Chapter Text
The cool morning air sat comfortably against your face as you stepped out and locked your car. Today was another regular day for work, early and kinda boring. It was a gloomy morning, the sun wasn’t out. Fog covered a good portion of the parking lot.
Your appearance wasn’t something that mattered at the moment, so you wore your favorite pair of black sweatpants and a sweatshirt. It was cute and it was comfortable.
Perfect for working at a coffee shop.
Grateful wasn’t even good enough of a word to describe how lucky you were that you didn’t have to wear some tacky work uniform. Your boss, Armin Arlert, was young just like you, everyone who worked there was young. Some customers that came in even went as far as to say that the entire shop was run by kids. This job was the most fun any of you ever had, never having to worry about not getting the work done. It was fairly relaxed and your boss was lenient.
The smell of fresh coffee beans filled the air as you opened the door. Quickly your boss greeted you, and your co-worker Historia. It’s still pretty early, so you figured that the rest of the crew would make it just a little before the shop opens. They always do.
Historia softly smiled as she handed you a dark brown apron.
“Good morning Miss Assistant Manager,” you smiled, flaunting her new title, pulling her into a hug.
The blonde girl playfully rolled her eyes. Recently, Armin had promoted her to a new title during her last shift. It was a surprise for her, but all of you were in on it. Connie, Eren, and Jean somehow baked a nice cake without messing it up, while Ymir made sure that the rest of them had worked on the little decorations and gifts.
“Good morning,” Historia smiled, wrapping her arms around you tightly to complete the hug.
After letting go, you smoothed out the wrinkles on your apron before putting it around your waist. “Do you know who else is on shift this morning? I didn’t get the chance to check before I came in,” she asked before grabbing a cloth from a bin and wiping down the counter.
“Sasha, Connie, and Eren I believe,” you scratched the side of your head as the girl wiped down the espresso machine. From how dirty it was you could tell Connie was the one who used it last. He always forgets to clean it before leaving after closing- the only one who forgets. It didn’t even make sense of how dirty it would get. Historia hummed as the two of you and Armin finished cleaning and prepping for opening.
Right on cue, your other three co-workers rushed through the door after you guys finally finished cleaning. During their morning shifts, you could tell they purposely came in late to miss prep.
“It’s cold as fuck out there,” Connie huffed on his hands, then rubbed them together. Eren chuckled as his body shivered. “If yo bald ass grew some hair then maybe you wouldn’t be so cold,” Eren smirked knowing he was insulting the boy.
Connie dramatically widened his eyes, “I rather be bald than have that greasy ass man bun you got going on.”
Eren sucked his teeth. “My hair is not greasy,” he rolled his eyes.
“Yes, it is,” Armin and Sasha recited in unison. Historia tried her best to hold back her laughter, pursing her lips together flat and turning herself in the other direction. It barely worked, but at least she tried. Eren’s jaw dropped as everyone laughed at him. His hair was greasy, but that would be an easy fix if he’d just let people help. That 5 in one shampoo wasn’t doing his hair any good.
Sasha flipped the small sign on the door to open as she took a bite of one of the croissants she thought she snuck by everyone. They noticed her, but there was no point in fussing at her over treats when she is going to try and sneak them regardless.
“So (Y/N) how’s school been?” Connie laid out on the couch.
“Don't even remind me, I thought I chose an easy major,” you laid yourself on top of Connie with a heavy sigh leaving your lips. College had been kicking your ass if you were being honest. Classwork was piling up and odd enough going to work was your only escape. Sometimes you even came to work to skip class or to hang out. It was something you all did, and even though Armin advised it wasn't the best idea. Regardless, he let it slide.
“Felt,” Connie replied mimicking your sigh.
You rolled your eyes, “Boy shut up, you barely go to class. You sit in that nasty ass frat house and then come to bother us,” Connie exaggerated a gasp at the accusations, although they were true.
“Our house isn’t nasty,” he defended.
You huffed, “Oh please, I walked into your bathroom and lost my appetite,” Sasha said with slight disgust before throwing a towel at his face. Sasha loves her food so for her to lose her appetite, it must’ve been bad.
“Oh, that’s nast-”
“Welcome to Crème Hearts, how can I assist you?” Historia smiled as she stopped herself from continuing the previous sentence, then greeted the first customers of the day. You and Connie scrambled off of the couch to reach behind the counter.
“Hi. Can I get a chai crème frappé, a vanilla blonde roast for blondie, and shorty would like a chai tea,” the customer smiled. Historia finished typing the order into the register while you and Eren began to work on it.
