There were too many people staring at Eren now, judging and expecting. Luckily a hand, wet and sporting fingernails covered in grime, came up to nudge his back. Eren appreciated the gesture despite the disgusting aspects and smiled at Hanji as he stepped before the crowd.

"Okay," he said. Swallowed. "We've got, what? Five minutes or something?" Eren winced when some twenty heads nodded. He thought he heard Irwin chuckling above him. "Yeah that's… that's not enough time. Moblit!" The frog jumped a good two feet at being addressed but he ran forward quick enough.

"Yes, human?" He squeaked.

"You think you can stall our guest? Even a little?"

"Uh…" his gaze strayed up towards Eren but Marco nudged in. He pointed forcefully at Eren.

"He's giving the orders right now," Marco said.

"Right, right." Moblit nodded frantically. "Um… then yes? I'm not entirely sure how though. Guests don't need our permission to enter the bathhouse once we open. We're just there to greet them, to say hello. It would be pretty rude to—"

"Just do something," Eren blurted. "Tell him we're closed for all I care." He stared at Moblit as he just continued to hop from foot to foot. "Go!"

"Right!" And he ran off, looking more like a jack rabbit than he did a frog. Eren's shout seemed to have woken everyone up. Chatter spring amongst the spirits, some trying to push closer to the front while others edged cautiously towards the back. Marco gave Eren an encouraging nod as Hanji helped him back up onto the lid of the tub. This way he could see the majority of the group before him. His father was used to calming crowds during medical emergencies and he always said that the higher you were the more likely people were to listen to you. It was worth a shot.

Eren couldn't help that his eyes strayed to Irwin, four stories above. He seemed to be keeping his mouth shut—for now. Good. Eren needed every advantage he could get.

"Listen up!" He called. "Moblit's buying us some time but I need the rest of you moving quickly. Marco?" His friend straightened, saluting with one arm. "Go get our supplies together. Towels, buckets, salts—whatever you think we need for this guest. Pull out all the stops."

"Got it."

"He'll want food as well. Hanji?"

"I'm on it!"

Brushing by him she drew her lips over his ear whispering, "Nicely done," and then she was charging away.

"I'll bring us some breakfast too!" She called and then she was lost around the corner.

Some of the others followed in her wake, no doubt to help carry whatever she chose for such a large client. Eren noticed that Marco was also pulling spirits away to assist him. A pocket from the back had already left with Moblit.

"Jean?" Eren called. "Is Jean here?"

"Quite your shouting!" Jean's head appeared over a spirit with fins for ears. It looked like he was using her shoulders to hoist himself up, much to her annoyance. "You think you get to order me around now, squirt?"

"Hell yeah I do."

Jean grinned and whatever uncertainty was left in their group evaporated. Jean was respected here, a leader. If he gave his loyalty so easily to Eren, shouldn't everyone else do the same? Excited cheering starting rising up around them so Eren really did have to shout to be heard.

"Head down to Sasha and Connie! Tell them what's going on. Get 'em ready."

"Right!"

"The rest of you… uh…" There were still a large number of spirits milling around.

"Just… go do something already!"

They scrambled and with a sigh Eren slid back to the ground.

"Shouldn't you be doing something too, boy?"

Irwin. Even from a distance Eren could see that ridiculous eyebrow mocking him. He'd just opened his mouth to retort when a final pair of feet came into his peripheral vision. They weren't human or a toad's though. They were webbed.

"Oh hey."

It was the customer Eren had run into before. Dry now, he wore only a pair of loose tan pants slow low on his hips. A hole cut in the back allowed a spiked tail to swish and curl around his ankles. Eren certainly hadn't noticed that before. Curiously, the spirit bent forward to examine the tub, his long black hair curtaining his face.

"Ehh. Right disgustin' that is." He said. His tail took a bit of slime off the side and rose it up to his nose. He spluttered backwards with a cough.

"Crazy disgustin'!" The guy moved lightening fast and, suddenly, he was at Eren's side. He slung an arm over his shoulders and pushed their heads together. He peeked through his fringe up at Irwin but spoke low to Eren.

"You can't go stinkin anyone in there, old-eyes." He said. "Gonna lose if 'ou do."

"I know, just… who are you anyway?"

"Mm? Oh. No name, no name—never needed. Friend 'o Dot's though."

"Dot? Who's Dot?" Eren asked, but the guy only laughed at him.

"E-hehehe.C'mon. 'Ou need to be hurryin'" He pointed two long fingers out the door. "Herbal soak token's what 'ou need. Powerful. Soooo frothy foamy no one gonna notice the sludge… or the smell."

