Chapter Text
“Jean? Jean Kirstein?”
Upon hearing his name being called, Jean turns to see his childhood friend not three feet away from him.
“Eren?”
“Hey, horse-face. Glad to see some things never change.” Eren grins cheekily.
“You suicidal bas—”
“Now now, that’s no way to talk to an old friend, is it?” Eren chastises.
Jean sighs, trying to push the insult aside and act like an adult.
“Wanna go grab some lunch and catch up? It’s my day off.”
“I’d love to! Got any place in mind?”
“I know this great little sandwich shop just down the street…”
Once they’ve placed their orders and snagged a table to sit at, Jean and Eren finally get down to talking.
“What brings you to Trost, Eren? I thought you had moved to Sina after high school.”
“I did, but I’m back here on business. I managed to snag a contract with a publishing firm for a book series and their headquarters are back here. I’m the author and illustrator for the series. Maybe you’ve heard of it — it’s called ‘In Stitches.’”
“No fucking way, you’re not fooling me again Eren. There is no way that you are Imperatrix LaStrange.” Jean laughs.
“The one and only.” Eren grins.
“Ok then, wise guy: When did Yumir and Kristi start dating?”
“Right away. ‘Will you go on a date with me?’ were the first words out of Yumir’s mouth the moment she was close enough that she could talk to her.” Eren replies smoothly.
“How many flowers did Riv get Erin?” Jean quizzes.
“200 exactly, that dork. They made such a mess.”
“When do Ann and Mika finally get married?”
“It took them ten years before Ann finally popped the question.” Eren shoots back, without a moment of hesitation.
“Holy shit, you are Imperatrix LaStrange. That part hasn’t even been published yet.” Jean breathes.
“Ah, shit! Jean, if I so as hear a whisper of those spoilers on the internet, I will find you and I will end you.” Eren threatens, eyes flashing gold.
“Say no more, man. You won’t hear so much as a peep out of me.” Jean replies, putting his hands up in surrender, secretly five seconds away from pissing his pants.
“Order numbers 37 and 38!”
“That’s us! I’ll go get our food; be right back!” Eren cheers, getting up and approaching the counter to retrieve their orders.
He comes back a moment later with sandwiches for both of them, handing Jean his sandwich before unwrapping his own.
“Enough about me, how have you been, Jean?”
“Life’s been good, I guess. I work in the accounting department for Uniq Clothes; they have their Marian headquarters in Trost. They were willing to hire me pretty much straight out of college and the benefits are pretty good, so I’ve just been climbing the ranks here rather than shopping around with other companies. Sure, desk work is a little boring, but when I go home at the end of the day, there’s nothing else I have to think about for work, you know? It’s nice.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Do you live in the neighborhood?”
“Yes, actually. We have a place about a half mile from here. It’s small but it’s the perfect size for us. It’s not a bad distance from the office either; I bike to and from work most days.”
“Us? We? Jean, are you going out with someone?”
“Sorta? Do you, uh, remember Marco? I proposed a few weeks ago.” Jean blushes.
“You and Marco are engaged? Congratulations, I’m so happy for you guys!”
“Thanks. Regrettably, we’re not quite ready financially to get married yet, but we’re saving up, so it’s only a matter of time now.” Jean smiles.
“That’s so exciting! Have you thought out any of the details yet?”
“Not really, but we agreed it would probably be a small ceremony, just close friends and family. We also agreed we didn’t want to have any religious affiliations and Armin said he would get ordained so he could officiate our marriage.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet! I’m sure it will be an absolutely wonderful wedding.”
“So what about you, Eren? Are you seeing someone?”
“No, or at least, not anymore. I already got married.” Eren grins, flashing the gold wedding band on his left finger.
“Wow, already? Congrats. Who’s the unlucky bastard?” Jean teases.
“Oh hush, you could say the same about Marco. And I’ve told you about Rivaille before.”
“Wait, you mean your imaginary boyfriend?”
“For the last time, Jean, he’s not imaginary!”
“Oh yeah? Prove it. I want to meet him.”
“Fine.” Eren declares, rubbing his susurri mark subtly.
Hey babe, are you busy?
Not particularly, why?
Can you come here for a minute, then? I at JJ’s Sandwich Shop and I have a point to prove.
“Do you want to plan to meet back here tomorrow then so I can meet your ‘not imaginary’ husband?”
“No need. He’ll be here any minute.” Eren smirks.
“What do you mean he’ll be here any minute? Don’t you need to text him or something?” Jean asks, Rivaille walking in the door behind him dressed in a casual button down and dress slack combo.
