A/N: (Anyone still reading this fic?)
This chapter is really short and I'm sorry about that but I felt wrong to add anything more...
Anway, I thought it was about time for some insight into how the dynamics work in this verse. I hope it doesn't seem too forced ^^;;
While Eren was tossing around, fruitlessly trying to fall asleep resulting in Levi gently kicking him off the bed and banishing him to his own room unless he stopped, other people weren't even trying to sleep.
Jean was on his third cup of strong tea in the kitchen when the sound of hesitant footsteps coming from the mess hall startled him from the daze he had been in. He stared at the door with wide eyes as it slowly opened and a blond had popped in, tired eyes warily scanning the suspiciously not-dark room. Blue and brown eyes met and both Jean and Armin let out a sigh of relief.
Neither of them said anything, Armin only gesturing towards the kettle standing on the stove with questioning eyes to which Jean only shook his head, Armin nodding in understanding back. Only when newly steeped tea filled both their cups and Armin sat opposite of Jean at the small table, did they speak.
"Couldn't sleep?"
"What did you..."
"Sorry!"
"Sorry, continue please."
They stared at each other for a second before chuckling as Armin gestured for Jean to continue.
"Sorry, I was just wondering what you thought about the meeting."
Armin looked towards the small window with a contemplative frown, thinking how best to word his answer, while Jean sat there patiently, playing with the cup in his hands in the meantime. Finally, Armin spoke slowly, carefully. "I think... I think everyone reacted exactly how I expected them to." He let out a heavy sigh. "I hoped the shock might make them crack their mask and let something slip but I didn't see anything."
"I suppose they're really good, huh?" Jean muttered bitterly and Armin gave him a wry smile in return.
"Well, they've been playing their roles for almost five and a half years. They gotta have it down to perfect by now."
They were silent for a while, each lost in their own thoughts.
"But didn't you think Krista was suspicious? She didn't seem at all surprised Eren was pregnant; more like she knew since the beginning?"
Armin shook his head with a small laugh. "Jean, now you're just acting desperate." He got an annoyed growl in return and though Jean's alpha traits weren't fully developed yet, he still stopped laughing immediately on instinct. "Ahem. I don't think it's that weird. Krista is a girl and on top of that not as stupid and oblivious as the others. How many things do you think can cause someone to be sick in the morning and otherwise be completely fine, and for no one to make fuss about it as if it were completely normal?" the blond beta shrugged.
Jean thought about it for a minute, finding it to be a reasonable explanation. He slumped in his chair, rubbing his face with his hands. "Well, what now, though?"
Armin sighed, mimicking the young alpha and slumping in his own chair, grabbing his mug tightly. "What else can we do? We have to wait. Sooner or later they are going to either slip up or make their move. If we are ready for it, we can catch them."
"What if we can't?" Jean questioned with frustration. "They are freaking titans, Armin! And we don't even know who they are!"
Armin immediately straightened in his chair. "We have to," he said with cold determination in his unwavering voice. "We might not know for sure but we have an idea who they are. We have no choice but find the proof and catch them. We can't let the Annie incident repeat itself!"
Jean stared at the blond for a while, completely taken aback by the sudden fierceness of the typically meek beta.
"Wow, Armin, you've been spending too much time with Erwin lately."
The both of them jumped at the cackle coming from the direction of the door as they didn't notice anyone approaching. However, there Hanji was, laughing as usual, yet with messed up hair and circles under her eyes worse than Captain Levi's.
"You look like hell," Jean blurted out without thinking before slapping a hand over his mouth when he realized who he was talking to.
Nonetheless, Hanji only laughed, waving a hand dismissively, as she grabbed the teapot still standing on the table and helped herself to a cup before flopping down next to Armin tiredly.
"Umm, if I may ask, how long have you been awake?" Armin asked uncertainly.
"This is my second all-nighter in a row!" Hanji stated proudly in response, much to both boys' horror.
"Squad leader, with all due respect, go the hell to sleep!" Jean cried, still in shock.
"You're worried about me?" Hanji cooed teasingly while grinning widely. "But this is normal for me you know? Researchers have to make sacrifices," she winked, which didn't help easing the boys' concerns at all.
