Shiganshina Cake Heist (SnK 20's au)
Summary: same verse as SnK 20's au- One of the Shiganshina kids cake heists. (here, have some fluffy stuff)
Blue eyes watched the crowd around the little wooden stall outside the Continental Hotel, staring carefully at the cars around it. It should be around now…Ah, there it was.
Armin signaled to the rest of the group from the opposite rooftop and five pairs of eyes peered over the edge of the railing watching the bread-laded bicycle pull up to the stall below, gaze unblinking.
The pastry shop had a new recipe.
The blonde had heard about it from the redheaded girl at school, who'd in turn heard it from the friend of the baker lady's son, the news passing along the chain he'd set up for this very purpose like lightning.
Moving down the fire escape down to the busy street below, Armin wandered along, the perfect picture of innocence and excitement. Well, the excitement was genuine at least.
The road was busy today, the trains having been delayed, resulting in a giant rush and Armin found himself buffeted by the crowds, his ten-year-old height not enough to make him visible and the pastry lady watched him come closer with wary eyes. They'd never been caught in the act, but she'd heard stories about the Jaeger boy and his two friends from her son.
She turned from the stall to look at blonde boy as he piped up, voice still young and childish.
"Mrs. Grace! I heard you've got some buns in today?" he looked up at the woman's considerable height, blue eyes wide. "How much for them?"
The woman gestured to the air around him, voice load as is the habit of people who spend all day yelling. "Your friend, he's not with you today?" Her voice was thick with an unknown accent and it only made her seem all the more intimidating.
Armin tried to quiet the fluttering of his heart, smiling the widest he could, but there was a little stammer to his words. "N-no. He's gone off somewhere and I though I would…"
The boy's voice broke off, and he mentally berated himself for the slip; why was he so worried anyway? It wasn't the first time they'd done this, although it was Connie's first run.
"You would?" A meaty hand pushed up her glasses and she peered down a large nose at the youth. "I hope you're not trying to pull one over me?"
He gasped, and an incredulous tone entered his voice. "I'd never!" That too was true enough: Armin was never the actual thief, his talents lying in speech instead. "Mikasa loves cinnamon, you see, and I just wanted to get something for him before we met up. So you see…how much are the buns?"
The lady relaxed and she smiled indulgently at the young boy. "A penny each, but I'll give you some of the failed ones for a couple of nickels..." She waved a finger at him, lecturing the blonde as she felt was her duty. "As long as you share them."
Armin was watching Sasha and Connie approach the stall, and winced at the way the bald boy was walking. He was too stiff! Behind his back, he gestured at Mikasa, hoping that she would handle it.
"Boy? Your head in the clouds?"
"Ah, sorry Mrs. Grace! I was just wondering how you made them, since they smell really good."
Armin breathed a sigh of relief as the lady started to launch into a spiel about the buns, talking about the exact process she did, going off on a tangent about burned fingers.
He tuned her out completely, watching with bated breath as Mikasa appeared out of nowhere and hauled Connie away, leaving Sasha to filch the treats with her nimble fingers. Hopefully the girl wouldn't eat them before they met up again; Armin couldn't fault her for being hungry but this was a group effort.
"…want?" The woman's harsh accent interrupted his thoughts, prompting him to turn his blue eyes up at her. "Pardon?"
"I said how many do you want boy? I do have other customers." Her voice had returned to its businesslike tone, the warm look in her eyes gone completely. "You haven't just wasted my time have you?"
This was bad. Sasha still hadn't gotten everything they wanted, and Armin could see a suited man slowly approaching the stall, gaze intent on the brown-haired girl. The woman was turning, a suspicious expression on her face and he reached out a hand to stop her, to draw her attention somehow.
Suddenly, a cheery voice sounded behind him, and Armin and the baker whirled around in tandem, the blonde letting out a sigh of relief. It was Eren, his green eyes excited and a bunch of flowers in held in his hand.
Slowing to a stop in front of the lady,