13thcommander | Labrynthum Inbox

Erwin will be gone, but Levi will never really move on from him. There will never be a day in his life that goes by where he doesn't think of him, where he doesn't wish he were at his side more than anything. Erwin will never not be at the forefront of his mind and heart, even if he does manage to find someone new to love. It will never diminish the bond that they had. If their world had been any less cruel, they should have been able to live out their lives together.

But this is what they get now, and he'll always treasure each and every second.

Levi adjusts into one of their usual positions when Erwin recites poetry to him, buried close, tucked into his arms, one hand resting lightly over Erwin's chest near his heart. There's truly no better feeling than this.

He makes a little noise like a snort, but perhaps surprisingly, doesn't dismiss the idea outright.

"Maybe I will. Not like that, though; he might think we're a couple of weird perverts." He brushes his lips lightly against Erwin's jaw, noses at his cheek. "You ain't that old."

Now this is interesting! Erwin tilts his head a little, looking down at Levi with a cocked eyebrow.

"But Levi..." he bends down, deliberately touching one of Levi's eyebrows with the tip of his nose, "I am a weird old pervert."

And then Erwin breaks out in giggles, sounding remarkably like a teenaged boy. That was an excellent joke, and he nailed it.

At first Levi frowns at him, nose scrunching a bit, because he definitely doesn't get the joke.

But Erwin's laughing - giggling ridiculously and giddy, and he decides that whatever the reason for it doesn't matter, because it's one of the most precious sounds he's ever hears.

At once, practically all of his anxiety lifts away, because he can't think about anything else being more important than this. Levi huffs in fond, loving exasperation, and wraps his arms around Erwin's neck to drag him closer, as though he could absorb that laughter directly into his skin, keep it in the marrow of his bones. He hides a smile against Erwin's throat as he grumbles out:

"Well, you are a fucking weirdo, that's for sure."

It was a bad joke. Erwin can do a lot of things well, but tell coherent, actually funny jokes tends not to be among them.

Oh, well. At least he's amused himself, and he knows the subtle tells in Levi's voice enough to recognise that he's hiding a smile against Erwin's neck. When Levi scoots closer, Erwin winnows his arm under his legs and pulls him up against his chest, cradling him like he's holding an oversized cat.

"Hmmm, that's true. Better make sure your new boyfriend doesn't mind weirdos hanging around."

Levi wouldn't have him any other way.

If he really was a cat, he'd be purring, loudly, right into Erwin's ear. Instead, he's sighing, utterly content, snuggled as close as he can be as he (like a cat) leans all of his weight onto Erwin's chest.

"Well," he mumbles into the little nook he's made for himself. "Haven't scared him away yet...so he's gotta be into that at least a little, or something."

If Burnt Rice weren't already preoccupied shedding fur all over their pillowcases, she'd come in, see this scene, and go wild with jealousy. All this cuddling, and no cat! Jail! Jail for fathers, one thousand years!

Or maybe she'd just saunter over and join them, appreciating a quality cuddle pile like any self-respecting cat would.

"Well, he knows a lot about strange sea animals and doesn't mind teaching us about them. Perhaps there's a bit of weirdo hidden in him, too." Erwin uses one hand to smooth Levi's hair away from his face. "You should invite him over for dinner again."

Levi's definitely figured out to drape a sheet over their bed for the day to keep cat hair off where they actually sleep. He also thoroughly brushes the beast every day so that she sheds as little of that fur elsewhere as possible. There's designated coverings for her favorite spots to lay that can also be easily cleaned that takes effort for him not to wash every single day. He's got a system down now.

"Mm," he sighs softly, blissfully content at being pet. "Cracking open shells to eat the weird slimy things inside, wonder who first thought'a that."

Levi brushes a soft kiss to the corner of Erwin's mouth, almost askance. "All right, I will. We should make him something, this time."

'We' of course primarily meaning Erwin, but Levi has taken to cooking a thing or two now and then, lately.

Levi's little system for the cat only serves to convince Erwin that he actually likes her, and doesn't mind having her around. If nothing else, the mimic has been cowed into staying in the hermit crab enclosure, so there haven't been any random bites lately.

"Someone very hungry, I imagine." Maybe they saw something else eating the oysters first? Erwin isn't sure how anyone would realise they were food without that kind of cue.

He chuckles and returns Levi's kiss. "All right. He showed up oysters and mussels, we should think of something unique from our world. How do you think he'd feel about my mother's apple cake?"

Erwin can think that, except the truth is closer to that he's coping with living with a creature that Erwin wanted and seems to make him happy, and Levi loves Erwin, so his feelings on the cat in this regard are irrelevant - except that he bitches, loudly, whenever he finds puke or hairballs on the floor in the morning.

In some regards, he'd rather have the mimic. At least it didn't leave fur everywhere.

Anyway, at the mention of apple cake, Levi visibly perks up. He's not much of one for sweets, but he seems to make exceptions for things involving apples.

"Doesn't matter. If he hates it, more for us." More for him, really. "That's not dinner, though."

Correction: the mimic doesn't leave fur everywhere yet. Just wait until it's no longer afraid of Burnt Rice and starts turning into another cat.

"No, we can't just feed him apple cake." Erwin is well aware of Levi's feelings on apple cake, and isn't the slightest bit worried about there being leftovers, even if Finnick hates it.

"The weather is starting to get colder. How about a nice stew?"

He's going to get a lock for that mimic's cage. Maybe make it live with Hange's hermit crabs.

"Hm," he muses, nestling in more. They've done this so many times by now, it's like they fit perfectly together like pieces of a puzzle. This limb this way, this limb that way, head here. "So long as we don't hit another hot spell, that should be fine."

And really, he could eat stew any time.

"I'll ask him."

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