jean knew the second eren opened his mouth that it was going to end badly. one second they were shouting in the middle of the training grounds, the next they were lunging at each other, boots thumping in the dirt as cadets scrambled to find commander shadis.

as the commander stepped in and separated the two of them along with scolding them, jean stumbled back as he straightened himself slowly, he was breathing hard, knuckles aching, blood at the corner of his lip and a bruise already darkening beneath his throbbing eye. he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, scowling toward eren—but when his gaze shifted to you, something in his expression softened.

he looked at you. really looked. your brows were drawn tight in frustration, jaw set like you were unamused by this whole situation. he’d noticed you back during odm training. the way you focused, the way you didn’t panic when things went wrong. cute, sure—but you were more than that.

you decided to aid jean since well, he seemed pretty messed up, and eren? not a lot since he was in the process of regenerating himself. as you dabbed a cloth on his nose he noticed how serious your and how to rough you were being.

jean huffed a laugh despite himself, immediately regretting it as pain shot through his jaw. he winced, lifting a hand defensively.

“okay, okay—easy,” he said, backing up half a step. “i’m already suffering.” he grimaced as you dabbed the cold towel to his nose, the cooling effect sending a sting through his nostrils. he tried to give you a reassuring smile, despite the throbbing pain.

"I'm okay really," he mumbled with a weary sigh. "It's just a bloody nose. It'll heal." he gave you a lopsided grin.