August 3 - Mythology
-During that beautiful two month time gap between chapters 69 and 70 & "jearmin-y"-
Armin wasn't watching the brats anymore. He was too busy staring out of the window. There was a tiny girl in his arms that was doing her best to distract him, though nothing worked until she yanked on his hair. He winced and looked down at her with a soft smile, pulling her hand away before putting her down on her own two feet to let her run with the others.
"What are you staring at?" Jean sidestepped some of the kids as they ran by. Their shrieks and squeals were drowning out the conversations from the rest of Squad Levi. He stopped by Armin's side, scooting closer to the fire.
"The stars," Armin said with a light shrug. He was dismissive, like it didn't matter. Jean looked out of the large window, but the flames were reflected in the panes, and he couldn't see more than one or two pricks of light in the black sky. He looked back to Armin just as the small, wistful smile tugging at the corners of his lips faded. "Alright! It's time for bed!"
The kids groaned collectively, but with a bit of manhandling they were all ushered up to the loft and packed into the bunks. It was certainly a big change, going from fighting Titans, to killing humans, and now taking care of orphaned brats, but Jean couldn't say he was ungrateful. He couldn't stand the kids most of the time, but one look generally sent them running away.
"You two have the watch for tonight!" Historia called down to Jean and Armin as they descended from the loft. Jean waved one hand - he remembered. Their presence was mostly to make sure the kids stayed in their beds. The others wandered to their own bunks.
Jean headed outside rather than return to the fire. It was chilly outside. He looked up at the sky. The stars were much more visible out here. There were no trees or clouds to block the view. He heard footsteps behind him, but didn't turn to look. He knew it was Armin.
"Orion is bright tonight." Armin stepped up to Jean's side. He was smiling sadly up at the sky.
Jean puzzled over the bright spots in the sky, but he couldn't figure out which one Armin was talking about. "All of the stars are bright."
"Orion is a constellation."
Jean frowned. "Which one is that?" Armin's hand was in the air, but he still couldn't make out what he was pointing to. "I don't…" Suddenly, Armin grabbed his arm and pulled him down so that their cheeks were almost pressed together. He followed Armin's hand as he traced out a pattern in the stars.
"Orion is the hunter." Armin's breath was warm against Jean's neck. "He fell in love with the goddess Artemis. He was killed, and placed among the stars. Do you see those six stars close together?" Jean nodded once, still following Armin's finger as he pointed them out. "There are really seven. Those are the Pleiades. Orion chased them in life, and so he chases them in death."
"How did he die, though?" Jean could remember some of the stories his mother had told him as a child, but he never remembered Orion. He knew of Perseus slaying the medusa, and he knew about Jason and the Argonauts on their quest for the golden fleece, but Artemis and the Pleiades were strange to him.
Armin chuckled lightly. "No one seems to agree on that. In one story, he rapes one of Artemis's followers, so she kills him. In another, Orion swore to hunt down and kill all of the beasts of the earth, so Mother Earth sent a giant scorpion to kill him." Armin paused and dropped his hand. He turned his head to look at Jean. One of Jean's hands rested on Armin's shoulder as he stood upright once more.
"I thought the constellations were put in the sky to represent good things," Jean muttered, recalling his mother's story of the bears, Castillo and Arcas. "Orion just seems like a jerk."
Armin smiled once more, but it was that same horribly sad smile that Jean couldn't understand the reason behind. "There's another ending to the story of Orion. It's the one I like the best. Orion, having fallen in love with Artemis, planned to marry her. Her brother Apollo became jealous. One night, he spotted Orion in the water, though he was very far away. Apollo made a bet with Artemis and said that she could never strike the object. She takes the bet and makes her mark with one arrow. When Orion's body came to the shore, Artemis realized what she'd done. Overwhelmed with guilt and sadness, she placed him in the stars so that she might always look up and remember him."
Armin fell silent. There was a soft silence to the world, where even the crickets weren't chirping. Jean shifted his hand on Armin's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around Armin's back and pulled him into his side. Looking down, he caught Armin's gaze. He was content to share this quiet moment with Armin, but he knew the days like this couldn't last forever.
"That's a depressing story." Jean grinned down at Armin, trying to search for a happier topic.
"It's one of my favorites." Armin looked down at the ground, his cheeks pink.
Jean chuckled. "I didn't think you were such a romantic."
Armin looked up at him with his own grin. "Shows what you know." He grabbed the front of Jean's coat and pulled him down. Armin kissed him once, very softly. "I know you can't put me in the stars, but don't forget me, okay?"
Jean frowned hard and pressed his forehead to Armin's as he wrapped his other arm around him. "Never." He pressed his lips to Armin's once more. "I think I hear the brats giggling." Armin nodded, and they turned for the building behind them.
A/N: So those of you who've read my With You know probably remember the other Orion thing I did... I'm a sucker for Greek mythology and Orion is one of my favorites - particularly because it's one of the very few constellations I actually know and can find.
And now I have this weird idea to throw the SnK cast into Sophocles' Oedipus plays...