The Alpha and his Omega

Overseas Onsen [Marriage 8]

Sinking into the hot water, Levi let the heat from the natural spring soak into his tired muscles. Despite his stamina, the hike up Mount Fuji earlier in the day had been tiring, but utterly worth it; the view had been amazing. Japan was the first stop on their honeymoon. The alpha looked forward to the next few weeks, when it would be just Eren and him by themselves with no one to distract them. They had spent the last few days in Tokyo, visiting the Imperial Palace, trying the local delicacies, and sightseeing. The brat, of course, had his fortune told at the temple, but because it was in Japanese, they had to go home and painstakingly use Google Translate to make sense of it. Even then, the poetic style of writing made it difficult to understand.

The next stop after Japan would be Australia, and then Hawaii, before finally flying back home. They had travelled to Europe for Eren's graduation trip and the brat wanted to see the ocean, so this time their destinations were around the Ring of Fire.

As much as he liked the local delicacies, Levi had savored the expressions of awe and enjoyment coming from his mate much more. Admittedly, everywhere they went was amazing. The Japanese culture took great care in making sure things were arranged artistically and only the best service was given. A greater eye was also generally used to ensure things were cleaned, although still not quite up to the alpha's standards. It was just one of the drawbacks of travel, he supposed. So far, Eren had researched and made sure that they had the most exotic cuisine possible without being too far out there. From eel that was grilled right in front of their eyes, to the freshest sashimi cut in front of them, the omega never stopped raving about what they had seen and where they had gone. They had debated trying the puffer fish, but decided to forego it in the end, given the toxicity and possibility of being poisoned.

Aside from food, they had also visited the parks and temples. They were definitely different from ones he had seen before, but the alpha didn't really get what was so amazing about seeing them repeatedly. There wasn't any particular destination Levi had in mind; he really just wanted to be by his husband's side.

Eren, on the other hand, loved the sand and salt water, which was why it came as no surprise that they would be spending a majority of their honeymoon on the beach. There was at least one scuba diving excursion with the fishes in the coral reefs coming up. But they had decided to make their first stop in the Land of the Rising Sun, since Eren had always wanted to visit there after hearing Mikasa's stories.

The people, however, were not as welcoming as the sights were. Travelling as a gay couple would be trivial in Hawaii and Australia; LGBT rights and gay marriage were sanctioned and supported. It was like Europe, where they could easily hold hands – not that he did so frequently, although the brat enjoyed it – and embrace one another without fear of censure. There were some radicals that rallied against them, but all in all, homosexuals were a common sight in Europe, Australia, and North America. More than once, someone had commented on them being a cute couple. Levi thought at least one of those compliments was disingenuous, but unfortunately, nothing could be done about it.

It wasn't like the Japanese were homophobic. It was more that the culture was very traditional in segregating male and female roles. They weren't outwardly supportive, but the government didn't condemn them either. Homosexual rights and protections did exist to some extent, and again it wasn't so much any sort of homophobia, but rather differences in expression. Public displays of affection clashed with the collectivistic culture. The natives generally kept to themselves and were not outspoken, making it hard to tell what their thoughts were at times. For example, at the hot spring, or onsen as it was called in Japanese, resort where they were staying, one or two members of the staff had most likely seen something between them from the time he had carried Eren back from the hot springs, yet they were as courteous as always and acted like nothing was out of the ordinary.