104th Street Diner
By Holly-Batali
Author's Note: This is a follow-up to Enchanting, but you don't NEED to have read Enchanting, just know that there was a scene where Levi went out to lunch at this little place called the 104th Street Diner while his not-quite-yet girlfriend Petra was in the hospital. This is the story of the 104th. For those of you who have read Enchanting, welcome back my friends! I know I still haven't answered some of the PMs/reviews from you guys, but I swear I'm getting to it! Life has been really crazy lately, so please be patient with me!
Disclaimer: I own literally nothing but a bunch of nerdy t-shirts and a crap-ton of Star Wars merch.
It had finally started to snow; Sasha had been waiting weeks for fall to end and winter to begin. She would miss the warmer weather, going hunting with her father in the woods, and playing with the piles of leaves (which never really stopped being fun, no matter how old she got), but having the snow and the excitement of the upcoming holidays more than made up for the misery of slipping and sliding all over the road while she tried to walk to school (which usually meant running to school, as she was more often than not running ridiculously late). She had nearly died just that morning, running around the corner too quickly and slipping on a patch of black ice. If she hadn't grabbed onto the stop sign on the corner, she would have flown straight out into traffic. Connie had laughed at her for it (laughed so hard he'd nearly passed out), but Sasha didn't see what was so funny about the whole thing.
She made it to the door of the diner and opened it with a small smile, basking in the warm rush of air that greeted her and the tinkling bell over the door. Upbeat music was playing over the loudspeakers and Sasha found herself singing along as she made her way to the back of the restaurant, greeting the regular customers on her way. "If you believe in maaagic—hey, Daz!—we'll dance until morning—Hi, Nac!—just you and me, and maybe, if the music is right—hi, Mylius! Long time no see!—and we'll go dancing, baby, then you'll see how the magic's in the music and the music's in me~"
She made it to the open kitchen doorway and stepped inside, calling out greetings to her friend and coworker Connie and her supervisor Jean as she passed them on her way to the break room. She opened the door and danced her way over to her locker, still humming to the music playing out front. She pulled open the metal door, stuffing her thick leather coat, her deerskin gloves, her knit hat and gloves inside. Her family hunted and used everything they got for food and clothing and everything in between. She pulled out her hat, nametag, and skates, putting everything on. It wasn't required for all staff to wear the skates, just the wait staff (during her shift, this was just Sasha (and Eren, if the rush was big enough). Though he was usually in the back, Jean was actually incredibly good at skating, whipping around corners with fully loaded trays and never spilling anything—it was anyone's guess why he stayed in the back.
Sasha rolled out into the kitchen. "How's it been today?" she asked Jean, leaning on the counter and snagging a fry off of a plate that Connie was placing a burger on.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Jean nagged, slapping her hand with a spatula. "That's not for you!"
Sasha stuck her tongue out at him, eating the fry.
"It's been pretty quiet," Connie told her, grabbing the plate and placing it on the counter that divided the kitchen from the restaurant, ringing the bell on the counter to call Hannah over to take it. "We had a few people come in about half an hour ago, but Hannah handled it fine on her own."
"Mikasa, Eren, and Armin should be here in like fifteen minutes," Jean said, tossing the spatula he'd slapped her with in the sink and pulling on a fresh pair of gloves, "but I think that you and Eren can handle the front well enough that I can have Mikasa and Armin both working on clean-up back here. Armin can start on dishes, and we need the trash taken out, so Mikasa can—"
"Yeah, yeah," Connie interrupted. "Don't go too crazy with power, Supervisor Kirchstein." He and Sasha snickered as Jean sputtered.
"I am not! I'm just dividing up the tasks evenly—"
"And we all know that Mikasa will do whatever she wants anyway and Jean will just let her," Sasha laughed, making Jean blush and storm over to the grill. It was no secret that Jean had a long-standing (one-sided) affection for Mikasa, but it was even clearer that Mikasa couldn't care less. It was a sore point that Jean's coworkers used against him mercilessly.
"I'm off now!" called Hannah, skidding to a stop before Connie and Sasha, hugging the latter in greeting; Hannah was on the morning staff and only saw Sasha when their shifts overlapped briefly.
"Okay," Jean called looking up from the burger he was grilling. "Go ahead and clock out, we've got it covered now. Thanks, Hannah!"
She smiled and bade them all farewell for the day, skating back to the locker room to put away her skates and grab her things.
"Sasha, head out front and make sure the tables are covered," Jean ordered.
