This AU has been nagging me for a short time, I wanted to wait before writing it, but I just can't help myself. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this and Peaches at the same time, I'm mostly inspired for both, so that's good. Also, in this AU we'll just pretend that prostitution is completely legal but very much frowned upon (like it already is) by society.
Family is something that most people would say is very dear to them, family is there when no one else is. Families also come in many different forms, there are no two that are exactly alike. Armin's family was certainly unconventional to say the least. He was found as a swaddled newborn on the doorsteps of a brothel, with nothing more than a note that had "Armin Arlelt – take care of him please" scribbled in splotchy ink. The woman who found him, Hanji Zoe, was one of two madames that ran the brothel, she adored him, and did take very good care of him. Being raised in such a place had its benefits, like always being surrounded by loving older sisters, but it had its cons as well, like constantly being hounded by Child Protective Services due to allegations of being a poor environment to raise a child. However, Armin showed no signs of abuse, in fact he was quite intelligible at an early age. He took interest in reading books, and would read to the workers to relax them if their day was too rough. The boy really did love his family, but when it was time that he went to school, other children didn't seem interested in him. It appeared as though they avoided him altogether and he was often teased for being 'the boy of the brothel'. Armin stopped trying to befriend others after some time, he grew up to be shy and in school he was almost always seen with his face buried in a book. He didn't mind this because he had his family back at home, and for 15 years that was all he really needed.
Today was the first day of sophomore year, and Armin wasn't excited about it at all. He trudged himself and his backpack down the long, winding stairs in the back of the large house. His room was in the attic, so his studying wouldn't be disturbed by his sisters while they were working. All he had to do was to man up today and tomorrow, then it would already be the weekend and he could go to the bookstore to buy that novel he's been saving up for. He thought it was strange that the first day was on a Thursday, but it hardly mattered. Armin walked into the kitchen to see his family all gathered around the vast dining table, he's never eaten breakfast alone, and he was grateful for that.
"Good morning sunshine~" Hanji chirped. She was on the stove making bacon, hash browns, and omelets.
"Morning, Hanji." Armin said as he sat down on the table, being fussed over the moment he took his seat.
"Ah, Armin you look so cute today~"
"Did you do something differently with your hair?"
"Is that a new book?"
"How do you get your skin to be that clear?"
Armin just smiled, he couldn't respond to them all at once and faked modesty at the compliments, but he secretly enjoyed the attention. Some of the girls were new and most of them took a liking to him, since he was technically the only guy who was in the house, he wanted to get to know each one of them individually, and was likely the only male around that didn't want to screw them.
Hanji placed his hot breakfast on the table. "Eat up so you don't fall asleep in class."
He stared at the massive amount of food on the plate. "But this is an awful lot."Armin grabbed some of the bacon and began to share it with the girls, who took delight in the simple gesture. He finished his breakfast and rushed out of the house so he could make it to the school building before anyone else did. The boy didn't like going to school the same time as everyone else, he liked to avoid the other students as much as possible, so he went to school a half hour earlier and stayed in the library until classes began.
Entering the empty building was a sort of thrill that Armin loved. It was tolerable and almost beautiful when vacant like this. Only natural light spilled into the vast, dark hallways, the dust dancing in the sun's rays. The silent hum of air conditioners in classrooms was soothing to him. This year was going to take a toll on him, but it was moments like these that made it easier to bear. He walked up the dark wooden stairs of the school, feeling the antiquity of the architecture as he lightly traced his fingers along the handle of the staircase. Armin really did like being alone when he wasn't with his sisters, he thought as he made it to the library. The librarian was a kind, elderly woman who greeted everyone with a smile and kept her silver hair in a braided bun. She wasn't at the front desk right now, perhaps she was in her office drinking coffee. He walked to the very back of the library and sat at a small round table that was concealed by bookshelves, it was a more or less hidden portion of the library, a refuge in the school of people he didn't like. He began to read a book, but only skimmed through a couple of paragraphs before laying his head down in its pages.
He daydreamed about living in solitude far, far away from the suffocating place he currently lives in. The town that he resided in was a rather small one, one of those 'where everyone knew everyone else' kind of places. It only had two high schools on each end with small populations, and most of the businesses that ran the town were small as well. It wouldn't be so bad if he and his family weren't the subject of terrible rumors going around. Small-town people seemed to get bored easily and loved gossip.
Armin groaned at the gradual increase of shuffling feet in the halls, it buzzed with excitement of the new year. He lifted his head up to a clock that hung on the wall across from him. Fifteen minutes until class started. He rose from his seat and mumbled to himself. "Let's get this over with." Armin took short steps to the exit of the library. The librarian still wasn't at her desk, likely still in her office. Despite her gentle demeanor and general cheeriness, maybe she wasn't looking forward to this school year as well, a thought that amused Armin.
He managed to endure the first day quite well. Armin barely made any contact with students, and only spoke when it was absolutely necessary. After school he walked back home and entered the house through the back door, Armin felt uneasy if he walked through the front and would spot some clients in the foyer. His presence would elicit stares and whispers and the occasional 'Aren't you a little young to be here?'. The kitchen was mostly empty, except for Petra, the other madame, sifting through some papers.
"Hello Armin." The redhead said with a warm smile. "How was school today?"
"Nothing special." Armin made his way to the cupboard and pulled out a bag of potato chips. "Where is everyone?"
Petra's gaze returned to her papers. "It's a busy day, kinda surprising for a Thursday."
