One Year Later

"Armin, will you calm down? That happened almost a whole forty-eight hours ago."

"I don't care if it happened forty-eight years ago, it was the funniest fucking thing I've ever witnessed in my life. A mermaid slapped you with an octopus. I don't think you understand how many years were added onto my life as a result of witnessing that. My only regret is that I didn't get my camera out in time."

"Yeah? It's a good thing you didn't or I would have been forced to post that picture I snuck of you sword-fighting with our bait fish with Hanji. Hell, my fingers might slip and I might post it anyway if you keep coming at me with that attitude. Oooh, how about I send it to Mikasa, I think she'd"-

"EREN!"

That shout and subsequent dive for Eren's phone from the smaller blond boy made a few people in the airport turn their heads towards them to stare. Eren held it just out of Armin's reach as the other boy scrabbled for it, reaching across Eren's body as best he could.

"Oh don't get your dick in a knot, I'm not really going to send it to her," he insisted. Armin relaxed a bit at that, but stiffened again when he could have sworn he heard his friend mumble under his breath, "when you're around." But he let it go with an eye roll so hard it hurt Eren to look at it. After nearly a month in California, Armin was beyond done with Eren's nonsense, and Eren didn't blame him one bit.

The trip there though had certainly been interesting. It was Eren's third assignment in California, Armin's first, and his first assignment working with Eren. The two of them had been called in to observe the migrating whales down the coast, wondering if there would be mermaids among them. Since the two of them were the closest things to experts the field had, they were asked if they would like to observe. Sadly, the last few times, Eren hadn't seen any mermaids, and therefore he had little hope that they would this time either. Luckily, he and Armin and the rest of the crew on board had gotten the shock of a lifetime when, not only did they see a small pod of mermaids travelling with the whales, but some of them had been brave enough to approach the boat. Eren had given them a few fish, hoping to show that they meant no harm, and it was taken gladly, the mermaids' eyes shining in wonder up at him, perhaps curious as how land creatures had gotten so many fish so easily.

Unfortunately not all of the mermaids were so grateful. One of the pups, looking to be about nine to twelve years old, had copped an attitude when Eren offered her a fish as well, perhaps not liking the flavor of the species he had in his hand, and was promptly slapped across the face with the dead octopus she was already holding.

Luckily, the rest of the trip went smoothly; so much good data had been collected. Their calls were recorded, their physical condition was assessed by mermaids that were willing to allow themselves to be weighed (for a few extra fish of course). And after analyzing all of the information, it appeared that the pod was in good health, and from what Eren heard on the recording, in high spirits, excitedly chattering back and forth, telling stories, as well as mothers scolding or playing with their pups. It lifted his heart to hear, and he had been floating on a cloud ever since then.

Even more so when he thought about how Levi would react when he told him about his trip.

He and Armin barely had time to get their bags before Eren's phone was buzzing with a text.

"Sweet deal, Mikasa is waiting for us out front," he said, before putting it in his pocket.

Armin's eyes got so wide that they nearly popped out of his head, and he dropped his bag's handle so that the whole thing clattered onto the tile floor. "Wait, what!? You never said she was picking us up?"

Eren smirked at him. "You're welcome."

"You monster, oh my God, I'm covered in airplane germs and am running on like four hours of sleep in as many days, why would you?"

"Why wouldn't I? You know she won't care."

"I do!"

Eren pretended he couldn't hear him as he took long strides towards the car, spotting Mikasa in the driver's seat. When she saw him emerge from the building, she got out of the car and walked around, embracing him when she was close enough. He hugged her back with one arm, the other still holding onto his bag.

"Eren you fucking still stink like mackerel," she said, still holding him.

He snorted a laugh, pulling back from her arms. "Sorry. No shower in the world gets the smell completely off. Armin smells worse."

"I do not!" came the indignant reply behind him. The smaller boy bypassed them, glancing up at Mikasa through his eyelashes with a blush, before he skittered around behind the car and threw his bag in the trunk.

"Well, as much as I missed you, we better get moving bef"- Eren began, before Mikasa cut him off.

"Yeah yeah, before Levi gets out of work, you're his ride home tonight, you don't want to be late so you can get some dick after going without it for a month."

He gave her a pointed look, narrowing his eyes playfully as he walked around the back of the car to throw his bag alongside Armin's. "Listen, Levi has a really pretty dick. He says the same thing about me too, if you're wondering."

"No, I wasn't," she grumbled, getting into the car, "I prefer to pretend that my friends don't have genitals, thank you very much."

As he closed the trunk, and walked around to the front of the car, he could have sworn he heard Armin mumble to himself morosely, "All of them?"

Eren snickered, before promptly sliding into the back seat of the car, leaving the seat beside Mikasa wide open for his friend. Armin froze for a moment when he realized what he had done, giving him a dirty look. Eren tried so hard not to burst out laughing, but failed, covering it up with a cough as Armin hesitantly slid into the passenger's seat. Introducing Armin to Mikasa during their graduation was worth everything leading up to this moment. Ever since then he'd been smitten, not so subtly asking Eren what she was up to every time he got a text from her. When Eren realized what was going on, he had decided, yeah, alright, Armin wasn't a bad match for his friend, and fanned the flames by showing him pictures that Mikasa would send him, as well as telling her a bit about Armin, sending her pictures that he snuck of his roommate. From her texts, it seemed that the interest might be reciprocated.

When Mikasa pulled away from the curb, they were silent for a few moments. Eren was forced to hold his laughter down some more as he observed Armin opening his mouth several times before closing it, clearly trying to think of something witty to say. Deciding to show him mercy for a moment, Eren said, "So Mikasa, I hear this time it's you who has a tattoo that we need to see?"

"Oh! Yeah, look," she replied, pushing pulling her hair out of the way to reveal a few bubbles and a conch shell behind her ear. "Get it? Listening to the ocean?"

