-x-

III

Levi's Near West 4th

-x-

"Armin. I'm only twenty three and I've completely lost control of my life."

I sighed, smacked a heavy arm into the cool sheets of my black duvet and huffed loudly. It was three in the morning and I was staring up at my dark ceiling with a sense of despair that hadn't left me since I had left court that morning. Armin was trying to sleep at my side, bundled underneath the sheets and half awake because I wouldn't stop trying to talk to him. We both had to get up in less than four hours because his flight was early that Sunday morning and I obviously had to drive him back to the airport.

"I'm going to run away to join some obscure circus in Europe. Make sure Mikasa doesn't follow me."

"…Eren, that's ridiculous." Armin mumbled.

"I'll enroll in clown college. Cause my life is so humorous."

"Yeah, right." He replied, "You know, contrary to popular belief, people do take the whole clown college thing seriously. Before they accept you, you have to send in headshots and portfolios and—"

"How do you even know this?"

"I read a lot, remember?"

"…Jeez, Armin, I can always count on you for being a spring of useless knowledge, huh?"

He poked his head up so that the covers pooled around his shoulders, "It's not useless."

"Yeah, yeah. You've saved the day a couple of times with that big brain of yours, haven't you?" I placed a heavy hand on top of his head and mussed his hair up a bit, "But, really. This whole thing is ludicrous. Why did the judge agree to his stupid, cockamamie plan anyway? Why in the hell would I want to work for Levi, anyway? Why in the hell would he want me working for him?"

"Because … you don't have the funds to pay him back right now?" Armin asked as he reached over to the nightstand on his side of the bed and picked up his phone.

"That was a rhetorical question." I muttered, "You know, I bet he's a sadist. A cake baking sadist, who fills pastries with arsenic and all other types of poison, sells his concoctions to little children and then goes home at night and laughs in glee as they die."

"…Eren, you're being ridiculous."

"Did you see him, Armin? He was the stuff children's nightmares are made of. Short, angry and demonic." I protested, "He fits the profile of someone you wouldn't wanna be trapped in an alleyway with alone at night. I don't understand how he even owns a bakery."

"…Looks are deceiving, Eren." Armin reminded me, "And besides, I think he's being pretty lenient with you considering everything you've done. Really lenient, in fact. Like …guardian angel type level lenient. Technically, you could just work for him until you've made up the cost of damages in hours alone and not have to pay him back a dime."

"Pft, as if I'd work for him that long."

"It would probably be in your best interest. Just think about it Eren. Jean dropped his charges and now this Levi guy is saying all you have to do is work for him without any type of pay and everything will be fine. Do you realize how lucky you really are?"

"Okay, maybe. But what about when my father comes home?" I asked, "I can't tell him about any of this. 'Hey, dad, I quit my shitty corporate job to go work as a dish boy in the kitchen of some West Village bakery'? Yeah, he'll definitely approve of that." I shrugged, "I mean, it'll still look like I'm going to work, but I still need an income of some sort. Do the math for me, Armin. How long would it take to work off ten thousand dollars on minimum wage?"

Armin shrugged, "Well… let's see. You'd be working in the city so I'd say you'd probably earn a bit more than minimum wage. Hypothetically, let's say you're earning ten dollars an hour. You'd be working forty hours per week and then there are taxes and all that stuff, but once you factor that out… I'd say … you'd probably have the money together by the beginning of the summer."

"SUMMER?"

"Well, these are all rough estimates. But, there's fifty two weeks in a year and then—"

"No, don't break my brain with all that math, Armin. Sheesh." I sighed.

"This is all hypothetically speaking of course. It could be worse." Armin shrugged his shoulders, "I bet it won't be all bad. You just gotta think positive is all."

"…What positivity can I find in my current situation, Armin? I've lost everything that defined my life in the span of two months and now I'm stuck in this … this place that I can't even describe, I—" I paused and exhaled, "I don't want to think about it."

"It'll be rough, but I'm sure you can do it, Eren. You always have in the past, right?"

"…Yeah, because I always have you and Mikasa backing me up and cleaning up my messes."

"Eren, don't be like that." Armin shifted in the sheets, "What have you always told me when I was too weak to defend myself physically and you and Mikasa came to my aid?"

