It hadn't been easy, but not for the reasons Erwin might think - his anxiety over possibly losing him to the injury manifested in being a fucking menace to nearly anyone who entered the room, especially to the doctor, threatening them with colorful violence if they let him die, forcing them to clean their hands and tools in front of him to minimize the risk of infection. The fear had eaten a hole in his stomach, made him overly snappish until Hange'd had to rein him in. Illness always seemed to unsettle him.
The touch is so soothing, Levi almost feels himself being lulled to sleep again. There's a matching pause, and perhaps for a moment Erwin might think he is asleep, until he answers quietly.
"...yeah."
It did feel like a lifetime ago. Expeditions always meant tragedy and loss, but there was always an undeniable heartening in moments like that one. The camaraderie of gathering around the fire with the others, something so simple and fleeting and yet so inescapably human. They'd still faced death, in those days, but it had felt so different, then. Naive, looking back on it now, to somehow not realize there could be even worse terrors coming for them, and things even more unimaginable on the horizon.
It's those pockets of happiness that had been so vital to keep going. To keep believing that better things were possible.
Levi presses his fingers against Erwin a moment, just a little anchor, before shifting enough to regard him with a mild expression.
If Erwin could have one birthday wish granted by the crystal, it would be that everyone who'd been around that campfire could be here with them. Everyone at the fire, and everyone else they'd lost before. Even if it were only for a day, or a few hours... they all deserve a chance to be somewhere like Somnius, somewhere they can simply be and find their happiness without titans or politics or the other horrors of their world.
"What, really?" Erwin lifts his eyebrows, then pushes his lower lip out in a pout. "But it's my birthday, Levi."
Heart of stone, his husband has, heart of stone!
Erwin can't keep the pout up for longer than a moment or two, though; it dissolves into a smile, and he spreads his hand broad across Levi's back, running it from his shoulders to his hips in a long, smooth stroke. "Maybe next year."
And then he shifts, getting up onto one elbow. "If we don't get up now, we're going to end up staying here all day."
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13thcommander) wrote2027-11-09 11:35 am
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The touch is so soothing, Levi almost feels himself being lulled to sleep again. There's a matching pause, and perhaps for a moment Erwin might think he is asleep, until he answers quietly.
"...yeah."
It did feel like a lifetime ago. Expeditions always meant tragedy and loss, but there was always an undeniable heartening in moments like that one. The camaraderie of gathering around the fire with the others, something so simple and fleeting and yet so inescapably human. They'd still faced death, in those days, but it had felt so different, then. Naive, looking back on it now, to somehow not realize there could be even worse terrors coming for them, and things even more unimaginable on the horizon.
It's those pockets of happiness that had been so vital to keep going. To keep believing that better things were possible.
Levi presses his fingers against Erwin a moment, just a little anchor, before shifting enough to regard him with a mild expression.
"Not gonna sing for you, though," he says dryly.
no subject
"What, really?" Erwin lifts his eyebrows, then pushes his lower lip out in a pout. "But it's my birthday, Levi."
Heart of stone, his husband has, heart of stone!
Erwin can't keep the pout up for longer than a moment or two, though; it dissolves into a smile, and he spreads his hand broad across Levi's back, running it from his shoulders to his hips in a long, smooth stroke. "Maybe next year."
And then he shifts, getting up onto one elbow. "If we don't get up now, we're going to end up staying here all day."