Jean didn't sleep well that day. It had been about 4 when he'd woken up and been discovered as a horse, and although he got to sleep in later than the others, his realization successfully kept him awake for at least three extra hours.

Luckily, however, Jean was finally able to get some sleep. The sun rose in the east and the stables faced west, thankfully, so he was actually able to sleep without the sun glaring in his face. That was helpful.

The air was colder, for some strange reason, when Jean woke at nearly one in the afternoon, and he lifted his head carefully. The wind blew gently across his face, making him shiver. He then sat up, pressing the palm of his hand against the back of his head.

"Where am I-" he muttered groggily, scratching his head and yawning. He then felt his body shiver violently, the cold hitting him full force.

"Sh-shit..." He groaned through chattering teeth, wrapping his arms around himself and closing his eyes gently. He was almost completely naked, a pair of shorts the only thing on his body. They did nothing to keep out the cold.

Jean looked around him dazedly, trying to make out his surroundings, but he could barely see. His vision was really blurry, and his head hurt like a bitch, but he somehow managed to stand.

The wind hit his body even harder after Jean stood, the door no longer blocking the majority of the wind. He shivered intensely, goosebumps rising on his arms as his vision fully returned.

"Why... why am I in the STABLE? What kind of a fucking practical joke IS this?" Jean growled, a glare forming on his face as he glanced over towards the barracks. It was only about a quarter mile away; if he ran he could probably get there in about ten minutes. There WAS the problem of what he was going to do when he got there; he'd slept in WAY past the acceptable time, and he knew that Levi Heichou would be pissed.

"Fuck..." Jean said, squeezing his eyes shut and trying desperately to remember what had happened that morning. He felt there was something important that he needed to remember, but it just... he couldn't remember it at all.

Jean pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing deeply before opening them determinedly.

"Okay... if I can run there without anyone noticing, maybe I can get my clothes and meet up with them. Then I'll have them explain why the fuck I was sleeping in the stable." Jean thought, slamming his fist into the palm of his hand.

Then, with the loud voices of Jean's comrades, his plans went to shit.

"Fuck!" Jean whispered, trying to see if there was a place he could hide in the stable, but there was nothing. It was emptier than any of the other stables around him, the only thing inside an enormous feed bucket and a large leather saddle hanging on the wall.

Desperately, Jean crouched behind the saddle, hoping no one would see him. He heard the group enter the stables loudly, chatting amongst themselves excitedly. Luckily, no-one noticed him, too distracted by their conversations and by the horses around them to notice the frightened Jean.

"Jean?" It was Marco, and Jean cursed quietly. He walked into the stable, crouching down before Jean and pressing his hand to his forehead. He could tell by the look on Jean's face that he didn't want to be seen, instead pretending to adjust the saddle. Jean smiled at him gratefully.

"Where have you been?" Marco whispered, and Jean frowned.

"I... I actually have no idea." Marco's face was close; too close. Jean's heart started to pump frantically, and he panted lightly, his face turning bright pink.

"Jean... a-are you okay?" Marco's face was pink as well, watching as Jean touched his cheeks gently and began frowning.

"Y-yeah... I think so..." Jean had no idea what was going on.

What HAPPENED last night?

"Hey Marco, what happened to your horse?" Marco turned slightly, putting his hands on his knees as he stood. He carefully stood with his legs together, hiding Jean behind him.

"I-I'm not sure. The lock was done when I got over here, so I thought that maybe..."

"The little shit ran away?" Levi deadpanned, raising his eyebrows lightly. "Do you actually think that is possible? That little fucker could barely walk." Marco looked down uncomfortably, pink dusting his cheeks.

"I... I don't know."

"Well, nothing to do now. It's probably been adopted by one of the surrounding villages now. Just... clean that shit-pile and go use Jean's horse. That little brat's been missing for almost ten hours now, and I'm pretty sure Hange has something to do with it. They couldn't stop cackling." Levi's expression didn't change, but Jean could see disdain fill his eyes. He turned quickly, walking through the group as the rest of the soldiers untied their horses.

Marco and Jean both tried to hide their surprise when Levi grabbed Eren's ass, whispering something in his ear that made him blush.

Well, that was apparently a thing...

Jean shook his head, his face torn in confusion. Marco didn't even stop, he just grabbed Jean by the arm and dragged him out behind the stable. He pressed him against the wall, looking left and right to make sure no one was there.

"How are we going to get you out of here?" Marco asked, his face mere inches from Jean's. Jean blushed, looking away and attempting to find his voice.

"Uh... I-I d-don't know..." He breathed, not looking at Jean.

"H-hey, Jean! I have no idea what to do! You're going to have to talk to me if you want to get out of here without being seen, especially in those suggestive shorts," Marco said, raising his eyebrows. Jean frowned, looking down.

Oh.

Oh.