"Yes, sir," Sasha saluted, skating out. There were only a few tables occupied; Nac and Mylius had left while Sasha had been in the back, and now it was just Daz and an old man in the corner that she didn't recognize. She busied herself with bussing the tables and dumping the dishes in the sink in the back, making sure to splash Connie as he washed them; Connie, in turn, made sure to spray some water on the floor by the sink, nearly making Sasha fall when she came with the second load of dishes. Jean snapped at both of them and they made loud horse noises at him instead of listening.
Daz and the old man finished eating and Sasha rang them up, grinning and wishing them a good day. The diner was empty except for the employees—it was close to finals at the nearby university, but most students had holed up on campus rather than going out to eat, and the high school students around town were more interested in the fast food chain outlets nearby. This meant a much smaller clientele around the diner, just middle-aged businessmen and the elderly.
Sasha danced around the restaurant, spinning on her skates with the finesse of a professional, balancing dirty dishes and rags. She jumped to slide across the counter straight to the entrance of the kitchen. Jean often scolded her for reckless stunts on her skates, but Sasha had yet to fall, so she decided it was worth the scolding to have fun, and she had no qualms about telling Jean so.
"Yeah, well if you do fall, guess who's gonna get slammed for allowing you to pull stupid shit? Me!" Jean harped on her, waving a metal spatula at her before tossing it into the sink, splashing Connie who screeched in protest.
"I have the balance of a god, Jean!" Sasha groaned. "Seriously, I've never fallen on my skates! I've never even dropped anything!"
Jean went back to cleaning the flat-top grill. "There's a first time for everything, Sasha!" He waved a metal pitcher at her. "Remember what happened to Marco?"
"Ugggh," Sasha groaned, slouching and rolling her eyes. "Not this again!"
Jean ignored her and plowed on. "He was really good on his skates too, and then he slipped and fell—he sprained his ankle and cut up the whole right side of his body on the dishes that he dropped."
"We knooow—"
"He was in the hospital for three days," Jean pushed on, still waving the pitcher around. "His right side was bandaged up for weeks and he couldn't come back to work until his ankle healed up!"
"You were just upset 'cause he's your boooyfrieeeend," Sasha teased, cackling as Jean sputtered and starting throwing things at her as she and Connie laughed uncontrollably.
"He is not!" Jean screeched, red in the face.
"He is too, and you don't even know it!" Sasha called over her shoulder as she skated around the kitchen.
"It's like a bad story," Connie snickered. "In Which Jean are Marco are Dating and Everybody Knows Except Jean and Marco."
"I'M GOING TO REPORT YOU BOTH TO MR. SHADIS!" Jean shrieked. Neither Connie nor Sasha cared much—he'd never report them, since it would go on his record as not being able to control his employees.
The bell above the front door rang and Sasha sped out of the kitchen to greet their new customer, leaving Jean to shriek at Connie instead. Her snickering stopped as she saw Levi coming in through the door. "Hey!" she called, grinning. "Welcome back!"
"Yeah," he muttered, brushing a dusting of snow from his hair and shoulders.
"Go ahead and sit down," Sasha told him, "I'll get your tea started." He nodded and went to sit at his customary booth in the back and Sasha skated back to the kitchen. "Connie," she called, "Levi's here."
Connie nodded, drying his hands. "I'll get the tea ready," he said, moving to the back.
"The usual?" Jean asked.
Sasha shrugged. "Probably. I'll go ask." She went around to Levi's table. "The usual for you, or something new?"
Levi shrugged. "Whatever the special is today."
"One Maria Melt, coming right up!" Sasha chirped, saluting and zipping back to the kitchens. By the time she reached Jean, he had already started preparing the Maria Melt; "but you thought he was getting the Corporal!" Sasha blurted, surprised.
Jean snorted. "I could hear you from back here," he told her, spreading on the sauce and layering the cheese. "You're hardly subtle."
"I couldn't hear her," Connie said with a shrug, a mischievous glint in his half-lidded eyes. "I guess you just have super horse hearing, Supervisor Seabiscuit."
Sasha burst out laughing as Jean froze, glaring icily at Connie. Weeks ago, Eren had made a joke about Jean having a horse face, and no one had let Jean live it down since then, especially Connie and Sasha.
"Get back to work!" Jean roared at both of them, throwing the melt in the over with twice as much force as usual. "I should just fire you both!"
"You caaaan't!" Sasha teased as she skated away. "Only Mr. Shadis caaaan! You're just a lowly supervisor!"
"Yeah, well this 'lowly supervisor' has more than enough authority to rescind your discount card, Sasha! And I can make you polish the cabinets all night, Connie!" This threat was more than enough to spur Jean's coworkers into action; they yelped and went back to work.
