Work Text:
Going shopping!
“C’mon everybody, get in the car we’re leaving!” You shout, picking up your car keys from the kitchen counter.
You walk in the living-room and see all your boys sitting either on the couch or floor, eyes glued to the television.
Your hands land on your hips.
“Boys, turn the t.v off.”
“But mom,” Eren complained. “The Wonder pets are on!”
“There will be plenty of time to watch t.v when we get back.” You reasoned walking over to the television and turning off the colorful animated cartoon, much to your children’s disappointment.
“Where we going momma?” Armin asked.
“We’re just going to the grocery store for a little while.” You answer.
“I would have called Krista to babysit you guys but she’s busy, today.”
The boys nod and move to follow you to the front door.You take the time to grab each of their jackets off of the coat hanger and put them on the kids before you put your designated coat on.
You turn to the boys and do a quick headcount then usher them out of the door to the mini-van.
__________________________
You loved your mini-van. It was very reliable, considering the fact that you had seven hyper,messy,active five-year olds on your hands.
Today, however was not your day, as the boys seemed unable to keep themselves under control.
“Connie!” You shout glancing at the back seat, while still trying to eyes on the road. You see Connie standing up on the seat looking out of the window (which was luckily rolled up). “Sit down, and put on your seat belt.”
Connie does so with a pout.
You sigh tiredly as hear Marco flick to another radio station.
You let him sit in the front today, but obviously that was the wrong thing to do because he could not keep his hands off of the buttons on the dashboard.
You sigh again and put your hands over Marco’s. “Marco, honey, please. Mommy has a headache.”
Marco takes his hand off the radio and obediently, places it back in, his lap with his other.
“Mom!” Jean yells from the back seat. “Reiner’s touching me!”
“Reiner, keep your hands to yourself.”
You look in the rear-view mirror to see if Reiner obeyed your order, and find him holding holding his finger about a half an inch away from Jean.
“I’m not touching you.” He taunts.
“Mom!” Jean cries. “Reiner’s not touching me!”
You stop at a red light and wheel around to glare at the both of them
“If you two don’t settle down, so help me I will turn this car around!”
Reiner’s drops his hand and Jean silence’s himself, but not before sending a glare Reiner’s way.
“Good,” You say turning around to face the front.
As you begin to wait for the light to turn red, your (e/c) eyes begin to wonder briefly in the side rear-mirror, only to see a dark-haired toddlers head, sticking out of the window making faces at the car in the next lane.
“Eren (l/n)!” You exclaim. “You get your head out of that window this insit, young man!”
Eren sticks his head back in immediately.
You run your hands over your face and start driving the car, as the light turns green.
“Guys, can you please just-”
You stop talking as, a Honda civic suddenly cuts you off, your foot slams on the brakes, And your arm instinctively reaches out to shield Marco from hitting the dashboard.
Your body lurches forward and jerks back as the car comes to a sudden stop.
You breath in heavily and turn around and ask your kids if they’re alright, you wait till you hear a response from all of them before wheeling around to glare murderously at the car that cut you off.
You make sure your car is in park, then, roll down your window down and stick your head out.
“You son of bitch! My children are in the car! Where the hell did you get your driver’s license!? I should get out of this car and kick your ass to the MOON!"
The kids gasp as their mouths drop open in surprise.
They weren’t quite used to your language being so...colorful.
You don’t even feel guilty when you see the man in the car’s terrified look, as you roll your window back up.
The car is silent for a moment before you hear Bertolt whisper quietly.
“Momma said a swear.”
You inhale sharply, turn around and force a sickly, sweet smile at the kids.
“Who wants ice-cream?”
_____________________________________________________________
Seven ice-cream’s and ten disinfectant wipes later….
Today the supermarket wasn’t quite as busy as it would have been, and although you found it strange (because on this particular day they were having a sale) you were grateful that there weren’t many people there.
You made your way down the aisle, pushing the basket in front of you while browsing for different sauces and spices.
The boys were idling, following you along.Occasionally stopping to touch and pick at things.
After about thirty minutes the boys begin to grow tired of following you around
“Ugh!” Jean groans, but not loud enough for you to hear. “I’m so bored.”
Armin nods weakly in agreement. “My feet hurt.”
“Mom, how long are we gonna be here?” Eren asked.
“Not much longer.” You say dismissively, examining the food items on the shelf.
You turn and face the kids with perishable items in your hands.
