Chapter Text
4:49 p.m. He stepped into the small room and closed the door behind him, balancing on his tippy toes to hang the well-kept clothes on some crooked hooks above his head. After carefully arranging the clothes the way he wanted (even if they were only going to be there for a few minutes), he flattened himself back onto his feet and kicked off his shoes. He tugged off his shirt gracefully, strands of dark hair lingering onto the fabric due to the static. He hung the shirt up and quickly grabbed the white button-up next to it, swinging it onto himself at an efficient speed. His hands moved diligently as they fastened the buttons from bottom to top, not missing a single one. His jeans were the next to go, immediately replaced with a tidy pair of black pants. He tucked his shirt in neatly and fastened the cuffs of the sleeves, finally feeling the usual fitting he was most comfortable with. He threw on the black vest and coat and buttoned them per usual, shoving his feet into the newly polished black shoes in the same moment. Brushing himself off and straightening himself up one last time, he pulled his former attire from the hook, swiftly glancing at the mirror as he left the room in a flurry.
4:51 p.m. He ran his fingers through his hair, allowing it fall and cover his forehead in the natural manner as he made his way through the building. His pace was alarmingly fast, as he kept his head held high and his compelling gaze fixed sturdily ahead, dictating pride and purpose in his steps.
As he walked past, a fair-haired man wearing a green apron (which was caked in white flour) caught sight of him through a pair of open doors.
"Oi~!!" the man called after him. "Do me a favour and GET THOSE FOUR LAZY BUTTS BACK IN HERE WHEN YOU SEE THEM!"
Unfortunately, the desparate cry elicited no response, as the other had already passed through another door.
4:52 p.m. As the door slammed shut behind him, he found himself suddenly holding the gazes of four people scattered throughout the room. The room had a refreshing mood to it, with its casual lighting, humble amount of decor and very comfy looking seats which, at the moment, were occupied by the owners of the bothersome gazes. Ignoring the undesirable attention, he turned his back to them as he folded his clothes and tucked them away carefully into a bag, resulting in the immediate dissolution of stares and return to former conversations. However, one pair of eyes remained fixated, though they shortly moved to peek at the cat-shaped clock on the wall.
She smirked. "Wow. Just under four minutes. That's a new record. Even for you."
"Tardiness would be a direct implication of disorganization."
"Hmph. It serves you right for arriving so late."
"It's not my fault some idiot suddenly decided to speed and cause a pointless collision."
"Excuses, excuses. You should really stop talking back to me. Technically I'm still your boss, I could fire you at any time—"
"HANJI!"
The bespectacled brunette held up her hands in reconciliation. "I know. I know. Don't poke at the angry bear with a stick...or something."
A cute and youthful blonde girl in the room became momentarily distracted from her own conversation.
"Poking a bear with a stick? Isn't that from Dumb Ways to Die?" she spoke with an innocent tone.
The dark-haired, freckled young woman with tanned skin beside her snorted in a rather unfeminine manner.
"Boss Hanji plays that stupid kids' game? Who would've thought?" she jabbed.
Hanji immediately forgot her former exchange and spun around in a flurry of anger. "HEY! IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK! LET ME SEE YOU GET PAST 2000 POINTS!"
A brown-haired lad looked up from his phone. "Who the hell even plays that game anymore? It's like a year old."
"Shut up, Jean. You're no better with your stupid Flappy Bird shit," the dark-haired girl shot back, satisfied as her opposition's expression scrunched up in anger.
"HAAAA! Ymir got you there, you little prick!" the woman called Hanji blew a raspberry jeeringly.
4:55 p.m. A disgruntled cough suddenly sounded from the corner, once again attracting all the attention towards that one side of the room. They were met with a pair of exasperated eyes, digging through to the back of their skulls.
"Now, if you're all done being mature, I think we all have jobs to get to right now," the raven-haired man said, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Aughhhhh! Breaktime is over already?!" the snippy-mouthed Ymir groaned as she got up from her couch and stretched openly.
"I hate Saturday evening shifts..." Jean mumbled in the corner as he dragged himself sluggishly off the couch.
"Well, you better stop complaining because we've got a busy night to attend to!" Hanji said. "A lot of us have fully or almost fully booked schedules tonight—except for Jean of course...as always—not to mention we have two potential recruits dropping by later tonight. Oh! And Erwin's coming back so it's going to be one hell of a hectic night!"
"Sounds great!" Ymir responded gleefully, though it was unclear whether she was referring to the evening's schedule or the subtle but effective jab at Jean. She pulled her jacket off the side of the couch and strutted her way towards the door eagerly.
"Come on, Christa! Let's ditch these losers and grab the good ones before they're gone!" she piped. And just like that, the petite blonde ran out after her companion with an endearing "See you all later!"
"Ughhh...how are we going to handle all this with only four hosts here?" Jean whined again as he dragged his way across the floor.
"Quit complaining," Hanji snapped. "According to the schedule, Annie, Reiner, and Marco should all be piling in here around seven anyways. And I've got Sasha and Connie on stand-by, so they can come at a moment's notice. Not to mention I plan on immediately training the two possible recruits so we could give some slots to them too if the customers don't mind."
Jean's face perked up at the mention of one of the pending arrivals, but he quickly changed the meaning of his smile with a different comment.
"How do you know the two applicants are going to be any good anyways?" he asked.
Hanji shrugged. "Woman's intuition."
"Not that bullshit," Jean scoffed.
