Ten o'clock was fast approaching, and despite himself he kept actually glancing at the clock. He wasn't excited per se, maybe more along the lines of anxious, that would suffice. Eren was beginning to look a bit sloppy, his vest was unbuttoned, it was way too hot to even consider layers in such a club, his hair was disheveled from running his hands over it too much and making a piss poor attempt to ruffle it back into a resemblance of a style, his cheeks were flushed, and his movements less contained. Eren had quite a bit to drink as the night carried on, his friends even worse off than himself. The horse squatter, as Rivaille respectably dubbed the friend with the two-toned hair and horrible coordination, should've been cut off a while ago. He certainly was one of those touchy feely drunks. There had been several occasions where he felt he should intervene, though his co-worker seemed to pick up on his decision every time and quip himself with a mother hen reference. He was no fucking mother hen and he rationalized this with the fact that the boy, not too long ago mind you, nearly had his colon spackled. That response was enough to get a disgusted look that would shut the overly comfortable co-worker up, or if that particular one had failed, his numerous explanations of how uncomfortable a shit would have to be after the fact, would do the trick.

As he was switching over the last of his open tabs and cashing out the rest, he caught a glimpse of the horse squatter being too friendly. Way too friendly for him to consider comfortable. He could handle the guy hanging over Eren, they were friends, and friend's got shitty and used each other to steady themselves or too engage someone into their slurred conversations. That was fine, that was somewhat normal for most people. He saw this type of behavior all the time. What he didn't appreciate was horse squatter's hand squeezing Eren's hip to get his attention when a shoulder would've been more than acceptable. Or the way he danced a bit too close to Eren, joking or not. He didn't like that this guy, rather than speak at a comfortable distance, would wrap his arm around Eren's shoulder and lean into his ear when he spoke. Eren would just swat him away, sometimes looking a bit annoyed, other times looking like he was used to it. He wasn't sure which of those bothered him more. He knew he didn't like the guy's grin, didn't like the touching, he hated the dancing, and didn't like the…. Did he just fucking kiss his neck? He watched Eren push him away with a laugh, even so, he did little to school the disgusted look off his face or to hide the fact he was scrubbing the offending area of his neck with the back of his hand.

Oh would you look at that. Ten on the dot.

"Go easy on him!"

He waved backwards as he exited the counter completely ignoring his co-worker. He made his way over to Eren and his friends, suddenly regretting the decision. Wasn't this just bad timing on his part beforehand? Did he really want to get himself further involved? It wasn't like he had any obligation to protect the kid. Though it would be really obnoxious to get a visit from Mikasa the following morning if anything were to happen to her precious little brother, he was convinced she might have a complex.

"Reeee-veeeeeee," Eren wrapped an arm around his shoulder, ignorant of the glare his limb was receiving.

Rivaille felt his raised brow twitching as he glared over at the brunette. Eren had known better than to make casual contact like this. Drunk Eren, not so much. Though he let it go for now, the moron probably wouldn't catch a ball to the head in his stupor. To his surprise, when Eren spoke again it wasn't nearly as ridiculous as the horribly pronounced broken version of his name.

"Guys this is Rivaille, Rivaille these are my friends," he leaned down a tiny bit to be a little closer to Rivaille's ear so he didn't have to shout and pointed and named his friends one by one. There was a blonde named Annie, who he noticed throughout the night, thus far, was much more reserved than the others but would still smirk or tease the group. At one point, he remembered the horse squatter getting a little close to her too, but a hard pinch, which she held onto for much longer than necessary, even if it was punishment for him trying to cozy up, on his ass sent him scrambling away with wet eyes and hiding behind Eren. It was a pretty humorous scene watching the accusing finger point in her direction and Eren, from the look on his face, seemed to have little to no sympathy in his plea. That scene alone gained his approval.

Eren than pointed out Connie and Sasha, whom Rivaille felt were the most shameless aside from the obvious, but he could see where their antics would be a lot of fun for most. Rivaille, himself, just felt the two would get into unnecessary trouble and despite their award-winning comedic routines, he couldn't see himself willing to befriend them personally.

Last but not least came the horse who dumped. His name turned out to be Jean. He was loud, he was cocky, and from his display throughout the night thus far, not one of Rivaille's favorite people at the moment, if the unimpressed glare he had sharpened had anything to say about it. Much like Eren and his coworker, however, the kid remained completely unaware of this fact and even tried to shake his hand.

He was grateful that Eren, himself, took the initiative to brush the hand away, telling Jean his hands were filthy and no one in their right mind would want to touch them. Jean had huffed but none the less threw his arms in the air and walked toward the bathroom.

