Chapter 8
They hadn't spoken much since they'd arrived at the farmhouse. As much as Rui wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, there was an insane amount of work to be done. Not to mention the constant threat of titans just at the bottom of the hill.
"Chop wood?" Levi frowned at the unusual request.
"Yep, as much as you can! I don't know about you, but I'd rather not go another freezing night like last night. The cooler months are just about over, but we will never not need fire, so please chop as much as you can. The axe is in the shed by the chicken coop," she explained. Levi looked in the direction she had pointed to.
"What about you?" He asked, crossing his arms. She pulled a small paper from her pocket, looking it over.
"Well, the garden needs to be cleaned up, especially since it's spring, I need to gather what we need for food today, later we need to take a horse or two down to the river and fill up the big canister for water. We need to dump out all the old water and gather some eggs. The entire house needs to be cleaned, I'm sure you'll appreciate that, and we need to see what we have in the way of clothes."
"Aside from that, gutters, clean the animals, count the animals, laundry, and, if we have time, a bath."
Rui could almost see Levi's ears perk up when she'd said that word.
"A...bath?" He questioned. "I assumed we'd clean up at the river. You have a bathtub here?" He asked. Rui smirked.
"My dad made it and attached it to the wood stove. Not only do we have a bathtub, Mr. Ackerman...we have a heated one," she smiled. Levi's pupils dilated. His nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply. Bath tubs were typically an opulent addition to a more noble home. Levi had only ever had the pleasure of taking one and it hadn't been heated. Every other bath had been freezing cold or the usual sponge bath most people took, however for him far more regularly than a typical person.
"We can take a hot bath once a week if we share the tub. Unless you're willing to make more trips down to the river. But, regardless, we won't get any hot water if you don't start chopping, mister, so chop chop," she smirked.
Levi's stare was likely one of his sexiest features, in Rui's mind. He was a particularly vulgar individual, so when he looked at her like that, she knew he was likely thinking very vulgar thoughts, indeed. He stepped towards the shed, brushing passed her shoulder. He was so easy to please, it was just silly.
Only one titan had bothered them that day. Levi took care of it quickly and easily before returning to his assigned task of wood chopping, an act he'd also never partaken in. It took a few swings to get a good rhythm, but rather quickly, he'd mastered it.
Getting the water they needed for the house for the week was a lot easier said than done. As much as Rui insisted on filling buckets with water to help dump into the enormous drum, if there was one thing Levi DID know about pregnant women, it was that they weren't supposed to lift heavy objects. He didn't know why, but he did know that much. The two horses required to pull the drum worked hard, not incredibly happy with being made to pull such a weight. After Levi was finished filling the drum, Rui noticed he swayed slightly. He must have been exhausted.
Dinner that night was eggs and rabbit. Rui had been able to find a few critter catchers her mother had stashed away and nabbed a few of the hundreds of rabbits hopping around. She didn't like hunting in the springtime, but there were just so many of them. Plus the rabbits were a nuisance with the garden.
"You have a lot of cows, are you going to slaughter any of them?" Levi asked, picking a small piece of meat from the leg of rabbit and popping it into his mouth. Rui took a sip of water, the sick to her stomach feeling subsided for the moment.
"We could, but we would have to dry it. We don't have enough salt for something like that. But in the winter we can," she said. Levi stood up, wandering over to the wood stove. It was radiating an intense heat from its flame, courtesy of Levi's all day wood chopping spree.
"Okay...how do you make this thing heat up the bath?" He asked, no longer able to contain his impatience. He had sweat a lot that day and was more than excited to sink into an entire tub of hot water. He imagined it would be a feeling unlike anything else.
She giggled, standing and moving over to the stove. They would worry about the dishes later, it would seem. She pulled a metal bar, removing a cover for heat to be distributed.
"There's now heat moving through this pipe here, pretty cool, right? Now we already filled the tub with water earlier, so it should be heating up now," she smiled. Levi had seen the size of the tub when filling it. It honestly hadn't been all that large. If they weren't each on the shorter end, they might not fit together. He smirked, never having found such a lucrative reason for being short.
