Another one for the books! This one is terribly short and not at all how I wanted it to be, but I wanted to post it anyway so here it is and I'm sorry if it disappoints.
Chapter Rating: K+
Chapter Warning: None
World: Canon
Word Count: 305
Six: Condemn
It wasn't really fair. Marco knew that. It wasn't fair for Jean to have to go about his life, witnessing horrors and fighting to keep living.
Meanwhile, Marco stayed by his side, always talking to him, distracting him, pulling him away from his friends, Eren and Armin, Connie and Sasha, Mikasa.
He could see it made Jean crazy, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.
It wasn't fair that Marco was condemned to walk the Earth by Jean's side after his death. It wasn't fair that Jean was condemned to live with it.
It was late at night, when Jean would try to sleep, but couldn't because he didn't want to leave Marco alone. It was early in the morning when Jean was groggy enough to think Marco was real, flesh and blood, before his face fell when he remembered the truth. It was hearing Marco laugh at something Connie said, making Jean's face fall because only he could hear. It was knowing Marco wouldn't get older, wouldn't have a family, wouldn't have anything that living people strived for. It was not knowing whether he was actually seeing Marco or if he was simply going insane.
Marco could see all of this in Jean but he didn't know how to make it better. He tried. He really did; he tried by laughing and being chattery when Jean wasn't up for much of anything. He tried to be optimistic, and he looked out for Jean in the field of battle.
But honestly, Marco began to think that he was only making things worse. There was nothing he could do to make it better, no matter how desperately he wanted to.
If he could, he would just leave Jean alone. That would be better for him. But he couldn't.
They were condemned to exist together.