13thcommander | Labrynthum Inbox

Yes, assume the position, sir.

Shop is closed. It's been closed more often than he would've liked so soon after opening, but shit has happened and he can't be there the whole time every day, after Finnick's departure, and Jean has enough on his plate. Erwin's birthday is a good enough excuse for taking a temporary holiday.

Levi perks up a little at the mention of an apple orchard - it's more of a vibe than actually moving, because he is currently in his favorite spot in the whole fucking universe, and very disinclined to be budged. His fingers splay wide over Erwin's chest, move lazily up to brush his collar bone.

"Might be one," he agrees. "Could ask in town, and take the horses out. Suppose a day of spoiling them won't make them too rotten. Sounds good to me."

Position assumed.

Erwin isn't too worried about the tea shop and repeat business. They'll get back into it more full time as the year comes in an end, he's sure, but for now, their customers will understand needing a day off. They'll also be rewarded for their patience with some homemade cider, if they can find a good orchard. And maybe something with pumpkins? Has anyone ever tried making a hot drink with pumpkin in it? Something to consider...

Erwin is also disinclined to move much; he brings his hand up and starts combing his fingers through Levi's hair. Is he going to muss up the part in it? Most likely, but mussing each other's hair just seems to kind of happen between them. It's not his fault Levi looks exceptionally handsome with his hair brushed back from his face.

"I wonder if we could find a wagon for one of them to pull, or some saddlebags." That's right, husband: he's going to use his birthday to put you to work picking apples. Erwin drops another kiss to Levi's forehead. "And then I can make some apple cake when we get home."

It's impossible to worry about his part when Erwin's fingers feel so good against his scalp. It's unbelievably soothing, and he feels chronically tense muscles begin to unlock and relax even more, further melting into that warmth and listening to the strong, sure beats of his heart. This is what peace is, he thinks. Nowhere else can he have this, wrapped in love and security. Sure, he is strong enough to protect himself and others, but even he needs rest, a place to feel safe. Erwin has given him that, and so much else.

Levi goes quiet a little at the mention of a wagon. There's definitely at least one at Eren's farm that they use to do their food deliveries. Ordinarily he'd suggest borrowing it in exchange for some of the produce they'll gather...but that's not an option, right now. Eren isn't an option. Not for a while. Perhaps never again.

Erwin's kiss draws him away from the precipice of melancholy, and Levi rides the soft fluttering of his heart back upward, inhaling softly and setting those thoughts away as he slides his palm up to just curl loosely around the slope of Erwin's neck and nestles in with a soft inhale.

"Hm. Bet we could get a local to let us borrow something. Shouldn't be hard." Bickering with goblins was sometimes entertaining. Levi bumps his nose against Erwin's chin in a light admonishment. "Oi. It's your birthday. Supposed to be spoiling you, not the other way 'round."

Not that he's really arguing against apple cake...

Edited (weird dw formatting) 2024-10-16 16:48 (UTC)

Erwin notices Levi's quiet moment, but doesn't comment on it. He's aware of what's going on with Eren, but isn't involving himself in it. It's been made very clear that his input is unnecessary and unwanted, and so he's washed his hands of the kid. He'll talk about it with Levi, if Levi wants to vent about the situation, but Erwin won't bring it up on his own.

Besides, today is supposed to be a happy day. There's no point in ruminating on the terrible choices other people make.

"If we asked really nicely, Crowley might even let us borrow Bentley." He would not, and Erwin knows it. Neither of them know how to drive a car, anyway.

"We could ask the vegetable stand goblins. They like tea with a lot of sugar in it; I bet if we brought them a flask or two, they'd let us take their cart for the day."

He chuckles at Levi's tone, and ducks his head down to steal a real kiss. "Oh, don't worry. I'm going to put you to work doing all the washing and peeling. I'll save all the fun parts for myself."

Not at all, which is why he's more than happy to let it go. Nothing to be done about it now.

Today is about Erwin.

He grumbles a little at the suggestion - something about Goblins having no fucking taste, probably, but otherwise acquiesces. It's not a bad idea, even if he has to desecrate a batch of tea as a small price to pay. It'll be worth it.

