Chapter Text
Today is the day that he would turn eighteen years old. Finally the day had come and he couldn't be any more excited for it. Now the only thing left to do is to sneak out of the house without his father knowing and meeting up with Armin. Which is admittedly harder then he would like it to be. Glancing at the clock, green-blue eyes read the time. 3:00 Pm. Damn.
Flopping backwards onto his bed, he heaved a large sigh as he closed his eyes. There was no way he would be able to get by his dad with his office right next to the front door, especially when he left it wide open. Grisha Jaeger is a very strict father and as a doctor he is also overly concerned with his son’s health. A little too much, he thought with a grimace. He spent another five minutes sitting there in silence as he watched the clock slowly tick by. Finally, the miracle he was hoping for came with the sound of the house phone ringing. Two rings before his father picked up the phone and his muffled voice drifted up the stairs. The only reason anyone ever called was to ask his father for a house call and if he was lucky, the call would be from someone on the other side of the wall. The district of Shinganshina is a city completely walled in on all sides, built within the conquered chunk of land a century ago. They had actually managed to take more land, but the land of Giadefel was harsh, full of many dangerous creatures and strange happenings. As such, they build the wall in an attempt to keep everything in the land out.
Giadefel is a land mostly covered in mountains and forest that continues far into the distance north of wall Maria. We are actually uncertain exactly how far the territory stretched, just that it was ruled by a race called Ängrisk. This is a race of winged beings ruled mostly by their biology with a certain faction of them, referred to as Alphas, being far more violent than the rest. In fact most of them still refuse to interact with us, even though the war was long over. The only ones anyone ever saw ended up being the Betas; the ones who turned out to be a little more level headed and calmer than the rest. Mostly the Betas would just come into Shiganshina in trade caravans, but a few did live within the city. On the rare occasion you could even look up and see one flying overhead.
Shiganshina was not only the city closest to the Ängrisk, but also one of the only willing to even trade with them, as they did not use or accept money. Another astounding feature about the Ängrisk is their ability to make their wings vanish from sight. Armin says it has to do with a similar type of 'magic' that causes strange things to happen within their territory. Shiganshina, originally being a part of Giadefel couldn't completely escape the strange happenings either, even with the wall built. Thankfully they happen few and far in-between and they tend to be hushed up so you don't really hear about them. They do happen though, not even the presence of the Military Police could stop it. He didn't think they really did anything, besides clean up afterwards and make sure people kept quiet about it. Armin's parents were victims of one of these strange occurrences. One day they just didn't come home, the only think Armin ever learned was from the Military Police showing up at his door telling him not to say anything. Since then Armin has been living with his grandfather.
"Eren! I'm going out to Trost! I'll be back this evening," his father called up the stairs. "Don't forget your due for a shot tonight." A moment of silence passed before he heard the front door open and close. Eren scrambled towards his window and peered out. His father was making his way down the road, medical bang in hand without a backwards glance. Perfect. Now to go meet up with Armin to celebrate his birthday!
Eren haphazardly stuffed his feet into his boots, pausing a moment to run his hand through his hair to tame it before grabbing his brown bomber jacket as he darted out his door and down the stairs. He paused at the front door a moment, taking a deep breath as he put his jacket on over his green shirt. Slowly he creaked the door open, peering out onto the busy street to see if his father was still in sight. Thankfully he wasn't and Eren let out a relieved sigh. He stepped out onto the porch, easing the door closed behind him before heading down the road in the opposite direction he had saw his father go. Armin was probably still at the book store that he worked part time at, since his shift ends at four. Eren didn't mind waiting though, and the managers certainly didn't mind him chatting with Armin as long as he got his work done.
Time skip
By the time Eren arrived at the bookstore, there were still thirty minutes before four o'clock. A quick glance around found Armin down one of the isles, stacking books onto a shelf. Eren sauntered over, making sure to be as quiet as possible. Pausing just behind Armin, Eren waiting a moment before saying, "Hey Armin." Armin jumped almost dropping the book in his hand but only managing to slam it into other books on the shelf, causing a few of them to fall over.
"Eren!" Armin gasped, turning around to look at him. "Don't scare me like that." Eren only grinned as he watched Armin turn back to fix the books on the shelf. "Your early, I thought you wouldn't be able to sneak out till later? Did your dad give you your shot early and then let you go?"
Eren shook his head. "No, he needed to make a house call over in Trost, so he's out till this evening." Armin nodded. “I’ll still have to go back later, preferably before he gets back. You know how he can be about giving me those stupid shots.” Armin nodded.
“Did you ever figure out what was in those shots? I still think it’s so unusual that he gives you so many. Normal people don’t need a shot every week.” Eren shrugged.
“I’ve asked, but he isn’t very clear about and just says that I need it. Something about my mother too, but I’m not listening by that point.” Armin pauses and takes in Eren’s scowling face.
“I’m sorry. I know you don’t like it when your Mother is brought up.” Eren shrugged, not looking up from the book he is fiddling with on the shelf. “Come on, let’s go return this cart and then I’m sure Anna will let me go early.” Armin abandoned the books that were already on the shelf and pushed the cart towards the back of the store, Eren trailing along behind him. Annabelle, or Anna for short, did allow Armin to leave ten minutes early, especially when she found out it was for Eren’s birthday. She did seem to have a soft spot for Eren.
