Chapter 12
"Vacation?" Sasha and Connie chorused as they sat across from Jean at the lunch table "Tomorrow?"
"Yeah, it's your turn" the squad leader said "Took a while, but I managed to convince the higher ups to give you two your vacation at the same time despite the fact that they'd rather keep the more experienced soldiers just an order away."
"A bit last minute, isn't it?" Connie asked, giving Sasha a glare as she tried to sneak a piece of his bread to herself. Sasha just grinned sheepishly before returning her attention back to Jean. The man shrugged, saying: "Yeah, I delayed informing you guys 'till I was sure you could go together."
"Well damn" Connie said with a grin, and Sasha was sure she was had a similar expression "We better start packing, eh Sash?"
"You bet!" Sasha answered "Last one ready to leave owes the other a dinner!"
"Wha!?" Connie said, but Sasha paid him no mind as she was busy wolfing down her lunch "Fine, you're on!"
Sasha knew she'd finish eating first; there was no question about it. She'd get a head start.
"You two do realize that you still need to work today, right?" Jean asked, making Sasha freeze. She looked up to see his deadpan face, staring at the two of them. She looked at Connie, who was also looking at her, before they both grinned sheepishly "Oops…"
"You two never change…"
XXXXX
Nikolo had a day off for once, but at the moment he really wished he didn't. Eating lunch with his mother, sister in law and grandfather, he had to deal with the group pestering him about his love life.
"Mother, could you please stop?" he asks once more "You're getting ahead of things."
He would rather not talk about this with them at all, but at this point he knew he had to say something, otherwise it would seem way too suspicious.
"Of course, honey, I'm sorry" his mother said "It's just so nice to hear that you're moving forward in your life after- "she paused, looking troubled "…everything that happened."
Nikolo didn't say anything, not knowing how to fix the situation. If his mother knew the truth, she'd break down… should he pretend that he'd made a move and it all went south? He could do that later if they continued prying…
"There's no reason for you to hurry" his grandfather spoke. The man had been quiet most of the conversation, so Nikolo wasn't sure what he thought of all this "If the feelings are mutual, things will work out."
"That's pretty much what Grior said" Nikolo thought, avoiding eye contact with his grandfather as he ate "Why am I getting advice from the guy who hates Sasha and a man who doesn't even know her?"
"It would be nice to have more people around the house…" his sister in law trailed off, making Nikolo almost choke on his food. He heard his grandfather laugh before chastising the fresh family member: "Adele, you're getting way ahead of things."
"Of course, I'm sorry" Adele said, and as Nikolo calmed down, he could see her looking down, embarrassed "Forgive me brother."
"It's fine, really" Nikolo managed to say. He wasn't exactly used to her calling him "brother" yet. Getting an idea on how to change the subject, he allowed a smirk to appear on his face as he said: "But if you want more people to the house, shouldn't you take that subject up with your husband, hm?"
"Nikolo!" his mother hissed, but Nikolo paid it no mind as his grandfather laughed and his furiously blushing sister in law fidgeted in her seat. He had managed to redirect the attention to someone else than himself, so all was fine.
"Hopefully Ulrich won't get too pissed about this"
XXXXX
"Vacation! The word has such a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Connie asked Sasha as they sat down for dinner with Samuel and Jean sitting across from them.
"You bet" Sasha said, adding before digging to her food "Not as nice ring as "dinner", though!"
She heard snickering, and Sasha didn't need to look to know that it was all three guys sitting with her that did it. Jerks.
"You're both having your vacations now?" Samuel asked. To Sasha, he sounded a little disappointed "Too bad I'm in the group that'll have their vacation after yours; we could've done something together."
"It can't be helped; you're now stuck with just Jean" Sasha said, ignoring Jean's "Hey" of protest "But if you're lucky maybe Mikasa will stop by or something while we're gone."
