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toruvi · 2 years

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Leybaby, I know we’re all still high from maid kitty Levi. But Omg it’s officially May and Mermaid Levi will always have a chokehold on me 🫠 thoughts on mermaid levi? Levi being all Ariel-y in love but with his foul mouth, all he is saying is “shit, you’re a brat, but holy fucking poseidon, you are so fucking pretty I wanna have legs so I can walk with you.” Ahhhh i am running laps I love mermaid levi and it’s officially May.

Also, I also wondered what would Mermaid levi look in ley’s adorable art style 🥹😵‍💫

content: Mermaid!Levi x Reader; fluff

wordcount: ~2k

warnings: none

You first saw the merman last summer. On a trip with your close friend Hange in search of "exotic species" in the ocean. which was silly because everything could be considered exotic in these waters.

But what truly embodied that description was a figure who'd occasionally pop their head up on the surface of the water to watch you explore the tide pools in the early mornings. Hange didn't tag along on these particular expeditions, for they were the farthest from being a morning person.

Which was a shame because that's when you found the most interesting creatures in the water.

Though this man never approached you, never came close enough to even see his face. He was merely a shadow in the water, the top of a head peeking shyly at you. There was a point where you might've thought he was merely a figment of your imagination if he didn't speak on the last few days you explored that area of the beach.

You picked up a shell to examine it closely, watching how it shimmered under the early morning sun.

"That's poisonous," a voice spoke out in the shallow water. It's the same figure that's quietly observed you the last few months. Speaking actual words that you can understand.

You blink at him, momentarily entranced by the low baritone in his warning. Then you smile. "No it's not."

His brow furrows as the rest of his head leaves the water to get a closer look at what you're holding. He swims a few inches towards you. You still, allowing him to observe the shell in your palm. It's the closest he's ever gotten to you and--to put it bluntly?

He's beautiful.

His long, blue tail shines just under the surface of the water. The end of his tail, seemingly a translucent set of fins, flicker slightly under your gaze. The ends of his hair stick to his face as he rises up from the water. A tentative hand snakes up to yours, poking the shell.

Your breath can’t leave your lungs in this proximity. He’s so close.

Part of you wonders if it’s safe to be in thigh-high water with this man--creature swimming this close by. What’s to say he hasn’t been watching your behavior for hunting purposes all summer?

“Could you stop gawking? You look like a fish.”

“Funny, coming from someone with gills--” you quickly retort. He huffs, smacking the shell out of your hand with a glare.

“Tell your shitty friend to stop taking things from the water,” is all he says before swimming off, a light splash of his tail reaching your arms.

You stand there, watching his silhouette disappear behind the small swell of a wave.

It was the last time you saw him that summer, no sign of the top of his head, or the flicker of his fins. Merely the few words prompting you to suggest you and Hange find another collection spot for their antics. And the faint memory of him that lingered throughout the rest of the year.

===

Summer approaches after what feels like an eternity. The thought of that unknown sort-of-man fades into a distant memory over the long months. And despite the little inhibitions on venturing out to Hange's distant relative's beachhouse for "extensive research", you tag along anyway.

"I'm tellin' ya! Erwin said mermaids exist and I can't tell if he's messing with me or if they're real. But I'm gonna find out! He said they like to come out during dusk since people don't really go in the water."

"I don't think any would come out if we're in the water right now, though. They might be scared." You glance around, the orange hues ripple across the surface of the water at your ankles. There's been no sign of any "mermaids" or "mermen" alike. "Or they really don't exist."

Hange hums, disappointment evident on their face as they push up their glasses. Though it doesn't last long, their habits for turning any negative situation into a positive allows them to perk up quickly. "We will try again tomorrow!"

You've had your reasons for not telling Hange of your interactions last year. For fear of looking or sounding delusional--but there was also a slight fear of what Hange would try to do to were they to actually see him. Even if he was kind of rude, it wouldn't be fair to subject him to Hange's antics for now.

You don't mention the possibility of trying to look for them in the morning, but you still try to find him yourself.

The first month passes without any sign of him. So you resort to looking for the unique shells you usually hunt for in your free time.

"Didn't I tell you to stop taking things from the water?"

You jump, dropping the handful of shells you were sifting through in your palm and effectively undoing all your hard work. When you turn around, it's him. The same grumpy upper half of his face peeking over the water. The same tone of his voice that could pass off as a lecture for bad behavior-as if he's chastising a child.

"You told me to tell my friend," you defend. His glare hardens. "And I don't take them unless they're broken."

"Why would you take something broken? That's stupid."

"Because an animal might need the unbroken one, duh--hey!"

His tail swishes, causing a small wave to splash your upper half. "That's what you get."

"For what?!"

"Telling your crazy friend about... me. They come out here everyday now."

So he was watching?

"I didn't say anything about you. Another friend suggested the idea--but I think it was a joke."

"A shitty joke."

"I didn't tell them about you," you persist.

"Keep it that way," he snips with a flick of his hair from his face. His silver-blue eyes glance at the rising sun. "I shouldn't even be talking to you. You shouldn't know I exist."

"I won't tell anyone."

The blue lands on you now, narrowing in scrutinization. He says nothing before making a move to leave.

"Wait!"

He stops, but doesn't turn around.

"Could you tell me your name at least?"

Water drips down from the tips of his locks, cascading down his toned shoulders and back into the sea.

"Levi."

And then he's gone again.

