A.N:
this is a story/rp that me and SassyPastelEren are putting together, hope you like it :)
ps. Levi is written by RainValentine and Eren is written by SassyPastelEren (these are AO3 account names)
If you would like to read it on AO3 the link is /works/4815692/chapters/11025497
Levi sat at his desk and watched as the sun finished setting. It had been a pretty eventful day for a day out at sea. Nothing much usually happened other than a random attack from an English or Spanish Schooner ship. However, they never seemed to learn that their Schooners were no match for his Carrack ship.
Standing up from his desk, he put his things away and stripped down to just his trousers and slipped into bed. Letting out a sigh, he would have to think of what he was going to do with that mermaid that now resided in his ship's hold.
As night fell, Eren's stomach growled, aching for food after such a long day. He figured most of the crew would be asleep by now and grinned to himself as he pulled himself up to sit on the edge of the tub, fluke dragging across the floor with a wet plopping sound. He looked around one more time, ears listening to make sure no one was near before he relaxed, groaning as the scales on his tale started receding into his skin, revealing two legs.
The mermaid grinned as he flexed his toes, trying to get used to this form once again. It had been months since he shifted and needed to get used to the limbs again. It took Eren a few minutes before he stood, holding the edge of the tub for support as he stretched the limbs, getting used to their weight again, walking in place to get used to the motion.
Once Eren was sure his legs were stable he walked a bit around the cargo hold, not touching anything, just getting used to walking. Once he was sure he could handle the rest of the ship, the brunet used his nose, finding the scent of fish, quietly leaving the cargo hold, looking around to be sure no one was around as he made his way to the stairs, sniffing again to find the scent.
Eren looked for the stairs, internally groaning as he saw the sleeping sailors near the stairs. "Fuck me." He whispered, trying to quietly maneuver around the sleeping sailors, but didn't see a small box in front of him, tripping over it with a loud yelp.
A couple of the men heard the sound of someone yelp, a few of the men muttered something about leaving their treasure alone. The others rolled over in their groggy state, rubbing their eyes. Sitting up one of the crew men looked groggily at Eren before realizing who was standing there. He became alert with that realization and jumped out of bed. "Well look what we got here." He kicked the bed of the sleeping crew member next to him causing him to wake up alone with the few others. "Our lil mermaid has legs."
Another guy walked up behind Eren, standing very close. "And what do you think ye be doin boy." He clamped his hands down in Eren's shoulders, holding him there. "What should we do to em. He did come out of his safe spot, so it ain't our fault."
Another said, laughing. The one who woke up first looked over him with hungry eyes. "I say we have our fun while the Cap'n is sleepin." He grabbed Eren and tossed him onto his bed. "Me first."
Eren cursed his luck as the men started waking up, cringing as they spoke, glaring at any man he could see that wasn't behind him. The situation wasn't helped when his shifting left him without clothing. As the mermaid was tossed onto a bed, He snarled at the men. "Don't you fucking touch me!" Eren said, trying to kick at the men, but since he was still getting used to his legs, his kicks were weak. "I swear to the Goddess I will kill you if you touch me!" He said, before trying to use his voice to stun them, but realized it didn't work when he had his legs.
Levi was woken up by a loud banging on his door, he had just fallen asleep. Cursing at the person on the other side, he got out of bed and stomped over to it. "This better be fucking good." He wasn't getting much sleep anyways but the lack thereof made him cranky.
Charles, the youngest of his crewmen and the only one that Levi thought had a sensible head on his shoulders, was standing on the other side of the door, staring up at him with a panicked expression. "Cap'n come quick! The others, they have the mermaid. They plan-"
Levi didn't even let him finish his sentence, he ran out of his cabin not bothering to get his shoes or shirt and marched down to the hold. He heard Charles yell after him that they were all in the crews quarters. 'What the hell was he doing in there?' he asked himself.
He barged into the crews quarters, infuriated by what he saw. Eren pinned down on a bed with Marion, an older crew member and one who frequently disobeys Levi, Standing over Eren with his pants undone. "What in the Bloody Fucking Hell is going on here!" He hollered.
The men around Eren all stiffened and looked at their now furious captain. They all stepped back away from Eren and Marion pulled up and fastened his trousers.
Levi turned to Charles, whom followed him down. "Stay with Eren." Turning back to the men he picked up one of the pistol that was sitting on a crate and pointed it at Marion and yelled. "Marion, up on deck, Now." Marion did as he was told, however trying to plead with Levi all the while.