Those were FAR shorter than he remembered them being.

The others started leaving the stable, their horses in tow. No one seemed to notice that Marco was missing, instead focused on not angering Levi and making it out to the practice field in time.

"Okay, they're going the other way. I'll go back around and grab your horse. If we move fast, I can ride you back to the barracks, and you can change. Then we can come back and hopefully not anger Levi that much..." Marco winced, looking away. He was risking a lot to help Jean, and he knew it too.

"Are you sure?" Jean asked, worried. Marco looked back at him, his gaze hardening, and he nodded.

"Yes."

"Then let's go," Jean said, crouching down and walking around the other side of the building with Marco.

"Wait here," the teen said, waving warningly back at him as he walked back in and began unlatching Jean's horse.

"What's taking you so long, freckle-face?" Levi asked, rounding the corner. "Worried about your boyfriend?" Marco's eyes went wide.

"H-he's not my b-boyfriend..." Marco stuttered, and Jean felt his blush grow.

"'Not my boyfriend' my ass Marco." Levi sighed, pressing his palm against his face, mumbling something about Marco being 'a dim-witted dipshit'. Marco's blush deepened as well, and he focused back on untying the knot.

"Listen; I'll give you some time to go find him later, I guess. For now, just focus on the training. Or, at least try to." Levi gestured behind him as he walked off, not intending on having any more conversation with Marco, but he wasn't so lucky.

"Sir?" Levi didn't stop walking as he muttered a quick 'what?'

"Uh... pardon me for asking, but..." He paused awkwardly.

"What... exactly... is your relationship with Eren Jäger?"

Levi froze.

"What makes you think you can ask me that question?" His voice was deadly but uncertain. Marco looked at the floor.

"W-well, he's my friend, so I thought-"

"Don't ever ask me that question again Bott. It is not your place to ask me about my personal relationships. Don't go trying to get that information out of Eren, either, or you might find your face full of horseshit. Understand?" Marco nodded, not looking up. Levi then swished out of the stables without another word.

"That man is scary," Jean whispered to Marco as he brought the horse around the other side, having successfully untied its lead.

"Yeah. I wonder what Eren sees in him," Jean said, climbing onto the horse, Marco jumped on behind him, grabbing the reins around Jean's slender body. He blushed all the way up to his ears.

"You really think they're in a relationship, and not... you know..." Marco asked uncomfortably.

"Yeah. I don't think Eren's the kind of person to let someone else take advantage of him, even someone like Levi. I don't think it's without consent, and I know that Eren can handle himself, so I think we should just forget what we saw," Jean surmised, tangling his hands in the horse's mane and leaning against its back.

"Yeah, I suppose."

Marco handed the reigns to Jean, leaning back on the horse and smiling. Jean grinned, a thought coming to him. He wrapped the leather around his arm comfortably, getting a good hold on the horse before speaking.

"Hey, you should really hold on. It's about to get bumpy." Jean snapped the reigns suddenly, urging the horse into a gallop before launching it into a full-on sprint. Marco squealed like a pig, reaching forwards and pressing his chest flush against Jean's back and wrapping his arms around him. He held on for dear life, his chin resting on Jean's shoulder.

"I warned you," Jean cackled, glancing over at Marco. The man's cheeks were on fire, his freckles the only part of his face untouched. Jean smiled inwardly, committing that face to memory.

"Y-you didn't have to do that!"

"But I wanted to!" Jean shouted back, laughing. Marco pouted.

"Whyyyy?" Jean's face went slack. Why did he want to do that? Originally, he thought it was just to tease Marco, but there was something about the way Marco felt against his back; the blazing, yet comfortable warmth, that made him want to urge the horse even faster. Jean looked down, speechless.

"I... I don't actually know." Marco lifted his face, looking Jean in the eyes without stopping. Then he smiled.

"Hehe~" Marco giggled, snuggling further into his back, and Jean felt his whole body tense.

"H-hey! What are you doing."

"You're cold, aren't you?"

"Y...yeah..."

"Then let me hug you! It'll keep you warm." Jean felt for sure he was missing something, and the way Marco's eyes seemed to light up when Jean told him he didn't know why he'd sped up the horse certainly didn't help his concern.

"O-okay..." Jean said dumbly, his eyes wide as they approached the dorm.

"GODDAMNIT!" Jean heard from the doorway, causing Marco to jerk upwards. Jean was disappointed in the lack of warmth but got over it quickly, instead focusing on the screaming squad leader before him.

"After all that work I MISSED it! That pisses me off!" Hange Zöe screamed, digging their hands into their hair and pulling it. They ran over to Jean, grabbing his arms and dragging him off the horse. Marco and Jean collectively whined in protest, an act that did not miss Hange. She chose to ignore it for the moment, however.

"How long were you a horse?" Jean frowned.

