Jean Kirstein was what one would describe as an asshole. A total egotistical shithead. A pain-in-the-ass, prick and motherfucker. He heard it all. Nothing anyone could say about him would seem new to him. People murmured that he probably was the most hated TA on campus, and he would agree. A little part of him hated himself just as much as anyone else did, but he ignored it- part of the egoist in him, he admitted.
"Fuckers," he said while taking a long drag from his cigarette, looking at some of the undergrads running around and basically whining about some shit professor.
"You shouldn't talk like that in front of the kids."
Jean turned around and noticed his best friend Marco Bott next to him, carrying a tattered copy of some philosophy book. Ecce Homo. Jean nodded and pointed at the book.
"Smith's got you reading something else?" Jean asked.
"Nah. Just picking up something outside of my normal stuff. Plus, Smith isn't my advisor anymore. Is he still yours?" Marco said.
"Unfortunately. Guy rides my ass constantly."
"It's because he thinks you've got potential."
"Say that again after he rips my thesis a new one. What else am I going to do? It's not like he cares about post-structuralism anyway. I don't know why they bothered making him my advisor."
"He requested you and like a handful of others. Be happy. He's one of the most respected faculty members. Plus he's nicer than Shadis."
"That's hard to believe. Wait- you've got Shadis now?"
"Yeah. He's not bad, but he's kind of not into it as much. I think he gets a kick out of lecturing the undergrads and terrifying them, which is unfortunate for me."
"Shut up. Those fuckers love you, and you know it."
Jean met Marco when they were undergrads, at the same university they now did graduate work at. A couple of drunken encounters at some frat parties made them fast friends and eventual roommates. They started with different majors, Jean on a fast track with the business school and Marco enjoying a brief time with the biology department, before both decided to go with the dead-end route of philosophy after the two took an intro class some time in their second year. Neither one regretted it though.
"Hey, if you're not busy, I hear Connie's got some thing tonight," Marco said.
"Why would I want to go drink with Connie? You know I fucking hate most of the people we hung out with in undergrad," Jean said.
Marco laughed and said, "Mikasa is going to be there."
Jean couldn't even reply fast enough with a, "We're going."
"You know that means Eren is also going to be there."
"Shit… That fucker, he's going to be on top of her all night."
"They are kind of seeing each other. I'm just saying."
"We're still going. But you're going to have to make sure I don't get too drunk. I have to proctor one of Smith's exams at eight tomorrow."
"You don't have to ask. You know I always have your back."
Jean and Marco arrived at the bar late because their ability to find street parking was less than great. The bar was one of the old bars everyone in the college gang used to go to when they lived downtown. Just like in the old days, the bar jammed in too many people, and you could hardly hear anyone or enjoy your drink in peace. The drinks were sort of overpriced, but then again so was every other bar in this area. Connie picked this bar, and nothing about his choices in bars were a surprise to Jean. To say the least, Jean despised this bar.
Connie greeted Jean and Marco first, slapping their backs with some of Connie's beer splashing on Jean's jacket. He led them back to the booth that he was sharing with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. They were already sharing a pitcher and chatting before Jean and Marco slid into the booth. Connie poured them a couple glasses and passed them on.
"Hope you don't mind, but I've got a friend that you guys might not know coming in. She'll probably be late though," Connie said as he took a swig from his glass.
"Does she work with you?" Marco asked.
"Nah, we met in a macroeconomics class in college years before. She's been to this bar with me a couple times. So you might know her. But who cares! We have to finish this pitcher. Jaeger got a job, and he's paying for this."
"Hey! I didn't agree to that," Eren said.
"Don't worry. I'll pay for some of it too," Armin said.
Jean took a sip from his beer and recoiled a bit. He thought he was a little too old to be having beer this shitty. He hadn't had this kind of beer since he was underage and too cheap to buy something better.
"Hey Jaeger, does your paycheck prevent you from buying shit that doesn't taste like piss?" Jean said.
Eren, whose history with Jean had always been rocky, flared up and slapped the table.
"Fuck off Jean. I don't see you buying beer for us," Eren said.
Jean shrugged and smirked at Eren. He admitted he got a bit of thrill from pissing off Eren. The kid took himself too seriously. Maybe that's why Jean wasn't surprised that Eren just got a job with Senator Pixis' reelection campaign. Jean thought most guys in the politics game were blowhards. Unfortunately, Mikasa was also working on the same campaign.
"I'm a poor grad student. Give me a break. Babysitting kids who think they're adults and being my advisor's lackey doesn't exactly mean I sit on a pile of cash at the end of the day," Jean said.
"Your fault for choosing a shit major," Connie said.
Eren laughed before Mikasa turned to him and shook her head to make him stop. Despite apparently being Eren's girlfriend, Mikasa always looked more like a babysitter or mom for Eren in Jean's eyes. It was shit like that, which made Jean upset that those two were dating. He thought- no- he knew that he would have been a better boyfriend, but no matter what he did, Mikasa was always out of his reach. Marco said it was because Mikasa was so emotionally distant, but Jean chalked that answer up as Marco being way too nice to Jean- and the reality being that she would never be caught dating an asshole like himself.
"How's the thesis going?" Armin asked.
Marco finished his drink and laughed at the question.
"I don't know, but I think mine is going better than Jean's," Marco said.
"Marco changed advisors. So he doesn't have to deal with the bullshit that Smith deals me," Jean said.
"Smith? Like as in Erwin Smith?" Armin asked.
"The one and only."
"I had some friends say he never takes on grad students. Or he does, but then he dumps them on some of the newer faculty."
"Jean is lucky. Smith likes Jean's work. So he's like one of the only students Smith's advising," Marco said.
"Marco…" Jean said.
Jean didn't feel like telling Marco to shut up, but Marco caught on quickly. Stuff like this always made Marco Jean's closest friend- no one knew Jean better.
"Let's stop talking about grad school. I already talk enough about it as is. Armin, tell us about that defense contract you're working on," Marco said.
Unsurprisingly, Armin, who had been magna cum laude of their graduating class, got a job working with some top-secret military group. Unlike everyone else in the group, he was offered the job right after graduating without much of an interview. To add to that, Armin also started working on his grad work on international public policy with an emphasis in conflict resolution. It was enough to make Jean jealous, but he also begrudgingly respected the guy.
"Can't say anything. It's classified. Plus I'd rather hear what Jean's thesis is about," Armin said.
"You wouldn't like it. The subject matter isn't your cup of tea, and you wouldn't agree with the thesis," Jean said.
"Just because I'm not into a particular philosophy doesn't mean I won't be interested in it. I might not agree with it is all."
"Ugh. Guyssssssss. Less talking and more drinking. We need another round!" Connie said.
"Here, here," Marco said.
"For once, I agree with Connie," Jean said.
"Miracles do happen," Connie said.
Jean ordered the next pitcher much to Eren's chagrin even if Eren was loathed to admit that Jean was right in the first place. Everyone started to relax more as they settled into their third or forth glass. The conversation relied on nostalgia for their old college days- talking about everything from Eren's embarrassing first final exam for which he ran out in the middle of before finishing due to food poisoning to Marco's stint transporting cadavers to the medical school.
As Jean finished his glass, ignoring Connie talking about his boring-ass job, Jean started to stare at the door. He noticed wet people scurrying in for a bit of warmth and dryness. They all seemed way too happy. He needed someone to walk in to the bar that wasn't these people. Like a siren to his thoughts, the door opened. That was when he saw her.