Sasha skated out to the safety of the restaurant, rolling lazily over to Levi to chat about Petra. Over the week and a half that Levi had been coming in to eat at the diner, Sasha had managed to pry several things out of the taciturn man, including the fact that his girlfriend Petra was in the hospital down the road with plus one concussion and minus one spleen. She was recovering just fine, but still had a long ways to go. They were both students at the local university, Petra in Criminal Justice and Levi in Law Enforcement (beginning winter semester).
"So how's Petra doing?" Sasha asked, leaning on the back of the bench opposite of the one where Levi sat. "You said they're releasing her soon, right?"
Levi nodded. "This Friday."
"Oh good!" Sasha cheered with a smile. "Listen, when she gets out of the hospital, you should bring her here for lunch! We'll treat you both to celebrate!"
Levi's eyes seemed to soften just a touch. He nodded; "Yeah, we'll do that."
Most of this information had come from Levi's friends, who had come in with his for lunch one day after visiting Petra in the hospital. Sasha hadn't been their server that night, but she had overheard the details from Eren, who'd served them instead. Apparently, in Levi's circle of friends, there was a joke about Levi being called—
"Captain!"
Sasha and Levi both turned their heads to the new arrival in the diner; Eren, Armin, and Mikasa entered together, unwinding scarves and pulling off hats and gloves as they did. Eren had called out to Levi, using the nickname he'd adopted from Levi's friends. They'd convinced him, as a joke, that Levi's real title was 'Captain', and Eren had bought it hook, line, and sinker. Even after Levi set him straight, Eren still referred to him as such. Eren had taken to Levi like a puppy to a new owner, and Levi seemed less than thrilled.
Eren waved and jogged over, a grin on his face. Levi sighed and raised a hand half-heartedly. "Hey, brat."
"How's Miss Petra doing?" Eren asked eagerly. When he'd waited the table for Levi and co., he had heard plenty of stories about Petra, and he was anxious to meet her.
"Fine," Levi answered.
"She's being released soon, right?"
"Friday," Levi answered in the long-suffering tone of one who had to explain things one too many times.
Eren's face brightened even more. "That's great!" he cheered, turning to smile at Sasha, who grinned back.
"Hey, Jaeger!"
All three of them turned to the counter by the kitchen, where Jean was poking his head out. "Get back here and clock in, or I'm writing you up for tardiness!"
Eren's smile disappeared. "Go ahead and try, Kirchstein!" he taunted. "You'll have to mark down Armin and Mikasa as well."
Jean's face burned, both in embarrassment and anger. "Shut up and get your ass back here, Jaeger!" he yelled, retreating to the kitchen.
Eren scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I'll be back in a bit," he reassured Sasha and Levi with a smile, jogging back to the break room.
"I'll go and get your tea," Sasha told Levi, skating back to the kitchen. Jean was already trying to hit up Mikasa (to no avail), and Connie and Armin were chatting back by the dish counter, where Armin had started putting away the clean dishes that Connie was cranking out.
"The tea's ready," Connie called out to Sasha before going back to his conversation with Armin. Sasha nodded, picked up the tea cup and saucer and started skating out of the kitchen.
"So is the melt," Jean added as Mikasa walked away, towards the break room and Eren. "It just came out of the oven." He handed the plate to Sasha as she rolled past.
"Thanks," she called over her shoulder, heading out towards Levi. "One Maria Melt with fries and Earl Gray," she announced, setting down the food with a flourish.
"Thanks," Levi said with a curt nod. It would seem rude from anyone else, but from Levi it was almost a warm gesture, and it made Sasha smile.
"No problem!" she called, wheeling over to the front of the restaurant as a new customer entered, showing him to a booth with a smile and handing over a menu. She passed Eren on her way back to the kitchen; he was heading out to talk with Levi. Sasha smiled as she watched Eren from behind; he'd gotten better at skating. When he'd started working at the 104th Street Diner, Eren hadn't been able to skate to save his life; he'd nearly bashed out his brains on the edge of the counter when he tried to take a turn too quickly. Luckily, the padded red plastic on the edge had saved his head; even more luckily perhaps was the fact that there weren't any customers, which could have sparked a lawsuit.
He'd kept at it, though, and after hours and hours of outside practice he was nearly as good as Jean and Sasha. Mikasa had been a natural, but she had such bad manners and customer service skills that their manager (the owner of the diner) Keith Shadis had banned her from waiting tables. Armin had been a walking (rolling?) disaster, and so he had opted to work in the back instead.
