Work Text:
When your boyfriend’s birthday falls on Christmas, things get a little complicated.
Ever since they started dating, Erwin’s been prevented from celebrating Levi’s birthday by various family obligations. His mother usually insisted that Erwin spend Christmas morning with her, and Christmas Day had to be filled with visits to extended family. Even Christmas Eve was usually spent accompanying Levi to a mandatory dinner with his uncle, a rough man who was probably a criminal of some sort.
So he and Levi would have to settle for a birthday dinner on the 26th. But after two days of busy Christmas celebrations and big Christmas meals, Levi was in the mood for anything but an elaborate dinner. These birthday “dinners” generally devolved into cuddling and watching movies instead. Not at all unpleasant, but not what Erwin wanted for the birthday of the most special man in his life.
This year, though, would be different. Erwin had moved into an apartment with Levi earlier in the year, so he had an excuse to spend Christmas morning with him instead of with his mother. And nothing was going to stop Erwin from having the most perfect Christmas morning possible with his boyfriend.
*****
Five days before Christmas, Erwin comes home from a shopping trip to find Levi fast asleep on the couch, the news speaking softly from the TV. He sets his bag down on the coffee table and can’t resist planting a kiss on the top of his boyfriend’s head.
“Huh?” Levi blearily rubs his eyes and peers up at Erwin with sleepy and unbearably cute confusion. “When did you get home?”
“Just now” Erwin smiles at Levi and gives him another head kiss before straightening up to take his coat off.
“What’s in the bag?”
“Just some necessities.” Levi stands to investigate the bag, which Erwin absolutely can’t have. He intercepts Levi, placing a hand on his waist and gently turning him so they’re face-to-face. Then he leans down for a kiss, and Levi is effectively distracted.
“What’s made you so affectionate?” Levi asks when they part.
“The holidays do that to me,” Erwin replies with a smile. “Remind me of what’s important and all.”
“You sound like a fucking Hallmark commercial.” But underneath the jab, Levi’s face bears the trace of a smile.
“Hm well, maybe Hallmark’s on to something.” He brushes his hand through Levi’s hair, watches the dark strands fall against pale skin.
Levi opens his mouth to say something else, but he’s cut off by a sudden rustling sound. Both of them look up in alarm to see signs of movement inside Erwin’s shopping bag. Suddenly, a brown feline face pops out from the bag wearing the most innocent expression imaginable.
“Eren,” Erwin scolds, as if that will do anything to control the cat. Eren appears not to hear him. He turns away from Erwin and leaps onto the floor, completely unconcerned for the bag that follows his momentum. It tumbles off the coffee table with a loud crash.
Erwin, however, is very concerned. He hurries to the bag and checks the contents, opening several boxes of ornaments to make sure that they’re unharmed. Thankfully, they had enough tinsel cushioning them that nothing appears to have been broken. Erwin quickly plunges his hand to the bottom of the bag to feel for another box, just to make sure it’s still there.
“What’s all that?” Levi asks.
“Last-minute gifts for my great-aunt,” Erwin says. “She loves collecting Christmas decorations.”
“Seems weird to give someone Christmas ornaments on Christmas.”
“You would think so, and yet she asks for some every year.”
Erwin puts the ornaments back in the bag and stands before Levi can ask anything further. “I’m going to put these away. Do you want to get dinner started?”
“Sure. As long as you don’t leave me with all the work.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Levi heads into the kitchen, and Erwin smiles as he watches Levi go. Even as he is now, wearing sweatpants and with his hair slightly tangled from his accidental nap, Levi is the most beautiful sight Erwin’s ever laid eyes on.
He takes one last glance into the bag he holds. This Christmas, he’s giving Levi a birthday to remember.
*****
Christmas Eve sees Erwin and Levi arriving home late and, even though Uncle Kenny hosted a relatively small dinner, exhausted. They hang up their coats in silence until Erwin eventually says, “That wasn’t too awful.”
“At least Farlan and Isabel came and lessened some of the weirdness,” Levi says, which is as positive as Levi generally gets. “I could have done without the story of how Kenny shot and skinned the deer we were eating, though.”
“Your uncle certainly loves . . .” Erwin trails off, unsure of how to finish the sentence.
“Killing things,” Levi finishes bluntly.
“Well, at least it’s over with.”
“Now we have your weird uncles to look forward to tomorrow,” Levi says.
