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The light bled throughout the room, spilling into each wooden crevice of the bedroom’s walls. Birds sang a beautiful morning aria, signalling that the day had begun for the residents of the hills. What was a land that held turmoil and travesty had been transformed into a forest as common and peaceful as the other in a matter of years. Situated beyond the entrance of the walls, into the trees that shaded the majority of the lands, was a cottage lined of wood and protected with stone and cement. This house was not the house of commoners, but soldiers, soldiers who did their time, who deserved the tranquility to live their many years in.
Captain Levi’s lids crinkled further shut as the sun’s glimmer stung, rising to turn and slump over the source of heat beside him. Smaller and slimmer hands gripped at the sheets. No skin. He raised and tucked them underneath, humming when he found the warmth he was looking for. Warmth. Safety.
His lungs could rise and fall easily now.
Commander Erwin felt the hands clamber at his back, eliciting a raspy chuckle. The much taller man followed suit in turning, shifting around and meeting the much annoyed expression of his significant other. Eyes that contained a blue as intricate as the ocean they lived by could see that Levi’s were threatening to open. Five more minutes, his expression seemed to say. Five more minutes to rest.
“We can sleep in today, if you’d like.” Erwin started, only to be cut off at the end with a grunt of disapproval.
“ ‘ere’s too much to do.” Levi gruffed, retracting his affectionate arms and suddenly using them as leverage to push his body up. Fingers shoved at his tousled black hair, pushing back an annoying fringe. His hand missed an index and middle finger. His face was decorated with a scar that went across his face. His eye, no longer in use.
Soldiers that did their time deserved their chance to rest.
The kettle on the stove whistled, a scream that only indicated the water was ready. Hot water steamed from the mouth of a teapot as Levi scrubbed away at two plates, finishing his after-breakfast chores. Instead of buckles and straps, his body was dressed in loose-fitting clothes. A mid-sleeve grey shirt with wide-legged white pants, and for outdoor chores, brown leather sandals.
He didn’t need the extra time to get dressed.
“Ah, Levi?”
“Coming.”
He couldn’t waste any time he had to rest.
Erwin watched from half-lidded eyes as Levi buttoned up his dress shirt. On his right side, his white sleeve was rolled up and pinned to keep it out of dirt or water. On his left side, his cuff was buttoned. Right in the middle, Erwin smiled as Levi finished.
Their eyes met, and Erwin’s gaze warmed.
“I wish I could hold you again.” he mumbled.
Levi’s brows knitted together. His left hand raised to flick the madman in the forehead. “Don’t say bullshit like that. Have you forgotten about today? Get the bed made before we’re late.”
“Late for what, possibly?” Erwin retorted with a look of disbelief, rubbing the skin between his thick brows. The smile on his face never left his face. “There’s nothing to attend.”
“Nothing to attend, but things to do.”
Drills turned into morning routines. Training was no longer filled with running laps and hand-to-hand combat, but instead gardening and walking. The soldiers that once devoted their hearts to humanity now had the space to dedicate themselves to their own lives. Each other.
Humanity thanked them, and now they could rest.
Erwin’s responsibility was holding the woven wooden basket. Levi was in charge of pulling the carrots out, and handing them off. He wore gloves that covered his forearms, and laid down a mat for his knees. The dirty work was worth a meal made of their own produce.
Erwin focused well for the first few batches, but his attention was bound to drift off. Eyes moved across that of their open-field backyard, tracing the horizon of the early afternoon, then the trees.
Levi, with a handful of potatoes, pivoted his head up to look up to his partner. His lips pursed. “What are you looking at?”
Erwin pointed at the peach tree, eyes wide and distant. “Look. We have our first fruit.”
Levi wiped his gloves against each other to rid them of the dirt, and stood with some difficulty. His knees were weary. He wasn’t meant for action. He was meant for rest.
“Do you want to try it?” he offered, breathlessly so.
Erwin’s grin turned giddy. “Absolutely.”
Levi picked the white peach from their newest tree. Erwin kept it safe in his shirt pocket.
That evening, as the sun set, the two men enjoyed a home-cooked dinner before their special dessert. The peach was split in half, but just as Levi was to break the pit, Erwin stopped him. “We can save it. Germinate it, and plant another,” was his protest. With an eye-roll, the pit was stored in a wet cloth and placed in the very corner of the icebox.
Then, the peach was eaten, shared with a cup of green tea.
The kiss they shared on the bed was slow, sensual. The rush of their lives before was long gone, and it was clear that both of them wanted to take it slower. A stifled whine came from Levi’s mouth when Erwin’s tongue swiped against his teeth. The blonde above him broke the kiss, pulled back with a hot exhale. Levi panted, his bare chest flushed pink and decorated with scars.
“I need you.” he breathed, as if it was his last.
“I know.” Erwin responded, planting another peck on his thin lips. “I need you just as much.” And with that, his upper half dove down to pepper Levi’s neck in soft kisses. His left arm kept his weight off of the slimmer body beneath him, releasing him from the nagging urge to take care of his marred form. Their bodies weren’t young, but they weren’t willing to stop dedicating their hearts.
Levi’s first reedy moan sounded when he felt a hickey being formed on his collarbone, pale hands snaking up to squeeze Erwin’s shoulders. “There.”
Erwin hummed in approval. His blonde hair was falling from its side part, tickling his lover’s skin.
Their kiss turned more passionate as the oil lamp started to dim. Levi sat up to discard his pants, and then help Erwin undress. Erwin protested, insisting he could do it on his own. He may have lost an arm, but he still had his dignity. He stood and discarded the rest of his garments, thighs wrapped in still-strong muscle, stomach rippled with abdominals that never disappeared, no matter how often they visited the bakery.
The Captain was still his subordinate. His right hand. He needed to take care of him, just as much as he received it.
Erwin cradled Levi’s back as they laid back down, chest-to-chest. A smaller leg was hitched around his hip, clenching and writhing as his entrance was then carefully prepared. His voice was the most beautiful thing when it was free to sound as it pleased, almost as marvelous as the songs the birds sang in the morning. Erwin closed his eyes and drew circles around Levi’s nipple, hiding his smile.
Words turned to babbles as Erwin began to push in, Levi’s back arching high off of the mattress. His brows tilted upwards at the stretch, one that he recognized but could never accustom his body to. “Erwin-!!” he inhaled, unable to let his breath go. It felt too good, nothing he could describe coherently. As his hair tangled itself into their silk pillowcases, his nails dug into Erwin’s back. They fucked like their relationship was new again. They made love like married newlyweds. On their interlocked ring fingers, akin to one another, there was the shine of silver bands.
Their bed creaked into the wooden walls, thumping into a slow tempo, then an allegro, and without warning, it all reached a bright, wonderful finish. Erwin’s breath caught in his throat, groaning Levi’s name through gritted teeth as he was brought to orgasm.
Levi’s moans huffed out in punched breaths, just as Erwin’s mouth gaped silently. He came inside, just as he always did, and pulled out when they both came back down.
Now would be the time they would clean up, but just as Erwin suffocated the oil lamp’s flame, he could hear Levi’s steady breathing.
The corporal’s eyebrows were relaxed, and his position was vulnerable as he slept. His body, his mind, his spirit; it was all safe. He knew that if Erwin was close by, he could sleep at ease.
Erwin’s smile was tired, and he settled right beside Levi’s form. His left hand wrapped around his stomach, pulling him in at the waist and spooning his frame that had become so fragile after years of dedicated potential. They were warriors in their prime, but now, they could rest.