Please excuse any errors in the grammar,
i hadn't had time to properly look over them
and i feel like i may have skipped over more than usual,
A/N at the ends explains why
0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0
Snap!
Snap! Snap! Snap!
Eren grinned as he pulled the Polaroid camera away, watching as the picture developed right in front of him on the square film. Since Armin had lent him that camera to use, he'd gone through dozens of film for the old relic throughout the summer. Levi figured Eren would eventually tire of the camera as the new school year started but that wasn't happening. He showed no sign of stopping or getting bored.
If anything, Eren was becoming interested in photography and once thanksgiving was over, he had subtly left flyers for cameras that were on sale throughout their home.
Levi watched him take pictures of the wireframe he was working on, the base for a cat for a December wedding, when he noticed Eren's hair. He cut it short before the summer started but it had grown longer again, the tips of his dark brown hair reaching past his ears.
"You need a haircut." Levi said, resuming his work with the frame. Eren stopped what he was doing, pulling the camera away from his face to level a stubborn glare towards Levi.
"I just had one."
"In May." Levi replied, snipping off a wire. Eren shook his head, heading toward the counter and hiding behind it.
"I don't want to."
"Why not."
Eren peered from over the counter, large eyes trained on his guardian. "…then Mikasa won't be able to do my hair."
Levi hummed knowingly, a small teasing smile shaping his lips. "So you like Mikasa?"
At that, Eren looked away. He disappeared behind the counter only to pop back up. "Of course I do, we're sworn sister and brothers!"
"Brothers?"
Eren nodded. "Armin too! The three of us made a promise to always be together." With that, Eren ran out the shop and disappeared around the corner. Levi stared at the door, not quite sure if he understood the flow of that conversation. With a shrug, he went back to work.
Almost an hour later, the cat mesh was done and Levi began weaving the requested flowers to the mesh when Hanji came in. She brushed off the snow from her head, pulling down her scarf.
"Hey, Levi! Aren't you supposed to be closing the shop?"
Levi stopped his hands, glancing at the clock on the wall in front of him. Sure enough, it was definitely close to closing time. "Flip the sign." Hanji nodded as she went back to the door, turning off the light display that read 'Open'.
"That engrossed in your work, huh?"
Levi nodded. "It's relaxing." He began to gather he used on the mesh, putting them inside a small bin on the table.
"Where's Eren?" Hanji asked, sitting down on the chair Levi vacated as he began to clean the shop up.
"On his way towards polygamy." He said quietly, walking into the back room.
"Hah?"
"Nothing." Levi called out, coming back out the back room with a broom. He tossed it to her. "Since you're here, make yourself useful."
Hanji grinned. "I'm always useful." She grabbed the broom and swept the floor while Levi put the flowers away in the coolers. It was quiet for a fee minutes while they cleaned. When she was down with the floor, Hanji leaned against the handle of the broom, watching Levi clean.
"What are you planning this time?" Levi asked without looking at her. A quiet Hanji meant she was plotting something. He could practically feel that devious smile of hers when he asked.
"Secret Santa!" She replied, handing the broom back to Levi when he motioned for it. "You know that it's my turn to plan this year's Christmas…"
"A tragedy."
"So you say," She quickly replied. "But this year is gonna be small. Mike and Nanaba are going out of town. Petra is spending it with her family. That just leaves you, Erwin, Molbit, and me."
"Doesn't Molbit want to introduce you to his family?" He asked, turning off the lights to the back and front room. He ushered Hanji out to the cold, locking the door behind him.
"That was this thanksgiving," She said. "And it went fairly well." She added, seeing the question he was surely going to ask.
"Fairly?"
"Yep." And she didn't elaborate. "We're going to spend Christmas day over at your place."
"As opposed to any other day?"
"There'll be food you wouldn't have cooked." Levi eyed her but ultimately he didn't stop her plans.
"I hope you're not planning anything extravagant just because it'll be my birthday."
At that Hanji froze for of a second but quickly recovered, laughing loudly. "It'll be a quiet day, I promise." Levi stared at her and nodded, trusting her word.
"You coming up?" Levi asked, holding the door to the stairs open. Hanji shook her head but then quickly changed her mind.
"Actually…" She ran past him, calling out Eren's name as she bounded up the stairs.
Eren was in the living room, tons of Polaroid laid out in front of him on the table, along with a large photo album. He looked up from his work, instantly smiling at the loud woman.
"Hanji! What are you doing here?" He asked excitedly. She grinned and walked over to him, sitting beside him on the couch and they began whispering to each other. Levi rolled his eyes as he walked into the kitchen, grabbing the pot of coffee from the machine. He sat by the counter, pouring himself a cup into a mug that read 'world's best florist' Eren had given him last year. He watched the two gossip and plot whatever scheme Hanji was hatching. They nodded to each other then Hanji stood up.
