#( my ideas are always super lame but ajsdhasd )

[beardrabbles]

sweet sea shanty.

characters: GN!reader, leviathan

warnings: self-depreciating thoughts from leviathan

word count: 2,370

notes: based around the entirely baseless thought that, at some point, some of the brothers took to the human realm during the pirate era. i really can't NOT imagine mammon being a pirate for the sake of treasure and leviathan cutting loose for a short while as a full-on sea-monster. it's silly, but i like the idea. also, dang, it got long.

He was in the middle of a low level raid when he heard it — a familiar melody and equally familiar words, carried on the softest and sweetest of voices. How the voice managed to eek through his noise-cancelling headphones was beyond him, but he knew for an absolute fact that he hadn’t imagined it. Hands frozen over his mouse and keyboard, Leviathan listened.

   ❛ He skims the waves of blue and grey      Golden eyes in search of prey      But when he hears their desperate pleas      It keeps the beast at bay ❜

“You good?” There was another voice, this one louder and clearer. His guildmates weren’t impatient, but it was obvious by the way his character abruptly stopped moving that something had happened. Their always diligent, always present co-captain never took pause in the middle of a battle, no matter how over-leveled they were.

“I.  .  .”

“Why’d we stop?”

“Did he leave?”

“No, dumbass. Didn’t you hear him just hear him talk?”

“Bro, you good?”

It was the usual chattering amongst friends, but it came across as nothing more than background noise as the song that toyed with his ears continued to tug mercilessly at his attention. Try as he might, with hands pressed to his headphones and eyes squeezed shut, Leviathan couldn’t shove the melody aside. Soft. So soft and sweet and — damn — why did he feel in the deepest parts of his heart that he had heard it before?!

   ❛ Most would sing of their fear and spite      That scaly beast the sweet sea’s blight      But when he hears them sigh his name      He’s met with pure delight

     Leviathan, Leviathan      Come and claim your prize

     Leviathan, Leviathan      I won’t believe their lies ❜

The sound of his name was his doom. It sent a shiver down his spine and heat into his cheeks, the need to find the source compelling him to toss his headphones aside.

“BRB, I got — uh — stuff. Don’t finish the raid without me!” He pushed away from his desk and scrambled from his room, the hallway eerily quiet. He glanced from one end to the other, brow crinkling with mild annoyance. “I know I heard it.”

It came again, the sound of his name. Without his headphones to muffle the voice, it turned his temporary shiver into a persistent tremble. But now he knew where it came from, head snapping in the direction of the kitchen. Wasting no time, he stalked down the hall to confront the one that nagged at his sense of nostalgia — until he reached the door and realized with a start that it was your voice that called to him.

The door was opened a crack, a single amber eye peeking in through the gap. There you stood, a mop in hand and a bucket of soapy water at your feet. No one understood why you chose to manually tackle the chores, but neither did they try to stop you after you insisted that this was the way it had always been.

With every push and pull of the mop across the stones came another lyric, your gentle back-and-forth matching the steady rhythm of the sea shanty you sang.

   ❛ Leviathan, Leviathan      Come and claim your prize      Leviathan, Leviathan      I won’t believe their lies ❜

‘ But everyone else did.  .  . ’ That’s right, he remembered now.

His time at sea had been a short one, though he supposed a few hundred years was a lifetime to a human. It had been during the height of an era, when piracy ran rampant. The creaky old ships, the sailors that smelled of sweat and booze and salt, and the tempting taste of a soul lost at sea — now that he had been given those memories, he could recall it all with startling clarity.

But there had been one ship in particular that intrigued him.

No, it wasn’t the ship, he reminded himself. It was a person. A kind, thoughtful person that hadn’t allowed their opinions to be swayed by others. The stories they heard about a demonic sea-creature were true, but they had been adamant in their theories. They had claimed him merciful and caring, if a little misunderstood.

How naïve, defending a demon they hardly knew.