Sasha busied herself for the next while with the steady trickle of customers that came in, Eren helping her but mostly staying back by Levi, chatting incessantly. Levi obviously found this irritating, but Sasha thought he enjoyed the company nonetheless (though he would never say as much). Levi had a habit of brooding in the corner until someone got him talking or he left, and Sasha thought that he secretly appreciated having a place to go where everybody knew him and felt comfortable talking to him.
The lunch shift passed quickly, and Levi left around four. Sasha and Eren bid him farewell and Levi seemed a little put-out when he left, bussing the leftover dishes and rolling aimlessly around the empty diner. Sasha skated over to him, leaning over the counter to talk to him.
"Do I sense a man-crush?" she teased, snickering when Eren floundered and denied it.
"No! Of course not! Shut up, Sasha!"
She laughed. "Why's it such a big deal to talk with Levi?" she asked, curious. "We all like Levi, but you're particularly smitten." She put her head on the palm of her hand, propping herself up
Eren sighed, leaning on the other side of the counter, his stance mirroring Sasha's. "He's… I dunno. He doesn't like me very much, he calls me a brat all the time, and he's always scolding me for stupid things. He just…" he looked up to meet Sasha's eyes, his own confused. "He feels kind of like an older brother, you know?"
Sasha's eyes softened and she ruffled Eren's hair. Eren's mother had died in a gang shooting in their old neighborhood and his father had disappeared soon after. He and his foster sister Mikasa had gone to live with Eren's mother's friend Hannes, who more or less adopted them and later Armin when his grandfather died of a stroke. Eren had an unusual family life and not much stability. Sasha had joked in the past that maybe he just needed adopted aunts and uncles and various others, but seeing him with Levi, they really did look and act like brothers.
Eren half-heartedly batted her hand away. "I'm not a dog, don't pet me!" he grouched.
"Yes you aaaare," Sasha teased. "You're our cute little puppy dog! Dogs are good for hunting, you know!"
Eren groaned. "Enough of the Jaeger jokes!" he griped, making Sasha laugh again.
"Get back to work, you two!" Jean called from the kitchen; Eren jumped.
"How does he know what we're doing?!" Eren hissed to Sasha. "He always does that!"
"He has super horse hearing," Sasha explained with a serious nod.
Eren snorted. "I see."
"Eren." Eren turned; Mikasa poked her head out of the kitchen. "If you're not doing anything up front, would you help empty out the trash back here?"
"Sure!" Eren called, skating back to the kitchen, and Mikasa smiled slightly, going with him. Sasha rolled her eyes as Eren chatted to Mikasa about the chores for the night, Mikasa nodding and reminding Eren which jobs he forgot.
She straightened the menus at the hostess podium in the front and then cleaned and sanitized surfaces in front and then, when absolutely nothing else could be done out front, she moved to the back, skating over to the fryer to steal a handful of fries while Jean was distracted trying to sweet-talk Mikasa, who was trying to talk with Eren.
"She should just ask him out already," Sasha muttered to Connie and Armin, who nodded wearily.
"Between Eren and Mikasa, Jean and Marco, and Hannah and that kid Franz who keeps coming in, we're all getting sick of the stagnant not-relationships," Connie drawled, leaning up against the dish counter.
Armin smiled as he dried and put away the last of the dishes. "It's nice, though," he said. "It's better to see them like this than fighting and breaking up. We don't want another Mina and Samuel."
Sasha and Connie shuddered dramatically. The supervisor of the morning shift, Mina, had been dating another employee, Samuel a few months previously. When Samuel had finally told Mina that he was going to college a state over and leaving the next week, Mina had been distraught, moping around for weeks before Mr. Shadis had finally snapped and given her a military pep talk and scared her back to normal. Even though Mina had been on the breakfast shift, her moping had carried over to the afternoon shift, making everyone nearly as miserable as she was.
"It's pretty quiet out there!"
The three of them turned to the entrance of the kitchen, where Reiner and Berthold were walking in, smiling and waving a greeting. Annie trailed silently behind them, a few steps behind.
"Hey, guys!" Jean called, smiling. "Are you early tonight?"
"A little bit," Reiner confirmed, talking off his coat and brushing the snow out of his hair. "I didn't know how much the snow would slow us down, so we left a few minutes early." Reiner and Berthold always carpooled, and Annie always showed up five minutes early, staying in the break room until her shift started.
"Well it's been pretty dead today," Jean said. "Just a few customers here and there. Most of the closing tasks are done; Eren and Mikasa are just finishing up trash, Connie and Armin are done with the dishes, and Sasha's been doing absolutely nothing," Jean finished.
Sasha stuck her tongue out at Jean. "The whole front is totally cleaned up."