"Really?" Eren cheered, then just as quick lowered his voice. He stuck their heads back together again. "And where can I get…?"

"Foreman has 'em, old-eyes."

"Great, thanks. Really, thank you." Eren tugged the guy's hand once, thrumming with energy at being able to do something, anything—like win. He ran out the door, keeping a smile fixed on his face because, yeah, he knew Irwin was watching. Let him see. Let him sweat. Eren managed to get down two hallways with a skip in his step before he had to turn around. He poked his head back through the doorway to sheepishly wave his friend down, determinedly not looking up.

"Hey, uh… what's a foreman? And where can I find one…?"

The foreman dampened his mood considerably.

"What do you mean you can't give me one!" Eren hollered. He plucked at his pink shirt. "I'm employed here, I'm—I'm—I'm in a hurry!"

The toad only sneered down at him. He was dressed more finely than any of the others Eren had seen, with an immaculate white robe and a funny little hat hanging precariously off the side of his head. He'd been trying to get a token—any token at this point—for the last two minutes and given that his guest would be arriving any second now Eren was ready to just shove the toad down and take one. The difficulty was… he couldn't reach the warty bastard. He sat high on top of a dais with no discernible way up. It made a fair bit of sense. Any guy who treated others like he was treating Eren needed to be out of reach. He'd get the shit beat out of him if he wasn't.

"Go on. Get out of here, you useless scum!" The toad turned a page in his book, refusing to look at Eren. "I've got nothing to give to the likes of you."

"But I need an herbal—"

"I said scrub it yourself!"

"THERE ISN'T TIME FOR THAT ARE YOU DEAF, ASSHOLE?"

The toad just turned his nose away snootily.

Eren in turn kicked the podium, letting out a frustrated cry when his toes bent backwards. This was completely useless. He was well aware of how loud he was being, half hoping that someone would come over to investigate, but the bathhouse was in pandemonium. Everyone not assigned by him to specific tasks was ushering other guests outside, no doubt to make room for this supposedly huge, important client. None of them were in a position to help. While coming up with creative insults Eren tried to keep one eye on the crowd, to see if there were any familiar faces… but nothing. He thought, briefly, that he might have spotted Krista's golden hair but it was gone too quick to be sure.

Eren was on the verge of trying to run to the boiler room himself and see if Sasha had any unused tokens when glimmer of movement caught his eye. That wasn't odd in and of itself. After all, everyone was running, shoving one another or tripping over feet and fins. No, it was the fact that the movement came from behind the foreman, up too high for anyone else to reach.

And…there! There it was again. Eren stared at the spot, trying to block out the toad's cries of, 'get the hell out of here, human, go on, get.' There was definitely something moving behind him, something… black?

Everything happened in a flash. Whatever the black thing was it materialized for an instant and knocked the foreman's basket of tokens right off the dais. They landed at Eren's feet and he had a brief glimpse of colors: mostly reds and blacks, but some had yellow stripes on them, or even green. He didn't know what the detailing stood for so he just snatched up the token with the most vibrant, varied colors he could see. There were six lines of different widths on the bottom and Eren could only hope that was a good thing.

Then he ran.

"Hey! Get back here, you little—!"

"Thanks for that!" Eren called. He raised his hand to whoever—or whatever—had helped him.

Back in the big tub's room and how much time had passed? Too much. Eren saw that supplies had appeared in a corner, no doubt left by Marco. No sign of Hanji yet and he could only hope that Moblit succeeded in buying them more time. Irwin was exactly where he'd left him, leaning haughtily over the balcony's railing. Perhaps what was most worrisome, however, was that his friend with the webbed feet was gone. Eren wasted precious seconds spinning in a circle, hardly daring to believe that he'd just been abandoned. Not here, not now. It was only when Mike flagged him down with a simple hand gesture and shrugged a, 'Yeah. Sorry, kid. He's gone' message that Eren stilled. Irwin shot Mike a suspicious look but by then he was back to his normal, submissive stance.

Right. Fine then.

What was he supposed to do with the token anyway?

It was Petra this time. While Irwin kept an eye on Mike she smiled just a little mischievously, pointing to the far wall. It wasn't as if she could get specific with such a small gesture though and Eren was left frantically pounding on each and every panel he came to. He could hear the laughter behind him, high and cruel, but who was laughing when the panel to his left suddenly sprung open, revealing a simple pulley system.

"Ha!" Eren said. He clipped the token in, pulled down, and let the thing fly.

Silence. Stillness. There was a long moment where anything refused to happen and Eren feared that he'd just remaining standing there until someone told him it was over. He bit down hard on his lip.