After several moments, Levi returned back to the crews quarters without Marion. He pointed at a couple of men in the corner. "You two, get that tub and take it up to my quarters... NOW!" He yelled the last part when he noticed hesitation. He walked over to Eren and scooped him up in his arms and looked over the other men. "Rest now while you can, because you will not be getting any for a while." He said angrily and carried Eren up to his quarters as they awaited the tub to be brought up.
Eren flinched at every shout Levi made, a glare still set on his face even though tears streaked his cheeks. When Levi went up on deck, the brunet stayed near Charles, waiting for Levi to return. He didn't feel safe around these men. The mermaid looked up at hearing Levi's return.
As the raven haired man picked him up, Eren wrapped his arms over Levi's shoulders, hiding his face in his neck as he was carried up to Levi's quarters. "I-I'm sorry. I..I was just wanting a single fish to eat.. I hadn't eaten yet today. I'm sorry." He said into Levi's neck, his voice hoarse from trying to stun the men, having failed.
Levi walked them into his chambers and shut the door before setting Eren down on the small couch he had against the wall and threw a blanket over him to cover him up. He was still stunned at the fact that Eren had legs... Legs!
He needed to think, he looked down at Eren and asked. "I'm guessing you just eat raw fish right? I'll go retrieve you one after they bring up your tub." He was pacing about the cabin for several moments before sitting at his desk, leaning his elbows on the desk and head in his hands. "Why-how do you have legs?"
Eren tried thinking hard over the question, making sure he had his words right. He folded his hands in his lap, looking at Levi, hoping he wasn't mad. "W-well.. Just like some fish have things that make them different, some mermaids can change their tails into legs. It's rare, but it can be done by few." The brunet explained, glad his voice was getting back to normal.
"At least now, you know I could have easily left but I was only trying to get a fish. I want to stay." He said, hoping this proved his point to their previous talk before Eren tried getting some food.
Levi was still in a state of shock but it was starting to wear away the longer he stared at the boy. "So…" From where the boy was, he was away from the stairs to go to the top deck to just walk away. He was just so flabbergasted right now, he had a man hanging over the side of deck by his feet and a mermaid with legs in his cabin. "You could have left any time if you had wanted…" He was more speaking to himself then to Eren. "Alright. My men are going to hate me for this but i really don't care anymore after the stunt they pulled."
There was a knocking at the door. Levi got up to open in and allowed his men to carry the tub into the cabin. "Put it over there against the wall." He pointed to a empty space on the wall across from the couch. The two crew men sat it down and began filling it with buckets of water and left as soon as it was done.
When the door closed behind them, Levi picked up Eren and sat him down in the tub. "Don't move, I'll go get you some fish." He left and came back moments later with a fish and tossed it at Eren and went to go sit where Eren was previously residing on the couch.
While Levi had left after setting Eren back in the tub, the brunette groaned, figuring the other would expect him to have his tail back, but figured to save it so Levi could see for himself. He simply splashed some water to his neck and chest so he wouldn't be too dried out when he did revert to having a tail.
When Levi came back, tossing the fish at him, Eren turned, shy about his eating in front of a human. Once he finished eating the fish, scales and all, he turned to face Levi again. "T-thanks for the fish. And again I am sorry for the trouble I caused. I didn't mean to do that…" Eren said, trailing off before laying straight as he could in the tub, groaning as he bit his lip.
The mermaids tail started to reform, making Eren groan in pain. It always hurt more to reform his tail than it did to form legs.
Levi hadn't know what Eren was doing at first when he laid down and started moaning. He got up and walked over to the boy and saw his face contorted in pain, looking down his body he saw that his legs were fusing together and scales were coming out of his skin… He had already thought he had seen everything, he didn't think he would see a mermaid transformation.
He walked over to his locked liquor cabinet and poured him a glass of whiskey. However, after today, he needed more than just a glass of strong booze. He brought the booze back over to the couch and stared at the boy. He wanted to say something but he was at a loss for words at that moment. He filled his glass again and downed it before deciding to ditch the glass on the table and drink from the bottle. Leaning back in the couch he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You can stay, you can travel with us and all that other shit… But under one condition… You are to stay by my side or in this cabin. Do not leave my eyesight unless you're swimming." He took a swig of the bottle.
Eren gave a small sigh as his tail finished fusing, smiling as he heard Levi. "Understood. So then it's a deal? That I search sunken ships for things you can sell for money and I can stay?" The brunet asked for clarification. He was glad that Levi was agreeing to the deal. It meant Eren could see more of the world and it made the boy smile.
