A/N: This update is loooooong overdue! Forgive me :'(
I'm so glad to finally update for you guys! Y'all have been way too sweet and patient, and for that I am forever grateful!
Welp... I won't keep you any longer... so read and enjoy! :D (Review response below!)
Downtown Sina
Eren had been right about one thing.
The pub was definitely a dive.
The lighting fixtures were rather dim. Seating arrangements were limited to several barstools and a small lounge. The interior was devoid of any charming quality whatsoever, what with the walls a grim shade of russet brown and the sporadic array of vintage photographs of the establishment dating back to the 1970s.
Historia kept an open mind regardless, figuring there had to have been some reason Eren and his friends kept coming back.
The place seemed rather quiet for a Saturday night, with only the chatter of a few regulars and soft jazz music on the radio filling the stagnant ambience as Eren escorted Historia inside. A few steps behind them, Mikasa followed the duo, peeling her gloves off after segueing indoors to revel in the warmer temperature.
"Eren! Mikasa!" a voice called out, greeting their arrival with all-too-familiar enthusiasm.
Historia searched for the source of the call, eyes shooting straight ahead to the culprit. Towards the back of the lounge were five others convened around a table at the center of plush seating, their respective drinks settled neatly in front of them on coasters.
A girl with reddish-brown hair was snacking on pub fries. Sitting next to her (and sneaking the occasional fry from the basket) was a guy sporting a buzz-cut. Wielding an icy blue gaze in the middle of the group was a blonde only slightly taller than Historia, her demeanor insinuating a more stoic personality than the others. Across from 'icy blue' were two guys looking especially comfortable, both stretching out their legs in what was left of the cramped space. Another blond (whose resemblance to some of the men in her family was extraordinarily uncanny, therefore prompting Historia to wonder if they were long-lost cousins) and a tall brunet eyeing Eren with an unimpressed smirk, his hair styled in an undercut.
They seemed to be a nice bunch.
Curiosity sparked amid Historia's ponderous daze, allowing for the initial feelings of uncertainty to slowly dissipate. It wasn't that she disliked social interaction or settings, on the contrary, she enjoyed meeting new people and engaging in meaningful conversation. Her introverted nature, however, was often what held her back or caused her to second-guess herself.
It was a work in progress; an aspect of self she sought to reform.
Before she'd barely had any time to mentally prepare for the inevitable, Historia found herself thrown into the mix a bit more prematurely than she had hoped.
"Well, hello there…" was the initial welcome from the fellow with light brown hair.
That's roughly when all eyes darted Historia's direction, having been put immediately on the spot. Granted, she was a performer- so she was used to having people watch her, look at her, study her.
But god, she was so out of her element in this place.
Mikasa pulled up alongside her, introducing the blonde to the group. "This is Historia. She's a regular at the studio."
Ah, yes. She was a regular by now. She'd attended sessions often enough at this point.
Eren was quick to reverse the brief meet-and-greet, allowing for Historia to become acquainted with his small circle of friends.
The girl munching on fries was Sasha.
The petite blonde with riveting icy blues was Annie.
The buzz-cut jokester was Connie.
Jean was Eren's frenemy with the undercut.
And the blond sitting next to him was Armin.
A friendly bunch they were indeed, quirks and all.
Feeling more at ease, Historia accepted Eren's offer to sit next to him, draping her coat against the backrest of the velvety lounge seat.
Now to drink… or not to drink…
That was the question.
As Historia weighed her options, Annie was the first to resume the friendly banter among the group. "So Mikasa… will Levi be joining us?"
Amid a few rounds of winks and suggestive grins from Sasha and Connie, Mikasa merely sighed and shook her head, unfazed by the impish taunts.
"He's working," Mikasa replied casually. "So not tonight."
"Bummer." Annie shrugged. After taking a swig of her drink, (sticking with H2O for the night) she pried for a little more detail. "He still visit the studio?"
Mikasa suppressed a small smile, eyes emulating an unrecognizable warmth. "Every now and then he'll stop by."
"Mmm- speaking of which," Annie began, setting her water aside, "how goes the family business?" Looking over at Historia, she was quick to add. "Must be doing well enough to bring in ballet dancers."
Still registering the statement, Historia exchanged glances with Mikasa and Eren.
Do they… already know who I am? she thought, a bit puzzled.
Historia supposed it made sense that they would have at least mentioned her beforehand.
It indicated the impression they had made on her was reciprocated; a mutual affinity of sorts.
Eren smiled, offering Historia an explanation for Annie's remark. "Mikasa likes to brag about you. She tells everyone you're her most prized pupil every chance she gets."
