Alleyway Pastries

Chocolate Cake

Quietly Armin recited his delectable chocolate cake recipe back in his head as he laid back on his bed staring at the ceiling. Armin had started baking back in early high school. His grandpa had begun to teach him when he noticed Armin's obvious avoidance of sweet foods, in all honesty food in general. Finally, he moved out from his grandfather's house and into his own studio apartment, fit with a kitchen overlooking the city's skyscrapers. After years of working in various bakeries and publishing his recipes online, his pastry expertise was finally getting a chance to shine. Well, chocolate cake isn't the most technical dessert, stemming far from it actually, but shockingly the picture of his chocolate cake he had made for his grandpa's birthday along with the attached recipe he had posted blew up. It was quite comical actually because Armin specialized in French pastry, but had gotten recognized for such a mundane dessert. Nonetheless, he was elated. The magazine that recognized him was famous in his city, Food Now has been known for giving opportunities to people like Armin, amateur bakers, and he had finally gotten his. It was 1:03 am, Armin was set for his interview in about 8 hours. He laid restlessly in bed anxiously fidgeting as he watched the ceiling. A photographer was set to come to his house along with two interviewers. He was to make the cake in front of them while answering questions as the photographer got live photos of both him baking and the final product. He stilled as he took meditative breaths in an attempt to calm himself. Calming himself, he amazingly was able to close his eyes and fall into a deep slumber, muttering ingredients as the moon furthered through the sky.

An annoying, no beyond annoying, ringing woke Eren up. Irritated, he turned to his side hitting off his alarm and taking a peep at the time. 7:45 am, he had a little over an hour to get ready for his photography gig today. It wasn't necessarily a gig but he was helping his friends Sasha and Niccolo shoot photos for the food magazine they both worked at, getting paid while doing so. He couldn't quite remember the name but he looked forward to it anyways. Sasha had given him a briefing on the guy he was taking photos of, "Armin Arlert...?" he thought to himself as he remembered the blonde-haired boy in the pictures Sasha had shown him. Smiling to himself, he put his hair in a quick bun letting a few strands hang out in a hurry. Deciding to stay in his pajamas for the time being, he made his way down the cherry wood stairs of the loft he shared with adoptive sister Mikasa, and her cousin Levi. Their loft sat above a small tea shop Levi owned. It was surprisingly spacious considering it was a loft. Levi graciously allowed Mikasa and him to stay in his extra rooms as it was close to their University campus.

Eren made it to the kitchen passing by Levi who muttered a faint morning without taking his eyes off the newspaper or teacup gripped in either hand. He made himself toast briskly before making his way to sit across Levi.

"Did Mikasa leave already?" Eren questioned

Levi nodded, "Needed her to look into something," Levi paused taking a moment to look into Eren's verdant eyes sensing a spark of concern, "with Annie of course". Eren nodded in understanding, not wanting to further the conversation. Levi's short stature and tea shop was quite the muse for what he did most of the time. He ran, or rather took over in running what some would call a gang, but that word seems misleading considering it was an organization called Survey Corps, created simply to fight against an ongoing gang who named themselves Titans. Mikasa took quite a big role in the Survey Corps, finding interest in working directly against the Titans, Levi the same. Eren the opposite, only responded when needed, which typically meant photos of evidence and crime scenes in general, he had become accustomed to taking pictures of bloodied bodies. It had been all he was able to do for the past couple of weeks so when Sasha reached out to him for the innocent chocolate cake shoot, he was ecstatic.

Eren bit his toast breaking the silence, "I have a shoot today for some food magazine..." he paused waiting for Levi's reaction before continuing, "some kid around my age, he's getting recognized for a chocolate cake or something", out of habit he mumbled.

"Okay, be careful", Levi's eyes remained glued to the newspaper as he sipped his tea murmuring about his concern, being careful not to show much emotion. Eren smiled nodding, appreciating his concern, sliding the rest of his toast to Levi as he got up to finish getting ready.