"…Yeah, yeah, I know." I sighed, "Sorry for keeping you awake with this mess. We should sleep. I'm not trying to fall asleep behind the wheel tomorrow and crash my dad's car first thing in the morning."

Armin laughed, "It's okay. …Besides, talking about things is good, Eren. Even though I know you'd rather settle confrontation with your fists."

"Yeah, it's always been your job to be the verbal diplomat in this little ragtag group of ours." I muttered.

"I guess so." Armin sighed, "…Eren, you're just going through a really rough patch right now. In a couple of months, none of this stuff will even matter. You'll probably have a new job and you can leave Levi's place and focus on paying him back. He seemed scary in court … but … he might be an accommodating guy, you know?"

I sighed, closed my eyes and turned on my side so that I was facing away from him, "…Don't be to optimistic, Armin."

-x-

There was no such thing as being bright eyed and bushy tailed that Monday morning when I descended into hell. Mikasa woke me up from a less than pleasant dream with two forceful knocks on my door. My eyes were heavy when I opened them and saw 6:00AM blinking back at me on my docking station. I glanced toward my window and saw that the sun had barely ascended past the horizon…

This was inhumane.

I must have dozed off shortly after I opened my eyes because she was knocking on my door again and called my name. I scrambled out of bed and headed for the shower before she said another word. When I finally got dressed—(I admit, it was nice to just throw on regular clothes for once instead of a stuffy suit)—I headed downstairs where Mikasa was sitting at the dining room table with breakfast spread out before her.

"…What compelled you to make all of this?" I questioned, looking at my steaming bowl of rice and unopened pack of natto sitting beside it, "Ugh, Mikasa. You know I hate this stuff."

"We actually have time to sit down and eat for once." She answered, "And eat it, it's good for you."

"…I don't have time to eat all of this."

"I timed your commute." She picked up a piece of tamagoyaki with her chopsticks and glanced at the clock overhead, "If you stop complaining and eat like I instructed, we should be able to make it to the train station together at 7:15."

I groaned at my sister's efficiency, "…You really don't have to—"

"Don't start this again." She cut me off and picked up a piece of mackerel, "Just eat, Eren."

I picked up the bowl of rice and chopsticks as she turned her gaze away from me. I poked at my rice and then looked back up at my sister, "…Are you angry with me?"

"Frustrated." She answered.

"I didn't intend for any of this to happen…"

"I know that." She said, swirling her chopsticks around to pick off the slime from the natto, "So stop saying it and just eat your breakfast so we can get going."

I fiddled with my rice and then pulled a piece of tamagoyaki off the plate in front of me, "What do you think they'll have me do today?"

"Dish washing." Came her curt reply. She paused and then looked up at me and shrugged, "I highly doubt that … short bastard would want you anywhere else in his café."

I picked at the packet of natto, groaned at the smell and began whisking it around to thicken the consistency of the beans. "…Guess I'll be on my feet all day then."

We lapsed into silence again with me forcing my way through my bowl of rice and natto—(I don't care how good that crap is for me)—and Mikasa lost in her thoughts. After she finished off the rice in her bowl, she set her chopsticks over the top and looked up at me again.

"Eren, you have to stop all of this."

"Hm?" I looked up at her, mouth full of rice and she grimaced slightly at my lack of manner. I could feel a lecture coming on.

"…We're both going to be twenty four in a matter of months and I'm just worried that you're …" She sighed, "…I'm just worried that you're wasting your potential. I know things haven't always been easy... and although few have acknowledged it, you've come a long way from the reckless kid that you used to be. But, I…"

"…You?" I asked, rice poised on my chopsticks.

"Sometimes… sometimes… I think Papa might be right about the things he says."

"What? That his son turned out to be a no good son of a bitch?"

"No." She said, "…You know that's the farthest thing from the truth. You're such a passionate person, but your impulsivity lands you in more trouble than it's worth." Mikasa took a sip of her tea as she paused to think, "…And you know that he doesn't mean what he says, Eren. His temper gets the best of him. You two are one in the same..."

"Okay, okay. So I crash headfirst into nearly everything I do. I get it." I muttered, "I know, I understand. What do you want me to do, Mikasa?"

"Just … try and exercise a little more caution, okay?" She replied, fiddling with her scarf. Why was she wearing that thing and we weren't even ready to leave yet? "I want things to be different this year. For all of us that is, not just you. I just want to spend a little more time with you … I want Papa to spend a little more time with us."

