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It was almost Christmas.
To say that Levi was unmoved was an understatement. All Eren would talk about was how they could decorate their shared dwelling, or how much fun they would have exchanging gifts. The hermit crab, on the other hand, was already sick of the festivities.
“Did you see anything suitable to be a Christmas tree when you were getting food earlier?” asked Eren as he floated into the cosy living room plush with comforters of soft seaweed and algae.
Levi elected to pretend that he hadn’t heard the question, continuing to clean the already immaculate flooring of neatly woven seagrass, a project that had taken many months of work for the two creatures to complete but had always been a great source of pride for the both of them.
Unwaveringly, Eren made his way over to Levi and brushed up against him gently, repeating his question. “No,” the hermit crab grunted, picking up the pair’s precious pearl to clean the smooth stone plinth on which it lay. The level rock had been a lucky find for the two, and Eren fondly remembered Levi carrying it, despite its weight, back to their home after the scallop had expressed how perfect it would be for their pearl.
“That’s okay,” smiled Eren, “I’m sure something will turn up soon. There’s no need to get stressed out about it.”
“I am not stressed out about it,” Levi snapped, slamming the pearl down onto its platform forcefully. Eren jumped away as he did so, closing his shell tightly in shock. Once recovered from the initial scare, he cracked open his shell to peek at the scene before him. The pearl didn’t appear to be damaged, but it still hurt Eren to see Levi act so carelessly with it. Did it mean nothing to him? Was it not symbolic of their relationship as Eren had thought it was, or did Levi simply not care about Eren in the way he had believed he did?
Tears welling in his viridian eyes, Eren snatched up the pearl and tucked it safely in his shell before swiftly exiting the room, leaving a silent, unmoving Levi behind.
*
It had been five days since Eren had come out of his personal room to find that Levi had disappeared. There was no sign of him, nothing left to indicate where he had gone or when he’d be coming back.
If he’d be coming back.
The scared scallop spent every waking moment worrying about his companion, wondering what had driven him away, going through each and every minute of their time together in the hopes that he could identify where he had gone wrong and somehow rectify it.
But it was no use. There was nothing he could do but cradle his pearl ever closer and wait by the entrance of the cave, overthinking and forcing himself to stay awake for as long as possible until he collapsed, exhausted, onto the silky sea-bed.
*
I have to do this, he thought, brushing off his desire to get as far away as possible from the place he was heading along with the pangs of homesickness that plagued him. It had been a lifetime since he last saw his vacuous colony, but at long last he was making his return.
He hoped to keep the visit brief, avoiding his kin’s mindless jibber-jabber and instead completing his mission so that he could go back to his true home. Of course, this was easier said than done.
As soon as the hermit crab reached the vaguely familiar territory, he was stopped by members of his estranged group who were adorned almost comically in worthless tat.
“Who are you and what is your business here?” questioned one, the others soon joining the sentiment in an increasingly loud cacophony of drivel. The ruckus soon brought the attention of all the nearby hermit crabs to lie on the event before them, and Levi found himself answering to the entirety of the community he had left behind.
“It’s Levi,” he began, earning murmurs from the crowd and electing to continue before the whole group erupted into nonsense once again. “I need some Christmas decorations.”
With this the crabs resumed their chatter. One by one, they realised who was before them, and one by one, they were amused by his request.
“You?” an old one sneered, his trinket-encrusted shell clearly close to shattering from carrying so much rubbish for such a long time. “You would ask us for decoration?” The entire gaggle of dense creatures started to laugh, the irony of the situation slowly dawning on them.
Levi had always been hyper-critical of his kind’s obsession with decoration, and now here he was appealing to them for the very things he mocked them for. Even he had to admit, there was a cruel humour in it.
“If you will finally admit that you have been wrong all along and apologise then we may consider giving you the aid that you seek,” declared the elder. “You must physically prove to us that you agree with our way of life.” Realising what was meant by that statement, Levi’s heart sunk, his blood running cold. If he wanted the help, he had to submit to encrusting an object into his precious shell.
“I’ll do it.” His voice rang throughout the expanse of water and sand. His kin had clearly not been expecting such an answer. They knew nothing of Eren, and even if they did could never understand how deeply Levi cared for him. They could never comprehend putting another creature’s happiness before their own. They would never know why Levi had agreed to this, but it didn’t matter. The hermit crab had decided that he would do anything to make it up to Eren, even if it meant going against the stance he had held for his entire life.
*
Eren awoke in his nest, confused. He had no recollection of leaving the cave entrance, remembering only that he had decided to wait there until the hermit crab returned. How did I...? Levi? The scallop scrambled out of his room, feverish to see if his hopeful suspicions were correct.
“Oh... Wow,” he whispered in awe as he entered the living room to see his surroundings beautifully decorated with delicate ornaments. Coloured pebbles were strung across the walls of the cave and the pearl was sat on an intricately woven wreath.
“Merry Christmas, Eren,” came a voice.
“Levi!” Eren squealed with excitement. “Levi?” The hermit crab stayed in the shadow of the doorway. Eren made his way over to his companion, puzzled as to why Levi didn’t approach him. The scallop expanded the gap in his shell as he peered at the crab, his eyes widening as he saw it.
A shiny material had been embedded into the centre of Levi’s shell.
“What is that?” Eren pleaded. “Levi, what happened? What did you do?”. The hermit crab placed his claws gently around Eren’s rose shell, as if hugging him.
“It was payment. Don’t worry about it.” Eren studied the adornment closely before realising what he meant.
“You did this for me?” he questioned, tears threatening to spill.
“Of course,” replied Levi. “I’d do anything for you.”
“Oh, Levi,” Eren left his shell to embrace the crab properly. “You shouldn’t have.”
“I needed to,” said the hermit crab firmly. “I’m sorry about before. Christmas isn’t exactly my favourite time of year, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.” He brushed a claw lightly against Eren’s face. “Or the pearl. I know I handled it carelessly. I mean it when I say that it is very important to me.”
“Why don’t you like Christmas?” Eren pressed mildly.
“It’s nothing,” Levi brushed him off.
“Come on, Levi. I want to understand,” he urged.
“Christmas day is my birthday.”
And suddenly it all made sense. Eren knew that Levi’s kin were obsessed with decoration, and so of course they’d forget his birthday in favour of a garish holiday. To make matters worse, he had always been an outsider. Levi must have felt so alone and unwanted on a day that he should have been treasured and celebrated.
Eren grabbed Levi even tighter, pressing every inch of his body into him in the hopes he could comfort his companion not just now, but also eradicate all the rejection he had ever been subject to.
“I promise you that your birthday will always be more important to me than Christmas,” whispered Eren. “You mean so much more to me than a holiday.” Looking around at the decorations once more, he added “and thank you so much for all this. It’s truly beautiful. I know how hard you’ve worked to make me happy and all I want is to return the favour.”
Eren traced the outline of the new material in Levi’s shell. It was a silver, reflecting the sapphire blue on his legs as pale, shimmering light onto cavern the walls. “Suits you,” he murmured, growing closer to the hermit crab with every passing moment.
Levi sensed what was happening a brought his claws up behind Eren, securing them around his waist.
The two shared a single kiss. It was slow, and meaningful. Eren pulled back and looked into Levi’s eyes.
“Happy birthday, Levi.”
“Merry Christmas, Eren.”