But they persisted, believing that they were the one capable of teaching the world that the one they called Leviathan wasn’t the heartless monster they claimed him to be. Their beliefs were baseless, as he had taken a staggering amount of souls during that time, but it was their unshakable faith in him and the song they weaved in his name that had drawn him out of the water and onto the ship where he met them.

‘ They liked me. I think. Maybe. I don’t know. ’ Always doubting, always weighed down by his insecurities. ‘ If you know that song, does that mean.  .  . ? ’

“Levi?” You had turned then to find him peeking, the unmistakable color if his eyes and the warm red of his cheeks giving away that it was the third-born hiding behind the door. He squawked indignantly, the door slamming shut. You propped your weight against the handle of the mop, eyes staring curiously at the wood. “I know you’re still there.”

“No, you don’t!” Then a quiet, “dammit.”

You snickered to yourself as the door swung open again. “Hey.”

“H—Hey.” His voice was low and quiet, eyes cast down to the floor. He fidgeted where he stood, his many attempts to speak putting a deeper and darker shade of red into his face. You were ready to wait, knowing that no good ever came from rushing him, but a thought dawned on you.

“Wait, weren’t you in the middle of a game?” You frowned, knowing that it was nearly impossible to drag Leviathan away once he started a raid.

“I was, but you——!!” He sucked in a breath, ready to rant, when he was struck silent with embarrassment.

“Me? What did I do? I’m cleaning!” Your frown grew more severe.

“You were singing! You tell me you’re not a normie, but you do all these cute, normie things, like singing when you clean. Who even does that?!” He was able to brings his eyes up towards you, but only to scowl.

“You heard me?” It was your turn to become flushed. You weren’t a loud or obnoxious singer. In fact, you kept your voice as soft as possible, not wanting to humiliate yourself in front of the demons that shared their home with you. “But I tried to be quiet.  .  .”

“I could hear it from my room.” He grunted as he shoved both hands into the pockets of his hooded sweater. “Where did you even learn that song?”

“Family.” You shrugged and discreetly snatched up the chance to route the conversation away from your embarrassment. “I think. Everyone says it was passed down from one generation to the next, but I can’t be sure that’s true. I’ve always liked it, so I sing it when I’m working. Why?”

He stared hard for a solid minute before it finally clicked.

“Oh!” You gasped and brought a hand up to your mouth. “No! Are you serious?”

“Do you know anyone else named Leviathan? lmao Did doing chores make your brain smooth?” His expression lightened up then, but yours continued to drop. He was adorable when he laughed, even if it was at your expense, but you felt a mite dumb for having not realized sooner that a song you’d clung to for so long was meant for him.

“I’m sorry, Levi. I won’t sing it again.” You assumed the worst: that it was meant only to be sung by your ancestor, or that he hated the song despite the meaning behind it. You would resist the urge no matter how strong it was because you cared for him.

“What?” His amusement died away in an instant. “W—Why not?”

“Well, didn’t it mean something to them? The one that sang it, I mean. My family always told me it was because they were fond of you.” You ran your fingernail over a chip in the wooden handle of the mop and diverted your gaze elsewhere. “Were you two, y’know.  .  . a thing?”

Leviathan didn’t think it was possible for his cheeks to burn hotter than they already did, yet he felt himself grow overheated and clammy at the mention of a relationship. “Ahahaa!! N—No! Seriously, you think I’m capable of something like that? Hah! P—Please, not a chance. Like I’d get invested in a human!”

“Oh.” Was that disappointment you felt? What a nasty, painful feeling. “Right, I shouldn’t have even asked. The Grand Admiral of Hell’s Navy and the legendary Leviathan, the beast that would swallow ships whole, would never give a lowly human the time of day.” You shot him a pointed glance before returning to your work — only, this time, there was a slump in your shoulders and a distinct lack of your voice.