Then Sasha and Connie came through.

A long pole with a rope at the end descended with a 'clunk,' nearly taking Eren out as it went. He recovered though and hauled himself back up onto the tub. Standing on tiptoes, perfectly balanced, he was just able to grasp the end of the rope—and tug. Water cascaded out of the chute and god, Eren had never been happier to see so much of it in his life.

He must have grabbed something resembling a soak token because the water was as fragrant—and murky—as he'd been told it would be. He leaned over as far as he dared, letting the sudden rush of steam envelop his face. Yes, this was perfect. The bath was beginning to smell like honeysuckle and best of all, you couldn't see the sides or bottom, let alone tell that they were still covered in a graying mold. The massive container almost looked inviting. Almost.

"Good enough," Eren muttered and backed away. I wouldn't do to fall in…

"Shifter!"

The shout startled him enough that Eren lost his footing… and luckily fell backwards. Tumbling over his shoulder he landed with his hands attempting to break his fall. His palms came away red and burning.

Eren raised his head to scream something unsavory but Irwin was already there. He floated just a few inches in front of Eren, expression surprisingly serious. Corporal's squad was still up on the balcony but they too looked concerned.

"This isn't a regular guest we're dealing with, Shifter." Irwin said before Eren could even get a word out. The sorcerer closed his eyes, tilting his chin up—listening. "Important? Yes. Large? Undoubtedly. But also… No, I'm not sure what this creature is. Mike?"

Above them Mike obediently took a breath in through his nose… then began choking. Oluo frantically pounded him on the back. When he'd recovered a bit Mike fluttered a hand over his mouth.

"Yes, yes, you can speak," Irwin snapped.

"He stinks!"

"Thank you for that assessment." Irwin scowled, turned and stared hard down at Eren. "I don't know what exactly our guest is, Shifter, but I'm going to find out. You stay here and make sure that he has everything he could possibly want." He flew directly into Eren's face. One finger came up, a hair's breadth away from stroking his cheek. "You know what happens if you fail… you fools, with me!" Irwin flew off, the others running in his non-existent footsteps.

Eren spat once he was out of sight.

"Bastard."

Wearily he turned. The tub was more than half full now and he'd need to get back up there—again—in order to stop the water. Eren was just pulling himself to his feet when he saw that movement again: a little bit of black, just on the edge of his vision.

"Who's there?" Eren demanded. "Hanji?" But Hanji was still off on her assignment, just like everyone else. Eren was very much alone now and the realization felt like ice cubes down the back of his spine. It was made worse by the water rushing into the enormous tub; an endless whooshing that covered all other sounds. Eren took an experimental step forward and, no, he couldn't hear his own feet on the floorboards. Someone could sneak up on him and he'd have absolutely no idea…

"Ah?"

Eren shrieked, jumping backwards. He'd heard that at least.

There, in the far corner, he saw that little glimpse of black, only this time it kept growing. Larger and larger, enough that the mass soon equaled the size of a very tall person. Eren had backed himself up against the tub when the outline fully materialized and a familiar face popped into view.

"Armin!"

His friend nodded happily. The last of him, his bright golden hair, appeared as Eren sagged in relief. He covered his eyes with both hands.

"You can't… fuuuuuuck. I'm a little busy at the moment. You can't just go sneaking up on people like that!"

"Ah, ah?" Armin nodded again, this time more solemnly, but his stupid agreement only had Eren tensing again. He realized this was the first time he'd heard Armin speak. Or at least, the first time he'd heard something resembling speech. The little 'ah' sound he kept making was simple and really kind of annoying and it changed inflection every few moments, making it hard to decipher… it was grating. It started sounding concerned though when Eren continued to scrub at his eyes.

"Can't you use words?" He snapped.

"Ah?"

"Oh forget it. Listen, you need to get out of here. Irwin will be back any second. I've got this super important guest coming and… and it's also super important that he's happy, so you can't be here distracting me, got it? Leave." Eren marched forward, trying to shove Armin out of the room. His hands just passed right through and Eren squealed at the cold he felt. With a curse he snatched his hands back.

"Can you not?!"

"Ah? Ah?" Armin's smile vanished completely. He began patting at his own body, looking oddly frazzled. Eventually a new book appeared and Eren couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"No. I told you, I don't have time I—oh."

There, popping out of the pages were tokens. They balanced for a moment before falling to the ground, more materializing to take their place. "Oh." Eren said again. "You gave me the one over by that dick toad, didn't you?"

Armin nodded. "Ah. Ah."

Eren groaned.

