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It was an unbearably hot day in Levi’s own personal hell--complete with bleach blonde bimbos in skimpy bikinis and big-chested beef cakes looking to impress--that found the short male staring up at a rather irritatingly happy male with tanned skin and big, green eyes.
“Can I help you?” Levi asked boredly, closing his book with a snap.
“Um, yeah,” the male bit his lip, looking suddenly unsure in the face of Levi’s uncaring drawl and blank face. “I’m Eren.”
Levi stared.
Eren stared back.
“...and?” he finally drawled.
The brunette flushed. “O-oh! Right! I, um, I want to rent a surf board. That one over there, in fact.”
“Right,” Levi drawled, following the direction of Eren’s finger towards a giant display of said surf boards. When the other male merely stared back hopefully, he sighed, grabbing his keys out of the drawer. “Come on then, show me where it is.”
“Okay,” Eren beamed, trotting over to the display to stand before an obnoxious bubbling monstrosity full of a blinding vortex of colors.
Somehow Levi wasn’t surprised. “All day?” He asked, lifting his keys to unlock the straps keeping the board in place. “Or hourly?”
“I--” Eren blinked, face flushed when Levi glanced back at him. “I’m sorry, I--what?”
He sighed once more. “All day rental?”
“Oh!” The brunette gave a nervous laugh, running his hands through his hair. “Yeah. It’s cheaper, you know? Or at least, that’s what Mikasa--my sister--tells me. I’ve never had to before--”
Tugging the board off of its stand, Levi locked the straps back into place. Even leaning against the wall the board was taller than Levi, and he found himself glowering at that fact. With Eren still going on behind him, Levi had to remind himself that snapping at customers was not okay, and that telling the kid he didn’t need his life story wasn’t going to help any. “Do you even know how to use one of these?”
Eren paused in his rambling to frown down at him, cocking his head to the side. “Of course. Why?”
Levi gave him a flat look, as if to say it should be obvious, though with a tired sigh he proceeded to carry the surfboard over to check out.
“Wait!” The tanned male called, chasing after Levi. “What did you mean by that?”
“Forget about it, kid.” Levi dismissed, setting the board on the counter as he ducked back under the lift-up door to stand at the cash register. Beginning to punch in the information needed to sign the board out to the chatterbox, the slow, rhythmic sounds of the keys filled the air. It seemed to blend in with the low hum of the air conditioner and the music overlapping it, making a rather soothing melody.
“I’m not a kid,” Eren interjected, as if suddenly realizing that Levi had insulted him. He leaned a hip against the counter. “Besides, you don’t look too old yourself.”
He’s a customer, Levi reminded himself, sucking in an angry breath. He’s a customer and you can’t--
“In fact, you look like you belong in elementar--”
“Alright,” Levi said, slamming the enter button loudly. The sound seemed to startle the other male, and Levi pasted a fake grin onto his face. By the look on Eren’s, it probably looked more psychotic than friendly. “That’ll be $100.56.”
Blinking slowly, as if he was uncertain of what he’d just seen, Eren pulled at the wallet dangling from his chest. Tugging several bills out of the folds, he held them out to Levi, looking rather wary.
Levi didn’t bother hiding the disgust curling his lip as he smoothed the crumbled edges, questionable smudges on the corners making him certain to use the bottle of sanitizer under the register. “$105,” he counted, sliding the drawer open with a cheerful ding. “$4.44 is going to be your change.”
“You can keep it,” Eren finally said, grabbing the board and nearly knocking over the display of sunscreen Levi had set up a few hours ago. “you look like you could use a pick-me-up anyways.”
Levi forced another plastic smile in place, voice brittle with barely contained anger. “How kind.” He slid the drawer back into place with a harsh click, tearing the newly printed receipt off of the side of the machine with a motion akin to how one might tear the hair off of a tall asshole’s head. “Your receipt.”
“Thanks!” Eren grinned, taking the paper and shoving it into his wallet without a care. Levi could almost swear he could hear its tortured cries, even from his distance. “Have a nice day!”
“I’ll do that,” Levi muttered, the roll of his eyes going unnoticed as the brunette turned away. “Asshole,” he added when the door shut with a click, turning to fix the displaced bottles on the counter. A clumsy one at tha...
Levi blinked, staring down at the paper jammed in between two spray bottles. The paper was crumpled and just barely hidden, but it was there all the same. There among the bottles Levi had just stacked a mere hour or two ago. Scowling fiercely, he tugged it out, wondering why people couldn’t use trashcans like normal human beings--only to raise an eyebrow at the words spilling across the surface. Now more curious than annoyed, Levi flattened the paper, reading over the slanted, hurried words with growing disbelief.
‘You seem to be having a bad day, and despite your shitty attitude you seem interesting.’
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
‘Let me take you out at the end of your shift?’
Levi stared at the words, as if they would magically change within the few moments it took to blink.
They didn’t.
Shaking his head, he shoved the paper into one of the drawers underneath the counter, right next to his keys and lunch. ‘Eren’ was insane, that note was confirmation enough.
Levi grimaced, pumping a shot of hand sanitizer onto his palm. He was insane, but… Maybe he would take him up on the offer. After all, he found that the brunette wasn’t wrong when he had said that Levi could use a pick-me-up.