Work Text:
“So I can’t take a shit when I get home from work now?”
“That’s isn’t what I -”
“This is fucking bullshit, Erwin!”
The only response Erwin managed to utter was a low, frustrated sigh. The words he'd so carefully planned had been caught in his throat and forgotten by now, replaced by a bubbling irritation he was fighting hard to hold back.
Though his relationship with Levi had been a solid one for the two years they'd been dating, Erwin knew that an argument about their schedules was inevitable. His own was fairly straight-forward. Sure, working as a middle school teacher did result in the occasional late night marking session or parent-teacher conference, but more often than not, it was a case of getting up, going to work, and being home by five, and so Erwin's routine was fairly predictable. His boyfriend's schedule was another story.
Levi had just graduated nursing school, and clearly, Erwin had failed to realise just how hectic his job would be. His boyfriend was working thirteen-hour shifts on a regular basis, and to top it all off, they tended to be night shifts.
As his boyfriend eased into his new work schedule, Erwin tended to see him less and less, and as a result he'd always worried that that would be a real thorn in the side in their relationship. After all, how were they meant to build their new life together if they couldn't even see each other?
But as Erwin worried about the two of them drifting apart, the problem that did arise eventually proved to be... quite a different one.
Whenever Levi did work night shifts, he'd come home absolutely exhausted, and wanted nothing more but to slip beneath the covers to catch up on sleep. Only... he apparantly couldn't seem to get himself to do so unless the house was absolutely spotless. And so, it became part of the routine that at around 4 or 5 AM, Erwin would shudder awake, pulled away from the sleep he so desperately needed because of the sound of a vacuum, or the dishes being cleaned.
Naturally, Erwin wasn't going to get up and yell at his boyfriend for doing the chores he had neglected himself. In fact, he'd felt a bit bad - cleanliness was a huge deal for Levi, and he should have realised that coming home to a messy house would just add to the little ball of stress that seemed to swish around in the man's brain, always.
So, Erwin adapted. Doing the dishes, dusting, vacuum - it all became part of his nightly routine whenever Levi worked late.
That seemed to do the trick, for a while. But Erwin's relief quickly faltered when he woke up again one night to the sound of Levi shaving, and the next night he'd woken up to the sound of him singing in the shower. As lovely as that was, and as much as Erwin genuinely would have loved to tune in to Levi singing Sound of Silence at any other time, it had been 4:30 AM then, and he had work in the morning.
So, Erwin had decided to address the issue before it could snowball, and as a result now found himself nothing short of screamed at by his tiny boyfriend, who looked like he was quite literally about to burst with anger.
“So what do you want me to do!? Come home, get the fucking… fucking hospital germs all over our bed, sleep in my own filth-"
“Levi,” Erwin countered, finally finding the voice it took to speak up over Levi’s far-too-loud yapping. He sounded sterner than he would have liked to, mostly because he hadn’t wanted to use any sort of sternness at all - he’d so desperately wanted to resolve this as adults, calmly, and had gone over what he wanted to say several times in order to achieve that. But he just sounded fed up now, patience wearing thin. “I’m not saying you can’t take care of yourself when you get home. I’m just asking you to do so a bit more quietly, as I’ve got work in the morning.”
“But I fucking am!” Levi yelled now, dropping his work-bag to the floor so he could sling his arms out in protest. It hit the floor with a loud thud. “I come in, take my fucking shoes off, have a shower and go to bed. It’s not like I’m clanking pots together?”
Erwin buried his face in his hands. He knew his boyfriend, and he knew that this battle was lost for now - Levi was too absorbed in how own irritation to budge, no matter what Erwin said. Besides, his patience was beginning to wear threateningly thin, and the last thing he wanted was to yell back. “Fine,” he said instead, lifting his hands in defeat. Levi stared at him blankly for a second, and silence hung heavy between them. “... Fine,” he added too. When Erwin said nothing, Levi scoffed, reaching for his bag once more so he could sling it over his shoulder. “Fuck this. I’m going to work.”