The female superior smiled. "Well, it got me to where I am today and I'm absolutely loving my life the way it is...maybe you should listen to it sometime and even you may actually get somewhere in life."
"No thanks. I'd rather live the way I am now than turn into a monster like you."
The two exchanged mocking glares until Jean finally left the room.
At last, there were only two people left in the room.
4:57 p.m.
"Ah, you better get out there now or you're going to be officially late," Hanji smiled.
"Don't plan on it," the man responded as he straightened his collar and turned towards the door.
Hanji stared after him curiously.
"Levi."
He paused at the mention of his name.
"Hn..?"
A glint shone in her glasses as she tilted her head. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?"
Hanji smirked and tossed a white cloth into Levi's hand.
"You really look so peculiar without it."
Levi gruffly grabbed the cloth, refusing to admit that, for the first time in forever, he'd forgetten the most important part of his attire. He quickly turned away and ran out the door, refusing to see the smug grin on Hanji's face as she caught his mistake.
"Good luck out there tonight!" she called after him right before the door closed.
He slung the white fabric around his neck, rushing out to a large pair of closed, ornate doors. He pushed them open, as he had done pretty much every day of his life for the past years.
The room was filled with wooden tables and chairs, set up to resemble a café of sorts, but it was obvious that this place was so much more than just a simple coffee shop. Each table had a unique flower centerpiece, placed atop a neatly patterned cloth, creating a refined appearance. The casual, dim lighting created the welcoming and intimate atmosphere of the large place as it highlighted the room's best features. It formed the perfect shadows and highlights on the prestigious decorations that Hanji had meticulously chosen herself; every flower, every vase, every display case, every rug and every little trinket seemed to blend in perfectly with one another. The furniture looked as if it were brand new, regardless of them having a very antique and illustrious quality to them, fully capturing the essence of the place. The elegant curtains billowed out into the room, letting in the necessary amount of sunlight to make the place comfortable in the mornings. At night, they would let the curtains drop and bring out the candles, accentuating the warmth and comfort in a way which both the staff and customers preferred.
But it was not even the lovely setting that made this place as pleasant as it was.
More than anything, it was the people.
As Levi scanned the room and saw the countless heads, and the radiant smiles of each and every one of the customers. There were indeed many people, and somehow, they all seemed extremely content with themselves.
Of course. Rarely did a customer leave without a smile.
Near the side where Levi had just entered from, there was a coffee counter as well as a fantastic display of delicious looking pastries, prepared carefully and diligently by the kitchen staff. Seeing the colourful macaroons, the red velvet cake, the pecan pie, the variety of cookies and the overwhelming amount of other mouth-watering treats, Levi suddenly remembered Mike Zacharias from the kitchen, who had certainly called after him earlier, pleading him to search for his fellow kitchen staff members. They happened to be missing at quite an inconvenient time. Levi's keen eyes made a quick scan around the room, but he saw no sign of the missing four members of the kitchen staff. He sighed to himself, both in frustration and amusement.
The dolt should be able to handle himself for now...
Levi sauntered towards his usual spot, tying and fixing the white cloth around his neck as he went, passing by the coffee counter. Soon enough, Boss Hanji would be standing behind that counter, serving up pastries and preparing beverage after beverage like there was no tomorrow. She would do this all while greeting the customers and ultimately playing receptionist. Of course, her cheerful demeanor and open personality made this job natural to her, and even when it got hectic, she never failed to deliver the most genuine smiles. It was amazing how well she could keep up. Once a few hours someone would switch out for her, but it was usually her diligence that kept the coffee counter and ultimately the whole place running for the entire day. And usually, after that very long day of brewing coffee, preparing lattés, dressing mochas and other tedious caffeine-related activities, Hanji's hands would be stained with the faintest smell of coffee. After so many years of working in the same spot, Levi was sure that the aroma had become permanent at this point, and even when he was outside with Hanji, he could sense the slightest scent of the familiar brew.
As Levi passed through the public area of the place, heads turned and whispers evoked as he walked by the tables. At the beginning, a very long time ago, he had felt a bit flustered by this unusual attention. Now, it had become an event as routinely as buttoning up his shirt or polishing his shoes. He walked past coldly and proudly without even the slightest acknowledgement in their direction.
As he approached his usual table, he noticed that there was already a customer waiting for him. A young girl with black hair tied in pigtails and eyes to match. Behind his table were Ymir and Christa, who were already quite occupied sharing playful banter with a rather large group of boys and girls. Across from his table, even Jean was seated with a pair of charming young ladies, who (surprisingly) seemed quite smitten with the young man as they sipped delicately out of their dainty coffee cups.
Levi pulled on the cravat around his neck one last time, fastening it into place.
5:00 p.m.
Without his customer noticing, Levi approached her from behind and took his seat across from her. She jumped a little when she finally realized he was there. Her eyes peered shyly upwards through her dark bangs, as if she unable to believe he was actually there in front of her. It took a moment before she was finally able to utter barely audible words:
"N-nice to meet you...Levi-san."
Without even the slightest smirk, Levi crossed one of his legs over another and stretched his left arm over the back of his seat as he always did. He gazed deeply into her black eyes with his own grey ones, evoking a slightly pink expression in the younger girl. Not once changing his expression, he reached over towards her shaking hands and touched them gently with his own right hand. It was the faintest touch, yet it elicited the flustered response he expected. He opened his mouth to speak, noticing the expectancy on her rouged face.
"Welcome to The Titan Host Club. How may I be of service today, little miss~?"