“Nah. Hey babe, thanks for coming on such short notice.” Eren greets his husband, returning Rivaille’s kiss on the cheek with one of his own as Jean just gapes at the two of them.
“No problem, I’d do anything for you, Eren. Who’s this?” Rivaille asks, pulling up a chair at their table and sitting down.
“Oh, this is Jean. I’ve told you about him before. Jean, this is Rivaille, my husband.”
“Isn’t he the one that you got in that fight with you nine years ago? It feels like it was just yesterday.” Rivaille remarks, his voice taking on a slight edge at the memory.
“I, uh…” Jean starts.
“The one and only!” Eren confirms cheerfully.
Rivaille’s expression turns very dark and Jean looks over in fright to Eren who’s just grinning like he’s immensely enjoying the whole interaction.
“It’s not a big deal though.” Eren adds.
“It’s still a big deal to me…” Rivaille starts, rising a little in his chair.
“That won’t be necessary, Rivaille. I’m over it and we’ve moved on.” Eren declares, a triumphant smile still firmly in place as Rivaille settles back down, taking Eren’s hand in his own.
“So, uh, Rivaille, what do you do for a living?” Jean asks, treading carefully.
“I occupy a minor position in the government.”
“Oh, quit underselling yourself, babe. He’s quite accomplished!”
“Not as accomplished as you, sweetheart. You’ve got the entire world eating out of the palm of your hand.” Rivaille compliments, staring lovingly at his husband.
“The only one I want eating out of my hand is you, love.” Eren purrs.
“Okay, okay, that’s a little too much information, yes? I don’t feel the need to hear the details about what you two do behind closed doors.” Jean whines.
“Mmm, we’ll just have to keep that to ourselves then, hmm?” Eren hums, his hand sliding over the inside of Rivaille’s thigh.
“Sounds good to me. You know I don’t share very well.” Rivaille intones, his eyes getting intense and his voice starting to take on a more smoky quality.
“Jeez, you two! You’re still knee-deep in the honeymoon period, aren’t you? How long have you been married, three months?”
“Six years and a half years?” Eren guesses.
“Six years, six months, and six days, exactly.” Rivaille confirms.
Jean’s eyes widen in surprise, gaping as he takes in the two of them.
“Holy sh— I can only hope that I’m that madly in love still after six years.”
“We’re what I think you’d call ‘#RelationshipGoals’?” Rivaille asks, looking to Eren for confirmation.
“Exactly.” Eren grins, kissing his husband on the cheek.
“Oh my god, you two are something else.” Jean snorts.
“Indeed, we are.” Eren smirks.
“Hey, Eren, amica mea, Petra is calling for us. We need to go now.” Rivaille says.
“Okay… It was good to see you, Jean! I hope you have a wonderful wedding; I’m sure you and Marco will be very happy together.” Eren wishes, pushing out of his chair and standing with Rivaille.
“Wait, what’s your address? I’ll send you an invite.” Jean says, standing up as well.
“Um, where is it? Ah, here!” Eren pats down his pockets and produces a calling card and hands it to Jean.
“I’ll be waiting for that invite then!” Eren winks, taking Rivaille’s hand in his.
“It was nice meeting you, Jean.” Rivaille says.
“It was nice to finally meet you too, Rivaille. I’ll see you two around.”
“Bye, Jean!” Eren waves, pulling Rivaille out of the sandwich shop.
Jean sits back down, staring at the remains of his sandwich in its paper wrapper. It occurs to him that Eren had never cleared away his trash, but he looks across the table to find it perfectly clean. Jean looks out the window to try to catch one last glance of his long time friend and his husband, but they’ve already disappeared from sight, leaving Jean wondering if the entire encounter even happened. He looks down at the only evidence of the meeting, the calling card that Eren gave him, and finds a PO box number and a cell number written in an elegant navy script on the cream colored card. Jean idly flips it over in his fingers and finds a note written on the back, the ink shimmering in the industrial lighting like it was written only seconds before.
‘Don’t forget our wedding invite!’
And to only add to Jean’s confusion, he watches a pair of five-petaled stephanotis flowers appear on the card next to the note, stroke by stroke as if drawn by an invisible hand.
“What the actual fuck…?” Jean mutters, rubbing at his eyes, but the flowers are still there.
Jean pulls out his phone and dials Marco’s number, bringing the phone to his ear and leaning back in his chair, as he stares at the card in his hand.
“Hey, babe. Yeah, I know you’re still at work, but when you get off do you want to meet me at Off the Wall? I could really fucking use a drink…"