positions | jean kirstein

chapter fourteen: agreement

I wave a goodbye to Hange before heading back to my room. I spent the entire day assisting Hange with their experiments and helping them prepare for the upcoming mission. Tomorrow, we would be moving out to a cottage and begin experimenting with Eren's Titan hardening ability. And hopefully, we could use it to seal and reclaim Wall Maria once and for all.

The door creaks open, revealing Jean sitting in the office. He seems to be doing some kind of paperwork.

"You still have more work?" I ask as I shrug my jacket off my shoulders and place it on the sofa.

His brown eyes flicker up to me before he begins to put the papers away.

"Something like that," he mumbles out, shutting a book before standing out of his seat and heading to his room to put it away. I crash onto the sofa, letting out a tired sigh.

"Don't work too hard. We are leaving for the mission first thing tomorrow morning," I say, closing my eyes, enjoying the feeling of the heat radiating from the active fireplace.

Footsteps approach from behind and I feel the couch dip besides me.

Feeling a pair of eyes on me, I open my eyes to see Jean facing himself towards me with his arm outstretched on the top of the sofa. He stares at me with an unfamiliar expression on his face.

I raise my eyebrow at him. "Jean?"

I must've snapped him out of his daze, and his eyes widen when he realizes I was talking to him.

"Are u okay?" I ask with my eyebrows furrowed, trying to suppress a laugh.

"Yeah," he says, breaking eye contact to stare into the fireplace.

He slightly jumps when I place my hand on his thigh.

I don't know why I did it, but I did.

His gaze returns to my face and I send him a stare.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," he says with a light smile. "Don't worry about me. I can handle myself."

I only nod my head at his answer and silence consumes the room. I take the time to analyze him.

His eyebrows held a slight furrow and his lips were pursed together. He looks conflicted, like he was debating something.

"Like the view?" he says suddenly and I snap out of my thoughts. He had a wide smirk painted on his face.

I roll my eyes at him and let out a scoff. "Please."

"I was trying to be nice but of course you had to ruin the moment," I say with a dramatic sigh, the corners of my lips threatening to tilt up.

He lets out a laugh and I can't help but to do the same, his hand rubbing small circles on my arm.

During our conversation, his arm somehow managed to make its way behind my shoulder, unknowingly drawing me closer to him. I was leaned into him and his side, my hand still resting on his thigh. Neither of us even realized how close had gotten. 

I awkwardly shift in my seat and pull my hand away from his thigh as if he had burned me. His expression changes but Jean doesn't say anything.

"So," he starts with his arm still over my shoulders, "What is going to happen between us?"

Here we go again.

I tilt my head up, enough to meet his eyes. 

"Are you talking about..." I trail off, my mouth refusing to say it.