"You know, it's just not fair. Why does he always get more fan mail then I do? I mean I'm the one in an actual T.V. show, you'd think that would count for something." Eren grumbled as he struggled to hold the pile of letters in his arms while trying to unlock the front door of the bakery.
Mikasa rolled her eyes and pulled her scarf tightly around her neck before reaching down and giving the German Shepherd at her side a scratch behind the ears. "Does it really matter, Eren? We're here earlier than he is for a different reason so stop focusing on the letters and open the door already."
"I know, I know… I'm just jealous, he gets all these letters and he doesn't even want them. I mean it's kind of a waste for his fans to write him if all he does is toss them out without even reading them." Mikasa followed her brother into the bakery making sure to lock the door behind her.
The trio made their way through the double doors behind the glass display cases and into the kitchen. Mikasa shrugged off her coat as Eren led his dog into Armin's office and shut the door. They both then traded their coats and scarves for the green aprons hanging by the door before turning on the stoves.
It was silent for the next several minutes as the two got to work getting the pastries ready. "It shouldn't surprise you, Armin does have quite a lot of fans, he's almost as popular as you are. It's only reasonable that he has letters from them."
Eren shrugged as he iced another cupcake, "I know that, heck the kid is almost as popular as Stephen King. His books are amazing, I just don't like how he doesn't take the time to read the letters…"
"Can you blame him? Eren, he's constantly trying to meet his deadlines and when he's not busy rereading his manuscript or writing then he's busy with the bakery. Armin has no time to read them and he doesn't like the attention, you know how he thinks of himself." Mikasa argued as she placed the last pie in the oven and set the timer.
Eren shrugged as he iced another cupcake, "I know that, heck the kid is almost as popular as Stephen King. His books are amazing, I just don't like how he doesn't take the time to read the letters…"
"Can you blame him? Eren, he's constantly trying to meet his deadlines and when he's not busy rereading his manuscript or writing then he's busy with the bakery. Armin has no time to read them and he doesn't like the attention, you know how he thinks of himself." Mikasa argued as she placed the last pie in the oven and set the timer.
"I get that, I do and I understand how busy he is but I mean, he could at least save it for those rare times when he's not busy." Eren voiced as he placed the last of the cupcakes in the delivery box and moved on to the next task.
"When would that be, Eren? As if his plate isn't full already, you also drag him off to shoot some scenes in your show and I have to drag him off to set up more meetings and book signings. Now, if we're done discussing this, we need to pick up the pace." Eren thought on her words for a bit before sighing and nodding in defeat.
"You're right, this isn't nearly enough to convince Armin to come with me to tomorrow's shoot. Thanks again, by the way, for moving his schedule around for this."
"You're welcome, Eren." Mikasa replied with a soft smile as she helped roll out the dough for the cookies. "Seriously though, work faster he should be here in about an hour." Eren glanced at the clock and grimaced at the time before picking up his pace. They still had a long way to go if they were going to convince their blonde friend.
Armin usually loved mornings, they were his chance to relax. It was as if he were pushing the reset button in a video game. They were relaxing and calming and peaceful. His walk to the bakery was the perfect time for him to get a few minutes to relax without the constant worry of deadlines or specialty orders. He would usually be able to take his time petting the stray cat coming out of the alley or give scraps of his breakfast to the puppy whining behind a fence for attention.
That's usually what he would be able to do, however, today was not one of those days. He had been up so late into the early morning trying to get his chapter finished, so he could send it in to his editor, that he ended up falling asleep right at his desk. By the time he came around it was already past four in the morning. He grumbled to himself as he rounded the corner and his bakery came in sight, he shoved his hand into the bag bumping against his hip and dug around for his keys.
He was cranky, cold, and extremely tired. He huffed a happy sigh as his hand grasped the keys from his bag as he came to a stop in front of his bakery. He yawned widely as he stepped inside and locked the door behind himself, he paused as he heard noises coming from the kitchen.
Armin felt his heart rate rise as he readied his phone in case he needed the police. He gently pushed through the double doors and felt his breath catch in surprise as he looked around. Mikasa and Eren stood covered in flour and other things as they paused in their decorating and glanced at him.
