A/N: Someone asked for Springlestein but it turned out more like Springles to me...
Canonverse.
Jean enters the bar ready to search the crowded place for his friends, but it turns out that he doesn't need to look for long. He's greeted with cheers of "Jean! Jean!" like he's a goddamn war hero that has just returned from the outside instead of a simple guy meeting his friends for drinks. His friends, being quite loud, make it easy for him to find them.
"Oh, Jean! Over here!" Sasha calls, waving a hand. She's so eager to give him a hug that she knocks into the table as she gets off her seat. If Connie hadn't been there, their drinks would have spilled onto the floor.
"Did you have to call me so loudly? Half the people in this pub are looking at me now," Jean grumbles, but he accepts Sasha's hug even though she runs into him with a force that almost makes him fall over. He can tell that she's had a couple of drinks already by the way she sways. He has to be the one to lead her back to the table, helping her back into her chair where she happily returns to her beer.
"How are you doing, Jean?" Connie says, grinning with a lop-sided smile. It seems he's already had a drink or two as well. His cheeks are flushed red they normally do when he's a little drunk. "Good day at work, Mr. Squad Leader?"
"It was as good as any other day," Jean yawns. He's always about ready to pass out on his bed after he's done with work. It's usually just business meetings and paperwork along with meeting and training the new recruits that seem to be pouring in now that the Scouting Legion has begun to successfully reclaim the land beyond the Walls. He had been promoted to the position of squad leader a few months after the return to Shiganshina and it was a lot more work than he had thought it would be, but at least he has Connie and Sasha to keep him company. "So what's the occasion for drinks today?"
"We're celebrating!" Sasha cheers, lifting her glass of beer, the golden liquid sloshing out of the sides.
Connie takes his glass and raises it up against hers and the two of them take a sip, perfectly in sync.
Jean can only roll his eyes, his own drink left untouched. "You're always celebrating something. I wouldn't be surprised if you guys told me you've turned into alcoholics," he snorts.
Connie ignores Jean's comments, used to hearing things like this from him. Instead, he lifts his glass up towards Jean, inviting him to drink. "What's not to celebrate? We're alive, healthy, and together. You're even here this time, so we should drink twice as much!" Connie says.
"Drink, drink!" Sasha chirps, taking another swig. It doesn't seem to matter to her that Jean isn't drinking along with her. At least she's enjoying herself though.
Sighing, Jean decides to take a sip of his beer, thinking that he's had much better drinks than this, but he smiles when Sasha cheers a little too loudly. Drinking to them – for living, for surviving, for lasting this long together – is certainly something he could celebrate.
"We've been through a lot together, haven't we?" Jean asks. He takes another sip, deciding that the bitter taste of the alcohol isn't so bad after he's taken a few sips. "Training, battles, and homecomings."
If someone had asked him at the start of all this how far he'd make it, he would have laughed at them and told them he'd make it until the very end. That was when he was set on joining the Military Police. Now that he's joined the Scouting Legion, served it in for more years than he ever thought he would, he sees that nothing could ever be sure. Even that peaceful life serving the king wouldn't have been certain. The only thing he can be sure about is the two people who sit beside him now. These two, who have never run from a battle, have stood by him with unwavering loyalty, surer of him and his words than he'll ever be. If it weren't for them, Jean probably wouldn't be sitting here today.
"Are you going to get all sappy on us?" Sasha laughs, resting her head on Jean's shoulder.
"And you haven't even had a drink yet," laughs Connie. "If you're this cheesy now, think of all the things you'll say once you've got some alcohol in your bloodstream."
"Oh, don't ruin the moment," Jean grumbles, taking another large swig of his beer.
"Fine, fine," Connie says quickly, not wanting Jean to leave early like he usually does when he finds Connie and Sasha too drunk and giggly to spend time with. He lifts his glass once more and raises an eyebrow. "Another toast, maybe?"
"What for this time? More celebrating just for the sake of it?" Although he constantly expresses his disapproval of Connie's and Sasha's many late-night drinking parties (that usually only consist of themselves), he admires them for being able to find a reason to celebrate life even if things look bleak. Although maybe Jean's been working too much and just doesn't have the same sort of free time they do. He should really reconsider how he spends his nights. Maybe he could schedule weekends to go drinking with them even if they do end up as messy slobs that sneak into his bedroom at three in the morning.
"To Jean!" Sasha says loudly. She has that glazed look in her eye that she gets when she's had more than enough to drink and Jean thinks after this he should replace the contents of her glass with water. "For being a good soldier, a better friend, and…"
"Our best man," Connie finishes, grinning at Jean.
It takes him a while to process what Connie has just said. Best man? Surely, they didn't mean…
Jean takes a hold of Sasha's hand, inspecting her finger only to find that there's nothing on it. Confused, he looks at both Sasha and Connie who both look as if they're trying hard not to laugh. "Either I'm confused or you're lying to me, but I'm sure I know what you mean," he says, looking at them suspiciously before fixing his gaze on Connie. "So where's her ring, Connie? Don't tell me you were too cheap to buy one."
"Hey, do you really think so poorly of me?" Connie laughs.
"I have it here," Sasha says happily. She fishes out a chain that's hidden under her shirt, pulling it out to reveal a ring with two bands of gold and silver intertwined with each other. At the very center is a diamond that is cut in such a way that it glitters brilliantly no matter what angle Jean looks at it.
"You guys are really…," Jean breathes, but he never finishes his sentence. There are no words to describe the way he feels right now. He just shakes his head, hoping that his tears don't fall. "The both of you are so incredible."
"Yeah," Sasha says softly. She seems a little soberer now. The ring dangles from the chain a little longer so that Sasha can admire it, but she quickly tucks it under her shirt once more, a wistful expression on her face. "I haven't worn it just because I don't want my folks to know yet. We still have that mission in Marley and…"
She doesn't finish the sentence. She doesn't need to, and Jean doesn't want her to. Connie must feel the same way because he reaches over to cover Sasha's hand with his, giving it a quick squeeze.
Jean doesn't want them to think about this possibility. He doesn't want them to consider the idea that one of them might not make it back to Paradis. These two are the people most deserving of love and happiness. They're the ones who he wants to see have a happy ending. After all, they're the ones who made him believe in them.
"I'd be honored to be your best man," Jean says, wrapping them both up in a hug. He presses a kiss against Sasha's forehead and smiles at Connie. "But give me the bigger honor of bringing you two home safely from Marley."
"We'll keep you to it," Connie laughs.
"You're squishing me," Sasha giggles.
Jean ignores her, squeezing them even harder, and swearing that he'll bring them home if it's the last thing he does.
A/N: I think Jean has become one of my favorites to write. He's very interesting...
Word Count: 1423