“Do you guys feel like green peas tonight?”
They all make a sound of disgust.
“Mmmm…” You tap your chin with a thoughtful look on your face, then finally put the canned goods back on the shelf. “You’re right. I’d better look some more.”
The boys all slump down in disappointment,but follow you when you keep moving and turn into a different aisle.
Suddenly something catches Jean’s eye.
“Hey guys, look.” Jean says.
They follow his gaze to find an abandoned shopping cart in an empty aisle.
“What?” Eren ask. “It’s just a cart, horseface.”
Jean ignores the insult. “C'mon guys let’s play in it.”
“We can’t do that.” Reiner says “We’ll get in trouble.”
“Momma’s not even looking.” Jean points to your figure retreating down the aisle.You were apparently unaware of the distance you were putting between you and the boys.
When you turn into a different aisle, the boys (excluding Jean) gasp.
“Momma,wait!” Bertolt calls out, but his pleads go unheard by you.
Bertolt hurries to follow you, but comes to a jerking halt when Jean grabs him by the collar of his sweater.
“Let her go. We’ll catch up later.” He says “In the mean time, we can have some fun.”
“But-”
“Butts are for pooping.” Jean interrupts. “Trust me, I know what I'm doing. C'mon let’s go.”
Marco looks at the shopping cart curiously.
“What do we do with it?”
Jean looks at the boys and grins excitedly.
“Let’s play race cars.”
_______________________________
You stroll down the frozen food aisle, still browsing through the different items.
After a while you stop and pick up a frozen dinner.
“You guys, are being awfully quiet.” You say not looking up from the box.
No response.
You turn over the box to look at the back.
“I’m sorry I’m taking so long. I’ll be done in a minute, I promise.”
No response.
When you still don’t hear anything, you sigh and turn around to face the boys.
“I know you guys are cranky, but…”
You trail off when you turn around and don’t see anyone.
At first you blink and then let out a startled gasp, dropping the dinner.
“Boys!?”
_____________________________________
“Wheeee!” Marco shrieks happily, as the shopping cart carries him through the aisle.
“I’m going to win!”
But before Marco can make it to the end of the aisle, he hears a voice from behind him.
“Hey Marco,”
The freckled face boy turned to see Connie in another basket racing alongside of him.
“You hungry?” Connie asked.
Marco looked at him confused.
“Huh?”
Connie just grinned maliciously while his cart darted past Marco, leaving him bewildered.
“Because, you’re about to eat my dust!”
Marco, having finally caught on only laughed, as Connie made it to the end, cheering.
“Yay, I won!” He declared.
Reiner appears from behind the cart, panting and gasping for air.
“Good for you.” He says flatly.
“Now get out, it’s your turn to push me.”
Connie deflated slightly,hopping out of the cart.
Eren, who was pushing Marco's cart, finally made it Reiner and Connie, still out of breath.
"You guys cheated!" He accused.
Which was no surprise to them since Eren had always been competitive, whenever they played a game.
"I want a rematch."
Reiner scoffed.
"I wouldn't call winning, cheating."
"Eren would." Connie snickered from beside Reiner.
By now Marco, Bertolt, Jean and Armin were gathered around them.
Eren narrowed his eyes at Connie.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Armin having already sensed a fight, stepped in between Eren and Connie,trying to separate them.
"Guys, calm down."
But that didn't stop Connie.
"It means you're a sore loser."
Eren and shoved Connie , taking him by surprise.
"Take it back."
Connie quickly recovered and smirked.
"Make me. "
Eren frame shook with anger and shoved Connie harder, almost sending him into the shelves located behind him.
Bertolt, having seen this looked up and examined the shelves. He took notice to the very breakable glasses of wine located directly behind Connie.
"Guys," He said, cautiously mumbled.
For the second time that day, he is un-heard.
"I said: 'Take it back'."
"And I said: 'Make me'."
Eren growled menacingly, shoving Connie a third and final time. However, this time Connie didn't recover in time and fell into the shelves knocking various wine bottles crashing to the floor.
"Watch out!" Marco called out to Connie and Eren ,who luckily move out of the way in time.
Bottle after bottle fell, with a loud crash each time making the boys wince at the sound.
All the boys back away as a pools of liquid begin to form on the floor.
Everyone was silent for a moment, trying to grasp would had just happened.
Armin gripped his hair in his, hands and shook his head back and forth.
"Oh no, this isn't good."
"We're going to be in so much trouble!"