It goes on like this for another month. You quietly seek him out under the facade of looking at shells. He observes from afar with a periodic question that's usually followed by a snip of sarcasm. There's not much conversation happening, but he does stare. Much more than you do.

Sometimes Levi will swim around in the deeper parts of the water, his presence only being announced by a quick swish of his tail. He's not too close, but not too far either.

"What do you do with those, anyway?" He asks one day, noting the small pile of broken shells that sit on the rock you've perched yourself on top of. Your feet dangle in the water as you soak up the early morning sun. The water may be cold, but it serves to soothe the already obscenely warm air.

"Put them in a jar. Make necklaces out of them sometimes."

Levi scoffs as he props himself halfway up on the rock a few feet away.

You frown at him. "For someone who holds so much disdain towards people, you sure do come by here often."

Indignant, Levi's tail flickers in consideration of splashing you again. A habit of his when he has nothing better to respond with. "I was here first."

"Do you want me to leave?"

He blinks, jaw clenching with deliberation. "Do what you want."

So you stay. He doesn't leave either.

"You said you shouldn't be talking to me."

"The others say people are dangerous. One of you is."

"I could be dangerous."

"Not as much as Glasses. I've seen that fishing net they drag around with them."

“They’re too loud to catch anything. Scares all the fish away the second they get near the water.”

“Doesn’t surprise me. Hey, you missed one.” Levi scoots closer, his pinky brushing against your outer thigh as he reaches to pick out a missed broken shell. Both of you flinch, meet eyes--and then avert away. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind or anything.”

His tail swishes side to side. “You always stare at it,” Levi notes. The water sprawls off the edges of the fins that rise over the surface.

“I don’t mean to.”

“...Do you wanna touch it?”

"You'd let me?"

It swishes closer to your ankles, tickling your skin. You reach down, brushing off the blue-eyed stare that watches with caution, yet hinted with a sort of expectancy.

So slowly, the tips of fingers meet the edges of his shimmering scales. He twitches, but your curiosity serves to persist with the careful strokes. It’s slimy, but not as bad as you assumed. His breath stutters, tail freezes.

"it's pretty," you mumble, watching the iridescent glow from his waist to the end of his fins. When you meet his gaze, he blinks. His cheeks pink as his throat bobs from a nervous swallow. You scoot closer in his direction on the rock, shin bumping into his tail again.

"You can feel mine, too," you suggest. He swallows again, chest rising and falling. It seems he's been curious about your legs too with how he reaches over. His knuckle grazes over the top of your right thigh.

The instinctive shudder causes him to pull back. "Sorry, it tickled."

Levi waits one heartbeat before returning. His finger trails from your knee up to your shorts, experimentally tugging on the material.

"This feels disgusting."

"Well I have to wear it or I'd be naked."

"So? We're naked all the time."

"Even if you have... You know."

His head tilts, brows pinched in genuine confusion. Your face warms. "Um, nevermind."

Another gentle wave rolls through the water, nudging Levi's tail into your shins. His hand dips under the water and skates around your ankles. Your feet wiggle out of reaction.

"Why do you come out here when they tell you not to?"

He hums in thought. "I like to watch those." Levi points upwards into the sky. Clouds. "Can't see them so well at home."

"What's it like? Your home.'

"Dry.'

"Really?"

"Seriously? It was a joke."

"I don't know! Don't laugh!!"

"I have this--" his tail flips against the water surface,"--or did you forget?"

“Fine. Don’t tell me anything interesting.”

“Don’t pout, it’s unbecoming.”

You scoff, kicking water towards him and he pushes off from the rock. He pops under the surface and there’s a split second where you believe he might’ve left. Until his head peeks over the water again. If he were floating further up, then you might've caught the smile at the corners of his lips.

You hang out almost every morning after that. Offering hints of each other’s lives and different perspectives of the world. You tell him how Hange’s still adamant on catching a “mermaid”, and how they’ve traveled miles down the beach from where they originally started.

He tells you how he gets scolded for leaving without telling his family where he’s going. And how over the weeks, the world beyond water might even be a little intriguing despite how troublesome the boats and “obnoxious Glasses” are.

One might’ve thought you two had grown to become acquaintances--friends even. And on the last day it feels almost melancholic knowing you won’t return until next summer. With no way to contact Levi.

“You’re coming back, right?” He asks.

“Yup, next year.” You grin at the question, tilting your head. “Try not to miss me too much.”

“As if I would.”

The splashes of saltwater on each other have become more of a sign of affection rather than annoyance.

“It’s too bad we can’t like... write to each other.”

“You could use a conch shell. Sure you’ve grabbed at least a thousand of ‘em this summer.”

“What--like a cellphone?”

“I’m fucking kidding. You think we’d actually use conch shells to communicate?”

“I don’t know--maybe!!”

A smirk spreads across Levi’s cheeks as his eyes roll. “You better come back next summer.”

He pokes your thigh, just like so many times he’s already done the last couple of months. Small touches, looks, changes of expression. In your time together, you’ve come to the realization he might’ve softened up a bit.

“I will,” you reassure, your palm slipping over the top of his wet hand. “Promise.”

#this has been in my drafts for too long #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman #attack on titan #drabbles #is it a drabble if its 2k idk #just a small mermaid Levi blurb #ngl i dont feel good about it but figured ill just share it anyway #BUT I DO HAVE MERMAID LEVI ART #ill finish it after commissions!

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