Disclaimer: I own none of the characters!
Notes: So it's October. I wanted to write something spooky for the month. That's literally all. I'm giving a try at eruri AND writing horror so yep *sweats*
It was mid-autumn and the leaves had started to change. The weather was fresh and cool and Levi was busy moving into his new residency. It certainly wasn't a new house; it belonged to his father. It was a temporary living space for him and his husband as they settled into their new jobs.
Levi raised his camera and snapped a quick picture, earning him a loud "tsk".
"Yes?"
"So much for helping me with the heavy lifting," Erwin teased, carrying a box up the stairs to the porch. Levi took another picture, this one of his blond sweetheart, and Erwin turned.
"I'm helping in moral support."
"Literally the worst excuse."
Levi lowered his camera, letting it rest against his chest as it hung, and picked up a box, following Erwin to the porch. "You are fucking ridiculous."
The house was a big, beautiful piece of architecture. All wood floorboards, two-stories and furnished for the most part. There were a few pieces missing, but they were nothing that couldn't be replaced. And of course there was the issue of food.
"I really hope those German lessons paid off," Levi said, setting the box down, "because I know they did shit for me. I can barely say good morning."
"My mother is German, dear," Erwin replied, "you know that."
Levi raised his camera and took a picture in response. Erwin pulled Levi to him with a firm hand, holding his hands from the camera, letting it hang around his neck.
"If you're going to kiss me, old man, do it," Levi said with a grin, "I hate waiting."
For dinner, they decided on grabbing something from the deli down the road. It was within walking distance and the lack of cooking made it easy on their empty kitchen. They still had to unpack their appliances and were not in the mood to do any more strenuous work.
They bought food for the night and breads for breakfast and then made their way back to the house.
"This house is too fucking big for one person," Levi said, picking at his sandwich. "I can't believe dad bought it. And kept it."
"He was here for a while, wasn't he?" Erwin asked. "It would only make sense."
Levi shrugged. His father had moved to Germany for a few years in a research program, right after Levi finished college. He had barely come back a year ago and it was then Levi got a photography deal. Taking pictures of models for magazines. And thankfully, his agency was kind enough to send Erwin, the company designer, with him.
It was a nice little fairytale, getting away from the hustle of New York and getting to see another part of the world for a while. Although, Hanji was in hysterics about them leaving her.
"I'm fucking tired."
"You look like it," Erwin laughed. "For someone who hardly did any work today."
Levi rolled his eyes and stood, giving Erwin a gentle nudge as he walked into the kitchen. "I'm going to dig my pajamas out of that box."
"You mean one of my shirts?"
Levi stood at the sink, washing his hands, and pursed his lips in mock annoyance. Erwin chuckled and picked up his own trash.
"We should get wine," Levi said, "otherwise I'm going to lose my shit over those singing brats next door."
Erwin furrowed his brow and peeked out the window. "It's dark, though. Are they still out?"
"Shouldn't be," Levi said. "Whatever, it's not my business."
Levi spent the next day fully cleaning the house. He couldn't stand the smell of stagnant dust and it was everywhere, he felt like. Erwin went ahead and unpacked, knowing Levi wouldn't be of any use until the house was fully cleaned.
"Dad," Levi said, taking a breather from scrubbing the floor. "How do you get stains out of the fucking woodgrain?"
There was some shuffling on the other line and Levi knew his dad was cooking. "What the fuck? Stains? Did you spill wine already?"
"Did you?" Levi snapped back, staring down the deep red stains by the bed in the guestroom. "There's a shitton of spots on the floor."
"There's not that many."
"Alright, there are two."
"How does Erwin put up with your cleaning drama?" Kenny sighed. "But the house is old. There were a lot of stains around when I bought it."
"So they're not coming up?" Levi groaned.
"Probably not."
"Fuck."
"I know."
Levi left the deep stains alone and moved on to the next room. He scrubbed the rest of the floors and moved on to the windows. He walked by the bedroom and stopped, looking at Erwin as he changed the sheets. Their bedding from their own home now covered the large bed and there were photos on the nightstand.
Homely things that made Levi smile because that room actually looked more like theirs.
Erwin turned and smiled. "Does it look alright?"
"You should be an interior designer," Levi said, setting down his bucket and mop. He walked to the bed and inhaled, enjoying the clean scent of lavender and rosemary. There was a push at his back and he fell forward, Erwin climbing onto the bed by him. Levi was tugged into his broad arms and he fell limp, letting Erwin stroke his hair and face.