Connie gasped.
"I can't go back to the time out chair!" Reiner cried grabbing Jean, by the shoulders . "I won't go back!"
Bertolt whimpered and jammed his thumb in his mouth.
Jean wiggled out of Reiner's hold and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him, almost violently.
"Get a hold of yourself! We're not going to get in trouble."
"This is all your fault Jean!" Eren accused.
Jean let go of Reiner and faced Eren.
"My fault?"
"Yeah," Connie agreed. "If you hadn't made us ditch mom none of this would have happened."
Jean looked back between Eren and Connie in disbelief.
"You two were the one's fighting!"
He shouted back. "If it's anybody's fault, it's yours!"
"Guys," Marco said. "Calm down, We can just clean it up and leave."
"Marco's right," Armin nodded. "No one will ever know."
"CLEANUP ON AISLE TEN!" A voice suddenly crackles on the store intercom.
All the boys eyes drift up to the rickety sign hanging above them, marked:
'Aisle 10'
Armin deflated.
"Now they will."
"Awww man," Reiner whined. "We're going to get it now."
Bertolt looked close to tears.
"What do we do? Somebody's gonna see us."
All the boys looked at Jean expectedly.
"Well," Connie said.
"What?" Jean questioned.
Eren crossed his arms. "What's the plan 'Mr. I know what I'm doing'."
"Wha-Me? Seriously?" Jean said surprised.
"You did say you knew what you were doing?" Armin started matter-of-factly.
Jean just looked at all of them for a while and then grumbled a complaint.
"Fine." He said as he started to think of a plan.
Footsteps echoed towards them, making Jean anxious.
"Quick!" He says pointing to a random door marked 'Management Only'.
"Let's hide there."
_____________________________
Meanwhile you're scanning the store, stopping every once in a while to ask a random person, the very abnormal question: 'Have you seen my seven little boys?' Only receiving weird looks in return, with the occasional 'No,sorry'.
Twenty minutes in and you're close to tears. Luckily an employee notices your distress and ask what's wrong.
"Yes. Please I need help." You say, with red teary eyes. "I lost my babies, there all gone and I don't know what to do."
The male employee gave you a reassuring smile and put a comforting hand on your shoulder.
"Don't worry, Ma'am." He says, giving you a reassuring smile. "Children wander off all the time. I'm sure they're around here somewhere."
"B-but," You stuttered."I looked everywhere and I c-c-can't find t-them,and It's such a big store and they might be scared and-" You cut yourself off as you start sobbing into your palms startling the worker. "I just want my babies!" You said through your tears.
The man in the supermarket uniform put held up his hands in front of him in surrender as your sobs became louder, attracting attention from other customers.
"Ma'am, please, calm down, I'll help you find your children." He said hurriedly, looking nervous. "Just, please stop crying."
Your crying slowly subsided, as you looked at him and attempted to smile.
"T-thank you... Ian" You say eyeing his name-tag.
Ian smiled, seemingly relieved that you had stopped crying.
"No problem, Ma'am."
You inwardly cringed as he referred to you 'Ma'am' once again. It made you feel old and you didn't like that one bit, never the less you didn't say anything.
"Now, how many of your children are you missing?" The blonde asked.
"Um... All... seven of them."
Ian's eyes widened. "Seven?"
You cleared your throat. "Yes."
Ian was silent for a moment before he finally spoke again. "We may need a second employee to aid us... considering the circumstances."
_________________________________
The boys found themselves in a poorly lit room with monitors and tiny t.v's hooked up to cameras that were set up all around what looked looked like the store.The table located below was covered in an abundance of buttons with a centered microphone. And a swivel chair beneath the
Fortunately, for the boys it was empty.
They stood side by side, in front of the closed door, their faces illuminated by the small tv's. The boys were silent as they looked around taking in their surroundings.
"What room is this?" Marco asked curiously.
"I think this is the room where the store people watch the shopping people in the store." Armin answered.
"That's weird." Connie said "Why would they watch us? To see what we look like?"
Jean smacked him upside the head. "No, bone head. It's to make sure we don't steal nothin'."
Connie rubbed the back of his head and mumbled. "Well than what's all the buttons for?"
Jean looked over at the buttons curiously and then ran over to the swivel chair and hopped into it, grinning deviously. He reached a hand out to a green button that caught his eye.
"Let's find out."
A hand slapped Jean's away.