Reiner just laughed; he was the supervisor for the night shift and Jean always gave him an update when he came in. "Thanks, guys," he called to the staff. "You always make closing that much easier!" They all smiled in return; Reiner Braun was well-liked around the diner, and Connie and Sasha had taken to calling him Mama Braun behind his back for his mother hen tendencies towards his coworkers.
"What time is it?" Armin asked.
"Four fifty-two," Mikasa answered promptly.
"Well," Reiner called. "Since night shift starts at five, and everything is already done, you can all probably head home now, if you want." Reiner turned to Jean for agreement, who nodded enthusiastically. "Alright! 104th Afternoon Shift—move out!"
They all cheered, high-fiving Reiner and chatting excitedly. Sasha sped over to the break room to peel off her skates and nametag, stuffing her things in her locker.
"I love it when Reiner does that!" Connie crowed, opening up his locker.
"He's the best!" Sasha agreed.
"Hey guys," Eren called, skating into the room. "Mikasa and I were just talking about that new ice cream place down on Sina Street, Baldo's—have any of you been there yet?"
"Nope," Connie said, shrugging.
"I have!" Sasha yelled, her hand shooting up into the air. "I give it four point six stars out of five! Excellent atmosphere, great variety of flavors, excellent choices, decent pricing!"
Jean snorted. "Leave it to the resident food critic," he muttered, smirking in amusement.
"We were just thinking it might be fun for all of us to head over there tonight," Armin picked up, coming in. "It's not too late, and we get payed this week."
"I'm in!" Sasha cheered.
"Sure," Connie agreed with a smile. "Ice cream sounds good."
"I was gonna meet up with Marco tonight," Jean said.
"What for?" Armin asked, curious.
Jean shrugged. "Dunno yet; probably a movie or something."
"Why don't you invite him? It's been a while since we've seen Marco!"
"If you don't mind," Jean double-checked. Everyone shook their heads and confirmed that it was okay; Marco was exceptionally well-liked.
Jean grinned. "Thanks, guys!" He pulled out his phone as he stuffed his uniform in his locker, dialing Marco's number.
"I love ice cream," Sasha sighed dreamily.
"What food don't you love?" Connie countered with a heavy-lidded glance and a scoff.
Sasha opened her mouth, but had no words. "… I don't know."
"I thought so."
"Marco says he'll meet us there," Jean called, snapping his phone shut. "He'll save us a table." Sasha and Connie cheered.
"Let's go!" Sasha whined, jumping up and down. "Hurry up! Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!"
"Calm down, Sasha!" Jean lectured. "At least let us put our coats on!"
"Coats later, ice cream now!"
Armin and Connie just laughed at her. "I'll wait for you guys out front," Armin said, leaving the break room.
Sasha snickered. "He just wants to talk to Annie~" she sang once Armin was gone. Armin was persistent in getting Annie to open up to him, and Annie had slowly begun to warm up. Not to the rest of them—she handed Eren and Reiner's asses to them on a regular basis, and the rest of them knew well enough to stay far away (with the exception of Mikasa, who seemed to take perverse pleasure in pissing Annie off, and visa versa).
They finished putting their winter clothes on, closed their lockers and headed out to the front of the restaurant. There were two customers there, but Annie had already relayed their orders to Berthold and Reiner in the back, so she was free to talk to Armin until the food was ready (which was more a case of Annie trying to look bored as Armin chattered to her but obviously being pleased with the attention).
"Come on Armin!" Eren called as they headed to the door. "We're leaving!"
"Okay!" Armin agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow, Annie," he called, waving goodbye. Annie just nodded to him, and then the rest of the group. Eren waved back, smiling; Eren enjoyed being around pretty much everybody, Annie included.
They left the diner, the bell on the door chiming behind them. It was already dark outside, daylight savings robbing them of sunlight in the early evening. Sasha ran over to the edge of the sidewalk, balancing on the curb. "Last time I tried the three scoop sundae," she informed the group, her arms out at a tee to balance on the edge, placing one foot directly in front of the other as she watched the curb, the red paint chipped and covered in a packed layer of frost. "I tried butter pecan, pralines and cream, and rocky road. I also added fudge, nuts, whipped cream, and a cherry. This time, I think I'm going to get the brownie sundae, with the German chocolate ice cream, whipped cream, and banana slices."
"Is that all?" Jean teased. "You could eat the whole inventory and still have room for more!"
Sasha stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll also be getting one of the iced coffees, thank you very much. And the ice cream will be in a waffle cone, 'cause I can't eat the bowl, so what's the point in paying for it?"
"You don't have to eat everything!"
"I CAN CERTAINLY TRY!"
Eren laughed. "The day you stop being so enthusiastic about food is the day the world ends, Sasha." Sasha beamed happily.