"I mean, how long did the serum last? How long were you a horse?" They screamed, shaking Jean. He groaned, pushing the terrifying person away.

"What the fuck?" both Marco and Jean asked. They stared at Hange like they were crazy, inching away from them. Hange had murder in their eyes, glaring at Marco before dragging Jean back over to them.

"I was never a horse-!" Jean squeaked as Hange started prodding his stomach with their hands. He shoved them away, a disgusted look on his face.

Hange was not amused.

"I'm a scientist, what do you expect?" Hange deadpanned, grabbing him again and turning him around. They looked at his back, running their hands over his shoulder blades, but Jean wasn't paying attention to them anymore.

"M-Marco? Are you okay?" He was walking away, fear in his eyes. The teen was mumbling to himself, his arms wrapped around his middle.

"I... he... the horse... confessed... he knows... " Jean could only make out a few words of what Marco was saying, but they didn't really help. They didn't exactly make much sense.

"Marco, what are you talking about?" Jean asked, worry in his tone. Marco looked up carefully.

"I-I have to go..." Marco said, turning back and jumping on Jean's horse.

"WAIT!" Jean shouted, pulling out of Hange's grip and running after him. He barely made it twenty feet before Hange caught up to him.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" They boomed, jumping and grabbing Jean's foot. He screeched, falling onto the grassy hilltop with a bang. Finally, his head hit the rock below him, and he looked up, memories flooding his brain.

Waking up as a horse in the dormitory.

Everyone screaming at him.

Marco helping him to the stables.

Jean gasped as the last memory surfaced.

Marco...

Jean jerked off the ground, running into the dormitory, locking the door, and sloppily throwing on his clothes. He then ran back out the door, ignoring Hange as they tried to grab him and study him some more.

"NOT THE TIME YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" he screamed at them, running towards the rest of the group.

"BUT I WANT TO STUDY YOU-HOU-HOUUUUUUU!" They whined, sobbing. Jean ignored them, racing towards the horse training area.

"Hey, it's Jean!"

"Where's he been?"

"J-Jean..." It was Marco. He stood off to the side, hiding behind Jean's horse. Jean frowned, turning back to Levi Heichou.

"Where the hell have you been? You've been missing for almost ten hours you fucking idiot!" Levi shouted, getting as in-your-face as he could, given the 15cm height difference. He then turned around, walking away from the man.

"You know what? I've decided I don't care. Go share your horse with Bott; he's been borrowing it since you disappeared yesterday." Marco visibly shuddered. Jean nodded, walking over to Marco resolutely.

"What's wrong, Marco?"

"You were, you were the horse... I..." Red flushed Marco's cheeks and he stared at the ground, embarrassed. Jean, however, wasn't confused anymore.

He remembered last night, having decided immediately it was worth the splitting headache that he had been cursed with upon his recollection.

"Marco, you don't need to feel embarrassed."

"I just... I screwed up... I... this is going to change everything, isn't it...?" He sobbed, but Jean laughed lightly.

"Maybe, but is that truly such a bad thing?" Marco frowned, looking up at Jean, but only momentarily. Fed up with the way Marco was acting, Jean reached below Marco's chin and tilted it up so he could lock eyes with him. Marco's eyes went wide, his breath leaving him as he tried to speak again.

"What do you-"

Marco never got to finish his sentence, but suddenly found he didn't mind. In fact, he much preferred what happened next over talking.

Jean kissed him, hard. Marco's lips were soft, warm, and Jean couldn't help the way his body seemed to melt as Marco wrapped his arms around him and drew him closer, moaning lightly. Jean smiled, tilting his head farther and kissing him deeper.

"What. The. FUCK."

Marco and Jean pulled away from each other immediately, quickly finding themselves the focus of everyone's attention. Both blushed deeply, glancing at each other with giddy smiles on their faces.

"Uhh... well..." Marco began, quickly interrupted by an overenthusiastic Sasha.

"OHMYGODMYOTPAREFINALLYTOGETHER!" she screamed, jumping on them both and hugging them. The two laughed, sharing confused smiles, but found the mood in the group had changed quickly. Everyone crowded around them.

Well, except Eren and Levi.

As soon as Marco and Jean had kissed, Eren had dragged Levi to the other side of the building as was kissing the living hell out of him. They figured everyone would be too busy to notice, but once everyone got over the fact that Marco and Jean were together, the group had begun to wonder where the that two had run off were.

Finding them had been easy. Comprehending what they saw hadn't been.

"Sooo... at this point, is it safe to assume everyone is gay?" Murmurs of agreement filled the camp, but Marco and Jean didn't care. Jean merely reached out his hand and gripped Marco's, smiling at him as he kissed him gently.

Both Jean and Marco knew that the likelihood of surviving this war was slim, but at this point, they didn't care, for one thing was certain.

Their bodies may not last forever, but their love sure would.

Fin.