Armin added nervously, "O-Oh, yeah! I like it, very cool." If it were anyone else, Eren knew he would have gone on a ten minute rant about how you really can't hear the ocean when you put a conch shell up to your ear; it's just the blood rushing in your ears that you hear, and that it's dangerous to do so in case a hermit crab is living in the shell, or worse, a cone snail.

Yet, just that small compliment made Mikasa smile in a way that Eren had never seen before and…were her cheeks turning pink? He wouldn't have believed it if he didn't see it for himself. But they went silent again after that for a moment with nothing but the sound of other cars rushing by as the only sound.

"So, um, you like…clouds?" Armin said pitifully after a bit.

"They're fluffy, yeah," Mikasa replied.

"Oh." More silence. Then, "How about uh"-

"Oh for fuck's sake, just ask her out," Eren exclaimed in the back, throwing up his hands.

His roommate nearly slammed his head through the roof of the car in surprise at those words, yet, shockingly, Mikasa had almost no reaction except to blush harder. When they stayed quiet again, Eren rolled his eyes to the heavens and continued, "Okay, fine, let me make this easier. Mikasa, are you attracted to Armin and would like to go out with him?"

She saw her lower her eyes slightly in the rearview mirror as she answered, "…yes."

"Armin, we all know you're attracted to Mikasa and would like to go out with her, yes?"

"Y-um, I mean, well"-

"Yes. So Mikasa, what time for dinner works for you?"

She brushed her hair back out of her face, still flustered. "I'm free at five on Friday."

"Five on Friday work for you, Armin?" Eren asked.

"S-Sure. Wait, wh"-

"There you go, you have a date. You're welcome."

There was another bout of uncomfortable silence in which Mikasa and Armin relished the fact that they now had exciting plans for Friday night, before Armin piped up, "Wait, what just happened?"

000

An hour later, after he had bid his two friends goodbye and promised to text them later when he and Levi were settled in (not to mention once more wishing them congratulations again on their date with waggling eyebrows and a instructions to use protection before slamming the car door shut on Mikasa and Armin's shocked faces), he was on the road once more, this time making the drive to Levi's work place.

Oh, it had certainly been an interesting year since Levi had become human. Of course Moblit and Hanji had heard the commotion of Levi's cries of pain and come up to investigate, and instead of finding a plausible explanation they instead found Eren with a lap full of a naked young man who looked familiar and yet didn't. But then he had met their eyes, and they knew. And Hanji had exploded into a full on, euphoric, rabid fit, practically foaming at the mouth and rushing over to Levi, congratulating him while also in the same breath asking him to go over every detail of the experience, poor Moblit trying to curb her enthusiasm by pulling her back, begging her to let Levi breathe. After that, Eren still remembered clear as day helping him get onto his feet for the first time in that tank, towel luckily wrapped firmly around his waist, as he first got his legs used to bear his weight, before he and Moblit were letting him lean heavily on them while they carefully practiced walking. Levi had tottered about like a newborn foal at first, but within the space of fifteen minutes, he was walking like he had done it his whole life, beaming with pride when he got the hang of it. He found out later Hanji had recorded the whole thing, and of course not so subtly demanded she send him the video.

Later on, it had certainly been interesting explaining this to the heads of the aquarium, that was for sure. Interesting, but not too complex or difficult. Luckily, they had released Levi relatively quickly and easily, to everyone's shock. But their logic was that since he was no longer technically a mermaid, they couldn't keep him at the aquarium anymore. But if they were needed to say, explain Levi's situation to anyone he might encounter in his life, they told Hanji, Moblit, Eren and Levi that they were only a phone call away, and would be happy to support them however they could.

After that, it had simply been a matter of getting Levi used to life on land. Levi had gone to live with Eren and his parents, who had welcomed him with open arms, almost immediately accepting him as part of the family. But they knew they couldn't just send Levi out into the world. So Eren, before he could accept any assignments to field locations, took a couple of months off to just teach Levi what he could about living with humans. He took Levi out into the world, explaining things as they went. It had started with a shopping trip to find Levi some clothes, as Eren's oversized ones had him tripping over himself most of the time. It had progressed over the months from explaining their customs, to the boring stuff like taxes, to even giving him rudimentary driving lessons. Those had certainly been interesting, to say the least. It was harder to say who had been more frightened during the experience. Eren, most likely, since Levi still asked for lessons.

In these past months, Eren kept a close eye on Levi, not just because he was worried about him, but also for his own scientific curiosity's sake. He often shared his findings with Hanji and Moblit, finding that they of course were just as curious as he was. And Eren found that Levi was adapting quite well to human life, and did so more quickly than anyone most likely expected him to do. Levi explained that this might be the case because in all honestly, living among humans wasn't that much different than living with a pod. Except, here the humans treated him as one of their own, and didn't reject him because of his gender. That was one of the things that made Levi the most happy, the fact that there were just as many male as there were female humans all around him, and that he didn't stand out anymore in a crowd.

But Eren had a slightly different theory. It was a little far-fetched, and sounded more like wishful thinking than a solid hypothesis, but he still held faith in it. He told Levi he'd share it with him later when he came to pick him up from his job.

It was kind of silly, and of course Eren felt ridiculous for thinking it now, but he had never imagined Levi ever being able to work. Maybe he just felt he'd never be ready, but deep down, perhaps he was afraid of Levi getting hurt by some of the cruel humans in the world once more; after all, he still shied away from humans he came across that looked like Nile, clinging to Eren instead or growling automatically low in his throat while bearing his teeth. He thought Levi had suffered enough and that he deserved to live out this new life in peace. But there was a fine line between peace and boredom, and it didn't take Levi long to become bored with sitting around the house once he learned everything there was to know about it. Eren felt rather foolish and immediately guilty, thinking he could essentially lock Levi up in another cage and expect him to be content with it. Of course he wanted to explore his newfound freedom to the fullest, and who was Eren to stand in his way? Besides, Eren had told him that people their age generally had jobs and either did or were working to live on their own. And as lovely as Eren's family was, Levi told him one night that secretly, he was hoping someday it would be possible for him and Eren to go off on their own, and was relieved to hear that that's what Eren was working towards. He also liked to tell Eren, "I want to experience everything humans do, the good and the bad." It seemed to be his new motto, one that pushed him forward whether he succeeded at something, or failed at it. It was why he was never discouraged when he found out he was a terrible baker and should never be allowed near anything with an open flame ever again (he and Levi were very lucky they had been able to save his mom's kitchen that day) or that he wasn't cut out for using tools ("Really Levi, who tries to get a nail out of the finger with another nail?") But he was good at helping Eren's mother do housework, he had a huge thirst for learning and constantly bothered Armin for more of his books that he could read, and it turned out he loved windsurfing just as much as Eren and Mikasa, accompanying them on nice days when he had the time. And while they were out experiencing all of these things, Levi was secretly keeping his eyes for a job based on what he found the most interesting.

