UNDERNEATH THE SEA, that saturday morning, armin couldn't find any reason to get up and go about in his day. his grandfather already called for him to eat breakfast multiple times but he hasn't answered and pretended to be asleep. it was only a matter of time before his grandfather storms in and drags him downstairs to eat breakfast.
with a small groan, armin forced himself out of the comfort of his bed. he rubbed his eyes and looked around his quaint room, his blue hues squinting at the blinding sunlight peeking through his window. he stood up after a few more minutes before leaving his room, going downstairs to see his grandfather sitting quietly in their dining room with a newspaper in his hand.
the elder looked up from the newspaper and saw armin sluggishly moving about and sitting across him, "good morning, armin. how was your sleep?" he asked with a gentle smile, sliding the plate full of delicious food towards the awaiting hungry blond.
"it was nice..." he replied tiredly, letting out a yawn before eating his breakfast slowly.
his grandfather let out a chuckle, "i say. i think i called you more than i could count just for you to come down."
armin only smiled and nodded, eyes squinted with sleepiness as he continued eating in silence. the elder was a bit weirded out by his sudden quietness, as he usually talks a lot during mornings, but he guessed it was only because armin was still tired. he was about to let it go and continue reading the current news when he noticed something off about the blond.
the young mermaid was slouching, different from his straight posture his grandfather always reminded him to do so, no matter where he sits. he wasn't eating properly as well, he was only poking the food with a frown etched across his face, completely unusual with the energetic aura he always had during quiet mornings like this.
"are you alright, son?" he asked with concern, eyes furrowed as he placed the newspaper on the table to stare at his grandson more.
armin looked up and sat up straight, "yup!" he replied with a forced smile, shoving one bite down his throat despite the lost appetite.
the elder narrowed his eyes, clearly not convinced, but slowly nodded, "okay, if you say so." he shifted his attention to the newspaper and began reading again once armin showed a smile to fully get rid of his troubles.
once his grandfather read the newspaper again, armin let out a quiet sigh and looked down on his plate. he had no idea why he was acting like that. he wasn't entirely sure but guessed it was because of his human friend and how they wouldn't be visiting each other later on, which left him feeling lonely and down despite the warm presence of his grandfather.
he really had no idea what to do for the rest of the day. he got so used to waiting for the right time to visit you and now that he had the whole day for himself, he was lost.
perhaps he could visit his friends? it's been a while as well. he had locked himself in his room to read the books given to him that he didn't get to visit or hang out with them for a while now. they were probably wondering where he was and how he was doing.
yep, he could hang out with his friends for the rest of the day. that might take his mind off of you, even for just a few hours.
a bit satisfied with his sudden plans, he tried his best to finish his meal before putting the plate back in the sink along with the dirty plates. he bid his grandfather a quick goodbye and a hug before leaving his small abode to go out into the streets of their kingdom.
the sunlight reflecting from the stone ceiling showered armin and he reveled in it with a smile, despite his disgusted reaction to it when he fully woke up a while ago. the streets were, as always, busy and noisy, crowds of merpeople going about in their day and responsibilities. there were also soldiers from the garrison, patrolling the streets while drunk, which irked armin a lot.
with a sigh, he started swimming to the left, the direction of his childhood friends' home. it was still early in the morning so the two might be in their home helping their mother with the house chores. he was about to turn to another street when he heard someone faintly calling his name.
he stopped and inclined his head, squinting his eyes to look for the person amongst the crowd. he spotted a mop of copper-colored hair swimming towards the blond, and two more figures following him.
that same copper-colored hair suddenly rushed towards him before tackling him in a hug, the action causing him to stumble back with water bubbles enveloping the two of them. armin wheezed, the wind getting knocked off of him at the sudden impact. despite not seeing the face of the person that hugged him, he wrapped his arms around him and let out a joyous laugh, for he knew who it was already.