She laughed at their expressions before chugging the whole mug in one go. She immediately went to refill it but in her sleep-deprived state almost spilled the lukewarm drink everywhere. Armin only shook his head, resigned to watching his superior struggle not to fall asleep, but Jean wasn't ready to give up, yet.
"I'm serious, Squad leader. For your own good. Go to sleep." He said sternly.
Armin gaped at his friend, while Hanji blinked a few times at him before her face split in a wide grin once again. "Are you trying to dominate me, Mr. Kirstein?"
Jean blushed furiously at the observation.
The Squad leader made a noise as if she just witnessed the cutest thing in the world happening right in front of her. "Aww, but Jean! You're still just a baby as far as your dynamic goes. There's no way you can dominate anyone but some weak, extremely weak beta child."
Jean blushed harder as Armin was using his hand to muffle his laughter.
Hanji raised a finger in a lecturing manner. "You should know alphas mature pretty slowly compared to the other dynamics. So do try not to pull this act with other alphas or you'll get eaten, okay?"
Jean nodded reluctantly with a pout and Hanji smiled in satisfaction.
Armin was frowning slightly while the silence lasted before he asked, "Hanji, I was wondering... What even is this 'alpha dominance'? We are taught the differences between dynamics but no one ever explains how it works, it's just taken as a fact... The dynamics themselves, too. Like, we can tell what dynamic someone is as soon as we meet them but I never understood how?"
Hanji smiled sadly. "Yeah, that's one unfortunate thing about our education system. In fact, I learned about it just recently as well. Only after Eren's... situation, actually. I figured I knew too little to be off any help so I asked Moblit to look into it. But I couldn't exactly tell him to just look up omegan pregnancy, so he read up on everything." Hanji paused, shrugging.
Armin and even Jean now stared at her in anticipation. It never occurred to Jean but now that he heard the question, he couldn't help but wonder.
Hanji relished in the fact that for once someone was listening to her rambling intently. She was used to everyone running away in fear every time she started as even she knew she tended to, let's say, get carried away in her excitement. The brunette beta took in the boys' curious faces and smiled to herself lightly before continuing. "The dynamics' bodies are all built a little bit differently. It's more subtle than male-female, obviously. The differences are mostly in our physiology and hormones." She paused to chuckle. "If you don't count the male omegan pregnancy and female alpha's ability to impregnate, of course."
"So what about how we can distinct between us so naturally?" Jean questioned when Hanji paused again.
"Easy. Pheromones."
Both of the boys frowned, exchanging a glance.
"But... No one smells like anything to me? Unless they are sweaty as hell or something," Jean muttered in wonder.
Armin nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I knew Mikasa and Eren pretty much my whole life and I never, I don't know, smelled a difference between them but I always knew they were alpha and omega?"
Hanji nodded enthusiastically, a manic grin plastered on her tired face. "Exactly! You can't smell it consciously since our noses aren't as developed, but the brain still recognizes and analyzes the subtle smells on subconscious level!"
"And the 'alpha dominance' is the same?"
Hanji grinned at Armin for catching on. "Yup. When alphas want to show others who's boss, they release pheromones that for others mean danger and to keep in line. Of course unless you are a fully mature alpha as well, then it just screams 'challenge'. And it's not like the alphas themselves even realize this, they do it unconsciously, automatically. Like the pheromones act based on emotion only."
The boys hummed and nodded in understanding.
"Oh, but," Hanji perked up after a while, remembering some other interesting info, "apparently when omegas are pregnant, they also constantly release pheromones. That's why everyone they come across feels the need to protect and help them. Isn't that cool?"
For some reason, Jean let out a sigh of relief which earned him a weird look from Hanji. Armin smirked though, deciding to elaborate. "He was worried he was starting to actually care about Eren."
"Ah," Hanji smirked in understanding. "So he thinks now he can hide he's worried and protective of him behind the effects of Eren's pheromones."