"If Mikasa stops by, Jean's just gonna try to hock all her attention anyway" Connie said, wiggling his eyebrows. Sasha saw Jean just roll his eyes; guess he was really over it by now. Samuel, looking thoughtful, said to everyone's surprise: "But that's over, isn't it? I mean, Jean, I spotted you making out with one of the MPs."
"You what!?" Sasha yelled in unison together with Connie and Jean, though the later was clearly just horrified for being caught "The hell you spying me for!?"
"So it's true!?" Connie asked "Who- what- when!? Who!?"
Sasha's jaw hung open. She had been pretty sure Jean was over Mikasa, but she hadn't expected him to actually have someone else already, not to mention someone in the MPs.
"Hang on, MPs?" Sasha thought, starting to tick off a list of female MPs that they had worked with more closely at some points and who were of suitable age. There weren't many and when she thought about the people Jean had actually ever seemed close with, one name left her lips without really thinking: "Hitch!"
"Hitch? No way!" Connie said with a laugh, but Sasha ignored him, gaze focusing on Jean's face that was rapidly reddening. Seeming to follow her gaze, Connie asked: "…Yes way?"
"It's Hitch" Sasha said, getting more and more sure of it "It is, isn't it? I know it is."
"…" Jean didn't answer, refusing to look at the two. Samuel looked amused, apparently deciding to let her and Connie do the scorching of the squad leader. Sasha wasn't going to waste the opportunity "Well aren't you guys a cute couple."
"We're not- "
"Jean and Hitch, sitting in a tree- "Connie started, and Sasha didn't hesitate to join in "-Kissi-"
"Alright, enough!" Jean hissed, slamming his hands on the table and shutting the duo up as well as laughing Samuel, earning a few curious looks while he did "Both of you shut up and keep this to yourselves, or I swear I'll spread around all of your embarrassing secrets that I've ever come to know!"
Sasha blinked. This wasn't like Jean. Sure, he tended to get mad about their teasing, but never to this level. What did she and Connie not know?
Confused, she followed Jean's gaze that now landed on Samuel. Holding his hands up, the man said: "Sorry, didn't know it was a sore subject. I won't say anything to anyone, either."
That seemed to be enough for Jean as he sat back down, continuing his dinner. The others did as well, but Sasha couldn't help but feel a little less hungry now. The mood was ruined, and she had no idea why. Just what had happened between Jean and Hitch?
XXXXX
Ulrich really hadn't taken his comment all that well, so Nikolo had fled the house by going on a run, in order to avoid dealing with his brother. As he ran, his mind trailed off to a certain memory of another troublesome person on its own accord.
Flashback starts
Nikolo didn't like Eren Yeager. At all. He never had, but since the coup stunt, he pulled a few years back, Nikolo's opinion of him had hit the rock bottom and stayed there. That's why he was annoyed as hell when the guy arrived to his kitchen, simply leaning against the counter as he watched the cook work. After a while, Nikolo became annoyed and just asked: "What?"
"You always spend a lot of time with Sasha" Eren finally says "Why is that?"
Was Eren really that dense? Somehow, Nikolo doubted it. He was probably trying to get him to say something wrong. He wasn't going to give the founding titan what he wanted, but not saying anything could get him in trouble, too. He had to tread carefully.
"She is decent company" he finally said, considering it neutral enough. He considered adding "unlike some people" but decided against it; it'd just get him in trouble.
"In what room?" Eren asks, making Nikolo cut himself as he drops the potato he was peeling. Ignoring the cut, he turns to glare at Eren "Excuse me?"
"You heard me" Eren says, not taking his eyes off of Nikolo "I've seen the way you look at her. Everyone's seen the way you look at her."
Nikolo narrows his eyes, but says nothing, sure that Eren will continue. And he does: "I can't say I approve, but what Sasha does is her business. Even so, don't think I won't keep an eye on you."
