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Mikasa was bored.
It’s mating season again, and as a peafowl youngling, there wasn’t much for her to do outside of foraging for fruits while waiting for her mother to come home.
She munched on a stem of wild berries, perched comfortably on her high-rise tree as she surveyed the ground below. A small party of mature peahens were gathered near her tree, necks strained expectantly in one direction as though waiting for something.
All of a sudden, the peahens went wild, their excited squawking and flapping almost startling Mikasa into dropping her snacks. She bit into the berries angrily, ready to move until she saw what they were so worked up about.
In the distance, a young peacock was making his way towards the clear blue stream in the clearing. Mikasa recognized him to be her neighbor Eren, the prettiest male peafowl of his generation—and perhaps all the generations before that.
Eren trotted around with the confidence befitting his looks, head held high as his train of iridescent blue and green spotted feathers swayed around. He didn’t seem to notice all the eyes on him, too mesmerized by whatever it was he saw when he reached the water.
Maybe he wanted to catch some fish today, but Mikasa had never known him to be much of a hunter. They grew up together, so she had some inkling as to what he was actually looking at in that stream.
Himself.
That’s right. Eren might be beautiful and from an observer’s standpoint, the biggest catch of their colony, but he had this one massive shortcoming—he was only interested in himself.
Mikasa snorted in amusement at the peahens below, already aware of the fate that awaited them if they approached Eren again this year. If they looked good, Eren might simply ignore them—and that was the best case scenario. But if they were… not aesthetically up to his standards, Eren would likely attack them for taking his attention from, well, himself.
Still, it didn’t seem that his hostility and narcissism were sufficient enough to deter the females from trying their luck every year. If anything, it only seemed to worsen their obsession with him. They all acted like he was playing hard to get, as though Eren could ever be willing to settle for anyone less than Eren.
Humming, Mikasa bit off the last berry in her grasp before jumping and flying down for some water. As long as she drank far enough to not cause a ripple in Eren’s reflection, he shouldn’t be disturbed.
Just before she reached the bank, an unfamiliar figure passed by her, the brilliantly colored plumage on his tail signalling to Mikasa that he was a male.
Milasa squinted at him, wracking her brain to try and remember if this peacock was from their colony. She’d never seen him around before, and judging by the widening eyes and unabashed stares from the fully-grown peahens around her, neither had anyone else.
The peacock strutted confidently in—oh no. He’s going in Eren’s direction.
In the past, Eren used to get challenged a lot by the rowdy males who thought he was competing with them for mates. Even though Eren was already a fully-fledged peacock now, Mikasa still couldn’t bear to stand around idly while her friend got beat up.
She made a sharp turn, but just then, the peacock began squawking, loud and attention-demanding as he postured in front of everyone.
Mikasa considered just jumping the outsider to buy Eren some time. Even if he looked like a perfect mate, Eren’s physical aptitude was only above average at best. He’d definitely lose if he fought a bird like that, and then his feathers would get damaged, and then he’d have to molt early, and then Mikasa would have to deal with his incessant moping for the rest of the molting period.
Mikasa was not going to deal with his incessant moping for the rest of any period.
She moved closer to the new peacock, intending to knock him over with her weight when something strange happened.
The new peacock suddenly shook and fanned his feathers out, as though to present himself rather than declaring a challenge. The chattering of the nearby peahens became more animated, excited by the assertiveness of this new potential mate.
This peacock’s actual body wasn’t nearly as big as Eren’s, but he was sturdier and what he lacked in size, he made up for in plumage. The full, healthy feathers fluttered brilliantly, bright colors and perfect patterns glistening underneath the sun.
Several of the bolder peahens went forth to approach him, but were all ignored as the outsider peacock continued forth to the figure by the water. Mikasa hurriedly hid behind a tree, wanting to be ready in case he really actually had intentions of hurting her friend.
Meanwhile, Eren still hadn’t moved from his stream, not at all bothered by the commotion around him. The other peacock seemed irked at the prospect of being overlooked, clearly adamant on getting Eren’s attention for whatever reason.
He walked to the bank, feathers still fully out in the open as he peered down to see what it was that had Eren so enraptured. Finally, after some time had passed, the peacock seemed to have had enough. He huffed and puffed, and when that still wouldn’t garner Eren’s notice, he dipped a pointed claw into the water, effectively rippling the other male's reflection.
Mikasa heard the shrill little squawk unique to Eren and jumped out, only to be confused when she saw the other peacock with his feathers still up. Peacocks who wanted to fight kept their tails tucked for optimal agility, but maybe this one didn’t know any better.
