Chapter Text
Ever since Eren started working at the Smith’s Bakery & Coffee Shop, his co-workers were always warning him about pastry chef Levi. Of course, since Eren worked as a barista in the café area, they didn’t run into each other too often. However, he had heard rumors that every now and then Levi would appear from the kitchen to see how café’s employees were doing. Then he would scold trainees about bad hygiene habits or have everyone scrub tables and floors until he could see them sparkling.
Despite Levi’s cold and strict attitude towards everyone and everything, he was incredibly talented. He designed all the delicious and sweet-looking cakes and pastries that were on show in the café’s vitrine. One of his best-selling products was the apple cake which was always decorated with cinnamon and vanilla cream.
“It’s such a shame that he could spoil his wife with all the adorable sugary things he can create with his hands, but with such a personality, he will never get married,” Eren’s co-worker, Jean, had commented on his first day. It was a bit harsh thing to say, because honestly, what did Jean know about Levi’s personal life? Just because the pastry chef took his job seriously and was a clean-freak to the point of it being almost scary, it didn’t mean that Levi didn’t have people in his life who cared about him. In fact, Eren admired him a lot and was amazed by his passion and dedication towards his work. Every single cake, toast or baguette was made with love and they were always perfectly detailed.
It was a Monday morning and Eren had started his shift early. He was responsible for making all the arrangements before opening the café. Personally, Eren preferred working during the morning hours because it was nice to be all alone in the café before the tired businessmen and college kids filled the place in a need of some caffeine. Also, his co-worker, named Annie, wouldn’t start her shift until ten o’clock, so he had a chance to enjoy the quiet and peaceful atmosphere when he put up some fresh Danish pastries and strawberry muffins to the café’s vitrine. Not that Annie was the most talkative person in the world, rather the opposite.
Of course, the bakers had started their work even earlier than him, and there was lots of bustling and rushing in the kitchen. A lovely smell of fresh baguette filled the air when baker Petra entered to the café’s side from kitchen’s swinging doors.
“Good morning Eren! You can set these next to the vitrine. Hopefully a lot of customers forgot to eat breakfast today, because we accidently made extra amount of these!” She giggled. Petra was always cheerful and sweet towards others, and she was usually the one to deliver products to the café’s workers. Eren was more than happy about that fact, because as far as he knew, the other bakers weren’t nearly as friendly as she was.
Besides Petra and the pastry chef Levi, there were three other bakers working in the kitchen named Auruo, Erd and Gunther. The three men were always serious and hardly answered to a good morning greeting. In his typical manner, Jean had claimed that it was the effect of working in the same room with Levi, apparently the pastry chef’s never-ending bad mood would inevitably infect to everyone surrounded by him. But Eren couldn’t blame the bakers and their exhausted expressions, since their job was actually surprisingly stressful. Smith’s Bakery & Coffee Shop was a popular place in town and on the busiest days they needed to work even more in a hurry than usual to make sure that there were enough products for the customers. Eren remembered a day when they were out of Levi’s famous apple cake and the customer had literally yelled at him for not having even one piece of that damn cake. Some customers sure were difficult.
The owner of the coffee shop and bakery, Erwin Smith, was currently looking for a new baker to join the team. During Eren’s interview, Erwin had told him about his past, how he used to be a great pastry chef and was so fond of the café culture that he decided to to start his own business. At first he used to be the main pastry chef in the kitchen, but since it was too much work for him to handle all the paperwork he needed to do as a manager, he decided to let Levi be in charge. And he never regretted that decision, since Levi’s results were amazing and he had more time to focus on the business side of his enterprise.
“So, Eren, how has your morning shift been? Do you need help with anything before the opening?” Petra asked kindly. She tended to worry about the newcomers and was always making sure that everything was alright. Especially now, because it was only Eren’s third morning shift.
“Ah, no. Everything is fine. I just need to clean the tables outside and then we’re ready to open,” Eren answered and Petra nodded, still a heart-warming smile on her face.
“Oh, look at your name tag, it’s all twisted in your uniform. Here, let me fix that.” Eren felt little embarrassed when Petra did not only touch his name tag, but also wanted to tidy up his collars like a mother before letting his child to enter the school bus. But that’s just how she was, always concerned about the younger ones.
“Now then! You look ready for customer service!”
“Um… Thanks,” Eren mumbled feeling a tiny bit of red glow rising in his cheekbones.
It was eight o’clock and Eren turned the main door’s “Closed”-board to the “Open”-one. As he had assumed, it didn’t take too long when the first customers arrived to the café, with a sleepy look in their eyes. Eren welcomed them warmly and promised each of them that his coffee would keep them awake.
~*~
“Hey guys, you don’t believe what I just saw yesterday.” Once again, Jean spoke in such a loud volume that Eren and Annie needed to quiet down their co-worker before the customers could hear him. Eren was currently putting some fresh cinnamon rolls to the vitrine. The afternoon turned out to be a little quieter than morning had been. Some of the customers had stopped by for a quick lunch, but overall it hadn’t been that much of a busy day.
