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“You’re shitting me, right?”
“Eren,” Levi said dryly. His cheeks were warm, despite the fact that he had nothing to be embarrassed about, so he was going to blame this on the sun, if Eren asked. Not that Eren was likely to ask, distracted as he now was by this revelation; Levi figured that was pretty handy considering they were in the shade, in barely 70 degree weather, and his excuse wouldn’t have held up long. “There are children around.”
Eren didn’t seem to hear him, mouth hanging open, and Levi wished he could call the action unattractive, only-
His ridiculous gaping husband was still gorgeous, eyes bright in the early spring sunlight, hair sticking up as he ran a hand through it in bafflement. Levi thought about kissing him, which wasn’t unusual. He’d thought about kissing him just a few minutes ago, before Eren’s jaw had dropped in surprise and he’d started squawking at him.
(If Levi had a dime for every time he thought about kissing Eren, neither of them would ever have to work a day in their lives. They’d live in the lap of luxury and Levi could spend all his time bestowing kisses upon his love, listening to the sound of his laughter and watching the minute changes in the way Eren’s green eyes sparkled as he talked.
Alas, though, no benevolent god was raining money from the sky so Levi could reroute all his efforts into adoring Eren, so they would carry on as they had been. Which wasn’t a bad life, far from it, but still. Sometimes he thought Eren deserved more.)
“You’re serious,” Eren repeated, exclaimed even, sounding like Levi had just told him something blasphemous. “You’ve never been on a merry go round?!” Levi rolled his eyes at his husband, but even as he did he felt his lips twist, his chest tight as the warm feeling of fondness crept through him.
“I am absolutely serious,” Levi answered, laughter a lurking thing in the back of his throat as Eren blinked. “Eren, honestly, what did you expect? Did you really think Kenny would be into parks or things like hanging around while a 7 year old rode on a fake plastic horse?”
Eren’s bafflement slipped away and Levi almost bit his tongue, because in its place was that furrowed frown Eren always got when Levi mentioned his childhood. He missed the lighthearted way Eren had been gaping before and he pressed a little closer to Eren in the park, taking his hand and squeezing his fingers as Eren’s eyes glittered a slightly darker green than before, alight with an old rage, swallowing a sigh at his own words for thoughtlessly crashing the mood.
(Levi wasn’t mad, anymore, about the way he’d grown up. Whatever faults Kenny had possessed, whatever Levi had missed out on while living with his uncle, he had still made it here, with Eren. He was grown and Kenny was dead, so to Levi the injustice had long since been paid.
But Levi knew Eren still sometimes wished he could go back in time and throttle Kenny, knew again that Eren probably always would. He’d raise the man from the grave, if possible, only to put him forcefully back into it, again and again, until his nearly endless righteous fury had been sated.
In a way Levi found it oddly soothing, Eren’s anger, the look he always got afterward where he pursed his lips and started fussing, just a little more than before, over Levi. It was one of Levi’s guilty pleasures, leaning into Eren as he puffed himself up, vengeance a bright thing in his gorgeous eyes.
It felt good, to be cared about so much. Even after all this time, married for years and years, it was still a little novel at times to be so in love and loved in return.
And anyway, Levi had never been able to deny Eren anything, least of all the traits that made him Eren. His protective anger was one of those traits, which meant Levi loved it, wholly and dearly, just like he loved Eren.
So if Eren wanted to get all riled up and scowl a little bit at things he couldn’t change, Levi was more than happy to let him, so long as it didn’t take him over completely. But Eren was good about controlling his anger and Levi knew it would ebb, like a tide, sooner rather than later. They had all the time in the world, after all; Levi didn’t mind waiting for the turn of tide to come.)
Eren huffed after a moment, squeezing Levi’s fingers back before tugging him closer, winding his free arm around Levi’s back until Levi was tucked comfortably under his chin. Levi closed his eyes in contentment, kissing absently at his husband’s collarbone and feeling the tension in the taller man loosen, bit by bit, as the sound of children’s laughter and upbeat carousel music drifted by on the breeze.
“C’mon,” Eren said eventually, after several minutes of just holding Levi, which Levi wasn’t opposed to in the least. His husband leaned back, hand sliding from Levi’s spine up until Eren’s knuckles were nudging Levi’s chin up for a chaste kiss, and then Eren was tugging him along, longer legs eating up the ground between their shaded spot and the merry go round nearby with determination.
Levi’s head spun, for a second, as Eren planted them in line with the bouncing collection of children, most of whom who looked like they were still under ten. He clung a little tighter to Eren’s hand as his husband pressed forward, beginning to hum along with the music as the carousel began to slow down, the children already seated on the ride making a loud, unanimous noise of distress as they realized their turn was over.
