I've been wanting to write an AU Petruo fic but I had been having such a difficult time thinking of a good setting for it to take place...but I have finally found it!
So...I was standing in my kitchen making breakfast and thinking about how perfect Petruo is and listening to Michael Buble...and I started to think about a wonderful fic called "The Sunlight Girl" (Seriously, if you haven't read it, go do it NOOOOOWWWWW because it's perfection!) and remembered it being stated in that story that Auruo has a beautiful singing voice and I thought "Probably a lot like Michael Buble, smooth and clear, not too high, not too low..." AND THEN THIS HAPPENED!
Jazz Club AU! I will be adding song suggestions to give a listen to for the times when a song is mentioned in the story!
Dislcaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful characters within, sadly. This is purely written for fun! All characters belong to Isayama Hajime, although he totally wasted their potential...
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Petra Ral took a deep, steadying breath as she faced the dark tinted glass doors of The Inner Wall, the most posh and exclusive and chic jazz club in the entire city. She was dressed to the nines in her black suit top with the white ruffled top underneath it, pearl earrings adorned her ears and her neckline, her legs were stocking covered under her knee length black pencil skirt, her small feet aching in her black pumps with the heels she found to be a flattering, yet ridiculous height. She'd even gone the extra mile and put on honest to God lipstick for this interview.
Her father had pulled some strings and promised many favors to several businessmen to get her this tiny chance at a job here and she was going to do her absolute best to get the job. It was only a simple hostess job, but if she could work her way up then the pay would be substantial and the work easy...and she needed good pay and job security if she wanted that apartment in the high end of town. The chance to meet some influential people to help her achieve her goals to own her own jazz club someday was also a very good possibility.
Finally, all her nerve gathered into one movement, she strode forward and opened the doors and stepped inside. But, try as she might to appear professional and unaffected, she failed. The inside was something she'd only ever dreamed of! The room was large and open with a high ceiling that reminded her of the roof of one of those outdoor amphitheaters where they held big concerts, rippled for acoustic perfection. The floor was smooth, dark wood that was polished to a perfect shine. The wall on her right were lined with long plum colored leather bench seats while to her left there was a good sized elevated stage that held a white baby grand piano and an old fashioned microphone, plum colored pleated curtains hung down behind the piano. The tables between were round and small with comfy looking leather chairs circled around them, spaced far enough apart to allow for plenty of movement around the club for the servers. At the very back of the room, a long, intricately carved mahogany bar with a vast variety of liquor on the mirrored shelves behind it. The first person she saw in the place was standing behind this bar, a towel in his hands as he closely examined and buffed martini glasses, holding them up to the light to check for any smudges. Not really knowing where else to go yet, Petra approached the bar to ask where the interview would be held.
"Hello, excuse me but is Mr. Ackerman here?" she asked politely when she reached the bar, "My name is Petra Ral and I have an interview for the hostess position."
The young man behind the bar turned and looked at her, a friendly and bright smile on his face as he set his now perfectly sparkling martini glass down. He was a tall and broad man with blonde hair pulled back in a small ponytail, his face was angular and he had a bit of stubble on his strong chin, his blue eyes were bright and friendly and Petra thought he was a very handsome man indeed.
"He's not here yet," he informed her, "You're a bit early."
Petra blushed slightly and nodded.
"My father always told me to be fifteen minutes early to any important meeting," she explained, "Better to be early than late."
"Good point," the blonde laughed and gestured to the bar stool next to her, "Have a seat, he'll be here any minute. You can talk to me if you have any questions before the interview. My name is Eld Jinn, I'm the bartender here."
"Nice to meet you, Eld," Petra offered her hand and he shook it in return. She decided right away that she liked this guy a lot and she hoped all her coworkers would be this nice. "So, what should I expect when I meet Mr. Ackerman?"
Eld chuckled slightly.
"Levi's a character," he said as he picked up another glass to buff, "He comes off as very cold and unfriendly and sharp, but once you work for him for a while, you'll see...he genuinely cares for all his employees. We're like a family here and Levi keeps us all in check and well paid. Don't be intimidated, he's very to the point, just be yourself."
Petra was going to ask another question about what the pay grade was when the sound of the front doors opening caught her attention and she twisted her bar stool around to see the new arrival. I was a rather tall woman in black slacks and a lady's suit vest with a white button up shit underneath and a plum colored tie. The woman caught Petra's eye and she smiled brightly before approaching the bar excitedly.
"You're the girl here for the hostess interview, right?" she asked, adjusting her glasses as she sat down in the bar stool beside Petra, "I'm Hanji Zoe, assistant manager of this fine establishment! What's your name? You're adorable, by the way."
"I'm Petra Ral," Petra smiled, Hanji seemed like a very spirited individual and she liked that, "That's right, I'm here to be interviewed for the hostess position."
"Well, I'll be in there during the interview as well so don't worry about having to face Levi alone," Hanji winked, "I bet Eld already warned you about him, huh?"
Petra nodded and suddenly felt much better about this interview if Hanji would be there too, already there was a connection between the two.
"Ay-yo! What's up, guys? Oh hey, who is this?"
Another individual entered the front room for a door left of the bar, a young man with shaggy black hair and bright green eyes, a winning smile on his face. He wore black slacks and a black suit vest over his white button up shirt, a plum colored bow tie under his chin. Petra soon figured that plum colored neck adornments, suit vests and black slacks were the uniform for the joint, except for Eld who simply wore a white button up with his sleeves rolled to his elbows, no tie or vest present.
"I'm Petra Ral," Petra offered her name and the young man smiled genuinely at her, "I'm interviewing for the hostess position."
"I'm Eren Jeager," Eren leaned against the bar and melted into the group effortlessly, "I'm one of the waiters here so if you get the job, you'll be seeing a lot of me out on the floor."