It shouldn't have surprised Eren, but it still fascinated him that many of Levi's traits as a mermaid carried over into his human life. No, his hair no longer shimmered in the sun its many different colors, but he still sang beautifully. He no longer had the ability to purr, but he was still an excellent swimmer, once he learned how to coordinate all of his limbs into doing so. He was even learning how to be a trained free diver alongside Eren. Sadly though, his ability to learn languages easily seemed to be fading over time as they discovered his brain began to prune connections that it didn't need for certain languages. However, what really surprised everyone was Levi's biggest talent in his human life, and that was having a good eye for shiny things, more specifically, precious and semi-precious stones. In fact, that was what had gotten him his job. Eren had taken him to the shop where he had bought all the gemstones for the bouquet he had given him, a small place in a more rural part of town where half of the house was converted into the showroom for the gems. Levi had fallen in love, gushing over every little rock and crystal, and yapping the store owners' ears off. After a few more trips, and after hearing about his former life as a mermaid, they figured they might be able to use someone like him on their digs, someone with an eye for the best gems, and they had offered Levi a position. He had giddily accepted, and had been working there for the past six months.

The moment Eren caught sight of the long, sloping driveway that led to the shop, butterflies filled his stomach, and a stupid grin ate up his face that didn't disappear even when he pulled in and parked. He checked his phone for the time and it looked like he was a little bit early, but he didn't think Levi would mind. He got out of the car, barely resisting the urge to jog up to the front door, before opening it, setting off the jingling bells that were right above his head.

Glancing around the store, Eren felt joy all over again that Levi had been hired here. Sure, it meant that their jobs often kept them apart with his boyfriend on digs and Eren out at sea, but it made them treasure their time together that much more. And this store was so cute and small with manageable hours that didn't seem to tire Levi out too much and kind owners that really seemed to appreciate Levi and his talents, as well as were very understanding of his situation. In fact, Levi loved it so much that he often expressed to Eren that he would love to have something like this of his own someday, a little house where part of it could be converted into a showroom for gemstones. When he saw how happy the idea made Levi, how his eyes had sparkled and the color had gone high in his cheeks, he found that he couldn't say anything but that the idea sounded wonderful.

After closing the door behind him, Eren wandered further into the store, careful of the rocks surrounding him on the floor. It was only when he got past the entrance and entered into the main showroom that he saw Levi, doing some last minute sweeping of the floor while the store owners finished counting down the cash register. Eren's huge smile grew soft and fond as he observed Lev in his element, surrounded by the pretty gemstones he had always loved. His tail and pointed ears were gone, but the same spark was still present in his eyes. In fact, that spark had begun to blaze a little more every day, brighter and brighter, transforming him slowly but surely from the anxious, depressed, angry little creature Eren had met so long ago at the Sina Aquarium into the confident human who stood straight and tall (well, perhaps not tall. Levi sadly hadn't gained any additional height from receiving legs) and excitedly looked forward to each new day.

"Hello there!" he heard Levi say without looking up, "I'm really sorry, but we're actually in the middle of closing up."

"Oh I know," Eren replied teasingly, "That's what I was hoping for."

At the sound of his voice, Levi's head shot up. He blinked a couple of times, as if unsure that what he was seeing was real, and then he quickly set the broom against the counter, trotted across the floor, before reaching up and throwing his arms around Eren's neck, dragging the taller boy down in the process. He squeezed him so hard Eren was sure he heard his neck crack, but it was nothing he wasn't long used to already when it came to his boyfriend, and he hugged him back just as tightly around the middle.

"About time you got your ass here," Levi grumbled, but Eren could hear the teasing undertone to it, "I thought you'd left me to wither away without ever seeing your pretty face again."

"Awww, baby I missed you too," his boyfriend replied affectionately. "I feel like I know what soldiers go through now. Leaving my poor pregnant wife overseas while I go fight cranky prepubescent mermaid pups."

"And I have to leave my pregnant wife to go fight rocks and dirt. It's brutal, Eren."

Eren snickered, and opened his mouth to offer another teasing remark. However, at that moment, he happened to flick his eyes upward and see that Levi's bosses were still standing behind the cash register and had paused in counting their money to watch the couple. Eren cleared his throat and quickly let go, apologizing, "Sorry, sorry I know his shift isn't over yet."

"It's fine," one of the owner's said a kind smile. "All Levi's been talking about all week is how you're coming home and you're going off on your vacation, and oh how he's missed you so much he could die"-

"I did not say that," Levi muttered, blushing.

The other owner chuckled, "You did, Levi."

He pouted, but forced himself to stop long enough to reach up and kiss Eren's cheek before picking up his broom again. When they saw him do this, one of the owners waved him off and said, "No, no, it's alright. You can leave a couple minutes early tonight."

Levi looked up at her and with awe all over his face, as if he had just been given the greatest gift in the world. "Really? You mean it?"

"Yes, now go on. Even though you've been so excited this week you've still done a good job as always. Have a good couple of weeks off!"