"Fine, fine, I'm gonna take-a leak then, I'll be sure to scrub em real clean for ya!"

Eren's sigh brushed against his ear, reminding him for the second time that night how close the kid got to him without him realizing.

"Sorry about him, he's really a good guy, a total ass though."

"Hadn't noticed," he replied sarcastically earning him a small chuckle. After the brief introduction and a few words between all of them, he finally flicked the arm draped over his shoulders. Eren owlishly blinked at him and it was all he could do not to aim the next flick at the tip of his nose.

"You get a little too comfortable with a few drinks brat."

"Well sure," he agreed carefully as his eyes wandered with the thought before settling back on him, "But you didn't seem upset by it. So I figured you didn't really mind."

He wasn't expecting such a quick response, and he was a bit aggravated he didn't have anything to come back with. Why the hell had he allow that arm on his shoulder for so long. He clicked his tongue in annoyance but was happy to note that Eren pulled his arm away anyway.

"I need a drink," Rivaille excused himself but noted, as he walked to the bar. Eren had done the same and was now trailing behind him. As soon as they hit the bar they downed a couple lemon shots, on the third Rivaille discreetly motioned for Eren's to be lemon water. He knew Eren was drunk enough that he wouldn't notice, and of course the water wasn't added to the tab. It was a little system at the bar they worked at, it was easier that way, especially with drunks. Not that Eren was that bad off just yet but Rivaille would be damned if he would get to the point while he was around. It was an easy to read system he and his fellow co-workers developed. If you put three fingers down, it meant water, whatever flavor matched the shot. Of course this didn't work on all shots, but not everyone was willing to down JD and SOCO by the shot throughout the entire night.

"That went down surprisingly easy," Eren frowned.

"If you can't taste the liquor any more than you should probably call it quits for a while kid," Rivaille commented dryly without any indication of his deceit. There was no way in hell he was going to have to worry about the brat vomiting or falling all over the place. Though, he had to admit, considering how much he drank, Eren was handling the drinks fairly well. He wasn't a slurring mess, save for that horrible nickname earlier. His eyes were still open and alert, he didn't look too flushed, perhaps a little red at the tips of his ears and a slight blush on his cheeks but nothing visible otherwise. The only real indication that he was drunk was in his over exaggerated facial expressions, and his cockiness. The kid was already forward enough, but now, on top of not knowing when to quit, he was seeking to push the boundaries of casual physical contact.

As he was doing just now.

"Maaaaaaaah," he whined, "Fine, fine. No more shots for now, but let's dance ok?"

While a piss poor attempt at a polite invitation, Eren didn't hesitate to grab his wrist and pull him into the crowd. Had it been anyone else he swore he would've twisted his wrist loose and bent his fucking thumb back hard enough to either put him on the ground in an apologizing mess, if he was smart, or resist it and end up with a broken thumb. The temptation was still there, of course. He didn't appreciate being pulled along without any word of consent on his part. The brat more or less decided for him that they were dancing before tugging him along.

He was brought out of his musings as Eren stopped and turned to face him with a sheepish grin, before grabbing his hand and letting the hand previously holding his wrists to travel to the others finger tips before twirling, fucking twirling, Rivaille around, spinning him to a stop. Not expecting the jerking motion he stumbled with it and ended up with his back flush against Eren's. The hand that held his now lay across his chest, close to his shoulder, and the other with the looser grip now pulled their arms around his torso. He felt Eren chuckle before spinning him back and dipping him. Rivaille, finding he couldn't very well hit the man supporting his weight, just yet, put up with this charade for the moment.

"I swear to god Eren… The second I'm back on my feet, I'm shoving my foot so far up your ass you'll vomit shit for a week."

Despite the death glare, and the less than ideal image of the other male's foot up his ass, Eren couldn't help but laugh with a wide smile on his face.

"You'll never cease to impress me with your verbiage on the topic of shit."

The glare only narrowed and Eren must've seen it fit to keep his head on his shoulders and not kicked across the room. He let Rivaille back to his feet, but not before dipping forward in another chuckle. The warm breath was too close his neck, as soon as he was on his feet he rubbed at the area trying to rid himself of the odd feeling, and refocused his glare. Eren backed away a step with his hands up in a mock surrender, his laughter yet to have died out.

"You look like you're about to kill me Ree-vee."

Oh he was really pushing it.

"The thought had crossed my mind," he admitted a bit annoyed, but somewhat playfully, "And stop calling me that ya shitty brat."