"Geez Armin, you look like shit. You alright?" Armin felt his confusion slip back into irritation at Eren's question. He shrugged and shoved his things into the locker reserved for all his employees items. He made his way to the news board and pulled down the paper clip full of items that needed to be delivered that day. Once he finished reading through it he reached over to grab his apron and left his two friends, still waiting for an answer, while he walked into the walk-in fridge.
When he came back out with a few cakes that needed to be decorated and ready for Bertholdt to deliver he noticed Mikasa had started taking all of the finished pastries to the front of the bakery, to be put in the display cases. Eren was leaning on the counter and still staring at him, Armin sighed as he put down the cakes next to him and looked up at his friend.
"No Eren, I'm not okay. I'm tired and I'm late now if you don't mind, I need to get these cakes decorated so that when Bertholdt-" Armin was cut off by a loud bark and he slowly turned to look up at his best friends face.
Eren gave a sheepish smile as he ran his fingers through his hair and opened his mouth to explain but was quickly silenced by a raised hand and glare from the blonde. Armin stepped quickly to his closed office door and turned to glare at Eren.
"Bertl!" Eren cringed slightly as the loud bark rang from behind the door.
"Eren… Why is Bertl here? In a place where we cook and serve food to customers, why is your dog in MY office!" Armin shouted.
"Well, you see… I wanted to take him for a walk and then I noticed the time and I realized I needed to get here earlier than you and well… I figured you wouldn't mind as much so long as he was out of the kitchen…" Eren fidgeted slightly as he was stared down by Armin's angry blue eyes.
"Why did you need to be here earlier than me? No one is ever here earlier than me. But that's besides the point, did it ever occur to you the amount of fur that could have fallen on this kitchen floor in the time it took you to get him in my office? You know what? Never mind don't even answer that, we have a lot to get done and standing here scolding you isn't going to get these cakes ready." Eren sighed in relief as he watched his friend quickly pick up his hair into a small ponytail and head over to the sink to wash his hands.
Any other day Eren could handle his short best friend but on the days where he came in to work cranky, Armin had a temper that could scare even the manliest of men. Eren looked over to the double doors as Mikasa walked in holding two mugs filled with coffee.
"If you two are done bickering, Armin, drink the coffee and wake up properly. You need to get some rest, why don't you go relax in your office. You should really start looking after yourself more often." Armin took a long drink from his coffee before setting it down and picking up the schedule again.
He then went over and chose the first cake that needed to be done while still reading over the clipboard before answering Mikasa. "You don't think I know that? You telling me to get rest isn't going to magically give me time to actually get the sleep needed now is it. If you don't mind, I really need you to go get the bakery open, by the looks of it you two made enough pastries to get us through the next two hours. It's 5:30 a.m now and early birds usually come at 6 so start setting up the lobby. And take care of the front counter until Moblit and Bertholdt come in."
Mikasa opened her mouth to reprimand their childhood friend. "Mika, no offense but I really don't think now would be the time to argue with him. Just go on." Eren gave a small smile as he nudged his adopted sister out the double doors and back into the lobby.
"Eren, I need you to make me more buttercream frosting so we can finish these decorations." Armin ordered as he grabbed the ingredients and placed them on the counter. The two spent the next couple of hours decorating the cakes and listening to the bustle of customers coming and going. Every now and then Armin would send Eren out to the front to check on whatever pastries they were running low on. They would then take turns working in companionable silence to get caught up again.
As the hours slipped by, Armin's mood brightened slightly and he was far more approachable then he had been that morning. Eren would often catch Armin looking at the clock in the corner.
"They'll be here soon, they have ten minutes left." Eren reassured his friend from his position in front of the sink. Armin sighed and nodded before leaning next to him with a notebook in hand.
"Any ideas for Sasha's cake?" Armin loved when his clients would leave him to deal with how the cake was to be decorated, it was the perfect way for his employees to build on their teamwork. Usually he would have everyone meet around the counter in the middle with coffee and a fresh batch of cookies while they tossed out ideas and voted on the best one. He really did love when he had full reign and he would have loved it this time as well, except for the fact that he was constantly busy. Having Sasha say, "Make a cake that looks like meat." would have been an easy task, unfortunately his mind was already overwhelmed with everything else that he had been working on. His creativity level at the moment was nonexistent.
