Chapter Text
Jean was an artist.
Not like a music artist. Pfft, in his dreams he'd be a goddamn music artist.
Jean was a painter, mostly. He'd occasionally switch from acrylic paints to simple chalk pastels to charcoal. (He did that once and immediately regretted it once it stained his pants)
It was a way for him to simply just... get away. Painting offered him a comfortable silence. A silence that wasn't filled with the faint sound of him sighing whenever he could very barely hear someone trying to get his attention. A silence that wasn't filled with awkwardly telling people he was pretty much deaf. A silence filled with so much sympathetic words and gestures that he began hating it by the time he was 10.
He didn't have to worry about explaining, or watching faces drop in pity when they realized he couldn't hear. That he was disabled. As if having one simple sense missing meant he was suddenly a broken human being who lived a miserable, terrible life. All he could do when he painted was.. paint. No words, no explanations, and he was good enough at it that he got enough money to live off the commission work he did. It was a comfortable life style that limited his physical interactions with other people. No one knew he was deaf in the art community; they just knew he was a goddamn good painter.
Jean sat back in his beyond clean rolly-chair, the paint stained chair giving a groan as Jean leaned back on its worn-down frame. Jean bit down lightly on the end of his paintbrush, careful not to have the paint touch his tongue as he did so as he looked at his current work in progress. It was a very complex sort of painting. A lot of symbolism was involved, and his client was very specific about what they wanted. Jean didn't care about the picky nature of his current client. The guy was paying him a shit ton for this.
Jean's eyes scanned the painting for probably the fifth time, seeing if it was 1. up to the client's standards (or at least whatever the fuck he could remember of them) and 2. that it made sense, where things were, the color scheme. Art shit like that. A loud noise from his phone pulled him from his daze, (he purposefully made the notification noises rather loud,) and Jean decided with a shrug that it would probably be good to get a break anyways. A clear head after painting for hours on end was always a good thing.
He set the paintbrush into a container filled 3/4ths of the way with murky blue-hued water, swirling it around to get some of the pigment left in the brushes' bristles out before wiping his hands and grabbing his phone. He leaned back against his rolly chair once again, unlocking his phone and reading the message.
It was from someone whose number he surely didn't recognize. A quick look through his recent calls list confirmed that this guy never messaged or even called him before. Jean read the message again.
From: 700-555-5555 (lmao)
ey r u comin to the party 2nite????
Jean cringed at the message. Jesus, what the fuck was that typing style? It was almost incomprehensible. Luckily, Jean was accustom enough to "chat speak" that it didn't take him more than a few seconds to decipher this jumble of letters.
Not only was the number foreign, but the goddamn message was vague as hell. However, the area code of 700 gave him the hint that this guy lived in his area. Or at least, his phone number was created in this area. Jean spent a few moments in heavy deliberation on whether or not he should fuck with this guy and reply, or just delete the conversation and ignore him entirely.
Jean bit down on his lip, eyes squinting as he read over the message again. Fuck it, he thought, positioning his phone better and in both hands to type out a reply.
To: 700-555-5555
hell yeah
His response was arguably rather lackluster. But for lack of anything better or witty, he kept with it, pressing the send button without a care after he typed out the simple reply. Jean was already ready to close out the app to check his email when his phone buzzed again, and a reply from the mysterious number showed as a notification on the uppermost part of the screen for a few seconds. Jean raised an eyebrow.
From: 700-696-6969 ( ;) )
lmao when tf did u start 2 curse armin
Armin? What the hell kind of name--
Jean's eyes widened slightly. He recognized that name from somewhere. He stared down at the text message, specifically at the name "Armin" before it clicked in his head. Armin Arlert was one of his recent clients. He wasn't the stuck up picky guy he was stuck working with right now, but he was one he worked for just last week. The commissioned work was something simple yet slightly symbolic and meaningful for someone's birthday.
"It's for a good friend," He remembered reading in the email from him about the work.
Armin was the weirdest name he'd ever found out existed, and the chances of another Armin being in even a 5'000 mile radius of here was rarer than Jean saying out loud that he kinda liked dick more than vagina.
Jean read the message again. Fuck, how the fuck would this Armin guy text? He remembered in the email that he was formally casual, and it was a weird typing style.
He frowned slightly, brows curving inward. Maybe he should drop this shit act--
He felt another buzz.
From: 700-696-6969
w/e the paitning u got me 4 my bday is hella cool
props 2 the guy u commissned
Jean cringed at the piss-poor typing style once again. God, did this guy know how to spell? At least now Jean had complete confirmation that this was indeed the Armin he guessed it was earlier, and that this was the friend he had the painting commissioned for. Jean wasn't even sure at this point if he should keep up this damn charade any longer. He sent only one damn reply and he was already balls deep in shit.