Soon enough, they were walking out the doors of the shop, Armin pulling on his coat while squinting his blue eyes from the sudden shock of sun light. “So where do you want to go?” Armin asked as he glanced up at Eren.
Eren hummed as he looked around. The last hour for lunch breaks had already passed so not many people were out and it would stay like this until five or six. This meant if they hurried they could beat all the people over to Rose Tavern, a popular restaurant near west wall. The restaurant got its name from the couple who had opened it that were originally from Wall Rose, which is closer in towards the capitol. The capitol itself is surround by Wall Sina and is the location most of the rich loved to live. The place is said to be overly decadent and extravagant in everything from house decorations to parties and parades. Mostly it’s just rumors though as no one ever leaves Wall Sina unless for military related business. Even the current Monarch has never even left his castle which is located at the center of Wall Sina territory. “Let’s go to Rose Tavern.” Armin smiled as they headed off.
“I knew you would pick there, it is your favorite place after all.” Eren just barely resisted rolling his eyes.
“If you knew then why did you ask?”
“Because it’s your birthday, your choice in location.” Armin said, beaming at him. Eren could resist smiling back at him.
“Yeah. Yeah, it is.”
Armin’s place of work isn’t more than a fifteen minute walk from Rose Tavern. With the streets not being crowded they managed to make it there in even less time. Still though, upon walking in they found the place to still be relatively busy with being packed to capacity. They had to wait behind three other groups of people before they were finally led to their own seat, a small booth next to the window which gave them a good view of the street outside.
“Are we going to meet up with Connie and Sasha later?” Armin asked as they slid into their booth, both of them getting their own side. A small vase sat on the side of the table next to the window with one small pale yellow rose inside of it. Rose Tavern changed the roses on the tables every day, providing a different color to each table. Armin says they have a rose garden in the back, but it must be very large to provide so many rose of varying colors every day.
“Yeah, they wanted to go to some party, didn’t they? Where was it?” Eren asked as he opened the menu up.
“Club WM, you know that’s the only place we have around here.” Eren shrugged.
“Could’ve been someone’s house, it was last time, wasn’t it?” Armin shoot his head.
“No, it was the woods along the wall last time, a house before that.”
“Oh yeah. Why did they choose Club WM this time? That place is expensive to get into!” Armin shrugged.
“They probably picked it because it was your birthday. I’m sure if you ask they’ll pay your entrance fee.” Eren nodded before decided to change the topic.
“Do you know what you’re getting? I think I’m going to get the spicy sandwich.” Armin pinched his eyebrows as he studied the menu before him.
“uhh, the Caesar salad.” Eren snorted.
“Health nut.” Before Armin could respond and probably scold him about his lack of concern for his health the waitress showed up to take their orders. They quickly ordered their food and watched the waitress leave, coming back soon after with their drinks. Even with the restaurant on the busy side they still managed to get their food within twenty minutes and it didn’t take long for them to finish their food. Eren did have to fend off Armin as he kept trying to steal his fries. Once done they paid and left, headed to meet up with Connie and Sasha at Connie’s place.
“Will they mind that we’re going so early? To the club?” Eren asked while cruising down the road, staring up at the clear sky. There were slight wisps of clouds scattered about in the sky, very few and far in between. The time was nearing five thirty in the evening but the sun still hung in the sky, just starting to touch the edges of the buildings behind them.
“No, they know your Father likes to have you home early. We’re lucky you even got away this early, I didn’t think I would see you till later. I even left your present at home! Can I give it to you tomorrow?” Armin asked in earnest, wide eyes staring at him.
Eren nodded. “Yeah, I know your house is in the opposite direction as mine, so it’d be inconvenient to go there after the club.” Eren grinned and nudged Armin’s shoulder. “Plus, I’m sure you got me a very interesting present. The best, right?”
“EREN!” A shout of his name was the only warning he got before a body collided with his and sent him tumbling to the ground. The curly brown hair being shoved into his face gave him a clue as to who this was. Connie’s voice speaking up confirmed it.
“Sorry! I let her eat a bunch of sugar earlier.” Connie called, as he jogged up to them. Eren managed to push Sasha away enough to sit up.
“Happy birthday!” Sasha chirped, grinning from her place next to him. “Are you excited?! We get to go to club WM the same day as the Ängrisks are coming! It’s not every day you get to see one!” Sasha was practically vibrating in her spot in excitement.
“Really?” Eren asked curiously. Armin’s responding nod drew his attention.
“It’s a new thing theye're attempting, to bring the races closer together. Since the war there still haven’t been many interactions and there tends to be some hostilities from both sides.”
“Huh,” was the only respond Eren gave. Sasha jumped to her feet and with a shout of, “Hurry up, let’s go!” dragged Connie down the road. Armin started to trail after them as Eren moved to get to his feet. He paused though as he saw a large shadow pass over the ground before him. With a glance up at the sky he watched an Ängrisk fly away, disappearing over the roof tops. Today is certainly shaping up to be interesting for him.