Armin looked up at the clock before leveling a disapproving glance at the two men who stumbled through the double doors. "You're both five minutes late. Clock in and get to work. Moblit, give Mikasa a break, and Bertholdt the list of cakes that need to be ordered today are hanging behind you."
Bertholdt smiled sheepishly and mumbled an apology as he headed in the direction Armin had sent him. Moblit shrugged it off and shoved their things into the locker.
"Bertholdt, I need…" Armin was cut off by a loud bark unmistakably coming from behind his closed door.
Bertholdt frowned and turned to Eren, "Honestly, I thought you were kidding about naming your dog after me Eren!"
"How'd you know it's my dog?!"
"Armin cares about his bakery too much to bring animals into it, and he's not as mean as you. He'd never name a dog after me, and he'd never say it was because the dog looked like me. It's not even funny if you did it as a joke." Bertholdt stated as he turned back to the list in his hand.
Eren huffed and dried his hands off unaware of Armin getting irritated beside him. "It's not my fault, I mean his main color is brown and it matches your skin tone. He has black spots that match your hair perfectly and his eyes are almost exactly like yours!"
"I do not look like a German Shepherd!"
"ENOUGH! Look argue about this later, you guys were already late and now you're not even working. Bertholdt…" Armin glared at his childhood friend when the dog barked again. "Get those orders delivered, I need you back by noon. Moblit, Mikasa has been working non stop go give her a break. Eren for all that is holy do something about that damn dog!"
Half of Armin was proud that he could get his employees to move so damn fast, the other half felt guilty for scolding them and taking out his crankiness on them. The guiltier half won over and he decided he needed a few minutes to cool off. While he was in the walk-in fridge he decided it'd be best to get out the previously rolled cookie dough and prepare another batch.
He sent a grateful and tired smile to Mikasa when she met him with a fresh cup of coffee. "Figured, you'd need this. Maybe you should take a break with me."
"Yeah, maybe you're right. Oh hey, so Eren mentioned it earlier and it had slipped my mind until now. He said he had to be here before me, why was that?" Armin pulled out a few stools for them to sit on as he noticed Eren walking back over to them. He gave a soft smile as his friend plopped down next to him.
"Eren has a favor to ask you, he was hoping that by getting here early you'd be more willing to go along with it." Mikasa answered as Eren gave a nervous chuckle. The noise made Armin turn his complete focus on his best friend.
"So? What's the favor? You know I'd do anything you needed, Eren." When it became painstakingly obvious that Eren wasn't going to answer, Mikasa sighed and gained Armin's worried attention.
"He wants you to go to set with him today."
"Mikasa!" Eren ground out at the same time Armin answered.
"No." Eren turned his attention back to his friend and pouted. Armin gave a soft chuckle at the over dramatic expression.
"Come on, Ar. You hardly have time to hang out anymore… at least come with me and keep me company… you said you'd do anything!"
"Anything but that, besides I'm busy and I need to get home early tomorrow. Knowing how long your scenes take you guys won't be finished early. I have a meeting with another store to set up a book signing." Armin knew he didn't really have to be at the meeting and Mikasa could handle it alone, but he really abhorred going to set with Eren. Especially when everytime he was there, someone would try to get him to play in the scene as well.
"I've cleared your schedule for the next few days, you can go." Mikasa stated as she stood up and headed back out to the lobby.
Armin grimaced at the thought of having to set foot back into the studio. He turned to face his childhood friend and sighed in defeat. Armin could say no to a lot of things but when faced with Eren's pleading gaze, all he could do was give in. Armin groaned and Eren knew he had won.
"Levi...Leviiiii!" Said man felt his eye twitch as another paper ball was thrown onto his desk. He took a slow deep breath and closed his report.
"What. Do. You. Want Jean?" He gritted out through clenched teeth as his glare met soft entertained eyes.
"I'm bored, entertain me." Jean smiled widely as he saw his partner and best friend's frown deepen while his glare hardened.
"If you want entertainment, find it elsewhere. We're at work, which is what you should be doing. Work." Levi ground out before turning back to his report and re-reading it. He tensed when another folder was placed on top of his; slowly he let his eyes follow the offending hand, still holding the folder, all the way up to warm brown eyes.
