Chapter Text
A calm Tuesday afternoon in the library, Armin's voice droning on, speaking to Jean about the classes they had, books laid out in front of them, a few friends seated around them, everything seemed normal; that is, if one disregarded the boy who was currently boring holes into Jean's face with his eyes. Jean tried his best to keep his mind focused on the material Armin was going over considering Professor Erwin's class was extremely difficult and Armin seemed to be the only one who understood. Jean really couldn't afford to fail this class, it was the only prerequisite he had yet to take due to his laziness of not signing up earlier, and today's lesson had been complete gibberish to him. But that damn boy.
Jean adjusted his thick-framed glasses on his face, pushing them up with his index finger by the bridge. He could have sworn he saw the boy chuckling silently at him. Jean broke out in a sweat, desperately trying to control his peripheral vision from paying attention to the boy.
"I think we're due for a break." Armin announced.
"Yes, please." Jean responded in a soft voice and as he stood up, he, once again, could have sworn the boy bit his lip and - was that a piercing on his bottom lip?! Jean was quick to follow Armin out of the library.
They arrived to the vending machines quickly, everything silent as Armin fed it a dollar. He picked up his drink, taking a long sip before addressing Jean who was just standing there, staring at the machine like an idiot.
"You okay, Jean? You seem pretty out of it."
"Huh? Oh yeah. I just wanted to ask you something."
"Shoot."
"Who's the kid who was sitting next to you upstairs?"
"Oh, that's Eren. Sorry I didn't introduce you guys. You showed up late and so did he. I can introduce you now if you want to, though." Jean stiffened.
"Wait, like Eren 'your-roommate-Eren'? Like Eren 'been-friends-with-him-since-practically-childbirth-Eren'? Like Eren 'I-heard-he-was-transferring-here-in-the-middle-of-the-semester-Eren'? That Eren?!" Armin cocked an eyebrow at his friend.
"Yes," He said slowly, not really assessing what the issue was. "Is there a problem with that?"
"N-no, he just... Isn't what I imagined." Armin chuckled.
"Well, what exactly did you imagine?"
"I dunno. Probably... For him to be more like you. I certainly didn't expect him to have piercings or anything."
"Oh yeah, he has those." Armin states as they start walking back to the library.
"'Those'? As in multiple ones?" Armin nods.
"Yeah, I can't tell you how many exactly, seeing as he got most of them in the two years we've been away but it's definitely more than one."
They arrived at the library, seating themselves as an end to their conversation while their friends were waiting for them. Before Armin began speaking again, Jean allowed himself to give Eren's face a fuller look and nodded to himself at what he was able to briefly take in. Eren had a nice, sharp, strong jaw, accenting the rest of his chiseled look. His lips were full and a dusty rose color, two shiny, black, metal rings cupping his bottom one. His nose was small and rounded. And his eyes. Oh man was Jean ever-so-not prepared for his eyes. A deep turquoise color with splashes of gold, almost turning them green. They glimmered as if a layer of children's glitter hid underneath, the whole of his eyes accented by a thin, almost unnoticeable outline of black eyeliner. Higher up were his thick eyebrows, a dark brown, just like his hair, and the right one had a piercing sticking out like arrows both above and below, the shine of the metal just peaking out from the strands of his bangs. And then his hair, a giant mess of chocolate locks that somehow worked with his demeanor. Just as complex as his eyes, as well, some strands seemingly painted an auburn and others a rich ink black. His facial expression looked extremely bored, Jean able to see slight dark bags under his eyes, even though he was incessantly scribbling down nearly every word Armin was saying.
Oh fuck.
Armin had started talking again.
Jean willed himself away from Eren's face, trying to pay attention to whatever it was that Armin was saying. He cursed at himself and at the boy mentally for having distracted him from his schoolwork. He adjusted his glasses once more, beginning to write as he noticed Eren's eyes were on him again. He did his best to not sweat and blush profusely.
"Only forty-five more minutes of this to go." He thought to himself.