"armin, hello!" a brunette greeted excitedly once they caught up to the two. "we missed you a lot!" she giggled, pulling armin into a bone-crushing hug after the first person pulled her away.
"hey, you three." armin smiled and gave a high-five to a smiling boy with a buzzcut, connie. "how are you guys?"
jean, the first one who hugged him, shrugged, "we're fine. what about you? you were practically gone for almost a week now."
connie sighed in slight frustration and frowned, "yeah. eren and mikasa were worried about you, they thought something horrible happened."
the brunette, sasha, let out a low whistle before continuing, "they said if you weren't going to come out in two days, they were going to, and i quote, 'bring hell upon the cursed lands and make sure that every existence in the world, aside from us mermaids and the fishes, gets eradicated'." she recited from the depths of her memory, even looking up to recall what they truly said.
"it's not scary if you imagine eren saying it," connie snickered as he crossed his arms, "but since mikasa was the one who said that, we got genuinely concerned."
armin felt himself grow numb at what they had implied, the hairs on his neck standing ominously. his blue eyes stared at the three friends who were completely unaware of the frozen blond as they continued to tell whatever they had to say, their words passing through armin's ear and out to the other.
he could feel his heart pumping quicker than ever, his thoughts racing at mikasa's carelessness with her threats. he was afraid that they found out that he was meeting up with a human, befriending them even.
but based on their expressions, it was obvious that they didn't think much of mikasa's violent threats and laughed it off. maybe if they thought about it more, they'd caught on.
luckily, it doesn't look like they did and that calmed armin down a bit.
"let's visit the two," sasha suggested with a smile, "i'm sure they miss you, armin."
"wait," he paused, "where's ymir?"
sasha inclined her head before snapping her fingers, "oh right! she has important chores to do so she can't come with today, sadly."
the blond nodded before following the three towards eren and mikasa's house while retelling a funny story when he wasn't present. the whole journey towards their destination was full of laughter and insults meant as a joke.
armin could feel himself getting livelier by the minute, something he missed after days of not seeing his friends, his loneliness long gone as he temporarily forgot about you to enjoy his time with three of his friends.
when they reached eren and mikasa's house, they spotted the two just leaving their home, bidding goodbye to their parents with a hug and a wave.
"eren! mikasa!" armin yelled out, a bright smile on his face as he waved at the two. mikasa's steel eyes softened once she caught sight of her blond friend and the corners of her lips quirked up, but in a matter of seconds, it was long gone.
his green-eyed friend quickly pulled him in a hug, laughter escaping from his chest as he told armin how he missed him a lot. mikasa followed soon after, ruffling the blond's hair wordlessly yet armin appreciated it, knowing that it meant as 'i'm glad you're here' for her.
"the gang's back together!" sasha and connie cheered, "last one to the seaweed field is a sore oyster!" the duo winked and swam away suddenly, gaining a head start as they laughed along the way.
the group cachinnates at their antics before following after them, laughter ringing out in the morning air. they barely dodged the hundreds of civilians strolling in the streets as they tried to catch up to the two, whose figures were getting smaller and smaller as they go faster.
despite lagging behind, armin couldn't help the sudden grin spreading across his face. he felt so free just like when he's out of the walls, with the water tickling his cheeks as he yells out apologies to those he bumps into or the stalls his friends messed up as they speed towards the field.
nothing could remove the happiness and temporary freedom that he was feeling.
connie and sasha were already lounging about in the field, arms crossed with a bored look on their face as they waited for the others.
"took you long enough!" sasha jeered, squealing as she dodged an incoming shove from jean. armin smiled and joined his friends in the field, laying down on the greenery. his friends teased and played around him but armin was too busy appreciating the serene atmosphere and the beauty of his homeland. his eyes flickered up to the rocky ceiling of the cave, smiling lightly at the few crystals shining when the sunlight grazed over them.
the overgrown seaweeds tickled his cheeks and back, and he had to stop himself from sneezing too much. the blond, with closed eyes, was preoccupied with relaxing that he didn't notice his two best friends sit beside him.
