A/N: I used to steal my sister's stuffed animals one by one until she finally noticed they were missing. Then she started to do it to me! It was a fun time.

Canonverse.


It's midway through dinner when Marco finally realizes that food is slowly disappearing from Jean's plate and it's not because Jean's the one eating it. No, two other people happen to be mooching off his plate and no one else at the table seems to notice this except for him. That's what Marco thinks until he sees Armin's voice grow a little more startled and frantic whenever Jean's gaze begins to drift back to his plate. He only calms down once he's sure Jean is looking at him and only him again, allowing Sasha and Connie to steal more food now that Jean's attention is elsewhere.

Marco should have known that something was amiss when Armin had decided to sit with them at dinner tonight. It's not that he dislikes or that Armin is unfriendly with anyone else currently sitting at the table. It's just that Armin is friends with Jean's mortal enemy, Eren Jaeger, and he was sure that some sort of scuffle would break out if Eren ever saw Armin eating with Jean Kirstein, but Armin had simply told his childhood friend he has to discuss 3DMG training with Jean since he's pretty much the most talented person in their division when it comes to 3DMG. Marco could see that Eren was disgruntled but had accepted Armin wouldn't be eating with him and Mikasa that night because, as much as he hated to admit it, Jean's pretty damn good with 3DMG and swinging through trees. When nothing happened after that, Marco thought he could relax and that dinner would go smoothly, but it appears he was wrong all along.

He understands why Sasha and Connie had chosen tonight of all nights to steal Jean's food. It's fried chicken, definitely one of the better meals cooked in the dining hall, and a food that Jean cuts up, making it easy to take pieces one by one while he's not looking. In fact, Marco hadn't realized it himself until he had seen that Jean's plate was half-empty. The only reason that Jean hasn't realized it yet is because he has yet to look at his plate; he's too immersed in his conversation with Armin.

When he looks at Sasha, a confused expression on his face, she simply winks at him after spearing another piece of chicken onto her fork and popping it into her mouth. Connie, upon seeing that Marco has realized what's happening, gives him a cheeky grin.

He's very used to witnessing Sasha and Connie's pranks. They're usually harmless, the most offensive of their stunts being humiliating a Military Police officer during one of their vacation days in Stohess. (Marco didn't really mind that one. The officer was a pompous dick after all, and Marco usually doesn't think such things about people unless they're truly terrible.) This, however, is going too far. Not only are they depriving Jean of his meal, they're also roping Armin into this. He's not sure how they got Armin to play along in this scheme of theirs, but it's very apparent that he's not helping them of his own free will.

That doesn't matter, Marco decides. He'll be the one to put a stop to this.

"Jean," he begins, but he's quickly interrupted by Sasha, who pretends to choke on her food.

Jean can only give Marco a quick glance before turning to Sasha, who is so obviously fake choking that Marco can't see why Jean can believe her poor acting. He rubs her back though and quietly tells her to cough it out and offers her his water to drink.

Exasperated, Marco looks to Armin, hoping that he'll finally reveal this prank to Jean, but Armin only shakes his head quickly. He's wanted no part of this in the beginning, but he's in too deep now to be truly free of this once this joke is made known to Jean.

Connie, who sits on the other side of Jean and across from Marco, sneakily takes a generous chunk of chicken and places it on Marco's plate. When Marco looks at him, scandalized, Connie simply puts a finger to his lips.

"No!" Marco hisses. How can they believe he's one to be so easily bribed? Maybe the rest of them can be swayed by a piece of succulent chicken, but Marco is not like them. He frowns at them, giving a particularly disappointed look to Armin, and tries once again to attract Jean's attention. "Jean."

"What is it?" Jean asks once Sasha has stopped choking (or at least faking it).

Marco is about to reveal everything to him when someone kicks him hard in the shin. He cries out instead, clutching at his leg. He glares at Connie, but Connie doesn't seem intimidated at all. Instead, his friend simply takes his knife and mimes slitting his throat. A silent threat.