Armin nodded solemnly and Jean wanted to throw something at them both. Unfortunately, Hanji was still his superior and the only throwable things around were their cups and the teapot, so Jean only opted for a dirty look for Armin, which was returned with a cheeky wink.
They set in comfortable silence before Jean decided he'd had enough. He finished his tea, depositing the mug in the sink, before turning sternly at the other two. "I'm going to sleep. You two should as well. You especially, Squad leader."
Both Armin and Hanji cooed at the cute attempt at acting like the boss. Jean glared at them before angrily marching away. Hanji wondered whether Jean was reaching the age when he would start attempting to challenge the "pack alpha" so to speak. He was still too young; his pheromones not yet strong enough to actually assert any kind of actual dominance, but young alphas had to start somewhere to hone their inborn leadership abilities.
They both kept smiling until they heard the door to the mess hall slam closed maybe a little louder than was necessary. The two betas shared a look before bursting into snickers. It took them a while to calm down but when they did, Hanji started staring at Armin intently. So intently in fact that Armin started squirming in his seat, not sure what this was about.
It was about a minute before Hanji finally opened her mouth to speak. "Hey, Armin," she said, uncharacteristically serious. "How is it that you know about Erwin's plans more than even Mike?"
Armin stilled immediately, staring at the brown-haired scientist with wide eyes. "Umm..."
"You don't have to tell me anything you can't," Hanji elaborated immediately. "That's not why I'm asking. I'm just so used to Erwin keeping everything to himself. We all are." She paused to rub at her burning eyes and sighed. "I was just wondering. How did that happen? Why does he trust you so much?"
Armin looked down at his hands, not saying anything for a long time. The whole time Hanji was waiting patiently, sipping at her cold tea, occasionally humming to herself to not let the awkwardness settle in.
She just about started to think Armin wouldn't tell her anything when the boy finally spoke up, "I was suspicious of some people in Captain Levi's squad."
Hanji abruptly stopped humming and gave her whole attention to Armin, who was sitting there, looking even smaller then he normally was. She didn't say anything though, letting the young beta talk as he felt comfortable with.
"Actually... I was suspicious of them for a while but I had no proof. But with the current situation..." he paused, heaving a big sigh to compose himself. "I just couldn't risk putting Eren or the... other one in danger. So I went to Commander Erwin. I knew he was likely suspicious of the whole squad, or probably our whole graduation group, honestly. Who wouldn't be, after Annie, right?" Armin shrugged, trying not to sound too bitter at the memory, and daring an uncertain glance at Hanji who only smiled encouragingly. So Armin continued to speak. "I figured he didn't know much about the members and how we interact so I thought I'd tell him what I can. The Commander agreed to check the background of the people I suspected and after confirming that I was right, he somehow, for some for me unfathomable reason, decided to tell me about his other findings and plans."
"He decided you were trustworthy and a great help, Armin. That is not weird," Hanji filled in the silence when Armin stopped short again. "You sound like you can't understand how it happened yourself. And you know what? Eren and Mikasa are right."
Armin looked at her with his head cocked to the side in a questioning manner and Hanji could only smile. "You really should believe in yourself more. You are really smart; you are a brilliant strategist from what I gather and you kept up with all my research without any prior knowledge. Not many people can do that."
Armin blushed at the prize but Hanji wasn't done yet.
"And you know, Erwin is probably the best judge of character you'll ever meet. If he decided to trust you so easily, it means something."
Armin scoffed at that. "It could only mean that I am so weak I am no threat."
Hanji laughed. "You can feign weakness, Armin. Quite easily so. Or you can even be weak for real but that doesn't disqualify you as a spy."
Armin didn't say anything to that, letting what Hanji said sink in. He still didn't really believe her but it felt good to hear it, nonetheless.
Silence enveloped the kitchen after that, each of them trapped in their own thoughts.
That was how the people on kitchen duty found them in the morning, completely passed out at the table in what had to be the most uncomfortable positions known to man.
A/N: I'm really sorry about the shortness and lateness of this chapter. Real life happened and it will continue happening for the next two weeks. (If you still want me,) I hope to be fully back the week before Christmas, by Christmas at the latest. (Wish me luck...)