-Hey everyone! Im new here and i decided to try my hand at fan fiction. This is my first one, so don't beharsh or anything. Anyways, enjoy the story!-
Shrill beeps filled his ears and Eren Jaeger snapped upright. Fuck, what time was it? he thought. He slammed his hand down on the snooze button and read the clock. 9:15. He internally groaned. Right. He started work today. He groaned allowed and thrashed around in the sheets for a couple seconds, then finally willed himself out of bed.
He walked out of my room and, out of habit, lazily kissed his fingers and pressed them to his mother's picture sitting on the table in the hallway. He rushed into the bathroom, taking a piss and lazily brushing his teeth. Then he pulled on a shirt, knowing that Mikasa would chew his ear off again if he didn't have one on. He made his way downstairs and was met with the smell of bacon and syrup.
"Hey." he said, his voice still thick with sleep. He cleared his throat and spoke again, "Hey."
Mikasa turned from the stove, looked him up and down, satisfied with the fact that he had the decency to wear a shirt. She spoke up, "I made breakfast for you. Since you have work today." The self-satisfied tone that she used when she said 'work' made Eren roll his eyes. She had begun telling him to get a job months before he graduated; and finally he got fed up her complaints and never having enough money, and decided that he should at least try. Luckily, he landed a job at a JC Penny's in the middle of town.
Eren took a seat the the counter and ran a hand through his hair, "I don't understand how you can wake up so early."
Mikasa shrugged and put a plate of bacon and waffles in front of him, sipping her coffee, "It's easier when you get into the habit," she turned her back to him, "...and when you're not staying up until 2 in the morning."
She grabbed her own plate of food and they ate in comfortable silence, which Eren enjoyed. He and Mikasa barely ever just got to enjoy each others presence, she was busy with work and her friends. Eren was busy with… well, Eren wasn't busy at all. He was enjoying his new freedom by spending his summer sleeping until noon and staying up all night playing video games with Armin, or just fooling around. He recently took to reading after Armin left a book over at his place.
Eren placed his plate in the sink and trudged upstairs. He walked into his room and closed the door, falling onto the bed and sighing loudly. He was debating if he should shower and then get dressed, or just get dressed. He eventually decided on the latter, a shower would most likely put him to sleep. He decided to wear a pair of khakis and a dark blue polo. He pulled his old pair of black converse and stood up, still extremely groggy. He dragged himself downstairs and grabbed a piece of toast. He waved goodbye to Mikasa and left the house, taking his time walking to the bus stop and watching the town go by as he headed to his destination.
Eren's town was pretty small. Since the JC Penny's was one of the only clothing stores in the area, their business was pretty good. Eren walked through the doors, unsure where to go. He looked around and headed to a nearby checkout counter, coming up to a short woman with redish hair.
"Hello, i'm um.. Eren Jaeger? I start work here today." He started. The woman immediately looked up at him and her eyes brightened.
"Oh! Yes, hi! We were expecting you. I'm Petra." She stuck out her hand, and Eren shook it nervously, "Yeah, just follow me! I'll take you to the manager, and he'll give you instructions and a name tag." Petra smiled sweetly at him and gestured for him to follow. They walked through the store, eventually reaching their destination. His manager was tall, he had smooth blond hair that was neatly combed.
"Irvin? Our new employee is here," Petra said, stepping aside so he could see Eren.
"Oh hello, i didn't expect you to be here on time. A lot of our new employees never are. Listen, i'm kind of busy right now, so Petra, go ahead and get him his name tag and show him around. Get him comfortable. I'll catch up later." Irvin said with a serious look on his face. Petra simply nodded and did as she was told.
"So, in conclusion, just be careful when messing with that kind of stuff." Petra breathed, clapping her hands together, "well, i think thats it." Eren let out a yawn. "Wait! I haven't introduced you to everyone." She grabbed Eren's hand, "Don't start getting tired now, this is the exciting part."
Eren followed Petra around, looking for people to be introduced to. Finally, Petra spotted someone and waved them over. It was a girl, with messy hair. She was about as tall as Eren, and had a cute face. Eren couldn't help but smile when she jogged over happily.
"Hey, Petra! Who have you got here?" The girl said, a warm smile plastered on her face.
"Sasha! This is Eren, a new employee. Eren, this is Sasha." Sasha stuck out her hand and Eren shook it gently.