Jean doesn't see it at all though. He's too busy looking at Marco to notice anything around him, and he asks, "Are you okay, Marco? Don't tell me you're choking too."

This is his chance to finally uncover everything, but Armin lays a gentle hand on Marco's arm, nodding his head slightly. When Marco looks once more at Jean's plate, he sees that there are only a few bites left. He could tell him what's really happened, but it seems cruel to expose Jean's friends as less than trustworthy while Jean also suffers from an empty stomach.

"No, it's nothing," Marco finally says, sighing. What Jean doesn't know can't hurt him and it'll all be over soon anyway. "Just bit my tongue."

"Alright," Jean says, not believing him in the least. It's strange how he can see right through Marco's lie but he can't see through Sasha's terrible acting skills.

It only takes a minute after that for Jean to notice that his plate is surprisingly empty. "That's funny. I don't remember eating so much so fast," Jean says. He frowns when he sees that Connie and Sasha's plates are still half-full. How can his two more gluttonous friends not be finished with their dinner when he has? "I don't feel full at all."

Sasha's bold enough to be chewing the last bit of chicken that she had taken from Jean. "If you're really still hungry, you could see if they have anything left for you in the kitchens. I think there's only yesterday's meatloaf though."

Jean seems to be reluctant – is it better to go to sleep on an empty stomach or stuff himself full of disgusting meatloaf? He decides on the latter, it seems, and leaves the table in search of food.

"Don't think I enjoyed any of that," Armin grumbles as soon as Jean's out of earshot. He seems very distressed, his head in his hands. "I'm not helping you with anything like this again. I don't think Jean was even able to eat half of his food tonight!"

"Oh, you owed us anyway," Sasha says. Now that she isn't sneaking food from Jean, she's eating quite sloppily. There's grease on her hands from the chicken wing she's munching on and she smacks her lips, savoring the taste. "Did you forget the book we got you?"

"Yeah," Connie says, nodding. "You said you really wanted it, remember?"

"Armin, I thought you were better than this," Marco says disapprovingly. Of all the people in this trainee division, Marco had always believed Armin to be the least corrupted. Now his entire opinion of him has changed.

"No, no, that's not it," Armin says desperately, waving his arms as if to shake away whatever bad thoughts Marco has of him. "I said I would love the chance to read it. I did not mean that you guys should steal it for me. In fact, that's the exact opposite of what I wanted."

"But you still helped us steal food from Jean anyway," Sasha points out.

Armin looks as if he's about ready to tear his hair out. "Because I felt bad that you stole this from that bookstore, but it's not like you could return it without looking like thieves. This is just to appease you so that you two don't get into any more trouble after this!" He looks to Marco, eyes pleading. "You understand, Marco, don't you? It's not like I wanted any of this. And besides, you helped them out in the end as well."

"Yeah, because he's a real pal," Connie says, nodding at Marco. He reaches out to pat Marco's arm. "Sorry I kicked you so hard earlier. I really just meant it to be a gentle tap against your shin."

Marco jerks his arm back, glaring at Connie. "Don't. I wasn't helping you out, I just felt bad and didn't want Jean to know you two were stealing from him, but don't think you'll get away with this. I'm telling Jean as soon as he comes back."

"What are you telling me?" Jean asks, sitting down. He looks disgruntled already, upset with the pathetic piece of meat that sits on his plate. His expression is so forlorn already and Marco can't bear to imagine his friend's frown becoming deeper.

"Nothing," Marco says hastily. "It's not really important anyway."

Jean looks at Marco for a while before shrugging and getting back to his food.

He'll let this one go, but he swears, glaring at Sasha and Connie as the two struggle to stifle their giggles, that next time he won't hesitate to expose them.


A/N: I wish I had more chances to write Marco, haha. He's fun although I think Sasha and Connie are the most fun to write for me!

Word Count: 1576