A Seafood Surprise

"Ari? Can I come in?" Ariel rolled her eyes and looked up from the book she was reading. She didn't know why her sisters always asked her if they could come in. No matter what she said they always came in any way. Especially, Adella, she was already inside the room when she asked.

"Sure, come on in." May as well say it. Adella was already sitting on her bed with her. "What's up?" Honestly, she already knew. Ever since she'd gotten together with Stevie, boy-crazy Adella had decided to play matchmaker with the rest of her sisters. You'd think with five other sisters Ariel might slip through the cracks. But no, Attina had her long-time girlfriend and Arista had just gotten a new boyfriend. That left Alana, Aquata, Andrina, and Ariel. Harder to slip through the cracks when there were only four of sisters in need of significant others.

"Well I was talking to Andrina and she has this friend. Actually, it's more like she has a friend who has a friend who has a cousin-" Adella started. Ariel could already see where this was going.

"No Adella!"

"What? You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"I am not going on a date with this guy and, no, there is nothing that you can give me or offer me that is going to change my mind."

"Okay, maybe you did know what I was going to say." It honestly hadn't been that hard. Last week Adella and managed to convince Alana to go on a blind date by promising to take her shopping. Ariel had been the one who called Alana with the fake emergency so that she could get out of it. "I don't understand why you won't even meet the guy. Unless…" Adella had a glint in her eye that Ariel didn't like.

"What?"

"Did you and Urchin finally get together?" Adella squealed.

"What? No! How many times do I have to tell you, Urchin and I aren't like that!" Honestly, what was with Adella. She couldn't seem to grasp the concept of one of Ariel's best friends being a boy without believing that there weren't feelings beyond friendship. Adella snorted.

"Sure, you think that Ari."

"It's true!"

"For you, definitely. For him… well, you aren't interested anyway."

"Exactly, I'm not interested in Urchin or ANYONE else. End of story! Case closed! Discussion over!"

"Awww! C'mon Ari! At least meet the guy."

"No way! I love you Della but this matchmaking is getting annoying."

"Pretty please."

"Nope. Not happening."

"Fine, you leave me no choice. Time to pull out the big guns."

"You can't bribe me the same way you did Alana. I'm not a Sephora fan."

"What if I told you that I had two badges for San Diego Comic Con." That was very tempting. Ariel and her best friend Freddie Floudoors, "Flounder", were both giant nerds. And this was the chance to go see some of their favorite actors and actresses in person. Not to mention there would be plenty of excellent merch for Ariel's collection. But no, she could buy tickets like that herself.

"Sorry, not interested. Flounder and I can get them ourselves."

"Really, because I'm pretty sure that they're sold out. And last time I checked what few were left at resale places were being sold for around $700. I'm sure that you and Flounder don't want to spend $1,400 when you could get them for free. All you have to do is go on one little blind date." God this was tempting.

"How'd you even get them?"

"Alana might just have a friend who is a special effects makeup artist and blogger. She got them from a resale place for herself and her assistant but she qualified for press badges and passed them to Alana who didn't need them. Totally legal and allowed, we checked."

"I don't know." She really wanted to go, but… was it really worth it? Ariel loved her sister, but Adella wasn't exactly the best matchmaker. She had a bad habit of setting her sisters up on dates with cute guys and girls without actually seeing if they had anything in common. Alana's date had set her up with a friend of Aquata's. She'd been nice and very athletic, but completely uninterested in flowers and beauty like Alana was. In fact when Alana had suggested a homemade lotion that she made to help the girl's complexion (which was admittedly very sunburnt from lacrosse practice) the girl had lost it and immediately launched into a rant about how terrible the beauty industry was. "I'm really not sure if it's worth it."

"Are you sure? John Barrowman could be there. Or Jenson Ackles. And there will probably be a Marvel panel with the actors. Like Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Junior and… Tom Holland…" Damn it! Adella knew how much Ariel loved the new Spiderman. And the actor was British for God's sake. How was she supposed to resist that!

"Fine, when and where am I supposed to meet this guy?" Adella squealed and clapped her hands.

"Olive Garden. Friday Night at 6:30. You should wear that cute pink dress. And we can get Alana to do your hair and makeup." Adella sprung up off the bed and started running to talk to Alana about Ariel's date.