"It is great to have another employee, the same faces everyday can get pretty boring," Sasha said with a slight laugh, Eren smiled along. "As long as you share food with me, we'll get along just fine, Eren." This caused him to chuckle, "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind."
Petra cleared her throat, "Well I'm sure you're busy, Sasha. I'll just introduce Eren to a few more people. Do you happen to know who's here today? I heard Christa was sick…" Eren toned her out, something caught his sight.
There was a man, obviously a janitor, lazily sweeping the floor. He was definitely attractive, and Eren was surprised he could think of a man like that. The man was short, about Petras height, and had piercing grey eyes, silky looking black hair with an undershave, and he was obviously fit. The thing that stuck out to Eren, though, was the large scratch on the side of his face. Eren was too far away to see the severity, but it even looked nasty from a distance. The man stopped abruptly and stretched, then, much to Erens surprise, looked his way. They locked gazes for a second, then the man went back to his work, sweeping until he was out of sight.
"Eren, earth to Eren." Petra called, "Are you alright?"
Eren shook his head and looked back at her, "yeah, i'm fine. Lets get going, yeah? I want to get used to these faces quick."
A smile lit up Petra's face and she obliged, leading Eren once more.
Eren had only met a couple more people. A girl, named Annie, who seemed dismissive and apathetic, only focused on work. Then a boy named Jean. There was an air to Jean the irritated Eren. He was cocky. Eren didn't show it of course, but he silently told himself to leave Jean alone.
Eren was sitting with Petra and Sasha now. Their day was over and they decided to go get a meal at a sandwich place across the road.
"So, Eren, how was your first day? Do you like everyone?" Sasha said, taking a giant bite out of her apple.
Eren wiped off the corner of his mouth and smiled, "yeah everyone is pretty nice."
"Sorry about Annie," Petra said with a smile, "Everyone knows she can be a little endearing but shes nice under all of that. Shes really a kind person."
Eren nodded. He wondered if he should ask them about that janitor who, for some reason, was stuck in the back of his mind. He cleared his throat, "So, do janitors have any significance at work?" He asked.
Petra stopped eating and shot a look at sasha, who smiled.
"You're asking about Levi." Sasha stated. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. How'd they know who I was talking about?
"He is the one with the weird haircut. Short. That is who you're talking about, right?" Sasha asked.
Eren swallowed dryly, "yeah."
Sasha laughed and so did Petra. "He's hot, huh?" Sasha giggled. Eren felt his face heat up.
"Don't get too comfortable with the idea of talking to him, or becoming friends with him. He's not the friendly type, Eren. Kinda like Annie to an extreme." Petra shrugged.
"What was with the scratch on his cheek? Does he come in like that often?"
Sasha nodded, "It's a new mark every week. Wonder what the cause could be."
Eren twiddled his thumbs as silence fell, everyone wondering the same thing.
"I'm going to talk to him tomorrow," Eren said flatly, "I'll do it."
When Eren walked in the door, the house was completely silent. Mikasa was at work until 5, so Eren had an hour to kill. He headed to his bathroom and stripped down, then turned on the shower, climbing in and letting the hot water fall over him, relaxing his muscles. What would he say to Levi? He could approach him on break. Once again, what would be say?
'Wonderful weather we're having.'
'So what's up with that mark on your cheek?'
Eren let out a puff of breath. Why was he nervous? All he's doing is talking to another guy. Whatever. He washed himself and climbed out, slipping into some basketball shorts and a faded Coca Cola t-shirt. He wandered into his room and fooled around, reading a few passages from one of Armin's books and watching a little bit of television.
An hour later he heard the front door creak open, and he jogged downstairs to meet Mikasa. She looked tired and beat.
"Hey," Eren greeted.
"Yeah, hey." she said, walking over to the fridge and pulling out last nights leftovers, popping them in the microwave.
"How was work?" he asked, taking a seat at the counter.
"Really tiring. I'm completely and utterly exhausted." She turned to face him, "How about you?"
"It was good. The people were nice. A few of us went to get a bite to eat after work."
Mikasa pursed her lips, "so you're not hungry?" Eren shook his head and she went and took the leftovers out of the microwave with a sigh. Eren, sensing his sisters stress, came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. She turned around, "go take a bath or something, Mikasa. Go relax." Eren said. She gave him a small smile and patted his chest, happily obeying.
