The Little Titan Cafe [ErenxLevi]

Chapter 8- Rivaille

Welcome to the Little Titan Café!Today's special: Rivaille

"Care to explain what you're doing here?" Levi asked as the door shut behind them, the cold air assaulting his face.

"Grabbing a cup of coffee," Erwin said confusedly. "Why else would I be at a coffee shop?"

Levi's frown deepened, unable to refute his point. "You know what I mean."

"Hanji has mentioned you've been avoiding her lately. And your work."

"I got it done, didn't I?" Levi's arms were crossed as he tapped an impatient finger. This conversation was proving pointless. "If you're only going to continue wasting my time, I am going to head back in where I won't freeze my ass off."

"I was curious. Hanji had said you mentioned an 'Eren' before," Only once, Levi grumbled. Erwin glanced through the coffee shop window, his gaze momentarily catching Eren's. The barista's face turned beet red at being caught staring and he quickly turned around and fumbled with the espresso machine. Erwin smirked. "No wonder you're so smitten."

Levi refused to rise to the bait. His tongue clicked irritably, drawling out, "Whatever it is you want to say just say it."

"We were concerned, that was all. But clearly our worries were unnecessary." Erwin reached inside of his coat and pulled out a black covered book. He held it out to Levi, "I also wanted to give you this."

Levi took it without looking at the title. "Is that all?"

"Yes. Take care," and with a wave, Erwin walked off.

Thank god. Now he could go back inside where it was warm.

A couple of weeks earlier

Levi paused as his cellphone vibrated. Hanji Zoe lit up on the screen, but rather than answering, he pressed the power button – not before glancing at the time. 22:25 – and slid the phone back into his coat pocket. Like hell was he going home just so Hanji could come bursting into his apartment and harass him with work. So naturally, he had grabbed his things and left before she got there, with no destination in mind, only knowing that he needed peace and quiet.

He had plenty of that at the moment. Pedestrians were scarce, partially because it was night, and mostly because it was cold. Most people were inside by now where it was warm. Just like Levi needed to be. He hated the cold. He hated winter. He hated anything below 21 Celsius. His current mission was to find somewhere warm and peaceful although at 22:26, his only options were going to be bars or 24-hour restaurants, neither of which were peaceful.

Then again, he could probably go for some alcohol. Anything strong to drown away the annoying ache in the back of his skull. The past couple of weeks had been nothing but stressful when it came to work; filled with sleepless nights and no time to unwind.

Levi blinked and lifted his head. Despite the darkness, there was a bright light emitting from his left and he shifted his gaze in that direction. He was confused at first, unsure of what he was seeing, until his eyes focused on the almost vacant shop inside and the words Little Titan Café curved over the glass. The hours on the door read M-Sa: 6:00AM – Midnight and Sundays: 6:00AM – 22:00. It was hard to see anything else inside with the chill that fogged the window, but that didn't matter. He found his warm and peaceful place for the night. No one would find him here.

As Levi pushed the door open, there was a jingle of a bell and the instant relief of warmth melting away the stiff coldness that had settled in his joints. He glanced around the shop curiously – anything called the Little Titan Café had to have something strange about it – but nothing seemed odd. It was a cozy place with what looked like a couple of college students doing work, drowning out the outside world with earphones. There was a sign on one of the walls with the Wi-Fi information (Free Wi-Fi Access! JAEGER Pw: youaretheprey) printed in colored marker and strange little creatures doodled around the page. Okay, that was a little odd.