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Levi scowled to himself as he faced the pathetic display before him. The youngest son of King Erwin ruler of the seven seas, Armin Arlert the seventh prince in line for the throne fawning and googly-eyed at a mere human girl. To his credit, she was a princess, but a human nonetheless.
The crab rubbed his temples in frustration if it wasn't for that idiot kid, he’d be conducting band practice for their spring musical performance that all of the Atlantic waited patiently for to welcome new life. He had already convinced the dolphins to do a whistle solo, something that they tended to shy away from as they hated wasting their air so tediously, a shame really. Erwin would have loved that. But instead of an enjoyable evening, here he was following the nineteen-year-old merboy on his quest for a true love's kiss.
He had warned him again and again, don’t trust the sea hag and what did he do? He went and gave his siren gift for a pair of useless limbs! And for what? For the off chance that the moody human won’t kill him and magically fall into his arms? He swears that kid always had his head in the clouds.
He had wanted to refuse to help him, it was his fault for being so naive and trusting. He’d have to find out the hard way that humans are all root of evil. Yet… when he looked into his wide eyes Levi could only see the kid he had raised all those years back. Those deep baby blues that had always been full of wonder of the world beyond himself. He knew he couldn’t shield Armin from the world, but if he could help soften any blows that it would thrust upon him, he’d be there.
Not to mention the king would have him for breakfast if he’d let his son off on his own. To think this could all have been avoided if the boy could have just fallen for a nice mergirl, but that’d be too easy, huh?
Oh well, can’t cry over spilled krill.
He looked at the horizon, noting that the sun was setting already, meaning they had two days left to get the princess of Liberio to fall for the blonde boy. He needed a plan because at the pace Armin was going, a sea snail would have crossed the Atlantic by now.
Think, Levi, think.
“Hey, short stuff!”
The little crab startled slightly, his scowl deepening at the annoying seagull for interrupting his train of thought.
“Oh it’s you, shitty bird.”
“Haha! What’s cracking Levi! It’s been a while, what brings you to the dry land,” Hange squawked, amused at the ever so stoic hermit crab above the sea.
“Can you shut up for a second, I’m trying to think and I can’t do that with your filthy breath over me,” he replied dryly, having turned back to face the scene before him.
“What’s got your little bum in a kno- wow ho ho! Is that my little merman, Artie? With the princess he saved and got the hots for? Hey Artie! He-” Hange’s cries were silenced with a claw clamping over their beak.
“Can you stop squawking, can’t you see the atmosphere you dumb bird?”
Levi stared hard to only receive silence in return confirming the land creature was clueless.
Sighing, he released Hange and decided to explain from the start, “Look, Armin needs to woo the princess in two days time or the nasty sea monkey is going to keep his voice forever. He won’t be able to turn back into a merman. We need to up the romantic atmosphere.”
Hange seemed to digest the dire situation their little buddy got himself into. They threw a quick glance back at the couple on the lagoon before nodding their head in agreement, “Don’t worry Levi. If it's romantic scenery you need, just leave it to me!”
Before Levi could even react, Hange had already set off to the nearest branch by the lone boat on the lagoon. If it's a romantic atmosphere Levi wanted, then that's what he would get. They’d sing a song, Artie would get his kiss, there'd be a grand wedding, Hange would happily peck on some wedding cake and then a series of tiny Arties would be hatched in six months' time. Piece of cake, Hange thought as they prepared themselves for a performance of a lifetime. The bird fluffed its wings in preparation, clearing its throat before letting out a series of screeches.
Levi covered his ears in disgust, he had asked for help in anticipation of a kiss, not someone mistaking this as a murder scene. He grumbled a string of curses as he plopped into the water on the way to the boat. If he wanted things to be done right, he’d have to do them himself.
Armin sighed contently as he gazed in wonder at the woman before him. It hadn’t been long since he had rescued her some days ago on the ship wreck as he watched in longing from afar to have spent the whole day in her presence. What a lucky man he was.