"Okay, thanks, now I feel like the dick. No seriously, thanks for that back there but now you need to leave—no, Armin, I don't want that!"

The tokens kept coming, springing out of the book like rabbits out of a hat. Armin knelt to gather an armful and started pushing them at Eren. Eren pushed back.

"I don't need anymore," he growled but Armin wouldn't let up. If he had normal eyes Eren might have said they looked misty, like he was close to crying, and his arms were definitely a shivering mess. A part of Eren realized he was upsetting him… but he just didn't have the time. Right now he didn't care. He couldn't afford to.

Eren finally snatched the tokens away. "I don't want them!" He yelled and threw them back on the ground.

Both of them froze at the wet 'plop' they made.

"Wha—?"

Eren's eyes went wide. The floor, previously immaculate, was now covered in a few centimeters of water and it was quickly spreading outward. He whirled and found that, yes, the tub was indeed overflowing. Water cascaded over the sides and whatever bits of grime that could still be pulled loose had done so, now floating slowly out of the room. Eren could feel the blood draining from his face even has he rounded on Armin once more.

"Look what you did!"

But Armin was gone.

Eren gapped, caught a brief glimpse of a fading hand… and then nothing. Only the tokens remained, spiraling in circles on the water even as they spread apart. With a groan that felt more like a cry Eren bent to retrieve them and piled them all in a nearby bucket. He was still on his knees when their guest finally arrived and Eren felt it through his whole, exhausted body.

Vibrations. They traveled up from the floor, through his knees, over his chest, and seized along his teeth. His first thought was an earthquake, but then the vibrations settled into something rhythmic. Like a drumbeat.

Or footsteps.

"He's here!"

Moblit went flying by with both hands plugged up against his nose. It gave his shouts a horrible nasal quality. In his panic he hopped right past and Eren was just about to call him back when Irwin flew in too. He also had his nose covered, though in a far more civilized manner with a handkerchief pressed delicately below his eyes. Even with half his face invisible Eren could see the flash of rage as Irwin took in the wet floor and overflown tub. It was gone quickly though, hidden behind a familiar, icy exterior. Following him, Corporal's squad was far more expressive. Petra and Erd looked positively grey, Oluo was coughing, Gunther was stoically attempting to bottle his distress, and Mike… Mike looked two seconds from outright dying.

"It's a stink spirit." He said as soon as they'd come to a stop. "It's… oh god."

Apparently Irwin hadn't taken his speech away yet because Mike continued to groan and splutter even as Gunther moved to support him.

Irwin hissed at them. "Do hold your tongue. Stink spirit? Hardly. I know a stink spirit when I sense one and while that thing may stink, I assure you it's something else entirely. Shifter," his eyes locked onto Eren. "I see you've already made a mess here… but no matter. How rude you are. Go greet our guest."

Irwin's hand came up and Eren felt a familiar tightness as invisible bonds locked around his arms and legs. He rose up into the air, pulled along as Irwin hoisted them both towards the bathhouse's entrance.

"Open the windows!" He yelled as they flew by panicked workers. "Every last one of them—now!"

If Eren had thought there was pandemonium before it was nothing compared to this. Spirits were still running but now they were decidedly running away from a particular area, and as Eren was pulled through the halls he began to understand why.

The smell. Mike's reaction didn't do it justice. There was no one description for it because Eren would swear it was anything and everything at once: manure, decaying flowers, putrid newspapers in a 19th century gutter, rotten eggs and whatever else you'd decided to stuff down the garbage disposal, the smell of feet in winter boots, noxious fumes from still wet paint, a hug from that uncle who never bathed. Eren felt bile rising up in his throat but there wasn't much he could do about it now. He couldn't move. The downside was he couldn't raise his own hands to cover his nose; the upside was he didn't think he'd actually be vomiting. His throat was as frozen as everything else.

Irwin seemed to sense what he was thinking though. He flew to Eren's side, lips fluttering against his ear.

"Keep your hands down when we land, Shifter. It wouldn't do to insult our guest. Understand?"

Eren didn't nod, couldn't nod, but he just might have if it were possible. The tone of Irwin's voice was threat enough.

By the time they landed Eren was crying, tears streaming down his cheeks from the smell. It almost prepared him for the sight of his customer—almost.

'Huge' was far from accurate. Enormous, colossal… think mountain range or the titanic from the perspective of an ant. As his guest stomped through the front all, sending spirits scrambling in his wake, Eren found himself looking up and up and up. He didn't even realize he'd been set free by Irwin. He just stared.