"You'll be dead in less than two years" the words slip from Nikolo's mouth before he can stop himself, and as soon as they do, he fears that he may have crossed a line. However, Eren just raises an eyebrow, asking: "You think that'll stop me?"
"What?"
"My successor has been chosen. While there is no blood connection between us, some of my memories and ideals will still be passed down. And I assure you, the desperate need to protect my squad will be on top of that list. My successor will keep an eye on you." Nikolo can see the lines appearing on Eren's face, knowing that it means he might be losing his cool soon. He had to defuse the situation before the whole place blew up! "I have no intention of hurting Sasha" he pauses "Or any of the rest of them, either."
"You better be telling the truth; for your own sake if nothing else" Eren says as he stands up straighter. Nikolo tenses, but notices that instead of coming over, the Eldian just leaves "Just remember: there are eyes on you."
Flashback ends
"I don't think those eyes can reach this place, though" Nikolo thinks, quickening his space. But he also thinks that when he'll return to Paradis, Eren's warning won't be empty "One wrong move and that woman will have my head."
Fortunately, he got along with the current Founding Titan well enough, not that they'd talked often or anything. Sasha had simply introduced them at one point when the two visited the restaurant, he supposed it was seven or so years ago. After that, he'd only met her on a few occasions, including the times after she had inherited Eren's power.
"I can't even remember her name…" Nikolo realized. Well, it's not like it mattered. He was going to handle everything in a way that the Founding Titan would have nothing to complain about, so if he ever encountered her again, there'd be no problems.
First, he just had to get to Paradis.
XXXXX
"Should I be the only one to go?" Connie asked as he and Sasha stood outside of Jean's room, his fist ready to knock "He might be more comfortable talking about this among guys…"
"If that's the case then I'll leave" Sasha said "But I want to hear it from Jean himself."
She also wanted to know what about the things they'd said had gone too far, so far that Jean had lost his cool the way he had. And since it had upset him so much, she had to apologize properly even if they didn't find out the reason why.
"Yeah, you're right" Connie said, knocking on the door. Sasha held her breath, her sharp ears hearing Jean's footsteps nearing the door. As Jean opened the door, looking no different from usual even when he saw them, Sasha allowed herself to breathe again.
"What's up guys?" he asks "Are you already leaving today?"
"Nah, tomorrow" Connie said. Sasha hoped that he'd be the one to get to the point "Say… do you want to talk about what happened at dinner?"
Jean looked at them for a while, not seeming to get it, but soon the slight widening of his eyes told Sasha that he had caught on… but would he be willing to talk?
"That's…" Jean started, looking down. Sighing, he continued: "I suppose you deserve an explanation after my outburst."
He stepped aside, holding the door open. Connie entered first, and Sasha followed right after. Looking around, she noted that Jean kept his small room in a way better order than she kept hers. Well, not that surprising. As long as her room wasn't messier than Connie's, she could live with it.
Jean closed the door, walking over to his bed with his head in his hands. Sasha supposed it was worse than she had originally thought. She and Connie looked at each other, before nodding. Sasha sat on the desk chair the wrong way while Connie took a seat on the bed, but not too close to Jean. The two waited. Being silent around people wasn't easy for Sasha, but even she knew when it was not her place to speak first… most of the time, at least.
"It started a few years back, me and Hitch I mean" Sasha almost, almost interrupted him, wanting to ask why they were only hearing this now if it had been that long. And judging from the look on Connie's face, he was thinking the same. Fortunately, they both managed to keep their mouths shut.
"It was the anniversary of retaking wall Maria; we were both pretty drunk" Jean paused, still not looking at them "But I… was more sober than she was."
Uh oh, this did not sound good. Just what had Jean done!? Now Sasha really had to know; as his friend and, more importantly, as Hitch's friend, she had the responsibility to sock him if he had done something too indecent. Or beat him to a bulb with Connie if-
"No no, this is Jean we're talking about" she thought, fighting the instinct to shake her head "The most indecent thing he'd ever do to a woman is to start playing with her hair without permission or something; he has a hair fetish after all… or was that just about Mikasa?"
