Chapter Text
He yawned, then looked at the clock followed by a sigh, Monday 2:05 p.m. It was going to be a long shift, he thought while adjusting the back of the black apron that laid upon his uniform, should you call a white shirt and a pair of black, tight pants that. He let another deep exhale escape his mouth at the same time the milk steamer was doing its job. First order of that day, an espresso, he recalled.
“Oh come on Eren, you just clocked in 5 minutes ago, I know it's kind of a pain that you had to switch work for the evenings, but you'll get used to it.”
Eren was met with a giggle that came from behind him. And a pair of eyes skeptical at how quickly he managed to complain that day.
“I'm sorry Sasha, I'm just tired, I had to finish some homework last night.”
Sasha was right, he shouldn't be complaining on his first day after the weekend and a half he had to rest. He had to switch his shift from morning to evening because the classes he needed to take on his last semester of college were only dictated in the mornings.
Eren was a Journalism student. He had found passion on that while he was still in middle school, just a couple of years after the accident that ended her mother’s life. His only family left was his father, who basically disappeared after the incident, only to be reached by his cellphone, since he was always at work. He remembered that his father was a doctor, or at the very least that was how he used to tell Eren.
On the other hand, he also had Mikasa, her overprotective adoptive sister who had had it even worse than him when she first came to live with the Yeagers, when she was 10, and at the time, Eren 9. After having witnessed her parents death by the hands of a couple of burglars who had broken into their house and stabbed them to death, after they denied having any more money than the one which they'd already given them. But letting her live due to a -lack of time before the police came- or so Mikasa had told him. Two years and a half later, things seemed better for her but one evening, when Carla Yeager was going back home from doing some shopping, she ended up being the victim of a car crash caused by criminals trying to get away from the police after emptying a bank. The criminals escaped, no culprits were found, no justice was made.
Eren thought of that while clenching his teeth, getting too immersed into the past. He made himself count to ten. That's right, now we're better. He managed to calm down and proceed with his train of thought. That's how Mikasa found her way to study to become a forensic detective. Eren also got his own approach to the subject, to help fulfill that need of justice that had grown into them since they'd seen how cruel and unfair the world could be.
Eren found peace on reading the newspapers headlines “Culprit found”, “Prayers for justice were heard”, that came as a way to encourage him out of some issues with rage he started to suffer from 3 years after her mother's death, when entering high school at 15. He tried not to think much about it for the moment, trying to concentrate while he finished refilling the coffee machine that had run out of grains. Mikasa and him received an allowance to help pay for both of their colleges every month, but as Eren hated to depend on his father for his expenses he had found himself doing a part-time job at this café, he was 21 after all.
“Libertad” was the name of the place he worked in, the spanish word used for freedom, he vaguely recalled Sasha explaining the meaning to him. He really liked his job, the place had dim lightning which made it cozy, each table equipped with a little lamp which intensity could be regulated by a small knob. The costumers Eren was familiarized with were always low-profile people that usually ended up there to enjoy a book in the short period of time before running to work or to attend some business. Being there felt almost relaxing, he thought.
Libertad was, despite being small, a well located café, in the line that divided the neighborhoods of Rose and Sina. Sina was if not the richest neighborhood to live in within the city, so the prices of the café weren't even close to student-friendly, at least not on a daily basis.
The clock marked 6:30, luckily for him, the evening went by really quickly. With only one hour and a half left to go home, he felt happy with the idea of finishing that day in the best mood he could manage before getting back to his dorm and doing some reading into the contents he'd seen that day in class. He could ask his best friend Armin for help on the analysis some topics had, when he couldn't think of how such complicated issues could have even more stuff in them.
He met Armin when they both were in middle school, Eren going back home with Mikasa when he saw how he was been beaten up for no reason at all. As always, Eren's great sense of justice made him meddle in that fight, having his ass saved by Mikasa in the end. The three of them ended up going into the same high-school, located in Maria, a low-middle class neighborhood in which they lived before coming to Rose for college. The three of them have been together since that time.