“But that’s not until tomorrow,” Erwin replies. “Tonight, we celebrate your last night of being twenty-six.”
“Ugh, I’m getting old.”
“Not old enough stop being sexy.” Erwin takes Levi by the waist and pulls him in close, tangling the fingers of his other hand with Levi’s. “What do you say we make your last night of being twenty-six a night to remember?”
Erwin dips Levi a little, just enough to get a good kissing angle. Levi’s lips part as Erwin’s press up against them, sweet and supple. He lingers there just long enough to brush his tongue across Levi’s bottom lip before leaving a trail of kisses across Levi’s jaw and down his neck.
“Mm . . . I’m tired, Erwin.”
Erwin freezes, his face a millimeter away from Levi’s neck. That was not the response he was going for.
He straightens up and allows Levi to stand up with him, though he doesn’t let go of Levi’s waist. “Are you sure?” he asks. Then, in a continued effort to seduce him, “I can make it very restful. You won’t have to do a thing.”
“Ugh, not tonight.” Levi shakes his head. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing that kills the mood like a night with my uncle. Come on. Let’s just go to bed.”
He breaks out of Erwin’s hold and heads to the bedroom. Erwin, defeated, follows. He had been hoping to give Levi a great night as a part of his birthday celebration. But, well, if this is what Levi wants.
Erwin sighs. At least this means that he’ll have extra time to prepare for tomorrow’s perfect morning.
*****
Once in bed, Levi curls up against Erwin’s chest, head tucked under Erwin’s chin and legs intertwined with his. It surprises Erwin – Levi only does this when he feels especially affectionate – but Erwin wouldn’t dream of questioning it. He drapes his arm over Levi and holds him close, watching as his beloved drifts off to sleep.
Erwin loves seeing Levi quiet and peaceful, loves watching as the harsh lines of his face soften into the ease of sleep. It reveals a side of Levi few are allowed to see, and Erwin knows that being trusted enough to see it is a gift. He keeps his eyes wide open, watching while Levi’s breathing slows, occasionally unable to stop himself from brushing a kiss up against Levi’s forehead or eyelids. He watches until he’s sure that Levi’s asleep before carefully sliding out of bed.
He doesn’t get far. A small hand grabs at Erwin’s shirt, and Erwin hears Levi asking, “Where’re you goin’?” His words are slurred with sleep and only half audible.
“I have some wrapping to do that I forgot about. Go back to sleep. I’ll be done soon.”
“Wha? Fuck wrapping.” The hand on his shirt tugs.
“I’ll only be gone a moment.”
“Stay.” The hand tugs again. “It’s my birthday.”
Levi doesn’t care much about his birthday, but he knows that Erwin does. And he knows that, if he invokes his birthday, Erwin will go along with whatever Levi wants.
Erwin sighs. The fact that it’s Levi’s birthday is precisely why he can’t stay. But even as he thinks this, Erwin feels his resolve weakening. After all, Levi – harsh and unsentimental Levi, who never shows an ounce of vulnerability – is asking him to cuddle. And that is an event that needs to be treasured. How could he refuse when Levi is being so damn cute?
Erwin slides back into bed and settles himself under the covers. He feels Levi curl closer to him, a leg hooking over Erwin’s calf as if to prevent him from leaving again. And even though Erwin has something important to do, he feels himself giving over to the temptation of the warmth and comfort of Levi’s hold. Lips press against Erwin’s collarbone, and Erwin’s rendered powerless.
“As you wish, dearest,” Erwin murmurs.
Erwin’s last thought as he falls asleep is that he’ll simply wake up early to make his preparations.
*****
The sun is already high when Erwin wakes the next morning, bright light pouring in through the cracks in their curtains. It hits Erwin across the face, but he simply turns his head away from it, tilting it closer to the top of Levi’s head. His beautiful Levi, his loving boyfriend, who’s birthday is today . . .
Erwin’s eyes shoot open. Levi’s birthday’s today.
The clock by his bedside says 8:15. Not nearly early enough to do everything he needs to do. Erwin practically jumps out of bed.
“Wha?” Levi’s eyes crack open, disturbed by Erwin’s sudden movement.
“I’m just getting up to use the bathroom,” Erwin says, planting a kiss on Levi’s temple. “Go back to sleep, my dear.”
He manages to sneak out of the bedroom without any further disturbance from Levi. Once he’s sure the coast is clear, Erwin begins decorating faster than he has ever decorated before.
