Chapter 28 – Jean A4
The rest of Jean's first year went gradually smoother and smoother, the training became easier as his body and mind sharpened to an axe's edge, his confrontations with Eren were dialled down to next to none as Marco's words of support drifting thorough his head every time Eren grabbed at his shirt, screaming at his face; And more often than not, he was able to pull himself away from the boy, telling himself that it wasn't worth. Whilst, yes, there were exceptions to this, such as when Eren had made some stray comment not meant for Jean's ears, saying how weird Jean and Marco's friendship was (Surprisingly, this one time, Mikasa had taken his side and dragged Eren off and gave Jean a small 'sorry' which, from her, was a formal, court like apology) he generally found himself on a more successful path; and when his results from his final hand to hand combat certification came through, he spent a full hour raving about it to Marco, both of their scores placing them in the top ten; the path to the Scales of Foresti now becoming more and more solid.
Jean had actually ended up deciding that, whilst the axes well effective, they didn't really suit his style of combat, which was further reinforced when his Drillmaster Shadis suggested a short sword would make him, in his words "less likely to be fodder for the Hunter's eels". Whilst he was still somewhat taken aback by the reasoning, he couldn't deny the results felt more natural. As a result, when he entered his second year and began his DFG training, he soared in comparison to himself at the beginning of first year, the sword and shield (That he later picked up, it's light metal and wooden surface making it operable with dragon fire gear) becoming a natural extension of himself as his agility and confidence grew alongside his skill.
Whilst during the hours of scheduled training, Jean trained as hard as his body would physically let him, and sometimes even further, during his downtime he often found himself relaxing in the stables with his now Short Wing Dante. It was a nice bit of isolation from the frantic life that was pushed onto him, and having Dante to talk to about his day, his life and his thoughts was really nice to have.
That particular day, as Jean sat against the tough red hide of his Nightmare, he had allowed his breaths to come in sync with Dante's, so when he felt the sudden tense in the Dragon's chest, he darted up, ready to fight the danger his dragon sensed. Drawing his sword, he tried to figure out how he'd take out the threat, and if it was a Hunter, how he'd warn the others, oh Thor, would he have to defend the entire stables by himself? As he swung his blade around the corner, he had least expected of all things, a wild dragon, a hunter, anything but the now terrified eyes of Marco Bott as he swung backwards to avoid the blade.
"JEAN?! What the Hel?!" He demanded in shock,
Jean fumbled for the words, his words becoming increasingly jumbled as he spoke "Shit… Marco I'm so sorry, my dragon was spooked and I panicked and thought it was a Hunter and"
"Well" Marco stated "I guess that's alright" before letting out a tired sigh, "but seriously yell out or something next time, not everyone in the Corps has my razor sharp reflexes" giving a joking wink.
Jean chuckled "Yeah… I really should… Anyways, what are you doing out here?"
"In all honesty, I was just looking for you, I wanted to talk to you" Jean's breath hitched, Marco, noting the look on his face "oh it's nothing important, I was just really bored and wondered how you were, and when I couldn't find you in the cabin I got worried is all"
Jean ran a hand through his hair as he contemplated; could he really let Marco in with him and Dante? He always knew his dragon had a bit of a possessive streak so he didn't know how he'd react to Marco, given their bond.
"Listen, Marco…" Jean turned, his chest heavy with the thought of leaving his friend alone, but as he turned, he caught those eyes. Those damn eyes. So full of wonder and hope… Crap… How can he say no to those?
"Uh, Jean? Hello? Midgard to Jean? You there?"
"Yeah" Jean stuttered "Sorry, just got caught up in thought is all"
"Oh it's alright," Marco plainly spoke, "Now," he posed "What was it you were going to say?"
"Uhm... Do you want to meet my Dragon?" He hesitantly asked, worried about the sting of rejection that might still come, but his fear was soothed as Marco stepped forward, his eyes alight with excitement at the thought of finally meeting Jean's closest (Non-Human) friend.