for the @ererievents ereriweek 27/10 prompt: special occasion
“Come over here and let me wash your hair,” Levi tells him, more of an order than a request.
“What, you don’t think I can’t wash it well enough myself?” Eren quips, clutching on to his towel. The damn thing keeps slipping lower with every movement which is why he’s stayed on the benches for so long in the first place.
It’s always a special occasion when their squad gets the chance to relax a little, and while the others have gone off to enjoy the ample dinner laid out for them, him and Levi are still here in the sauna. Thankfully they’ve been seated a respectable distance from one another so far. Things are still new and unfamiliar between them, and now they’re here, naked, just the two of them.
“It’s getting longer,” Levi states as he reaches for the bottles of shampoo. “Scoot over, please.”
He does, clumsily, all the while holding on to his towel as if his life depends on it. Settling by Levi’s feet, he tries to relax as he feels skilled fingers combing through his hair. It’s hard, but thankfully nothing else is at the moment.
“You’re tense.” Levi presses his thumbs to the back of his neck and Eren all but moans out loud. “Relax a little.”
Through gritted teeth, he replies, “I’m trying.” Levi’s touched him before, of course, has braided his hair a couple of times and woven daisies into it. They’ve shared countless kisses, he’s even snuck out to sleep with Levi in his bed once on a particularly cold night, but this is different from any of that.
From where he’s seated, he’s very aware that Levi’s crotch is right behind him. It’s right there. He could just turn and plant his face into it.
Eren draws in a long breath, willing the tightness in his shoulders to unfurl. It does feel nice, having Levi lather up his hair and gently work through the knots along his lengths. “Do you think I should cut it?” he asks when the silence becomes too much to bear.
After considering it for a moment, Levi replies, “Don’t. It looks good on you.” He leans over to place a featherlight kiss against the skin of Eren’s shoulder, ticklish and tender and tempting all at the same time.
That’s another thing, too - whenever Levi pays him a compliment, whether it’s something light and casual or whispered into his ear in a reverent voice, he can’t help but to squirm in delight. It’s especially bad now, the heat of the sauna and Levi’s solid presence behind him making it even harder to keep his composure. He digs his nails into his thigh, only inches below from where the towel is covering him and tries to think of clean thoughts.
"You’re still tense,” Levi says as he moves to rinse off the suds. “Stop it."
The warm water cascading down on him relaxes Eren only a little. "Yeah, well. It’s kind of awkward,” he blurts out.
“How so?” His hands return to carding through Eren’s hair just for the sake of it.
“We’re naked,” he states, heat blooming across his face.
“We’ve been naked before, though,” Levi points out. They have, but it’s always been in the communal showers and often surrounded by other people, which is nowhere near as stressful as this.
Eren shrugs. “It feels different now.”
Levi’s hands come to rest on his shoulders, warm and steadying. “It doesn’t have to. I don’t expect anything from you that you’re not comfortable with.”
He can’t quite bring himself to give a name to the dizzying sensation that blooms in his chest at that. Maybe this is what love feels like, relaxed and warm and easy. Some of the tension coiled in his shoulders melts away as he lets himself lean further into Levi’s touch.
“I’m not uncomfortable,” he says. “Just a little nervous, I guess.”
“That’s fine.” With one last kiss placed on the top of Eren’s head, Levi shuffles over and moves to get up. “Let’s go and see if there’s any dinner left for us.”
Thankfully enough, there is, and as Eren grabs himself a second slice of bread, he casually tangles his legs with Levi’s under the table. No-one notices, not even when Levi raises a brow at him from across the table. There’s the barest hint of a smile on his lips, lingering there whenever Eren glances his way.
It’s a good look on Levi. He should smile more, Eren decides just then. Silently he vows to himself to make Levi smile as often as possible.
This is love, he realizes later that night when they’re laying tangled in Levi’s bed together and he’s tracing idle patterns across Levi’s back. Selfless, kind and ardent, countless shared little moments amongst an otherwise harsh existence. Though he can’t bring himself to say those three fateful words out loud, he mumbles them into the miniscule space between their bodies, hoping that one day he will get to shout them from the rooftops for all of humanity to hear.