"Let's not." Eren said suddenly standing in the chair with Jean, occupying the right side of the chair.
Jean narrowed his eyes at Eren.
"And why not?"
Marco popped his head up over the table of buttons next to right side of the chair. He was standing on his tip toes and gripping the table, his fingers centimetres away from the buttons.
"Umm.. sorry Jean, but you have bad ideas." Marco said hesitantly.
Reiner popped up on the other side of the chair.
"Yeah," Reiner agreed. "You think you know everything, but you just get us into trouble."
Bertolt was suddenly beside Marco.
"And your bossy." Bertolt added.
Armin stood by Bertolt.
"You also make very bad decisions."
Armin said pointedly.
Finally Connie appeared next to Reiner grinning smugly.
"Long story short, you suck."
Eren nodded "That's why."
Jean rolled his eyes. "Okay,I guess I have messed up a little-"
"A lot." Eren interrupted.
Jean glared at him "Whatever, all Im saying is that if you guys trust me we can have fun and still not get in trouble."
"How can we do that?" Reiner asked, as the others looked at him questionably, expecting an answer. Eren,however still had some doubt written on his face.
Jean grinned and reached for the big green button, that had occupied his mind.
"Just trust me, nothing will go wrong."
__________________________
Ian led you over to a small room, that had a sign with chipped paint that read the words: 'Employee Lounge'. The inside looked exceptionally like so.
There was a fair row of cabinets aligned along the wall, in the far corner of the room. A water cooler was, placed by what looked like a mini fridge. In the center of the room was a, small round coffee table, some magazines littered the top. There were two couches on each side of table both a mahogany.
On those couches were three men, dressed in the same work uniform Ian was dressed in.
There was also another man leaning against the wall in the same uniform but his was put on carelessly, untucked and what-not as if he barely cared at all about his work attire.
That young man against the wall was a tall and well-built man. The bangs of his blond hair were parted down the middle, and he sported a mustache and beard. His nose twitched when you and Ian entered the room,he took a deep whiff of the air. When he was done his eyes darted to you and he smirked.
Slightly creeped out by his actions you shudder. 'Can he smell me? Why is he smirking at me like that?' You thought to yourself. Deciding not to dwell on it, your eyes flick to the other males in the room.
There was a man who looked a bit older than the other three sitting on the edge of one couch,sipping out of a coffee mug that read: 'Life is a beach'. He had dirty-blond hair that was short around the sides and back, with small, hazel eyes.
The next man I noticed was on the same couch on the different end. He was brown eyed and had blond hair which had a middle parting and a pony tail folded at the back. He also had a small beard,blonde as well. He was slouched against the couch, one arm propped up on the arm rest, his head in his hand snoring away.
The last male was on the opposite couch, across from the other two, sitting on his phone playing 'Candy Crush'. He suddenly jumped up off of the couch.
"Yeah!" He cheered loudly, startling and waking up the younger blonde across from him. "High score!"
The older man looking man,with the coffee chuckled at how disturbed the blonde was, being woken up by the excited male.
Then you got a good look at the one standing and cheering ,he was of average height with slightly darker skin. He sported short crop of brown hair that was kept to a point on the back of his head's upper area.
"Hey," Ian says interrupting the darker males victory dance. "What are you guys doing in here?"
The man with the mug, took a sip. "Enjoying my coffee." Another sip. "And enjoying the annoyed look on Eld's face."
He says referring to the blonde,next to him who wore a sour look on his face, upset with being awoken from his slumber.
Eld rubbed his hands over his face and through his blonde hair ,stopping at his small pony tail. "I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. There are a family of crickets outside my house and they keep me up all night, but I forgot Gunter was an annoying pest as well." He finished glaring at the dark haired man on his phone.
Gunther looked up from his phone briefly, glancing at Eld before going back to tapping on his phone. "Who? Me?"
Eld's glare grew stronger. "Yes, You!"
The older man turned his head in Eld's direction, mug in hand. "Calm down,Eld. Don't get your panties in a bunch."
The man with his uniform thrown poorly on, leaning against the wall, chuckled at Eld's retort.
Eld directed his glare to the coffee man.
"Don't tell me what to do, Oluo."
Then he turned back to face the sniffing weird man.
"And don't laugh at him, Mike. He's not funny."
So that was there names.
Oluo smirked and sipped his coffee before responding. "What if we don't listen to you? You'll smack us with your tiny ponytail?"
