Morning everyone, getting near the end of this now. I thought I'd throw another fun crossover in this chapter for funsies and mostly because Armin and Yuuri share the same English voice actor (as do Jean and Otabek). Hope you enjoy :)

The break room is blissfully empty when Jean and Armin sit down ten minutes later, with a cup of coffee each. Armin still looks a little red around the eyes but he's stopped crying, which is something. He smiles when Jean hands him the cup. Jean leans over the table to give his Armin's hand a squeeze. He should let go afterwards but he leaves his hand on top of Armin's. It's warm and solid and he doesn't care in the slightest if anyone walks in and sees them together.

"You okay?" he asks, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Armin replies, giving him another small smile. "You?"

"Me? Yeah I'm fine," Jean replies before snorting derisively and shaking his head. "We're both lying, aren't we?"

"Oh yeah," Armin chuckles but the sound is hollow.

"I'm sorry," Jean says.

"About what?"

"About Mikasa."

"Don't be," Armin says. "There was nothing to be done, it's just the nature of working in a hospital."

"I guess..."

Armin sighs shakily. "I just thought she would be one of the ones to get out of here."

"How's Levi doing?" Jean asks.

"Really not well," Armin replies. "He got really angry, smashed a chair – like actually shattered it – before breaking down. I think he's finally gone home for the first time in about three years."

"Understandable."

"I'm sorry about Connie," Armin says after a pause.

Jean sighs. "Like you said, nothing to be done about it, it's just the nature of this job."

"I know but still after Marco..." Armin tails off and looks down at his coffee. "Um... how have you been since then?"

"I slept a lot," Jean admits. "I think I've slept more in the last week than I have in the last month."

Armin chuckles. "The joys of time off."

"There were a few things I missed though," Jean says fixing Armin with a pointed look.

A blush flushes to life across Armin's nose and cheeks, that adorable embarrassment back again. He looks away but he doesn't move his hand so Jean takes that as a good sign. He's not running away this time...

"I guess you're not talking about the coffee," he says.

"No," Jean says. "So how do you deal with it?" he asks after it becomes obvious that Armin isn't going to say any more about his almost confession.

"Deal with what?" Armin asks looking back at him.

"With this place."

"Right."

"I mean aside from crying in the supply closet," Jean says and that blush is back again.

"Oh..."

"I'm sorry," Jean says hurriedly, "that came out wrong. I didn't mean anything by it."

"No it's okay," Armin says, a sad smile gracing his lips. "I'm aware that it's not the most professional thing in the world to do, or the most sane."

"It's fine," Jean says thinking back to his own outburst. "I mean it's not like it's in front of patients and we've all got the cope somehow."

"I guess so."

"A better way of asking that: what do you do to forget about this place for a bit?"

"I go ice skating," Armin replies after a pause.

"Ice skating?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"I can take you if you want to try it?" Armin offers after a pause.

Jean thinks about this for a moment. It feels like a date and he can't deny that his heart skips at the thought. "Sure I'm game."

"Shall I meet you after work then?" Armin asks, eyes and smile practically glowing.

"I'm on a late one, will the rink still be open?" Jean asks.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine."

"Yuri!" Armin calls as he pushes the door of the seemingly deserted rink open. "You still here?"

They are met with silence and Jean is about to suggest they leave when a small blond suddenly pops up from behind the desk. His cheeks are flushed, his hair mussed and his clothes rumpled so there's no prize for guessing what he's been up to although there doesn't appear to be anyone else around. Not that Jean can see anyway.

"Armin," the blond says, slightly out of breath and with the slip of an accent, "what are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if we could use the rink tonight?" Armin asks. "If it's not too much trouble."

"No it's fine," the blond (who Jean assumes must be Yuri) says. "Bad day?"

"Kind of yeah," Armin replies.

"Shit, I'm sorry," Yuri winces. "Here." He picks up a set of keys from the desk top and tosses them to Armin. "Lock up when you're done, I was going to head off anyway. Just post me the keys tomorrow if that's cool."

"That's great, thank you so much," Armin says happily.

"You and your friend need skates?"

"Yeah that would be great," Armin replies. "Um this is Jean, he works with me at the hospital. Jean this is Yuri, an old friend from school."

"Hi," Jean grins sheepishly.

"Hey," Yuri offers him a nod. "What size shoes do you take?"