"WAIT!" Ariel called after her. "Who is this guy?"

"His name is Thor. Thor Olympia!" What did Ariel get herself into? Why did she have to sell her soul for merch?

It was Friday night and Ariel had been right about this date Adella had set up, it was going terribly. Thor was very snobby and wouldn't stop bragging to Ariel about his athletic accomplishments and family's wealth. So far the only words Ariel had managed to get out were to the waiter to order her favorite strawberry lemonade and seafood pasta. The waiter had seemed to notice her dates behavior and made a face behind his head at Ariel and winked. It had made Ariel chucked, not that Thor noticed. He was too busy telling Ariel all about how cruel his father had been not to buy him that new sports car. Nevermind that he already had two and a Harley.

Honestly, the waiter was the best part of the date so far. His name badge said that his name was Eric and his deep blue eyes were frankly the best eyes Ariel had ever seen. Ariel made fanart as a hobby and she longed to be able to draw eyes like that in one of her pieces. They were so lively and seemingly full of adventure. They'd be perfect for that new piece she was making of Sokka. He also had short, thick black hair. Honestly, Thor could learn something from him, his blonde mohawk/ponytail combo was ridiculous. Now Eric was coming back with their food.

Eric smiled as he sent Ariel's bowl of seafood pasta in front of her. Seriously, he had a perfect smile too! Why couldn't he have been the cousin of a friend of a friend of Andrina's that Adella had set her up with? Not Thor the bore. Ariel smiled down into her pasta as Thor's food was placed in front of him and Eric said for them to enjoy their meals.

"I swear." Thor started. "If he thinks he's getting a good tip he's crazy."

"Why?" Ariel was surprised. "I thought he was doing a good job."

"Well, first of all, he brought me a Pepsi with way too much ice. I clearly asked for a little ice, not a lot." Ariel rolled her eyes. Who cared about ice? "And did you see how friendly he was with us."

"Yeah, so? I thought it was nice."

"He's too friendly. Staff shouldn't be so friendly. Not with people who are clearly their superiors. Afterall, I'm a blue-blood and you may not have been born into society like I have, but your father's company is first class which means you have a promising future." Ariel was a few seconds away from strangling Thor with her napkin. She groaned internally as he droned on about the importance of social class and the lines between it. Ariel cracked open one of the mussels in the pasta and gasped.

"OH, MY GOD!"

"What? Don't tell me that your food is undercooked. I swear, I'm going to complain to the manager about the quality of this service."

"No! Look, there's this tiny live crab in here!" It was true, a small live crab was wandering around in the shell, clearly confused.

"Ew! That's disgusting. I'll kill it for you." He was leaning over with a knife. Ariel pushed his hand away.

"What! No, he's just scared and confused. Seriously, this is crazy though. Isn't it wonderful though? Just think about what this little guy must have been through."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"No, I mean he must have crawled into this empty mussel shell in a tidepool or maybe even the ocean. Then someone collects mussels for Olive Garden to put in their food and he ends up in my pasta. Like a little surprise."

"Really?"

"Yeah, isn't it neat?"

"Not really, I don't see why you're making this big deal over a crab."

"Excuse me," Ariel and Thor looked up to see Eric the waiter, standing by the table. "How's your meal?"

"Awesome, but check this out. I found a tiny crab in this mussel and it's alive and everything!"

"Whoa!" Eric came over next to Ariel and stared at the crab with her. "That is so cool. He's so cute. And just think about everything he must have seen!" Ariel brightened.

"That's what I was saying!"

"No way. You know, I bet this is a pea crab."

"A pea crab?" Ariel asked.

"Yeah, they live in oysters and mussels."

"It's just a crab," Thor groaned. "Who cares what kind of crab it is?"

"We care!" Ariel and Eric shot back at him. Eric turned to Ariel.

"Can I take this to show it to everyone else? They'll go nuts."

"Sure! Can I go with you?" Ariel asked, with a smile as she stood up.

"Wait, hold up!" Thor interjected, lurching and grabbing her wrist. "You're not going with him."

"Excuse me?" Ariel said in disbelief.

"I think that she can make up her own mind, buddy," Eric added in.

"Stay out of it, Buddy! She's on a date with ME! Not you, last time I checked." That was it. Ariel was done with Thor's rude and snobby behavior.