"We're adults now,"

"I know that, but …"

"…You want us to be a normal family again? Is that what you're trying to say?"

"Just for a little while longer." She looked at me, "We don't have mom around anymore… and I just want you two to stay close to me."

"Mikasa, it's been fourteen years already."

When she looked up at me, I instantly regretted my words and sucked my teeth.

You see …we adopted Mikasa from Japan when she was eight. Her parents were really close friends of my father and they were involved in the same line of work that he was. You know… the whole running around the world and trying to be a good person by helping impoverished countries—(that were destroyed by your own home country, let's not forget that important fact)—out with medicine and shit thing.

Anyway, one year while her parents were away on a really high risk assignment in Singapore they were …killed. Not by some type of environmental mishap or something either, I mean … someone killed them. My father still won't tell me the details till this day. Apparently they're too gruesome for him to even want to recall.

After that, he immediately booked a fight and flew off to Japan and came back with Mikasa two weeks later. She had no other relatives to take her in, and apparently it was in her parents will that she be taken in by us should anything happen to them.

I'd met her once before. Ages ago around Christmas when we were really young. Her father used to live in New York and they were back in town to visit some of his family. We all went out to dinner one night and she barely talked through the entire thing. Well, for one, her English wasn't the best back then and I really didn't have anything to say to her.

But, when we were standing outside while our parents said goodbye, I remember her shivering in the cold. I kept asking her if she was all right, but she kept giving me this blank stare like she didn't understand a word of what I was saying. So… I gave her my scarf and told her to use it to keep warm just as my mother called my name so we could get going.

…She was wearing the exact same scarf when my mom and I went to pick her and my father up at the airport. When she saw me she stared at me for a minute, looked down at the scarf, began to unwind it from around her neck and moved to return it to me. I didn't recognize it at first, never understanding that the gesture I had made a few years back meant so much to her. …But I told her to keep it and I guess it's become something of a security blanket of sorts to her because she still wears till this day.

…Anyway, after she came to live with us, everything was fine for another two years and then my mom …

"…Mikasa, I'm sorry."

She shook her head, "…No, we shouldn't be talking about this first thing in the morning." She replied and rose from the table as if to effectively end the conversation, "When you're done just leave your dishes on the table."

"Mikasa."

She picked herself up from the table without another word and took her dishes into the kitchen with her. When I heard the water running, I set my bowl down along with my chopsticks and walked to the archway of the kitchen. Her back was to me but I could see her scrubbing furiously away at the dishes in the sink. When she hit the faucet off I placed my hands on both her shoulders and spun her around so she could face me.

"…I'll do better, okay?" I began, "I'll fix the mess I've made of things."

"Eren, go finish your breakfast."

"I'm serious." I said, letting go of her shoulders and she turned away from me, "…I'll make it right so you won't have to worry about me anymore."

She mumbled something and nodded her head. I realized I probably shouldn't press her anymore and returned to the dining room table while she clanked around in the kitchen. I had lost my appetite and so I left my half eaten bowl of rice on the table and went back to my room. With a quick glance at the clock I saw that it was a little past seven, so I sat down on my bed and reached for my phone. The text from Armin wishing me good luck was still bright and unchecked on my lock screen. I'd talk to him when it was a more reasonable time in California.

Realizing that I wasn't going to do anything else with my time, I reached for my scarf and jacket and headed back downstairs with the intention of waiting around in the living room until Mikasa was ready to go. Of course, there wasn't any need for that because she was waiting at the front door with her gym bag slung over her shoulder. The table was cleared and I could only surmise that the dishes were put away as well. We filed out into the hallway and she locked the door behind us. As the elevator came and we boarded, she picked her scarf up over her face and averted her gaze for a minute. It was something of a nervous habit that she had developed over the years.

"…Eren. I don't doubt your ability to make things right." She began, "I never have and I never will. But, you're so hardheaded. And I just worry that that clouds your vision for the future since you're always so focused solely on your present." She shook her head and lowered her scarf, "I'm sorry, we don't have to talk about it anymore. I don't want to upset you."

"I'm not."

"Hm," She nodded, "…Just know I'll always be in your corner no matter how many times you screw things up. Even if I'm mad at you for the stupid things you do, it doesn't make me love you any less, okay?"