Armin came from the back room with a pout on his face. You knew what that meant, he was about to do some convincing. He dramatically sighed, “Does anyone want to go to the beach with me tomorrow?” he threw his arms over the counter laying his head softly on his arms.
“Why didn’t you just ask me and Mikasa to come with you?” Eren asked, waiting for the machine to finish making the chai tea.
“Mikasa said she’s not going if you're going to get drunk and be an asshole to random strangers again. She also called you a menace.” Armin answered without even moving as everyone tried not to laugh. Your chest began to feel hot from trying to hold it in, but Connie already had tears rolling down his eyes.
Eren sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes. He was stubborn even when he was little, he barely listened to anyone. The only time he did was when it was Mikasa, but she nearly had to beat it into him.
“We should all go, make a whole day of it. Go out to eat, walk the pier. We can bring the whole group.” Historia smiled, taking out a stack of to-go cups from the cabinet.
“Would Ymir even go? Last time we went she hated it,” Sasha yelled out from the back hallway.
“If I wear a bikini she will,” Historia winked.
“Don’t get snatched up,” Connie warned. One thing about Ymir, she didn’t play about Historia. It was cute, but sometimes it was scary how protective she was over her. You all knew that Ymir only had her best interest at heart for her girlfriend.
The crew was deep into the conversation as you worked on the latte art for the orders. Eren could’ve tried to do it, but no matter how much practice you two had with it, he couldn't get it right. He was a lost cause in that area, the most he could probably get done is cleaning.
“Order for Hange,” you called out to the customers. A woman in a gray suede suit stood up walking over to the counter. Long bangs covered the front of her face while the rest of her brown hair was placed into a somewhat messier ponytail. It was a cute style, the suit made her look even better.
Before grabbing the three drinks, she caught you glancing at her.
Slowly, she looked you up and down, biting the bit of dry skin off the side of her lip before locking eyes with you. Something about the eyes was so intriguing; the color, the shape, it all suited her so perfectly. Smiling, the woman grabbed the drinks and walked away over to the couches.
A panic began to set in. She was attractive, very attractive. You couldn't tell if she was trying to intimidate you or flirt. The eyes seemed flirty, but you were never sure.
It was so easy yet so hard.
“Someone’s got their eye on someone, ” Connie sang coming up behind you. Softly you threw your arm back and slapped the back of his head.
-
“Levi!” the woman in the gray suit pouted.
Her brown hair was contained in a ponytail, and she wore rectangular frame glasses. She was gorgeous and tall. Her skin is olive-colored. From the looks of it, she was a smart woman. A woman of many abilities.
“No,” he replied, taking a brief sip from his drink.
His eyes were sharp, scary sort of. He was short, shorter than his other peers. It didn’t make him any less scary. Levi Ackerman meant business. If he wanted it done, he’ll have it done.
“I’m with Levi on this one Hange. We can’t stay here, we’ll end up being late for the meeting,” Erwin chimed in, stirring his drink with a straw.
Hange just wanted to sit in the café for a bit. She never felt the need to sit in, but today is a new day. Shesunburn couldn’t put her finger on it on the surface, but subconsciously she knew exactly why.
The girl.
The one working behind the counter with the blonde. They’ve never noticed the girl before, but something about her intrigued Hange. She was gorgeous, to say the least. The somewhat small plated tag read “ (Y/N) .”
Hange had seen plenty of pretty girls, but something about this one interested her. Anyone she ever tried to get to know didn’t last long in her life. Hange was devoted to science, more than the average person. Most people she tried talking to in the past didn’t even try to act interested when Hange mentioned it. That’s where she drew the line. She wanted someone to at least pretend to care about her interest.
“Just for a little, ten or fifteen minutes? Please?” Hange pleaded to her blonde friend.
Levi side-eyed Erwin. They both knew why Hange wanted to stay. It wasn’t too obvious, but it wasn’t subtle either. She kept glancing over to where the workers that made their drinks, and they knew Hange wasn’t that interested in seeing how the drinks were made.
“Is there any reason, in particular, you want to stay?” Levi placed the drink on the table leaning back on the couch. Hange shook her head and the man sighed. He knew that she wasn’t going to answer that.
“Fifteen minutes. If we’re late to the meeting, that's your ass,” Levi rolled his eyes. He knew this was the beginning of something that he probably couldn’t stop.
But who was he to judge when he did the same thing?