A/N: I have never finished a chapter so fast. I do apologise if it's a little shorter than the rest. Once again, these characters do not belong to muah.

Perplexed, the Survey Corps returned back to Headquarters. It was only 3 but training had been cut short. No one was complaining but everyone was buzzing possible theories why.

Upon entering the castle, everyone was gathered at the cafeteria. Levi along with Hange and Erwin Smith stood at the front.

"I don't think they are gathering us here for tea break," Eren said wryly beside Armin.

"Attention, soldiers!" Erwin raised a hand, his booming voice silencing the chatter. "I have an important announcement to make."

"Christmas time is upon us," he continued. "And it is our duty as soldiers to not only protect mankind but to bring hope and joy to the country also. The Survey Corps have a tradition of celebrating Christmas by visiting an orphanage in the Karanes District located within Wall Rose.

For this Christmas, we will be performing Christmas carols and a play. This will be completely made up of your efforts and therefore, all of you will be taking part in this activity. Training is thus cancelled for rehearsal time until Sunday, which is when you will perform."

Murmurings broke out among the soldiers. Some sceptical, others enthusiastic. Erwin held up a hand for silence again.

"I will now appoint the leader in charge of this charity," Erwin paused. "Armin Arlert."

Heads whipped around to look at Armin who stared at Erwin in complete shock.

Did he just call out my name? His heartbeat started to speed up.

"He just called out your name!" Eren cheered, thumping his friend on the back.

Taking his cue, the rest of the soldiers clapped and whistled too.

"Congratulations," smiled Mikasa as she put a hand on his shoulder.

Armin had never wished so hard for a hole to open up on the ground and swallow him whole from this existence. What was Erwin thinking … putting him in charge? Armin had zero experience scripting and directing a play. And singing in the shower was the closest he had ever gotten to performing a song.

He bit his lip and tried his best not to bury his head in his hands. The soldiers were dismissed and everyone patted Armin on the back and shoulders on the way out. He didn't feel ready for such a heavy responsibility.

"The whole programme should last an hour," Levi said in a deadpan voice as he passed Armin. "Good luck."

Soon, only Eren, Mikasa and Armin were left standing in the cafeteria.

"Hey, come on. I know what you're thinking …" Eren crossed his arms, reading his best-friend's expression.

"You're not going to mess up," Mikasa agreed. "You'll be fine. And you can always rely on us for help."

Eren slung an arm around his shoulders. "Yeah! Take it easy. We're going to be performing for kids. They'll like anything!"

Forcing a smile, Armin nodded. "Y-yeah … it'll be - I'll … try my best."

With encouragement from his friends, they made their way to the library to look for ideas.

"What exactly are we looking for again?" Eren asked from the back of the room.

"Any Christmas story!" Armin replied, and went back to running his finger across the book spines on a shelf.

After an hour of searching, the three of them gathered a few books which were laid on a table for Armin's inspection. He immediately rejected those that were too thick. The play shouldn't go beyond 20 minutes as they needed time for costume changes and carolling.

Soon, after flipping through the remaining books, Armin decided on one entitled "The Nutcracker".

Eren wiped his brow. "Phew! Are we all set then?"

Armin frowned. "I still have to adapt this book into a play …"

Eren looked confused. "Can't you just -"

"Why don't we leave Armin to work on it? He needs to come up with a script," Mikasa spoke quickly as a look of comprehension crossed Eren's face.

"Do you need help with that?" Eren asked.

Armin shook his head, smiling. "It's okay. You guys go wash up and have dinner. It's almost time anyway."

After convincing Eren and Mikasa to leave, Armin carried the book to a couch, sat down and began to read. The story itself was interesting enough to hold a child's attention … but he was worried if the Survey Corps could carry it through clearly.

The script would have to be easy enough to understand and act out. Armin massaged his temples. It was going to be one long night …

Armin rubbed his eyes sleepily. It was already 9 but he was still working on the script. At least he had already written 3 quarters of it. However, he could feel his eyelids getting heavier. It was time for a short break.