"Not anymore she isn't! And here's a tip, maybe next time either actually let your date talk about something besides you or date your own ego. I'm sure there's plenty of it there." With that, she picked up her drink and promptly threw it at Thor. He dropped her wrist as he shrieked.

"This shirt is white silk! Do you know hard it is to get red stains out of white silk."

"Should have thought of that before you were a jerk," Ariel said, grabbing her bowl and purse and turning on her heel. Eric smiled and extended his elbow, just like a Prince. Ariel smiled and thanked him as she placed her hand on his arm and he guided her through the dining room towards the kitchen.

"Good for you," he said. "My friend Carlotta and I noticed how rude he was being all night. He definitely deserved it."

"I have to admit, I've always wanted to do that. It always looks so fun on TV." Ariel said with a laugh. "Besides he was really rude to you and me. I hope you won't get in trouble."

"Nah. The manager, Grimsby is an old friend of my father's. He'll understand."

Later that night, after Eric had gotten off his shift they were sitting at a table in the restaurant. They were talking and enjoying some complimentary desserts that Carlotta, the dessert chef had given them. Eric had been right, everyone had thought that Ariel's little crab had been cool and interesting. Chef Louis had gone on and on about the mystery of 'Les Poissons'. Ariel had found it strange for a French chef to be working in an Italian restaurant but Eric had assured her that despite Louis's 'eccentricities', he really did love his job. Although he had offered to cook Ariel's little crab for her, she'd insisted that she wanted to keep him alive and he was currently in a take-out box with some salt water and his little mussel.

Somehow in their hours of talking, the topic had gotten off of Eric's coworkers to themselves. Now they were taking turns asking questions. Ariel had already told Eric that her favorite color was green, she loved strawberries, and enjoyed playing piano. It was her turn now. She tried to think of a good question. Then, it hit her.

"Hey, how'd you know what kind of crab it is?"

"I'm a marine biology major."

"That's so cool!"

"Really, most people think it's kinda nerdy."

"No way, the ocean is totally fascinating. I love it!" Ariel said, excitedly.

"Thank You! Finally, someone gets it! But it's my turn for a question. If you don't mind, why were you on a date with that guy in the first place?"

"My sister, Adella, has been on this matchmaking kick trying to set up me and my other sisters lately. She kinda bribed me to go on a blind date with him.

"What'd she bribe you with?"

"Now you're going to think I'm a nerd. She got two tickets to San Diego Comic Con for me and my best friend."

"That's so cool! I really wish I could go. You guys are lucky."

"Really? You're into all that nerdy stuff."

"You're talking to the biggest nerd right here. Honestly, if it weren't for my dog, Max, I'm pretty sure that I'd just stay home all day playing video games and watching Marvel movies."

"No Way!"

"I swear! But something tells me that guy wasn't really into nerds."

"The only thing I can tell that he was into was himself."

"Then it's a good thing that you stood up to him then. To tell you the truth, he didn't seem like the kind of guy you should be with anyway."

"Oh really," Ariel said slyly. "And what do you mean by that." Eric turned red and fell silent. "What's that? Did your voice get stolen or something?"

"It's just… you seem like a really nice girl and you're one of the coolest people I've ever met. A girl like that shouldn't be with just any guy."

"What kind of guy should a girl like me be with."

"Well, uh. Any guy she wants, but…"

"But?" Ariel asked. Eric gulped and seemed to take a deep breath.

"If you wanted to, maybe you could be with a guy who plays way too many video games, reads fanfiction and is completely powerless when his dog makes puppy eyes at him." Ariel pretended to think for a moment.

"I don't know." Eric's face seemed to fall. "Does this guy like surprise, tiny crabs hiding in mussels?" His entire face lit up as he took her hand.

"He loves them."

"Good. I like guys who like surprises."

Hi Guys! I've been wanting to do a Little Mermaid fanfic for a while now. It's always been my favorite movie, ever since I was a kid. I was looking for the right inspiration and I found it in a Tumblr post about a guy who actually did find pea crab in a mussel at Olive Garden. I might continue this and make it a two shot. Let me know what you think. Thanks and keep reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing.

~ Mallorie a.k.a. Lilymaid620