The goal is to turn their living room into a Christmas wonderland. Right now, they have nothing more than a small plastic Christmas tree, with only a handful of ornaments and some white lights on it. Erwin grabs his store bag out of its hiding place in the coat closet, takes out ropes of tinsel and lights, and sets to work.
It’s really miraculous what Erwin manages to accomplish in a short span of time. After a concentrated period of intense decorating, silver tinsel edges the entire living room while strings of lights crisscross the ceiling. Gold and silver ornaments accent the display, hanging from the strings of lights in more-or-less even intervals.
Erwin even strategized well enough the excess lights and the excess tinsel, of which there are several feet, fell in the same place. He finishes off by wrapping this excess together so that they make one glittering rope that falls to the floor.
By the time all this is done, it’s only 9:30. And, miracle of miracles, Levi – who usually gets up no later than nine – is still in bed.
Perfect.
Erwin turns his attention to the kitchen now. His plan had been to surprise Levi with breakfast in bed, but the late hour means he’ll have to settle for simply surprising Levi with breakfast. It’ll do.
Erwin heats up two frying pans side-by-side on the stove and lays ingredients out in a row on his kitchen counter –eggs, bacon, and a loaf of bread that will be turned into French toast. Humming softly to himself, he drops the bacon in one of the frying pans, watching the strips curl up on themselves and begin to sizzle.
A meow from his feet distracts him – Eren is usually fed by now. “I’m sorry, Eren,” Erwin says. “Just a moment.” He turns away to take a can of cat food out of the cabinet.
When Erwin looks back, Eren is nowhere to be found. Well, he’ll certainly come when he smells his food. Unconcerned, Erwin opens the can at the kitchen counter. Just as he’s about to get Eren’s bowl, however, he’s distracted by the loud sound of tape ripping off the ceiling. Erwin turns around and sees, to his horror, a restless cat playing with the string of tinsel and lights that falls to the floor.
Through the open doorway into the living room, Erwin watches the destruction unfold, a tragedy that he is utterly unable to stop.
The lights fall first. Once one section is torn away, it’s enough to weigh down the entire web. They come clattering to the floor below, covering the entire living room in a sparkling net and, in more-or-less even intervals, the shattered remains of gold and silver ornaments. The tinsel follows a little more slowly but no less destructively. One section falls at a time as each taped segment tries and fails to cling to the wall.
And then, as if to punctuate the entire thing, their small plastic tree keels forward with a loud crash.
“What the fuck is going on out here?”
Levi stands in the entrance to the living room, still in his pajamas, scowling in confusion at the mess before him. Before Erwin can answer – before he can come up with anything that would make it look less like the shit-show it is – another crash catches his attention, this time from within the kitchen.
Eren, apparently, was done with waiting for her breakfast. Erwin looks over just in time to see him leap onto the counter, knocking the full carton of eggs – all twelve of which were supposed to go toward Levi’s birthday breakfast – to the ground. The carton crashes open, scattering eggshells and splattering the whites across the kitchen floor.
Eren triumphantly sticks his face into the can of cat food and enjoys his breakfast.
“What was that?” Levi asks, unable to see into the kitchen. And then he adds, “Is something burning?”
Erwin sniffs the air. Yes. Yes, something is burning. The only salvageable part of Levi’s breakfast is burning. He darts across the kitchen – stepping in the mess of broken egg on his way – and hastily takes the frying pan off the burner. He had left the bacon cooking on one side for too long, and the bottoms of each strip are blackened and charred.
Levi picks his way across the tangled lights that litter the living room floor to stand in the kitchen doorway. He surveys the scene, his eyes landing disgustedly on mess of broken eggs.
“Happy birthday, Levi,” Erwin says weakly. “I’ll clean this up and make you some . . .” Erwin glances at the counter, where Eren continues to feast next to the loaf of bread. The loaf of bread that, without eggs, was never going to become French toast. “I’ll make you some toast,” he finishes lamely.
Levi stares at him, slightly incredulous, and then starts to laugh. It’s a soft, subtle laugh, an even chuckle that grows stronger with each second. Usually, Erwin treasures that rare laugh. Except when, as is the case now, that laughed is directed at him.
“What a fucking mess,” Levi says. “This is what you get for trying too hard.”
“I just wanted to give you a nice birthday celebration.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Levi says with a slight headshake. “I’ll clean up the eggs.”