Eren dumped the leftovers and wiped the counters clean. He made Mikasa a bowl of tortilla soup and sprinkled shredded cheese in it, just like she liked. He went to sit on the couch and switched on the TV. Mikasa came down and smiled at the soup, taking the bowl and ruffling Erens hair as she sat down. They sat together and watched TV for awhile until Mikasa spoke up.
"Dad called today. He said Wales is rainy. He said hi and that he loves you." Eren smiled at that. and nodded. The rest of the evening passed quietly.
When Eren arrived to work the next day, Irvin waved him over.
"I need you to go out back really quick. Theres some stacks of catalogs. Bring those to Jean when you're done, alright?"
Eren nodded and walked around. After a good 10 minutes, he found a door leading to the back. He walked out and scanned the area, looking for the catalogs. When he finally saw them, he audibly groaned. There were 3 huge stacks. Did Irvin really expect him to carry all these back on his own? Eren carefully approached the stacks and tried lifting one. He was surprised at how heavy it was. Fuck, it was just paper. He heaved it into his arms with an 'oof' and headed back towards the door. Shit, how was he going to get it open? He tried to snake a hand under the stack, but ended up almost dropping the entire thing on his foot. He let out a frustrated groan.
"Oi." He heard a voice say. He spun around and looked behind him, and was almost scared to death by none other than Levi, standing against the wall, taking a long drag from a cigarette. Shit, how had Eren not seen him?
"You scared the fucking crap out of me," Eren breathed, setting the catalogs down. Levi took one last puff of his cig then dashed it to the ground, stomping it to put it out.
"You're struggling." Levi stated. Eren couldn't get past his voice… there was something about it that made Eren want to listen to it for hours on end. Then he realized he could finally get a good look at the wound on Levi's face. It wasn't that bad. It looked like a cat had clung to his face and dragged its claws, which was much better than what Eren thought it would be like. He got a good look at all of Levis features; his nose was perfectly carved, his jaw was chiseled and defined. He was cleanly shaven. Eren saw a long scar across Levi's neck. What was it from? Finally, Eren looked into Levi's smooth grey eyes which, to his embarrassment, were filled with amusement. Eren snapped out of it and started blushing profusely when Levi plastered a smirk on his face.
"Brat, are you done checking me out?"
Erens jaw was flying up and down like a fishes', "I- I was-" His cheeks were burning, "why'd you call me a brat?"
"Do you want me to help you with those or not?" He asked, gesturing to the stack of catalogs. Eren nodded quickly and picked them up, and Levi opened the door for him.
Eren carried them a short way to Jean, then ran back for more. When everything was done, Eren muttered a thank you to Levi and prepared to go inside.
"Hey, kid" Levi called.
"Hm?" Eren asked, surprised.
"What's your name?"
"E-eren."
He popped his knuckles, "Meet me out here during your break. Im out every half hour for a smoke break."
Eren nodded and went back inside, heart pounding in his ears. He couldn't wait till break time.
Eren took a breath and opened the door, and sure enough, there was Levi, who had just started a new cigarette.
"Oi. Come over here." Eren complied, walking up beside Levi, "You ever smoked?" Eren shook his head, "You wanna try?" Levi questioned.
Eren had never been presented with the chance to smoke. "Are they light?"
Levi nodded, "Trying to quit," It remained quiet until Levi spoke again, "You just want a drag of mine? I dont wanna waste a whole cigarette if you're not gonna enjoy it."
Eren hesitated before saying, "Okay." Levi handed his cig over, and Eren took a long drag before handing the cig over and letting the smoke flow out of his mouth. There was a small stinging sensation in his lungs. "Are they menthol?"
Levi shook his head.
"Well, it was minty."
"I just spit out my mint gum."
Erens face heated up once more. The taste of mint was from Levis own mouth. "Why'd you invite me out here?" Eren questioned.
Levi remained expressionless, "Why not?"
"Well, some people told me you're not usually… social." Eren bit his lip. It was hot out here.
"I'm not." He took a final puff from the cig and stomped it out once more.
"Then why…" Eren trailed off.
Levi turned towards him and gave him an annoyed look, "would you rather i not be? Because I'm pretty good at it."
Eren turned beet red, "N-no! That's not what i meant. I- I was just curious."
Levi rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall.
"Sorry," Eren grumbled, heading for the door.
"Eren."
He turned around. Levi stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Fucking brat, don't be over emotional. Lets go get a bite to eat."
Eren was conflicted on whether to feel insulted or happy; and he didn't care to choose.