"Eleven," Jean says.

"Cool," Yuri turns, picks out two pairs of skates from the shelves behind and places them on the desk.

"Thanks Yuri, I really appreciate this," Armin smiles.

"Don't sweat it," Yuri says waving him off. "I'll er... I'll leave you guys to it just go right ahead."

"Sure," Armin says. "See you later Otabek."

Jean wonders who the hell Armin is talking to when a second man pops out from under the desk. This one slightly taller, with a dark undercut but no less rumpled. He nods to Armin, clearing his throat.

"See you later."

Stifling his giggles Armin grabs a pair of skates and Jean's hand. "Come on let's go."

"Nice to meet you," Jean calls over his shoulder. He just about has time to grab his skates before Armin pulls him away.

"So... how do you know about this place?" Jean asks, clutching the side of the rink in a desperate attempt to stay on his feet. He hasn't been ice skating since he was about five and he's forgotten how hard it is to stay vertical.

"I've know Yuri since high school so when he started working here he got me to come down and taught me a few things," Armin says as he glides gracefully over the ice.

"Were you in the same class?" Jean asks, a little spellbound as he watches Armin do a very simple flip.

"Yeah," he replies as he comes out of it. "Both of us lives with our grandfathers, both of us were short and kind of girlie looking so we got picked on a lot."

"Really?"

"That surprises you?" Armin asks with a sceptical grin.

"Okay, okay I get it," Jean laughs.

"The kids left us alone when Yuri head-butted one of them and broke his nose," Armin chuckles, "but we always stayed friends and looked out for each other. He taught me to skate and I fixed his injuries when he had a particularly hard fall on the ice."

A sad smile twists its way onto Jean's lips. That used to be Marco for me... He feels a pang of sadness in his chest, of sadness or guilt he doesn't really know but he's broken out of his thoughts by Armin skating over to him.

"Need a hand?" Armin asks.

"No I'm fine," Jean lies waving him off.

Armin chuckles and offers him his hands. Tentatively Jean prises his from the side of the rink and takes them.

Slowly Armin skates backwards, leading Jean who keeps his eyes glued to his feet in a desperate attempt to stay on them. He can feel his legs shaking a little but holding on to Armin is incredibly nice; he's warm and solid and there in front of him.

"Can I ask you something?" Armin asks, suddenly breaking the silence and making Jean look up.

"Um sure, fire away."

"How do you..." Armin begins but then stops to think what he's saying before he opens his mouth again. "How do you feel about me?"

"What?" Jean asks blinking.

"Ah that still came out wrong," Armin groans. "I just wondered, I'd been thinking about it a lot. I mean you've always been super supportive at work and then asking me to go with you last week... I don't know."

"Well I..." Jean begins and then stops, trying to figure out his own way of phrasing what he wants to say.

"Its just that I was talking to Ymir the other day," Armin says and Jean wants to laugh and tell him that's a rookie mistake but keeps his mouth shut and lets him continue. "She said that you don't usually spend time with people outside work but here you are with me."

"That is true."

"But when I... when I kissed you last week you didn't react," Armin says. "I know I shouldn't have done it and it was incredibly inappropriate and..."

Jean uses the grip Armin has on his hands to pull him forward and into a hug. It might not be the most sensible thing in the world as there is a good chance they'll end up on the ice but the urge to hold Armin is too overpowering. He feels Armin hesitate for a second, caught off guard, before he relaxes and hugs back.

"I'm quite crazy about you," Jean admits. "I have been for a long time now I just didn't know how to tell you."

"Oh..."

"I was so surprised when you kissed me that I didn't know what to do so I just froze then you disappeared before I could do anything," Jean says. "I thought about going to your house to talk to you but I didn't know if you'd want to see me after what happened. I should have reacted faster but I guess I just didn't want the first time I kissed you to be in my car after a funeral."

"Well..." Armin says looking up, that adorable blush sprinkling over his cheeks, "how about here then?"

Jean can feel a heat creeping up the back of his own neck and his heart begins to pound. "Here is good."

One of Jean's hands slips up to cup the back of Armin's neck. The tip of his nose is a little red from the cold so Jean presses a soft kiss to it. He tilts his head down, letting his breath fan across Armin's lips, before closing the distance and kissing him in the middle of the rink.