"I'll see you around Levi." Hanji said. He lazily waved back as she closed to the door behind him. Eren went back to placing the pictures into the book.
"…What did you talk about?" Levi asked.
"It's a secret!" He grinned as if Christmas was the next day rather than a month away.
0o0o0o0o0o0
It was three weeks before Christmas and with the school closed due to the snowing storm outside, and the shop closed as well because there was no in hell that was happening, Levi decided it was right as any time to put up the decorations. He set down the tea he was drinking, getting up from his chair.
"Eren, come help me put up the tree."
As soon as he mentioned those words, Eren immediately set the controller to the video game down, eyes lighting up. It was his absolute favorite part of the holidays and he'd been anxiously waiting for Levi to give the okay. He dashed off towards the closet in Levi's room, digging through the back until he saw the long box hidden behind Levi's shoes. He pushed those aside and dragged the box out, hauling it to the living room.
Levi walked out of Eren's room with the box full of decorations, setting the box down on the couch.
"Where are you going to put it?" Levi asked. Eren looked around. Their living room wasn't very large but it was spacious, with only the couch, the table, and the TV display being the only thing part of the living room. There were a few bookshelves pressed along the wall adjacent to the wall of windows that looked out to the street and a display shelf full of potted plants.
Eren had room to work. He decided on placing the tree in front of the window, next to the bookshelf. With his choice made, Levi handed Eren the mat and stand for the tree then pulled the artificial tree out of the box, grimacing just a bit at some of the loose pine leaves that fell to the floor. He locked the base of the tree into the stand, sat down the couch beside the box and started to untangle a set of lights while Eren started pull out the branches.
When Levi handed Eren the star, Eren immediately took it away. "No, Levi, the star goes last! You're always forgetting."
"My bad." He replied, handing the newly untangled wired lights to the young boy. Behind him, Erwin yawned loudly, walking towards them.
"You're finally up." Levi said, feeling Erwin's hand on his shoulder.
"Kinda hard to sleep when Eren ran into the room full of Christmas joy."
"Erwin, Santa isn't going to be nice to you." He warned, placing a few of the ornaments on the tree.
"Yeah," Levi said, looking to the side. "You'll get jack-shit."
He realized a second later of his mistake and quickly glared at Eren. "Don't repeat that."
Eren nodded, horribly hiding a grin. He quickly turned his back towards Levi, continuing his decorations. Erwin sat down on the couch beside Levi, helping out with untangling the lights. The three silently worked together like that until the tree was shining and blinking and the very epitome of Christmas. Eren walked back, sitting beside Levi to admire his handy work.
"It's a good tree." Levi said.
Eren nodded, his grin bright and wide. "We worked hard."
He stayed silent for a moment then looked at Erwin. "Erwin, are you homeless?"
The blond man stared at Eren, surprised at his sudden question. Levi had to look away because at the moment, with his usually neatly groomed hair a mess of the worst bed hair he'd ever seen, nothing but loose fitting cotton pants, and that morning stubble, Erwin might as well be.
"I'm not homeless. "
"Then why are you here all the time?" Eren asked. Levi stared at Eren. Of course, Eren would eventually have questions about why Erwin was over so often. While he made sure to keep things under wraps when Eren was around, Eren wasn't an idiot and he was surprisingly perceptive some times.
"Eren," Levi began. "Erwin and I are dating."
"Like a couple?" He asked. Levi nodded.
"Exactly like a couple. "
"Isn't Erwin a guy?"
"I hope so." Erwin replied. Eren nodded, deep in thought.
"What are you thinking?" Levi asked. Eren stayed quiet for a moment longer.
"Does this mean I have to fight you over Levi's bed?" He asked. Levi sighed dramatically because he knew Eren was completely serious. He stood and walked away, shaking his head while Erwin laughed saying they could rock, paper, scissor it.
0o0o0o0o0o0o
As Christmas day drew closer, the weather became worse and worse. Trost winters were usually bad but nothing the locals didn't know how to handle. One particular bad snow storm, a week before Christmas, forced the schools to close for winter vacation early. Eren certainly didn't complain about that fact and Levi kept the shop closed during the worst part of the week. The day before Christmas Eve, Hanji stole Eren away to the city to shop for late minute presents while Erwin and Levi stayed home. Levi already had all the presents for everyone set up underneath the lit tree.
With the shop closed and the snow having hindered some of the roads, he felt incredibly lazy. He couldn't remember when the last time was that he had time to do nothing. The house was clean as it could possibly get and Erwin had been cooking dinner for the past few days. It was refreshing to sit and read a book with a hot cup of his favorite tea.