The outsider peacock looked quite young, maybe this was even his first mating season. He wasn’t from around here, so he either wandered off from his own colony or was a wild bird with no flock. The latter seemed more plausible, seeing how he didn’t even know who to show his feathers off to, but wasn’t that something that he should learn by instinct?
In the distance, Eren kept making a fuss and glaring at the new visitor to his favourite stream. Seeing how Eren hadn’t attacked him yet, Mikasa deduced that he either found the peacock pleasing enough to look at or he was simply scared.
But Eren wasn’t like that. Even if he was scared, he’d still charge in head first if he felt threatened. Mikasa watched as her friend slowly circled the other male, his eyes glued to the vibrant indigo and gold shapes on the feathers.
The other peacock didn’t shy away, standing almost proudly as he waited for Eren to finish inspecting him. Eren made two full rounds before being satisfied. He didn’t make any attempt to repel the other fowl, but he also didn’t take the initiative to fraternize.
All of a sudden, the peacock began to move again, frightening both Eren and Mikasa as the latter scurried to her feet to try and stop him.
The extravagant display of feathers in front of them swayed vigorously as he charged at Eren, but just as they were about to collide, the peacock stopped and made a sharp turn back.
What…
Mikasa blinked, looking around to see if all the other peafowls were seeing what she’s seeing.
He’s dancing.
Everyone she saw had the same dumbstruck expression on their face, confused as to why this peacock was doing a courting dance for another male. His intended subject was clearly Eren, because as soon as the other male tried to move away, this fool would promptly follow suit.
When it became obvious to Eren that he was the one being courted, he stopped running, pretty face scrunching up in embarrassment at being mistaken for a peahen. He quickly shook his tail, fanning out his own impressive plumage to show the other bird that he was a male too.
It didn’t work.
The other peacock didn’t seem surprised with how this played out. In fact, if Mikasa didn’t know any better, she’d think he was even rather pleased by it. He continued to chase after Eren, persistently waving his eye-catching feathers around to try and get Eren to… mate with him?
Mikasa stood at a loss. She turned to look at the older peahens to see if they understood what was happening. The more persistent ones remained still with drooping tails, clearly disappointed that neither peacocks were interested in them yet were still unwilling to leave. The more sensible ones trickled away in small parties, probably deciding that these two were lost causes.
Strange. In all the times she’d seen them here before, none would ever leave Eren alone until the first day of the season had passed. Maybe all they needed for his rejection to get across was for someone to assert a claim over him.
Too bad that someone had to be an annoying outsider Shorty.
Mikasa clicked her beak in annoyance. After determining that Eren was in no real danger, she flapped back up to her tree, watching from a distance as Shorty continued to harass Eren across the clearing.
By the time that the last remaining peahen returned to her nest, dusk had already settled. The weird newcomer finally stopped chasing Eren, but he still hung around closely at the base of Eren’s tree.
At least he had the decency to not intrude into Eren’s roosting space. Mikasa watched from the next tree over as the two silly birds stared at each other—one from above, and one from below.
Eren couldn’t sleep, so Mikasa also couldn’t sleep. Her mother wouldn’t be back until the season was over, so it was just her in the tree for now. She stayed up to stare at Shorty, and Shorty stayed up to stare at Eren, and Eren stayed up to stare straight back at Shorty, and they continued like that for a whole night.
Mikasa couldn’t remember closing her eyes, but when she finally opened them again, she suddenly realized it was already dawn.
Eren!
The tree branches rustled loudly as Mikasa shot up, frantically looking for any sign of Eren before heaving in relief when she saw that he was still safely roosting on his favourite spot.
Down below, a colorful array of fruits and something squirmy laid in a pile, closely guarded by that same peacock from yesterday.
Mikasa rolled her eyes in disdain but then promptly stopped.
Were those—
Her mouth watered, eyes gleaming as she peered closer for a better look of the delicious, juicy, still-live—
Arachnids.
Eren’s excited cawing came from the nest next to hers, evidently also pleased by the offering in front of his tree.
Miksa watched enviously as Eren dove down to accept the gift, no longer shying away when the other peacock made a move to rub against his side.
Bah, Eren’s so easily bought.
If any of the peahens even thought to hunt some insects for him, maybe they wouldn’t be ignored all the time. But maybe this was good too. Shorty seemed sincere enough in trying to win Eren over—he was even a good hunter too. As long as he didn't do anything to hurt him, Mikasa would stay put.
She laid her head back down to rest, still lazy and reluctant to leave her spot for now. But just as Mikasa was about to close her eyes, something rattled her awake.
Squawk!
What in the actual—
Squawk!
Mikasa sharply looked down again, looking for the source of that awful sounding noise when her sight landed on that male—again!