"Good," he murmurs, and wiggles upward a little to take another kiss for himself, because there can't ever just be one. A little voice suggests that maybe they could just spend all day here like this, instead, but the idea doesn't quite appeal as much as the rest. Especially since he'll find himself right back here at the end of the day.

But he's also not in a rush, peering at Erwin lazily from a little too close, lips hovering over lips like he might just keep kissing him.

"What d'you want for breakfast?"

"I think they like coffee too." Erwin has no qualms about absolutely bombing a flask of coffee with sugar and serving it up! That's practically how he drinks it himself! "Or we could use one of those blends you don't like as much. No sense in wasting the good stuff on them."

Erwin beams up at Levi, letting his arm shift from around Levi's shoulders to down around the curve of his waist, his hand pressing flat against the small of Levi's back. If they're going to stay in bed and cuddle like this, Erwin needs a few moments to get his other arm on! He can cuddle much better with both hands!

"Eggs. And bacon." Something delicious and heart-clogging, please. He stretches up to close that distance between them, nabbing himself another kiss. "Let's get some bath bombs while we're out, too. For later."

Something that makes a lot of bubbles, smells good, and dyes the water all kinds of colors. Erwin has discovered them recently and is all in on the idea.

"Not a bad idea..." His eyes drift softly closed as that touch travels down his body, settles warmly low on his back. Levi lets more of his weight sink onto Erwin, hips pressed low on his abdomen, propped up on his forearms. They could stay here a while longer, he thinks.

He hums softly into the kiss, both pleased to give one more and in approval of Erwin's requests. Hands curl into blonde hair, tugging his head back gently to angle the next kiss a little deeper, even slipping tongue past his lips. It's slow and lazy and thorough. When it breaks, Levi drops a soft kiss on the tip of Erwin's sculptural nose.

"Whatever you want," he murmurs softly. "Husband."

As Levi settles in, Erwin feels himself sink deeper into the mattress, and maybe breakfast can wait. Especially after a kiss like that, which leaves Erwin slightly breathless and more than a little willing to forgo previous plans.

"What I'd like," he decides, once he's got his breath back, "if we're going to stay here awhile longer, is to go put my arm on, so I can hold you with both arms."

He doesn't sleep with his prosthetic. It's a toss-up: Levi will lose the full access to his chest from the arm's straps, but he'll get held in two arms instead of one. Choices, choices.

It's quite the toss-up. As much as he does like being wrapped up in Erwin's arms, there's quite a lot to be said for pressing his face into that pillowy chest of his, unencumbered. This is quite nice as they are, and so far Levi has no complaints. He lingers a little, shifting to splay one hand over his skin, tracing against calluses and his collar bone, just touching, moving in wider circles out to brush over his right shoulder. Erwin hasn't always liked attention to his scars, so he just skims it without traveling down to the truncated arm, but still leans in and leaves another kiss to his shoulder anyway.

But Erwin has asked to hold him with both arms, and really, Levi can't argue with that.
So he just hums, says "all right" before stealing one more brief kiss, and shifts to stretch for the prosthetic set off to the side of the bed.

He's trying to do it without actually moving from his spot on Erwin's chest, even though he'll have to do it in a minute anyway. Grabbing it on a full body stretch, he sits up, straddling Erwin's hips now, to give him a little room to sit up.

Erwin doesn't particularly enjoy anyone paying attention to his stump, or acknowledging its presence. He doesn't mind Levi touching his gear scars, though, or the new callouses the prosthetic has left on his chest. Those scars, weirdly enough, feel earned, while the scars on his stump feel given. It's a strange distinction, but one that is very much there in his mind.

The muscle on his right shoulder used to bother Erwin too, when it had atrophied and gotten smaller than the muscle on his left arm. It's gotten stronger now, from moving the prosthetic, leaving him more or less symmetrical again, so he stays loose and relaxed while Levi touches it.

When Levi sits up, Erwin does too, taking his arm with a soft, murmured thanks. He's well practiced in getting it on now, holding the arm itself by pressing it against his body with his stump as he adjusts the straps, then holding the main strap in his teeth as he lifts the arm and slots it into place. He can do it himself, but he won't protest if Levi offers some help with the straps.

Once it's on and secure, Erwin flexes the hand a few times and moves the elbow up and down, making sure it's satisfactory, before putting both arms around Levi and lowering them back down to the bed.