Mikasa raised a brow, stifling a scoff.
"Nice cover, Eren," Jean snickered.
"You mean you like to tell everyone that," Connie chimed in, grinning mischievously.
With Annie and Sasha joining in to throw the idiotic brunet under the bus as well, Eren threw his hands up in defense and waved off their aggressive accusations. An intense red suddenly flashed across his cheeks as he tried desperately to change the subject.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he spewed out, hoping to avoid further questioning. In a somewhat urgent and impulsive move, he quickly stood from his chair and turned once again to Historia. "I'm gonna head to the bar. Want anything?"
"And he's even buying her a drink," Jean muttered. "Figures…"
"Oooh what a gentleman!" Sasha cooed, fanning herself.
Historia chose to dismiss the relatively strange comments, answering Eren's question with a simple, "Just a…" Water. Go with water. "Water's fine."
"You got it," Eren replied. "I'll be right back." And with that, he excused himself from the lounge, escaping the merciless torture from his peers.
Historia, meanwhile, was subject to their quirky shenanigans.
Of course, she was still struggling in her many attempts at processing the meaning of their careless taunts towards Eren. It seemed obvious enough… but had she missed something?
Eren had told his friends about her even before officially introducing them all. He shared his experiences dancing with her as well, few in number as they were. And by all accounts, it seemed that Eren spoke fondly of her… the way one would about someone they…
No.
I'm overthinking it… Was the conclusion she came to- or forced herself to come to, rather.
Still waiting on Eren's return, Historia was loosely following the conversation between the longtime friends, her attention alternating between them and her own inward ruminations.
"Are you competing in the ballroom dance competition this year?" Sasha asked a pensive Mikasa, watching as she helped herself to the French fries in the small basket.
Ballroom dance competition… Historia's head perked up at the mention, having no prior knowledge that Mikasa was a competitor in that regard.
Mikasa nodded in response, turning to address Jean and Armin. "Have you two registered yet?"
"We will first thing tomorrow morning," Armin said confidently.
"We've been pretty consistent with our training for the past couple months," Jean added, reaching for his drink. "You competing with Levi or what?"
Shaking her head, Mikasa let out a dry chuckle. "Unless you throw him into a sparring ring, he's not much of a competitor." With a shrug, she leaned against the back of her seat and elicited a sigh. "He said he'd be there to show his support and encouragement. Offered to be my coach."
"You and Eren usually compete together anyway," Annie mused. "You two make one hell of a pairing."
At that, Mikasa looked over at Historia and half-smiled. That's right. They haven't seen Eren dance with Historia… yet.
Rather than bring that to everyone's attention (and avoid putting the lovely guest on the spot), Mikasa accepted the compliment and pried into Annie's plans for the competition. "And who will you be competing with this year, Annie?"
Annie's previously passive demeanor suddenly shifted to that of ambivalence. "Sasha turned me down, so that means I'm stuck with Marlow," came her reply, peppered with all-too-familiar sarcasm.
Mikasa's eyes widened incredulously. "You sound unimpressed...?"
"He's one of the best around," Sasha reminded an unmoved Annie, equally confused.
"And I'm not denying that," Annie said in return. "But I've always felt that he and I never really had chemistry. He's a lot more technical, uptight, and borderline legalistic. I'm more… spontaneous in contrast. That's why I was surprised when he asked me to enter in the competition with him."
"Because you're talented…?" Connie blurted out, not at all covert with his discrepancy. "He obviously thought you were up to his standards…"
Annie shrugged indifferently. "I guess I've always felt that our outlooks were vastly incongruent. He likes to go against the flow, whereas I'm fine going with it."
"Well… that's one way to put it," Jean quipped. "Not quite sure how to picture that in regards to dancing, but I think I get what you mean."
(He had no idea what she meant.)
The group carried on with the subject, while Historia considered both sides in a silent daze.
She decided her personal beliefs aligned more so with Annie's perspective. While everyone else seemed perplexed at her frustrations, she could definitely relate to how she felt.
Dancing with someone, no matter how good they were, and having absolutely zero chemistry with them would most certainly result in disaster. Or at the very least, it would prove painstakingly difficult.
Whereas dancing with the right person… could be a work of art.
Historia thought about contributing her views on the matter, mostly to defend Annie's position, but was caught off guard when Mikasa abruptly made a request.
"Historia," she began, unaware that the blonde had missed most of the aforementioned conversation amid her contemplation, "I meant to ask you this the other night, but it must have slipped my mind. I was hoping I could chalk you down as an alternate for me or Eren in the event of an unforeseeable mishap."