Eren was shaken off his thoughts again, now by Connie, Sasha's best friend that had recently turned into a sort of boyfriend.
“Are you listening to me? Sasha told me you were tired, not on another planet, jeez.” Eren couldn't really say anything to counter that so he just shrugged. “Now, I need to do the inventory right now so please take the orders of tables 9 and 15”. Connie disappeared before he even had time to agree with that, but tried not to mind, he was the one off that day after all.
He took a deep breath and took the cappuccino to the old lady taking a sit in table 9, who scanned him from head to toe and gave him a great smile followed by a thank you darling. Trying not to make a grimace for what just happened to him, he nodded and walked two tables away to number 15, where a guy who looked a little older than him had sat, around 5 minutes ago. He was staring at his laptop and only opened up his mouth, without moving his eyes from the screen.
“Took you long enough today.” he said with an irritated tone, “gimme the usual, large size.”.
Eren blinked and took a deep breath in an attempt not to lose his patience, it seemed like he was a regular in the cafe, he didn't want to mess things up at this stage of the day.
“I'm sorry sir, I've just taken the evening shift so I'd appreciate it if you could tell me what the usual means.”
“Oh, so after such a shitty day I have to deal with a newbie, how fucking wonderful”. Eren had never been the best when it came to sarcasm, but he got that, and out of his annoyance replied to him.
“I'm not a newbie, I used to work in the mor-” but was suddenly cut off by the ill-mannered man. “Don't care, didn't ask. Black coffee, large, no sugar. And as it's something bitter it wouldn't hurt much if you changed that face of yours and smile a little.” Before snapping at the costumer, he nodded and made his way back to the opposite side of the counter. Just what the fuck was wrong with that man.
As soon as he saw Connie he had to ask. “What the fuck is wrong with that guy? Who is he?”. After some moments of scanning through the tables in confusion, he spotted table 15 and realization hit him. “Oh that, yeah, he's a regular, he only drinks black coffee, without sugar. He's not the best when it comes to manners or dealing with people but he always comes here to write and his tips are good so...” he shrugged. “Anyways, he does resemble the things he drinks. Sorry, I didn't realize he came today, I'd taken his order”, he apologized.
“It's okay, I didn't have much work to do and as I'm in the evening shift now I might as well get used to it, I guess.”
Sighing was Eren's most used technique to relieve stress, it was easy, almost automatic and didn't hurt himself nor anyone around him. And so he did, adjusting his apron back, walked to table 15 and finally placed the wooden tray in front of the man who had almost earned a fist to his face some moments ago. The mysterious man didn't say anything, he was too absorbed into whatever he was typing to even acknowledge Eren's presence, who made his way back to the kitchen without much trouble.
When he came back to clean up some of the tables, he saw the, now-short, mysterious man picking up his briefcase, adverting Eren's eyes and making the check gesture in the air to beckon him back to his table.
Eren came back with the check and waited patiently for him, failing when trying not to stare at the man, who had a pretty handsome face for an asshole. His features were really soft, but at the same time enhanced by the undercut he had, with some side-bangs resting on his face. Life was unfair after all.
“Oi, brat. Are you gonna stand there drooling at my face or are you gonna pick up the money?” the man questioned while raising an eyebrow at him.
He couldn't stop the blood from rushing into his checks, making him look stupid in less than a second. He could feel his face twisting even more after the man smirked at him. He hurried to grab the money and went to get the change as fast as he could, but caught a glimpse of the short man making his way out before he could actually turn to him.
“I don't need it kid, keep the change, it was enough joy for me to see that reaction of yours, so there's your tip”.
The old lady who was still sitting in table 9 managed to let a giggle escape, while Eren couldn't help to do anything, but trying to make the color go away from at least his ears. Realizing that it was too late for that, he hid his face between his hands and sighed, not in stress but in frustration towards himself.
What a shitty way to start the week, being made fun of by a guy not much older and even shorter than him.
Eren adjusted his apron again, but this time, without much hope on surviving the hours of the day still awaiting him.