"You're such a sap, Jaeger!" Jean scoffed.
"At least I don't have a horse face like you!"
"I do not have a horse face! Seriously, what part of my face looks like a horse?!"
"All of it!"
The two of them bickered until Mikasa couldn't take it anymore; she pulled Eren behind her, told the both of them to stop being children, and held Eren's hand the rest of the way there to keep him away from Jean, despite Eren's vehement protests and Jean's despair. Sasha and Connie just laughed at them, taking turns to see who could balance on the curb the best without falling directly into traffic. Armin followed behind the group, telling Eren and Mikasa to both calm down, reassuring Jean that his face looked just fine, and begging Sasha and Connie to 'please be careful, for the love of God!'
They arrived at Balto's Ice Cream Parlour a few minutes later, a flashy little shop on the corner of Trost and Sina. Sasha led them inside excitedly, bounding over to the counter and demanding samples of several different flavors, muttering her thoughts to herself ('too sweet', 'a good balance between the coconut and the cocoa'). The others followed more sedately, hanging back to look at the menu and prices. Jean entered last, glancing around until he spotted Marco at a large booth near the back. "Hey, Marco!" he called, jogging over to his best friend. "I'll order in a bit," he called back over his shoulder.
Sasha finally decided on the brownie sundae, choosing a scoop of German chocolate and one of cookies and cream. "And for toppings," she instructed excitedly, "I'll have whipped cream, nuts, hot fudge, a cherry, gummy bears, Butterfinger bits, and and and some M&M's! Ooh! I also want four of the cake bits—just assorted flavors, surprise me—and a cappuccino mocha. Oh! I also want one of those soft serve strawberry and almond parfaits." She counted off on her fingers, mentally tallying everything up. "…I think that's it."
The cashier blinked in surprise. "Is that… that's not all for you, is it?"
"Of course it is!"
"…I… I see."
Connie snickered. "It never gets old," he muttered to Armin, who smiled.
"Who else wants to order?" Sasha asked, walking back over to the group as she waited for the poor server to finish her order.
"I guess so," Armin mused. "I'm not much of an ice cream fan… but those fruit smoothies look good."
"I highly recommend the mango smoothie!" Sasha suggested, shooting her hand up in the air. "It's a robust, well-rounded flavor with a good chill and is satisfyingly filling."
"Thank you product pamphlet Sasha," Jean snarked, coming back over with Marco at his side. Sasha blew a raspberry at him.
"I think it's fun that you always knew about all the food," Marco pacified, making Sasha beam happily. "It makes it a lot easier to order whenever we go anywhere, since you know all the pros and cons of the menu."
"Thank you," Sasha gushed, giving Marco a bear hug and slyly sticking her tongue out at a sputtering Jean over Marco's shoulder.
"Order for Sasha," the server called up front, looking extremely relieved to be done with that particular order. "Brownie sundae, cake bites, parfait and cappuccino."
"Yay!" Sasha cheered, speeding over to the counter and picking up the tray laden with food. "Where's our table, Marco?" she asked, looking around.
"I'll show you," the tall freckled boy answered, carrying Sasha's tray for her over to the booth, chatting happily with the girl. Jean grumbled under his breath and he and the others headed over to the counter to place their own orders.
"I'll take the Mango Fusion fruit smoothie, please," Armin asked, all polite smiles. The cashier couldn't help but smile back as she took the proffered money and tendered the change, calling out the order to her coworker.
"Next, please!"
"Eren, you go next," Mikasa offered, pushing Eren in front of her.
"Oh, thanks Mikasa! Hi! I'll have… the two scoop sundae, with the pistachio and the mocha almond fudge."
"Whipped cream, fudge and a cherry?"
"Er, is it extra?"
"No, it's free."
"No way!" Eren exclaimed, his face lighting up. "That's awesome! Yes, please!" He paid for his sundae and practically danced over to where Armin was waiting for his smoothie. "That's so cool!" he gushed. "The place over by Hannes' work always charges extra."
"Yeah," Armin agreed with a smile. "I think I like this place; it's nice."
Mikasa placed her order next, settling on just a small cone of daiquiri ice sorbet. Jean ordered a soft-serve cappuccino, Marco an iced coffee and a small peanut-butter ice cream parfait, and Connie a banana split with orange sherbet, Snickers ice cream, and strawberries. Once all of their orders were served up, they moved to the table where Sasha was sitting; by that point, Sasha had already eaten all of her cake bites and half of her sundae.