He picked up the bowl from which he ate the porridge Mikasa and Eren had brought him. He'll go to the pantry and wash it. Hopefully he could also find something to drink.

And to his pleasant surprise, Armin found more cocoa powder from which he made some hot chocolate. Carrying a steaming mug full of it, he walked out of the pantry, turned the corner and collided with someone hard.

Caught off guard, Armin was knocked to the ground as the hot chocolate spilt all over his clothes. It burnt and he cried out in pain.

Someone cursed and swiftly knelt down beside Armin, removing his jacket and shirt. It turned out to be Jean.

He gently touched a finger to Armin's stomach which was red from the hot liquid, causing him to wince slightly.

"I'm sorry," Jean removed his hand quickly. "Stay here, I'll get a cool washcloth."

Seconds later, Jean returned with a damp cloth. Armin willed himself not to spill any tears. His skin burnt and the floor was cold. It didn't help that he was without a shirt in winter either.

Jean noticed the trembling and goosebumps. "Can you walk?" he asked. "I'll take you to the library."

With his help, Armin managed to get on his feet. With Jean carrying his stained clothes and damp cloth, Armin held his shirt from his free elbow as the two made their way slowly to the library. Fortunately, a fire was already going so they both felt immediately warmer.

There, Jean instructed Armin to sit on the couch by the fire.

"What, what about the spilt ch - chocolate?" Armin stammered.

Jean looked at him as if he were crazy. "Leave it, you're hurt. I'll clean it later."

"But -"

"It was my fault. I should have been more careful."

Then, he slowly touched the washcloth onto Armin's stomach. The boy gasped and tensed up in pain.

"I'm sorry," Jean said through gritted teeth as he wiped the burnt area. "Please try to relax."

Armin looked away and squeezed his eyes shut. Slowly, the coolness of the cloth took away the searing heat. The pain eventually dulled until all Armin could feel was the soft cloth on his stomach.

Jean took away the cloth to scrutinise the injury. "It's still red but I don't think it'll scar." Then, he lifted his ochre eyes to Armin's. They were filled with anxiety. "Does it still hurt?"

Armin felt embarrassed all of a sudden. Instinctively, he lifted a hand to cover his mouth with a loose fist. "No …"

Jean sighed getting up. "It'll probably hurt when you touch it. Try not to."

Armin nodded, looking away.

"I'll go get bandages and clean up the chocolate. Stay here and don't move." And with that, Jean dashed out of the library.

Now that he was alone, Armin started to think, his mind working furiously. Why on earth did he get so embarrassed for? He looked down at his stomach. Maybe it was because he didn't have abs …? Armin shook his head. No, that's not it. Was he just conscious of people seeing his naked skin? But … he's showered with almost everyone before.

Has he ever been in the same shower as Jean though? The thought suddenly both made him nervous and shy.

However, before he could think further about the matter, the double doors flew open as Jean entered with a roll of bandages and a cooling ointment in his hand.

Silently, he bent down and applied the ointment with two fingers. The coolness of it made Armin gasp and he looked away again, his embarrassment intensifying.

Jean then told Armin to sit up and promptly wrapped the bandages around his stomach, finally tucking it in.

"How does it feel?" Jean asked.

Armin found himself stammering again. "Yes … uh. I mean, okay. Wait. Umm … it - it's feeling better."

Jean sat onto the wooden floor, sighing deeply. "Good. I'm sorry for crashing into you just now."

Armin shook his head quickly. "It was my fault too, I didn't look round the corner."

"Nah," the other boy looked apologetic. "I should have slowed while turning the corner. Was walking pretty fast … all I was thinking was getting more food."

Struggling to come up with something to say, Armin remembered Jean was just sick yesterday and abruptly asked if he was feeling better.

He's asking about my health while he's hurt? Amazed, Jean nodded. "Yeah, I was fine by the morning. Thanks ..."

Once again a silence had fallen between them. Both had run out of things to say. Armin crossed his arms self-consciously. It wasn't cold but he wished he had something to cover himself.