Jean's fr own deepened.
To: 700-696-6969
this isn't armin lmao
you texted the wrong number dude
Jean guessed it was a good enough reply. He decided to leave the matter be for now, guessing that the guy won't text him anymore after that reply. He quickly checked his email, replied to a few before setting his phone away to charge and going back to painting.
____
Eren was staring at the painting.
And he kept doing it.
For some reason, he couldn't pry his eyes away. Eren wasn't really a sucker for paintings; it was his least favorite art form. However, whoever painted this goddamn masterpiece was quickly changing his mind.
The painting was extremely simple, slightly symbolic but heavily meaningful. He understood the references made in the blue and green hues of the painting, and found the color scheme and paint style so... relaxing. He was having a shit day, until he finally was able to open up the painting and finally see why Armin was so goddamn giddy earlier in the day.
Eren was an angry kid. Well... angry adult, actually. He had anger issues that called for management classes and such at a young age so he wouldn't end up beating someone to a goddamn pulp or end up getting his ass kicked by a gang. Small things left Eren wanting to scream and blow up, but he found ways to cope and deal with it.
And for some reason.. this painting worked like a miracle compared to the other me thods he used to die down his anger. Something about the swirling strokes and calming, soothing colors left him forgetting what he was pissed about in the first place. It was really weird.
And because of that weird hypnotic quality of it, he really couldn't thank Armin enough after he opened it and found a place for it to sit. Armin was surprised that Eren liked it more than he originally guessed he would, but glad he was happy with it and not throwing some stupid remark about how art was useless. Then again, Eren never really said anything negative much anymore around friends, so what was Armin to expect?
He sighed, running a hand through his slightly greasy hair. He had to get ready soon, he realized. A birthday party for him being held at a bar a little ways away was happening tonight, and it would be really sad if the main star wasn't even there.
Eren pulled himself out of bed, and went over to his closet, deciding to change his clothes. It was really nothing intense or flashy. Just a black graphic tee, black skinny jeans and plain old converse. Eren wasn't really one to care to get dressy unless the situation heavily called for it.
After getting dressed and cleaning himself up a bit by brushing his hair and teeth and other hygenics, he grabbed his phone and plopped down on his bed once again, casting a glance at the painting before deciding to text Armin to see if he could make it to his party. Earlier, Armin said it was hard to say if he could go, as he had classes to study for and assignments to do.
Eren typed out a simple message.
To: 700-420-5555
ey r u comin to the party 2nite????
Eren, as per usual, used absolute horrendous grammar , spelling and a loss of easily comprehensible words when he texted. He simply found it easier, as it was a pain in the ass to constantly capitilize, add punctuation and reply at the fast rate he like to.
A minute passed before he got a response .
From: 700-420-5555
hell yeah
The response was short but to the point. And totally something Armin would never say. Eren doesn't even recall a time when he heard Armin willingly curse out loud, let alone do it in a text message. Eren raised an eyebrow, curious and confused. He didn't think too hard about it, though.
To: 700-420-5555
lmao when tf did u start 2 curse armin
He wondered if Armin's roommate replied for him. It had happened before, and he wouldn't be surprised if it did again. But why the reply of "hell yeah"?
Eren shrugged off the thought once again, typing out another message.
To: 700-420-6969
w/e the paitning u got me 4 my bday is hella cool
props 2 the guy u commissned
He decided to just remind the fact that the painting he received as a gift was cool as all hell and that he was heavily grateful he had it. Of course, with Eren's typing style it didn't come out as nearly poetic at he would've cared for it to. Whatever.
Eren jumped slightly when he heard and felt his phone buzz, signaling that he got a text. he quickly read it.
From: 700-420-6969
this isn't armin lmao
you texted the wrong number dude
The typing style was close to Armin's roommate, however, Armin's roommate would never reply like that. Let alone add "lmao" to the end of a sentence. Seems like Eren had accidentally been texting some stranger instead of his friend, and now he knew that he liked a painting he got for his birthday. It probably sounded fucking lame to the other person.
Eren frowned, not exactly sure what to do now. He weighed out his options, deciding that plowing into the situation without a regard of what could happen was a crap idea. (After years of doing it in high school , he finally learned.) He finally decided that talking to this guy maybe just a little more couldn't hurt.
What did he have to lose? All this guy knows is his phone number, that he has a friend named Armin and likes his birthday present. It's not like he sent the guy a nude or something.