The laugher died off when an arm draped over Eren's shoulder and another circled his waist. Jean's head plopped down on his shoulder, eyes a bit droopy, and cheeks burning brighter than Eren's.

"You'rall cozy with this guy eh Jaegar? Whas the deal I've never seen em' around."

Eren looked a bit uncomfortable but never the less patted his friends arm and turned his head, trying pull his neck as far away as he could so their faces were as distant as physically possible.

"Don't worry about it," Eren's brow furrowed, "You're cut off man. You're way too fucked."

"M'not," Jean challenged as he turned his attention to Eren. Rivaille watched as Eren squirmed to get his face a little further apart from the other. He had to admit this Jean guy was not his favorite person at the moment, not that he was before either.

"Unless tha's an offer," Jean laughed, rubbing at the brunette's chest suggestively as he squeezed his hip with his other hand.

Eren's face took on more shades of red than either Rivaille or he thought possible. Eren tugged the arm off his waist as he looked from Jean to Rivaille in a mild panic. Jean was just way to drunk, and Rivaille, well, he looked like he just needed an excuse to knock someone out, and Jean was certainly providing a laundry list of reasons right now. On top of that he didn't want Rivaille to get the wrong idea either. He had come to respect the man a lot, and regardless of his lack of enthusiasm he received, Rivaille begrudged or not allowed him to stay in his presence. In truth, the brunette just wanted to get closer to him ever since that night, whatever level Rivaille would allow, and Jean of all people was NOT going to fuck that up for him.

Before Eren could turn to tell Jean off, Rivaille had already taken a step forward and grabbed Jean's wrist. In the blink of an eye Jean was on his knees with his arm chicken winged behind his back, Rivaille pinching his wrist at an odd angle.

"I think that's enough out of you."

Sobering up a bit from the sudden jolt of pain in his elbow and shoulder Jean all but yelped and shouted back to the older male.

"GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! THE FUCK MAN! I was fucking…. Fuck… Let the fuck go, I was joking around!"

Eren gaped only for a second before stepping between the two. He pushed Jean's arm down a little to try to give him a little relief and gently placed a hand on Rivaille's forearm.

"Rivaille, its fine really, he didn't mean anything by it," Eren rushed out, "It's alright, I was just surprised that's all."

Rivaille made a noise, akin to a growl, in the back of his throat but released the boy and kicked him forward for good measure. Jean stumbled forward but caught himself before ending up flat on his face. Eren wasted no time in helping Jean up but the former wasn't having it. He jerked Eren's arm off of him before stalking forward and grabbing Rivaille by the front of his shirt.

"What is your fucking problem with me midget?"

"I would think it would be fairly obvious even to someone as dense as you," Rivaille countered without the bat of an eye. His nonchalance only made the situation worse, escalating both parties tension even higher, as they faced each other down.

Eren was completely mortified. At this point his other friends took notice. Thankfully, they started to make their way through the room to get to them. Relief came far too soon as he heard Jean throw another insult before raising his fist to strike. The brunette didn't even have a chance to move as, in one fluid motion, Rivaille knocked away the fist to the side with his left. Taking advantage of Jean's loss of balance he stepped sideways and forward before kicking his foot backwards behind Jean's knee, simultaneously using the hand that deflected the punch to grab his wrist and his right to thrust forward with an open palm into his chest. Jean was thrown backwards and hit the floor hard on his back before Eren could even blink.

"Holy shit."

Sasha stopped short with her mouth hung open, looking from Rivaille to Jean trying to somehow make sense of what just happened. Connie quickly ran behind Jean and lifted him up from under his arms. He was only in a daze for a minute or so before Jean coughed violently and tried to center his shaky vision on the male in front of him. He made a sad attempt to lunge forward but Sasha and Connie held him back and tried to talk him down. Eren to joined them, trying to calm the raging man.

Rivaille decided then, he was fucking done with this shit. He didn't even really know why he was so angry. Short crack aside, he knew he was making Eren uncomfortable all night but he wasn't really a threat. There really was no reason for him to get so agitated, but he was, he couldn't deny that. He needed to clear his head. He needed to go home and drink that damned peach tea. Peach tea, his couch, and a blanket sounded fucking wonderful right now. Without further ado he did just that. He turned on his heel and headed to the door. Jean be damned. Eren be damned. It was unnecessary stress. He didn't even bother to go back to get his jacket, he just pat his back pocket to make sure his house keep was still there.