"Yes, just don't make me regret this decision." He said as he wiped a hand across his face. "The next port we stop at, I'll have another tub made for you." He figured that would make him happy. If he was going to be living on this ship, he might as well be comfortable.
Levi looked down at his now half empty bottle of whiskey and then to Eren. "Want some?" He wasn't sure if mermaids could drink but knowing how rough of a day both of them had, he thought he'd ask."
Eren's face lit up at that and the mention of a bigger tub. He didn't mind the tub, but it was too cramped for his tail. "That sounds like a good idea. I can get some stuff from ships to help you pay for it." The brunet offered, knowing it might be very costly to have something like that made.
The mermaid looked at the bottle, moving in his tub so that he was closer to Levi, sniffing at the bottle, his face scrunching up a little. "It smells weird.. And you like it?" He asked, still curious about many human things. The brunette didn't even know if he could drink anything other than water, but was curious to know if he could drink stuff like this too.
Holding the bottle, Making sure to keep it upright while he spoke, Eren tested how the bottle felt in his hands. "Well I don't need anything too uhm.. what's the word.. fancy? Yeah! Fancy. Just something simple but a little bigger than this." The brunet said, looking at Levi with a grin.
The mermaid sniffed at the bottle again and shrugged, taking a big swig, gagging and coughing the liquid up. "Gah! Ack! H-how do humans drink this?!" The brunet asked, still coughing.
Levi chuckled at his response, it wasn't much more than he expected. "Its an acquired taste, the side effects are better than the taste, it's enough to look past the taste." He grabbed the bottle from Eren and took another swig of it before handing it back over. "Wanna try again?" Levi wasn't a lightweight but he was already starting to feel a bit of the alcohol. "It might make you sleep easier. And don't worry, i'm not going to molest you in your sleep or anything."
Eren blinked at that last part. "I know you won't. Out of everyone on this ship, it's you and Charles that I trust most." He said before taking a much smaller sip of the whiskey, letting it sit for a moment, testing the taste out before swallowing it. He took another small sip before handing the bottle back to Levi. "It definitely tastes better in smaller amounts." The brunet said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, no big swigs until you're used to it." He said as he took a swig from the bottle. He rested his head back against the tub and sighed. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night. "So, are your kind really as dangerous as they say?" He asked, taking another swig and handing the bottle to Eren. "That you lure in sailors into the water to be taken to Davy Jones locker."
The mermaid took another few sips, handing the bottle back to Levi. "No. Yes we use our voices to protect ourselves when not singing for fun, but defensively it's more for protection. Sirens are the ones who lure men away. They look like us, but up close are much scarier." Eren said, leaning over the edge of the tub to look at the other as they talked.
He took a few more sips and shared the whiskey with Eren as they talked. Soon the bottle was empty and forgotten on the floor, Levi himself was past tipsy. As they talked, he was still stumped about Eren being able to form legs. "When your tail turned into legs.. Can you do that at will? What about that one they call the goddess, what was her name… Atar-something… Atargatis!"
Eren chuckled, now a little drunk from such low tolerance for the drink. "Y-yeah. I can change anytime I want. See?" He said, closing his eyes, face slightly contorting in pain as the scales receded and legs started to form. The brunet spoke as his legs formed. "And the Goddess? Her name is Atargatis. She was the first of our kind. She had been human once but in grief of her human lover's death, she tried drowning herself in the sea, but the gods thought her too beautiful to die so they made her live on as one in between land and sea and gave her a tail of scales. Now she is the one who protects the sea folk, merfolk and siren alike. Or if someone dies of grief or an emotion so strong of love, She turns them and their lover to a mated pair of merfolk. I've never met anyone who was made into one before, so it's more of just a legend told to the young ones." He explained.
"Oh look! See?" He said, standing from the tub, a little wobbly. "The Goddess is why some of us can do this!" He said excitedly, face red from the alcohol.
Levi stood up as he watched Eren stand in the tub with wobbly legs. ""Whoa boy, careful you are quite drunk." He caught Eren as he tipped forward. "Goddamn, you are... Very naked, again." He said looked down at him. "I take it you are not used to using legs." Levi said as he helped steady Eren. "How long can you stay like this?" If he wanted to take Eren onto the port with him, he didn't want him drying up while in town.
Giggles bubbled from Eren's lips as he nodded, holding onto Levi's arms. "Well I don't have clothes, so of course I'm naked." He said,flexing his toes as he stood, getting used to the feeling of legs again. "And once I'm out water with legs, I can have legs as long as I want. Even my gills recede and look like scars. See?" He said, tilting his head to show Levi his neck. The brunet didn't give a damn that he was naked. It was normal for him.
