(no subject)

[longfaced]

CHARACTERS: Jean and Eren
UNIVERSE: Late 1920's...
WHERE: Amurica
WHEN: When they're seventeen???
WHAT: Eren is a punk who's in Levi's gang -- the restaurant Jean works at is in their territory, so naturally they're going to butt heads.


[ Jean's family doesn't have a lot of money. He's basically lived on his brother's hand-me-downs all his life, and being the youngest, he was fortunate to not have to work until he was a teenager. He went to school, got an education, and is currently working at a restaurant belonging to a friend of his dad's to save up money to go to university. He's hoping to go to a good school, maybe in a city full of opportunity -- but with the way the economy is going now, he's not sure if it'll be at all possible,

To make matters worse, a few members of Levi's gang had been loitering around the business, scaring off customers. It just happens to be his luck that he's the only guy on shift, meaning it's his job to go outside and tell them to scram.

He pushes the door open to do just that, eyes wild with the nerve he built up just to come out here. ]

H-hey. Can't you guys take this somewhere else?! If you aren't buying anything, then you gotta leave!

Comments

[longfaced]

Sit down, would you? [ It's... an invitation, not a demand. He gestures to one of the tables. They're pretty empty in here, save for a few elderly ladies enjoying their tea. ]

[bulwarks]

[Eren gives the elderly ladies an awkward glance, sitting down woodenly at a table that's further away from them and much closer to the door. He eyes Jean warily.]

What kind of idiot gives away water anyway?

fuck these notifs in the ass

[longfaced]

What the hell? Who are you calling an idiot?!

[ He slams the cup down on the table, setting his eyes on his with a bit of a scowl. Eren might not be paying, but he's still a customer he's supposed to be serving. He should be treating him with the utmost kindness -- scratch that, it's Eren who should be treating him with the utmost kindness. He just invited him for a cold glass of water and he gets called an idiot? ]

Water's free, asshole! It doesn't belong to me, so I'm not giving it away. It's yours. It's theirs. [ He gestures to one of the old ladies. ] It's everyone's.

yeah 4sho

[bulwarks]

[Eren presses his chin to his hand, watching him for a moment. The cup rattles with the ice inside.]

You don't own this place do you?

[longfaced]

If I did, do you really think I'd be out here serving drinks to assholes like you when I could just pay some poor schmuck to do it?

[ He crosses his arms with a raised eyebrow. Though, he turns away for a moment as one of the other servers comes out from their break. They pass by to tell Jean he can go for his now, to which he says 'yeah, later'. ]

[bulwarks]

That explains it. [Eren watches him quietly for a moment as the server comes out. Then:] You're really naive, aren't you? You just invited a gang member into a place that isn't yours. If that guy scrambles off to tell his leader what will you do if they come here and wreck this place?

[longfaced]

What?! [ He blurts out. ] That won't happen!! Come on, how petty can somebody be? Besides, isn't this your territory? They shouldn't be coming around here in the first place!

[ That's admitting he knows who Eren belongs to. Which gang, that is. ]

[bulwarks]

...You know which one I'm in? [For all he knew Eren could be trespassing, at least that's the impression he'd had. Then again, Eren's earned a title for himself lately, it wouldn't be surprising if he knew.]

[longfaced]

Yeah? [ Oh shit. Did he just say something he shouldn't have? He pauses a bit, giving in to slight panic as it wells up in his chest and reaches his expression. ] I mean, I've seen you around... so...

[bulwarks]

Yeah? [He returns the question.] Where abouts?

[It's interesting to see what Jean will come up with, because knowing him like this it seems pretty shady. Eren feels a little cornered too.]

[longfaced]

Around. [ Well, that's not a reaction he'd been expecting. His voice grows quiet. ] You hang out with that Levi guy and his crew, so I made the assumption.

Are you going to drink your water?

[bulwarks]

[Look Jean doesn't know about his tendencies to end up kidnapped, alright? He probably wasn't supposed to leave the safe house to begin with.]

Do you even know the first thing about any of this? [He takes a hesitant sniff of the water before sipping it, trying to be wary enough to get by. Alcohol is banned in most places, but rival gangs would use that or drugs to make someone unable to fight back. He's learned that much.]