Levi thanked them profusely, promising to show up bright and early again two Mondays from now and work extra hard, before he clocked out and practically pushed Eren out the door in his enthusiasm. They didn't even make it halfway to the car before he was giggling like a fiend, scooting in front of Eren, and pulling him down for a euphoric kiss. The taller boy flailed for a moment, before he processed what was happening and squeezed Levi back, laughing through the kiss at his boyfriend's enthusiasm. He squeaked in surprise when Levi pulled out of the kiss and picked him up, lifting him a few inches off the ground. Eren braced himself by putting his hands on Levi's shoulders, laughing deliriously.

"I missed you so damn much," Levi breathed, before he slowly put him down. He could see the worry flashing in Eren's eyes, and he quickly shook his head. "I missed you, but I wasn't desperate to see you again. It's okay, Eren. It's not like when I was living at the aquarium. There's a lot more to keep my mind busy so it's not obsessing over how trapped I am or how there's nothing for me to do. It's all good."

The taller boy smiled hugely. "I'm so proud of you," he said, and took Levi's face in his hands, before kissing him again, a soft peck that left the former mermaid grinning just as hugely. He thumbed his boyfriend's earlobes, which were now each sporting one tiny aquamarine stud. "Still love these, by the way."

"You just like that we match now," Levi replied with a grin.

Eren just laughed and kissed him again in answer, dipping Levi as low as he could.

Soon after, tahey walked hand in hand towards the car, only separating to get in, before slamming the doors behind them.

Once they were both in the car, Eren asked in a snooty accent, "Where to, sir?"

Levi laughed, playing along, "Well I hear the beach is lovely in June."

"Then the beach it is," Eren declared, pulling out of the driveway. As they pulled onto the road, he said, "Thanks for packing your stuff beforehand and putting your bags in the car. This is nice, now we don't have to go back to the house for your stuff and we can just go straight to my parents' beach house."

Levi practically wiggled in his seat, too excited to contain himself. He and Eren had been planning this trip for months now, deciding they needed a little time to relax and spend time together since now they barely had time to. So, they were more excited for this than words could say. Like the sap he was, he placed his hand on the console, palm up, and automatically, Eren reached over to take it, laying it over Levi's, utterly engulfing his smaller hand in his own large one.

The two of them chattered the entire way to the beach, holding Eren's hand for the whole ride. His incessant chatter was born from his excitement, from being able to hold his boyfriend's hand again, to where they were going, to just be able to see him again and take a break from this new busy life. He could tell the other boy was excited too, but as they got closer and closer to the beach, he seemed to be fading a bit, growing not as animated and yawning enough that Levi began to notice and grow concerned.

"Are you okay?" he wondered, seeing Eren yawn the fifth time in as many minutes.

"I'll live," he joked. "I thought I was going to be okay, but I think it's just all the hours of sleep I missed while on that boat catching up with me. It sat down in the car and they hit me like a freight train."

Levi squeezed his hand, deflating just the tiniest bit, but shaking himself out of his disappointment, offering kindly, "Then when we get to the beach, how about you go in and shower, I can make us something simple, and then you can just go to bed? I might stay up for a few hours more, but yeah."

Eren rubbed his thumb over his knuckles. "That's fine." His smile dropped for a moment as he sad regretfully, "I'm sorry, I know you were looking forward to us having sex tonight."

The smaller man waved him off. "Oh Eren, stop it. Yes, I was excited, but it'll be no fun for either of us if you fall asleep halfway through it. So sleep tonight. We have two weeks to be complete horndogs."

He snickered at him, grateful for his understanding. Luckily, soon after that, the beach house came into view, and before they knew it, they were parked in front of it. Levi hopped out before the car was even fully parked, trotting around to the trunk and trying to open it.

"Easy you goof," Eren scolded him teasingly. "We don't need you losing any fingers or feet."

So excited was he that when the trunk was opened, Levi took all of the bags, draping them over his body or pulling them behind him quick as a flash and walking briskly up the path towards the front door through all the sand before Eren could stop him. He sighed and shook his head fondly, taking the one small bag left behind and closing the trunk before following him. Levi was too good to him; he had retained a lot of his freakish strength that he had as a mermaid, and often used it to help Eren out in any way he could.

As the evening wore on, and Eren saw that, without being prompted, Levi laid out their bags and took out Eren's shower things for him before setting them in the bathroom, and even started up the hot water in the tub for him. He knew right then that he was going to have to make it up to Levi big time tomorrow. The idea was only reinforced when he came out of the shower and saw that his boyfriend was nearly done with a couple of egg salad sandwiches. Levi's of course had some tuna on it, and was accompanied by a cut of hot tea, even in this weather. His love for tea had only grown in his new life, especially now that he had constant easy access to it.

They ate in mostly silence, Eren too exhausted to keep up intelligent conversation for long. He did manage to tell Levi some of his highlights of his trip, like the bit with the octopus and how one whale almost capsized their boat by swimming right underneath it and coming up for air next to them, but some of the details were so slurred that Levi could barely make them out. When Eren's head began to nod, he decided enough was enough and he was cleaning up the table before shooing the other boy to the bathroom to brush his teeth, telling him he'd be there with him in a bit. As he washed some dishes, Levi rolled his eyes when he heard a few bumps and bangs in the bathroom, wondering how Eren had let himself get so tired, as usual. He had probably been too excited to sleep most nights, staying up late analyzing those calls he recorded. His zeal was admirable, though sometimes Levi wished he had cell phone service out there in the field so he could text him and remind him to go to bed at night.

By the time he finished cleaning up and went into the bedroom Eren had claimed as his own in this house, he saw that his boy was already passed out, still laying on top of the blankets. Levi snorted. Of course he was, the savage. Not that it was terribly cold at night right now, but he still might appreciate a light blanket. He pulled one out of the closet, laying it over the top of Eren carefully, before kissing his forehead.

Seeing him laying there like that, so peaceful, and finally within Levi's reach after being so far away for so long, took away his desire to do anything but curl up next to him and lay there. No, he no longer missed Eren with the same desperation he used to, but just as anyone misses their lover when they're gone for so long. This was a huge improvement, one he never thought he'd achieve.

