Chapter Text
"Eren, as your friend, I would love to encourage and support you on that idea." Armin started, smiling gently at the brunet. "But as your best friend, I'm here to tell you not to get your hopes up 'coz it's not happening." His demeanor had changed into one that hints concern, but just generally tired of dealing with his friend's shit.
"Armin, haven't I taught you anything?" The brunet shook his head disapprovingly.
"Not one bit."
"Magic happens when you just believe." He continued on as if he hadn't already heard an answer, planting both hands on the blond's shoulders dramatically.
"If you're worried that I'll try to talk you out of it, don't worry, I'm way past attempting that." Armin sighed. He had already told his piece, and he knows it was already out of his friend's ear before he even said it. It's just possible with Eren.
"Oh, come on, Armin. Are you really telling me I haven't gotten better after years of practicing?" The brunet pouted, fishing a deck of cards from his pocket and started flipping the cards from one hand to the other expertly.
"That's not what I'm talking about." The blond shook his head, watching the cards beautifully flying between the brunet's deft hands.
Despite being a "rookie magician", Eren was not short on the skill department, and Armin could admit he couldn't bust majority of Eren's tricks without help. Well, even if he already knows the trick behind it, Eren still executes it perfectly to make it look like an actual magic. He may be an idiot, but he's really good at what he does.
Then again, the fact remains that he's an idiot.
"I'm talking about your other intention." He continued.
"What? Picking up cuties?" Eren grinned, idly shuffling the deck. "I don't know, Ar. But if someone picks me up like this." He held up an ace of diamonds and started waving it sideways.
With a quick flick of his wrist, the card turned into an ace of hearts. "I'd probably agree to sleep with them. Considering they're good-looking too, that is." He ended, sliding the card back in the deck.
"Yeah, well. That's you." Armin mumbled. But like he said, he's really past attempting to change his friend's mind. "Well then, good luck. If you do manage to woo someone, I'll be at my usual place. On a date with caffeine and James Dashner." He held up a book entitled "Eye of Minds" and started his short trek towards a nearby cafe, leaving the brunet to his own devices.
Eren directed his sights to the crowd idling around the area where he's at. Some looked like they had places to go to. Some were just clearly loitering around. Some were moving in pairs and groups. While some opted to be alone. He has a variety of people to choose from, but of course, Eren kept an eye out for the cute ones.
After a while, he received compliments and praises from a girl named Mina; another one named Nifa; then there was Hannah who was apparently with her boyfriend, Franz; Samuel and Thomas; and some others he couldn't recall the names anymore.
Though he admits most of them were cute enough for his standards, as he was doing his tricks, he just couldn't help but feel the air between them was too... innocent. He was kind of hoping they would at least get a little flirty, or something that gives him some sort of sign that they were interested. And not just on the tricks he's playing.
But then, nada. At least he didn't really feel inclined to ask for their numbers, anyway.
As he continued strolling around, looking for his next audience, he spotted a short man with ink black hair leaning back on a wall with his eyes glued on his phone. He was wearing a denim jacket over a black undershirt, a gray beanie, and ripped black skinny jeans that accentuated the shape of his legs. The darkness of his apparel only served to highlight his pale white skin though, and by god is he hot.
Maybe that was his mistake all along. Maybe he should've focused on keeping an eye out for the hotties as well, and not just the cuties.
Deciding he couldn't let this chance slip by, Eren didn't waste another second and started walking towards the man.
"Hey, uhh... Hi. Do you have a couple of minutes to... spare?" He almost trailed off his sentence when the shorter man's piercing gunmetal eyes met his.
Damn, he's even more handsome up close.
"Depends on why you're asking." came the blunt reply that successfully snapped the brunet to attention.
"Well, I just thought you'd be interested in seeing a few tricks?" He held up a deck of cards and shook it slightly.
The raven eyed the deck for a second before darting back to the brunet. "Are you asking for donations?" He arched a brow.
And goddamn, Eren never thought that single action could possibly make someone look even hotter.
"No, no. Just a little bit of your time." He assured with a smile he hoped didn't look awkward.
"Alright." The raven agreed after a short while, pocketing his phone and giving the brunet his full attention.
Even though Eren already had quite some audience before this, he couldn't help feeling a little nervous doing it in front of this man. He sincerely hoped to whatever higher being was out there that he wouldn't "magically" fail his tricks now.
