Deeper Than Blue

Five

Levi stared into Erens eyes before he reached his hand up and cupped the Mers face.

Eren flinched a bit before he hesitantly nuzzled his mates hand, reaching up and gripping his wrist gently. Eren looked into Levi's soft blue eyes, his own filled with care and fear. Fear that Levi would find him grotesque just like Eren feared.

Levi smiled gently which washed Erens fears away instantly. He stared up at the pale mer who pulled him close with his free hand. "How are you disgusting, Eren?" Levi questioned, tilting the Mers chin so he could inspect Erens face, looking for the imperfection.

Erens cheeks colored and he reached up, brushing his fingers against the growths. "this.." he whispered softly, staring at the male silently.

"These? They're not gross Eren. They're beautiful." Levi assured, lowering his face and gently kissing Erens forehead. "Just like you are."

Eren blushed darker and looked away, his eyes starting to burn. He was so happy. He found his mate and his mate found him beautiful. His mate didn't hate him.

Levi pulled Eren into a hug, gently kissing his eyelids. "Beauty should never cry baby." He murmured, running his fingers gently against Erens cheek, a soft smile on his face. "I don't like seeing you cry my mate."

"I'm really happy, Levi." Eren looked up at his mate, taking the hand from his cheek and hugging it gently.

"Come on, I wanna go find Farlan. I need him to get something for you." Levi said, leading Eren towards the anenomes.

Eren hesitated before he followed, trusting his mate. He didn't pull his hood up. He wanted to be pretty for Levi and if he saw his face as pretty, then his face Levi would see.

They swam around the castle, Eren keeping his eyes on his mate. He took in Levi's stiff posture and his shiny black tail. He also glanced back at the red headed mer who Eren assumed was Levis scale collector. She just gave eren a kind smile which he appreciated.

They arrived in a guest room not long after where they found four mers waiting for them. Eren only recognized Mikasa who he saw and treated as a sister. The other three must be friends of Levi.

Levi instantly put me behind him, glaring at one of the Mers who swam over with a wicked grin. "LOOK AT HIS FACE! SO PRETTY! LET ME HAVE A SAMPLE! PRETTY PLEASE LEVI?!"

"Touch my mate and you die." Levi growled. The water felt like it dropped a few degrees when Levi used that tone. Eren hoped he never had to be on the receiving end of that voice.

"Mate?" The mer made a weird face. OoO

"OMGGGG LEVI CONGRATULATIONS!" They suddenly screeched, tackling him in a hug. Levi hissed loudly, his face contorting with pain.

Eren didn't even realize what happen until he felt Levi's gentle hands on his waist, wrapping around his stomach and gently pulling him back, away from the mer Eren had pinned to the wall.

Eren had lunged at them, forcing them away from his mate so they could no longer harm him.

"It's Alright, Eren. Hanji can just be excitable." Levi whispered gently in Erens ear causing the mer to shiver. He looked away, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry.." he mumbled.

Blood was mixing in the water, one of Erens larger scales had sliced through Hanjis skin leaving a small cut.

Hanji swam to a defective shell that took up the back wall. They stared at the cut, basically drooling. "I have a hypothesis~!" They sang creepily before lunging back towards Eren who Levi quickly pulled behind him. "Can I have one of your scales? Pretty pretty please?!" They begged.

"Those belong to me Hanji. And no, you will not touch my mates scales. Which brings be back to why we are here." Levi looked over to Farlan. "Go fetch the scales I had you hide. I want to give them to Eren."

Farlan nodded, heading past them and out the door. Isabel kissed his cheek gently before he left. She then offered the scale pouch to Levi. Now that he found his mate, he wouldn't shed as often and didn't need her to collect his scales.

Levi handed the bag to Eren, "For you." He said gently, his voice soft and gentle.
Eren blushed, gently taking the bag. He had his mates scales. His mate gave him his scales.

Levi then looked back to Hanji who was still rambling.

"-any already shedded scales? I don't wanna take any that aren't already shedded but I want at least one." Hanji whined. "I have an idea on what this might be but I need a scale to be sure of what it is."

Eren had perked up a bit. "I guess I could give you one of the shedded ones. I wouldn't mind. As long as Levi is okay with it, you can have one."

Levi tilted his head as he glanced at his mate before he sighed, nodding his head. "Fine. Just don't be creepy with it hanji."

"No promises!" They cackled.

Word count: 858