"Oy, Armin, did you understand any of that?" Jean said after catching him leaving the classroom. They were headed to 3DMG training next, and Eren had walked off with Mikasa, leaving Armin to his own thoughts. That was until Jean came along.

"Yes, it's fairly simple once he explained how the gas propellers work to project the grappling hooks out at such a speed that they manage to latch on to something. I never would have imagined that something so simple as a gas could be so vital to aiding our fight against titans, ya know?" Armin rambled, getting a little too excited about learning so much. Jean simply stared with a blank expression.

"I think I got at least some of that… But anyway, Armin do you think you could help me out later today, once we get back to the cabins?" Jean asked.

"Well, I don't know, Eren was also needing help with his…" Armin said offhandedly.

"I'll help you with the 3D gear!" Jean said, like he was going to let Jaeger steal Armin when he obviously needed the help more than he did.

"Sounds like a deal then. Meet me after dinner and I'll explain my notes." Armin said with a smile.

He knew that most of his other teammates disliked Jean, but Armin had actually become fond of him, in an odd sort of way. Yes, he did agree that Jean was conceited and narcissistic, but Armin saw that deep down, underneath his cocky exterior, Jean was truly skilled at what he did, and he did have the capacity to care deeply for people, but he just didn't want others to see it. This brought the scene when Jean's mother visited to mind, and Armin laughed at how much of a momma's boy he actually was.

"What are you smiling about?" Jean asked. Armin bit back his smile.

"Oh nothing, I just remembered the time when your mother came to visit." Armin said as if it was nothing. He bit back laughter as Jean's face turned bright red with embarrassment.

"Tch, that was a long time ago." Jean said angrily.

"Jean, that was two months ago."

"So! Come on, I don't want to be late to training." Jean said with a huff.

xxxxx

"Ok, so do you get it now Jean?" Armin asked, organizing the day's notes into a pile with the others.

"Yeah, I really owe you one Armin." Jean said with a genuine smile. Armin's heart soared, maybe most people saw Jean as an asshole, but he had been just perfect during their study session, paying attention well and taking his own notes, Armin couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at the progress they had made.

"I'm glad to help, don't tell him I said this, but you're a better student than Eren is sometimes." Armin whispered. Jean's jaw dropped in surprise.

"No way, what, does he like drool on his notes?" Jean joked.

"Well sometimes there is drool on them, yes. Mostly he just tends to get frustrated, or he'll get really distracted." Armin replied. Jean wore a huge smug smile, and Armin knew that even though he said "don't tell him" Jean was going to rub it in his face the next time he saw Eren.

"So, I know it's late, but I heard that Shadis was going in to town tonight, that means we could sneak out and go practice, if you still want to." Jean said. Armin stopped, yes, he had wanted Jean's help with the 3D gear, he was one of the best when it came to maneuvering, but practicing so late? Every one of Armin's instincts was telling him no, but the trace of mischief he saw in Jean's eyes, lit something inside of him, and he found he could not say no.

"Okay." Armin said, and although he would never admit it out loud, breaking the rules with Jean made him feel excited and giddy, the likes of which he hadn't felt since the fall of Wall Maria.

xxxxx

"Alright, do you have it all set up Armin?" Jean asked, standing in front of the training field next to Armin. The boy in question fiddled with his equipment for a moment longer before giving Jean a thumbs up.

"Now, just a quick thing, before I set out, I like to picture in my head exactly where I want to go, can you see it?"

"Yeah." Armin replied.

"Once you've got that, you just have to go!" Jean said, taking off with a running start. Armin, not going to be left behind, ran after him, picturing the spot right next to him, in-between two trees.

Jean grinned in front of Armin as he caught up, then Jean changed direction and turned left.

"It's best to lean into the direction of your turn, but too much can be bad. Just lean a bit to help balance it out." Jean called behind him. Armin did as he said, changing directions with him and leaning, and sure enough, Armin found he was able to switch directions much faster.

"Got it?" Jean asked as Armin caught up beside him.

"Yeah, what else did you have in mind?" Armin asked.

"Well if you're going to want to take down a titan you should know how to shift your balance even more than that. Now this is harder, but I used it the other day on one of the dummies, and it worked perfectly. Watch me." Jean said, before retracting his hooks and shooting them again above him, before shooting them in a tree closer to them, and Armin watched as Jean flew at amazing speeds, before coming to rest on top of a branch.

"Do you think you can try that Armin?" Jean called after him. Armin focused, just as Jean said. He retracted the hooks, shot them back out, then again closer, and found himself moving faster than he had before, but instead of landing on the branch gracefully like Jean had, Armin had the wind knocked out of him as he hit the branch straight on.

"Armin!" Jean called out, and rushed to his friend's side. "Are you okay? Does it hurt? Did you break anything?"

"No," Armin coughed hoarsely. "I'm okay, it was just an accident anyway. I'll be fine, the wind got knocked out of me is all." Jean seemed to let out all the air in his lungs, and sat there with Armin.

"Thank you Jean." Armin said, discreetly trying to scoot closer to him.

"It's no problem, you helped me with the smart stuff, it's the least I can do right? It's not your fault that you were born a bit smaller than the rest of us." Jean said with what Armin could only describe as affection. He knew that Jean didn't get along with most of the others in the squad, and for him to speak so kindly to Armin did a number in his chest. Of course that could have been the tree as well.

"Yeah, it sure hasn't been easy, that's for sure. At least you're tall." Armin said, to which Jean laughed.

"Sure, but I'm not as tall as Bertholt, have you even seen that guy? He'd give that colossal titan a run for it's money." he joked, earning an amused laugh from Armin that made his heart skip a beat.

"Hey Armin," Jean said, almost in a trance as the moonlight shone down onto Armin's features, outlining them with his golden hair that lit up like a halo. It took a second to regain his composure before he could finish his statement, "you know, you're really learning fast. Do you wanna try taking down one of the dummies? First one to find the one by the edge of the trees gets to have tomorrow's dinner!" Jean challenged, Armin grinned, jumping off and soaring off before Jean could do so much as smirk. With Jean's natural ability to maneuver the gear, it took him no time to catch up to Armin.

Jean found himself distracted once again by Armin as he soared freely, not a care in the world, golden hair blowing away from his face, finally giving Jean a clear view of Armin's gentle features and bright blue eyes, alight with excitement.

"Come on Kirschtein, having a hard time keeping up?" Armin joked as he turned a corner before Jean, gaining the lead.

"Oh you wish!" Jean teased back, utilizing all his skills to pull ahead once more. As they reached the last stretch of their race, Jean found himself neck and neck with Armin. What Jean failed to realize, was that Armin was a tactical genius. He had not been so innocent to Jean's gazes, so he knew that with one well-placed distraction, he could easily win the race.

As they made the last turn, Armin made sure his angle put him right up next to Jean, and he placed a kiss on Jean's cheek with a loud smack. This caused Jean to lose his balance, knocking into Armin. With the velocity from their turn, Armin found himself spinning around Jean as their lines got tangled. Jean was flipped upside down, then back up again, and Armin let out a small squeak as the wires got wrapped around them both, and left them both hanging from a tree tied together.

Both of them tried struggling, but it was fruitless. They couldn't unclasp their harnesses, or plummet twenty feet to the ground. Jean and Armin were stuck. To make matters worse, Armin was nose to nose with Jean, both of their faces painfully red. Armin was the first to find his voice, he spoke with a shy smile and an awkward laugh,

"Uh… It was an accident."