"And Hanji?"
She paused and squinted her eyes in thought for a moment. "Oh, that's right, she went to the other side of town with Levi to that delivery shop. She's placing an order for some supplies, it's supposed to arrive Saturday night."
"Wait I thought you guys weren't supposed to get involved personally with clients." Armin opened his bag of chips and proceeded to munch on them.
She turned from her papers again and raised an eyebrow. "You know Levi, Armin. He's different from the other clients. We can put up with him...sort of."
He really was a strange client. The brothel recently instituted a new call girl service, and was available only if the clients lived nearby. Levi was the first customer to take advantage of this service, but not once did he use the girls for any sexual favor. He used them to help him clean his house at least once every two weeks, he never hired an actual cleaning service due to the fact that 'they couldn't clean to save their damn lives, they're so useless.' He payed well and he was kind to the girls, so no one really protested against his strange request. Levi also frequented the brothel and returned the service, eventually striking up a friendship with Hanji and Petra.
The blonde boy just smiled at the madame, now fully occupied by her work. "I'm just going to seclude myself for the rest of the afternoon okay?"
"Okay, sweetie. I'll be pretty busy with paperwork in the next few hours, so don't sneak any more junk food, Hanji's going to bring dinner. And remember, no late night reading, you just started school and I don't want you being too drowsy in the mornings"
"Yes, yes." Armin was already going up the stairs. Petra was always motherly like that. Whatever Hanji had in weirdness, Petra made up for it with some sort of normalcy. Whenever she would speak sternly to him, Armin would feel as though he almost had a normal life with a normal mom. He stayed brooding on these thoughts until he began reading and was too lost in the melancholy of Edgar Allen Poe or the wonders of Lewis Carroll to even complain about his life.
Tonight was Eren's first night helping out his family with their delivery service, it was a large package that was supposed to be sent all the way to the other side of town. He wasn't very happy about working there, since his mother basically forced him into it, telling him that he shouldn't be lazy, that he should start working already. He rode his bike along the streets, void of the life that they normally have throughout the day. Eren was trying his hardest to stay awake, but the darkness and the movement of the bike was going to lull him to sleep soon. He shook his head and checked the note that had the address on it. It wasn't one he recognized, then again he never really ventured on the opposite side of town. The houses were becoming more scattered and the paved road was now cracked and old. Now there was mostly trees. What the hell kind of place was he delivering to?
Then there it was, a large, lit up house at the end of the road. He had heard various rumors of this place, none of which were very good. Honestly, he didn't think his first night as a delivery boy would lead him to the local brothel, why was his mother sending him here? He stopped his bike at a nearby tree and had it lean against it. He walked with the package to the front door, he could hear many voices inside. Well, it was Saturday, they probably had a lot of customers on the weekend. As he was approaching the house, he noticed a face looking at him from the window, then it disappeared behind curtains. Then just as the door was opening, Eren tripped on the steps to the front and since the box wasn't sealed very well, the contents just flew everywhere. He lifted his face to apologize, and was speechless at the beauty that was before him. The boy looked no older than him, but he was a little smaller, he had longish blonde hair that framed his round face so delicately. Eren was brought back when he heard him speak. "Oh, gosh I'm sorry." He had a really soft voice.
Eren stammered. "N-no it was my fault, I'm the one who tripped–" He looked down at what was in the box, and his face felt hot quickly. Honestly, he couldn't look any dorkier if he wanted to. Eren silently mourned the fact that he just spilled an assortment of condoms in various sizes, colors, and flavors right in front of this amazingly attractive person who didn't appear to be at all embarrassed by them.
"Don't worry, I'll help you pick them up." He crouched down started grabbing them by the handfuls and stuffing them back in the box. Eren did the same until most of them were picked up. Another person walked into the doorway, staring down at both boys.
"Well, well, are you boys trying to take our supplies for your own personal use?" It was a tall woman with brown hair in a ponytail and really thick glasses.
The blonde boy's cheeks became flushed. "Hanji, quit joking like that, he just dropped the box by accident is all."
"Okay, sure." The woman winked at Eren, his face now becoming redder. She paused for a moment, a bright smile appeared on her face and she clapped her hands together "Ah~ Armin, now that you've made a friend, you should invite him inside!"
"He's not my—"
Hanji gave the boy a look, like she had a gleam in her eye, Eren couldn't quite read it, but he grunted a little and turned to Eren.
"W-Would you like to come inside?" He said, his gaze avoiding Eren's.
He was secretly happy, but tried to play it cool. "O-okay!" His voice cracked. He wanted to hit himself for acting like a total dweeb. Both teenagers stood up, Eren handed the box to Hanji and she went who-knows-where with it. The blonde lead him inside the house, it was full of life, it didn't feel creepy or unclean as the rumors told him. He turned to Eren, looking quite uncomfortable. "Um, welcome to my house, I guess. You've probably heard a bunch of stuff about it...a-anyway my name's Armin." He even had a cute name, Eren thought.
"I'm Eren."
"Hey Eren." Armin said awkwardly. He gave a small, unsure smile, but with that smile Eren knew that he fell in love with the boy of the brothel.
I feel like I have some explaining to do. First, I plan on making this fic relatively short in comparison to Peaches. Second, this is going to be cute and fluffy (unless I feel differently). Third, I chose Hanji and Petra as the madames because Petra is a motherly character and I just love Hanji. Don't look at me, it makes more sense in my head.