Leviathan stood there with his mouth agape, like a beached fish, unsure of how to best process your sharp tone and the abrupt lack of warmth in the room. He wanted to hear you sing the song if it meant hearing you say his name the way you had, all caring and kind and unafraid. No one had called to him in such a way in so long that he had forgotten what it was like to have someone that didn’t find him repulsive. But was it merely you losing yourself in the song, or had your heart truly cradled those words?

“W—Wait, can — can you sing it again?” He tried to mumble the words together and hoped you wouldn’t hear, but the way you turned gave away that you had. Leviathan flinched at your undivided attention, his own eyes focused on the long fingers he wrung together. “I d—don’t mind if you do.”

“Really? But——!”

“Don’t make me say it again!” Whined the otaku as he inched closer. The lower half of his face was hidden behind the baggy sleeves he bunched in his shaking hands, but it did nothing to mask his pink cheeks. “Just — sing it! Please.”

You didn’t take a single step forward, letting him meet you beside the kitchen island. With your weight still supported by the mop, you dared to lean forward the slightest bit. “Which part?”

You watched the color in his cheeks double in intensity, his refusal to make eye contact still as endearing as ever. “D—Do I gotta say?”

“I won’t know if you don’t.” You pointed out softly, encouragingly. Leviathan let out a huff, then — in a small fit of courage — finally let his attention fall on you.

“The part with my name.  .  .”

You were unable to help yourself. An amused giggle tumbled free from your lips long before you could think to catch it. You wanted to tease, and it would have been so easy, but he was clearly melting away into a puddle of pure anxiety and awkwardness in front of you. If you weren’t careful, you’d lose him for good.

“Leviathan~ Leviathan~” You feel into comfortable practice with the lyric, your voice wrapped tenderly around each and every syllable. But with each utterance of his name, poor Leviathan was struck with a shiver that wracked his entire body. You stood there before him, radiant and so willing to appease him. He could vividly picture you standing at the very front of a majestic ship, hands clasped against your chest and heart bleeding your every feeling into the unforgiving ocean in the hopes that it might lure him in. “Come and claim your prize~”

Could he? He couldn’t.  .  .

You were a feeble, silly, precious, darling, treasured human, and he was nothing more than a cesspool of sin and loathing. He was dripping nausea and you were a bright, healing light, one step below a real angel.

“Leviathan~ Leviathan~” Another shiver shocked down his spine, this one prompting his truest form to slither out from behind his glamor. Horns of branching coral, accented with thin, shimmering streaks of royal purple, curled away from his lavender hair. The scales of his long tail slid against the stone of the floor, the tip of it lingering apprehensively near the tips of your feet. “I won’t believe their lies~”

They were simple words, but the impact was similar to a decisive punch to the gut. But before he could stop himself, he asked, “why not?”

You opened your mouth, but no sound escaped. Brow furrowed, you took a moment to consider your words carefully. Then and only then did you grace him with a smile.

“Because I know you, and I like you. I don’t care what anyone has to say about you. I think you’re amazing, and nothing will change that!” You confidence was staggering even to yourself, but you meant every word. Somewhere, deep inside the cold of Leviathan’s heart, he felt fondness bloom. It had always been there, but he had been hesitant to let it grow. Damn you for making it so effortless.

“You c—can’t mean that! You can’t if it’s so easy for you to say it, like you don’t even have to think about it.” Yet he holed in on himself, body shrinking inward but demonic features remaining prominent.

“I don’t have to think about it. I just know it. And I do mean it. Whether or not you believe me, it doesn’t matter. I feel how I feel, so get used to it.” You huffed and made to return to your work, but the presence of something solid and thick around your ankle made you reconsider. His tail, loose but clearly wrapped around your leg, begged for you to remain where you were.

You raised an eyebrow and glanced to Leviathan again. He shrugged, a hand rubbing at the side of his neck.

“I’m in the middle of a raid, but do you think you could come to my r—room and sing it one more time? I just don’t want anyone coming in here and hearing you singing my name like that! Don’t make it weird, okay?!”

You sighed through your nose, but your lips were quirked upwards affectionately. “I’d love to.”