However, hearing Eren's soft, even breathing was also beginning to make him feel sleepy as he stood there, and thought it might be wise to join him in bed before he started nodding off where he stood. So, after a shower and brushing his teeth, Levi crawled into bed next to Eren with a book, figuring he wasn't tired enough to fall asleep quite yet. Once he was settled in, legs pressed up next to the length of Eren's boy, he placed a hand in his boy's hair, stroking the wet strands absent mindedly. He felt a rush of affection when Eren nuzzled into his hand and hummed contentedly so strong that it almost made his eyes water. With the ocean waves crashing against the shore below them, and the smell of the salty breeze floating in through the window, Levi thought about how truly lucky he was to be here. The fates didn't line up often for people to find their true love, especially for mermaids and humans. The fact that he and Eren had met at all was a one in a million chance, and he thanked the moon spirits as often as he could for bringing them together.

Was it worth all the pain though? a small voice in his head wanted to know.

Levi shook the thought away and smiled, looking down at how his fingers were buried in Eren's hair, and how content he felt that that moment. Yes, he thought, it was worth all of that, and more.

000

It had taken a while before Eren felt brave enough to have sex with Levi for the first time. In fact, as of their trip to the beach, they had only done it a handful of times. This was partially due to their own nervousness regarding each other's negative experiences with sex. But most of all, Eren was afraid he would hurt Levi like Reiner had hurt him. However, Levi had assured him over and over again that because he was actively paying attention to how he was treating him that he knew he wouldn't hurt him. All the same, he had been worried until that fateful night they had first been intimate together. And that night Levi had learned three things.

One, his new lower half was much, much more sensitive than a regular human's lower half. Just kissing up his legs had made Levi hard and all it had taken was a couple swipes of Eren's tongue at the base of his cock and some gentle words about how he was going to take such good care of him that had the former mermaid coming hard and quickly.

Second, no matter how embarrassed he had been of this fact, Eren hadn't cared one bit. He had patiently told Levi they would work on his endurance as they learned his limits together, even as the mermaid sniffed, fighting back humiliated tears against his shoulder.

And third, Eren was just as gentle of a lover as Levi knew he would be. In fact, he was so gentle and so careful that it was getting to the point that he wished Eren would take more chances. Oh, Levi loved that Eren was so gentle with him, but at the same time, he wanted to experience every pleasure the human body had to offer, and he wanted Eren to show him those pleasures since he was the expert out of the two of them. Even though Levi was still incredibly sensitive, the sensitivity was dying down as he became more used to his new body, and he had told Eren so.

Perhaps this knowledge was what had Eren finally feeling brave enough to wake Levi up the way he did the following morning.

The smaller of the two young men was pulled from a peaceful, deep sleep into a relaxing doze to a deeply pleasurable burning sensation that originated between his legs and traveled all the way up into his belly. At first, he was reluctant to open his eyes; he had an idea of what was happening, but being in this sleepy state while experiencing such intense pleasure was a strange form of relaxation all unto its own. It made his reactions slower, his stretches more languid, and his sighs and groans more unrestrained. As he grew more conscious, it became more and more apparent from the sensations and sounds that Eren was giving him a blow job, a nice, slow, easy one.

Levi sighed deeply, his eyes still closed, and dreamily, he let his knees fall wide apart, and he began undulating his hips. Soft, regular movements, encouraging Eren to take him a little deeper. He heard an amused breath being laughed through Eren's nose, and the other young man laved against the underside of his erection just behind the head slowly, but purposefully. He even scraped his teeth very, very gently against the sensitive head of his boyfriend's cock, creating a zing that made the arousal pooling in Levi's stomach burn that extra bit. Levi's back arched beautifully, and he moaned long and deep and low, a sound and sight that had arousal punching Eren in the gut. He pulled off of Levi for a few moments to catch his breath.

"Jesus, look at you," Eren said hoarsely, "I don't think I've ever seen something so pretty in my life."

Levi whimpered in response; Eren's words of praise always seemed to get to him in a special way he couldn't describe. Perhaps because they were a reminder of Eren's care for him, how he'd never hurt him and would always treat him in that soft, sweet way only his boy knew how.

Eren took a deep breath, taking in Levi's musky, masculine scent, his own cock throbbing in response. For now, he let it hang heavily between his legs, neglected and swollen with need, as he focused on repaying his boyfriend for the night before.

Levi's eyes opened gradually, but the dozy, humid fog remained settled over his brain for a good long time, keeping his inhibitions lowered and allowing Eren to pull gorgeous sounds from his little lover. The boy kept up the delicious heat and suction on the tip of Levi's cock, humming with delight at the opportunity to pleasure him this way. He could wax poetry about Levi in the throes of pleasure for hours; about how his skin had flushed all the way down his chest. How his nipples had grown harder and darker. How his ribs expanding and contracting with his increasingly shortened breaths as a result of Eren's actions was far more erotic than it should be. How the fact that Levi's cock had grown so red from arousal that it was almost purple at this point, and that his sack was heavy on Eren's tongue, heavy and delicate and so very, very warm. He mouthed at it, swiping it a couple of times with his tongue, before going back up to his cock, hollowing his cheeks as he sucked at the tip of Levi's sensitive length. The smaller of the two began to shift around restlessly, throwing his arm over his eyes, his moans coming more rapidly and higher in pitch. He could feel he cock in his mouth begin to spasm the smallest bit, orgasm already tingling at the base, muscles ready to contract and pump his release forward.

However, the moment he felt this, to his great disappointment, Eren stopped. Levi opened his eyes into angry little slits, ready to demand the boy get back to work and finish what he had started so wonderfully. Such a stark contrast to the time Levi had first orgasmed, the sensation so overwhelming that he had felt nauseous for an hour after it first happened, and he was almost sure he never wanted to have another. But as his mind and body got used to the sensation, he found that it wasn't nearly as bad the next few times around, and welcomed each orgasm eagerly.