"I look forward to working with you all if I get the job," Petra felt right at home already among these three, "This would be a dream job for me."
"Definitely not a bad gig," Eren agreed, "Better than my old job, that's for sure. Exterminator."
"I imagine any job is better than that," Petra agreed, shivering at the thought of bugs everywhere.
"Mm, a plumber might disagree with you," Eld commented with a wink.
They all laughed at that and the battle for worst job ever began, each tossing out one job more horrible than the next. Hanji had just offered up "slaughterhouse worker" as her gross job when the front door opened to reveal a short man in a full suit, dark sunglasses covering his eyes. From the way the conversation stopped and everyone greeted the man, Petra knew this was the infamous Levi Ackerman...her possible new boss.
"What's going on in here?" Levi asked in a flat tone, "Don't you need to be getting shit set up, Eren?"
Petra was slightly surprised by the use of the word "shit" but she chose to ignore it and she glanced at Eren who gave her a wink and then grabbed a rag from behind the bar and began to wipe down tables. Levi approached Petra's position and he removed his sunglasses to reveal bored looking blue eyes.
"You're here for the hostess position?" he asked, obviously already knowing the answer. Petra slid from her barstool and stood before him with a smile.
"Yes, sir," she answered, "I'm Petra Ral."
Levi simply jerked his head in a motion for her to follow him and started walking away towards the door Eren had come through, Petra scrambled after him with Hanji at her heels and they emerged into the kitchen area. Levi took a sharp left and opened a door with a golden "Manager" placard in the center to reveal a very simple office that was impeccably clean and organized...it spoke a lot to Petra about the kind of man Levi was, a perfectionist and possibly a bit OCD. Levi sat behind the desk and motioned for her to sit in the seat across from him so she did and Hanji just half sat, half leaned on the edge of the desk.
"So, Miss. Ral, what makes you feel like you're good enough to work here at The Inner Wall?"
Eld hadn't lied...Levi was very to the point.
Ten minutes later, Petra stepped out of the office and let out the breath she had been holding, a broad grin spreading over her face.
She had the job.
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"Hey, everyone get your asses over here!" Levi's voice rang out through the club and Petra giggled slightly, partially out of nervousness and partly out of amusement. Employees began to appear from various places and gathered in front of the stage where Petra was standing between Levi and Hanji. "This is our new hostess, Petra Ral. I want you all to go around and introduce yourselves."
"We've met," Eld spoke up and Eren nodded in agreement.
"Congrats, Petra!" the dark haired boy gave her a thumbs up.
A small blond girl raised her hand and smiled brightly.
"I'm Krista Lenz," she announced, "I'm also a hostess."
"Jean Kirschstein. Head chef."
"Sasha Braus. Sous chef."
"Connie Springer. Waiter."
"Gunther Schultz. Bouncer."
"Armin Arlert. I play clarinet in the band."
"Mikasa Ackerman. Waitress."
"Reiner Braun. I play drums for the band."
"Bertholdt Hoover. I play bass in the band."
"Annie Leonhardt. Bouncer."
Petra cocked her head at this one...such a tiny girl was a bouncer? But the grim, hard expression seemed to speak volumes and Petra imagined this girl was more than met the eyes.
"Marco Bodt. Waiter."
"Ymir. I play sax in the band."
"Erwin Smith. Co-Owner."
Petra made note of this...two owners to impress. Ugh!
"Mike Zacharius. I'm in the band."
"Moblit Berner. I'm in the band too."
"Marlow Freudenburg. Band member as well."
"Hitch Dreyse. In the band, yo!"
Petra's head was swimming as she tried to remember all the names.
"There's one more," Levi muttered from beside her as the workers began dispersing , "I swear to God I'm going to kick his ass if he's late again."
But at that moment, the door to the kitchen swung open and said person walked in. Looking around and noticing the three people on stage, he trotted over to see what was going on.
"Hey, Levi. Who's the broad?"
He looked up at them with bored looking hazel eyes scanned her up and down with a somewhat lecherous smile. He stood with his weight mostly to one side in a standing lean, his chin cupped between his thumb and forefinger as he examined her. He wore the standard uniform, except for his plum colored cravat that was tied in a loose simple tie knot. His hair was a mop of ash blonde that stuck out at odd places and just looking at him, there was no way of telling his age because he looked older in some ways and young in others. Petra immediately felt a rush of dislike towards the cocky, uncouth man.
"Petra," Levi sighed, waving vaguely at the newcomer, "This is Auruo Bossard. My best damn waiter in the joint, but a complete pain in the ass."
"Don't go tainting her first impression with your lies, Levi," Auruo said with a sneer.
"I'd already guessed as much," Petra couldn't help it, the words just came out. Both Levi and Auruo stared at her in disbelief.
"That so, honey?" Auruo recovered quickly, crossing his arms over his chest, "Well, let me guess something about you. Privileged little brat who only got this job because your daddy fixed it up for you?"
"That's enough," Levi snapped, successfully ending what was shaping up to be a potential bloodbath, "Auruo, get out of here and get in your spot. Petra, go over to Krista and have her show you the ropes for tonight. Tomorrow night you're on your own so I hope you learn fast."
Petra nodded and made her way off the side of the stage and headed towards the door where people were already lined up outside on the sidewalk in the night air. She chanced a glance over her shoulder and immediately wished she hadn't because Auruo Bossard was watching her and when he caught her eye he gave her a wink and a cocky smile. God, she hated his stupid, smug face!
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Here is a link to what I imagine the interior of the club looks like in case you're interested in a mental picture, just remember to remove the spaces in the link (The only thing is, it's not circular): www. /files/travelagent /nodes/2013 /39986/ europa2jazzclub. jpg