Armin anxiously stood in his kitchen staring down at a bowl of white rice and a small cup of coffee. He really didn't want to eat before his interview, he felt far too nervous, but he had been restricting himself too much in anticipation of today. Only recognizing this when he practically passed out upon getting out of bed. Opting for something that would be easy on his body, he nibbled at the rice, finishing about half of it before downing his coffee. He brought his dishes to the sink, gazing down to the streets adorned with people as he scrubbed gently at the china. Sighing he ran a hand through his hair, "I'm really nervous...what are the names of the people coming today...mm..Sasha? Niccolo? And... who's the photographer... Jaeger?" he sighed louder as he couldn't remember the photographer's first name. Startled out of his daze, a knock at his door urged him to check the time on his phone, 8:45 am, " so early...". Armin looked at himself in the mirror one last time, popping a fresh piece of mint gum in his mouth to ease his nerves. Grateful with the icy sensation now in his mouth he slowly moved his clammy hand over the golden doorknob. Pulling the door open, he revealed a man taller than him, chocolate brown hair pulled back into a half up half down, a couple strands let out to frame his face. It was long enough to be put up but didn't pass the base of his neck. He wore black skater jeans, a dark emerald green baggy turtleneck sweater tucked in, silver jewelry hanging around his neck along with a black camera bag slung around his body. He picked his hand up to reveal silver rings decorating his fingers, he waved earnestly.

"Hey! I hope I'm not too early," the brunette began, "I'm the photographer for today, Eren Jaeger, you're Armin, right?"

"Armin Arlert, yeah" Armin responded coldly, stunned at the attractive man in front of him, before he could explain his response, Eren continued to speak.

"Ah jeez you're nervous aren't you," he chuckled, "I came early to prepare you for Sasha and Niccolo, also to ask about boundaries when it comes to photos, I know you previously spoke to Sasha about the interview but we haven't had a chance to talk prior, so I came early if that's okay." Eren grinned, scratching the back of his head. Armin relaxed his shoulders.

"Ah thank you! I've been so nervous all morning," Armin admitted sheepishly while opening his door wider for Eren to enter, "also, what do you mean prepare me for Sasha and Niccolo? I believe they both went over boundaries with me already." He tilted his head in confusion at Eren.

"Yeah I know, but I've also known Sasha for a long time, friends since we were teens. I don't work at the magazine but I help out when I can, doing freelance stuff, but anyway she got fired at all her other jobs for getting a bit too personal," Armin nodded in understanding visibly stiffening as he guided them to the breakfast bar outlining his kitchen. "So just uhm, if you get uncomfortable, I guess just shoot me a glance and I'll step in" Eren smiled with sincerity as he said this, faintly blushing at the nose. He couldn't help but notice how pretty Armin was. His golden hair hung softly above his eyes, with azure eyes contrasting against the paleness of his skin. Lips, nose and cheeks tinted with a touch of crimson. Eren saw no imperfections as he gazed. The pretty boy on the other side of the bar wore light blue baggy jeans in a similar style to Erens but with small rips in the knee. On top he had a white button up which peeked out from under a pale pink knit sweater. His neck laced with a tight pearl necklace.

"I appreciate that, a lot, thank you", Armin's response snapped Eren back into reality. Armin sighed resting his chin on his hand, "aah I'm so much less nervous, you saved me!" Eren laughed, being cut off by a loud knock on the door.

"ARMIN ARLERT IT'S TIME" a female voice shouted from the other side; Armin looked at Eren who was pretending to be scared.

"Oh no Armin, hide!" Eren laughed at his own joke as Armin straightened out rolling his eyes. Right before he opened the door, he turned back to look at Eren who was cautiously taking out his equipment.

"Oh, and Eren, you have full creative liberty for the photos, just promise to save me If I need it," Armin grinned looking at Eren.

"Promise," Eren winked before continuing to set up his equipment. Armin blushed, swiftly cupping both his cheeks to compose himself before opening the door.