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Alfred kicked the waves, before entering the waters, and stopping waist-deep. “Eyyy, Luddie, ya there?” he called out, eager to meet the merman again. He waited for a few minutes, slightly frowning. “Aww man, he’s gotta be here. He’s never late,” the American flopped onto the water, getting his hair wet. He stared up at the sky, squinting when the sunlight glared into his glasses. Sighing, Alfred stopped floating and decided that Ludwig probably got busy with whatever his brother might’ve assigned him, and just started swimming along the shoreline.
He stared up ahead of him, to the distant pristine blue water meeting the sky, recalling the first time he had actually met Ludwig. He was(and still is) a marine biologist, working at a museum not far away, and had come to this beach when his colleagues had gotten a call about jellies being beached. Once classifying the jellies, Alfred had decided to walk around the beach, seeing if anyone needed any help. Most to all of the people had gotten out of the water by then, but it never hurt to check. Besides, he always liked helping people out, it left a good feeling in his chest. It was during then when he had met Ludwig. At first, he’d assumed it was a man who had gotten stung by one of the jellyfish and was paralyzed. He soon realized that Ludwig wasn’t just a human. It had freaked him out but also made him eager to learn.
That had been a few months ago, and the two had gotten a lot closer now, and Alfred smiled at that, but that quickly went away when he had realized that that ten minutes had passed. He frowned and started swimming towards the beach again' although still hoping to see Ludwig, even if he doubted Ludwig would be able to make it now. Alfred had really gotten to like the male, even though the merman is a bit awkward when it came to Alfred doing his shenanigans, he found it adorable. Alfred paused, and looked back, calling for Ludwig. After waiting for a couple of seconds, he headed back to the beach, a bit dejected. “Well, it was a nice swim,” he shrugged, taking that as the silver lining of this situation.
“Alf-Alfred wait!”
Alfred jumped at his name, recognizing that voice to be Ludwig’s. Sure enough, there was the man, water just at his waist. Alfred gasped excitedly and raced over, jumping onto and hugging Ludwig. Ludwig stumbled back a bit, catching the man. Alfred happily pulled away after a bit, his arms still around Ludwig. “Dude, I thought you weren’t comin’!”
“Ja, well, Gilbert had some tasks I had to finish, which took a while,” he muttered, shyly casting his gaze away from Alfred at their close proximity (although used to this, as the American would often hug him). “Besides, I had to get you a gift too, which took a while,” he added on.
Alfred lit up, curious about what Ludwig meant. “Hn? Why?” he asked, watching Ludwig takeout a small pouch from his satchel, that Alfred completely missed to take a notice of.
“It was your birthday recently, right?” he asked, handing him the pouch. In return, he got a blank stare from Alfred. Ludwig's brows furrowed. "What's wrong?"
Alfred stared at Ludwig, before hugging Ludwig again. “Dude, my birthday is in a month. Today is June eighth,” he chuckled, running his fingers through the merman's slicked-back hair, which came undone easily. Ludwig stared ahead, confused, and then flustered at the kiss on the cheek. “I still appreciate the thought, man. You’re the best,” Alfred smiled cheekily at Ludwig, who wished he could sink into the depths of the water.
“Y-yes, of course,” he replied, handing the aquamarine to Alfred. Alfred carefully took it out of the bag and examined the opaque gemstone, both on the surface and underwater, then looking back at Ludwig, comparing the merman's eyes to the gemstone, chuckling at the cheesy comparison.
“It looks just as gorgeous as you, Lud,” he smiled, returning the gemstone back into the pouch. Alfred could tell that his words had left Ludwig pretty flustered, but took pride in that. Alfred took his hands in Ludwig's, “now, I’ve got to get a perfect gift for you too,” he said, leaving another peck on Ludwig’s nose. “I think I have something in mind already.”