Woah… I was not expecting that, Historia thought sheepishly.
She ended up answering before allowing herself to think it through. "Yeah. Of course."
"Is it required to have an alternate?" Jean asked, mulling over the competition's rules and regulations.
Mikasa shook her head. "No, but it's recommended."
Sasha shoved another handful of french fries into her mouth before sharing a joke. "I'd offer to be your alternate, Annie. But Connie and I plan on taking the grand prize home!"
"Position's already been filled," Annie retorted. "But thanks anyway."
"What position's already been filled?"
The group of young adults put a brief deferment on discussing the upcoming event as Eren re-joined them with an inquiry of his own, mindful of the drinks in each hand.
"Eren," Mikasa affirmed, "Historia's agreed to be our alternate for the competition."
The revelation brought immeasurable happiness to the green-eyed brunet, perpendicular to the delightful, albeit surprised, expression adorning his face.
After handing the glass of water to a grateful Historia, he allocated the proper wording to convey his approval. "Then we're an extremely lucky pair, aren't we?"
Historia accepted the compliment, but insisted otherwise. "You and Mikasa will fare just fine without me… but I'll be there to root for you two."
With the late evening at its peak, the group prepared to depart the small establishment and call it a night.
Sasha and Connie heeded the call for their Uber. Armin served as Jean's designated driver. Mikasa and Annie opted to head out together, leaving Eren and Historia to their own devices.
"Nice meeting you, Historia," Sasha waved before exiting the bar. Connie bid her and Eren goodnight as he vacated the premises with Sasha.
Armin and Jean followed their trajectory outside after saying their goodbyes.
Annie and Mikasa simultaneously shot Eren a pair of all-knowing smirks, side-eying the brunet with expressions that read 'don't make a fool out of yourself'.
"I'm gonna crash at Annie's place," Mikasa informed him. "See you at the studio tomorrow morning." Then, in a gentler tone, she peered over at the blonde by his side and added, "Goodnight, Historia."
"Bye, Mika," Eren nodded. "Drive safe."
"I'm driving," Annie clarified, jingling a pair of keys in her hand.
"May God be with you," Eren sighed, feigning concern.
He'd had the displeasure of being Annie's passenger before.
The memory still sends shivers down his spine.
Then again, Eren thought, Annie wasn't drinking and Mikasa was definitely buzzed.
Better to get pulled over for speeding, as opposed to getting a DUI.
With the departure of his friends, Historia became equal parts flustered and bemused upon reaching a simple deduction.
She'd deliberately been left alone with Eren.
If it hadn't already been made plainly obvious, from the looks his friends were giving him to the convenient exit by all of them at once, well, it was obvious now.
Still, Historia had no reason to complain. After all, it had been too long since her last night out on the town.
The evening had served as an escape from the demands of her hectic schedule, fraught with rigorous ballet training whilst seeking ways to improve her methods with the intention of furthering her career.
The other dancers at the company had always invited her to meet up for dinner or drinks after a long day of rehearsal. Ymir's coaxing managed to work a few times, but Historia usually declined in favor of returning to her small apartment.
This time, however, it was Eren that persuaded her to indulge in this particular break from the norm.
And with how surprisingly well the evening had turned out to be, she would've only regretted not showing up.
They returned to the same seats in the lounge as before, watching as both Mikasa and Annie headed out and disappeared into the streets of downtown.
Unsure what to expect next, Historia looked over at Eren and sought to take helm of the opportunity presented before her, obliging a sudden arousal of curiosity in somewhat eccentric fashion.
"Can I ask you something?" When she received a nod encouraging her to continue, she didn't hesitate. "How did you first get into dancing?"
Given that he had sobered up at this point, Eren realized he couldn't dismiss the question with a half-assed drunken excuse or joke to distract them both. Though she had no way of knowing, the story behind his introduction to the world of dancing was a rather difficult one to explain.
A very personal one to explain.
"It's a long story," he finally replied. "Why so interested?" His tone wavered between playful and wary.
Historia shrugged. "It seems like you've been dancing for a while. I figured there must be a reason aside from the fact that your father owns the studio."
"Fair enough," Eren drawled. "Let's just say… it took me a long time to take it seriously. I was… dealing with a lot growing up. Dumbass that I was sought other outlets to vent or cope with everything that was going on. If it hadn't been for my father or Mikasa keeping me in check… who knows where I'd be right now."
His voice trailed off into an ambiguously dark direction.