As he came under the entrance's lights Eren realized that his client was literally a mass of slime. He was brown, bubbling, and had a strip near the top that might have been a mouth. Yes… definitely a mouth. It opened and produced a cloud of air so fowl Eren wouldn't have been surprised if his hair turned white.

His arms twitched spastically, desperate to help him just stop breathing. Eren resolutely made fists and locked his hands behind his back.

"Welcome, honored guest." Irwin called. Did his voice sound as raw as Eren's felt? "Please, make yourself at home. One of our most trusted servants, Shifter, will see to you."

With a shove of magic Eren was stumbling forward. He stared upwards into that maw but there didn't seem to be anything coming besides that rank breath. His customer had little to say it seemed, at least when it came to words. Instead, a brown, sludgy arm pulled away from the rest of his bulk, coming down with a force Eren could only tremble at. The arm didn't crush him though, just slowed and then pulled back five worm-like objects that might have been fingers. Glittering beneath them was a small pile of gold.

Was he really supposed to touch that?

"Shifter…" Irwin's voice came cold against his neck. "He's waiting…"

Apparently yes.

Eren couldn't actually bring himself to reach into that muck. It made the big tub seem like a paradise and his father's closet smelled like roses in comparison. Instead he extended his own hand and the soiled coins were dropped into his palm, creating a 'sploosh' sound that made his stomach churn. Eren didn't need Irwin to articulate what came next. Trying valiantly not to gag Eren wiped the coins clean on his shirt—discretely—and then obediently handed them over. The money was pocketed with a speed worthy of any miser.

"Please, sir." Eren choked over just those few syllables. "Follow me…"

They started back, the return journey far longer—and smellier—on foot. Having cleared the area, spirits were now tentatively beginning to return. It seemed that their fear of Irwin and whatever it was that had entered their domain still couldn't stifle curiosity. One story up Eren saw a collection of familiar faces: Krista, Ymir, and Reiner, all looking equally pale. Reiner raised a hand in greeting that Eren didn't dare return but Krista… she was looking at their customer. No… that wasn't right. Not at him. Rather, at the trail of slim he was leaving in their wake. She glared at the mess as if it personally offended her, tilting her chin up in derision. Eren had no idea she took cleaning so seriously. Maybe she got along well with Corporal…

At the thought of his friend Eren straightened. He could do this.

"Do you have a name, sir?" Eren asked, thinking that he had to be approachable. That's what good workers were like, right? Even opening his mouth to ask that much was hard though, as the stink flowed all the way down his throat and into his lungs, settling there like a new membrane. It was all Eren could do not to start coughing violently and ultimately it was all for nothing as his guest still seemed to have nothing to say—or maybe he couldn't speak at all? He just kept waddling his way forward, one mucky step at a time.

Still, despite the lack of communication Eren had little doubt he was intelligent. The creature was enormous, monstrously so, and each step allowed for the possibility that he'd squash something in front of him, namely Eren… yet he never did. Instead, each time he lifted a massive foot he made sure the way was clear before he dared to finally step down. It must have seemed a small act to so large a being but it definitely meant a lot to Eren. He turned and managed a companionable nod, hoping the spirit understood body language at least.

They kept going—one hallway, then another; through doors and past what seemed like the bathhouse's entire population. Everyone was silent… which made Hanji's voice all the more jarring. They'd nearly made it to the big tub when Eren heard the cry of 'human' over his guest's squishing. Hanji was stuck back behind a crowd of toads, gesturing wildly to him with two bowls of rice. Eren grimaced. There was no way she could reach him, not through the crowd and around his guest, and certainly not with the look Irwin was sending him.

He glared back. Eren got it, help was help but this was still his test. He waved Hanji off and the last thing he saw was her comical look of surprise as the rice literally wasted away, a victim of their guest's stench. It brought a smile to Eren's face, small as it was.

Then they were inside the partition, just Eren, his client, and a deranged sorcerer. Irwin gave a smile of his own that, on anyone else, might have been charming.

"I'll leave you to it then," he said and then turned to the spirit. "Do let me know if you need anything, won't you? Also if you are… dissatisfied at all with your service, do speak up. I will ensure he is punished accordingly."

Eren gulped, looking imploringly at his guest. No complaints so far, yet all at once Eren hopped fiercely that his client was literally unable to speak. A terrible thought maybe but it would sure make things easier…

Shit. Was karma a type of magic?

No time for fears. With that last little threat Irwin flew back up to the balcony, rejoining his stolen guards. Eren watched as he took that pocket watch out from the air and swung it like a pendulum. He could just make out the silhouettes of his family, burned into the clock's face. Get moving, Shifter.

Tick tock, tick tock.