The second he was outside he breathed a sigh of relief. The temperature dropped quite a bit but the chill was more than welcome. He took in a deep breath of the cold air and felt it prickle at his lungs before releasing it. He still couldn't, for the life of him, understand why he lost his temper so quickly, and it was driving him mad that he couldn't just let it go. He kept thinking about it. He didn't want to think or have to deal with it. He didn't want to remember Jean touching Eren. Didn't want to think about how uncomfortable and flustered the brat had gotten. Not the way his brows furrowed, or how his eyes flashed by the abashment he felt, his lips turning downward, or the harsh tone of his voice. He especially didn't want to recall Eren standing up for the piece of horse shit or how quickly he ran over after he was flustered enough to try to lunge at him a second time. Anyone who was put down so fast had to be a real moron to even attempt it again. Granted, the guy was drunk, but he was sure he was a special kind of stupid.

He wouldn't have to deal with any of this shit if Eren wasn't stupid enough to keep gropers in his company. To hell with the coffee and walks, he should have never even acknowledged the kid in the first place. Now the brat was following him like a god damned puppy.

"Rivaille!"

Speak of the fucking devil. He picked up his pace a little, but he hadn't expected Eren to break out into a full run. Maybe he should've have him drink those other shots after all. The second he felt Eren put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, Rivaille rotated his body grabbing Eren's wrist and shoved him into the nearest building with his forearm against the kid's neck, effectively pinning him against the wall.

"Quit following me around," he hissed.

Eren's eyes were wide, his breath haggard as the arm pushed against his throat uncomfortably.

"R-Rivaill… Le… go….yo..r…scaring me," he coughed out as best he could, afraid to reach for the arm at his neck.

Rivaille visibly flinched, releasing him like he was burned. Much weaker he commanded Eren to go back to his friends, but the male was stubborn. Not daring to walk up to his side, the brunette settled for tailing a several steps behind him. Rivaille ground his teeth as he heard the foot steps behind him, hoping if he kept at his pace eventually the kid would give up. He knew he was being too optimistic. The kid that day after day brought him a cup of coffee and chased him down, insisting he accept the offer, wasn't going to just walk away. He was sure the kid would follow him across the city, but he didn't know why. Why was he so attached to him? Why was he so persistent? A simple thank you and he could've been on his way, even if he did literally save his ass, why go so far? Why bother when it was obvious that it was not appreciated from the get go? He stopped, his blood pressure was surely through the roof, and it didn't help that Eren's steps stopped along with his. He turned, turned and stared long and hard at Eren. He was fidgeting, his eyes were shying from his, looking at the ground, looking at his feet, biting his lip, opening and closing his mouth as if to speak before shutting it. It was pissing him off. It was pissing him off because it wasn't the stubborn cocky prick that chased him down the street. This timid wandering eyed brat was not the defiant little shit that followed him around everywhere. And the reason he was acting like this now was because of him, and that revelation just made him angrier.

"Why, why are you still following me? So what, I fucking scared off some asshole for you," he stepped closer and Eren bowed his head nervously. When Eren didn't answer, didn't even try to look at him he reached forward, grabbing his chin, he pulled it up to meet his eyes.

"This isn't Disney kid. I'm not some knight in fucking armor or prince charming for that matter. I just happened to be there, that's all. What the hell else more do you want from me?"

Eren's eyes were tearing at the corners, his jaw gripped too tightly in Rivaille's hand and his frustration was getting the best of him. He smacked Rivaille's hand away and caressed his aching jaw. His lip quivered as he spoke, he was frustrated, frightened, and most of all angry.

"I don't expect you to be anything you're not, Ok?! I just wanted to get closer to you, that's all!"

"Close to me," Rivaille snapped incredulously then scoffed.

"Jean seemed plenty close enough to you, I truly doubt you need anymore 'friends' you can get close to."

"That's not," Eren started, but stopped at the rise in his voice. He ran a hand through his hair and cast his eyes sideways, "Jean's just trashed. He's not… We're not like that," he amended.

"I couldn't care less if you were."

"Then why are you getting so bent out of shape about it?"

Rivaille opened his mouth but immediately snapped it shut. What the hell was he getting himself into?

"Everything was going fine up until Jean," Eren pointed out, but it was mostly thinking out loud. It was then that his eyes lit up like he had it all figured out and Rivaille's gut tightened at the look shot at him. Eren's lips twitched into an unnerving grin, a couple rounds of bitter laughter hitting his ears.

"Is this because you think I'm gay? That I'm following you around to get into your pants?"

Now where the hell did he draw that conclusion?