They had permission to visit the town by her father as long as Reiner, her butler, had come along as chaperon. So they toured amongst the people as they showed Armin the wonders that he had wished to explore for so long. The kingdom of Liberio was known for their baked goods, people around the world traveled just to taste the wonderful sweet treats. Armin was no exception to the rule as he chomped down on the goodies that were offered to him by the princess. Though the treat was wonderful on its own, he couldn’t help but enjoy the view of the usual stoic princess enjoying the baked goods alot more than he. So much so, that he’d offer half of whatever he was eating to see Annie’s eyes light up in gratitude. She reminded him of a cute puffer fish as she ate, he happily mused to himself.
Not only that, but they had stumbled upon a ‘farmers market’. From what he had been told, it was where humans sold and bought their ingredients to make their food. But it wasn’t just limited to food, they sold an array of thingamabobs! So many wonderful objects he had never seen before, he had dragged Annie to every single booth as he pointed animatedly at the ones he deemed pretty. He hadn’t known that most of them were everyday mundane items, but Armin’s enthusiasm had won Annie over as she explained each of their uses to him with an amused tiny smile on her face. They also had music playing and to Armin’s delight there were people dancing in the middle of the town square! With their legs! And he had those now!
So without much thought, he had taken Annie’s hand as he rushed them to the middle of the commotion, effectively leaving Reiner behind at one of the stands. Annie looked puzzled at Armin’s change of plans and watched him as he surveyed the couples around them with a furrowed brow, an obvious sign of his deep concentration. The princess hadn’t seen the blonde man with such a serious face before so she waited to see what the man had in mind. She hadn’t had to wait for too long before he nodded to himself as if understanding something he had been battling with before he took one of her hands in his and placed his other on her waist.
Armin smiled at the look of bewilderment on the princesses face before copying the couples around him as he began to sway her with the timing of the accordion. Sure, he hadn’t had his legs for long but Armin was nothing but an adept adapter as he led their dance smoothly even picking the princess up to spin her as he saw other men do to their partners. He looked up at her smiling from ear to ear to have witnessed the exact time that the princess let out a laugh that had been so wonderful to his ears. It was like tiny little bells chiming in the wind, he might even say that it was more dangerous than a siren calling the way he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her. Her long blonde hair flowing in the wind as her wintery ice blue eyes seemed to soften in the middle of all the excitement, his chest pounded at how pretty she looked like this.
It hadn’t been long after that when Reiner had found them and started to scold them for running off on him. He was a prone worrier that Annie learned to tune out early on in their friendship, even had the audacity to let out a yawn in the middle of his rant that only frustrated the man more. The only thing that had calmed the larger man down was the sincere apologetic smile Armin had thrown as Annie had completely ignored his ire as usual. The man sighed knowing there was no getting through to his long time friend, better not to dwell on it for his own sanity. With the sun setting, Reiner had suggested a calm boat ride around the kingdom to help end the tour on a good note to which Armin hurriedly agreed to.
Reiner rowed the tiny boat around as Armin took the wonders in and listened to the history of the Liberio. It wasn’t long before curiosity got the best of him as he eyed the oars that steered the boat in question and Reiner decided to teach him how to row. Annie watched in amusement as Armin almost flipped the boat twice and Reiner hurriedly trying to snatch the oars back to save them from the ride of shame home. It wasn’t long before he got the hang of it that Reiner paused on the shore. He might be an idiot but he wasn’t stupid. He had noticed the slight droop of his long time friend's shoulders as they had made their way back to the shore, clearly not wanting to go back to the palace just yet. Nor did he miss the way her eyes softened at all the shenanigans the blonde man put them through when he’d be pushed off the boat long ago if it had been him. So when they had stopped on the dock, Reiner turned towards them and stopped the couple from getting off the boat and encouraged them to ride around the lagoon area.
“My arms are kind of tired and I’ve gotten sea sick,” he exaggerated with the palm of his hand on his forehead, “you kids go ride without me, I’ll wait beyond the dock.”
Reiner made his way out of the boat and was halfway down the dock when he paused briefly and turned around to face them once more, his eyebrows furrowed together.
“Oh, and Annie,” he called out.
“Yeah?”
With a shit eating grin splitting his face and eyebrows wiggling he hollered back, “Don’t have too much fun!”