"…Thanks. …I guess?"

Mikasa sighed as the elevator opened to the first floor, "Now let's go. You have a new boss to impress and I have lazy unfit people to whip into shape."

-x-

Levi's café was tucked away into the fuckery that is known as the West Village.

Have you ever seen how the West Village is set up? Just go look at a map of Manhattan and maybe you'll understand what I mean. The streets turn into names, avenues are nonexistent and it's just a fucking mess of crisscrossing streets that make absolutely no sense and you're bound to get turned around more than a couple of times. I know I have, even when I'm not drunk. Granted, you spend enough time here and you'll be able to figure this mess of streets out. ...Kinda.

I got out of the West 4th street train stop and made my way past the morning crowds to my destination. The café was about a five minute walk away from the train station, give or take. It was as I remember it—small and cozy. My eyes traveled the length of the awning overhead and down to the newly installed door I had broken last autumn. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to glance at the time. 7:55AM. Time to bite the bullet and get in there, Eren.

I moved aside so some busy corporate type—(haha, that was me last year, wasn't it?)—could rush out with their coffee and began hitting the pavement again. The door jingled and closed slowly behind me. No one really paid any attention to me as I stepped into the warm café, began taking off my gloves and tried to shake the cold from my bones. The air was sweet and the aroma of freshly baked confectionaries lingered permanently in the air.

I was about to advance toward the side of the counter where a woman was busy brewing coffee, when someone brushed past me and interrupted my progression.

"Petra! Petra. Where's Levi?"

The woman that had been making the coffee picked her head up and smiled gently, "Morning, Hanji. He's not in right now." She paused and looked down at whatever the woman who had brushed by me was holding in her arms, "Ah, good morning to you too, little Ravioli."

"Dammit, where in the world did he go then?"

"Didn't say. Just that he had to take care of some errands and he'd be back around noon." Petra answered. She glanced down at whatever Hanji was holding in her arms, "Trouble with Ravioli again?"

Hanji's shoulders dropped and she bowed her head slightly, "How'd you guess?"

"What happened this time?"

"Tch." Hanji turned slightly and blew her bangs out of her eyes in exasperation, "I found her running around in the yard, that's what. I've told him time and time again to stop leaving her alone like that."

As she turned around I realized that she was the same woman that had testified against me on that day in court. ...Actually, thinking back to it, Hanji had been that woman sitting with the man towards the back of the café when all that shit with Jean had gone down. No wonder she looked familiar.

She turned again and we made eye contact. Whatever worry that had etched its way into her features instantly left. I glanced down at what she was holding in her arms and quelled the need to raise an eyebrow. It was a little Pomeranian. When I looked back up at Hanji she turned away from Petra, gathered the little dog in her arms and made her way over to me with a blank expression on her face.

"Uhm, I'm here… to see Levi?" I asked as she stared down at me. Apparently she had issues with personal space because she was getting closer by the minute.

I felt the urge to sweat when the blank expression of hers instantly turned into what can only be described as a sadistic smile and she jostled the puppy in her arms, "Ah, Levi's new slave has come for his first day of work, has he?"

Slave?

Petra instantly picked her head up when she heard Hanji and wiped her hands down on her apron after dropping a cup of coffee off with the girl standing behind the register. She let herself out from behind the counter and came over to the two of us, "Are you Eren Yeager by chance?"

"Uhm, yeah." I glanced from Hanji to Petra.

Her eyebrows furrowed inwardly as she seemed to be thinking about something but then smiled at me and extended her hand. "Welcome. I'm Petra Ral." After we shook hands she turned to Hanji, "I'm sorry, but I really have to take this, Hanji. But I'll let him know you came by." She looked down at the panting dog in Hanji's arms and scratched it behind its ears, "See you, Ravioli."

I glanced at Hanji who sighed exasperatedly, "Tell him if he doesn't call me soon I'm going to put her in his bed and have her pee in it."

"Will do." Petra smiled and motioned for me to follow her. She stopped short of the register again, "Sasha, I'll be right back. You'll be able to hold it down until then, right?"

The girl at the register gave Petra a dazed look before nodding vigorously and turned back to the patron who was in front of her. Petra pushed open a door leading to the back and I followed her through the kitchen and into another back room with a longer hallway and three rooms at the end of the hall.