He'd tell her one day. About his… decorated past- and how something he once thought was frilly and beneath his rebellious ways turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to him.
Historia respected his choice to omit the details. Truthfully, she could resonate with the struggle of how to cope with circumstances beyond one's own control.
She wasn't aware what adversities he had to overcome, nor was he aware of her own.
But they seemed to have similar goals. Similar hopes. Perhaps they had been motivated by similar pasts?
Leveling her eyes with his, Historia concurred with Eren wholeheartedly. "Well it's important to have a good support system. Without my sister, it's hard to say where I'd be right now."
Eren could sense the tension in her voice. This wasn't the first time her sister had been brought up, though he expected her to drop the subject as quickly as she had the last time.
She'd tell him one day. About… Frieda and how something she once thought was all about perfection and control turned out to have a deeper impact on her life than the mere prospect of a career.
Until then, neither had any qualms navigating the untouched waters of this newfound friendship; it's development slow, odd, yet… meaningful.
Eren sought to lighten the mood when the enduring silence had dragged on long enough. Amid his aimless pondering, he caught a glimpse of a possible candidate to satisfy that particular endeavor.
Hanging up on the wall directly ahead was a dartboard, the opportunity practically staring right at him.
"How's your aim?" he asked, much too randomly for Historia's liking.
Failing to stifle a single beat of laughter, she replied with a terse, "Why?"
Eren nodded over at the dartboard. "Just curious to see if it's as sharp as your movements."
When she caught on to what he was suggesting, Historia huffed. "Is that a challenge?"
"Look, I understand if you're intimidated," Eren quipped. "I've yet to come across any worthy opponents, but since it's just you and me… well, I guess you'll have to do."
Oh really?
"You're on," Historia asserted, rising from her seat in resolve.
As the duo began collecting several darts in preparation for an all-out war, Eren couldn't help but admire how the blonde had taken on a form he hadn't quite seen before.
There was determination in every step she set forth, her concentration reinforced under a hardlined steely gaze.
But beneath the guise of her aggressive disposition, Eren could detect one intriguing, subtle detail.
Historia was in total control; the perfect balance of her fortitude only further exemplified as she aimed for the board ahead and released the dart with effortless precision.
It landed just shy of the outer bullseye, earning gasps and a small round of applause from nearby onlookers.
And that was enough to make the usually confident Eren Jaeger nervous.
Well then…
"Looks like I won't be going easy on you."
Review Response!
Scattershot98: Thank you! :) tbh, Ymir will pretty much always be an important figure in her life. Platonically in this case, but still! I love them as bffs!
Levi-is-heicho: Hey hey ;) levi is a snarky bastard sometimes but i love him! And rivamika always LOL ALWAYS!
Dr. Hedgehog: Alas! The plot will soon thicken, my dear! :O haha Although I like exploring Historia and Eren as individual characters in this fic, I enjoy exploring their relationship even more so because there's so many interesting parallels between them. I totally think that the Waltz kinda suits Eren, ya know? :D Sorry for the wait btw! I'll try to be more consistent cuz you're just the sweetest! :O Thanks for stickin' with me!
Adrinette4life: Thank you so much for complimenting the development of her character in this fic! I was afraid it may have been too slow haha but I'm glad it seems realistic :) Eren's group of friends are a weird bunch that's for sure lol but they're all loveable dorks:D
Seirei no Ryuu: The dream is definitely symbolism for dayyyyyys! Historia struggles mostly with self-confidence in this fic- and I think a lot of that reflects on her past (TBC hehehe). She knows she's a talented dancer, and she's willing to put the work in, but all she has to do now is believe she's capable of accomplishing great things. Cliche? Yeah, yeah, but I hope the message is conveyed effectively! :O In canon, it takes a little while for her to figure out how much of a badass she is lol, and I wanted to mirror that in this fic. And in regards to Ymir, I totally feel ya. Yumihisu is da bomb, but almost everyone prefers them romantically and ignores their potential as a platonic duo. Ain't nothing wrong with that haha I just feel like yumihisu brotp needs more love too :') (Erehisu/Erekuri needs more love in general, but i digress lol)
Arya: Oh heck yeah! Ballerina AUs are life! Even if you're not a fan of the ship, I'd still like to thank you for giving this fic a try :') I'm glad you think they're adorable in this story, too. Theyre precious beans who deserve to be happy! I hope you enjoy future chapters as well! (Also, glad to know you like rivamika!)
And thank you to the guest reviews who shared their thoughts as well! No need to worry! I will not let this story succumb to a fate worse than death: AKA never be finished :/