"Enjoying the time off?" Erwin asked. He walked over to where Levi sat on the couch, running his hand through Levi's unkempt hair. He hadn't bothered to fix it this morning. Levi reclined his head back, staring up at Erwin.
"Something like that." He said, closing his eyes as Erwin brushed the back of his hand against the side of Levi's face. They shared a glance and Levi immediately reached for his cell phone beside him as he got up. He dialed Hanji's number while Erwin pinned him to the wall, kissing his neck and shoving his hands underneath Levi's shirt.
The phone rang and rang but she didn't pick up. He sucked his teeth in annoyance, forgetting about it as he hopped and let Erwin hold him up, feeling the full weight of the blond's chest against his own. Erwin grabbed his face and kissed the younger man deeply. The phone in his hands began to ring and he quickly answered it as Erwin began to unbutton his shirt.
"Hanji. I need you to keep Eren away for the next hour."
"Two." Erwin cut in. pressing a kiss to Levi's neck.
"Two hours."
"Hmmmm?" He could hear the teasing implications in that but she didn't ask any further. "Alright, I'll take him to the movies."
"Thanks." And he hung up, tossing the phone away as Erwin carried him away to his bedroom.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Christmas morning, Eren barged into Levi's room and jumped into bed, startling Levi into consciousness. Levi grumbled and stared at Eren's excited face. Levi looked out the window, noticing the white gleaming reflection of the snow outside.
"Merry Christmas, Eren." He said, looking back at the boy. Eren grinned, bouncing on his legs.
"Merry Christmas, Levi! Can I open my present now?"
"Yeah." He said with a nod. Eren bolted out the room and Erwin propped himself up on his elbows. He laid his hand on top of Levi's drawing the shorter man's attention to him.
"Merry Christmas, Levi." Erwin said, his voice still laced with sleep. Levi smiled and returned the greeting with a kiss. Before he could climb out of bed, Erwin grabbed a hold of Levi's waist, dragging him back down on the bed and pressed his body against Levi's back, spooning the smaller man.
"And happy birthday." He added with another kiss to Levi's nape.
Levi grunted, remarking on Erwin's morning breath as he rolled out of bed and found a pair of shorts. But Erwin definitely saw the tint of red along Levi's ears as he left the room.
Eren had pulled out the presents for himself and Levi and Erwin into three piles. He sat in front of the tree with the biggest pile. Levi grabbed his cup of tea first, not too surprised to see a pot full of hot water already set. Eren probably thought ahead and wanted to speed Levi's morning routine along. He opened the cabinet to get his mug when he saw a wrapped mug shaped object next to his cup.
He grabbed and unwrapped it, revealing the mug. It was a deep green mug that started dark on the bottom then gradually faded to a mint green towards the top. Inside the cup was a small card, there were blue snowflakes on the cover and when he opened it up, he saw Eren's mess of a handwriting; 'You're the best big brother in the world, Happy Birthday'.
Levi stared at the card, starting to feel emotionally overwhelmed. He used to hate Christmas and his birthday but Erwin and Carla helped him enjoy them. And Eren was part of that influence.
He collected himself, grabbed an earl grey tea bag and poured the water in, taking the mug and sitting down on the couch. Eren anxiously looked at Levi, his expressive eyes flicking between the mug and Levi.
"It's a beautiful gift, Eren." He said. Eren relaxed and grinned brightly before he started to go through his gifts. He opened Levi's gift first, one of the biggest he received. He tore through the wrapping, tossing it aside to reveal the box for a camera. Eren's eyes lit up like the tree behind him and he looked up to Levi.
"You can finally return the Polaroid camera to Armin now."
"…but how am I going to print it?"
"Open up that other box beside you." Eren spoke up, sitting beside Levi. Curious, Eren ripped through the wrapping to reveal the box of a printer specifically made to print photos. For several minutes, Eren just stared at the two boxes, stunned to the point of tears. Erwin looked panicked at the sudden water works but Levi merely waited until the boy he helped raise since he was born stood up and walked towards Levi, hugging the older man.
"Thank you." Eren mumbled, slightly red around his cheeks. At least that's what Levi thought Eren said, through his sniffling. Levi chuckled and patted his back, gently pulling Eren away to see exactly how red and teary-eyed his face was.
"I'm counting on you to take beautiful photos of my flowers." He said.
Eren grinned, nodding and wiping at his eyes to clear the tears before he went back to his pile of gifts.
0o0o0o0o0o0o
Later in the afternoon, Hanji invited herself over with Molbit as she promised, bearing delicious food cooked by Molbit, gifts, and a small crate. Levi eyed the crate as she walked in and Molbit began to set the table for dinner, asking Erwin for help. Levi and Eren both stared Hanji down, Eren with more of a curious look as opposed to Levi's suspicious gaze. Hanji grinned and set the crate down.
