ShanaRay requested: Jean falls off his horse while 3DMG training with Armin? It's the first time it's happened in front of Armin and while he was trying to show off.

Armin wasn't sure what maneuver Jean had been trying to pull off, but it definitely wasn't one they had been taught.

The newest Survey Corps members had been brought to the stables to learn tactical maneuvers for using their 3DMG while on horseback. During training it had been restricted to purely theory, as the time and resources to have an entire training corps prepare and learn the proper way to use 3DMG on horses was deemed unnecessary, considering the bulk of the class would end up in the Garrison with no access to the animals.

So for the last two hours the group had been taught and ordered to practice methods of launching themselves off of their horses. Needless to say, Jean had excelled in the practice as he did with anything related to their gear. So why he had ended up somersaulting in midair was a mystery.

Armin grimaced as he saw the green blur fall to the ground with an audible 'thwump,' followed by an even louder obscenity. The horse that Jean had specifically picked out that morning kept on running, apparently holding no interest in going over to the figure that lay slumped on the ground.

So Armin took it upon himself to do it.

"Hey Jean, you alright?" Armin yelled as he strode over, careful to make his horse stop a long while before he reached the destination. He was, as he had expected, the worst when it came to this exercise. In training he had been one of the bottom few when it came to the physical aspects, but there had still been those who fell behind even him. However, every new member of the Survey Corps except for him and Ymir were part of the top ten, leaving absolutely no competition for last place.

Armin jumped off his horse and ran over to the brunet that was now rubbing his head.

"Jean?"

The named boy groaned, and extended his hand upward towards Armin. The blond stared at it for a moment, before realizing that Jean was expecting him to pull him up. Clasping the hand in front of him he yanked upwards, unsure if he'd be strong enough to pull him up otherwise.

"Ack, geeze, Armin. My ass hurts enough already, I don't need my arm hurting too." Jean wiped the dirt off of said area.

"Sorry."

"I can't believe I messed that up," he commented, kicking his boots into the dirt ground in a vain attempt to clear the smudges off.

"What were you even trying to do?"

"You know... just what they taught us."

That was nothing close to what they had been taught, and if the resurfacing of Jean's blush was anything to go by then he knew it too.

Regardless, the blond didn't press the issue. He knew all-too-well the physical and emotional humiliation that came with every tumble.

"It's okay Jean, I fall off my horse all the time." He said, though he knew that coming from him the words couldn't be all that comforting.

"How do you keep doing this?"

"Huh?"

"I've only fallen off once and I already want to stop. How are you not hurting? You've fallen like three times today."

In truth, Armin was hurting all over. His feet, his ankles, his knees, elbows. Even, like Jean had said, his ass. But he'd dealt with a lot worse pain during training, and he'd learned a long time ago, even as a child, that the world was full of pain. You just kept on going.

But he didn't tell Jean any of that. "You'll feel better soon, just keep going," he lied.

Jean nodded. His horse had finally decided to return to him, and he hopped back on without a word. The only sign that the scene had even happened was red that still lived on his cheeks.

After that, things continued as if nothing had happened. Jean didn't stumble on his horse even once; pulling off every maneuver with perfect precision.

Armin, however, fell off for the fourth time that day. He lay on the ground, cloak draped over his face. He could spare lying here for a few seconds longer than usual, just to let his eyes rest. The cloth provided nice shade.

"Hey, Armin! You alright?"

Armin scrambled to get the cloak off his face, eager to get up before the other would reach him and undoubtedly offer help that he didn't want. He didn't want Jean to think that he was unable to get up on his own; to think that on top of being incapable of performing their tasks that he couldn't even fix his own mistakes.

The green cloak finally flung itself out his way, and the first sight in Armin's eyes was Jean's smirking face. The brunet latched onto the arm that hung awkwardly in the air, raising the shorter one onto his feet before he could object.

"That one looked like it hurt a lot."

"No, it wasn't that bad."

"That's a lie if I've ever heard one."

Armin bit his lip.

"Come on, there's no way you're not hurting after that fall. My ass still hurts."

Armin looked up at Jean, who seemed to be more worried that he wasn't hurt.

"Alright, maybe it hurts a little bit," he admitted.

Jean smiled. "I knew it! After this, you and me should go back to the dorms early! We can steal some of the better pillows while people aren't there, and relax!"

Armin wondered if Jean really just wanted to do this because his butt still hurt, or because he was butthurt that Eren had alledgedly stolen his pillow last week while he took a shower.

Armin considered the option. He wasn't exactly comfortable with making others annoyed with him, but he supposed he could just tell Eren that he took it for himself...

More than that though, Jean wanted to do this with him. The idea of anyone, let alone Jean, wanting to spend time with him was temptation enough.

"Okay!"

"Yeah, that's more like it!" Jean smiled.

Perhaps getting hurt wasn't so bad after all.

Thanks for reading this far, reviews are much appreciated!