She turned to look at me, "Levi's not in, so you'll be reporting to Eld for now. He'll get you set up with everything." Petra cleared her throat and smiled, "You know you really don't look anything like what the others described you to be."

"Really?" I asked, a little bewildered by how nice she was acting considering why I was even working in this place to begin with.

"Yeah, I was expecting some brutish thug from the way Oluo described you. But, look at you. You're a little baby face." She saw the confusion registering all over my face and she waved her hand dismissively, "One of the bakers, you'll meet him eventually. He was here on the day you broke the door."

"Uh huh…" I glanced toward the door she was leading me toward.

She knocked twice on the door at the end of the hall, "Eld. It's me. I have the new guy with me. Can I send him in?"

"Yeah, go back to your station."

Petra opened the door and gestured for me to enter. She gave me a thumbs up and she was on her way. The man she had referred to as Eld was currently in the corner of the room working on a laptop. When he looked up at me he instantly closed the computer, set it inside of a black cabinet and then took a seat at the desk in the center of the room.

"Have a seat, Eren." He was in the process of making something by the window, "Tea? Coffee? Water?"

"No, thank you." I began.

"Hm." He began stepping a tea bag into a mug of hot water. Eld turned his back on me to reach into a filing cabinet of some sort and then threw a thick manila folder down on the desk in front of me, "That's for you to read."

"What is it?" I asked, reaching for the intimidating folder.

He blew across the surface of the steaming mug, "According to Levi, its a binding contract basically stating what was already discussed in court. He just needs a couple of things documented in writing." Eld took a cautionary sip of the tea and blanched, "You break it in anyway, you'll have another big fat lawsuit coming your way, buddy."

I flipped through the heavy document and sighed inwardly. Even though I had gone to school with the intention of becoming a lawyer, I loathed reading this type of paperwork. I closed the folder and looked up at Eld, "And you expect me to sign all of this now?"

"That would be why I gave it to you now, wouldn't it?" He rolled a pen my way, "You don't have to sign much. Just three sheets. The rest of it is for you to take home and look over."

I picked it up and opened the folder once again. After I signed the three sheets he had mentioned, a pink sheet caught my eye and I pulled it from the folder, "What's this?"

"For you to hold on to. In case your time here comes to a close for any reason, that paper nullifies this mountain of paperwork you just assigned me to." He sipped at his tea, "That's all."

"…Is there anything else that I have to sign for?"

"Nope, just one more thing. Come with me."

Eld motioned for me to follow him out of the room and I walked with him down the hallway into a more spacious room lined with coat hooks and a row of small lockers. This was the break room, obviously. I left my coat behind and Eld unceremoniously held out a stark white apron for me to take. I rolled up the sleeves on my white button down shirt, tied the apron around my waist and Eld crossed his arms over his chest and smirked down at me.

"Well, Eren… welcome to Levi's."

-x-

Mikasa had been right.

She was so right it freaking hurt.

My hands had been soaked in dishes for the better portion of the morning and I'd barely seen the light of day since coming into the café. Petra came into the kitchen every now and then with orders for random desserts that they were out of and sometimes stopped by to ask how I was doing every now and then. I also met the Oluo guy she had been talking about right after Eld had set me up with dish washing duty in the kitchen.

First impressions? He was an idiot. A overzealous, overconfident idiot. He tripped himself up most of the time because he had a habit of biting his tongue. Probably his body's own defense mechanism to prevent him for talking more than he should. …Which was already a lot to begin with. There was also Gunther, one of the other pastry chefs. He was pretty quiet and didn't say much to me, so I found him more tolerable than Oluo at that point in time. Lastly, there was Sasha. …This nervous girl who was always sneaking cannolis out of the pastry display up front. She was friendly … if a little skittish and somewhat strange.

Overall, I had been okay with settling into the new environment. No one said anything to me and went on about their business like I wasn't even there. But, of course, hell would descend on me like a two ton weight, and that was when Levi finally made his appearance. Think of it this way, I was Anne Hathaway and Levi was without a doubt Meryl Streep.

All I saw was the top of his head and sunglasses before I abruptly turned around and tried to bury my face into the suds surrounding my arms. His shoes clicked as he waltzed through the kitchen and stopped to say something to Oluo, but he spoke too low for me to hear. He moved again a few minutes later and this time in my direction.

