He sighed and looked up at her, nodding.

"Deal. Thank you."

She smiled at him, and continued brushing her mare. "Of course, this place is safe for now. Probably as safe as Connie's village was really, but safe nonetheless. We post guards for day and night to keep an eye out for anything abnormal. Hopefully we'd get a forewarning of anything about to happen." Mikasa reached over the wall of the stall into Jean's and touched his arm. "As long as we're all together, we can fight. We're not alone. We have each other."

Arm tingling from where she had touched him, Jean hoped his grin in reply was more thankful than giddy.

Is it just me, or has she been nicer to me more lately? It's like she's actually noticed me, and in a good way too!

He gave her a dazzling smile and started brushing his horse again, with a lighter heart. "You're right, of course. And I'm glad we have each other." He paused suddenly, thinking of what he just said. "Uh..."

Mikasa laughed. She couldn't help it. Jean was blushing again, and there was something sincerely cute about his blush. Eyes still full of mirth she shook her head to herself. Jean really was something else, wasn't he? She eyed him over her horse, watching him care for his horse. He was rubbing her neck, and talking quietly to her. Mikasa enjoyed watching Jean when he was focused on something.

Last week when he fixed dinner for their team, she enjoyed sitting back and watching. She advised him a few times, but for the most part he handled it all himself. Not only was she impressed with how dinner tasted, but he really got into the cooking. Jean would hum to himself, and shift from foot to foot while he waited for different things to finish cooking. She hadn't even realized she'd been watching him until Armin asked her if she enjoyed what she saw and she turned away stammering and blushing.

But now it was just her and Jean in the stables, with no one else around. And she could watch him focus on his horse. He gave care and attention to the tasks, people and creatures around him that were important. She knew he liked her. For awhile she had been rather oblivious, but she had started to notice him after little comments Armin, Sasha or Historia made. Eren, unsurprisingly was completely ignorant of that, and she figured that was fine for now.

She wondered what life would be like if she was to express interest in being in a relationship with Jean. If he gave her even half of the amount of devotion he gave to his horse now, she knew she'd be in good hands.

Jean glanced up at her and offered a small smile. She smiled back and started humming to herself as she turned back to her horse. Maybe, just maybe, she could trust Jean to keep her heart safe.