Beached - Chapter 3: Benedict Arnold
A Benedict Arnold - a traitor
You'll probably see quite a few lore in this fic. Usually, I'll take the creative liberty to alter them in ways to make them somewhat unique.
Pairing: Rivamika, though there's not so much this chapter. This more of a plot pushing chapter.
Rating: Safe, some bad words, I'll never get the rating system down, even though I have it linked in my laptop. #lazyarse
“He’s being a little aloof, don’t you think?” Armin complained watching Levi slink further away from the small group of two amassed on deck. It was hard to see Levi in the dim light of the early morning, but Eren could just barely see his form sliding away from the two.
The merman’s personality had taken a stark turn for the worse once he had realized the full scope of his capture. And the chain tying him to the mast of the main deck never improved his mood. In the past three weeks, whenever the chain was brought out, he had refused to allow anyone to touch him, and become easily irritable and highly aggressive.
Humorously, Eren had found his cranky personality to be highly similar to Mikasa’s. He was aggressive but silent when provoked, like her. Their base personalities weren’t quite as similar. He seemed sassier, where Mikasa was less snappy, and less inclined to speak, but was equally searing in her insults. And oh boy, the insults. That sassy mouth was almost more trouble than he was worth. Almost.
Eren frowned patting his childhood friend condolingly on the back. That was another thing. Levi hated Armin with a passion stronger than the gods’ themselves. He despised the prodding and invasiveness of the small blonde boy/man and refused to come within less than ten feet of Armin. Eren didn’t have the heart to tell his friend that was the reason why Levi had slinked off to go bother the barrels further down on the deck.
“Levi,” Mikasa’s voice materialized from out of the blue as she had quietly joined the boys on deck. Hearing his name, the merman quickly jerked to face their general direction, “Don’t do that,” Mikasa was warning him in a stern voice, as he had toppled one of the barrels and was attempting to roll it off deck. He slapped his tail on the floor, frustrated with her orders.
“He’s expressing actions of anxiety and pent up energy,” Armin said matter-of-factly, as the merman looked torn between obeying Mikasa and doing his own thing. His eyes darted back and forth between the girl and the barrel, and then finally, he rolled onto his back and made the sweetest most playful face at Mikasa, beckoning her with his well-muscled arms.
This was causing Eren some anxiety. The almost immediate and impossibly tight bond that had developed between his sister and the exotic sea creature. A week together had made them almost inseparable. Three weeks had them tied at the hip.
But, this was a problem for most of the crew. When genial, Levi was enamoring. His charm was almost hypnotizing, even with his sassy personality, and less than cordial way of speaking. Even Eren had to admit that he enjoyed being in the company of the beast. It was even better considering that, if he liked you, you could touch his tail.
Human nature. People loved to touch. Touch this dog’s fur, or pull this cat’s tail, or stroke this baby’s soft new hair, or something. Likewise, everyone wanted a chance to feel Levi’s smooth shining tail. He didn’t like to say so, but Eren had sneaked in a pat or two when he was sure no one else was looking.
And Jean, who pretended to hate Levi, had asked Mikasa to hold the merman still so the blonde haired sailing master could pat him. He had used the excuse, “everyone else knows what it feels like except for me,” but Eren suspected that Jean liked Levi as much as everyone else.
“Come here, Levi,” Mikasa beckoned. A soft growl escaped the merman and he pointedly looked at Armin.
“He’s being nasty,” Eren explained to his sister, watching her eyebrows knit together in concern. Subtly, he nudged her with his elbow, jerking his chin at Armin. She nodded in understanding. There wasn’t a person on board who didn’t know Levi hated Armin, except poor Armin himself.
“Armin,” Mikasa called gently, “Would you mind giving me and Eren a moment. We need to discuss something…”
Blinking confusedly, the boy quickly began to protest, “We’ve been friends for a long time. I’m sure whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of me.”
“Armin,” Eren muttered gently but firmly. After a moment of hesitation, the scientist to be slouched away, disappointment on his face. When the siblings were sure he was gone, Eren walked out to Levi, removing the chain from his tail and throwing it against the mast.
“Why are we still chaining him,” Mikasa questioned, opening her arms welcomingly as the mermaid rushed to bury his head in the crook of her neck.
“Armin and Jean insist on it. They don’t want to disappoint their father.”
“It’s making him unhappy.” Mikasa complained, rubbing Levi’s tail in rhythmic circles.