“Well, what on earth was so important that you feel the need to inform it in the middle of work?” the blond-haired Annie asked, showing absolutely zero interest in hearing Jean’s story. She was a petite girl with light-blue eyes. Despite her cynical view of life and never-ending bored expression on her face, Eren really liked her. They didn’t talk a lot with each other, though, but Eren had never been good with small talk in the first place.
“I saw Springer going to the movies with Sasha! I bet those two are all over each other like little lovebirds. Sheesh, I had no idea!” Connie and Sasha were also Eren’s co-workers, both energetic and even louder than Jean when the trio shared crazy stories about partying with other college kids. They were just looking for easy money to pay all the bills that the expensive student life brought along. To be honest, Eren was little annoyed of that fact, since he had actually came here to learn. He wanted to get more into the café culture, learn how to make delicious cappuccinos and maybe even get some advice how to start baking his own desserts. He had never been really into cooking and barely managed to make his own meals, but after seeing Levi’s tasty-looking strawberry pies and fresh croissants, he really wanted to give it a shot. Maybe he could start with something simple, like honey buns or bagels. Pastry chef Levi actually held a blog where he shared his recipes, so maybe Eren could use that as a learning material.
“Well, maybe they just didn’t tell you because they know what kind of windbag you are,” Annie commented and leaned to the counter.
“Hey, what’s going on here?” Eren felt startled and a cold shiver ran through his skin when all of sudden he heard Levi’s voice right behind his ear. Levi was definitely too close to Eren, he could almost feel the older man’s breath tickling his neck. But then again, that couldn’t be helped, since Levi had arrived from the swinging doors and Eren was standing right in front of the vitrine, and the space between that door and the vitrine could be described as quite minimal.
“Instead of gossiping like unprofessional immature kids you are, you could try doing something useful. Jean, go help Marco with the dishes.” Eren let his eyes travel at the pastry chef’s grey eyes and smooth, pure white skin. He was beautiful, in his own way, even if the words coming from his mouth weren’t as sweet and gentle as his features.
Suddenly Eren felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment.
What was he doing?
“And for God’s sake, newbie. Are you putting those out without wearing gloves?” Levi woke him up from his useless daydreaming thoughts. Eren stood quietly with his mouth open, holding a tray filled with cinnamon rolls in his right hand. He didn’t quite understand what he had done wrong.
“Ah, no worries, sir.”
“Of course I washed my hands before starting and I’m using this cake shovel as my help more than my own hands so—“ Eren continued.
“I don’t care. Anything that goes into a customer’s mouth must not be in contact with your bare hands. Please don’t let me repeat myself, just put those gloves on and then continue to fill the vitrine.” The description of how Levi was extra strict when it came to cleanliness hadn’t been a joke.
“I understand. I’m sorry,” Eren mumbled and took out a packet of disposable gloves.
“No need to apologize,” he answered simply. No matter how irritated with his entire life the pastry chef sounded at times, Eren really enjoyed the calm, low tune in his voice. He felt the heat rising up in his cheekbones once again, when for some particular reason Levi didn’t move his gaze from Eren after he had finished talking, and he could swear that he saw something gentle in the pastry chef’s narrow eyes. It reminded him of the tender way Petra always looked at him. Eren couldn’t help but worry about how the appreance of his messy, brown hair looked to Levi’s eyes. However, that moment didn’t last long as Levi moved his stare towards Jean and Annie, looking displeased.
“You should educate him more. That’s also your job, to advise newcomers, as you already know perfectly well.” Annie and Jean nodded but neither of them didn’t say a word. Apparently the two of them didn’t own a lot of will to talk to him. The black-haired pastry chef repeated his order to Jean (who still hadn’t gone to help with the dishes) and with a long sigh disappeared back to the bakery’s working area.
“Man, there’s no need to be so polite around him,” Jean sighed, indicating his words towards Eren.
“Huh?”
“Come on, the shortie is a neurotic perfectionist. Don’t take his words too seriously,” he continued.
“Just because he’s someone who takes his job seriously doesn’t mean that I don’t need to respect him,” Eren answered, feeling even more irritation in his bones.
“What’s with that, trying to defend him? You don’t have a thing for him, do you?” Jean smirked and his words made something burn in Eren’s chest.
“Weren’t you supposed to go to wash the dishes?” Eren asked, trying to calm himself as much as possible and act like Jean’s words didn’t affect him in anyway. Nervously he took out a paper towel and started to clean up the café’s counter from bread crumbs and sugar.
“Stop teasing him, Jean. Apparently it’s been too long since you were on a date, since this is all that is running in your head at the time,” Annie said, and before Jean could protest against her words, Annie literally dragged him to the kitchen.