Before Levi could protest, he heard the by now familiar uncapping of the bottle of lube, and a moment later, felt two cool fingers entering his body, tenderly spreading him open. Levi kept his legs wide, even more so when he felt Eren softly jerking him off with his free hand, trying to pay attention to what he was doing, but also mesmerized by the way the soft, thin skin of Levi's cock glided up and down, up and down, following his hand, working around the heated, hardened core of his shaft.

"Is it okay if I fuck you?" Eren wanted to know. He had only ever been inside Levi once, while the former mermaid had been inside him once in turn as well. Both times were luckily very enjoyable once they found a good rhythm, and Eren was beyond relieved that during the entire thing he hadn't experienced any flashbacks at all; just Levi inside him, or under him, Levi all around him, loving him and reassuring him with his breathy words and calming voice that he was safe, that those bad memories couldn't hurt him as long as he was there.

Levi nodded, blinking almost fully awake. He felt Eren add more fingers, one at a time, stretching him as carefully as he could. He sucked in a breath and let it out with a whimper as he felt Eren curling his fingers until they found that spongy little bundle of nerves that seemed to stimulate Levi's cock from the inside. The pleasure touching that spot created was incredible, a deep, beautiful, all consuming burn that had Levi pushing himself down further onto his fingers, legs spread wide as they would go, cock flushed that deep, angry red as it lay leaking against his belly. With every pass of Eren's fingers against his prostate, every, torturous, circular motion, had Levi giving a breathy moan in response. His pink lips were formed into an 'o' shape, bottom half of his face relaxed while his eyes were squeezed shut. Eren could feel Levi's muscles fluttering around his fingers warningly, contracting and caressing him, once again letting him know that Levi was about to come. However, this time, Eren squeezed Levi around the base of his cock, cutting off the blood flow and halting the orgasm.

Levi almost cried at the delicious and yet horrible burn the denial caused. He gave a few short cries, whimpering with desperation, and Eren shushed him by massaging a thigh, "I know, I know baby. I know you want to come so bad, you poor darling. God, you're so hard, you must be so desperate."

The former mermaid nodded vigorously, before whining his name over and over, begging, "Eren. Eren, Eren, Eren."

"Shh, shhh, sweet thing. Give me a moment. Such a good boy, so good, you make such lovely noises and beg so pretty. Give me one second."

But Levi didn't want to wait a second, he wanted Eren to fill him up right at that very moment. The moment he removed his fingers, Levi began to undulate his hips restlessly, whimpering and whining, eyes heavy with unshed tears. God, he was so desperate, his cock burning with the need for release, his head filled with nothing but that desire. That, and Eren; his face, his smell, his voice, his wonderful hands and his perfect kindness. He felt the boy roll him over and manhandle him carefully until he was on his hands and knees. He then felt Eren's slicked length enter into him in one, smooth thrust, Levi sucking in a sharp breath from the action. Once he had adjusted to the intrusion, he backed up against Eren, grinding his plush behind against Eren's hips, signaling without words that he wanted him to move. With a kiss between the shoulder blades, Eren obliged him.

It took them a few, uncoordinated, sloppy thrusts before they found a good rhythm. But once they did, they really got into it, bearing down on the other. Levi squeezed himself around Eren's cock for more friction for the both of them, and Eren began pounding into Levi harder and harder, the obscene sound of skin slapping against skin filling the room. The boy's head slowly fell back in ecstasy, breathy moans escaping him. Levi was so tight, and the inside of his body so very, very warm that it took his breath away. He gripped the other man's rear, looking down and marveling at the soft cheeks and the way his cock disappeared inside Levi's body time and time again.

It was only when Eren could feel his own orgasm tingling up his shaft that he really began to pound hard, scrunching his eyes shut in pleasure, moaning loudly and without restraint. He bent over Levi's back, reaching around the front of his body and holding a hand firmly against the other's lower stomach, feeling the vague outline of his own cock through Levi's muscles, how he moved in and out, in and out. It only made him let out another moan, before he bore down, thrusts become shallower but more rapidly, leaning further and further over the top of Levi, pushing down his upper half with his own as the pleasure became unbearable.

"Don't stop," was all Levi could cry over and over, "Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop."

Well, Levi certainly didn't have to worry about that. Eren was so desperate, chasing after his own release like it was all he knew how to do, the heady hum of orgasm filing his senses, watching Levi as laid his front half on the mattress, his behind pointed vulnerably in the air and completely at the mercy of Eren's pounding hips while his cheek was squished against the mattress. He cried out until he was hoarse, feeling Eren bite at the back of his shoulder as his warm seed gushed into him at long last, and Levi felt every single stream being pumped into him.

"Please Eren, please, oh please please," he heard himself begging, still hard and aching, cock throbbing so badly that when he wrapped a hand around it, he could feel his pulse beating in one of the veins that wrapped around it. Eren obliged tiredly, panting hard as he jerked Levi hard and fast until he came hard with a cry, spilling over Eren's hand.

The moment his orgasm stopped, Levi surprised the other boy by begging, "More, give me more."

Still panting, Eren regarded him with confusion. "You're sure? It might hurt."

He nodded. "It won't hurt."

Eren was still dubious, especially given his past and the fact that they had never done this kind of thing before. But Levi seemed adamant, so Eren compromised, "Okay, how about this? If it does hurt and you want me to stop, say red. If everything is good and you want me to keep going, say green."

It was the least he could do. Reiner had never given him safe words, after all.

"Yes, that's fine," Levi agree breathlessly, and then added with a wiggle of his rear, "Please, Eren."

Well, his boy could hardly say no to such a pretty sounding request. He braced himself by wrapping one arm around Levi's middle, and continuing to stroke him with the other hand. Within seconds, Levi was crying out helplessly, making hurt sounding noises, but bearing down on Eren's hand.

"You okay?" Eren wanted to know, nuzzling his shoulder.

"Yes!" Levi cried out, relishing the bone deep, savory burn that was now carving its way from between his legs, down his thighs and up his stomach, "Green! Yes, yes, yes, green!"