“No, no, I’ll do it.” Erwin blocks Levi from come further into the kitchen. “It’s your birthday. I don’t want you to have to lift a finger.”
Levi rolls his eyes, but he concedes. “Fine, whatever. Just make sure you clean it really well.” He slides past Erwin (somehow managing to not step in the egg mess) and picks Eren up from where he’s been gorging himself on the counter. “I’ll be waiting in the living room.”
Erwin sets to work on the mess of shattered eggs, taking special care to clean up every last drop so that it meets Levi’s stringent standards. When he’s finished, he puts four slices of toast in the toaster. The sound of talking television voices comes from the living room, and he hears ornaments jangle as Levi tries to extricate the Christmas tree from the web of lights.
“What would you like on your toast, dear?” he calls.
“Just butter’s fine,” Levi replies. “I grabbed all the presents from where the tree fell on them.”
“You’re the best.”
“I keep almost tripping over these damn lights,” Levi says. “Should I get started opening the presents?”
“Wait until I’m there.” He needs to see Levi’s face as he opens each one.
“Oh wait, I missed this little one,” Erwin hears Levi say.
“What little one?” Erwin calls.
Levi’s reply is covered up by the sound of toast popping out of the toaster. So it takes Erwin a moment to think through all of the presents he bought Levi and realize that only one could be described as little. The one that he had kept hidden behind the tree. The one that he did not intend for Levi to find.
He runs to the kitchen doorway. Levi stands next to the tree, a small box covered with black velvet in his hands. As Erwin watches, his look of confusion turns into one of shocked realization.
No. No, this was not how it was supposed to go at all. Erwin rushes across the living room, hoping to somehow save the moment.
And, of course, trips on the Christmas lights.
His foot catches a string of lights just before he reaches Levi, and he crashes down hard onto one knee.
“Yes,” Levi says.
Erwin starts to get up, but Levi’s word freezes him in place. One little word, and his entire future is set. He stares at Levi, disbelieving. Levi’s response was so direct, so quick. He hadn’t needed to think about it at all. And just like that, the moment Erwin had been agonizing over for months had come and gone.
“Wh-what?” he asks, not because he didn’t understand, but because he had no idea what to do next.
Levi kneels in front of him, the closed box still in his hands. “Yes.”
Erwin’s hands fold over Levi’s. He feels the smoothness of Levi’s delicate fingers, feels the velvet box underneath them. “Levi . . .”
“So that’s why you tried too hard today,” Levi says, his voice quiet.
Erwin smiles. “This is not at all how I intended it to go.”
“I imagine the Christmas light obstacle course was a surprise.”
“Yes,” Erwin says with a soft chuckle. “Yes, it really was.” And then he adds, “I had a speech planned and everything.”
“I think this says enough,” Levi says, glancing down at where the box sat enveloped by their hands. Levi never was one for unnecessary words.
But there are a few that Erwin has to say, that he’s been dreaming of saying for a very long time. “Levi Ackerman, will you marry me?”
“Of course.”
Levi releases the box, allows Erwin to open it for him. There are two engagement rings in there, one nestled behind the other. A small silver one with a gold band through the middle, and a larger gold one with a silver band. Erwin takes out the silver one and, resting the box on the coffee table, slips it onto Levi’s finger.
The ring slides on easily, settling at the base of Levi’s finger. Levi pulls his hand back and stares at it, holds the ring up to the light. Watches it glisten, mesmerized.
When he finally looks away, he’s smiling the purest smile Erwin has ever seen on him. With fingers that aren’t entirely steady, Levi gives Erwin the gold ring. Erwin watches intently, studies how the band shines against his skin, stares at the pairing of silver and gold.
They kiss without a thought, naturally, moving towards each other as if of one mind. Levi opens his mouth for Erwin, and Erwin pushes in deep, pulls Levi close. Savors every detail of his boyfriend’s – no, fiancé’s – embrace.
When they finally pull apart, Levi wraps his arms around Erwin’s shoulders, cradling his head in the crook of Erwin’s neck. Erwin returns Levi’s hold, rests his cheek against the top of Levi’s head. He strokes his fingers through Levi’s hair and listens to the sound of his breathing and tries to believe that he’s actually engaged to this beautiful, incredible man. Even if the proposal was not quite what he had planned.
“Levi,” Erwin whispers to him, “I am sorry that everything fell apart. I wanted this moment to be perfect for you.”
“Idiot,” Levi murmurs. “Can’t you see it already is?”