I've been in a bit of a writing slump lately (or whatever that thing is when you have ideas but don't manage to bring any of them to life 🥲), and writing drabbles/ficlets based on seasonal prompt lists helped me last year, so I thought I'd give it a shot again! 🤞🏻 This is the prompt list by @creativepromptsforwriting ☀️
For today's prompt, fruit stand, have some plotless Levihan childhood friends + Mike 🥝
Fruit Stand
Word Count: 969
Rating: G
Modern AU. Childhood friends (or soon to be), slice of life.
From a distance, Levi immediately recognises the brown hair that pops up from behind a table set up on the pavement. It belongs to Mike, who is currently adjusting the hand-painted sign hanging above it. The sign sways at his touch, and Levi wonders how much time it has left before it collapses.
The person next to Mike is unfamiliar to Levi, and he slows down on his bike as he fully turns the corner, curiosity piqued. It's a girl—thick glasses, brown hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing the brightest smile he's ever seen when she spots him. Mike says something to her, and she nods, nudging her elbow into his side.
"Do you want a fruit salad? It costs only $2," she shouts across the street, gesturing at the sign that reads Fruity Fruit Salad, adorned with poorly drawn fruit.
Levi warily narrows his eyes as he comes to a halt in front of the stand, the little paper cups filled with what he recognises as watermelon, pineapple, kiwi, and strawberries. A few slots are empty; they must have already sold some of it.
"Did you wash the fruit before you cut it?" Levi asks, glaring at Mike, who lets out a laugh and falls back in his chair. He doesn't trust nine-year-olds when it comes to proper hygiene, even if he's the same age, but apparently they don't care about it as much as he does.
"Of course we did," the girl replies, seemingly unaffected by his question. "We also washed our hands and used a clean knife and cutting board. And no fly has landed on the fruit—we made sure of it."
Levi considers it for a moment. He had brought some money with him—his mother had told him to treat himself to his favourite ice cream and buy something to drink in case he needed it. If he buys one of the cups, he'll still have enough for both. And kiwis are his favourite fruit, after all.
"Okay," he finally says, reaching into the pocket of his shorts and pulling out two one-dollar bills.
The girl beams, grabbing one of the paper cups and sticking a little paper umbrella into a piece of watermelon. "I'm Hange, by the way. Mike said you and he are friends, and that you're called Levi."
Levi nods silently and parks his bike next to the stand, then returns to the front to eat the salad, spearing the cut pieces of fruit with the toothpick attached to the umbrella.
"I'm Mike's new neighbour," Hange continues, producing a water bottle from underneath the table and taking a few big gulps. "His parents took us to the theme park last week, and it was awesome! We even rode the Blue Fire rollercoaster—it felt like my brain was blown away! Have you tried it yet, Levi? We could all go together; I think it'd be fun."
"I don't think he's tall enough yet," Mike grins, stretching his long legs out from under the table, sprawling into Levi's space. It is clearly meant as a provocation. "You have to be at least 1.30 m tall, and half a year ago, he wasn't."
"I've been growing lately," Levi protests, giving Mike's feet a kick, who only shrugs. "I might be tall enough this year."
"I can fetch a measuring tape, and then we'll know for sure." Hange immediately jumps up and darts into the house, not even noticing how her folding chair topples over and lands in the grass.
While they wait for her to return, Levi quickly finishes his fruit salad, hoping the vitamins he's taking in trigger a sudden, powerful growth spurt. He doesn't even like rollercoasters, but something about the idea appeals to him, and he straightens up when he hears the door bang open and Hange rush out onto the front porch.
"We can still go if you're not tall enough," she reassures him as she hands Mike the end of the tape and pulls it out. "We can ride all the other rollercoasters and drive bumper cars."
Levi's heart is beating as he peeks down at Hange, who is lying flat on the ground and pressing the tape against his feet, taking her job very seriously. With shoes on, he's currently at 1.29 m, and both Mike and Hange seem very content with that result.
"You just need to straighten up a bit more when they measure you," Mike says, giving Levi a well-meant slap on the back to emphasise his words.
"And I'm sure you'll grow that last centimetre until we go," Hange adds, rubbing her hands together. "School starts in a month, so what about we go in… two weeks?"
Both Levi and Mike nod, pleased with the idea. They're just debating whose parents could accompany them when an elderly couple approaches, curiously eyeing the sign. Hange immediately slips back into vendor mode, asking them whether they would like to buy some "deliciously fruity fruit."
Levi huffs in amusement when the couple ends up buying four paper cups, and watches Mike hand them over with the widest silent smile he can muster. All of a sudden, the current heat doesn't feel as oppressive as before, and after Hange's suggestion he fetches a chair from the Zoës' garden shed and joins the two behind the table.
Being around Mike and Hange is comfortable, and he finds himself relaxing, listening to the animated chatter that keeps him entertained. Hange seems to bring out the talkative side in everyone —Levi has never seen Mike speak that much before—and then it's his own turn, and he is asked about his entire life story, a curiosity he patiently indulges in, even though he knows he does so poorly.
Thinking of how Eren isn't a "Let's do this together and share the burden" lover. He is the "I may be a monster but she has nothing to do with it! I m gonna keep her away from it and don't you dare to associate her with it" lover.
Just some “After Grisha started living in Paradis” headcanons:
Grisha actually had some memory problems when he arrived. He could recall his life up to the point when he was arrested (but he tried to suppress them for reasons), but he had trouble remembering details of his torture and the last thing he remembered from the day he inherited the Attack Titan was Dina telling him she would find him. He would eventually recover memories from that day.
He relived them first from Kruger’s POV before unlocking his own memories.
Sometimes he subcounsciously touched his arm right where he used to wear an armband.
He lived with Shadis for some time before he moved into his own.
Also, around that time Grisha sometimes woke up from nightmares to find out Shadis was also awake. They never pressured each other to open up.
It took him some time until he got used to the fact that he can now go wherever he wants without permits and facing oppression. That caused him to behave strangely (at least, according to fellow Walldians) sometimes. He blamed it on the amnesia.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Hello! Did you miss us?
@quillsandblades and I have returned, with the final addition to the establishment arc, a long awaited chapter for us and for the characters.
Prepare to see:
badass Mikasa
a reunion, long awaited
Floch >:(
a goodbye to a beloved character
"to rise above monsters is to throw your humanity away" -- Armin Arlert
Summary:
To rise above monsters throw your humanity away, he’d told himself and everyone else. They had grimly come to accept it as the inevitable reality.
But perhaps it had been the city whispering in their minds all along.
Thanks so much for the tag, Amoebas! 🎧 I just recently mentioned to a friend that I keep adding songs to my favourites playlist but never delete any, so my results should make for a fun mix - I've had that list since 2018 lol xD
Which song do you like best?
It's Only A Paper Moon - Ella Fitzgerald
Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life ) - Green Day
Die With A Smile - Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars
Piano Man - Billy Joel
Déjame Ir - Andrés Cepada, Morat
Voting ended onMay 17
I'll leave some links for the songs, in case anyone would like to listen to them 😁
It's Only A Paper Moon - Good Riddance - Die With A Smile - Piano Man - Déjame Ir
No pressure tagging @soupsontheside @sunflowersunite @quillsandblades @satsuki-tsuki @volcanicshrinegypsy @this-is-krikkit @youre-ackermine @dragonflies-and-hazeleyes and anyone who wants to play :)