"You're cold?" Jean caught sight of his crossed arms and immediately removed his jacket, draping it over Armin.

"Thanks …" For some reason, Armin couldn't bring himself to look at Jean.

Jean laughed nervously. "Sorry about your clothes."

"It's fine, at least the jacket's not ruined."

Then, Jean noticed a candle burning away on the table. The wax was almost gone but he could still see a mess of papers lying on it.

"Are you working on something?" Jean asked, walking over.

"The play we're performing," Armin replied, getting up with a wince.

Jean brushed a hand through his hair, feeling stupid. "Oh! Right …"

He hovered around the table, trying the read the script as Armin sat down on the chair. Then, on a whim, Jean blurted out. "Can I help?"

A little surprised, Armin froze, then nodded. "I suppose …" he took up a quill, subconsciously biting on the nib. "I do need some help with casting."

"What are the roles?"

Armin gathered up a bunch of papers and handed it to Jean. "Here, you can read this while I finish the rest of the script. You can get a sense of what the story is and who the characters are."

Pulling a chair over, Jean sat down opposite Armin and began to read. He had no idea what had possessed him to offer his help since he had no experience in such a field and didn't really know Armin anyway …

Well, sure he did discuss his family issues with him and they had gotten to know each other a little better but it was still weird to suddenly want to help him out of the blue. But perhaps it was because he had knocked over Armin? Could the guilt of burning him contributed to his impromptu offer of help?

Thinking back, Jean did feel extremely bad for doing that and his immediate desire was to ease the boy's pain. Hence his treating the wound. However, that was also an abnormal course of action for him to take. Usually, if something like that happened with anyone else, Jean would have just offered the cloth, ointment and bandages to the wounded and asked if he needed help treating it. But with Armin, he had removed his jacket and shirt without asking and started to treat the burn without his permission.

Jean instantly felt embarrassed for no apparent reason. Was it due to his brashness? His infringement on Armin's personal space? His mind went over the image of him putting the ointment on his stomach. It was really soft … and really smooth. And there was a line running down from the middle … He involuntarily looked up at Armin. His jacket was draped around the boy's slender shoulders. It was too big for him and Armin was clutching the fabric together as he worked on the script. An odd, indescribable feeling possessed him.

Jean jumped and shook his head violently. The chair scratched on the floor, causing Armin to look up questioningly. Jean smiled nervously and indicated there was nothing wrong.

He forced himself to start reading the script. Why was he getting so distracted?

For a few minutes, the room was silent save for the crackling fire, Armin's quill scratching on the paper and the occasional turning of pages by Jean.

Finally, Armin heaved a long sigh and stretched out, only to quickly hunch over in pain.

"Armin?" Jean said, alarmed.

The boy clutched at his stomach. "I forgot I burnt myself …" he laughed sheepishly. "Anyway, I finished the script!"

Jean took the pieces of paper Armin held out and swiftly glanced through it. He gave a firm nod and a thumbs up. "It's good."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Jean smiled reassuringly and Armin smiled back.

Clearing his throat, Jean arranged all the papers in order, straightened them and handed it to Armin.

"So … uhh," Armin started. "Do you have any ideas on who we should cast?"

"Well, I have a rough idea," Jean folded his hands and leaned back on his chair. "But I think you should discuss it with everyone too, to get their consent."

Armin nodded, "I'll do that tomorrow." Then, he cocked his head to the side. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"Mmm."

Jean looked undecided. "Uhh … is it alright if I …"

Armin laughed. "No. Everyone has to take part remember?"

Then Jean lit up, an idea suddenly striking him. "I know! I could just do props. That's still taking part in the production, right? And who else is going to build all these elaborate sets?"

Armin's eyes shone. "That works!" He got up and walked round the table, sticking out a hand.

"Well, then. I look forward to working with you, Propmaster."

Jean shook his hand and answered confidently. "Me too, Director."

Oh no … he thought after the handshake. What had he gotten himself into?

A/N: Arguably my favourite chapter so far. A lot of unplanned moments but I think it worked out well. XD