Levi wrapped an arm around his husband's waist and snuggled close, enjoying the silence.
"We're filthy."
"How are you dirty? You've been cleaning all day."
Levi groaned. "You're such a salmon."
Erwin snorted, laughing a full-bodied laugh and ruffling up Levi. "You are the most ridiculous man I know."
"And you love it," Levi said, kissing Erwin softly. Erwin hummed appreciatively, returning the kiss.
Levi carded his fingers through Erwin's hair, normally kept so neat but over the last few days a genuine mess. He loved it; seeing his husband not so completely put together. Because it was so rare that Erwin looked so casual and disheveled.
"Mn fuck," Levi hissed, pulling away, "I can hear those fucking kids singing again."
"Levi, I think you're imagining things," Erwin hummed into Levi's neck. "Or you're drunk."
"I haven't had anything to drink today, thank you," he snapped. "You can't hear it?"
"No."
Levi groaned and fell back against the bed. Whatever mood he had been in was definitely lost.
It wasn't long before Levi was back to snapping pictures around the house, sneaking in as many photos as he could of Erwin doing mundane things. Erwin would usher him away and Levi would leave, only to return a moment later.
Once the camera got too full, Levi fished his laptop from their bag of electronics and set it up on the kitchen table while Erwin showered. They had picked up food again, neither of them in the mood to cook, and left it in the fridge so they could eat together.
Levi put his memory card into the laptop and waited for it to boot up. He poured himself a glass of wine (he was adamant about getting a bottle when they went to get their food) and sat back down.
"Erwin?" Levi asked, looking up at the sound of steps. He waited for a response and then realized he could still hear water running. He shrugged. The house was old and it was windy outside. It was a wonder it was still standing despite its alluring beauty.
He started to go through his pictures and smiled, pleased by the candid photos he took of Erwin carrying boxes.
"My husband is fucking hot," Levi hummed, flipping through pictures. "Why aren't you a fucking model, you fucking god?"
Levi rolled his eyes, unable to comprehend how he even ended up with Erwin. Every picture was perfect. Except for the photos of Erwin on the sofa.
Levi made a face and rubbed the screen of his computer, as if it would take away the awkward light blur in the corner of the photo. He deleted it and went to the next photo, only to find the same problem. Levi furrowed his brow and scrolled through every picture from that set; the same thing over and over.
"Hm."
He held onto the pictures and kept going. Everything else was the same; no awkward blurs or effects. Until he came to the pictures of Erwin in the bedroom. The same thing happened. Awkward blurs in the corner, lingering behind Erwin in the background.
"What the fuck?"
"What?"
Levi looked up as Erwin walked into the room, wearing nothing but his pajama pants around his sculpted hips.
"Why, hello."
Erwin laughed and ran his fingers over the soft fuzz of Levi's undercut.
"What are you doing?"
"I was going through the pictures I took from earlier," Levi explained, "but in some there's this shitty blur."
"Is your camera alright?"
"I hope," Levi groaned. "I don't want to have to go out and buy a new one before this weekend."
"You did bring your spare, right?"
"Yeah," Levi said, "but it's shit compared to the one I use."
"Maybe it was just the lighting or dust?" Erwin asked. Levi shrugged and leaned against Erwin's side. "I hate to bring up more problems but I think the water heater is getting old. It got super cold on me while I showered."
"I need a cold shower."
"You need to get laid."
"You should relieve that."
Erwin smirked and sauntered off to the kitchen, digging out their food. Levi exhaled hard, still staring at his laptop. He really didn't want to go shopping.
Erwin had to go into their office before Levi. He had to set up an actual space, get acquainted with the models and agents. Levi, however, had no desire to deal with people if he didn't have to. He decided to stay in their neighborhood, picking up groceries and doing work around the house.
"So you're becoming a housewife? Levi, you are the cutest!"
"Oh shut up, shitty glasses," Levi hissed, putting away their groceries.
"It's sweet!"
"I hate people. That is literally all."
Hanji snorted on the other end of the line. "So ridiculous."
Levi hung up to finish his business and walked into the living room. The curtains were drawn back, letting in natural lighting. He inhaled the cleaner air and walked across the room to his camera. He made a point to fully clean it before testing out its ability to catch a picture.