"What do we do while we wait?" She asked, her cheeks dusting a slight pink. His eyes looked to her face before lowering down her body and back up again.
He opened his mouth to speak...
000
Levi finally let her shoulder loose from his teeth. Sweat trickled down her body as he laid on top of her. They both gasped for breath, his head falling into the crook of her neck. He rolled off, thumping hard onto the floor, his limbs splayed out. She watched his chest rise and fall quickly, his abs clenching with every breath. His arm draped across his forehead. She sat up, moving to his lips.
"You're so tired!" She laughed. Levi held her jaw in his hand, squeezing slightly.
"Yeah, I did a lot of shit today," he breathed. She rested her head against his chest, listening to the wondrous sound of his rapidly beating heart.
This was not difficult...this was not unpleasant. If every day could be like this...raising a child on her family's farm would be a dream come true. He rubbed gentle fingers down her back, drawing lazy circles and pulling at the very fine hairs on her lower back. She pinched his arm.
"Quit that," she mumbled into his chest.
"I like it. Like peach fuzz," he chuckled. She lifted her head, crossing her arms over his chest and resting her chin on them.
"You know, my mom said when she was pregnant with me, she got fuzz on her belly," she smiled. Levi arched a brow, blinking.
"That's...interesting," his eyes looked to the ceiling as if imagining such a strange thing. She lifted off him, wrapping herself up with a blanket. His eyes closed serenely.
"What else?" He asked. Rui frowned.
"What else what?" She questioned. He sat up, leaning back on his palms.
"What else happened? I'm curious," he said. She thought for a moment, trying to recall. Her mother was not shy about telling her girls what they'd put her body through when she was pregnant.
"Well, with my oldest sister, my mom craved to eat wood. It was apparently not unusual to find her eating twigs and tree bark."
Levi's eyes widened. "Wha - why?" He asked, unable to understand. Rui shrugged her shoulders.
"No idea. With me, she loved the smell of my father's sweat so much, she forced him to let her take naps snuggling into his armpits in the middle of the day after he'd worked hard outside in the heat. Apparently it was a big hassle for him, since he was still working, but she begged him and he simply couldn't say no," she laughed. His face became even more confused than before.
"That's gross. Is pregnancy much like possession, because I can't imagine a normal human wanting these things," he tilted his head back, yawning.
The rest of the night continued on much the same way. They eventually made it up the stairs and Levi groaned softly, seeing a gentle steam drifting up from the tub. Already naked, Rui allowed Levi in first. She watched goose bumps rise on his arms as he dipped each leg into the bath, fully submerging a moment later. Rui got in next, sitting in his lap facing him. It was the most comfortable way to sit. He tossed his head back, fully enjoying the amazingly warm sensation.
"Okay...I can die right here..." He moaned. She giggled, having known he was going to love hot baths. She smoothed his hair back, wetting her hand with each stroke. He looked so different with his hair out of his face.
"Do you think...we'll be good parents?" She asked. Levi cracked a single eye open.
"I have no idea what a "good parent" is supposed to be like. I imagine a good one would love their kid, feed them and keep them safe...other than that, I'm completely lost," he admitted. Rui looked at him for a moment. His ease and comfort around her took her breath away. This was still Captain Levi, right? This was still the hard, tactical, Titan killing monster he'd always been, right? Why did she now harbor absolutely no fear of him? Simply the sound of his footsteps coming towards her would send her into a frenzy of fear mixed with desire. His fingers on her were once impossibly hot were now warm and comforting. What had happened in the last couple weeks?
She recalled each time they were around the Military Police. He was just as jaded and inappropriate as ever. But when they were alone, he seemed to open up and relax a bit. Was it really just because she was pregnant?
"Levi...I love you..." She whispered. His eyes opened, his hand stilled under the water, having been gently rubbing her thighs.
"I love you," he whispered, closing his eyes again. She knew he'd said it because she had. He meant it, but she wouldn't expect him to say it often. It had been rather out of the blue. But she needed to hear it at least once, even if it felt awkward on his tongue. She smiled, kissing him gently.
A nice, easy chapter. Thank you to those who are kind enough to leave a review.