"So first, I want you to make sure that this deck is real and that I did not, in any way, fudge anything up." He handed the deck to the raven who took it cautiously, eyes remaining on the taller for a while to make sure he wasn't doing anything funny, before flipping through the cards.
"Fifty-two plus two jokers." The raven hummed.
"You really counted?" Eren let out a genuine grin this time.
"Not that hard when this deck's practically brand new." He shrugged.
"So it is. I've already used my old ones earlier." Eren explained unnecessarily. "Now, shuffle it thoroughly, and pick up the card on the top."
The raven did as he was told, gray orbs frequently darting to the brunet to make sure he wasn't doing anything suspicious. He took a peek at the top card and noted it was the four of spades.
"Should I show it to you?"
"Well, it doesn't really matter." Eren shrugged. And then with a quick jerk of his wrist, a sharpie suddenly materialized in his hand seemingly out of thin air, causing both of the raven's thin eyebrows shoot up in surprise and, hopefully, impress.
"Now I want you to sign the card you picked. Or just write anything, really." He handed him the sharpie and watched as the shorter man wrote a single "L" in cursive in the middle of the card.
Eren then took the deck and the signed card from the raven, separating the signed one from the rest.
"This is your card, right?" He asked for the sake of clarification and effect.
When the raven affirmed, he then handed back the card face-down, asking for the raven to hold it between his thumb and forefinger.
"You can check to make sure I didn't give you a bogus one." And the raven did, seeing it was still the four of spades with the L on it. "Now kiss your card goodbye." Eren grinned.
And though the raven was starting to look skeptical, he did as he was told and kissed the back of the card he was holding. When the brunet made a gesture for him to turn the card around, thin eyebrows shot up again when he discovered his card had been replaced with a nine of diamonds.
He flipped the card every which way to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him, even though he had never doubted his eyesight before.
"Are you looking for this?" The brunet caught his attention again, holding up a random card – Jack of clubs – and with a flick of his finger, it turned into the very card he was holding just a moment ago.
"Impressive." The raven remarked with a genuine smile of his own.
And boy, oh boy, Eren was fucked. Who knew this smoldering hot man could look hella cute as well? It wasn't fair in the slightest! Eren couldn't even help his own brain derailing along the lines of, "My body's ready."
He had to clear his throat to gather his wits back. He still wasn't done showing off to this gem in front of him.
"Now kiss your card bye-bye again." He instructed, lifting the card up to the shorter man's lips.
Again, the raven did as he was told, though this time, he kept his eyes trained on the brunet the entire time as he slowly leaned closer, and kissed the top of the card just as slow.
This was the flirty atmosphere Eren had been looking for earlier, but damn, he didn't know it could be this intense. And they only just started.
When the raven was done with his part, Eren pulled the card back to reveal it had reverted back to the Jack of clubs before inserting it somewhere in the middle of the deck and shuffling it.
"Do you wanna look for it yourself?" He handed the deck to the raven who didn't waste time flipping through to find his card.
"It's not here." He announced.
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"Ah, then maybe it's..." Eren trailed off, reaching a hand out to touch just behind the shorter's ear. "Here." He pulled his hand back and there was the four of spades.
"That's amazing. How'd you do that?" The raven smiled again.
But Eren just offered a smile of his own in response to the question. A magician never reveals his secrets. Or so the saying goes. Honestly, he'd probably teach the man all the tricks he knows if he'd just ask.
"Do you want to see another one?" He asked, to which, the raven immediately agreed. "Alright."
He lowered the card back to the raven's mouth again, and without having to be told, the other man kissed his card goodbye. When Eren pulled his hand back, he was no longer holding anything.
"Where is it?" The raven asked, but the brunet just shrugged.
"Where do you think? You could look wherever you want to." Eren grinned.
He was expecting for the guy to rifle through the deck again, but was surprised when he started patting down his body instead. The raven checked the pockets of his dark green hoodie, to the sleeves, and down to the pockets of his pants; maintaining eye contact the entire time with his hands lingering on his back pockets.
As the raven was doing that though, Eren was frantically, yet discreetly, passing the card through the back of his palms and even his neck just so the other wouldn't see it. It was a good thing he was keeping eye contact the entire time so his attention was away from his limbs. Not so good with the effect it did to his insides though.