He laughed out loud at his own comeback, Gunther and Mike joining in, making Eld's face burned red with anger. All of a sudden he smiled deviously; his face returning to it's normal color. He walked up to Gunther and plucked his phone out of his hand , sauntering over to Oluo.
"Hey, Oluo." He said cheerfully. "How about some sugar for your coffee?" He then plopped Gunther's IPhone into Oluo's half drank cup of coffee.
Gunther's and Oluo's jaw dropped to the floor.
Mike just continued laughing.
"My coffee!" Oluo whined.
"Your coffee!?" Gunther shouted in disbelief, both hands gripping his hair. "My phone! I had three more months, and I'd be upgraded to the Iphone six!" He turned to glare at Eld. "You,ass!"
Eld just glared back "Takes one to know one."
Gunther stepped up to him and poked his chest.
"We'll,know this: you WILL be buying me as new phone.
Eld narrowed his eyes at Gunther. "Over my dead body."
Gunther rolled up his sleeves. "That could be arranged."
They were ready to pounce on each other but, Ian was quicker. He ran over to them, throwing himself in between the two large males, struggling to hold them back from each other.
"Mike, could you give me a hand?" Ian asked him.
Mike looked at him carelessly, his arms crossed.
"I don't know, I mean you're all the way over there."
"Your literally five feet away." Ian stated.
Mike feigned shocked.
"Five feet!? Yeah,no. You're on your own.
Ian breathed heavily through his nose in anger and turned to Oluo.
"Oluo," Ian grunted. "A little help?"
"Oh,I'll help."
Oluo stood and walked in their direction but, strolled right past them and to the coffee machine.
"I'll help myself to another cup of coffee."
"Oluo!"
But Oluo ignored him, sipping his freshly poured coffee.
Shouting filled the room as Eld and Gunther kept attempting to get past Ian, throwing insults and threats at one another.
You look at the group of grown men,shocked by their behavior. It reminded you of the boys and how they acted.
You gasp and lightly face palm yourself. 'The boys. Your boys. The ones you were supposed to be looking for, with the help of these...' Your eyes drift over the males in the room, as you finish your thoughts. 'Trusted employees.'
"You should be happy, I got rid of that stupid phone!" Eld said to Gunther. "Now you won't be playing that stupid Candy crush game all day."
"Oh yeah? Well, I think your face is stupid!" Gunther shot back.
Yep.
Just like your kids.
Eld rolled his eyes.
"That doesn't even make any sense."
"Your face doesn't make any sense!"
'Enough of this.' You thought, walking over to them.
Once you reached them you, gently pushed Ian out of the way and grabbed hold of Eld's and Gunther's ears yanking them down to your height.
"What do you think your- Ow!" Eld cried.
"Hey! Watch it. My ear's sensitive..." Gunther complained.
"You two need to stop fighting and apologize to each other." You commanded. "Right now!"
"But he started it!" Eld said.
"No, you did. When you dunked my phone like a donut!" Gunther retorted
"I'll dunk you like a donut." Eld threatened
"Now who's not making sense."
You yanked both of their ears harder, making them both groan in pain.
"Will you stop that, woman!" Eld shouted.
"Apologize!"
"Okay, okay. We'll apologize, just let go of our ears, please." Gunther begged.
You obliged, releasing their ears. They each grabbed their ears, rubbing the sore, red skin and muttering about how you were tough for someone your size.
You crossed your arms and tapped your foot impatiently. "Well?"
They both stared at eachother for a while, before mumbling 'sorry' at the same time.
"For...?" You encouraged.
Gunther sighed. "I'm sorry for laughing at you and making so much noise, while you were trying to sleep."
Eld rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. "I'm sorry for yelling at you...and messing up
Your phone."
You nodded happily,pleased enough with their apologies.
"Good job. Now,hug." You commanded them.
Gunther threw you a disbelieving look. "You can't be serious."
"I'm not gonna hug him-"Eld said shaking his head
"I.Said.Hug!"
Both,Gunther and Eld let out non-manly shrieks and grabbed hold of each other,keeping their groins a few centimeters apart.
"Awwww, How cute." A voice from across the room cooed mockingly.
It was Mike, the sniffer.
"Are you guys going steady now?" Mike asked teasingly, making the Gunther and the blonde quickly release of each other.
Mike was still laughing at the two males, unaware that You were approaching him.
"And you."
Mike abruptly stopped laughing and looked at you in confusion.
"Me? What about, me?"