He turned it on and faced the sofa. He took a few photos before moving throughout the house. He would pull back the curtains, letting in more light, and would snap a picture.
"Fuck!" he shouted, hitting his toe against a raised floorboard. "Fuck this house and these old floors."
He stepped on the floorboard, shoving it back into place and kept moving, taking more pictures around the big house.
Once he had finished, he uploaded the photos onto his laptop, following his same routine. He poured himself a glass of wine and sat down. But as he snuggled into his spot, he heard the faint sound of singing.
"Are you fucking serious?!"
Levi stood up and stormed to the door, flinging it open and stepping outside. Erwin was pulling up in his car, but other than that there were no kids outside that he could see. Granted, he couldn't see far or over the fences but that didn't excuse anything.
"What are you doing?" Erwin asked.
Levi sighed. "Looking for whoever has been singing."
Erwin rolled his eyes and held out a bottle of wine with a ribbon on it. "For you."
"You're fucking sweet," Levi said, tugging Erwin down by the end of his tie. He kissed his husband and Erwin scooped Levi up in his arms, carrying him back inside.
"How was your day? More cleaning?"
"A little," Levi said. "I was testing out my camera."
"Any luck?"
"I'm about to find out," Levi said, gesturing to his workspace.
Erwin put him down and Levi went to sit back down. Erwin followed, taking a sip of Levi's wine before handing it back. Levi pulled his laptop onto his lap and leaned into Erwin's side. He scrolled through the pictures and everything was fine.
Save for the photos by the sofa and the bedrooms and even the bathroom.
"This is weird," Levi said, furrowing his brow. "I don't get where these spots are coming from."
"Probably the sofa or the bedding," Erwin said. "There's a lot of material and they probably hold a lot of dust. I know, Levi, don't give me that look. You cleaned but they're still going to hold some dust."
"Fucking blasphemy. What about the bathroom?"
"Bathrooms have so much water and the plumbing is definitely old," Erwin said. "I'm sure it did something to screw with the lenses."
"Yeah…," Levi sighed, leaning his head against Erwin's shoulder. "Guess so. At least it's not the camera."
Levi fell into the bed after he showered, loving the sweet scent of cleanliness and his husband. Erwin was already in bed, half asleep. Levi crawled onto his side, running a finger along Erwin's arm to get his attention. Erwin grabbed his hand and pulled it over his side.
"I'm the big spoon tonight?" Levi hummed. Erwin chuckled.
"You're a backpack."
Levi pinched Erwin's arm and elicited a pleased laugh. Erwin fell asleep soon after and Levi sighed, loosening his grip to better snuggle against Erwin's back. He sighed and let himself doze off, just to be woken up by the sound of faint singing and creaking floorboards.
He stirred opening his eyes and groped the bed for Erwin. He felt his husband at his side and sighed, annoyed with his own incompetence. Maybe the singing was all in his head? Maybe it really was the wine?
Levi got comfortable again, closing his eyes. He tried to fall back asleep when he felt a little tug between his legs. He hummed appreciatively at the light pressure and deft fingers. He gripped his pillows and rolled his hips with a grin.
"Mmm…Erwin that's nice."
Weight held him down and Levi ran his hand through soft hair, that pressure on his cock growing harder. But the weight was off; nowhere near as heavy as Erwin. And the hair was fuller; not Erwin's undercut.
Levi gasped and sat up.
The room was empty, save for Erwin still sleeping soundly next to him. Levi grabbed his sweating neck, looking around. He started to shake Erwin awake and stopped, feeling the heaviness between his legs. He pushed back the sheets, finding a prominent hard-on and groaned.
"Levi, what are you doing?" Erwin groggily yawned, groping for his phone. He turned it on and the bright light was blinding. But it gave Levi a better glimpse of the empty room. "It's like…5 a.m."
"I had a weird dream," Levi said. He pulled on Erwin's arm. "Hold me?"
Erwin replaced his phone on the nightstand and turned around. Levi caught his blue eyes in the light of the phone. There was concern and worry all over Erwin's face. Levi slipped into the man's arms, feeling his warmth envelope him. It soothed his racing heart.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Levi said. "Just…restless, I guess."
Erwin kissed him on the head, stroking his hair. "Don't worry. We'll get out some tomorrow, alright?"
Levi nodded, despite the uneasiness in his stomach. "Okay."
