Chapter Text
Eren was frustrated, to say the least. Titanic Walls, his and Mikasa’s band, had just lost their lead guitarist and vocalist, Sasha, because she had decided that her talents were put to better use in a restaurant’s kitchen than on stage. Thankfully, Sasha hadn’t left the pair of them to fend for themselves (a band couldn’t survive with a bassist and a drummer, when neither of them could sing that well), and had said she’d give her friend a call to see if she was up to it. She was, supposedly, and wanted to meet with them to see if they all “clicked”. Again, supposedly, as they should have met half an hour ago. Mikasa had gone to get Eren and herself some milkshakes (one of the very few things that could dispel Eren’s annoyance), so Eren was sitting, alone and bored, at a Starbucks outdoor table, when a man slid up beside him and flashed him a cocky grin.
“Hello there,” he said, and Eren couldn’t help raising his eyebrows at the man. His hair was extremely stupid looking, the top obviously bleached (his undercut revealing that he was probably not a blonde naturally), the bit of hair that seemed to be threatening to fall in front of his eyes was clipped down with a white and pink butterfly clip. Apparently he was cocky as well, the shirt he was wearing proclaimed “I woke up like this: Flawless” was also tightly fitted, the sleeves having been raggedly cut to show off his pale (though well defined) upper arms. Combined with a pair of pale pink jeans so tight that Eren was a bit concerned about this man’s circulation, a few shiny silver piercings in his ears and lip, and a small pile of metallic bracelets on his left wrist that stretched almost halfway to his elbow...Well, Eren wasn’t sure what to make of this man. At least his face was handsome enough, even if it was a bit long, with sharp hazel eyes that were obviously checking Eren out. “I’m Jean, and you are?” The man, now identified as Jean asked, offering Eren his hand.
“Eren!” Mikasa suddenly reappeared at Jean’s elbow, four drinks held in one of those cardboard drink carrier thingies, her face revealing nothing to the unknowing eye, but Eren could see that she was almost amused. Jean’s head turned so fast, Eren could hear his neck crack, and he almost felt bad for the poor guy. Mikasa had in tow with her a tiny blonde woman, who seemed absolutely delighted to see the two of them as she clapped her hands with excitement, jingling the (what appeared to be) billions of metal bracelets that covered her arms almost entirely.
“Hi Eren! You’ve apparently met my friend Jean. Anyways, I’m Historia, Sasha’s friend, and she said that you were looking for a guitarist and singer?” Tiny blonde lady said, her eyes twinkling with mischief as she waved between herself and Jean, grabbing the tallest drink from Mikasa’s cardboard thing, before shoving a straw into it. Jean’s eyes narrowed at her as he straightened up, no longer looking Mikasa up and down in a way that had made Eren almost jealous, but now turning a fierce glare onto the smaller blonde.
“Histy, have you really not given up on getting me back into that shit?” Jean groaned, one hand balling into a fist as other slapped and dragged down his face in a display of overdramatics. Historia sighed as she placed her drink on the table, before she grabbed at his arm and manhandled him into sitting down across from Eren. Either Jean wasn’t protesting as much as he appeared to be, or she was really damn strong, easily getting him to sit. Judging from the look of distaste on Jean’s face, and how he rubbed at his arm where she had been gripping him, Historia was probably ripped underneath all those bracelets, which was hella intimidating.
“Sit down and shut up Jeanbo, I got this!” Historia said confidently as she sat next to him, patting his shoulder none too gently, before shoving one of the other cups in front of Jean. Mikasa slid into the seat next to Eren, carefully placing his chocolate brownie milkshake in front of him from its cardboard holder, sipping on her own quietly. Eren gave her a look that could’ve meant either “what the fuck is going on” or “Sasha shouldn’t have been trusted”, even as he slurped up the milkshake he was given. If nothing else, he’d hear these two out as long as he had milkshake to spare.
“Anyways,” Historia continued, sipping on the straw protruding from her drink, “We’re a singer and guitarist combo-” Jean snorted at that, crossing his arms over his chest and moodily picked at one of his many bracelets “-and Sasha apparently thought that the two of us would mesh well musically with the two of you!”
“We were a singer and guitarist duo,” Jean snapped, annoyance clear in his tone before he settled back into his seat, wary of the look Historia sent his way. Eren and Mikasa exchanged a look; if they weren’t even on the same page about their music, how would they be of any help to their band pursuit? Eren was about to ask, before Jean sighed loudly and stood. “Look, sorry to waste your time. Historia’s good enough at singing and guitar for me to not need to be here.” Jean shrugged his shoulders as he scooted away from the table, quickly getting out of Historia’s reach. However, he didn’t get out of Mikasa’s reach, as her hand shot out like lightning to grab his right wrist tightly.
“Historia and Sasha have both told me you’re really good at what you do. Why don’t we play together sometime?” Mikasa asked innocently. Jean looked between her and Eren, his gaze lingering on Eren for a second, before he snorted out a grumpy sounding “fine”. Mikasa loosened her grip on his wrist, and he tugged away, hands stuffing somehow into his front pockets as he slouched off. Only after Jean had disappeared around the far side of the building, his drink completely forgotten on the table, did Eren say anything.
“What the fuck’s his deal?” Eren asked around a mouthful of brownie. Mikasa wrinkled her nose at him as Historia sighed.
“He’s been really off since his grandfather passed. I think he has it in his head that he’s not living up to his expectations for him, or something like that.” Historia waved a hand slightly before adding, “Between you and me, Jean’s grandfather would’ve been proud of Jean even if he ended up living in a cardboard box. Not that Jean would believe it, he has quite a self deprecating streak…” Historia trailed off, shaking her head slightly. Soon enough she brightened up, digging into her bag and pulling out what appeared to be a blank cd in a case. “Take a listen, see if you guys like what we used to be. There’s like, three of our old songs on there, with a decently different vocal range. Knowing Jean, he hasn’t let himself get bad yet, and we can set up a date to jam if you like what you hear?” She asked hopefully, blue eyes glittering with delight when Mikasa nodded as Eren took the case from her.
“We’ll listen to it,” Mikasa assured her, and the two of them exchanged numbers, before Historia trotted off, her heels clicking against the sidewalk quietly, Jean’s abandoned drink flying into a nearby trash can on her way. Eren flipped the case in his hands over, looking for any indication of what was on it, before snorting slightly and letting it clatter onto the tabletop. Mikasa shot him a look as she snatched up the case, already digging her old discman out of her little backpack. “We said we’d listen to it,” She said sharply, as she offered an earbud to Eren. He sighed dramatically as he stuffed it into his ear, not expecting to be good.