Shingeki no Oneshot

V. Constellations (Jeanmarco)

written on — 27.3.14

inspiration — i like constellations and i was in a crushing mood. let's pretend all those constellations were founded way back when ok bear with me i wanted to do an snk oneshot instead of an au especially for jeanmarco so here it is

word count — 1,500

CONSTELLATIONS 

"Jean." The whisper came from the window closest to his bunk. "Pssst, Jean. Wake up, dammit!"

         Jean opened his eyes to the wooden frame of the top bunk and blinked sleep away several times. He rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed. Marco was by the window, one hand on the outer sill and the other beckoning to get closer. He could still hear Marco's whispers. "Jean, come out. I have to show you something."

         "Are you kidding me?" Jean hissed. He inched closer to the window when he pulled his blankets back and made sure no one else was awake. They weren't. He turned his attention back to the window. "Marco, we're in the same cabin. How did you even get out? Why did you sneak out? It's, like, 2AM. You're gonna get caught."

         "I wanted to look at the sky. Now get out of the cabin, I want to show you something. You won't regret it, I promise."

         Jean sighed. If anyone else asked him, his answer would have been "no" in a heartbeat. Too bad this was Marco. Jean opened the window after grabbing his training jacket; the spring air was frigid. Once the window was wedged open with a portion of Jean's pillow, he followed Marco away from the cabin and into the edge of the forest. "Marco," he said, his voice louder now, "if I get killed or sent home because of you, so help me-"

         "You won't."

         "What makes you say that?"

         Marco didn't slow down as he walked through the trees. Jean did his best to keep up with the freckled boy, but his boots kept getting tangled with the roots of the trees. The brunet in front of him didn't turn around as he spoke. "I'll take the blame for you. Besides, I won't get killed, I'll only get kicked out of the trainees and get sent back home."

         Jean tried to register Marco's words. When it finally sunk in he was ready to ask a question but didn't have the chance to. Marco pushed two large branches away and, holding one aside for Jean, announced, "Here we are!"

         "Uh..." Jean looked around. The cleared area was nothing special. It was just that―a clearing. It was small, too, so it looked as if only about ten people standing could fill it. For the two of them, it seemed like the right size though. "Where is 'here', exactly?"

         "This clearing is my favourite." Marco walked an extra two steps so that he was standing in the middle of the clearing. He stuffed his hands into the extra jacket he brought and looked up above. "Remember that one time I told you about how obsessed with the stars I was?"

         Jean's hardened face became softer. They had shared that conversation over bread in the dining hall. "Yeah, I remember."

         "Yeah." When Jean looked at Marco, the moonlight reflected off of the boy's face, making him appear paler than he was and without any freckles; they were drowned in moonlight.

         With or without freckles, he found Marco breathtaking.

         Marco pointed to the stars above. "Look over there. You see that bundle of stars? If you connect them in this way, you get a large spoon. It's called the Big Dipper, or Ursa Major, or the Mother Bear. It has a lot of names."