Wings : Attack on Titan x Reader Scenarios / Imagines ▼

[ The Moments After :: Jean ]

Colors bobbed about, flickering into and out of view, capering and cavorting and contorting, congealing together in an array of dulled, dim hues, conglomerating before breaking from their conformity into millions of pieces, falling like rain, a confounded puzzle without any clear conductor, absolutely uncondign. A fictitious facade shimmering and glimmering, rejoicing in its own repulsiveness, rearranging themselves the same way they seemed to always do, heading in one direction or the next, completely careless of the catastrophe that had befell just a wall away.

Wall Maria had fallen.

Due to your location, living in a moderately-sized house near the edge of Trost District, just bordering the very land and lives that had been lost, you'd been one of the first to hear.

Or rather, see.

No one had told you. No one had known, outside of the military and a few elected officials, who, of course, like the corrupt politicians you suspected them of being, had kept it to themselves until...well, you weren't sure, but far, far longer than when the ordeal had originally occurred. Yet no matter how rude they'd been on a regular basis in the past, or how awful they allowed their corporal punishment to spiral, or how much they taxed your parents, and the parents of all those around you, to the point of threatened eviction and arguments just outside your doorstep, none of their dreadful decisions had ever directly debilitated you like this one.

"[Y/n]?"

With your head hung so low, eyes glossed over just like glass shards, ears devoid of any sound whatsoever, the call for you initially escaped. Regardless of whether you'd wanted to hear it or not, it was as swift as a wisp of wind, as fleeting as the initial flood had been.

And yet, it came again, this time with voice attached to face.

At the sight of him, the amorphous monstrosities seemed to disappear, or at least greatly fade into the background - something you didn't care much for, not anymore. Still, no desire to maintain eye contact resounded within you, so you continued your posture, hunched over with your knees to your chest, atop a flat rock near the artificial waterway that wound its way throughout the districts.

"Oh, you're here, I-I..." Jean's gaze bore into you, flickering back and forth between you and the edge of the wall near you, and then back to you again, on an endless repeat, clearly wishing to say more but stopping himself before allowed a chance. Rather than wait for your retort, he plopped down next to you. Now it was unavoidable.

Almost by accident, your eyes met, and despite your best efforts to rid yourself of the plague of tears from previous moments, certain remnants must've been impossible to destroy, for the next words escaping him came out a jumbled mess. "Why are you crying? Are you hurt? You're okay, right?"

Slowly, reluctantly, you nodded. "I'm okay," you acceded to his concerned tone.

From the way his eyebrows crunched down upon his eyes, it was clear he didn't believe you, but eventually he changed the topic entirely. "Did you hear about Wall Maria?"

Your head snapped up. "Was something said about it?"

He rolled his eyes, albeit only with half of his usual full-force teasing mode. Something was holding him back, too, albeit not something you considered yourself knowledgeable about. "Besides the fact that it fell? No, not much." His shrug was drawn out, perhaps not so much for a comedic aspect but a desire to hide the slight shake in his voice.

"Finally," you muttered beneath your breath. "It took them a day? To even alert you?"

Jean made a slight noise of disgruntlement. "What do you mean it took them a day? It happened this morning, that was why I was looking for - the river."