this is my contribution for eruri secret santa, for @jacks-mom! i hope you like it! 🙂
Levi sighed through his nose. He gripped the steering wheel tighter, gritted his teeth, and reminded himself that he still had a few more stores to try before they all closed. He could still find something for Erwin before the afternoon was up.
He had already done all his good present ideas over previous Christmases and birthdays. Now here he was, on Christmas Eve, scrambling to find something while his husband was busy at church and hopefully not suspecting how little planning Levi had done for this. He didn’t know how he had allowed himself to put this off for so long, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. All the good stores closed at around six o’clock, and it was pushing five already.
Already racking his brain for possible gift ideas that wouldn’t be too shitty, Levi pulled into a local strip mall. Unsurprisingly, there were virtually no available parking spaces. He was only able to find one in a far corner of the lot that was half-swallowed by a puddle of slush. Levi wrinkled his nose as his snow boots (a gift from Erwin from last year) sank ankle deep into the wet, watery mess. Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself why he was here. His boots would survive, but he and Erwin’s holiday certainly wouldn’t if he didn’t get this done.
Levi darted into the nearest homegoods store as fast as he could without flat-out running. Not bothering to grab a basket or a cart, Levi walked through the different departments, worrying his lip and wondering what on Earth he should buy.
Shoes? No, I don’t know what size he wears. I got him pomade for his birthday, so I can’t do that twice in a row. Deodorant? That’d be sending a really bad message. He already has way too many ties… Shit, what do I do?!
Levi ran one hand through his hair, nearly frantic at this point, as he desperately went through option after option and came up empty. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, unlocked it, and felt a sinking feeling of despair as he saw that he’d been at the store for nearly thirty minutes. He haphazardly shoved his phone back into his pocket, looked around, and settled his eyes on the clearance rack.
Something there jumped out at him immediately: a scarf. Not just any scarf, no. One of the ugliest scarfs Levi had ever seen in his life. It was bright yellow with lime green and neon blue stripes, and as Levi walked closer to it, he could see that the wool it was made of was so thick that it gave the scarf a lumpy appearance. He ran his hand along it and was somewhat surprised at how soft and warm it was, despite how hideous it was to look at. It was exactly the kind of thing Levi could imagine Erwin wearing.
“Maybe I can play this off as a gag gift if he doesn’t like it.” he muttered.
The next morning, Levi was woken by the feeling of his husband’s large hand shaking his shoulder.
“Happy birthday, Levi.” Erwin said, “Want to head downstairs?”
Levi smiled sleepily at him. “Thanks. Yeah. Just… gimme a minute.”
“I’ll go make breakfast. Our gifts aren’t going anywhere.”
After Erwin left, Levi only took a few moments to wake up fully before he followed. Erwin was in the kitchen, fussing with their old coffee machine, and just down the hall, in full view, was their Christmas tree, and underneath it were the presents they’d received from friends and family and placed there themselves. Levi made himself a quick breakfast, not even waiting for Erwin to finish trying to get the coffee machine to work, pecked his husband on the cheek, then sat down in the living room to wait. His present to Erwin was currently hidden in the pantry, waiting until it was time to give it to him.
Finally, Erwin showed up with a cup of coffee and a piece of toast. “Let’s get started, shall we?” he asked.
The gifts from their family were pretty standard compared to other years, consisting of an IOU from Kenny and a set of jasperware china from Erwin’s parents. Mike and Nanaba sent pear-shaped bookends that had apparently been found at an antique store, and Moblit and Hange sent a replacement for the DVD that Hange had broken last summer (“SORRY”, the note said). Before they got to the rest of the gifts, Levi interrupted.
“Hey, let me go get what I got you.” He said. Before Erwrin could reply, he was gone and back in less than half a minute, the haphazardly-wrapped present in his hands.
“Here,” Levi said, “this is it.”
“Oh!” Erwin smiled and took the present, furrowing his brows slightly at how soft it was. He tore it open and his eyes immediately widened at the sight of the hideous wool pattern of the scarf. Pulling it out, Erwin held the scarf out to its full length, which was nearly as long as he was tall.
“It’s… a scarf.”
“You don’t like it?” Levi asked, his heart sinking.
“No! No, I mean, I do like it, just… look at what I got you. In the green bag.”
Apprehensively, Levi picked up a large green back, labeled TO LEVI, FROM ERWIN in large, neat handwriting. Pushing the tissue aside, he pulled out the gift: a brown-and-gray striped woolen—
“A scarf. We both got each other scarves.” Levi said, disbelieving.
“After the nativity play yesterday, I told you I had some business left to do at the church. I lied. I know that was wrong, but I just hadn’t gone shopping for you yet! So I went to whatever store that I could find that was open, and I thought this suited you,” Erwin explained.
“I was last minute shopping for you yesterday!” Levi said.
For a few moments, they merely stared at each other. Then, with a soft laugh, Erwin said, “Happy birthday, Levi.”
well i guess this is it 