"Hanji…" Levi said slowly.
She giggled and knelt in front of the crate, opening the small gate. As soon as Eren heard the tiny mewl, he started to bounce on his heels. In her arms she held a pure black cat with a patch of white fur on its chest.
"MERRY BIRTHDAY!"
Before Eren completely rushed over to Hanji's side, he looked to Levi. Levi stared down at the boy and he pulled out those expressive and pleading eyes of his that he did when he really wanted something. Levi sighed, kicking himself for spoiling Eren so much as he nodded. Eren was by Hanji's side in an instant, petting the curious cat. Somehow he felt the cat was more of a gift for Eren than for himself.
"I brought all his papers and things." Hanji said, handing the cat over to Eren. "All he needs now is a name."
"Corporal!" Eren immediately answered, the cat content with staying in his arms.
"Corporal it is." Levi said, going to the kitchen to help with the table. Hanji looked back Eren, flashing him a thumbs up. Eren grinned, returning the thumbs up.
Overall, this year's Christmas was definitely the quietist but it was fun. Eren took pictures of everything with his new camera; of Levi and himself, Erwin, Hanji and Molbit, their newest family member Corporal. Levi promised to invite over Mikasa and Armin the next day. Hanji and Levi got into a truth and dare drinking game while Molbit watched anxiously because he knew drunken Hanji was a handful.
Their game turned into impromptu karaoke with the radio that lasted well into the night and ended with a thoroughly exhausted Eren and Hanji. Hanji and Molbit left close to 2am, Molbit carrying a sleeping Hanji on his back.
"Sorry about Hanji getting drunk." He said, adjusting Hanji on his back.
"You as if I've never seen her drunk." Levi replied. Molbit chuckled. "Next time we go out to our bar, have Hanji bring you over." The man smiled then left, bidding them a good night.
"He's gonna ask her to marry him." Levi said as soon as the door was closed.
"How do you know?" Erwin asked, putting the last of the dishes into the sink.
"Hanji comes by the shop a lot, we gossip." He said. He sat down by the counter, finishing the last of the eggnog. "I'm betting he'll do the proposal in the spring. She thinks he's gonna ask in the summer."
"And you're betting too." He said with a shake of his head.
Levi smirked, finishing the tall glass. "Molbit's been asking me how much my bouquets are." Erwin leaned against the fridge, slightly bewildered.
"…Is it too late to bet?"
At that, Levi laughed; a genuine, throaty sound that shook his frame. It was one of the many reasons Erwin loved since he got to know the real Levi back when he was younger. Erwin went to Levi side, standing in front of him, hands resting on Levi's shoulder. The younger man looked up, still chuckling as he stared into Erwin's bright blue eyes.
"What is it?" He asked, grabbing Erwin's glass of eggnog from his hand, downing it in one go. Aside from the red blush across his cheeks and ears, it was the only indication that he was slightly intoxicated. And it took more than just eggnog for Levi to even feel like he was drunk.
"Do you think you can bare another sentimental gift?"
"What is it?"
Erwin reached into his pockets and pulled out a small box. His eyes went slightly wide as Erwin opened the box, revealing a simple silver ring. He looked up at Erwin, eyes demanding an explanation.
"I saw it earlier this week when I was having lunch. I thought it would like nice on you." He said. "I also have one for myself."
"Erwin the romanticist." Levi said as he held out his right hand. He could feel the tips of his ears grow hotter but he merely passed it off as a result of the drinks he had.
Erwin smiled as he slipped the ring onto Levi's ring finger. Levi stared at his hand, feeling a swell of emotion rise in his chest. It was symbolic but Levi really liked that idea that he was Erwin's and vice versa. Granted, he always thought of Erwin as his since they started dating, maybe even before that, but there on his hand was something tangible. He felt his face getting hotter and he scowled.
"Both you and Eren are impossible." He muttered.
Erwin grinned, bending over so he could grab Levi's face and gently lifted the younger man's face so that he wasn't looking away.
"Should we go to sleep?" Erwin asked, voice all smooth and deep and adoring. Levi glared at the older man.
"Your face is stupid." Levi replied, kissing him once before he stood, walking together with Erwin to their bedroom.
o0o0o0o0o0o0
yo!
so I don't really know when the next chapter is due, I have a 30 second animation final, a music video, and a character to be fully rigged by mid june. I'll still be writing in between cause papa heichou is one of the things i'm working on write now that isn't stressing me out at the moment and since I don't have a beta to help out, it'll be a while for sure
and i feel like this is the best moment to stop for a tiny hiatus since its a pretty short chapter and kinda self contained
but thank you for being patient and pray that i don't die because of these finals
and thank you for all the reviews, my battered old soul appreciates them a lot