"…You."

No name. Just you.

I turned around and wordlessly acknowledged him. His sunglasses were balanced precariously in one hand with nary a strand of hair out of place on that horrible undercut of his. There he was, leather gloves, crisp slacks, leather shoes, black cashmere scarf and a half open black peacoat. Jesus Christ, was he polished. I thought this guy was the owner of a god damn bakery, not some androgynous model in an upscale Italian fashion magazine.

"Take a break at two. You better be back here in the same spot by 3PM sharp. Come to my office at five."

"Yes, sir. I—"

He ignored me fumbling for my words and walked up beside me to survey the drying dishes at my side, "…And wash these again. They're filthy."

And that was all he said to me before walking away. That was it. No snarky comments, no hexes that would damn me to the ninth circle of hell. Just take a break, be prompt and wash these dishes again? I picked up a dish to inspect it and scoffed at his earlier comment. These dishes were immaculate. What the hell?

"Better do as he says. Levi's … a little on the neurotic side about cleanliness."

Petra was coming up to me with a stack of dirty dishes in her arms. She smiled reassuringly and I stepped aside so she could stack them in the opposite sink. She ran some water over the food crusted dishes as I sighed and resigned myself to start washing them again, "Are you sure he isn't just neurotic in general?"

She stifled her laugh with the back of her hand, "Get to washing, Eren."

At least she used my name. I set about washing all the dishes again and inspected them thoroughly for any remnants of the make believe food particles Levi had found. Around two I finally hung up my apron and went into the backroom to get my stuff so I could go on break. Armin was the first person I called.

"I want to kill myself." I began as he picked up, "I am going to kill myself."

"Eren, it's only the first day." He chuckled, "What have you done so far?"

"WASH DISHES ALL DAY." I seethed into my phone. I turned up onto 7th Ave as I was in desperate need of coffee. I could have gotten it from the café, but do you think I wanted to stay in there for another minute?

"Ouch." Armin said, sympathizing with my plight and then cleared his throat, "Well, have you talked to your new boss any?"

"Armin, this isn't funny."

"Sorry, Eren. Just trying to make light of a bad situation." He laughed.

"Yeah, no… not really. He came in dressed like a prissy prima donna and told me to come to his office at five." I muttered, narrowly avoiding some oblivious airhead and her stupid little bitchy dog, "Some guy named Eld took care of all my paperwork crap this morning. I think he's like the manager or something because he was filling in for Levi when he wasn't here this morning…"

"Go on, I'm listening."

"OH! And that weird chick… you know, the four eyed crazy chick from court? I ran into her this morning as well." I paused at the corner, "She had this dog with her and was threatening to have it pee all over Levi's stuff if he didn't see her. …I guess they know each other."

"You mean the woman that said it would be hilarious to see Levi go berserk over how badly you trashed the store front?"

"Yeah, her. She seems to have issues with personal space…" I said as I crossed the street.

"What about the people you work with?"

"Well, there's this really nice girl named Petra that helped me out this morning. She seems normal. There's this guy Gunther that doesn't really say anything…" I stopped walking when I realized I had run into a Starbucks and instantly pulled the door open to go inside, "…Oh, there's this weirdo. His name's Oluo and he's freaking retarded. I can't even begin to describe him, you have to meet him. …And there's this other weird girl, Sasha. We haven't talked much because she's usually up by the register and I've been in the back almost all day..."

"Sounds like a pretty small, tight knit group."

"Well, the café is small to begin with but it's in a pretty high traffic spot." I replied, "This morning the line for coffee was almost out the door."

"Well, that's good I guess."

"Yeah, I guess. Armin, hold on, I'm getting coffee."

"Okay."

When the barista called me forward as the next in line I put in an order for a sweetened black coffee and waited for them to call my name.

"Yeah … so… that's about it for now. I've been staring mindlessly into dirty soap and water for the past six hours."

"Sounds like a good time for some existentialist reflection."

"No." I said, just as they called my name and my cup of coffee was being pushed my way. I spun it around and grimaced, "They spelled my name wrong again."

"Hm?"