"She was really down that night, mourning Marlowe" obviously "I respected the guy, and so many others were lost as well, so of course I was down too…"
"We drank. She was constantly complaining, crying, talking about the past… and yet, she managed to drink more than me. Way more in fact; I have no idea how she did it" Jean said "In the end, it was up to me to take her to the barracks. She was still able to walk on her own, but she didn't want to go back. Said something about going out to party, and since I thought it'd be dangerous in her condition, I decided to walk her to her room. But…"
Sasha waited, making sure not to rush Jean.
"On the way there, she kissed me. I was stunned, but ended up kissing her back. And…" Jean paused, but Sasha had a feeling she knew what he'd say "It didn't end there."
Just as she thought. She knew what Jean was implying, but didn't see what the problem was. Hitch had started it, right? Therefore, Jean had done nothing wrong. This was Hitch anyway; she would've surely told him to stop had she not wanted to. So why was he so ashamed?
"She was drunk… and she was mourning, so isn't it like I took advantage of her?" ah, so that's what Jean was worried about. Well, they were both drunk, but since Hitch had been mourning her lost love… Sasha honestly didn't know what she should feel about this. All she knew was that Jean had done nothing wrong on purpose, at least.
"But this wasn't the only time you guys did something, right?" Connie asked. Sighing, Jean muttered: "No"
"Was she drunk on all those times?"
"No"
"Were you drunk?"
"…No"
"Was she mourning those other times as well?" now Jean looked up at him before saying: "No."
"Then you've done nothing wrong" Connie said with a shrug, and Sasha had to agree "If she didn't want to, she wouldn't have done it again."
Sasha agreed with that too. Had it been a mistake in Hitch's eyes, she would've simply asked Jean to forget it all. That's the kind of person she was; she would've just laughed it off.
"Well, that's the logical way of looking at it" Jean said, looking down again "But these things aren't usually logic bound."
"Which is why you should go along with whatever it is that you feel" Connie paused "Do you feel something? For Hitch, I mean."
Sasha leaned forward, eager to hear the answer. Since they apparently hadn't told anyone, they might be just fooling around, but one could never know. She, though, really wanted to find out.
"Well…" Jean hesitated "Yeah."
A grin split Sasha's face, and she could see the same happened with Connie. She supposed it was good Jean wasn't looking at them anymore; he would've gotten annoyed.
"So… what's stopping you from making a move? Ya know, making things be more than… umm… casual making out?" Sasha asked, leaning forward even more in her chair.
Jean snorted, and Sasha knew it was for the words she had used. But what else could she call something like that?
"…I really should know more about these things by this age" she thought, hoping that her embarrassment didn't show.
"I brought it up to Hitch once" Jean said, shrugging "But she laughed it off, saying that I shouldn't be so serious. She seemed a little embarrassed so I left it at that; I don't want to make her uncomfortable."
"…" Sasha didn't know what to say to that. Knowing Hitch, she probably really was uncomfortable and didn't want to talk so that things wouldn't get difficult. But was that really okay? All this was making Jean uncomfortable after all…
"You know, when we met I never thought I'd say something like this, but you really need to think of yourself sometimes, too" Connie said, and Jean looked up again "I get it that you worry for Hitch, but there's a limit to how much you should allow yourself to take."
"He's right!" Sasha agreed since it looked like Jean was about to object "You used to be such a jerk, but these days you're almost too kind. You need to take care of yourself, too!"
"…Sometimes it's hard to know if you two are trying to cheer me up or put me down" Jean said, but he was smiling, so Sasha had no doubt that he knew what they meant. Taking a deep breath, the squad leader said: "Thanks guys."
"Not a problem!" Connie said "We'll be here whenever you need us, right Sasha?"