"Done, and I know if I'm done then that means you're done. You've been sitting here pretending to still be working just so you could wait for me. I know you Levi, I've known you for about 95% of my lifespan… I've never finished work before you, so can we go now?" Levi felt his body relax as a small smirk graced his face. He quickly opened Jean's report and scanned it before nodding once. Jean shot off like a racehorse to their closet and grabbed their things.
Levi, on the other hand took a few extra minutes to tidy up an already immaculate desk. He loved making Jean lose his patience, the guy had always been like an overgrown mut. Easily excitable and extremely over energetic. It hadn't even been two minutes and the taller man was already vibrating in excitement, by the door, at the prospect of getting to be out of the dreary office they shared.
"Levi, come on! Let's get going already. I wanna go home." Levi chuckled softly to himself and nodded as he motioned out the hallway, reports clutched tightly in his hand. He walked quickly towards Erwin's office and felt Jean's presence quickly fall into step beside him.
"Hey… you know you don't always have to wait for me, right?" Levi faltered in his steps slightly at the soft serious voice by his ear. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see a happy Jean and shrugged.
"I don't know what you mean. I just had a lot on my mind." Jean's smile grew wider as they came to a pause in front of Erwin's open office. Levi knocked on the doorframe and just as quickly pulled Jean in front of him. The next few seconds gave way to two pained groans and a tangled mess of limbs on the floor. Levi easily stepped over them and made his way to an amused Erwin.
He deposited the reports in the blondes outstretched hand. Hange quickly disentangled herself from Jean and made her way over to the blonde. Levi watched as she perched herself on the corner of the desk and read over Erwin's shoulder. Jean stumbled over and gracelessly flung all his weight on the shorter male. He let his arms rest on Levi's shoulders as his chin rested on top of his head. Erwin let out a single cough which Levi believed was to cover his snicker of amusement. Hange on the other hand had a wide grin across her face.
"Is there anything else we need to do, or can we go home?" Erwin raised an eyebrow at Jean's question and quickly glanced down at the reports in front of him before handing them to Hange.
"I'll have Hange look over those more thoroughly later. We don't have any new assignments for you at the moment, however, be sure to keep your phones on in case something comes up. Enjoy your free time off." Erwin watched as Levi quickly reached up and grabbed hold of Jean's pinky and ring finger and twisted until the taller man's weight was relieved from his shoulders.
"Thank you." Levi turned and left a sulking Jean to quickly follow after him. Jean shouted a quick goodbye to Reiner, who was sat behind the reception desk before catching up to Levi. The shorter man's speed never ceased to amaze Jean. Levi was already out of the building and well on his way to Jean's apartment by the time the taller man fell into step beside him.
"The next time you use me as rest, I will snap those fingers, Jean." Levi grumbled as he turned instead of going straight.
"Levi… I thought we were heading to my apartment." Jean questioned as he stopped at the corner.
"We are, but now I want tea. I overheard Erwin and Hange talking about this bakery… there's no harm in checking it out." Jean gave a soft smile and nodded as he quickly caught up to the awkward male.
"Sure thing, Lev... when have I ever turned down your hobby of checking out cafes and bakeries." They both came to a halt in front of the bakery. Jean looked up at the sign as Levi took in the sight of the homey looking bakery through the glass windows. There was something warm about the place. "Luminitsa… Is this it? Wonder what it means…"
"It means little light in Romanian." Levi answered as he headed inside with Jean quickly behind him.
"You speak Romanian? Of course you do… any other languages you decided to learn without me?" Jean huffed as they came to a stop in front of the counter.
"Welcome to Luminitsa, what can I get-" Mikasa's welcome was interrupted by a loud crash coming from behind the double doors.
"EREN!" Every customer and employee's attention was aimed in the direction of the kitchen where loud crashes were heard along with a few yelps.
Jean frowned slightly as he turned to Levi, "Eren? I swear I've heard that name before… and that voice, it sounds so famili-" Jean was cut off as the double doors slammed open and a tall brunette came running through.
"DAMMIT EREN! Stop bringing him here! I'm trying to run a bakery! Do you realize how unsanitary that is!" All eyes shifted from the tall male to the short seething blonde chasing after the tall brunette and his leashed dog. Jean felt his mouth drop as he spotted his favorite author and started elbowing a surprised Levi.