Marco and Jean sat next to each other, offering tastes of their orders to each other. Marco usually liked what Jean got, and vice a versa, so they often ended up sharing to an extent. Connie and Sasha joked about the most outrageous toppings and tried to see how much they could stuff into their mouths at a time, making Jean yell at them for being disgusting. Eren just laughed it off, enjoying his own sundae. He offered some to Mikasa, who agreed to have a taste—Mikasa didn't like sweet things, but whenever Eren offered, she made a point to take him up on his offer. Armin enjoyed his smoothie in silence, smiling at the antics of his friends and adding to the conversation when prompted.
They spent a half an hour laughing and eating before throwing out their trash, thanking the employees, and heading out for the night. Eren, Mikasa and Armin branched off from the group first; they were all heading to the same place, living in the same foster home. Jean and Marco left shortly after; they both had a test in history the next day and were staying over at Marco's house for the night to study.
It was just Sasha and Connie for the last part of the walk. They made it a game to see who could slide the most on the ice on the sidewalks without falling. They both laughed when Sasha nearly went headfirst into a telephone pole, and then laughed twice as hard when Connie fell right into the street.
They both lived in the same direction, so they usually ended up walking home together for most of the way; Ragako Street, where Connie lived, was only several blocks away from Dauper Lane, where Sasha's house was. When they reached Connie's house, Sasha said goodnight and continued on to her own house, humming all the way. Her house was a small two-bedroom complex with a large yard outside. She and her father had lived out on a farm for most of Sasha's life, but had relocated to the suburbs when the government claimed their land. Sasha had been bitter about it, but enjoyed her job and the friends that she knew, so decided that it was a decent trade in the end. Sasha's father, Liam Braus, was a hunter, but when he couldn't sell the meat in winter, he worked in lumber and construction. Sasha had gotten exceptionally good at both hunting and building, often bringing in just as much if not more meat than her father when the two of them went hunting together.
She opened the front door and set down her purse, pulling off her coat, hat, gloves and scarf. "Pa, I'm home!" she called loudly. It was just the two of them living in the house—Sasha's mother had died when she was young, a brain hemorrhage, and her father had never remarried. Sasha frowned when her father didn't call back to her. "Pa?"
"In the back, Sasha," was the reply, and Sasha made her way to the back door.
Her father was in the garage, curing deer meat from their hunting trip a few days previously, when the weather was turning.
"Ooh, jerky!" Sasha cheered, dancing over to help her father.
"Don't eat it," he warned. "You start eating and we'll never have enough for the winter."
Sasha pouted. "We will too; a little snacking never hurt anyone."
Her father laughed. "'A little', huh? Sasha, you're a good girl, and you have many wonderful qualities. But you eat like a starving lion, and nothing is left on the table once you're finished 'snacking'."
"Fine, see if I help!" Sasha cried, throwing her hands in the air. "All I wanted was to spend some rare quality family time with my loving father who I never get to see because I'm supporting the family with my meager income, trying to keep us afloat and save up for an education! And this is the thanks I get!" She threw herself on the workbench dramatically, grinning as her father roared with laughter.
"Alright, alright, I give!" her father chuckled, handing her a piece of deer jerky from a previous hunt that he'd been snacking on. "Here ya go, girl. How was work?"
"Yay!" Sasha cheered, snagging the strip of cured meat and chewing happily on it. "It was okay. Levi came in again today; he ordered the Maria Melt and Earl Gray."
"I don't always have ta know what food he ordered," Liam chided.
"But that's the important part!" Sasha argued. "Food is better than anything!"
"Alright, alright. What else happened at work?"
"Not much," Sasha said with a shrug. "Jean mooning over Mikasa, Connie and I teasing him about Marco, Eren playing puppy with Levi, Armin sweet-talking Annie. Ooh! But Reiner let us all off early because we finished all of our work before he, Berthold, and Annie showed up, so we all went out to Balto's for ice cream! It was delicious!" she said dreamily.
Liam sighed. "I know that yer savin' up fer college, Sasha, but I wonder how much of that money really ends up in savings, and much of it gets spent on snacks."
"That's…" Sasha stopped her protest as quickly as she'd started it. "…that's actually a pretty good question," she conceded. "A lot, I think. But it's all so good! Money should be spent on food, on things to enjoy, to eat!"
"I know I've asked ya before, but are ya sure ya don't want to just stay in food service? It's certainly something that you're passionate about."
Sasha sighed, pausing in her work of skinning the deer. "I am, but I don't want to just make food for other people, since I'd just want to eat it all! I think it would drive me nuts. It's not so bad serving food, but there is a good reason why I'm not allowed to make any of the food at work. Not after the potato incident; Mr. Shadis was furious, I thought he was going to fire me on the spot!" She shuddered dramatically as she remembered the incident in question. Liam just laughed; Sasha had been terrified that night, ranting that she thought she was going to die. Once her father had gotten the story out of her, he'd just laughed long and loud and told her not to worry about that, and just worry about her coworkers never letting her live it down.
