THE OTHER SIDE. aa

fünfzehn.

     TIRED YET EXCITED, you trudged through the dark starless night, your toes playing with the sands underneath your feet. you sat down and watched the sands seeping through your fingers before inclining your head to look towards the buildings a few meters away from the beach, seeing reiner's apartment lights turned off from afar. that would mean that the blond was now asleep. that thought settled well in you, knowing that your best friend wouldn't see what you were up to at the middle of the night and possibly ruin your meeting with armin.

     it was a few minutes before midnight, the time where armin would usually get out of the ocean to visit you and wait for you. he was usually the one who's early when it comes to meetings yet there you were, sitting down on the beach with your knees pulled up to your chest while patiently waiting for the sea creature and entertaining yourself with the things you find hidden under the sand.

     you visited the beach about an hour ago, something you weren't definitely used to when you planned to take a nap before visiting armin. you had no idea what came to your mind to visit so early but since you were already there, you had no place to complain. what's done was done.

     you closed your eyes in the meantime, burying your head between your knees as you relax under the cold embrace of the night air. you heaved a heavy sigh once you remembered you didn't bring a book to read to armin today, as your mind was preoccupied with your research as soon as you got home after spending time with reiner to fill your thoughts with ideas and to comfort you with your 'break up'.

     what could you possibly talk about? how his day was? you didn't even stay up yesterday to watch the movie considering you fell asleep so re-telling the story was out of the question. perhaps the mermaid had a lot of interesting stories to tell about what he did yesterday that would fill your time together. you could also ask more about his world, his kind, and how he lives. it was still a big mystery to you, after all. 

     like, how could they hide for a thousand or billion years from humans? there must be at least a few theories about them on the internet, there's no way that some think they don't exist. kind of funny that you haven't looked for some articles about them ever since you befriended armin. 

     the sound of water splashing from the distance made you look up, your whole face lighting up once you caught sight of the magnificent blue tail glowing under the dim moonlight. the same tingling sensation in your stomach was back again when armin emerged from the water with closed eyes, showing a glittering blue hue once he opened them. he ran a hand through his wet and tangled gold locks as he clambered on the sand, struggling a little with his tail.

     his pout immediately turned to a smile once he caught sight of you, waving exaggeratedly that screamed joy and excitement.

     "y/n! i- hi." the blond greeted shyly, sitting down beside you after having a bit of a struggle with turning himself over. "how are you today?" 

     you could only giggle at his sudden change of awkwardness despite being friends long enough; you just find it adorable. you scooted close to the mermaid, not seeing a hint of being uncomfortable, and answered his question, "uhm, stressed and busy but now i'm okay." you laughed a bit, shrugging afterward.

     "seeing you somehow made my worries disappear," you unconsciously mumbled as you played the sand with your fingertips, eyes trained on his eyes that never faltered under your gaze. upon seeing his surprised and red face, that was the time you realized what you had just said and how stupid you were to even utter or think about it.

     a blush spread across your cheeks as it finally settled in and you waved your hands in defense, "t-that's not what i meant! i mean, y-you're just, uh, fun to talk to! yeah, that's it. i-i'll shut up now." you rambled on, your eyes darting everywhere except for armin's ocean eyes.