He did notice the gills receded, he also noticed now that Eren was standing that the brat was taller then him by several inches... Just like the rest of his crew, he couldn't help but glare up at him.
"Well, then we are just going to have to get you clothes to wear when we go out on port, aren't we." He made sure that Eren would be able to stand on his own before he sat down on the couch, he didn't stay sitting for long because that put him at eye level with the boys junk. Standing back up he picked up a blanket and tossed it at him. "For fucks sake, cover yourself or turn back into a mermaid, your distracting." He started giggling himself, today started out so horrible and now he was talking to a walking mermaid, he may have finally gone crazy.
Eren chuckled, holding the blanket as he carefully stepped out of the tub, wrapping the blanket around his torso, making it look like some makeshift dress as he sat on the the edge of the tub. The brunet found it odd that the other felt his nakedness was an issue but didn't question it. "I can't turn back into a mermaid. I'm always a mermaid.. I just look human now." Eren said with a small hiccup.
He hummed softly as he thought of something to ask. Once Eren had a question, the humming stopped. "So.. What do I do now? I know I'm to stay either in this room or by your side when not swimming, but what do I do when I'm in here or whatever?" He asked, wanting to know what to expect of living with Levi and his crew.
"Anything you want as long as it doesn't make a mess. Maybe we can pick you up some bath toys so you can play in the water." Levi said with a smile. He motioned to his chest in the corner next to the couch. "I have books, if you know how to read. Most of the time you will be with me so not having anything to do shouldn't be a problem." He let out a yawn, the events from the day mixed with the whiskey were starting to take its toll on him.
"Your taking the alcohol a lot better than i thought you would. But, I bet if i came over there and pushed you with a finger you would fall back into the tub." He stood walked over to his bed and readied it for himself after flinging the covers of earlier. He sat down on the bed and looked over at Eren. "Stay like that or turn back into a fish, I don't care. I'm getting some sleep and so should you."
Eren gave him a curious look when he mentioned bath toys and books, not knowing what either of them were, but figured he could ask at a later time seeing as how Levi seemed to be tired and getting ready to sleep. He left the blanket on the couch before getting back into the tub, wincing as he let his tail reform.
Once back in his normal form, Eren leaned against the tubs side. "Okay.. Goodnight Levi." With in minutes the brunet was fast asleep.
Later in the night, Eren dreamed of his mother, how it was when he was younger. Suddenly the dream turned horrid as he relived his mother's death in his dreams, crying out. His cries sounded like that of a whale or dolphin crying out as his tail thrashed about in the water of the tub.
Levi was awoken by an odd sound, like that of a whale in his cabin and splashing. He thought he was dreaming at first, that he wasn't completely awake because nothing was in his room. Then he remembered, there was a mermaid in a tub in his cabin. He sat up and slowly opens his eyes and groaned in displeasure from being woken up by such noises. "Eren..." He looked at the boy and saw him in an obvious state of discomfort, the noises coming from him and the splashing from his tail.
He quickly got out of bed to check on the boy, seeing that he was still asleep he assumed he was having a nightmare. He reached a hand out to shake the him. "Eren, wake up. Damn it, you brat you're making a mess."
Eren woke with a start at being shaken, his body going still in the water. He blinked a couple of times as he looked up at Levi, tears coming from his eyes. Once he got his bearings of where he was and realized he was awake, his tears came down like rain from his eyes as he flung himself at Levi, arms wrapping around his torso, sobbing into his stomach, still sounding like a crying whale, though not as loud.
Levi was taken aback by Eren's expression, he was never in this situation and didn't know what to do. When Eren wrapped his arms around Levi it almost knocked him over but he braced himself. "Eren, what's wrong?" Eren doesn't say a word to him, only cries. "Shh Eren, you're okay, it was just a nightmare." He says as he pats Eren, soon realizing that didn't get him anywhere. Cursing to himself, he pried Eren's arms off of him and stepped into the tub. He sat down so that his back was up against the side of the tub and pulled Eren against him, trying to calm him down.
Eren curled against Levi, slightly shocked that Levi had gotten into the tub to try comforting him. "I-it felt so real.. I saw her.." His words caught in his throat with another sob as he buried his face into Levi's chest. The mermaids body shook with each sob.
Levi wrapped his arms around Eren and cradled him against his chest, not sure of what else to do. He placed a hand on Eren's back and rubbed it up and down until he felt Eren's sobs subside. Soon he realized that the mermaid had fallen asleep on him and he was now stuck in the tub…
"Fuck."