"Your, uniform is a mess, straighten it up this instance." You said, referring to his lazily,thrown on work attire.
Mike just stared at you for a moment, before speaking.
"Look, lady. I'm a grown man and I don't take orders from anybody, not even my own mother tells me what to do."
You crossed your arms. "Looks like somebody wants a time-out."
The blonde raised a brow. "Time out?"
You nodded and pointed to a corner in the room.
"But-"
"Now!"
"Awww man." Mike slumped his shoulders in disappointment and moved to stand in the corner.
Oluo makes his way over to Mike, mug in hand,laughing and pointing at him. "Ha-ha, you got in trouble."
But, Oluo wasn't laughing for long as his caffeinated beverage was suddenly ripped from his grasp.
"What the-"
"Too much coffee is bad for you." You lectured. "If you want a drink you can have some juice; it's more healthy." You pull out one of the three juice pouches, which you carried in your purse in case one of the boys got thirsty.
Oluo looked like he was about to protest but instead nodded meekly, taking the juice pouch in his hands and taking place back on the couch. He took his time to examine the juice pouch before finally tearing the straw off and jamming into the opening at the top.
He took a slow, cautious sip.
"Mmm." He hummed happily. "This is pretty good."
"And it's healthy too." You informed him.
"We'll I don't care much for that but, it's really tasty." He said slurping the rest down.
He handed the sucked dry, crumpled up pouch to you.
"Thank you." He said sheepishly. "Can I have another?"
"What do you say?"
Oluo thought for a moment. "...please?"
You rewarded him with another juice pouch which he happily took, adding another 'thank you and plopping down on his spot, on the couch.
Ian walked up to you.
"Wow," he said in awe " These guys never listen to me ,and I'm assistant manager."
You looked at him curiously . "Who's the manger?"
"That would be me."
You shivered, involuntarily at the voice. It was so deep, masculine, and kind of attractive you had to admit it yourself.
You turn in the direction of the voice, which happen to be by the door.
Standing there was a man with piercing, dark eyes, and jet black hair styled in an undercut and sharp, intimidating grey eyes. Belying his rather short stature, his physique is well-developed and heavy with muscle. The slight furrow beneath his eyes are at odds with his otherwise youthful appearance.His expression was calm, and his unflappable demeanor made it difficult to guess what he was thinking. He, unlike the others, was wearing a what looked like an expensive black suit with a red tie.
The other employees stood at attention,looking alert as they saw him.
Mike moved out of the corner moving to stand next to Gunther and Eld. Oluo hopped off of the couch, taking on last sip of his juice pouch before throwing it in the trash. He made his way toward his fellow employees, forming a line side by side. Ian remained beside you.
The male in the suit stood at the doorway, an unreadable expression on his face, when suddenly his eyes meet yours. He calmly walked over to you, stopping just a foot away from you.Although, he was shorter than the average man, he was two or three inches taller than you.
He radiated power, under his stare you felt uncomfortable. Ak his eyes drifted up and down your form, you blushed, wishing that you were wearing something a little more appealing than a t-shirt and a jacket plus your matching yoga pants.
Your eyes drift to his lips, that happen to be moving.
You clear your throat. "I'm sorry can you repeat that?" You asked a little embarrass
He, however remained unemotional as he spoke.
"I said; My name is Levi Ackerman, and I own this store, along with many other establishments.
Now, may I ask why are you in the employee lounge, when you're clearly not an employee."
You were taken back by his rude to rude tone,but recovered quickly as you responded.
"I um, lost my-"
"She lost her kids,Mr.Ackerman. We were going to help her." Ian cut in.
Levi raised an eyebrow at Ian. "You mean their are brats loose, in my store."
Your eyes narrowed, angrily. "My kids aren't brats."
Levi eyed you, out of the corner of his eye and let out a dry chuckle.
"All kids are brats. Don't take it personal, sweetheart."
Your (s/c) cheeks burned bright red,as you balled up your fist in anger.
"Sweetheart!?"
Ian stepped towards you and placed a cautious hand on your shoulder.
"Ma'am please calm down, Mr. Ackerman doesn't mean any harm. He's just-"
"Oi! Ian I know you aren't stupid." Levi said catching your attention.
"This woman doesn't look a day over over thirty. Don't call her 'Ma'am'." His eyes trailed over your body again for the second time that day before finally meeting your (e/c) eyes. "It doesn't suit her."