~*~
It was nice to be home when a sweet scent of vanilla filled every corner of Eren’s apartment. But despite the lovely smell, the freshly baked cake filled with vanilla crème wasn’t a pretty sight. He sighed and threw a baking whisk to the sink. How did Levi manage to make them look so delicious? He made himself a cup of raspberry tea, perhaps he could still enjoy his little dessert.
But his cake was a disaster. Not only did it look horrible, but it also tasted like it. The dough hadn’t baked enough in the oven and the strawberry jam didn’t match with cardamom or cinnamon or any other spices he had mixed together. He had carefully followed every step of Levi’s recipe that he had found from his blog, but something had gone wrong and very badly so.
Eren sent a picture of his failed masterpiece to his adopted sister. Earlier, during his break at work he had texted her that he would try making a fancy, tasty-looking cake for her birthday coming up next week.
My baking career looks very promising, doesn’t it?
Mikasa answered with giggling emojis and told him that it was alright. Everyone needed to start from the bottom. Well, true enough, but Eren couldn’t help feeling a little depressed. You didn’t need to be a scientist to bake a damn cake for your sister’s birthday.
However, he did not want to give up. He had already given up on many things in his life, and this time he was actually going to accomplish something. Maybe tomorrow he would try to bake some muffins…
The next day was a busy day at the Smith’s Bakery & Coffee shop, and it was only Tuesday. Eren’s cheek muscles were exhausted from all the smiling, customer service sure was a lot more tiring than it looked like. He made himself some tea in the backroom where all the café’s employees spent their breaks. With daydreaming motions, he paged through a baking book he had borrowed from the library, while drinking his lemon tea. He really wished he could learn to do something else than French toast.
“Are you planning to make banana muffins?” Oh dear, why did Levi always have to startle him? Eren had been so focused on his reading that he didn’t even hear the pastry chef entering the room.
“Oh, good afternoon, sir.” Eren felt a little embarrassed because the pastry chef Levi probably thought that baking such a simple thing as muffins was little too childish.
“And I – I well, to be honest, I don’t really know how to bake but I would love to learn. That’s why I’m starting with something simple,” he explained, hoping that his tongue wasn’t twisting too much. He had a very bad habit of mumbling unclearly and speaking too fast when he felt nervous. Levi was wearing his white chef’s uniform, with a tired expression written all over his face. It wasn’t a wonder on a day like this, when the coffee shop was nearly full every single minute. His black hair was messy from wearing the chef’s hat all day long and his pale skin a little oily, but in Eren’s opinion, Levi was one of those people who could have looked attractive even while wearing a giant garbage bag. It was almost unfair.
“So, how much have you practiced?” He asked.
“Ah, actually I only started yesterday. I tried to make your famous vanilla strawberry gateau, but somehow, I managed to ruin it. My cake was a terrible mess,” Eren said, blushing from embarrassment. But there was no point in denying that he was terrible in the kitchen. He was spinning his silver spoon in his tea mug, trying to avoid Levi’s gaze.
“What, how’s that even possible?! That’s probably one of the most basic recipes in my blog.” Levi was raising his eyebrows like he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Eren felt even more ashamed, but at the same time he was frustrated because Levi was being way too hard on him. He had just started learning!
“How did the cake taste like?”
“Well, I think it tasted too much like cinnamon and the dough wasn’t baked enough.”
“You didn’t put all the spices at the same time in the bowl, did you?”
“How else could I put them?” Eren felt helpless.
“You’re supposed to put them little by little, not all in at the same time! Did you follow the steps of the recipe at all? It looks like you were just doing whatever you wanted.” Levi crossed his arms and leaned on the wall.
“Hey, that was unneccessary. Just because I made one little mistake doesn't mean that I don't take your recipes seriously,” Eren decided to defend himself. Maybe everything that Jean had told about Levi was actually true.
“I don’t want to hear that from someone who doesn’t even know how to bake his dough in the oven.”
“Well, why don’t you keep me a lecture of how am I supposed bake?” Eren asked, still a sound of irritation echoing in his tune. No matter how much he respected the pastry chef with all his heart, he couldn’t help himself feeling this way. Besides, Levi was the one who started the needling him in the first place.
“Or… What the heck. Maybe I’ll just show you.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you ‘huh’ with me. I just offered you a chance to be my student. You could at least thank me.” Eren couldn’t quite understand what was going on. His heart was fluttering fast and the world was spinning around him.
“What?!” Eren’s legs were shaking. God, why was he feeling suddenly so nervous again?
“A– Are you sure?”
“Do I look like someone who says things he doesn’t truly mean?” Levi sat down on the table across Eren. That made everything even worse and Eren found his eyes moving back to the tea cup in front of him.
“Well then, say something. Would you like to me to show you how to make a perfect cake?” Levi asked because Eren couldn’t form a normal sentence.
“I –“ Eren started, trying hard to face Levi’s gaze but it was almost impossible.
“That would be an honor.” He finally forced himself to look into Levi’s eyes and Eren’s lips turned into a curve of smile.
“Good, then it’s settled. Be prepared, we’ll be starting tomorrow.”