Armin had missed the wink he had sent Annie’s way, but he had happily witnessed the color gain on her cheeks. He watched as the man whistled a happy tune as he disappeared behind the trees as the woman beside him muttered a string of curses. Blissfully unaware of the situation Reiner had set up, he was just happy he had gotten a chance to finally be alone with Annie.
The sun had set not too long ago, the crickets in the surrounding area bringing a different sense of calm in the air than what it had been when they passed by with Reiner. He hummed to himself as picked up the oars and rowed them towards the more secluded area of the lagoon. They sat in peaceful silence as they made their way through the tall widow in the middle of the lagoon, its long branches keeping the area away from prying eyes.
Armin looked over at the princess to find her already looking at him. For some reason he had become quite shy at the moment and looked away, gulping as steady nerves kicked in. His face burned as he stared pointedly at the water as he rowed them around. He wasn’t sure why he felt this way as he had no trouble holding her gaze all day.
His eyes traveled back shyly to find her in a similar state, her cheeks tinted with the pretty pink tint as they had been a few hours ago. He sighed in relief at not being the only one feeling nervous.
Armin wracked his brain on how to break the ice when a screeching sound caught him off guard causing him to jump. He looked up to find the source of the sound to widen his eyes as he found Hange on the top of the tree they had been under. A flash of concern flashed in his eyes as it sounded like his friend was crying from being hurt, but the wink that the bird gave him in return had such thoughts vanish. They were making that horrifying sound on purpose .
“Wow, they should really put that thing out of its misery,” he heard the princess comment dryly, causing him to lower his head in embarrassment.
Thankfully the dreadful noise halted with an abrupt croak. Sparing a dubious look back towards the origin of the sound, his eyes widened to find Hange pinned under the ever so loyal little crustacean, his tiny claw clamped on the ladders beak with an impassive calmness. He had never been so grateful to meet Levi’s aloof gaze as he nodded back at him as if to say business had been taken care of. Armin couldn’t keep in the snort he had let out at the ridiculous scene. His grin widening as he met the princess’s questioning glance, to her dismay she only got a cheeky grin in return before he turned his head back towards the water.
It was a beautiful night with the moon above their heads providing their only source of light. The swish of the water filled the calm silence between the two. There was a gentle breeze blowing the surrounding grass softly and gradually the scenery took a dim light as fireflies flew around them.
“You know,” the woman broke the silence with a furrowed brow, “I feel bad that we’ve spent the whole day together and I still don’t know your name.”
He nodded sympathetically and gave a small shrug as if stating it wasn’t that big of a deal, causing a small pout to appear on the woman’s pretty lips.
“No, it’s not okay,” she sighed indignantly, “names are precious things, they are the only things we truly own as people. They have an origin, where we come from and they’re how we carve our place in this world.”
“ At least… that’s what my father told me,” she trailed off quietly, seemingly falling into her own thoughts.
Armin pursed his lips in contemplation as he mulled her words over, his expression naturally mirroring her own. He had never thought of the importance of names before, but he took her words into consideration.
“What if I try guessing ,would that be okay,” she asked suddenly, trying to lighten the mood she had so easily dampened. Annie chuckled quietly at the quick enthusiasm the man before her exuded as he bobbed his head rapidly, quite liking the idea.
“Hm, okay. Let’s see,” she mumbled as she stared at him in contemplation, “Ray?”
The blonde shook his head.
“Hermes?”
He stuck out his tongue in displeasure.
“You don’t like that one, huh,” she bemused, “what about Charles?”
“Darren?”
“Ren?”
“Eric?”
The deadpan look he gave her showed his displeasure more than any other reaction she had received.
“Oh come on, that one isn’t even that bad!”
He sighed, frustration marring every corner of his face. This was more difficult than he thought it would be. Unconsciously, he let one of his arms wander into the water as if just the mere touch of the water cooled his frustrations.
He had almost his whole arm submerged into the water before Annie took notice.
“Hey,” she exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing his arm on instinct, “There’s dangerous creatures in these waters, don’t put your arm in ther-”
The blonde man’s face regained his excitement tenfold as his neck snapped towards her and he launched forward to grab her hands in enthusiasm.
She blinked rapidly as she gaped at the man’s sudden boldness, "What are yo-”
To her bewilderment she was again cut off as the man wildly gestured at himself, eyes wide in desperation to get her to understand.