Your cheeks burn a darker red, you take in the compliment, fiddling with the end of your,
(h/l), (h/c).
'Is he flirting with me?' You asked yourself internally to yourself.
'No, can't be. He's probably just really good at telling people's age. Although, it was charming of him to defend me.'
Levi continued fully facing you now. "And as for you, Ms..."
"(L/n)." You answered. "(F/n) (L/n)"
Levi placed his hands in his pockets.
"Well, Ms. (F/n) (L/n), I will ask you again...What are you doing in the employee lounge?" He ended giving you a flat look.
'And...charming Levi Ackerman has left the building.'
You place your hands on your hips
"Ian just told you, my kids are missing."
"Well, as you can see there are no kids here, So you can be on your way." Levi stated rudely.
Ian, catches sight of your clenched fist and decides to cut in before things got too heated.
"Uh,actually Mr. Ackerman I think she may require our assistance."
Levi rolled his eyes, in annoyance. "Certainly, she doesn't need all of you."
He turned his back to you and Ian, making his way towards the door.
Fed up with his constant rudeness you decide to stop him.
"I think I will, considering the fact that all seven of my kids are missing."
Levi's hand freezed mid-turn on the doorknob. Although you couldn't see his face, you knew you had gotten a surprised reaction out of him, which pleased you.
There was silence for a while before,Levi sighed as he dropped his hand, releasing the door-knob. "Very well, then. I suppose you will need help."
He turned and faced you with that dull look in his eyes.
You smile, grateful that he would let his employees help.
"Thank you so-"
"I shall assist you."
Your eyes grew large in shock. "Wait, what?"
Levi turned to Ian and the others.
"The rest of you, Get back to work." He ordered.
____________________________
You and Levi had begun searching the aisles and sections that contained candy. Since you knew how much the boys loved sugar. After a few minutes of searching,the silence between you two made you uncomfortable,however it didn't seem to bother him-or it did? You couldn't really tell. His facial expression was mostly the same. Just blank.
"So..." You started awkwardly, as you both began walking into yet another, aisle filled with candy. "What made you come to this store today?"
Levi turned his head towards you and raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean by that?"
You shrugged feeling sheepish all of a sudden.
"You know, because you said you owned alot places- I mean why come to this one in particular."
Levi nodded in understanding.
"Well as you can tell this is a big store so It needs a lot more of my attention, much more than any of my other business'. You've had the "pleasure" of meeting my employees, so you see just how reliable they are." He says the last sentence with heavy sarcasm.
"So, you come here more often than the others because of the size of the store and it's bad workers?" You question.
"Exactly." He says as you two turn a different aisle.
"If it's that bad, why don't you hire more people?"
Levi sighs in annoyance to your question. "This store doesn't pull in enough money to hire more people.There's not even enough money to hire a full time security to watch the surveillance cameras."
Levi had sped up and was now walking a few paces ahead of you.
You speed up a little to in order to keep up with him.
"Well maybe you'd have more customers if you had a better prices and maybe a sale every once in a while. I mean I only shop here because my boys like the cartoon shaped macaroni and chesse-but other than that I could barely afford the food here."
Levi suddenly stops making you crash into his back face first. He turns around and looks down at you with emotionless eyes.
"Tch." Levi sucks his teeth."Moron." He mutters not even bothering to apolgize only reaching down his hand to help you up.
Your cheecks heat up in embarrassment for the umpteenth time that day as you take his hand letting him help you up. You were about to open your mouth to thank him but he beats you to it.
"You expect me to take business advice from someone who can't even handle the simple task of watching where they're going?"
You huff in embarrassment at his insult and cross your arms over your chest. "I was just trying to give you an idea,no need to be rude."
Levi scoffs."Maybe you should focus more on keeping track of your children and less on how I run my store."
You glare at him and prop your hands on your hips. "For your information-"
You abruptly stop talking when the lights start to flicker off and then back on.
"Um..." You blink in confusion. "Does that normally happen?"
Levi's eyes narrow as he looks up at the lights. "No,not unless-"
"Reiner!" A booming voice cuts through the air interrupting Levi.
A voice you recognize that belonged to...
"Marco?" You ask alould. "Is that you?"
Levi looked at you confused. "Who's Marco?"
"He's one of my children." You answered distracted, still looking around for the voice.
"Reiner is too."
"Reiner, you turned off the lights!" You heard Marco say, his voice filling the whole store.