"armin?" called mikasa, her voice soft and light as not to disturb the blond. armin slowly blinked his eyes open, his blue hues squinting when the sunlight shone down on him. he turned to his side and saw eren and mikasa, sitting together with a small smile.
he sat up slowly, brows furrowed in confusion yet he gave them a beam, "yes?"
"are you okay?" eren questioned.
armin nodded slowly, quite puzzled as to why they thought he wasn't okay when he clearly is.
"oh, good." eren sighed out, "we were worried when you weren't coming out these past few days."
"we thought something bad happened to you." mikasa added with a frown, "like your human friend hurting you or something. i was ready to storm up there."
armin let out a melodic laugh that calmed his friends' nerves. the smile on his face never disappeared as he stared at the two, pulling his tail up to press against his chest.
he adverted his eyes away from them and watched the other three play around the field, happiness gleaming in his eyes. "y/n could never hurt me. i consider her as my best friend, just like you guys."
eren's eyes widened slightly, "wait, 'y/n'? 'she'?!" he gasped out. armin quickly shushed him, narrowing his eyes to look at the three oblivious friends to see if they heard anything.
eren cleared his throat and moved a little closer to the blond, "so you've been meeting with a girl? what does she look like? is she nice? is she pretty?" eren rambled on with a lowered voice, curiosity dripping in every word.
mikasa rolled her eyes, "you can tell us if you want to, armin."
"no, tell me!" eren flinched when the black-haired mermaid punched his shoulder.
armin hummed, looking down on his palms as he thought of the perfect words to say about his friend. he knew the two still had doubts, considering their dark past with the humans. they wanted him to be happy as much as he could, obviously, but they also wanted him to be careful. armin believed that you weren't like any other, you were the definition of a perfect living being, and he was determined to let the two believe so as well.
"y/n is very beautiful!" armin started after minutes of silence, "she has these sparkling e/c hues that always shined under the moonlight. her smile is a contrast to the dark sky and if you see it yourself, you'd have to smile back too!" he grinned before continuing on with excitement.
as he tells them more about you ranging from your looks, personality, and likes, mikasa and eren glanced at each other with questioning eyes before gesturing to the blond who seemed too busy talking.
"so, she's pretty then?"
armin nodded vigorously, "she's more than pretty! y/n is very kind, like grandpa! she'd make sure i'm comfortable all the time and she's interested in what i like. she was so patient with me anytime i ask her something about their world and she taught me a lot of things!" he suddenly leaned forward, the joy in his eyes shining brightly that it almost overpowered the little sunlight in the ceiling, "she even gave me some books to read to pass the time. books, eren! books! it made my heart jump, no one has really gave me books before and i treasure it greatly."
"that's why i wasn't present these past few days. i finished the books she gave me to read... i'm sorry if i worried you two. trust me, y/n has been kind to me since we met. you'll like her just as much as i like her!"
mikasa, with pursed lips, nodded and ran a hand through her hair. "okay, as long as you're happy. if she does something horrible to you, you tell us, okay?"
laughing, armin shook his head and waved his hand. "i don't think she'd do so but i'll keep it in mind."
mikasa opened her lips to say something more but the trio who noticed they were the only ones playing, called them in for a round or so.
"coming!" armin yelled, waving his hand at the three who gave him a thumbs up in return. armin stood up, his tail flicking backward slowly as he looked down on the two. "we can talk later but for now, keep this conversation a secret, okay?"
the two nodded, their eyes following armin's retreating form as he joined them to play as well. silence filled the siblings' space, an epiphany flashing in their brains when they fully thought of armin's answer to their question.
a little wide-eyed, mikasa turned to her brown-haired brother who only narrowed his eyes towards the running figure of the blond mermaid. "you don't think...?" she whispered, unable to finish her sentence once she realized how unusual her question was.
"yeah, definitely." eren answered with a confident smirk, already knowing what she was going to ask.