"So you had fun going out for ice cream, huh?"
"Yeah, we did! Jean invited Marco to come with us, so he met us there, which was really nice. We never get to see him since he switched to the morning shift after his accident, so it was fun to see him."
"That accident was awful," Liam muttered, shaking his head. He had been dropping Sasha off for her shift when the ambulance arrived and had seen Marco. He'd given Jean and Connie a ride to the hospital to be there for Marco (with Keith Shadis' permission for them to leave their shift). Annie, Berthold and Reiner had all agreed to come in early to cover for their missing coworkers. Sasha had ended up baking butterscotch brownies for everyone on the afternoon and night shifts when Marco was released from the hospital in celebration of his recovery and in thanks for the night shift. "That poor boy; and his poor friend, Jean, was a right mess, in tears and beside himself."
Sasha huffed. "And he still has the nerve to go after Mikasa; we're all just waiting for Marco to give up on him, but he's too sweet for his own good. They'll end up together somehow."
Her father laughed. "Food and matchmaking, your two passions."
"I make only the best matches!" Sasha bragged. "And I'm always right! They'll end up together whether they like it or not. Armin and Annie, too. And Eren and Mikasa! Reiner and Berthold might end up together too, but it's unclear at the moment. Hannah and that guy Franz that always comes in every morning—the one who always buys the ham and cheese omelet with the hash browns and hot chocolate."
"Oh? And what about you, girl? Any budding romances on the horizon for you?"
Sasha sputtered. "No way! I'll never love any guy as much as I love food! No man can ever best a freshly-baked loaf of bread or a nice, tender steamed potato! The joy that comes from a full dish of piping-hot chow mein! How can any love be greater than that?!"
Sasha thought that her speech had been rather stirring, but judging by the way that her father laughed and wheezed until he needed to sit down, she started to second-guess that. "…Are you done?" she asked dryly, causing her father to laugh even harder. Eventually, Sasha excused herself to go up to her room to work on her schoolwork (after stopping by the kitchen to grab a 'light snack'). She was terrible at academics, but she worked as hard as she could to try to pass. It helped to be friends with Armin, who excelled at every academic subject he encountered, seemingly without even trying. Connie pretended to be smart ("well, I am a genius after all"), but when it came down to it, he was just as stupid as Sasha was (which was both a disappointment and a comfort). Armin often tutored them (along with Eren, who was just as stupid as they were), but it was usually a lost cause. Mikasa and Jean were much better at bookwork, but no matter how many times Jean tried to use that as an excuse to study together, Mikasa shut him down every time.
With a heavy sigh, Sasha pulled out her government textbook and set to work on her assignment, a fill in the blank worksheet on the branches of government and the officials currently in office. She snacked on a bag of potato chips as she worked, and she finished the bag sooner than she did the assignment (much to her dismay). When the worksheet started asking about laws and amendments, she was able to fill most of them in without having to do the reading—Levi and his friends had been discussing them at the diner when they were there, and she and Eren had asked several questions about confusing concepts.
It had been Levi that had been able to explain it best, surprisingly enough. He had turned out to be quite the teacher, explaining this in a way that even Sasha and Eren could understand (a miracle in and of itself). Erd had explained to them that Levi helped teach his roommate's Criminal Justice class at the university on occasion (and they all joked that he did it better than the professor did). Eren had asked if Levi was studying to be a teacher, but had received a colossal frown and a passionate 'hell no' in return.
Levi's brusque manner hardly endeared him to some of the other customers and the more uptight employees, people who took offense easily. It made Sasha wonder what kind of a person Petra was that she dated Levi (who always looked just a little softer around the edges whenever she was mentioned). She wondered if Petra was like Levi or if she balanced him out in a kinder way. She looked forward to when Petra was released and came to the diner for lunch like Levi agreed. Sasha knew that they were all looking forward to meeting her, not just Sasha. Eren was especially excited to meet her.
Sasha finished her homework, pushed all of her papers haphazardly into her backpack (along with several snacks for the next day) and got ready for bed, brushing her teeth and hair and throwing on an old pair of warm pajamas. She and her father both believed in spending little money for heating and cooling, preferring to adapt with layers. She crawled under the layers of heavy quilts and curled up. School in the morning, work in the afternoon, dinner at Yumi Curry and harassing Christa and Ymir in the evening. And food aaaall throughout. Now that sounds like a good day.