“I know,” Eren said, frowning, “But, he won’t have to deal with it for much longer.” A meaningful look passed between the siblings, and Mikasa’s could almost feel the emotions of hesitation and betrayal in Eren’s eyes. Quickly changing the topic to avoid scrutiny from his sister, the Captain scowled, scolding her, “Aside from that, you’re babying him too much. Discipline, Mikasa. He needs discipline.”
“No he doesn’t,” she growled defensively, “He’s not stupid. And besides, you’re one to talk. Father never ‘disciplined’ you quite so badly.”
“He didn’t need too,” Eren chortled quietly, “I had you. That was all the discipline I ever needed.”
Mikasa snorted, amused because Eren was right. For as long as she could remember she had been taking care of him. Grisha had left most of Eren’s supervision in Mikasa’s hands when their mother had fallen deathly ill.
“Do you remember when we were kids,” Eren murmured, just barely catching Mikasa’s attention.
“It feels like we never were.”
Eren’s brows pulled together, eyes downcast, “They tried hard to give us a life worth living.”
Crouching near the pair piled on the floor, Eren reached out slowly to tickle his fingers alongside the tip of the Levi’s tail. The mermaid flicked his feathery fin, but otherwise remained at ease, looking only mildly annoyed. With some effort on Mikasa’s part, and an endless stream of cooing, he quickly forgot about Eren.
“Is he worth it?” Eren asked.
“If he can help us find father and mother…then yes.”
Looking resigned, Eren’s hand fell from Levi’s glittery scales, “I feel bad for betraying them.”
Mikasa snorted, lifting Levi into a more comfortable position on her lap, and reminding Eren just how strong his sister was.
“What will Erwin do with him, Eren?” she whispered viciously, “Not but what we are going to do!”
“Everyone is looking for the same thing.”
“But, not everyone can have the same thing.”
For a few more minutes silence reigned, and then Mikasa said, “Does everyone understand the plan?”
“Hannes and Ymir are in the bunkers tying Jean up now. Christa and Sasha have gone after Armin. We’ll set them off in a dingy with a knife, two guns, and a barrel of food and mead. And that’s it. Erwin’s ship is just beyond the morning mists. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And I’m sure they’ve seen us. He should find them within an hour,” Eren explained, cocking his head to the side as the clear ring of Armin’s girlish scream pervaded the main deck. Hopefully the girls would take it easy on him.
“You haven’t included Marco in this plan.” Mikasa noted.
“He’ll be devastated, but he’s loyal…and we can’t risk losing a crewmate. He can survive without Jean. We will need all the support we can get. Erwin will trail us fast, and Nile is already on our tail.”
“If we can lead them to one another, they may become too busy fighting each another to keep tracking us down.”
Just then, the doors to the deck burst open, kicked nearly to breaking point by Ymir. That woman needed to check her strength, otherwise The Jeagar would be a shitpile in no time. Behind her, she was towing Jean’s wriggling mass. The sailing master was tied up and blindfolded, but his mouth was wide open and screaming a stream of profanities. Hannes followed shaking his head tiredly, and Connie tagged behind them, with a sack full of the smaller essentials Eren had listed early.
Watching them, Levi snorted, and said almost chillingly, “Good for him.”
It sent shivers down Mikasa’s back, hearing how…vengeful an animal less than a human could be. Or was Levi more than a human?
Soon after Jean had appeared on deck, Eren had hopped to his feet to prepare the dingy. A little while later, the girls appeared with Armin struggling in their hands. There was no need to tie the blonde quartermaster up; he was too weak to evade capture from even timid Christa alone.
As the pair was thrown on the dingy and lowered down into the gaping black sea, Eren could hear Jean shouting, “Eren, what the fuck! We had a deal you traitorous bastard.”
“Deal’s off, Jean,” Eren shouted back, a look between a grimace and amusement on his face. Did Jean really not remember how pirates worked? Had half-a-year in the family like environment of The Jeager really softened him up that much?
“Go back to mommy, Jean.” Mikasa said almost scathingly as she watched the pair float away from the ship in the crowded dingy, then yelped as the back of Levi’s head made contact with her ass.
“Hahaha!” Ymir hooted, watching the merman earnestly rub his head against the girl’s rear, “He found a new scratching post.”
“So,” Connie drawled, placing an elbow on Eren’s shoulder,
