Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

The old wooden doors of the mess hall burst open as the beaten and bloody young soldiers drag themselves inside after another long, grueling day of training. Hand-to-hand combat is a task many of them detest, finding it tedious an unnecessary, yet a small handful use this as an opportunity to prove themselves and bask in the spotlight. Those select few are noticeably more energized than the rest of the 104th Trainee Squad, blissfully boasting about how he or she flipped him or her with the most amazing move.

"Jean didn't stand a chance," Eren mumbles into Mikasa's ear with a smirk as he grabs his tray, piling it with one of nearly every option of food.

"Wha-?! Th-the only reason you flipped me was because I slipped, Jaeger!" Jean retorts, his cheeks flushing when Mikasa gives him the tiniest apologetic smile.

"How about when Armin and Ymir went at it?" Connie laughs, "how did that even happen, anyway?"

"He gave Christa a bloody nose," Ymir responds with a glance at her former opponent.

"I-I said it was an accident!" Armin defends. Ymir laughs and smacks him on his back.

"Ha! No hard feelings, Arlert. Besides, bending you over my shoulder and slamming your face in the dirt made me realize a few things." She grins and follows the rest of the group to their usual sitting area.

Armin takes a seat between Mikasa and Eren, right across from Ymir and Christa, who now has a purple bruise forming at the base of her nose. Armin grimaces and offers her a toothy apologetic smile. Her cheeks burn and turn pink as she smiles back.

"S-so what did flipping Armin into the dirt make you…uhm, realize, Ymir?" Christa asks, taking a bite of her bread. The other cadets at the table fall silent and turn to look at their comrade, who is now chuckling to herself with a wide grin spread across her face.

"I don't now how I never noticed it before," She calms herself and looks Armin dead in the eye, "but, damn, Armin…you have a really nice ass."

Reiner nearly falls out of his chair and Connie chokes on his soup before bursting into a fit of laughter. Armin drops his spoon and his face burns a deep shade of crimson as he gapes at them. Eren struggles to contain his own amusement and Armin gawks at him.

"Wha- ! Y-ymi-…Rie-…Eren!" Armin stammers, his cheeks deepening in color. Christa rises from her seat and tries to silence the boys, not wanting to get in trouble with their superior, or cause Armin anymore embarrassment.

"Oh, come on, Christa!" Reiner taunts from his end of the table, "I saw the look on your face. Don't even try and say that you disagree!"

Christa's cheeks turn pink and she averts her eyes, a modest grin forming on her lips. "W-well…"

Reiner and Jean come close to flipping the table, with Reiner literally falling out of his seat and rolling onto the floor. Connie and Sasha lean on each other for support as they cackle hysterically while Armin buries his face in his hands. Many of the other cadets in the room turn to see what is causing the commotion.

"O-oi, kn-ock it off, guys," Eren says between chuckles, feeling everyone's eyes landing on him and his companions. He clears his through, attempting to rid himself of his amusement. "Seriously, everyone stop, or-"

An infamous creaking sound coming from the other end of the mess hall instantly silences the young soldiers. Their notorious bald instructor pokes his head halfway through the door, his expression grim.

"You must not be too tired after all, if you're making all this noise," he scowls in a low voice, "I don't think you want to run an extra thirty laps, so someone better tell me-"

There's a loud woomf as the surrounding cadets all point at Eren's table. He and the others gulp nervously as their instructor gradually marches towards them. He stops at the end closest to Armin, who's heart is about to pound out of his chest.

"Congratulations, soldiers," he deadpans, "you earned yourselves an extra thirty laps and a night of cleaning the mess hall." He falls silent for several moments before slamming his fists on the table, causing everyone to jump out of their seats and make a beeline for the nearest exit.

Later that evening, Eren and Armin groggily trudge into the barracks. Armin collapses onto his bunk and Eren, who typically slept on the top bunk, falls beside him as though it was routine.

"What are you doing?" Armin groans out, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Scoot over," Eren mumbles, "I'll get in my bunk in a minute, I just want to close my eyes for a little while."

Armin lets out another annoyed groan and rolls onto his stomach, giving Eren and little extra space to lay down. Eren pulls himself completely on the bed and lies on his back before giving Armin a good smack on his back side.

"Ouch!" Armin hisses, but is to exhausted to strike back, "what was that for?"

Eren gives him a firm squeeze and chuckles lightly, "it's your fault we had to run those laps and clean up." He pats Armin's rump a few more times before adding, "if you didn't have such a nice ass, none of this would have happened." Armin giggles softly at this and Eren notices a slight blush on his cheeks, probing him to continue.

"Plus, having seen what's underneath those pants-"

"Eren!" He sees Armin's eyes go wide and his face turn a deep shade of crimson, just as it had done previously that evening. "Don't say that so loudly! The guys next door might hear you!"

"Ah, Armin, who-" he stops mid sentence, grunting as he rolls over onto his belly and wraps an arm and leg around his blonde partner, "who cares if they do? I could care less what they thought about us," he plants a soft kiss on Armin's cheek.

Armin blushes faintly at the contact and beams. He scoots closer to Eren and settles his head under his companions chin. The hum of Eren's heartbeat quickly lulls him to sleep, whilst Eren quietly relaxes to the sound of Armin's breathing until he too drifts into slumber, his arms and legs still tightly coiled around his fair-haired friend.

It was the greatest night's sleep they'd had in three years.