This was incredible; he felt completely weak and helpless, pinned beneath Eren as he was and still wiped out from his previous orgasm, and the pleasure was far too much for him to the point that it was becoming painful, but he had never felt happier or more alive. It was only when Eren felt a few more pathetic dribbles warming his hand in a second, less powerful orgasm, that Levi asked Eren to stop. And the moment his boy let go and pulled out, he collapsed onto the bed, rear end falling when his legs gave out.

Eren laid down behind him, pulling his yielding body against his chest, before planting a few exhausted kisses against his neck.

"You're so amazing," Levi said airily, whole body still tingling. At that moment, he couldn't have moved even if he'd wanted to; all of his limbs felt like they had been turned to jelly and his head was filled with air.

Eren laughed, "Well thank you, way to boost my self-esteem."

"I mean it, Eren," Levi insisted, "I'm so happy that you're here to teach me all the ways the human body can feel good. And you make me feel so safe and loved while you do it. I can't thank you enough for that."

His boy reeled for a moment at those words, unable to process them. He made him feel safe and loved? He was happy with him? Such simple praise, but to someone like Eren, they meant the world. It really was okay. Levi wasn't afraid of him, craved his touch and trusted him. Eren wasn't like Reiner because Levi felt safe with him, knew Eren would never hurt him. And the more times the boy proved that to himself, the more it would be reinforced.

He buried his nose against Levi's neck, inhaling his pleasantly musky scent, before mumbling against his skin with a voice thick with emotion, "You're welcome, Levi. That means more to me than you'll ever know."

000

Later that afternoon, they had finally managed to migrate away from the bed to the beach, where they swam and played in the sun for as many hours as they dared without risking getting sunburned. For the both of them, for those few hours, it was like the years had disappeared from their bodies, and they were small children again, meeting for the first time at the edge of the dock and playing games in the water. Levi even forgot for a short while that his tail was in fact gone, and several times he made noises that sounded like his old squeaks and clicks when he became especially excited. He was only snapped out of the spell when he found it difficult to make his own vocalizations, or when he tried to twist and turn under water like how he used to and found himself getting dizzy.

It was in fact one of these instances when he found himself getting too overzealous and inhaled a large amount of water, sending him into a colossal coughing fit, that made him stop and get out. Eren led him to the edge of the water, sitting with him and rubbing his back until Levi settled down.

"You think you're okay?" Eren wondered, still rubbing his back.

"Yeah, think the water is gone now," Levi reassured him.

Eren nodded. "Cool. Okay, good. Here, I'm going to grab a quick drink, you want one?"

Levi snorted, "No, I think I've had enough for now, thanks."

His boyfriend smiled in response, though there was a bit of uneasiness behind it that he was trying to mask. He leaned over and kissed Levi's forehead, before getting up and heading up the beach towards their towel where they had left their supplies. That left Levi by the shoreline alone with his thoughts.

He watched for a moment, sitting as close to the water as he was, the waves rise up onto the sane and wash over his feet with a sad fascination. They were really never going to turn back into a tail, were they? No matter how much water washed over them, or what kind…this was it. It had never really sunk in until now. But looking at his feet, and seeing how no matter how much water covered them they were there to stay, made a sense of finality settle into his core that he'd never be able to shake again.

Luckily, he didn't think he ever wanted to.

A moment later, he saw Eren reappear in the corner of his vision as the boy sat down next to him, saying, "I know you said you weren't thirsty, but I brought you one anyway. All that salt in the ocean isn't good for you."

He set the water bottle by the shorter man, but Levi made no move to take it. He wasn't even looking at him, at the moment. Eren raised an eyebrow at him, before he lifted his gaze so that it followed where Levi was looking, and to his surprise, he noticed that his eyes were fixed onto the cliff to their right.

"That's where we first met, isn't it?" Levi pointed out, "Under that cliff?"

Eren answered, "That's the one."

Levi laughed to himself, and then said, "If anyone had told me then that the boy I met under that cliff would turn me into a human someday, I would have thought they would have had shit in their heads instead of brains. But here we are."

"Here we are." Eren echoed.

A few beats of silence passed, before Eren spoke again, haltingly, anxiety crawling up his throat as he did so. "Levi…do you have any regrets?"

He turned to face Eren. "You mean, do I regret becoming human?"

Too ashamed to elaborate, the younger man just lowered his head, averting his eyes to the sand between them. He had secretly been wondering this for so long, but had been too scared to ask. Deep down, he had felt so selfish taking Levi away from his old life and just expecting him to adapt to Eren's world with no problems. He had lost so much, surely he must, on some level, resent him for making him this way? He could never have his old body back, and he'd never be able to find his pod again. Levi had pursed his lips together, going silent, and Eren winced. He knew it, Levi hated him; he had released him from the aquarium but now had trapped him here on land. He had made a huge mistake, and Levi would never forgi-

"No. I don't."

The admission shocked Eren so much and stopped his mental tailspin so abruptly that he froze, unable to form words as white noise filled his mind. He floundered for a moment, before stuttering out denial upon denial, not believing what he had just heard. But Levi placed a hand over his mouth to make him stop talking, before he explained himself.

"Really, Eren, I don't. I've thought about it a lot this past year, and yes, there are some things I miss about being a mermaid. No, I'll never be able to swim like I used to, and my sharp teeth and most of my strength is gone, and I sometimes miss being able to purr to express how happy I am. But when I think about what I've had gained instead, those things seem so astronomically small in comparison. Eren, even if I had stayed a mermaid, and gone out into the ocean to find my old pod, they would have rejected me, if I was lucky. Without my mother to protect me, they would have more likely ganged up on me and killed me.

"But look what I have now that I have this new body. I have a family and friends that love me and accept me. I'm helping to make peoples' days by finding them the perfect gemstones, and I love doing it. I get to look forward to a wonderful future and get to have hopes and dreams now. But most importantly, I have you. I have my true love, and I get to know with certainty that you're my true love. And my true love gave me legs to follow him wherever he goes in life, and a voice to tell him I love him as many times as I wish. And knowing that all of this is mine to keep for the rest of my life…I'll never be able to repay you enough. All I can say is thank you, Eren, for this wonderful new life. Without you, I know one way or the other, I'd probably be dead. And if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change anything. I'd go through all the pain all over again as long as it meant I ended up with you."

