Forever and Always

Chapter 25 - Monsters

Isabel and Farlan had left for the night so that they could go to some kind of club downtown. They needed a break from real life, Levi had explained once they were out the door. We had Poppy for the night. She had been relatively well behaved, but Levi and I both were pretty relieved when her bed time came around. We tucked her in and read her to sleep before tiptoeing back downstairs and making some tea.

I sat down at the kitchen table with a sigh while Levi filled a kettle.

"Why don't you just microwave it?" I asked him. "It's faster."

Levi immediately looked up at me with the most disgusted expression I had ever seen on his face. "What the fuck, Jaeger? Were you raised in a barn?" he whisper-shouted. "What kind of savage puts their tea in the microwave? I feel like I need a shower just hearing that. You're actually a monster."

"Okay then," I grumbled, rolling my eyes.

"I'm just playing, Eren. But seriously, never microwave your tea," Levi said with a sleepy smile. "Just boil the water and get on with it."

"Why?"

"The fact that I need to explain why deeply disturbs me. For one, it tastes better if you boil the water," Levi explained, reaching up to grab two mugs from the cupboard. "Two," he paused, searching for tea bags, "Where the fuck are the tea bags?"

I shrugged, but then a small box in the open pantry caught my eye. "Pantry," I replied.

Levi found a box of black tea and pecked my lips on his way back to the stove. "Thanks babe. You want sugar or milk or something?"

"Sure," I nodded. "However you drink it."

"You wouldn't like it how I drink it," Levi responded, putting some sugar into my mug while he waited for the water to boil. "I like black tea straight. Putting anything in it throws me off."

"Ew," I jeered. "That's disgusting."

"To each his own. Oh, joy, the water's boiling over," Levi noted monotonously as he rushed to take the kettle off the stove. "Cute," he muttered as he filled our mugs with scalding water. He pulled a paper towel from the roll and wiped up the mess. "Let that sit for a sec," he instructed, picking up our mugs by the rims and swiftly bringing them to the table before turning and throwing the paper towel into the trash can. He sat down across the table from me. "You want milk?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks," I answered, shaking my head. I didn't want him to get up again. I took the mug by the handle, gently blowing on it to cool it off. Levi picked his up by the rim and did the same. "Why do you hold it like that?" I asked.

"Had a handle break on me when I was like, six. Haven't recovered. Kenny lost his shit. Haven't dropped a teacup since."

"Oh," was all I could say.

"Yeah, kinda learned my lesson on that one," Levi chuckled, taking a small sip of his still burning tea. I widened my eyes looking at how Levi could possibly drink such a hot drink.

"Did you burn your tongue?" I asked. Levi shook his head.

"Why?"

"You just took a drink of that tea. I have to wait a lot longer before my mouth can handle it."

"Maybe you need to drink more tea, then," Levi suggested with a wink. 

We finished our tea silently, just enjoying each other's company before we cleaned up a little bit down stairs. We finished tidying and I followed him upstairs and into our room, closing the door behind us. Finally, we would have some alone time. Levi flopped onto the full size bed, smirking up at me with glittering eyes. I climbed over him, kissing him through a smirk of my own.