Levi stirred from his surprised state and sent a harsh glare in his friend's direction before swatting the next incoming elbow. "Dammit Jean. I see them already, knock that shit off!" Levi hissed. Everyone watched as the blonde and brunette disappeared out the front door. Everything was silent for a few seconds before the front door opened again and in walked the blonde, his arms full of letters.
Armin froze at the sight of the many eyes trained on him. He felt his cheeks heat as he cleared his throat and stuttered out an apology. Jean felt the urge to walk over and brush the blondes hair back from his face. He felt his own face heat at the thought of the males blonde locks running through his fingers, and quickly turned back to face his friend, who sent him a knowing smirk.
Armin took a deep breath once everyone had gotten back to their own conversations and headed over to Mikasa. As soon as he gets within hearing distance of his other childhood friend, the front door slammed open again.
"Hey Ar! Don't forget, Mikasa is driving you to the set at 7 tonight. Be ready, see you there!" Eren shouted gaining the attention of the customers again. Armin gave a terse nod and waved his friend away letting a small smile form at the stupidity of his best friend. He stood beside Mikasa and gently nudged her, once he gained her attention he handed the letters over to her.
"I know you're busy attending to these kind and patient customers, however when you get the chance… please find a way to get my bakery off of the internet. I know I'm always asking this of you, but please… I'm tired of getting fan mail here… get rid of it please." Armn gave Levi and Jean one last smile as he turned and disappeared back into the kitchen. Mikasa looked down at the pile of letters in her hands before shoving them under the counter and turning back to the customers.
Only, there were no customers standing in front of her. She glanced towards the door where she caught one last glimpse of the taller male dragging out an annoyed shorter male. She shrugged and went back to helping Bertholdt and Moblit.
Levi had had enough, he yanked his arm away from Jean and shoved the man roughly. "Stop dragging me around dammit. Next time just say you want to leave." He didn't wait for Jean to regain his footing as he stomped off in the direction of Jean's apartment.
"You better have some damn good tea at your place, Kirschtein." Levi's grumbling was ignored as Jean caught up to him and started talking a mile a minute about his favorite author. Levi had heard the spiel a thousand times about how good a writer this Armin was, he could recite the next disgusting words to leave Jean's mouth by memory. He still didn't know how he managed to put up with this someone like Jean for as long as he did, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
When it came down to it, Jean was a really great friend, not that Levi would ever tell him that. The male was loyal to a fault and despite his puppy like attitude, Levi knew he could always count on the babbling man beside him. Jean finally calmed down about his favorite author as they walked into his apartment building. By the time they entered his apartment, the poor man was apologizing about how embarrassing he must have been.
"Don't worry about it, I'm glad you pulled me out of there though." Levi stated as he rummaged through Jean's cupboards, in search of his tea.
Jean stopped filling the kettle with water and turned to stare at his friend, "You are?"
"Of course I am, if you hadn't pulled us out, I would've had to; for fear you'd propose to the blonde otherwise." Levi smirked as Jean flushed and slammed the kettle onto the stove in embarrassment.
"Shove it, Levi. As if you weren't internally fangirling over your little crush on Eren. He's the only reason you're so into that detective show you always clutter my DVR with. Don't think I didn't notice that starstruck look in your eyes once they landed on him." Jean smirked as Levi shoved by him none too gently and made his way to the living room.
"I don't have a clue what you're talking about, now, if you're done wasting my time… tea isn't going to make itself, and I've got a show to watch." Jean snickered at the sight of Levi flipping the t.v. to Eren's detective show.
"Not a damn word, Kirschtein." Levi grumbled as he got himself comfortable in the middle of the couch. Jean shrugged and quickly prepared Levi's tea when the kettle had heated the water to a hot enough temperature. Once finished, he grabbed a bag of chips from the cupboard and took his place on the couch next to Levi.
"All I know, is that… that bakery is definitely going to become a regular stop on the way home." Jean stated as he handed over the tea.
"Shut up, I'm trying to watch the show." Jean chuckled softly as he glanced at his friends profile. No matter how harsh and cold Levi seemed to others, Jean knew how caring and kind he actually was. He loved knowing a side of Levi that no one else had ever known, it made him feel special. However, he wouldn't mind if his best friend showed his vulnerable side to someone else one day...and maybe it was too much to hope that 'someone else' actually meant a certain green-eyed brunette, but hell a guy could hope.