Eren brushed Levi's hand away just as his eyes filled with tears at those last words, and before he could stop himself, he surged forward and drew Levi into his arms, squeezing him as hard as he could. He felt Levi hug him back after a minute, stroking up and down his spine comfortingly.

"God Levi," his boy breathed, voice thick with emotion, "I had no idea. I'm so happy that you're so happy. And just so as you know, it's the same for me. If I hadn't met you, it's very possible that I'd still be living in fear of my ex coming after me. Or even if that wouldn't be the case, at the very least, I'd still live thinking that love isn't real because I'd be too scared to love anyone ever again. And now look at us. Look at us Levi, I-I'm…"

He couldn't even finish his sentence, he was so choked up. Levi turned his head and offered a comforting kiss to his temple, cupping the back of his head to hold it in place. After one more tight squeeze, Eren pulled back from the embrace, but reached forward so that he could cup Levi's face in his hands. The mermaid gazed up at him adoringly, and Eren's heart skipped a beat, unable to fathom what he had done to deserve such a look, even Levi had literally just told him.

"Levi, listen," Eren murmured, stroking his cheeks with his thumbs, "I've been thinking, and maybe this is silly…but maybe the reason you had such a hard time as a mermaid was because you were always meant to be human. Maybe that's why you adapted so quickly to life on land. This was always supposed to be the life you were meant to live. The fates just sent me your way to fix the mistake they made."

Something in Levi's core shivered at the implication of Eren's words. It took a moment for them to process, but when they did, he replied, "Even if it's wishful thinking…I like the idea. A lot."

The blinding grin that spread across Eren's face as a result had his heart fluttering like a crazy, and the kiss Eren gave him a moment later had him humming with delight. He dug his fingers in his boy's hair while Eren cupped his jaw, running his thumb along with ears, feeling it work as he kissed him meaningfully.

When they pulled apart, Levi said after a moment, "Eren, there's something I wanted to tell you too."

His boy let his arms fall to his shoulders, squeezing them in a silent bid for him to continue. Levi said quietly, "I've been doing some research trying to translate what I remember of our pod's language into human words. It's a slow process, but it might be doable with enough time."

Eren's whole face lit up and he exclaimed, "That's wonderful, Levi! Oh my God, how cool is that! That would help us so much, you're so amazing!"

Pink dusted across the older man's cheeks. "Well, so far, all I've managed to translate is my old name."

He looked at him with sudden awe. "Your mermaid name?"

"Yes. Before I was Levi, I'm pretty sure my name was Élan."

Eren tilted his head. "Élan?"

Levi nodded. "It's a rough translation, but it's the best I could come up with. I looked it up, and it's the name of a river in France. My mother told me I was born in a river in that country too, and I'll bet that's where my father was from. Perhaps that was her way of honoring him. It would make sense. If mermaids knew the name of the country their pup's father came from, they might give them a name from that country."

"Élan, huh?" Eren brushed a stray lock of hair away from Levi's forehead tenderly. "It's beautiful. Like you."

He rolled his eyes, but nonetheless smiled and blushed at the compliment. "Sap."

"Your sap," Eren insisted, leaning down and kissing the tip of Levi's nose, "Yours forever." He pulled back and looked down off to the side for a moment, before asking, "So, do you want us to call you by that name instead then?"

Immediately, the former mermaid shook his head and answered strongly, "No. I mean, I don't mind if you do, but I'd prefer to keep the name 'Levi.' It's the name you first knew me by, after all, and when you first told me you loved me, that's the name you used. It's the name my human life was given, and I want to keep it as much as I do my legs."

Eren's eyes watered all over again, and he leaned forward, pressing their foreheads against each other, unable to come up with the words for responding to such a beautiful statement. Instead, he breathed in Levi's scent for a moment, still unable to understand how such a precious, wild, and utterly wonderful creature could have been made for him. Well, the good news was, they had the rest of their lives to travel together, learning everything they could about the other, and little by little, year by year Eren would accept that he was worthy of Levi's love and devotion, while Levi did the same for Eren.

Eren shook himself, wiggling like an excited puppy, and said as he backed out of their embrace, "Well, come on! The afternoon is still young, the waves are high, and we have some windsurfing to do. You game?"

Levi answered with a peck to his lips and scrambled to his feet, saying, "Is that even a question?"

Eren laughed at his enthusiasm and took off up the beach, leaving Levi to follow him, feet pounding in the sand and heart soaring on the ocean breeze.

And up in the beach house on the dresser in their bedroom, the boy's old aquamarine pendant lay draped over the top of the first conch shell he had ever received from a scrawny, friendless, mermaid pup fourteen years prior, the two items overlooking the two lovers in the window as they raced into the surf, the sea taking them home once more.

A/N: Well, that's the end folks! I can't believe it's already finished, and what a trip! If you guys are curious, this is the piece of art that inspired this last chapter all the way when I first started this fic: aurieackerman. tumblr post/164331524342/artist-%EC%9C%A0 %EC%95%BC-source-twitter-eryuya-naver.

I also listened to an odd-ish song for this last chapter that you can find here: www. youtube watch?v=W 1I9K_Lndu0

For those that want to know, the full "soundtrack" for this fic is as follows:

Tulou Tagaloa, We Know Who We Are (both the regular and end version) from the Moana soundtrack. I listened to the Moana soundtrack in general to get me in the mood for this fic.

Élan by Nightwish

Baptized by Daughtry

Blue Sky Day by Dwayne Ford

Try Everything from Zootopia

La Llorona from Coco

Let It Go (male Japanese version)

There are others, but those are the main ones. So yes guys, thanks so much for joining me on this journey! I have more fics planned, so keep a watch for those, one should be coming in the next week or so!