____
It was 3 am. And he was still texting this guy.
He didn't mean to continue to text this guy. But he replied to his "lol you have a wrong number" text and he'd feel like an utter asshole not replying. Although Jean was an asshole by nature, he was learning to tone down his asshole tendancies. (All thanks to a certain freckled friend of his who shat rainbows)
And then the texts just spiraled out of control.
The other guy, (whom he learned was named Eren -- he didn't even ask for a name but whatever) stopped texting at around 9pm and started to text him again at 12am . Jean was so caught up in watching Face Off (that sfx makeup show) that he didn't even notice that his phone was lighting up with texts every few minutes until he went to retrieve it to check.
The Eren guy left him 12 texts in the last hour, each in... impeccable grammar and spelling. The guy even capitalized. Jean's eyebrows rose in slight surprise, wondering why he was suddenly so good at typing in English.
Eren
Jean
Jean
Are you there
Jean
Dude I have no one to talk to reply to me
Dude
Jean
Jean
What the hell are you doing right now reply to meee
Jean
Dude
Jean Dude
Although most of the messages were just Jean's name and dude repeated at least 10 times, he was surprised to find absolutely no mistakes. Jean sat back into his couch and held his phone in a more comfortable way to reply.
Me
what
Jean didn't really feel like replying in a very long and complex way. It was 12 am and he didn't have the patience to type out "what the fuck do you want".
Eren
Good you replied
You should send a selfie
Because you sound cute
And I wanna know if you look cute
Jean frowned at the rather really forward reply he got. It kinda irritated him that the guy thought that sending texts one by one was better than just sending a big chunk of text all at once. His hands would tingle from the vibrations as much.
Jean bit his lip. Who knew if this guy was even the same guy as before? His typing style is so far from the original piece of shit undecipherable mess he had the displeasure of calling it English that it was suspicious. Plus, he was asking for a pic of Jean. How does he know this guy's gonna fap to it or not?
Jean then realized that if he were to send a pic of himself, it would be so far from one thats even close to sexy that it would be hard for this guy to wank to it unless he had a very vivid imagination or was just plain weird and creepy.
Jean sighed heavily. God.... He was going to regret this. After scrolling through his camera roll to find the most innocent picture of himself, he found a suitable one that was fairly recent and the farthest from provocative he could get. He then sent the picture to him.
Eren
Holy shit
Jean raised an eyebrow. And his phone vibrated again.
Eren
You're fucking hot
Whatever weird response he was expecting to get threw this response out the window. This weird mix of stranger and close acquaintance just called him hot. Jean had no idea how to fucking reply now, and his cheeks felt like they were burning.
Me
dude you dont just tell people theyre hot
but thanks
now send a pic of yourself i need proof youre not some creep
Jean couldn't believe he was asking for verification on this guy's identity just now. Why he hadn't thought about it before was ridiculous. Well, hopefully this doesn't go bad and end up biting Jean in the ass.
Surprisingly, after a minute or two Eren replied with a picture of himself.
Jean looked at the picture with a blank expression for 30 seconds before he realized something.
This guy was fucking hot too. And he had a dick drawn on his face in permanent marker. And the lighting was absolutely horrendous. But from what he could see was bright teal-blue eyes, not-pale-but-not-extremely-tan skin and dark brown hair.
Me
WHY IS THERE A DICK DRAWN ON YOUR FACE
Eren
Proof that I'm not fake lol
Me
did you have to do it in sharpie
Eren
Yes
What else would I use nutella???
Me
im gonna be honest though your hot
Eren
*you're lol
Also thanks
Though I can't compete with you ;)
Me
dude have you seen your eyes
Eren
Yes every morning when I look at myself in the mirror
Me
oh shut the fuck up
the colors fuckin pretty though
Eren
Dude your's is all sparkly and stuff
Like anime eyes or some shit
It's fucking amazing
Eren
Jean
Jean omg
Don't tell me my anime eyes comment turned you off or something
Jean
Dude
Don't leave me hanging
Bro
By the time 3:30 am rolled around, Jean was asleep, phone resting on a pillow nearby. He didn't mean to accidentally fall asleep, but holy shit he hadn't stayed up till 3 am in a long time and his eyes were burning at everything he looked at.
______
When Jean woke up the next day at 2 pm he was surprised to see a shitton of messages from Eren. Among those included 2 more selfies from him, one where he was trying to look cool by wearing shades and holding up a peace sign and another where he drew another dick on himself but with nutella. Jean sighed heavily. God, this guy just only got wilder and wilder, huh?
