Springles Cafe was a place where everyone knew they could relax. Whether it was the calming atmosphere and ambient noises of the place or those knödel Sasha makes, it was a hangout for most young adults in Walls.
For the gardener, it was where he met Armin, and sometimes Mikasa, when one of them wanted to discuss something even though they all know it was mostly him who had the problems.
Today Eren sat at his usual spot near the window waiting for his blond friend. His sister would have joined them, but ever since that fiasco with Jean she hasn't been in contact so it was only him and his best friend.
"Hey, Sasha!" The brunet asked loudly, signaling her from across the room, "Can I have one of those, uh, k-k..kuhnodel?"
She jogged over to him in her light brown apron and old torn up sketchers, "Eren, how many times do I have to tell you that they're knödel? Just call them dumplings. Connie used to suck at saying it too for some reason which is really weird because he's German..."
"I can really say it now, Sash! Knawdle!" The boy behind the counter cut in as he was boiling some of the food that he couldn't say the name of.
"You're hopeless, Connie!"
He stuck his tongue out at her and laughed, "Love ya' too, babe!"
"So, uh...can I get some then?" Eren asked hopefully.
"Duh! Jeez, Eren, why do you gotta be so formal all the time?" She smirked and walked back to check if her boyfriend accidentally let the potato dumplings boil over.
They were a sweet couple, but probably to the point where you'd get a toothache if you were around them too long. No one knew public displays of affection better than the two of them and for the longest time it made Eren jealous. Hell, it still made him jealous.
After a few minutes, Sasha brought his food and he began to chow down when the door burst open and his short friend rushed in, hair messed up and bolo tie uneven.
"What's wrong!? What's the problem!? Is someone dead!? Did your apartment flood because you forgot to turn off your sink again!? You said it was important! Why are you so calm right now!?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down, Armin! Why are freaking out?"
"Are...Are you kidding me? Eren...you called me two times telling me it was an emergency! What the heck is wrong!?"
"Dude, just sit down and I'll tell you."
Armin hastily pulled out the wooden chair and sat down, eyes wide open, ready to hear the issue.
"So...you remember An-"
"Oh no. No! You did NOT just call me because of girl problems during work again! Eren, I told Mayor Smith it was an emergency! I told him that someone had...d-died or something! What could be so important about her that you made me come all the way here!?"
The tan boy looked away guiltily before speaking again, "She saw me shirtless…"
"I...You're hopeless, Eren," He told him before hitting his face against the table.
"She said something like that too! Does that mean you know what she's thinking about, Armin!? Pleaaaaaaaaase tell me!"
At that moment, Armin was on his last nerve, but he hated seeing his friend all shriveled up and hopeless.
"Look, I can't tell you what she's thinking, Eren. It's not like I read minds or something…"
"Shi-"
"But...I have a plan."
Hearing those words, the overly excited brunet sat up in his chair and rested his face on his fists, listening intently to his friend.
"I heard from Marco that Annie joined his dance studio. She usually goes there to work out in the afternoon."
"So...what you're trying to say is that I should be a ballerina or something?"
Armin sighed, rubbed his temples, and continued, "No...I really don't even think you'd be capable of that, no offense. Across the street from it is a gym so, uh, maybe you could just happen to be working out there and see h-"
"Oh my god, Armin, you're a fucking genius! This plan is flawless!"
"Yeah...flawless."
Immediately, Eren got up and pushed his chair back, "I'm gonna go do that right now!"
"Wait, Eren!," Armin called, but before he could hear it, the impulsive guy was already gone.
After the blockhead left, the blond sighed and a girl with pigtails wearing an apron walked up to him and began to pick up Eren's plates.
"What's got him so riled up this time?"
"Oh, hey Mina. Women problems. You know, the usual."
"Ah, thought so," She replied, sitting down opposite him, "You look like you were kinda wanting to say something but he bolted before you could."
"Yeah...This girl that he's pining for, Annie, has these two protective friends."
Mina shrugged, "Yeah, so?"
"He's going to go to this gym so he can have some kind of excuse to talk to her, but he wouldn't wait so I could tell him that they train there."
True, Eren was rather pigheaded, but of all the times to be too eager this one definitely took the cake.
"They couldn't be that bad, right?"
"Let's just say from what Marco told me it's safe to assume you shouldn't mess with them."
The girl stood back up slowly, pushed in her chair, and picked up the dishes again.
"Hope you remember your first-aid practice from high school, Armin. I gotta go or Sasha's gonna nag me again. Tell Marco I said 'Hi' if you see him."
"Mina, the fact that you've liked him has been painfully obvious since first grade. Just tell him you like him."
Before he could see her blush, the shy waitress swiveled around and scurried to the back like a mouse.
As Adagio from Khachaturian's Spartacus muffled through an old boom box, Annie closed her eyes and let her feet guide her. She could hear the platforms of her slightly worn-out pointe shoes patter against the Marley-covered floor of the dance studio as she chasséd to the left of the room, slowly raising her arms with ease like a bird flapping its wings.
Many things about dancing calmed the blonde down, be it the music or just the fluid movements. Each new step is more embellished than the one before as Annie smoothly extends her leg behind her, all while keeping perfect posture.
Though the damage under the beautiful light pink shoes were gruesome and unbearable, the pulchritudinous appearance of the dance itself distracted quite well. It was so easy to get lost in song and it was the one thing she felt defenseless doing, but she couldn't stop her love for the dance.
Just as Annie was doing a grand jeté, she felt eyes on her, causing her head to whip around, making her trip and fall on impact.
"Are you okay, Annie?"
"Let's see, I just fell on my ass, hurt my feet, and have dust all over me. Does that equate to 'being okay' in your book, Bodt?"
The girl could see his downcast brownish eyes as he hoisted her up off of the ground. Marco was the first person who found out she did ballet. It wasn't that she was ashamed , but more that she was scared of what others would think and that it would make her seem too feminine.
"Yeah, I guess that was pretty obvious, huh?"
"I'm guessing that because you so rudely interrupted me, you did it with a good reason...right?"
The tall tan guy straightened up and remembered, "Oh yeah! So you know how the studio is right across from that gym over there?" He asked, both of them turning to look out of the window.
"You mean Shadis' place? Yeah, my...friends...work out there. Why?"
"Apparently some guy just started going there today and when I went to go check it out everyone told me that he's dreamily gazing at you through the window! Isn't that romantic, Annie?"
"Romantic? I think the correct words you're looking for is borderline creepy."
The gym had a huge window that spanned across the whole front half of the building so anyone walking by could see which could either boost or break someone's self esteem.
"Hm."
"Oh, I know that smirk," Marco gloated cheekily.
"What smirk?"
"You make that face whenever you're thinking real hard."
"Look, I...think I know who that guy is, but I can't be sure. The person I'm thinking of is pretty impulsive and gets into figh-"
"Fights like that?"
Annie walked closer to the window and squinted her eyes, hoping to get a better view, "Yeah, it's Eren."
"Wait, hold up. Eren? As in Eren Jaeger?"
"Yeah. You know him from somewhere?"
"I dated him for, uh, give or take about a week before I dumped his uncultured behind on the road...figuratively."
The girl scoffed and sat next to the glass, staring out at the bold brunet, "Let me guess, he did something stupid."
"He said that Diana from Next To Normal was a bitch. Okay, first of all, she was going through a lot of issues so that was totally uncalled for and..."
Even though he kept ranting, all Annie could focus on was Eren who was trying not to get his ass beaten by a strong blond and tall tan guy.
Wait, why do those two look so familiar?