“... I don’t…,” she paused momentarily, her brows knitted together as if finally understanding, “wait … did I say your name by accident?”
The series of elated nods confirming her suspicions caused her own eyes to widen as she tried to remember what she said, what could be considered a name.
“Oh wow,” she breathed out, “Okay, um.. what if I repeat what I said and you stop me when I get close to it?”
She received another set of wild nods in confirmation as a wide grin spread on his face, eyes imploring her forward.
Annie let out a breath before she started replaying her words slowly so as to not miss a single detail, “...hey…there’s dangerous creatures… in these waters. Don’t put your arm in-”
She was stopped by the squeeze of their still connected hands and the wide set eyes.
“Arm... in. Arm-in. Armin?”
If she thought she’d seen the man be expressive before, she hadn’t seen anything that could compare at this moment. His eyes lit up in a way that had his excitement the whole day pale in comparison as they twinkled back at her. His warm hands gripping hers tightly, his beaming face confirming she had gotten it correct.
“Armin,” she tested it out again, liking the way it flowed on her tongue.
“Armin,” she smiled coyly. “It’s a pretty name, I like it.”
He closed his eyes as his chest rumbled in delight, he couldn’t release the sound, but she knew that he was laughing. She watched in awe at the pure joy he emitted from just having her know his name. How pretty he looked with pink hue staining the apples of his cheeks. She had caused this reaction.
Armin opened his eyes to find Annie looking at him with such an intense stare that would have caused him to shy away earlier, but he couldn’t look away this time. Or maybe he didn’t want to. He noticed that her face wore the same lovely pink hue she had earlier in the day, and he knew that he mirrored her image as he felt the heat on his own. He had also become overly conscious of their hands still interlocked on his lap.
He wasn’t sure if he had been slowly getting closer or if it was her but suddenly their faces were inches apart. He was no expert in love, but his body seemed to know what to do. He swallowed unconsciously; his gaze flickered to her soft looking lips before returning to her eyes. A silent request. Her trembling eyes had slowly but surely followed suit. An answer.
Slowly he leaned in, his breath hitching in anticipation. He watched as her eyes fluttered closed as he drew nearer, the only hint of her nerves amounting those of his own was the slight squeeze of their joined hands. His chest rose and fell with rapid breaths, his heart pounded just as fast as if threatening to beat out it. He closed his eyes as he crossed the last few gaps between them, their lips centimeters of brushing together…
The boat flipped upside down.
“Those damn eels,” Levi muttered darkly to himself as he watched the filthy creatures slither back to their equally filthy master. He should have known that damn monkey would play dirty.
They had been so close! The bird had finally stopped yapping, and the princess finally figured out Armin’s name. The mood had been perfectly curated from romantic lighting and song selection by yours truly. The kid was puckering and an eyelash away from the kiss before disaster struck.
The crab bonked his head repeatedly against the tree branch in frustration. He’d have to start from zero tomorrow. He had only one full sunset left to ensure his majesty didn’t end up a tragedy. It was too much to bare. He let out a tired sigh before turning back to the disastrous scene.
Armin popped his head out of the water, eyes filled with concern as he looked around for the princess. He hadn’t much time to freak out before she emerged soon after with a loud gasp. Levi watched as the young master helped the icy princess up from the water and instead of sporting her ever present scowl she was … grinning? To Armin’s own confusion she let out a small snort as she reached out to gently remove a piece of seaweed that had been plastered on the blonde man’s hair. His cheeks colored, cheeks puffing out as a mock pout made its way to his lips.
“No, it’s not funny,” she managed out in a serious voice as she failed to stifle her giggles, “I’m not laughing at you I swear.”
Tried as he may to keep his fake ire, her laughter was infectious, and he soon joined her.
Levi dropped his head on his claw at the display, a ghost of a smile making its way on his face. On second thought he thinks they will be just fine. They might not even need two days.
The couple managed to get back in the boat and row all the way back onto the dock with no more accidents on the way. Armin was helping Annie off the boat with an outstretched hand when their companion came strolling back.
“Hey you two, how was the- oh my god! Why are you drenched!”