“We don’t have to,” Levi muttered, feeling his cheeks heat up as a little girl nearby elbowed her companion, her little eyebrows bent in confusion at the sight of the two adults in line with them, no children in sight. Eren merely rolled his eyes, his ruffled, messy hair bouncing across his forehead as he shook his head.
“I want to ride this with you,” Eren answered, as earnest and romantic as any of his confessions were, and Levi’s chest collapsed in on itself, a kind of crumpling he felt all the way to his toes. It wasn’t an uncommon feeling, to be laid bare by Eren’s steadfast gaze, and Levi was breathless as Eren continued.
“Do you want to ride this with me?”
Levi nodded, throat a little too tight to speak, and Eren beamed at him just as the ride slowed to a full stop and the children scrambled to get off, bemused parents calling after them, quick on their heels as the children all made it a race to be the first one out of the gate. Once the children were all clear the attendant opened the gate and the line they were queued in surged forward, a mad dash for the perfect fake pony going on, as if this was a matter of life and death to these small children. Despite everything Levi felt himself slip into their excitement, a grown ass man pulling his husband along around the ride until he saw two ponies next to each other that caught his eye, and without needing to say anything Eren seemed to know, as he did more often than not where Levi was concerned. They twisted at the same time, Eren slipped ahead to lead the way, longer legs a cheat in this race Levi hadn’t meant to join.
“Need a hand up,” Eren asked, dragging Levi onto the platform and then pressing him against the pony on the outside of the ride, waggling his eyebrows as his free hand curled around Levi’s hip. Levi couldn’t help but laugh, swatting his husband away and swinging up onto the back of the pole-speared pony, feeling ridiculous and light headed the whole time.
The light headed feeling only increased when he turned to look at Eren, who seemed rooted to the spot, head craned just a little to look at Levi with a dark, familiar look in his gorgeous glittering eyes.
Levi flushed all the way down his throat and there was no way he could even try to blame the sun for this. He bit his lower lip a little, the call for everyone to climb on their horses dim in his ears, and Eren watched the movement, eyelashes fluttering a little as his gaze stayed pinned on Levi’s mouth.
“Oh my god,” Levi muttered, reaching out to shove Eren’s shoulder, feeling like a teenager on his first date. They were grown ass men, they were fucking married, what the fuck were they doing? “There are children around, will you just get on your goddamn pony?”
Eren cleared his throat, but it couldn’t keep the slight roughness out of his voice as he muttered, “sorry, love, but do you know you have a wonderful mounting form?”
Levi sputtered, curling his hands around the pole spearing through the pony to keep from reaching for Eren. “Get on your pony,” he hissed. People had to be looking, kids had to be wondering why the ride couldn’t fucking start, and it was all because Eren and his never ending ability to drive Levi up the wall.
But god, Levi loved him.
Levi loved his so fucking much he wanted to scream it from the top of his lungs, but he couldn’t even breathe as Eren exhaled a throaty little laugh and loped around him, swinging up on his own pony with bold, sure movements, the act of which shouldn’t have been so attractive but was, everything about his husband confident and strong, thighs pressed against the plastic steed as his fingers curled surely around the pole as the music finally kicked in. The pony underneath Levi kicked to life with a little surge, bouncing upward, but even though the sudden start should have startled him, it didn’t; he was so focused on the way the lights around the top highlighted Eren’s cheekbones, the crinkles in his eyes barely visible as he grinned, that nothing else even mattered anymore.
“Hey,” Levi said, having to clear his throat around a lump in his throat that was half endearment and half attraction. Eren’s eyes slid his way and he leaned, his pony going down as Levi’s rose up, putting them at an almost even height for the split second it took Levi to lean over and press a kiss against Eren’s lips. He smiled as he drew back, heart skipping a beat at the way Eren’s expression became a thing of pure joy, lit like Levi had done something incredible with the stars in the sky for him, and Levi knew a similar expression was on his face, his head dizzy with the feeling of the euphoric moment.
“Your mounting form’s not so bad either,” Levi told him, voice probably too loud, considering there were still children who could hear them. Not that Levi could have told anyone where these children were, exactly, considering his attention was focused solely on the full body laughter Eren produced, his head falling back as his back arched, throat bared as his laughter rose in volume until the whole park could probably hear them.
“God, Levi, I love you,” Eren exclaimed, reaching over to take Levi’s hand. Levi met him there halfway, their fingers intertwining until they could squeeze at each other’s fingers.
“I love you too,” Levi said fondly. “And Eren?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Eren’s smile shifted, lips curling until the expression was small and pure, but so bright with joy, and Levi felt his lips curl into an answering smile, leaning over again to kiss Eren’s cheek as his husband pretended to bat his eyelashes at him, ridiculous and gorgeous and perfect as ever.
“Anytime, love,” Eren whispered, turning his head to meet Levi’s lips. “Anytime.”