"Sure thing!" Sasha cheered, making the mistake of raising her legs from the floor as she did, causing the chair she was heavily leaning on to start tipping over. Flailing her arms, she tries desperately to keep her balance "Woah woah woah!"
"Sasha!" Jean and Connie chorused, both getting up to catch her, but in the end, the female soldier ended up falling down on the floor along with her chair just before her friends could grab her "Ow…"
"You okay?" Connie asked. Sasha rubbed her head a bit before pulling herself up "Yeah…"
"Sometimes it's hard to believe that someone that clumsy is one of our elite soldiers…" Jean said with a smirk, making Sasha pout as she glared up at him.
"She's not clumsy" Connie said. Sasha knew she could always count on- "These things happen because she's an idiot."
"Am not!" Sasha yelled, flustered. She had thought Connie would fend for her. That jerk! "You're the biggest moron here! Right, Jean?"
"That's what I would've said in our training days" Jean says with a shrug "But these days, I'm not all that sure."
"Jerk!"
"Yeah, jerk!" Connie chorused and they both glared at Jean who just looks at them, unimpressed.
"Really? After all these years, that's the best you can come up with?" Sasha was about snap at him, but couldn't come up with a good comeback. She glanced at Connie, but he was tongue tied, too "C'mon, even Historia can insult people better than that!"
"Yeah well, she was taught by Ymir" Sasha defended "So it's only natural!"
"But you were with them a lot, too" Jean pointed out "And Connie, with how much Ymir always provoked you, one would think you would've learned a thing or two."
Sasha looked at Connie, who looked right back at her. Connie was also the first one to smirk, but once he did, Sasha knew exactly what he was thinking.
"I'm in!" Sasha thought, smirking back before they both turned to face Jean again, the smirks still on their faces. Jean knew them both well enough; she could see him tense. Well, no matter; he'd still gone too far. It was his turn to be on the receiving end.
"Attack!" Connie yelled, tackling Jean before the man could properly react. Sasha dove for the bed, grabbing Jean's pillow before going over to the man and beating him with it as Connie held him down.
"Oh c'mon!" Jean protested as he tried to guard himself against Sasha's attacks "Aren't we too old for this already?!"
"Never!" the two chorused again, laughing all the while. It was moments like these that made Sasha forget everything else, forget all the worries.
While she knew it was impossible, she hoped things would always be like this.
XXXXX
"Sometimes a good run really does do wonders" Nikolo thought as he walked back home, ready to deal with his family again. He had cooled down his head and wouldn't mess up, he was sure "Hm? Is that Herbert?"
He went a little closer and sure enough, he saw the familiar Eldian. After that, he also spotted Helmut and two other men with armbands.
"Strange… this isn't the wealthiest area yet, but wealthy enough that it's very rare to see Eldians around… what's going on?" Nikolo knew that the safest thing to do would be to pretend that he hadn't seen a thing. However, his curiosity got the best of him, so he walked over to the group. Another one of the Eldians he didn't know noticed him first "Can we help you, sir?"
"Simply wondering what are Eldians doing in a place like this" Nikolo said. He might have needed to choose his words more carefully, but he hoped that the brothers knew him well enough by now to know that he was simply keeping up appearances "Well?"
Of course, the other three had turned to him as well by now. His friends, was it okay to call them that, he wondered, looked startled, but they were smart enough not to say anything.
"We were simply making a delivery, sir" the Eldian he didn't know said "Heavy furniture, so a bigger group was needed."
It made sense; it wasn't all that rare to leave physical labor to Eldians and they didn't need to be paid as much… but something about this didn't sit well with Nikolo, though he couldn't put a finger on what was wrong. Was he just being suspicious out of habit?
"I see" that had to be it "Don't loiter around, then."
"We won't, sir" the Eldian spoke again. Before Nikolo turned to continue on his way, he caught the nervous looks Helmut and Herbert gave each other.
Something was up after all.