He looked and sounded absolutely ridiculous. Mikasa angrily got up and stomped on her branch in an effort to get them to notice her, but to no avail.
The outsider’s stupid noises seemed to resemble the mating calls of the female peahens somewhat—was he trying to mimic them?! Did he not know how incompatible the sounds were with peacock vocal cords?
Mikasa’s focus switched to Eren, who looked and probably felt just as flabbergasted as her. He had already stopped chomping on the food, still baffled by the strange display in front of him.
The new peacock’s attempt to woo Eren yesterday was nothing short of a failure, but that didn’t seem to discourage him. He’s even more insistent today, resorting to approaching Eren as… as a female?
Did he think Eren liked peahens?
Mikasa chortled, trying and failing to keep her amusement silent. She had to commend his effort—this silly bird’s determination was actually not bad. She stayed rooted in her place, content to watch Eren’s suitor make a fool out of himself just to keep his attention.
Down below, Eren shuffled his claws around awkwardly, unsure how to proceed. He seemed more receptive to Shorty's advances today—a first in any case, but he also wasn’t throwing himself at him.
The smaller peacock finally stopped ‘singing’ when he saw that Eren wasn’t impressed. He nudged him a bit, gesturing to the unfinished food at their feet. Relieved, Eren responded positively, nudging him back and rolling a few berries and half-amputated spiders his way.
Watching them made Mikasa so hungry she couldn’t stand it anymore. She flapped her way down from her nest, taking care not to land near Eren’s tree to prevent Shorty from thinking she wanted to challenge him.
When she came back, neither of the peacocks were still there. Mikasa brushed it off. It wasn’t even midday yet. She curled up after eating her fill, planning to nap until it was time to find and drag Eren back.
That turned out to be unnecessary.
Mikasa woke up to the soft squawking of a male peacock near the base of her tree. When she looked to her left, Eren was already perched on his own tree, head turned away and posture angry.
At least that absolved her of her self-designated duty to bring him back. She craned her neck down, already more than half-sure she knew who the noise was coming from.
Sure enough, it’s that Shorty again.
He looked rather contrite this time, which led Mikasa to think he was responsible for Eren’s foul mood. She looked at her friend again, checking him for any signs of damage to his head or his wings or his—
His tail!
The leaves around her tree rustled when she jumped, feathers puffed up in alarm when she saw the banged up feathers on Eren’s side. Two of them were torn at the tips, but another five were completely mangled beyond recognition.
Of all his features, Eren loved his plumage the best. It was his most attractive feature, but it only reached its full potential during this time of year. Now that it was ruined, Mikasa could only imagine how he felt.
Did Shorty do this?
Mikasa angrily snapped back to glower down at her suspect, but before she could jump down to give him a piece of her mind, she noticed the state of his own tail.
It wasn’t obvious before because of where she sat, but upon a closer look, Mikasa realized Shorty also had some nasty injuries of his own. The gnawed up feathers looked like jungle cat handiwork, a natural predator of their peafowl species.
The peacock below them continued to caw at Eren’s tree, not shameless enough to invite himself up, but still daring to stick around.
Mikasa’s eyes shifted, ire somewhat abated. It stood to reason that no peafowl should come out of an encounter with a wild cat alive, and knowing Eren, that should’ve been the case. It wasn’t that she thought lowly of him—it was simply the truth. Who knew what sort of ghastly fate he’d have succumbed to as a chick had it not been for Mikasa’s protectiveness.
From what she could see, this outsider peacock was both a competent hunter and an extraordinary runner—if his effortless catching up to Eren yesterday was any indication. He probably could have escaped unscathed on his own, but the state of his tail told Mikasa he lagged behind for her friend, probably even to help him.
Her attitude softened, now sympathetic to Shorty’s plight. Eren was pretty good company most of the time, and while it helped that he was nice to look at too, his shallowness and self-obsession had costed him alot of friends growing up. Mikasa didn’t believe he was inherently mean or anything, he just had issues forming connections and… understanding that others have feelings too...
Eren stubbornly kept his back turned towards them. He seemed to be ignoring the peacock, but his obvious brooding gave away the fact that he wanted to be noticed. Usually, if he didn’t care, he wouldn’t even bother throwing this big of a tantrum.
Hmm... So he wanted to be coaxed?
Mikasa silently crept away, steps light and airy so as to not draw attention to herself.
Shorty could handle this himself, it would be good practice for if they actually become mates.
When the sky began to turn into the color of a ripened papaya, Mikasa returned home with the fruits and arachnids she caught along her way. Most of them were already dead from her rough handling, but she had never been one to care for freshness anyway.