"Airinn. Like air, as in the element and an inn that you stay at." I sighed and picked up my cup. Never believe in the baristas at Starbucks to spell your name right. Never. I took a sip from the cup and shrugged, "At least the coffee's okay."

"You'd probably do better with…" He paused for a minute and then suddenly got really loud, "Zostera marina? That's a species of seagrass usually found in the Northern hemisphere … yeah, it's more commonly referred to as common eelgrass."

"…Armin, what in the hell are you talking about?"

"Yes, yes. Hm, I see your problem."

"Armin."

"Ah… I see." He paused for a minute and then got loud again, "Well, zostera noltei is within the same species but it's not exactly the same plant."

"Okay, I get it. Your boss is probably around, so you're bullshitting and pretending that you're talking on the phone with someone important. Go on, I don't want you to get in trouble. Call me when you're free?"

"Yes, yes. I'm glad I could help you. You have a good day to, sir."

I snickered, "Talk to you later, you dork."

He lowered his voice and whispered into the phone, "Hang in there, Eren. I'll call you back when I get off."

The line went dead before I could even respond and I was left with nothing but the tapping of some hipster on their MacBook behind me and my coffee cup dangling from my disinterested hand. I checked the time again. 2:15PM. Forty five minutes to sit around in America's favorite corporate coffee distributor, pretending to be productive while I focused my attention on the people wandering back and forth outside the window before me and forgot about Levi if only for a little while.

-x-

Levi was at his desk, coffee mug balanced in his left hand while he scribbled furiously with a pen in his right. He paused what he was doing to look at me after I cautiously peaked my head in when he told me to come in. He gestured to the seat I had sat in previously when I talked to Eld that morning and sat his pen down at his side.

"Sit." I did as he instructed and he lowered his gaze back down to the papers in front of him. Levi took a sip of his coffee, "You talked with Eld this morning?"

"Yes." He lifted his eyes to look wordlessly at me and I groaned inwardly. "…Sir."

Levi rifled through the sheets in front of him, "Your paperwork is satisfactory. Nothing to fix there." He finally stopped messing around with the papers and looked up at me, "I called you in here to discuss the matter of your work hours. I expect you to be here from Monday to Friday, at 8am to 5pm. Saturdays, 5pm until closing. Is that clear?"

Was he trying to kill what little bit of life I had left? I shifted in my chair and glanced at the clock overhead as Levi stared intently at me and waited for my answer. "…Uhm, what will my duties entail?"

"The same as today." He murmured, taking another sip from his mug, "Dish washing. Making sure this place is spotless." Levi leaned back in his chair, "There's also the matter of transporting shipments when they arrive. Carrying things in, unloading equipment. Those types of things." He paused, "Can you ride a bike?"

"…Yes." Why did I not like where this was going?

"Good. You'll be doing deliveries as well then." He looked up at me finally, "Do you have any additional questions?"

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and straightened my posture. There was no reason to be afraid of this demonic midget. He may have been intimidating with his permanently furrowed eyebrows and cutthroat manner of speech, but I'd faced worse. I cleared my throat and began to speak, "…There's the matter of pay, I…" As soon as the word pay left my mouth I felt the temperature in the room take a complete nosedive. And did his eye just twitch? Shit. "I mean, uhm… how does that translate into what I owe you? I mean, hourly. How …"

"Read the papers Eld gave you." Levi replied and turned around in his chair so that his back was to me, "Now if you're done embarrassing yourself for today, you're dismissed. Have Petra check you out."

…That's it? That's all he wanted to talk to me about?

I rose from my seat, "See you tomorrow… sir."

He didn't say anything as I let the door close behind me and let out the breath I was holding in. I quickly went to the break room, hung up the damn apron and grabbed my coat as I wanted to get out of that bakery as fast as possible. Petra was up front pouring tea from a kettle into two small, round porcelain cups. When she saw me she dusted her hands off and waved me on to keep on going past the counter and out of the café.

"I'll punch you out, Eren." She smiled, "Are you here tomorrow?"

"Yeah, bright and early." I muttered, zipping up my coat.

"You talked with Levi then?" Her smiled grew smaller.

I shrugged, "If you wanna call it that."

"Hm." Petra nodded, "Well, have a good night. See you in the morning, Eren."

"Yeah, see ya."

I waved at her and then turned around to let myself out of the café and turned down the street to head to the train station and back to Brooklyn.