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Jean had just finished organizing the craft station for when school started. Him and Marco were preschool teachers that shared the same class. At first Jean thought there was no point, he could do it all himself. But after the first week of work he was beyond grateful that Marco was there. Watching over a morning and afternoon class of twenty students each was exhausting and he would never have been able to do it himself.
Him and Marco had just finished deciding which craft activity they would do today when the principle, Hange, came in and asked one of them to come to the main office. Marco went, he immediately stood up when Hange said it was a parent in the phone, he was better with parents.
Some of the students started to arrive while Marco was gone, and as Jean was helping Annie stuff her scarf into the sleeve of her coat, Marco came back, "we might have a problem," he whispered to him.
"What is it?" Jean stood up straight to face him, Annie having run over to her table where Reiner was.
"Levi's mom called, she said he woke up sick and won't be coming to school today,"
"Kids get sick all the time," Jean said, "what's the problem?" Levi was a strong six year old, he'd be fine.
"Eren,"
That one word made all the difference. Of course, Eren.
"Oh no,"
Marco nodded his head, already knowing what was running through Jean's head.
Eren hated being away from Levi. Several times he has cried at pick up time because they had to go to their own homes. He refused to leave Levi alone, they did everything together.
At first it seemed to bother Levi, but after a couple weeks he seemed to warm up to Eren. When they went on a field trip to the aquarium a couple weeks ago, they held hands the entire time, even during lunch when it wasn't necessary for them to.
It was strange because Levi didn't seem to like anyone, even when Eren would drag him to play with the other kids, Levi would participate but he didn't look like he was having fun, just doing it because Eren wanted him to. He always the happiest when it was just him and Eren coloring at their own table. It's those times when Jean hears Levi laugh.
But instead of Levi laughing, all they would hear today would be Eren sobbing.
"Maybe he won't notice?" Jean tried, but Marco gave him a look and they both knew that wasn't going to happen.
"We'll just have to distract him,"
Nothing worked. Absolutely nothing. When students started arriving, Eren was one of the first ones. He was so excited to show Marco his new toy he had brought to school today so him and Levi could play. Marco, after showing just the right amount of enthusiasm over the you, patted Eren's head and told him to put his things in his cubby.
When it was time for class to start, Eren went up to Jean, who was trying to get everyone's attention, and told him they couldn't start because Levi wasn't here yet.
Jean wasn't sure what to do, so he told Eren they would wait a couple more minutes. It seemed to be satisfactory until Levi still didn't show up.
They were making snowflakes when Marco went up to Jean, who was helping Connie fold the paper, and motioned to the corner of the room where Eren was sitting by himself.
Jean sighed and told Marco to finish helping Connie while he went to Eren. He sat down next to him and Eren held his knees tighter, trying to cover his face but Jean could hear him sniffling.
Jean ruffled his hair, "Levi's mom said Levi was feeling too sick to come to school today,"
Eren looked at him with wide, tear-stained eyes, "Levi's sick?!" He started to panic.
Jean nodded. "he'll be okay, he'll be back tomorrow,"
"So he left me today?" Eren looked down and started to cry again.
"No, he didn't leave you, would you really want him to come so you could get sick?"
Eren rubbed his eyes and looked up at Jean again, "I don't care if I get sick, I just want to play with Levi," he let out a loud wail that attracted the attention of all the students. Crista came and asked him to play with her and Ymir but he shook his head.
"You miss your friend?" Jean asked him, Eren nodded, "I can be your friend,"
"You're not Levi," Eren mumbled.
Jean got frustrated, he was trying and Eren wasn't accepting his help. He looked to Marco who returned a look that said 'Jean, he's five.'
Jean sighed and told Eren he would be right back. He told Marco to keep an eye on the kids and he would be back in ten minutes.
While he was gone, Marco tried to get Eren to engage in their snowflake making activity but the closest he could get was Eren sitting at a table. He refused to make any snowflakes, saying he didn't want to make anything without Levi.