"So?" You hear Reiner ask, his voice as loud as Marco's
"So,You can't do that!" Marco shot back.
"Wait," You say turning to Levi. "Are they speaking through..?"
"The store intercom." Levi finished. "They might've hit turned it on by accident."
You nodded.
'Seems like somthing they would do.'
"C'mon," Levi motioned for you to follow him "I know where they are."
________________________________
"What are they in?" You ask as you and Levi both speed walk down the aisle turning every now and then. You once again were trying to keep up with his fast pace.
"It's the room where we keep all of the monitors that watch people in the store and switches that activate certain things in the store, such as the lights." Levi explained.
As if on cue the lights start to flicker on and off again, followed by some laughter.
"Reiner, cut it out!"
You roll your eyes. But otherwise ignore your children's continued bickering.
"Wait, if they're in the room with the monitors, haven't they seen me?"
"Probably not," Levi answers. "Sometimes certain camers don't function properly and aren't able to catch everything."
'Another reason the store needs attention' You think to yourself.
"Why keep them if they don't work?" You ask, as Levi finally comes to a stop. Luckily you don't collide with his back.
Beacuse at that exact moment he decided to turn around causing your face to smash into his hard chest.
But instead of falling on your ass like you would normally would've. Two strong arms caught you by the waist, balancing you.
You gasp in surprise and blush scarlet. You move your eyes to meet Levi's, surprised by how close you two are. You two are met with an uncomfortable silence until Levi inturrupts the awakward situation by speaking.
"What is this, Twenty questions?"
You blink. "Uh.. Oh I'm just curious." You answer when you realize he was referring to your questioning earlier.
Levi sighs and takes a step back, removing his hands from your waist.
"The cameras are mostly for show, as long as people think there is someone watching them they won't steal anything. Besides when have you ever heard of anyone ever stealing from a grocery store."
'Good point' You thought.
"But to be safe you might want to get actual working cameras sometime."
Levi's expression didn't change from the same bland one he wore all day.
"I'll keep that in mind."
He then simply turned around and walked towards a door marked: 'Managment Only'.
"Your kids should be in here." He said motioning to the door he was standing in front of.
He reached into his pocket to pull out his keys but stopped once he saw the door was cracked open.
"Of course it's open." Levi muttered almost to himself. "How else could they have gotten in?"
He opened the door and there they were all seven of your children all huddled up together gazing up at the illuminated screen on the monitors.
Armin was the first to notice you, as he turned his head eyes widening in surprise.
"Mama!" He shouted running up to you and hugging your legs.
Once he acknowledges your presence the others run up to you hugging whatever part of you they could reach, that wasn't occupied by their sibling.
When you manage to pry them off, You greet them with hugs and kisses.
"You guys had me so worried. Don't ever do that again."
"We're sorry, mama." Connie apologized.
Eren nodded."Yeah, we didn't mean to make you upset."
"We won't do it again." Bertolt added
You smiled holding your hands out to hug them again.
"It's okay, guys."
Levi's eyes softened as he watched the scene that played before him.
His eyes turned to slits when he turned around and saw Gunther running towards him with keys in his hands.
"Hey boss," Gunther said when he reached Levi,rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "So,funny story. I..Um ..forgot to lock this door." He finished the sentence with a nervous laugh.
Levi however didn't find it funny.
Gunther sighed and slumped his shoulders in defeat.
"I'll go scrub the toliets."
____________________________
"So, I've decided to order pizza tonight."
You told Levi, as you finished buckling in your kids, shutting the car door.
After your little scene in the store you thanked Levi and tried to leave, but Levi insisted that he walk you to your car.
Levi chuckled, it was a genuine laugh and sound you didn't think he could make. It made your heart flutter.
"Maybe that's a good idea." He said.
"Thank you, again-for helping me out." You told him.
"Idiot," he said with no venom in his voice."You've thanked me already. It was no big deal."
You blushed looking away. " I know. I'm just....grateful, is all."
"Well,"He said pulling out a card and handing it to you. "Call me if you ever need helping you find your children."
You nodded pocketing his card. "Will do."
You turned around putting your hand on the cardoorin the drivers side preparing to get in when his voice stopped you again, making you turn back around looking into is dull gray eyes that held a bit of spark in them.
"And," He said thoughtfully. "If you ever have any more of those good business ideas."
Taken back by his response you weakly respond.
"Y-yeah, okay."
Levi simply nods in farewell and turns aroud to walk back into the store.