"Rivaille. I'm not following you around just to sniff your ass, the fuck. I told you, I fucking told you. I just wanted to get to know you. Jesus, fuck. I just," a whine made its way from his throat and he had to look up the stop himself from crying. Not because he was sad, just because he was so god damned frustrated. The night wasn't supposed to turn out like this. They weren't supposed to be fighting. They were supposed to drink and dance and have a good fucking time, go home and at worst wake up the next morning with hangovers.

Rivaille pinched between his eyes and took a deep breath, "Don't put words in my mouth. I could give a shit less if you were gay or not."

He was going to hate himself later on for this. He was going to regret it, but he would regret his decision either way so he had to just pick an option and deal with it.

"Why else would it have been that bothered you? You only got upset after Jean got to handsy."

"Look brat," He was trying so hard not to raise his voice again.

"Homo or Hetero or whatever, however the hell you want to define the twitch between your legs as, I'd be a hypocrite to judge. I don't believe in the ludicrous idea that a person can only fall for a specific gender alright? You like who you like, you fall in love with whomever you fall in love with, be it girl, boy, or a walking piece of shit I don't care. So no, Eren, I don't care if you're gay, straight, bisexual, whatever."

Eren took a minute to process, nodding to himself a couple times before setting his eyes back on him.

"So it wouldn't bother you if I was gay?"

"Congrat-u-fucking-lations Jaegar, you can comprehend english."

Eren frowned but chose to ignore the sassy remark.

"Do you really hate my company that much then?"

He didn't answer that. He couldn't answer that. Because truthfully, he didn't mind Eren. He minded very fucking much that the brat was a magnet for all things obnoxious and irksome but he didn't actually mind Eren. He was just pissed, and he was even more upset with himself.

"You're annoying."

"That's not what I asked."

"You'll just follow me either way," he reasoned.

"I'll stop."

At this point Rivaille focused on Eren. His face fell again, he was gnawing at his lip and looking off to the side, probably afraid if Rivaille were to tell him to do just that. To stop. Enough with this false Idol bullshit, just fucking stop. He wouldn't have to deal with the kid's non-sense or the stress he seemed to induce. Nor would he have to listen to his co-worker teasing him every time he came in with a cup of joe in his hands. He wouldn't have to worry about dealing with a pissed off girl with a brother complex, or friends who apparently needed to jerk off more to keep their hormones in check. He wouldn't have to worry anymore, Eren wouldn't be his responsibility like he seemed to becoming. He could go back to his normal routine, back to the way things were before all this ridiculousness. It was settled then.

"You're a nuisance, a complete pain in my ass. And I swear you're the type of guy who takes a long shit after he takes a shower, gross."

Eren cringed and didn't dare to make eye contact. He was getting completely rejected. He was going to be sent home with his tail between his legs, looking like a complete fool. He knew, but he wasn't prepared for it. Even when he said he's stop, he truly didn't want to. He was fond of Rivaille, not just because of him "saving the day", he genuinely was intrigued. Aloof or not he was fascinating and Eren for whatever ungodly reason, masochistic or not, wanted to be recognized by his grey eyed savior. As a friend, as a mentor, dare he say, after he got to know him better, something even more? He didn't reject any of those roles in his head, any of them would've suited him fine.

He head a tsk and foot steps leading away from him and his heart felt like it was crushed. He was rooted in place completely still, listening intently on the footsteps falling upon the paved sidewalk. Listening for each tap to verify if it was truly getting softer, and begging for those steps instead to get louder as they approached him. But they didn't, they were softer, lighter, and the sound stopped. Just like that the sound was gone. So that was his answer? This is what he wants.

"I'm not waiting all night. Are you going to follow me or not brat."

The voice was loud, coming from further up the street. Eren's head shot up at the voice and blanched. All he could muster was a very intelligent 'what?' before Rivaille rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"It's cold and I want some fucking tea are you joining me or not Jaegar?"

He nodded, though he wasn't sure if Rivaille could tell or not. When he finally made it in front of him, which seemed so much further than it really was, he spoke up softly unsure of himself.

"You don't mind."

"I'm not going to repeat myself," Rivaille muttered but gently grabbed hold of his wrist and began to lead him towards his place. It was silent for a long while. Each left to their own thoughts and they both listened to the sound of their feet against the ground and the warmth from where they connected.

"I'm sorry."

Eren looked shocked, and he sincerely was at the abrupt apology that cut through the quiet night. He felt himself smile though, looking fondly at the hand that held his wrist and lead him forward.

"Yeah… Me too."