When Jean came back, he grabbed the tablet from the drawer in their desk and set it up in front of Eren. A minute later Eren was squealing and yelling Levi's name.
"You're here!" Eren said.
Levi's voice came from the tablet, "no, I'm at home. I'm sick. Mr. Jean said you've been crying all day,"
"I missed you Levi," Eren pouted.
"Well don't cry, you're going to get snotty,"
That made Eren laugh, "but you're snotty too!"
"Because I'm sick, dummy,'
Marco was surprised at the brilliant idea Jean had to have them Skype so Eren could at least see him. Eren was careful to carry the tablet everywhere he went and even took it to the cubby so he could show Levi his new toy. Then he walked all around the room with it so Levi could see all their classmates who told Levi they hoped he felt better.
When it was Marco's turn, he noticed Levi yawn.
"Eren, I think it might be time to say goodbye to Levi so he can take a nap,"
Eren started to whimper, "but Levi!"
"If he doesn't sleep he won't feel better and he won't come tomorrow either," Marco reasoned with him.
Eren's lower lip quivered and he was about to cry again when Levi's voice interrupted him.
"Eren, I'm sleepy,"
Eren's face went from borderline crying to normal happy faced Eren, "oh! Well have a fun nap, Levi. I'll see you tomorrow!"
Eren handed the tablet back to Marco and ran off to where Ymir and Crista where playing a board game.
Marco told Levi to feel better and they he'll see him tomorrow. He also said a quick thanks to him for keeping Eren occupied and stopping him from crying.
"He's such a baby," Levi said, he yawned again so Marco said good bye and disconnected the call.
He took the tablet back to the desk, Jean went up to him.
"Hung up already?" He asked
"Levi was sleepy so Eren let him go," he nudged Jean's shoulder from he stood next to him now, "that was a brilliant idea you had Mr. Jean," Marco teased, watching how Jean stiffened and stood up straight.
"Not in front of the kids Marco!" Jean hurried away to walk around the room, but was stopped by Eren.
"Thank you for letting me talk Levi today Mr. Jean!" He said happily, "you can be my friend now since he's napping,"
Jean smiled down at Eren, "thank you Eren, I'd love to be your friend today. Do you want to make a snowflake so you can show Levi tomorrow?"
Eren got excited and started to bounce on the balls of his feet, "I'm going to make him a bazillion!" he said and hen ran off to gather his crafts.
~
Jean was stretching to get some papers from the higher shelf of the cabinet. He tried to remember who thought it would be a good idea to put them so high (it was his, but he could blame Marco). A tug on his pants made him jump a little but not too much that he couldn’t play it off.
"Levi!" he greeted his student, he bent down a bit to meet his eyes, "I see you're feeling better,"
Levi was looking down at his shoes, but he nodded, not saying anything.
"You okay buddy?" Jean asked him, helping him take off his bookbag. Levi never took his help, but today he did, which momentarily surprised Jean, "what's bothering you?" he asked once all of Levi's things were in his cubby.
"Eren went to my house after school to give me a snowflake," Levi explained, Jean couldn't help but smile, Eren had been so excited and proud of the snowflake he made that he apparently couldn't wait 24 hours to give it to Levi at school,
"He's sick," Levi said.
"Oh," Jean understood, Levi was going to miss Eren.
"Can I use the tablet to talk to Eren?" Levi asked politely, finally looking into Jean's eyes. His gray eyes were glassy, as though he would start crying if Jean told him no.
But Jean couldn't say no to one of his students, "when everyone is settled in, I'll call Eren's mom and we can call him then, okay?"
Jean caught the beginning of a smile before Levi ducked his head down and nodded, "thank you Mr. Jean,"
"No problem, Levi,"
"Eren said you were his friend yesterday when I wasn't here. Can you be my friend today too?"
Jean smiled down at his student and ruffled his hair, "sure thing,"