Most of the other peafowls had already returned to their roosting nests and caves. As she got closer to hers, Mikasa realized that there were now two peacocks at the base of Eren’s tree, and one of them was Eren himself.
Soft purring came from the direction of the males, signaling that something nice had happened. Eren stood close to the little Shorty, both their heads bent to look at something on the ground.
Once Mikasa got back to her nest, she peered down to see the—
Feathers!?
Mikasa scrunched her beak, confused at the sight in front of her. At Eren’s claws, several rows of perfectly healthy peacock feathers laid over the grass in an offering-like formation. The patterns made it obvious that they weren’t his, so it had to be from Shorty.
Was he offering his own plumage as a gift?
Mikasa turned to Eren for a reaction, only to be even more bewildered when she saw that her friend actually seemed pleased. He even circled the pile a bit, making some rounds before stopping to rub his head against the other peacock’s neck, chirping and purring affectionately as though he hadn’t just thrown a fit mere hours ago.
But affectionate? Eren?
She squinted and blinked twice to make sure she saw right.
What a… strange turn of events. After these two days, Mikasa decided she never wanted to mate or be courted at all. Such a weird and wasteful use of time and resources.
A while later, Shorty helped Eren bring the feathers up to his tree, arranging them in a big circle and adding twigs and leaves to the structure that eventually came to resemble a nest.
Ah, so he agreed.
Figures Eren’s mate would wound up being another pretty peacock like him. Mikasa never thought to dream that her friend could ever like anyone the way he liked himself, but life continued to surprise her.
Maybe Eren was moved by the other male’s willingness to part with his beautiful feathers for him, seeing how much he treasured and valued his own. He probably saw it as the highest form of showing sincerity. It’s not everyday that you find a partner who would still tolerate you after discovering such quirks.
She still wasn’t fond of how weird Shorty was overall, but since he’s the one Eren chose, surely he couldn’t be all that bad, right?
Shorty nudged Eren gently into the nest, bumping their heads together in an overt display of intimacy. Eren laid on his stomach, head turned back to face the fowl that was now his mate.
Mikasa watched carefully what happened next. Shorty tried to move even closer to Eren’s behind, but when his tail got in the way, her friend got up to lie on his back instead, his claws up in the air as he faced the other peacock.
And then—
“OoOoO”
The sound reverberated into the air, and Mikasa lost her footing in sheer panic at what she saw.
Seriously? In broad daylight? And in front of her?!
She quickly flapped her wings to regain her balance, huffing tersely. On the other side, Shorty was busy mounting Eren from on top, cooing and purring at the bigger male who in turn reciprocated his attention.
To be fair, they probably didn’t even know she was here. Her tree had several branches on this side to shade her from the harsh afternoon sun, and while it still allowed her to see beyond, it made it difficult for far away onlookers to make out anything behind it.
Still, Mikasa was peeved by what she’d just witnessed. It was all Shorty’s fault she had to see that—just why couldn’t he wait until dark?! Absolutely shameless! Poor Eren and poor her.
Mikasa pretended not to hear what they did next for the rest of the evening and then night. And when the morning came, she pretended not to hear what they did again at the ass-crack of dawn.
This was getting ridiculous.
Eren had the nerve to carry on like nothing was out of the ordinary, even introducing his new mate to her the next time they met as though she hadn’t already figured it out by all the noise he’d been making.
She considered complaining, but when she saw how happy, how utterly radiant he looked by Shorty’s side, Mikasa swallowed up all her grievances and feigned acceptance the best she could.
Whatever. It’s high time for her to move from that side of her tree—the other ender was shadier and nicer anyway. Eren is solely Shorty’s responsibility now.
When the season ended, Shorty—or as she’d come to learn from Eren—Levi didn't return to his flock or wherever it was he came from. He stayed in their little nest, the one made primarily from his and now Eren’s plumes. They spent their days in bliss, grooming and preening one another’s feathers before they fell asleep at night, and then waking up early each morning to forage together.
Little by little, Mikasa adjusted to her new neighbor’s existence. He was still a little weird, but his presence made it hard for anyone to approach Eren with bad intentions. He also made Eren less of a hazard to himself, so MIkasa supposed she could come to accept him.
The years went by, and the annoying peahens stopped pestering Eren now that he’s got such a scary looking little mate tailing him everywhere. Winter turned into spring, and spring turned into summer. With each passing season, their plumes thinned and the colorful patterns dulled, but the affectionate coos from Mikasa’s neighbor’s tree never ceased or lessened in tenderness.
It’s a comfortable life she led, Mikasa thought. It could’ve been a quiet one too, but she supposed that’s what she gets for having literal lovebirds for neighbors.