Still, that was some serious Now You See Me 2 shit he just pulled, and he could only wish he caught that on camera. But since he didn't, no one would probably believe him. There goes his shot at Hollywood.
"It's gone." The shorter man commented once he was done feeling the brunet up.
Eren really didn't mind it though. Would've even preferred if he did a thorough check, even if it was at the expense of his trick.
"Or is it?" He shot back instead, reaching out to dig his fingers through the breast pocket of the raven's denim jacket. When he pulled back his hand again, lo and behold, there was the four of spades with the signed L on it.
"Damn." was all the raven managed to say this time. He was about to say more when a voice cut him off.
"Yo, Levi! You still coming or what?" A brunette wearing glasses shouted from a distance, earning not just both of their attention, but everyone within a five mile radius as well.
"Shit. That's my cue to go." He sighed.
"You can keep this." Eren offered the card. "And the deck." He tilted his head to the deck still held by the raven.
He really wanted to talk to this man a little longer (and maybe bring him home to mama), but alas, their time was up.
"Thanks." The raven smiled again, idly turning the card in his fingers before holding it up to the brunet. "Now kiss your card goodbye."
Eren couldn't help laughing as his words were handed back to him. Even so, he did lean closer to do as the raven told.
But he never got to kiss the card as the raven replaced it with his own lips instead. It was a simple peck, yet it was enough for the brunet to stop functioning altogether.
"Bye." The raven smirked before walking away, leaving Eren completely stunned in his wake.
"Oh hoh. I've never seen that one before, Levi." The brunette teased once the raven had approached her and started walking by her side. "Have you always done that to your victims?"
"Just the cute one, Hanji." Levi smirked without even looking at her. Both of them blending in with the other people effortlessly.
"Oh, singular, huh? Do you even know what that cutie's name is?"
Meanwhile, Armin had found Eren just after Levi had walked away. The brunet had taken a lot longer than he thought he would, so Armin took it to himself to check up on him. Which he thought had been a very good move on his part, considering his friend was unresponsive when he reached him.
"Eren. Hey, Eren." He snapped his fingers in front of his face. And when that didn't work, Armin didn't hesitate to slap him instead. "What happened?" He asked casually once it seemed like the brunet was finally listening.
"Armin." Eren finally responded, albeit, still a bit dazed. "I think I finally understand what real magic truly means."
"Yeah? What's their name?" The blond shot directly, wanting to bypass the dramatic speech his friend may have prepared.
It was only then that Eren realized he never asked for the raven's name. More so, his number. Too caught up in trying to impress had him forgetting these important details.
He was about to spiral to a breakdown when he remembered that voice that interrupted them. Thank heavens she had been loud enough to broadcast her message to the entire district.
"Levi. His name's Levi." Eren breathed out with a smile Armin could only describe as "stupid".
Judging by his expression alone, the blond could already tell his friend was unable to get this Levi's number and thus, chances of them meeting again are bleak. With all that considered, Eren really never picked up anyone with his "magic" in the end, but Armin decided he'll burst that bubble later. It's useless to argue with the brunet in his current state.
"Right. Well, I just finished my book and am needing an excuse to procrastinate from Differential Calculus. Any suggestions?" He offered instead.
"Can we go have pizza first? I'm starving."
"Fine. But you're paying."
"No problemo." Eren grinned and patted his back pocket.
Then his grin was immediately wiped away.
"Armin." He started gravely. "My wallet's gone."
The blond blinked at him. "Gone. As in, you didn't lose it somewhere?"
"I never lose my wallet, Ar." He started patting down his body worriedly.
"Well then, is there any instance when you noticed someone touched your pockets or something?"
And then, the memory of the raven's hands lingering in his back pockets struck him.
"Levi." He breathed out.
"Eren Jaeger." The raven read out the name on the student ID that was inside the leather wallet he was holding. "Huh. Seems like he has a nice name to go with his face, after all." Levi smirked, before he checked his real objective.
"Nice amount of cash, too." He grinned. "A total jackpot."
"Never heard you string that much compliment in one go before." Hanji laughed. "Makes me think you'd risk seeing him again some other time."
Levi lagged for a reply, regarding the University name and address – as well as the photo of that brunet with the teal orbs – printed on the ID with rapt interest, before donning on an evil smirk.
"Maybe."
"Well, Eren. I hate to break it to you, but I think that is what magic really is to me." Armin shook his head.