Just like that, the door slammed shut and Erwin was left to his own devices. So much for talking it out.
The rest of the day went by slowly, and the pit in the blonde's stomach grew with each minute, each hour that passed. He hated arguing with Levi, not because of the attitude (he got enough of that anyway), but because of how serious it instantly made everything. This wasn't like them - they understood each other, evened each other out and they worked well - why had he let it get to this point? Why had Levi? Why couldn't he just have heard him out?
Though, to be fair - he had approached him right before he was going to work, which might have been a bad idea on his part, but still. Had he overreacted? Levi was right, after all - thirteen hours in constant activity was no joke, and he really couldn't blame his boyfriend for just wanting to get on with what he wanted to do as soon as it was over. It was just that Erwin so desperately needed sleep, too, and he'd just wanted Levi to be... well, a bit more quiet.
Erwin spent the rest of the night wondering whether or not to give Levi a call. Usually, he'd send him a message or two before he was headed to bed, but what if Levi was mad still? If so, getting interrupted while he was at work probably wouldn't do anything to aid the situation exactly, and so, Erwin simply finished looking over his students' homework, before brushing his teeth and heading to bed. It took him a while to fall asleep, but he didn't stay as such for long - as a mere few hours later, he awoke to the sound of the front door opening.
It was light out already, he saw - the morning sun casting a gentle, yet generously comfortable warmth over Erwin's skin. His vision blurred as he opened his eyes, still foggy with sleep as he reached over to check the time through low-lidded eyes. 5:03 AM. Sighing, he let his body sink back into the warmth of the pillows, the blankets. Levi came in then, carefully, eyes going wide as he spotted Erwin in bed.
"... Shit. Did I wake you again?"
Erwin blinked mindlessly a few times, needing a moment to process the question, because no, he realised; Levi hadn't. Or, he had, but not in the way he tended to, he'd only woken at the sound of the door for some reason, and so he shook his head as he sat back up in bed. Levi lingered in the doorframe for a few seconds before he nodded, gaze sheepish and fingers fumbling with the door knob. "I... I feel really shit about how we left things yesterday," he mumbled eventually, eyes still not meeting Erwin's.
At that, Erwin nodded. Levi had felt the same as he had, he realised, and had probably felt even worse when Erwin hadn't texted him goodnight, despite that being in fear of the very same shit. "...I... I do too, Levi. I didn't mean to make you feel attacked, or-"
"No, shit, cut that out," Levi began then, dropping his bag so he could make his way over, sitting down at Erwin's bedside. "I overreacted, okay? I... shouldn't have fucking freaked out like that, I just... I was already late, and I didn't know you hadn't been sleeping, and I'm just sorry, okay? I'm sor-"
Levi didn't get to finish that thought. Erwin had already pulled him down for a kiss, deep and searing and washing away any sort of badness that had been left between them. He was so fucking relieved, he thought, because though it had taken Levi a few hours of contemplation, he undersood, and that was all he'd wanted from him, after all. The darkhaired man hummed against the blonde's lips then, rubbing the back of Erwin's neck as they kissed. "Oi," he chuckled then, slender fingers moving through the blonde hair on Erwin's head and down to his chin to feel the stubble that had grown in there. "I was apologising."
Erwin only shook his head. "Sorry," he smiled, bringing his own hands up to cup Levi's face. "Thank you."
Levi scoffed at that, though the fondness in his eyes couldn't be hid. They kissed for a short while more before he disappeared through the bathroom door, but swiftly returned, freshly showered and dressed in one of Erwin's tshirts. He slipped beneath the covers then and Erwin pulled him in quickly, relishing in the comfort of the relief he felt, and the feeling of Levi's skin against his own.
Erwin fell back asleep then, in the comfort of Levi's arms, to the chirper of the birds outside.