stigmata • jean kirschtein

𝟎𝟏𝟑 | 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

the pillow hits the ground, and as he pulls his foot back to the floor, he feels a grab on his wrist. shaken up, he looks back to y/n still facing the opposite direction but now using her nearest arm to hold him back. she carefully rolls onto her side and looks at him.
his features were much softer at night, the lines that usually creased his brow replaced by the youthful appearance that matched those of others their age. he looked peaceful, not like the jean that would pick fights with eren just for existing. he looked like the caring jean, that unknowingly held y/n in his arms on the way to trost, the jean that held her hand, the jean that stuck his head out of the carriage window, and comforted y/n.

"stop moving, kirschtein. you're letting so much cold air in... it's late." y/n pleads through her tone, turning around to be comfier with her grip still around jean's wrist. as he moves back into bed, she groans softly, now facing him as she still holds his arm close.

"sorry, y/n." jean glances at her peaceful expression, and how her features sat perfectly in the glimmer of a single ray of moonlight, cracking through the window past a few silhouetted trees. she made exhaustion look so beautiful, and he hated how embarrassingly drawn he was to her. "goodnight." he rubbed his lightly calloused thumb across her cheek, and turned his back to fall asleep.

THE NEXT MORNING

"let- him go" y/n rocks back and forth in her sleep, "help him." she mumbles and groans, a tear collecting in the corner of her closed eye, as jean snaps awake and watches in horror. the ray of the glowing moonlight was now replaced by a kick of sunlight. her (s/c) skin glowed in the sunlight, bringing out it's undertones. "you-" the girl sobs, flinching as jean reaches his hands out to her.

"y/n! wake up!" the boy worries, and grasps her hand, as she gasps awake, panting for air. "what happened..?" he pleads, y/n wipes away the single tear in her right eye. heat rises to her face, as a familiar chill runs down her spine, stopping at the very nape of her neck.

"insight..." she stifles a single-worded sentence, still catching her breath. "i'm sorry i woke you." the pair timidly sit up and lean against the headboard.

"no- no it's okay..." jean looks down at her, concerned. "what did you see, if you don't mind saying?" he scratches his neck, the other hand still on y/n's.

"it was- horrible. it looked like this district, trost. but completely different, the sky was dull and the cities were empty..."

INSIGHT, YOUR POV

flanks of faceless soldiers zipped across the sky. the city looked as it was before, just devoid of the warmth that made it worthy of that term. banners hung with slogans to be read only by the dust-laden wind. the markets were all set up as if they were awaiting the stall holders' arrival any moment, against the wall of the old court house sat a bicycle, the chain dangling on the sidewalk.

the only sounds around were the quiet bickering of soldiers and a few occasional roars from the man-eating titans, entering through a recently kicked-in wall. you blinked as a gust of dirt swept to your eyes, thinking that time was frozen as you stood still atop a building, immobile. your clothes were just as the ones you went to sleep in, black boxer shorts and a white shirt, compared to the fully kitted soldiers around you making use of odm gear. steam filled the air, as the fog blurred the thin skyline, like an old oil painting. your bones felt brittle and your skin shivered in the bitter air, as a 10 metre titan approached the lower buildings before you, setting it's sickly eyes on a dark-brunet boy, stranded on a roof with no gear.

"guys! why...?" he wept, tears spilling from his eyes on end, as three of his fellow soldiers flew back away from him. all four of them were faceless, their only form of identification being the backs of their heads flying away, or the lonely face that lay solemn upon a building. you nudge forward, praying that your feet would move, giving you a single chance to save the poor boy even if it meant risking your own safety, knowing how dangerous these insights were.