Me
i fell asleep
but clearly u had fun last night
Jean sent that reply and got off the couch, stretching out his limbs and preparing himself for the day. He had to finish the painting he was working on today, as he was so close to done and he just wanted it to be over. The small intricate details and such specifications for it was tiring to worry about and follow. But it got him money in the bank, so he considered it well worth it.
After a quick shower, a change of clothes and a breakfast of just toast he headed to his painting room. He grabbed his phone along the way and read the messages he received from Eren.
Eren
i was bored k
too board
i even busted out the nutella for u
Jean noted that Eren was back to his shit way of typing. Dang. He was getting used to his proper use of English.
Me
wtf why are you back to typing like a 6 year old
Eren
o
when im drunk
i type better
Me
that doesnt even fucking make sense
Eren
well thts wat i do
btw i still think ur hot
u should send mor pics ;))
Jean sat down in his rolly chair, leaning back as per usual. His cheeks went from pale to red in .2 seconds at the text.
Me
not rn
i actually have a job
which i should probably be doing rn
Eren
u cn just say ur gonna b busy jeez
wat even is ur job
Me
not telling
Eren
thats LAME
ur lame jean
lame nd hot
cmon tell me ur job
Me
oh man would you look at that its
time to do my job o'clock
Eren
bb come on dont b like that pls
Me
byeeee eren
Eren
:((
Jean was lucky he knew how to slip out of situations like that. And with this guy, it seemed to easy. Jean turned his phone on silent, and set it aside. He then got ready to finish this frustrating painting, wanting once and for all to just finish it and get his 500$.
_______
Jean was done.
Fucking finally.
Jean let out a heavy sigh as he kicked his rolly chair backwards and rolled back a few inches, a proud smirk on his face. He got this thing done in only 5 days, intense sketching and color scheme making and tedious work with actually painting it, and he was getting 500$ dollars for it. He didn't know if this was the best commission yet or not.
Jean applied a layer of matte medium over the painting after it had fully dried, and then just sat back and let it dry. After this matte medium dried, he didn't have to do anymore besides get it ready to be shipped and send it off to the commissioner.
Once done with the matte medium, Jean cleaned up his workspace, (at least as much he cared to right now) and grabbed his phone after washing his hands. He saw that Eren had sent him a few texts a couple of hours ago.
Eren
jeaaaaan
wats ur job
why r u hot
send more selfies
Eren
ill warm u up w the job thing
i work as a pizza delivery guy
so if u need a pizza
i can hook u up
;)
Jean rolled his eyes. This guy was thirstier than any other person he'd ever met. Whatever; at least he was cute. And a goddamn loser. All he did was fucking text him, its like he had nothing better to do.
Me
why do u want my selfies so bad
also still not telling you my job
Eren
whyy not
i told u mine
wat do u want in exchange for this
why r u even hiding it r u like a stripper or smth?????
Me
wtf no
if i was a stripper id be working at night
its 5pm right now
do you even understand strippers
Eren
u avoided my question
wats ur job
wat r u hiding sweet cheeks
Me
what kind of nickname is sweetcheeks
Eren
ur doing it again
and its now ur name in my contacts
Me
your fucking kidding
Eren
Picture message!
;)
Me
i cannot believe you
Eren
if u tell me ur job i'll change it
>:)
Me
use stronger bargains next time
Eren
fuck
wat will get u to tell me ur job
Me
why do you want to know????
Eren
ur hiding it and bein all secretive
why woulndt i want 2 kno
Me
send more selfies
Eren
wat
why do u want my selfies
im not as hot as u
Me
oh but you are
selfies or you wont know my jooooob
Eren
this is a suspiciously rlly easy bargain
Me
take it before i retract my offer
Eren
sheesh fine mr big words
Picture message!
Me
WHERE IS YOUR SHIRT
Eren
Picture message!
Me
dont fucking add one where youre winking
you sly hot bastard
Eren
:o
u think im hot
WAIT ur just shifting form the topic at hand
wats ur job!!! i gave u nice selfies
dont leaf me hanging
Me
leaf? really? puns?
fine
im a painter
Eren
lmao didnt mean fur a pun
;)
ooo ur creative... thats rlly hot
Me
youre just really fucking thirsty
Eren
tru
did u happen to do a commission for a guy named armin tho??
Me
why are you assuming i do commission work
Eren
thats a yes >:)
u said it was a job soooooo
Me
fuck my gigs up
yeah
that painting you got as a present was one i painted
Eren
:OOOOOOO
holy shit