"There. Much better."

Levi would have a thing or two to say about surviving a Titan chewing off his arm not being earned, but by the same token, he would understand; effort versus circumstance, maybe. It still means that he survived. And managed to be the one to actually rescue Eren and make that mission a success. It'd been no small accomplishment.

(Nevermind that it took Levi himself some time to not think about how the outcome might have been different if he'd been there if not for his own injury, but that's water far under the bridge at this point, one he's long past dwelling on. Mostly.)

He does help with the straps, more than practiced at it now. There's intimacy in this, too, and he's been quietly glad to see Erwin thriving with the arm, now long used to its touch. Even so, he settles nearer to Erwin's left side, to feel his warmth better.

"Mm," he intones mildly, curling up against his chest again, resting his chin on his hands and just gazing up at Erwin lazily. "Not bad."

It's true, Erwin was particularly badass that day. He still isn't sure how he escaped and managed to use the gear one-handed; most of the day is a blur. There is definitely a point to be made about him acting more careless and foolhardy than usual, and how he'd gotten too used to having Levi watch his back. The titan that got his arm would have never gotten that close if Levi had been there; of that, Erwin is certain. Not that he blames Levi for what happened; it was completely his own fault, his own carelessness, that lost him his arm.

(From another perspective, if he hadn't had his arm out and held away from his body, rather than pointing forward, the titan wouldn't have had anything bite down on except his torso, a much less survivable injury. Maybe losing his arm alone was the best possible outcome.)

Erwin sighs as they settle back in, adjusting himself so Levi has as much warm skin as possible to lounge on. "I'm glad you approve." With his arm on, he's now able to curl it around Levi's back while simultaneously playing with his hair with the other hand. Glorious!

Erwin closes his eyes for a few moments, just revelling in the sensations of touch and closeness. "I have to tell you... this is already a top five birthday."

Erwin had left him with Hange to handle Pastor Nick and other situations that didn't require him to be risking his already injured ankle. It'd been the right choice, even if he had quietly grated at staying behind. Watching them all go hadn't been easy, and hearing that the Commander had had his arm bitten off had chilled him to the core. Levi didn't leave his side often for those first several days.

They're here now. Just as Erwin settles in and closes his eyes, Levi does the same, lulled by that touch, like a cat basking in the sun. Despite all the plans they've just made, he's in no hurry to move anywhere. Erwin's heartbeat is strong.

Levi yawns, drapes his arm across Erwin's torso to rest lightly against his hip. "What are the other four?"

Erwin had been lucky to have Levi there with him, in those early days after his injury. He'd been consumed by fever, sometimes actively hallucinating, and in so much pain that even the hardest drugs available had barely been able to touch it. Levi had been something he'd focused on, a touchstone, something that was real and constantly present for Erwin to circle back towards. Erwin knows it can't have been easy, caring for him during time, and he's eternally grateful that Levi had stayed so close. There are very few people Erwin would trust to see him in that state, and he also knows Levi kept away those who would use his weakness against him.

Now, in the lazy autumn sunshine, Erwin chuckles softly. "Putting me on the spot, aren't you?"

He thinks it over for a few moments, lightly tracing nonsense designs across Levi's back. "My eighth birthday was good. My father got me my first book of poetry, and my mother made apple cake."

Another pause. "The last one, when we were still in our own world. Do you remember?"

They'd been out on a mission, out beyond the Walls. It had been before the 104th graduated, before they'd even heard of titan shifters, in a time that feels impossibly simple now. It had gotten dark, and they'd bedded down for the night, setting up patrols to keep watch. They'd gotten lucky; there hadn't been any abnormals around, and they'd managed to clear the immediate area of titans when there was still daylight.

They'd made a bonfire, and all the veterans--so many of them lost, now--had gathered around it. There hadn't been cake, or alcohol, or anything like that. But they'd all been together, and Mike, of all people, had gotten everyone to sing happy birthday.

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.

"Not gonna sing for you, though," he says dryly.

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."

Labrynthum Inbox

no subject

no subject

take ME on this date, Erwin

I know, right?

no subject

lots of exclamation points in this tag, Erwin is excite

so cute sir

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject