Archive of Our Own

Well what a nice day to go out and spend a few hours shooting at your friends for fun. Sunny with a hint of cloud cover rolling by, warm enough to be bordering on stifling, and the occasional breeze sneaking through. Eren would have preferred a cooler temperature as he wasn’t nearly brave enough to leave any part of his body bare with the threat of fast-flying projectiles looming in the very near future, but seeing as he didn’t control the weather he’d just have to grin and bear it.

Or grimace and bear it. Yeah that was more like it.

Gravel crunched and Eren spun, eyebrows raised in surprise. He hadn’t heard anyone coming. A weathered man with skin like tanned leather and enough frown lines for half of Trost’s population stood several metres away. He nodded at Eren, the crown of his hairless head catching the sun.

“Hi.” Eren blurted out on instinct, not wanting to appear rude.

He received another nod for his troubles and the man spoke.

“I’m Instructor Keith. Does anyone in your group not know how to use a firearm?”

“Uh…no, we’re all good, thanks.”

Sunken eyes swept over the two boys in the parking lot, only Eren and Jean having shown up so far, and after a decidedly criticising stare Keith nodded again.

“Everything is ready; make sure everyone in your group is present for the introduction. We don’t want anyone getting shot in the face just because some knucklehead wasn’t around to hear the rules.”

Eren Jaeger straightened at the tone of the man’s voice and he suppressed an odd urge to salute. Maybe it was because the man was in some sort of uniform, dressed up for as near to war as one could get with paint for ammunition, or maybe it was the array of lines on his forehead that suggested this guy had gone through this procedure a bunch of times and knew what he was doing. Wherever the urge came from, Eren stifled it. He nodded back at the man, wondering where the usual guy Hannes was, and assured the instructor that the rest of their group would be arriving shortly.

“Yes, Sir. I’m sure everyone will be here soon.” Eren smiled, relieved when that was enough for the man to turn on his heel and begin to stride away.

He hoped so anyway. It would be no fun with just himself and Jean, as they were the only two currently present. Playing against a team of strangers was always a little less fun, too.

“Sure they will.” Jean muttered then, watching the instructor walking off to harass some of the other guests who had come out to go for a few rounds of friendly shooting at each other. “We all agreed to meet ten minutes ago. I bet someone’s ditched.”

Eren felt his mouth turn down. It was a possibility, much as he wanted to outright deny the thought. Their group of friends were so rarely free at the same time and it made organising events like this a real pain in the butt. But it was worth the brief aggravation to be able to see everyone together again.

“Do you have to be so positive all the time? Geez, it’s practically smothering.” Eren deadpanned, resisting an urge to throw something at his friend, like one of the pebbles at his feet or maybe something heavier like his whole body.

But this was not the time to start a brawl. When the others showed up, and they would show up, they would need all the energy that they could muster. Eren had even let Levi, amazing boyfriend and health freak extraordinaire, convince him to down one of his homemade fitness smoothie concoctions for breakfast with the sole intention of retaining as much energy as he could for today’s match. If that’s even what those did. Maybe Eren had just been feeling optimistic.

He vowed to never let Levi convince him to do so again. Ever. Healthy or not, there was nothing natural about drinking your breakfast. And the taste. Good Christ, the taste. He should have known that anything remotely close to the colour of baby vomit would have tasted as vile as it looked.

It was best not to think too much about it. Doing so made Eren feel a bit queasy.

But seriously, where the hell was everyone? Had they all slept in? Had someone’s tire blown? Eren knew that he had been a bit early in his preparations when he was actually awake as Levi had been heading out on his morning run but hell, enthusiasm was usually a good sign. The brunet knew that Levi was coming along with the rest of his friends, and they all lived separately so they at least had somewhat of an excuse. Ymir was supposed to bring Christa from her morning yoga class. It couldn’t have been that hard, really.

And yet here they were, Eren and Jean, standing around like a pair of ditched prom dates. They were supposed to have six other people there so that they could play in teams of four. Levi was bringing some of his old squad, Oluo, Eld and Gunther, and they would be playing against Jean, Christa, Ymir, and Eren. That was the idea at least. At this point it was beginning to look like it would be just Jean and Eren taking out their frustration on one another.

That could be fun. Not very helpful of their situation, though. Best to resist temptation.

Eren’s nerves were already worn thin by the late August heat and swarms of mosquitoes using him for an early morning snack. Smacking the heel of his palm against the back of his other hand, Eren rid the world of at least one of the tiny flying monstrosities. He tried to take their interest as a compliment from nature; at least he knew he wasn’t only appealing to Levi. Add the swarm of biting parasites to the stifling, muggy air and Eren found himself more than ready to start taking out opponents. His hands twitched by his sides, eager to feel the weight of a paintball gun in them. He refused to pick up the weapon, however, because he had a feeling that if he was actually holding it he might shoot Jean if he started to complain again. Instead, Eren watched the surrounding carpark and the foliage around them, his eyes focusing in on shrubbery and trees as if he were searching for opponents. The wait was maddening.

Just when the brunet thought he couldn’t be any more irritated, Jean started whining. “Why’d you have to bring your boyfriend?”

Good thing he wasn’t holding his gun.

'Cos I want to see him running around shooting your sorry ass. Eren sighed, putting aside the several scathing comments that first sprang into his mind in favour of something more civil.

“We needed an extra player.” The brunet reminded Jean, the other having told Eren that one of their usual team wouldn’t be able to make it.

Jean glanced over with a frown. “Not anymore, I told you Marco is coming now.” The ashbrown spoke up, tone accusing like he already expected Eren to go on the defensive. And he was right.

Eren pivoted to fully face his friend, surprise crossing his features only to be swiftly replaced by an incredulous expression.

“What?!” Eren exclaimed. Shit, fuck. And Eren had gone out of his way to convince (more like beg) his boyfriend to come along and join their day of paintball.

“Yeah,” Jean nodded in affirmation, crouching to inspect the ground for no apparent reason, “his shift got taken so he’s coming to vent through blissful, shoot ‘em up style rage.”

Ah. Well that explained it.

“Oh.” Was all that Eren had to say about that. Well Christ, Levi’s gonna be pissed at me now.

It had been tough going even convincing the raven to merely consider the idea of playing with Eren and his friends. Levi had listened to the younger man’s whiny pleas and snorted at the many attempts to use his famous puppy-eyed trick to win the raven over, but Levi was a tough nut to crack. He didn’t even have to make excuses, simply pointing out that shooting at your friends sounded ridiculous any way you put it and should be considered a stupid waste of time.

“A stupid, fun waste of time?”

“Eren, no.”

“Eren, yes.”

Although Levi always smirked at the brunet while he said those sorts of things, so Eren took to assuming that the older male was joking and that there was hope still that he could be convinced.

“Hey, Levi-”

“No, Eren.”

“Awww.”

Eren had all but begged Levi to join them for a day of paintball, not wanting to be stuck with Jean and his bragging. It would be fun to be able to see Levi out on the field, weapon in hand and relying on hunter’s instincts to take out the opposition. The predatory imagery made for several bouts of spontaneous seduction attempts on Eren’s part.

Levi hadn’t been sure whether to be amused or confused. It would have been comical if Eren hadn’t been so wholly consumed in trying to convince his partner to bone him.

His boyfriend was a former Ranger, and Eren would be straight up lying if he said he wasn’t turned on by the thought of seeing Levi in camouflage. Or nothing at all, but those were thoughts for another time.

The raven still had his old gear and Eren was sure that Levi would easily be able to assemble some appropriate attire for a paintball outing. The brunet had heard enough of the stories about Levi and his squad’s adventures when they came over to visit, reminiscing about old events after demolishing a case or two of Dos Equis or Corona by their open-pit fire in the backyard. Ok, well, they reminisced while Eren listened with bated breath and Levi sat silently next to him, his only contribution to the conversation consisting of either a snort or a ‘tch’. The more Eren heard, the more he wanted to see Levi in action. The most he’d ever seen of that side of Levi had been through a few rare (but mind-blowing) seduction attempts from the raven himself. Eren’s personal favourite memory of Levi’s wild side was of the one time they had played what Levi liked to refer to as ‘adult tag’ which had the exact same rules as normal tag only the game ends with a thorough fucking against the nearest available surface-and those really were thoughts for another time...like the bedroom. Or the kitchen or really anywhere on the floor where there wasn’t carpet and shit, there he went again.

Good times...although their neighbours would probably beg to differ. Whoops.

Levi was very rarely like that, though, and Eren wondered what it would be like to see his boyfriend in action without an end goal of sex dangling in the near future. Well...that would certainly be there, too. Eren wouldn’t pass up such a rare opportunity. And now his chance was in sight, even if Levi would probably be a little irritated to find out that he was being replaced. Getting Levi to agree to show up had taken a week of extra cleaning and multiple blowjobs before he’d been able to wear his boyfriend’s resistance down. Now, all his hard work had been for naught.

Jean’s getting one in the nutsack for this, teammate or not.

What if Levi shot them all in a vengeful rage? What if he shot them just for the hell of it?

Oh sweet fucking Christ. They were so doomed.

“Oi, Eren.” 

The brunet spun around at the sound of his name. Man, he was really out of it today; this was the second time that someone had been able to sneak up on him.

And there he was.

“H-Hey, Levi.”

Wow, the man really didn’t get any less intimidating no matter how much time Eren spent around him. It really was one hundred percent not fair.

Eren’s bad mood dissipated into thin air the moment he laid eyes on his boyfriend, then returned when he remembered he had to explain the situation to him. Before he could open his mouth, Mike, Oluo, Eld, and Gunther emerged from Levi’s car behind him. All five of them were carrying matching black duffel bags and wore their digital woodland ACUs, olive balaclavas around their necks and black fingerless gloves on their hands. Eren blinked away from Levi in an effort to distract himself and avoid salivating. He stared at Oluo’s face until the urge to pounce on his boyfriend subsided.

“I didn’t know Mike was coming.” Eren said, eyeing the mammoth of a man unpacking gear from the car.

From his place by the car, Mike aimed a lazy wave in Eren’s direction. The brunet returned it with a little smile.

Levi shrugged. “He was free and it’s been ages since we’ve all been out together. If it’s going to mess up your team we can go face off against some of the other twerps here. Show them that it takes more than first person shooter skills to win in a real fight.”

Eren was half-listening, adding up numbers in his head. He wasn’t disappointed with the result.

“Actually…uh, it won’t mess up our numbers.”

Levi raised one eyebrow. “No?”

“No, Jean just decided to tell me that Marco can make it after all. I was actually worried about disappointing you with the news but this is perfect! Teams of five will be better.”

“I’m glad we didn’t ruin your day.”

Once the other’s showed up they could have their own private five-on-five games. No chance of idiot ten year olds ruining formations or shooting their own teammates because they got trigger happy. Last time they played with mixed teams some little punk managed to light Eren up with paint from his waist to the backs of his hands when he’d raised his weapon over his head to show he was out. The marks from the paintballs had lasted a week and hurt like a bitch.

Two more cars arrived, and the rest of Jean and Eren’s team piled out of them. Ymir, Christa, and Marco grabbed their own gear and joined the others. His own side was dressed in a careful mix of either camouflage or varying shades of greens and browns so they didn’t stick out like sore thumbs against the forest. Kirschtein, of course, was decked out in all the latest equipment on the market, including a full face mask resembling a black skull. He must have thought he’d look badass, and it probably would have looked pretty cool on anyone else, but on the ashbrown it only managed to make him look silly.

Jean had started pestering Levi’s teammates about the equipment they’d brought moments after they had arrived, comparing paintball gun specs and their pros and cons. Hearing the lingo tumbling from Jean’s mouth where it came so effortlessly from the rest of the guys made Eren want to laugh but he found himself cringing more often than not. It was a truly painful display. It was clear that Jean was trying and failing to suck up Levi’s team, fanboying all over them when they started assembling their weapons.

“Oooh, is that the Milsig Paralite?”

“How do you like the magazine-fed ones? I’ve always used the hopper-fed myself.”

“Do they feel different?”

“Do you have problems with jamming? I got the Tippmann A5 Special Edition because the last time I played with the range’s gun it kept jamming on me. Plus I like how it looks like an MP5, heh.”

“Have you ever used a real MP5? What’s it-”

“For fuck’s sake, Jean.” Eren looked over with a roll of his eyes and shook his head. “You’re freaking them out. Take a fucking breath for Christ’s sake.”

Levi snickered. Mike’s eyes had slowly widened in panic during the rapid-fire question assault, and he flicked a grateful look at Eren even while smiling at Jean’s enthusiasm. Oluo and the rest took Jean in stride, having heard about Jean’s hard-on for all things military from Eren before.

It was easily one hundred percent funnier in person than in description.

Ymir and Christa walked over to Eren and Levi while Marco dragged Jean away with a few good-natured words about not scaring the natives that had Levi snorting in suppressed laughter.

The tall brunette playfully punched Eren in the arm, part of the rough affection that she showed everyone except Christa.

“So, are we gonna get this party started, or do we have to listen to you ladies bitch about your periods all morning?” The brunette asked, her trademark smirk in place across thin lips.

Eren managed a dry comment in return, side-eyeing the raven at his side when he felt brief, murderous vibes emanating from the smaller man. When Eren actually glanced Levi’s way, though, the raven was on his best behaviour; only his narrowed eyes gave away that he was sizing up Ymir as an opponent.

Levi cocked an eyebrow at her, silently daring her to punch his boyfriend again. Ymir was no stranger to that sort of appraisal and somehow, without changing a thing, she managed to come off twice as cocky as before. Before it could escalate Christa jumped between her girlfriend and Levi and introduced herself.

“Hi, I’m Christa, and she’s Ymir, my girlfriend.” The blonde announced in a bright tone, eyes locked on Eren in a silent plea for help.

Ymir just crossed her arms and nodded at Christa’s words.

Eren shook his head fondly, well used to this sort of behaviour from both his friend and partner. It was interesting to see them both together.

“This is Levi.” The brunet introduced his boyfriend when Levi remained silent, engaging in some sort of intense staring contest where the winner took the loser’s soul. “He and his friends will be playing against ours today.” Levi mirrored Ymir, crossing his own arms and nodding up at her.

“It’ll be a pleasure to shoot you.” He stated without a hint of inflection in his tone.

Eren flinched.

Ymir’s smirk stretched into a grin eerily reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat. “Not if I shoot you first, shorty.”

“Height isn’t an advantage in this arena.” Levi pointed out, aiming a finger gun at Ymir’s forehead and watching her grin slip a fraction. “You kids are in my territory now. Don’t forget it.”

He mimed pulling the trigger.

Eren wasn’t sure whether to intervene or find some popcorn.

A whistle sounded and several of the paintball range’s employees walked toward the group. And just like that Levi turned on his heel and the tension in the air evaporated as though it had never existed. With an audible ‘phew’ and a visible slump in his shoulders, Eren pulled at Levi’s sleeve to hold him back while the others strode off to listen to the introduction speech.

When Levi turned to him in confusion, Eren gave him a peck on the lips.

He smiled. “Thank you for showing up.”

Levi raised an eyebrow. “No problem. You did ask me to.”

“I know. But I also know you weren’t really into the idea, and I wanted you to know I appreciate this.”

Then it was Levi stretching up to kiss him, but somewhere in the brief tangle of arms that followed the raven grabbed Eren’s butt the brunet yelped in surprise.

Shit, not there. Not yet.

He squirmed then and shifted away.

“Oh, what’s this?” A hint of curiosity lined Levi’s mostly amused tone. “You’ve never minded me grabbing your ass in public before.”

Eren blushed, shying away from the playfully searching hands. “It’s nothing. Just surprised me is all.”

Levi arched a questioning eyebrow at him, but before he could continue the whistle blew again. “Gather ‘round, everyone. It’s time to get started, so we need to make sure you all know the rules.”

Levi crept one hand around behind the back of Eren’s neck, tugging the brunet down so that he didn’t have to stretch up to speak in his ear.

“By the way, my spare ACUs look great on you.” The raven purred, pressing a quick kiss to the younger man’s ear.

He looked Eren up and down, biting the corner of his lip before winking at him.

Oh God fuck me. Literally, please. Like, right fucking now.

Levi walked away to join the others, and Eren stared hard at his boyfriend’s ass for several seconds before looking away, trying to calm down and distract himself from the thought of stripping the onyx-haired man right then and there.

There was a time and a place, a time and a place, Eren, focus. This is not the time and it’s definitely not the place. Calm down.

He shifted his hips again, feeling the plug he’d filled himself with earlier nudge his prostate, and he suppressed a groan. It was Levi’s favourite to use on him, which is why he’d specifically chosen it for a surprise ‘thank you’ car-sex session after the day’s activities. Six inches of thick, black silicone were held in place by a wide base to keep him stretched, while the tip brushed his prostate in the most delicious ways every time he took a step. Eren knew he would be a trembling mess before the day was over, exactly the way he knew Levi preferred him.

And yeah, maybe that hadn’t been such a great idea considering that he would be running around trying to shoot people in a few minutes. Eren wasn’t about to back down from the challenge he’d set himself, though. He’d wanted to let Levi know that it had meant a lot for him to have come along despite his initial protests, and this was certainly something that Levi would not expect. It had taken Eren a good thirty minutes and most of a tube of lubrication, but he’d gotten it in without waking Levi. Somehow. Christ only knew how Levi hadn’t noticed. Eren had to bite his tongue to the point of pain to keep himself from making a sound and he was not going to throw all that hard work away. It would be a tough run today but Eren Jaeger had always loved a challenge. He gritted his teeth as he joined the others, having finally gained control of his errant thoughts.

Time to focus.

Mr. Hannes, the range’s owner, ran through the list of do’s and don’ts concerning the facilities, as well as the location of the bathrooms and vending machines. Lunch was included in the all-day package and everyone would break around noon for an hour as well as a couple smaller breaks throughout the day. Copies of maps detailing the six paintball arenas were passed around while the teams finished donning their gear and filling their hoppers and magazines with their chosen paintballs. Eren snorted at Jean, since not only had he brought all his military fanboy paintball equipment, he’d clearly gone out and bought a brand new set of ACUs for the occasion. Eren knew he already owned five different sets, so why Jean had felt the urge to buy yet another was beyond him. That was, until he caught the way Jean was helping Marco with his gear. He was almost...tender. If he hadn’t been watching it himself, Eren wouldn’t have believed that Jean had a caring bone in his body. Filing the information away to use against Jean in the future, he stood next to Levi and finished topping off his own hopper with his team’s blue paintballs.

“You ready to get owned out there?” He murmured in Levi’s direction, a playful smile tweaking at the corner of his lips.

There was no way Eren was getting to the end of the day paint-free.

He heard the older male snort at his words, not taking them seriously at all.

“Sure, twerp. I’m sure I’ll bow to your obvious supremacy.” The raven smirked, leaning closer to nudge Eren with his elbow. “All those hours of Halo can’t have been for nothing, hm?”

“Har har,” Eren rolled his eyes in a playful fashion. “Don’t underestimate me or you’ll never see my surprise butt shot coming.” He joked, waggling his eyebrows at the raven.

Levi blinked. The corner of his mouth twitched in a way that Eren had long since learned meant that he was struggling not to laugh.

“I’m going to ignore the fact that you said ‘surprise butt’ just now.” Levi said at last.

Eren flushed but chuckled anyway.

“You’re so mature.” He smirked, pausing when the other man stepped nearer. “What’s up?”

Levi leaned in close to him and murmured into his ear. “Listen, a word of advice.”

“I’m all ears.”

“I know you know how good these guys are.” Levi began in a serious tone, watching Eren nod in solemn agreement. “We’ve agreed to take it easy on you all so that everyone has a good time.”

Eren raised an eyebrow, opening his mouth to speak, but Levi held up his hands in a plea to be allowed to explain.

“We aren’t here to prove anything.” The raven got out when Eren closed his mouth once more, waiting. “That said, we’re not going to look like assholes either. Each of us has our specialties, and we plan on playing to our strengths as a team. I’m the fastest, so I’ll most likely be the one going for the flag or performing any other offensive manoeuvres. Mike’s always been our sniper. He’s the best at sniffing out tactics and using them against opponents, pun intended. If I fall, Oluo will be right behind me picking up the slack.”

“If anyone shoots you, you’ll hear me slow-clapping in the distance.” Eren said, only partly sarcastic.

The wry look that Levi sent his way had the brunet shutting up quickly enough.

“Finally, Eld and Gunther will be on defence. They’re a matched pair and can basically read each other’s minds. Your offense won’t see them unless they want to be seen.”

“Well thanks for telling me your strategy.” The brunet murmured, a teasing lilt infecting his tone.

Grey eyes swivelled round to meet teal and Eren’s smile faded. “If you think knowing how we operate will help you win, then I’ve got news for you, sweetheart. And you won’t like it.”

Eren gulped, holding up his hands in a placating gesture, only partly relieved when Levi chuckled and leaned up to peck the corner of his mouth.

As Levi stepped back, he handed something over to the brunet. “Use these.” Levi said, making sure that the younger man had a good grip on the objects before he let go. “They’ll help level the playing field for your team.”

Confused, Eren looked down at his hand with a little frown and found a bag there. He took a peek inside and bit back a shocked bark of laughter. He looked back at Levi.

He couldn’t have been serious.

A moment passed. A long, silent moment. Levi wasn’t laughing. He wasn’t even blinking.

Levi was completely serious.

It was a bag of smoke grenades. Several phrases wove their way through Eren’s mind, things like ‘well fuck’, ‘game face’, and ‘shit just got real’ being some of the first ones. “I’m not even going to ask.” Eren said with a slow shake of his head, tucking the bag under one arm. When he looked up next, Levi was smirking.

“You look like a rabbit about to go a few rounds with a pack of foxes.”

“Oh, do I? Really? ‘Cos that’s exactly how I feel.” Eren laughed.

“They’re not like proper grenades, Eren. You’re not going to accidentally blow someone to smithereens.”

“I know. Stop laughing at me.”

“Hey.” Levi’s voice was quieter and it got Eren’s attention. When he looked over, Levi was almost smiling. “Don’t worry. They won’t hand you a win, but you’re gonna need all the help you can get even if we’re playing nice. Now, get out there and make me proud.” The raven’s smirk returned and he made to stride off, landing a playful smack to the brunet’s rump as he passed.

A very audible yelp escaped Eren before he could bottle the sound up and the younger man tried to play it off as best he could even as he felt Levi’s curious-but-bordering-on-suspicious gaze boring holes into the back of his head.

More likely Levi was just staring at his ass and wondering why his boyfriend was so jumpy today.

Eren couldn’t wait to see Levi’s face when he found out.

If he could last that long. Jesus.

Levi had sauntered over to join his teammates and discuss their plan of attack, leaving Eren with a few moments of breathing space to get his forming boner to calm down for now. Christ, he would never be able to play paintball again after this, he just knew it.

Ymir yelled across the edge of the field. “Hey, Space Cadet, you gonna join us or what?”

Eren looked around and realized everyone had left him behind. Flushing with embarrassment, he walked as quickly as he could to where his team was taking the field. First up was Capture the Flag and the arena of choice was an area of woods, not so dense as to put players at risk of getting lost but not so sparse that there was no cover.

The brunet donned his own balaclava and mask, securing the bag of grenades to his belt and checking to see how many there were before deeming it a good idea to share the secret advantage. He passed several around to Jean and Marco, since they were taking point and could obscure a larger portion of the field as they moved forward. Eren was taking defence along with Christa, leaving Ymir to act as a Lone Ranger. They knew from experience to let Ymir do as she pleased, since trying to get her to agree to any one plan usually resulted in disaster.

Once each team had lined up across the wooded patch of forest used for Capture the Flag, Hannes climbed to his perch in a guard tower-like structure and blew his whistle. Smoke rose almost immediately from a grenade lobbed by Jean, obscuring the battlefield for most of the other players. Eren and Christa darted for better cover, crouching in their new concealment, well hidden in between bushes of holly and gorse. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to be waiting for an extended period of time, but it also wasn’t the most obvious place to look for defensive players. To top it off the spot provided them with a good view of the area surrounding the flag.

They could hear gunfire and ducked down into their hollows. Someone had apparently come in contact with someone else and they were currently exchanging paint. He heard Jean swear and had to suppress laughter.

Serves him right. Fucking ammosexual wannabe.

The woods grew quiet again. Birdsong drifted down from the higher canopy. Eren’s ears strained to hear the slightest sounds; the rustling of underbrush or the snapping of a twig underfoot. Nothing. It was eerily quiet. Eren could hear Christa’s breathing so acutely that he actually asked her if she could keep it down just in case one of their enemy players heard the sound as well. The other team either weren’t moving or were being stealthy as cats.

Smoke from another grenade drifted closer and Christa started fidgeting in place.

The blonde leaned a little closer to Eren but her eyes never stopped surveying the flag. “Psst. Eren.” She all but breathed and the brunet was actually impressed with how quiet she was being. “How are we going to see them coming through all this?”

That was a good question. Eren was beginning to understand now why Levi had said that just because they had smoke grenades didn’t mean that they would have an automatic victory. Or even an advantage. Before that, they had to use them right.

Eren was about to answer Christa’s question when a figure burst forth from between the trees, smoke swirling around him as he advanced. Eren snapped his mouth shut to trap in what would have been an outrageously girly scream that he would have totally blamed on Christa and focused instead on who was advancing.

It was Levi. And he had seen them. Those fierce eyes didn’t miss a thing. The raven raised his paintball gun and fired within seconds of emerging, narrowly missing his boyfriend’s chest as Eren threw himself to one side. Levi mirrored the action in a roll and disappeared behind a fallen log.

Christa fired a couple of shots at the log, trying to draw Levi out, but he didn’t move. Nothing moved. Quiet reigned again, punctuated this time by the harsh breathing from Eren and Christa as they calmed down from the sudden action.

Something clicked and as Eren looked up another smoke grenade came flying through the air, launched over the top of the log where Levi was taking cover. It landed, sitting almost directly in front of Eren, and the brunet was forced to dive out of his cover and move position before he gagged on the thick vapour that escaped the contraption. He rolled out from under the bush and stood, preparing to move to a better position when he felt three rounds hit him on his back.

Damn, Levi was fast. Eren hadn’t even had time to get proper footing.

“I’m out!” Eren said quickly, raising his weapon in surrender and making his way off to one side of the field.

“Not cool, babe!” He shouted back across the field with a grin, waiting to see if Levi would take the bait.

“No hard feelings, sweetheart.” Came the answering call, moments before the raven-haired man darted out from behind the log and made a grab for their flag.

And succeeded. He snagged the blue cloth and turned like lightning, already preparing to sprint away and get the enemy flag back to his team’s camp when a flash of blonde appeared.

Christa flew out from the smoke looking more badass that Eren had ever seen her. With a focused frown, she pulled the trigger once and only once. The shot nailed Levi on his right calf and the raven let out a hiss of disappointment, waving in respect to the tiny girl that had gotten the better of him.

“I’m out!” Levi stated loud enough for any of Eren’s team to hear. “Oluo, you’re up!”

There were cheers from the distance and Jean and Marco whooped their congratulations to whoever had managed to get Levi out.

From his spot on the sidelines, Eren slow-clapped. Promise kept.

Levi raised his rifle over his head and exited the battlefield, striding over to Eren with a look that counted as sheepish for Levi and no one but Levi. Only the Stoic Prince could make such a blank expression look sheepish. He slung an arm around the brunet’s waist in silent apology when he reached him and Eren chuckled under his breath, keeping his eyes trained on Christa.

She had done well to get Levi but the round wasn’t over yet and she was the only one left on defence. Smoke still poured from the last grenade, the one thrown by Levi, and the blonde was forced to move her position to escape being blinded by the billowing cloud. She was just getting situated when another figure tore into the area, weapon raised and ready to fire at the first thing that moved.

It was Oluo this time and Christa was nowhere near ready. She shot anyway, managing to fire in the right direction, but her shot went wide and missed. A second later paint splattered across her hip and she exhaled in defeat, calling “I’m out, guys” and trotting over to Eren and Levi on the sidelines.

Back in the field, Oluo ran to the blue flag where Levi had dropped it upon being shot and the ashen-haired man snatched up the enemy flag. He turned and darted off, vanishing back into the smoke from whence he came to take the flag back to his camp.

Eren and Christa cried out with disappointment but they were both grinning, already whispering away about what they might do next time while they waited for Hannes to call out that the red team had won.

“We are so fucked.” Eren mumbled to himself.

Christa nodded in agreement. Off to one side Levi was nodding too.

A ‘pop’ of gunfire sounded, followed by a wet splat and a resounding “Fuck!” from Oluo. A second later Marco’s voice could be heard cheering from across the field.

Eren’s eyebrows rose up in surprise and for a moment he couldn’t think of anything to say. Then Christa’s deafening cheer sounded beside him, answering Marco’s cry and encouraging him on. Without much else to do, Eren whooped loudly and shouted for his friends to keep going.

Levi gave a thoughtful hum at his side. “Not so fucked after all.” He muttered, smirking at Eren when the brunet flushed at the raven’s choice of wording. “You all aren’t nearly as bad as you made out. We may have to step up our game.” Levi’s smile turned predatory as the taller man flushed further.

“I didn’t try to lie about our skill;” Eren assured the raven, “compared to you professionals we do suck.”

Levi hummed in agreement. “Maybe, but this definitely isn’t your first time out here.” He observed.

More movement caught their attention as well as Christa’s and the little blonde gave a loud shriek of encouragement when Ymir came into view with the opposing team’s flag gripped tightly in her hand. She sprinted around trees like a panther chasing down its prey, although it became clear that in this case she was the hunted one rather than the hunter. Gunther came through next, hot on her heels and bringing his weapon to bear, but the freckled brunette closed her free hand around her team’s flagpole, signalling the end of the game.

“We…won?” Eren mumbled, wide-eyed and disbelieving.

“We won!” Christa shouted in joyful agreement.

She jumped up and ran to her girlfriend, planting a celebratory kiss on her lips as Ymir held the flag aloft.

She turned cheeky eyes on Levi, playful orbs zeroing in on the splatter of paint decorating his leg.

“Looks like I’ll be getting in the first shot out of the two of us if even sweet Christa could take you out without a fuss.” Ymir laughed, but the sound was good-natured. She turned to Christa with a more genuine smile. “You did good. I’m proud.”

“Gross.” Levi muttered, observing the doe-eyed gazes of the pair of girls.

When Ymir turned to say something back, however, the raven snatched hold of Eren waist and yanked the brunet close, catching his surprised cry in a kiss that was in no way suitable for public.

“Gross yourself.” Ymir chuckled, sauntering off with Christa to find their other teammates to celebrate their first victory.

Breaking the kiss, Levi chuckled at a dazed Eren before he glanced at Gunther where the man was still standing.

He shrugged when the raven finally looked at him. “I tripped, and she took advantage.” Gunther explained. “Won’t happen again.”

Levi nodded at him. He reminded himself that they were here to have fun, not shit all over Eren’s friends for some glory.

Hannes blew his whistle twice, signalling the end of Capture the Flag. “Congratulations to the Blue Team for winning that round. Next we have Defend the Fort. Who wants to defend, and who wants to attack?”

Eren looked at Jean as the other boy emerged from the fading smoke. “I’d rather defend, if it’s all the same to you.”

Jean opened his mouth to protest, then closed it. He gave Eren a funny look and the brunet was preparing some longwinded excuse when Christa spoke up and saved him.

“That’s fine.” The blonde said with a nod and a smile. “We can handle that if we work as a team.”

Ymir and Marco nodded, filled with confidence after their win.

“That’s my Christa!” Ymir crowed, flinging an arm around the smaller girl’s shoulders. “Ready for anything!”

Eren sighed in relief and thanked whatever gods had come to his rescue. The truth was, the less running he was made to do, the better. He felt awkward enough walking with the plug inside. If he was forced to run…Eren didn’t think he could take it.

“That leaves Red Team attacking.” Hannes announced. “Take fifteen minutes to grab water and use the restroom, then we’ll head over to the fort.”

The group did just that, heading over in one, large pack and chatting about how the first round had gone. Gunther and Eld were talking to Jean in tones that sounded vaguely impressed and the ashbrown was basking in the attention, but for once he wasn’t talking himself up like an asshole so Eren didn’t say anything to bring him down. They had all done well to win against a team like Levi’s and the brunet found himself talking to Mike on the way over to the restrooms to get water. The big man gave Eren some tips about grounding his feet and finding cover that allowed him to remain out of the line of fire but that didn’t impede his view or ability to fire. Eren thanked him.

They arrived last and Eren was pulled from his conversation with Mike by the sound of Levi’s voice.

“Fuck, it’s hot out today.”

The brunet looked up in time to see Levi unbuttoning his top and stripping out of it.

Please, God, no.

And then the raven started fanning himself absently, of all things.

Christ almighty, get me a few palm fronds and I’ll fan him myself.

Eren stopped in his tracks at the sight of his heavily muscled boyfriend clad only in a tight black tank top and his ACU trousers, pushing his damp, inky locks back with one hand as he sipped from the water bottle held in the other. It was like he’d stepped right out of one of Eren’s wet dreams, and he immediately shot hard.

Fuck.

Well there went all his hard work at not popping a boner. Just great.

Before anyone noticed his predicament Eren took a seat on the ground, resting his arms on his knees and hunching over to hide his blatant arousal. He winced slightly as the plug brushed his prostate, making him leak a small amount of pre-come into his boxers.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.

He tried to act casual while taking a sip from his water bottle, but his hands were shaking slightly and he cursed himself, checking as subtly as he could to make sure that no one had taken notice of his strange behaviour. And, low and behold, the one person Eren really didn’t need to notice his strange behaviour caught his gaze.

Levi looked over at him as he put his top back on, his expression one part concerned and one part confused. He raised an eyebrow – a silent question to make sure the brunet was okay – and Eren waved him off, acting like nothing was the matter.

It was a miracle in itself when he managed to get back to being half-hard by the time their short break ended.

Here we go again.

With the break over, round two would begin. Hannes led the way to the arena for Defend the Fort, quickly going over the rules for everyone before ushering them off on their separate ways.

Eren’s Blue team climbed into the fort structure. It had a box shaped middle section surrounding a flagpole, with two turrets at the front corners, arrow slits in the middle, and two ramps on either side of the structure. To successfully assault the structure, Levi’s team would have to take out all members of the other team then grab the flag from the middle of the fort. Various barricades were strewn about in the field below the fort to provide cover for the advancing party. Eren’s team would have to take advantage of the moments where the other team left their cover to advance if they were going to successfully defend it and win.

The scenario gave Eren brief flashbacks to the time he’d tried to play Five Nights At Freddy’s where he’d chickened out two nights in and spent the whole night cuddling Levi and cursing made-up characters.

This would be better, though, Eren was sure. He had a gun this time and even if Levi and his squad made it to their fort they weren’t going to do anything but put a little paint on them. No need to worry. Right?

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

It was a massacre. Eren’s team watched as the former Rangers moved like vipers through the obstacles, never leaving more than a second or two of vulnerability while moving closer to their target. It was downright terrifying to be perfectly honest. The closer the enemy team got to the fort, the stronger the tension grew until Eren caught his hands shaking and had to take a second to calm down.

Any time there was a large gap that one of the red team had to move through, Mike’s sniper fire and Eld’s smoke grenades kept Eren’s team from doing little more than cowering behind wooden barricades. They tried talking strategy but none of their plans could account for every challenge that they were posed with.

And then the others were on them.

Levi and Oluo attacked from either side before the team knew they were even there, and all five of them went down, shot right in line with their centre mass.

They couldn’t even find it within themselves to complain. All five of them were too awestruck to respond, until Jean popped up, eyes lit with excitement. “My God, you all moved like wraiths! Teach us how to do that! Please!”

Eren couldn’t even make a sarcastic remark about overenthusiastic fanboying; he was too busy concentrating on not getting aroused at the sight of a tousled Levi who had only moments ago been wild-eyed and feral. Now he stood calm as ever, checking his gun and watching Oluo showing off in front of Jean.

Levi smirked at the boy’s eagerness. “Wanna switch up and attack us this time?”

Jean paled a little. “Uh…” He looked at his friends, suddenly bereft of his excitement.

Oluo imitated Levi’s smirk. “It’s all right kid. We promise, no headshots. We’ll make it fair and aim for legs only.”

For a long moment everyone was silent. Gunther and Eld appeared, followed by Mike. They were quiet as ever.

Christa spoke up at last, surprising everyone. “We’ll do it.” She said with a firm nod.

Ymir looked down at her girlfriend with pride. “That’s my baby girl. She’ll put you all to shame.”

Levi nodded. “All right then, round two for this arena.”

He looked over at Hannes, who had his whistle ready. With a wave to acknowledge that they would be going again, the teams headed to their respective positions on the battlefield and waited for his signal.

It was a little more overcast now and Jean uttered a relieved “thank you” to the sky. Eren had to agree it was much nicer without the sun constantly bearing down on them and he settled as the others spoke about how they were going to win this.

“I think we should just go for it.” Ymir said first. “Charge as far as we can in one go, before they can get their bearings.”

Jean seemed to be considering a similar option himself.

“They would probably not see something like that coming.” The ashbrown murmured in agreement.

Marco shook his head. “These guys are pros; I think it’s safe to say that they’re going to be ready to handle whatever we throw at them.”

Whatever we throw at them. Hmm…

Eren mulled over Marco’s words while Christa said something in agreement with him.

“If we can get someone close enough, then they can throw some of the smoke grenades to provide cover for the last run.” Eren spoke up, waiting for his team to pay attention. “If we could use one well-aimed grenade to get some initial cover, just to get people to a reasonable distance. Then for the final hurdle toss down a bunch of them, get as close to the fort as we can, and in the confusion some of us might just make it.”

Marco nodded. “It’d give us the element of surprise.”

“And it’s a strategy.” Jean chuckled suddenly. “I’ll bet they’d never guess that we’d be coming at them with an actual plan.”

A wave of giggles went around and the group agreed on their plan, taking up positions and readying themselves for the run.

Eren elected to stay behind once again, taking up the sniper’s position Mike had held the previous round. He was a decent shot so he could provide good cover for his teammates, plus he really, really didn’t want to have to run and risk arousing himself any further. Eren was really starting to get flustered with how much he was leaking. There was a definite wet spot on his briefs and the damp material was distracting in all the worst ways. It was a relief when he’d taken up position as sniper and gotten away with it. No one had said anything, but Eren had caught the odd look Marco had thrown his way when he volunteered for the position. He realized with a start that he’d been rumbled, and his plan of making it through the whole day either sitting or standing in place was in serious danger.

But there was no time to worry about that as Hannes raised his whistle to his mouth.

The whistle was blown and the action began. Ymir was the first one to go, dashing forward recklessly and covering good ground in those first few moments. She fired a few shots at the fort to distract them and managed not to get shot herself, but the moment she dove behind a barricade and paused there was a series of splatters as a barrage of paintballs slammed into the cover she took shelter behind. Ymir paused, checked herself over for paint splatters, and she grinned back at her teammates when she found no fresh paint. The freckled girl sent the others a thumbs up and ducked lower, waiting and listening for her next chance to move.

Following Ymir’s lead, Christa, Jean and Marco began to edge out and weave their way through the barricades and obstacles, spreading out to provide as many targets as possible. They wanted to keep the defenders busy. Every once in a while one of the blue team would fire off a shot at the fort to distract them so that the others could move or just take a quick look to try and get a read on what their opponents were up to.

Up at the back, Eren stared down the fort like a hawk, searching for even the briefest signs of movement. The red team were good, better than good, but even they weren’t perfect. He could still see them moving about every so often.

A smoke grenade went off, beginning to shroud the obstacles in the middle of the field, and as his teammates moved Eren gathered the fort’s weak points in his sights. He was secretly happy for all the times Levi had taken him to the shooting range, teaching him how to use both handguns and rifles. He wasn’t nearly as proficient as his ex-Ranger boyfriend, but he definitely had more skills than most. All he had to do was wait for an opening, an opportunity, and then he could strike.

If he was lucky...there! He saw a mop of blond hair peek out over the top of the parapet, looking for enemies to fire at, and Eren fired quickly and with as careful aim as he could muster. The timing was damned near perfect. Eren’s shot caught Oluo in the shoulder as he stood up to aim at Ymir and the ashen-haired man let out a string of surprised curses as he ducked for cover. Eren himself dove back down out of sight as a barrage of paintballs splattered against the front of his sniper’s nest.

Just because he was far away did not mean that he was safe. Eren was sure that Mike had his eye on him and was biding his time for the right moment, just like Eren was. And if Mike wasn’t on lookout then Levi certainly would be.

The thunder of paintballs hitting his nest ceased and Eren popped back up like lightning, taking aim and laying down cover fire for his teammates to advance safely.

Movement caught his eyes as his team moved on. Ymir was first to dash off again, followed quickly by the ever-loyal Christa. Jean had the furthest distance to cover and he ran bravely, trusting Eren to keep him from getting shot while he made a mad dash for cover.

All four of them almost made it to the obstacles at the end of the field. Marco was a half-step too slow and caught a paintball to his ankle courtesy of Eld. The blue team’s cries of disappointment had barely started when Jean shot up to immediately return fire, catching Eld by surprise with a headshot.

For a moment all of the players were frozen. Naturally Jean was the first to recover, if only to brag about himself.

“Boom! That’s what I’m talking about!” In the middle of cheering himself on both Mike and Levi lit Jean up, splattering his entire torso with red paint.

“What the fuck, horseface?” Eren yelled at Jean as the other was exiting the battlefield.

The ashbrown only shrugged, grinning down the field at him. “I’d like to see you do better than a headshot, asshole!” He called, cupping his hands in front of his mouth to amplify his shout.

“Fuck you!” Eren called back, flipping Jean the bird and almost getting shot in the arm for his troubles. That had to have been Levi. “I know I can do better than you any day of the week!”

“Oh yeah? How you gonna manage that hiding in a sniper’s nest like a bitch?” Jean continued to goad.

“I’ll make you my bitch!” Eren shouted back.

There was a pause.

What the fuck, Eren thought to himself.

“What the hell does that even mean?” Jean voiced an almost identical thought a moment later.

Somewhere down the field Eren could hear the others laughing.

“I don’t know, I’m trash talking!” He called out to Jean, confused by his own train of thought.

Jean’s next snort was audible. “You’re meant to trash talk the other team, genius.”

“Shut up, you started this!”

“Actually you did, dickwad.”

“Would someone shoot him for me, please?” Eren shouted extra loud in the hopes that it would be heard by everyone just in case the people on his team didn’t feel like shooting the horse.

“Ha!” Jean laughed, smug as ever. “Like anyone would-OW!”

More laughter. Eren fist-pumped in silence.

“Thank you, mystery ally!” He yelled out, waiting to see if he would get an answer.

“You’re welcome, Eren.” Came the answer after a moment.

Oh Marco. It was always the quiet ones that acted out in these strange and amusing ways. Eren called out his thanks again, this time through laughter.

“Marco, whyyyy?” Jean’s voice could be heard whining in the background. “You should go shoot Eren. He’s just sitting there doing squat all.”

“Oh, it's on now.” Eren muttered to himself, preparing to dash out onto the field to join his remaining comrades.

He’d show Jean that he wasn’t useless, in fact he was pretty good at this.

Eren had forgotten all about the plug, but as soon as he made to move from his concealment he felt it brush his prostate again.

Oh fuck. Me and my big mouth.

Ymir and Christa looked at each other and rolled their eyes at the playful bickering that had just ensued.

Christa adjusted her goggles and nudged Ymir with an elbow. “Five bucks says Jaeger doesn't make it to the second line of barriers before he’s lit up like a Christmas tree.” She muttered, peering over the barrier they were hiding behind before ducking down again.

Ymir snorted. “That’s not fair; you’re making bets you know you’ll win.”

“I heard that!” Eren’s voice sounded, suddenly a lot closer.

The brunet slid in next to them as a line of paintballs splattered on the ground where his legs had been not a second ago. All three teammates stared at the ominous line of red paint covering the ground before looking to each other.

“Looks like you lost that bet, Christa.” Eren said after a moment.

Ymir was nodding, a look of respect forming in her eyes.

“Ok, Jaeger,” she muttered, “that was actually impressive. Looks like Ranger Boy has taught you some combat skills.” She looked over at the fort for a moment, then back to Eren. “So, now what? We still have Levi, Mike, and Gunther to take out before we can even get close.”

Eren looked over the fort again, then thought for a moment.

They would have to work together if they were going to have any chance of even getting near the damned fort. Normally Ymir couldn’t be counted on when it came to teamwork, but with Christa there they might have a chance to get her cooperation.

It would be worth a shot.

Eren crouched and leaned in close, beckoning the two girls to do the same.

“Christa, can you see the spots in the parapets where the boards don’t quite meet the floor?” He asked, gesturing in the direction of the fort.

Christa frowned briefly, hopping up to peer around the barrier and get a look at the fort to see what Eren meant. She was nodding as she crouched back down.

“Yeah, I see them. One on each side, actually. What about it?”

Eren gave a single nod and began to explain what he was thinking, hoping that it came out right. He was never good at these sort of strategic things and the earlier plan had been an uncommon flash of strategic brilliance for him. After this, if it worked, he’d probably be useless other than to point his gun and shoot at things.

“Okay, so if you and Ymir can make it to the outermost barricades then you should be able to shoot through those holes and hit their feet.”

“Their feet.” Ymir repeated, sounding a little lost.

Eren winced, not wanting to confuse his friends. If he wasn’t clear they would be fucked. He carried on.

“Yes. Remember the rules? If there’s enough paint splatter to equal a quarter-sized hit, it’s considered good and they’re out.”

Both Ymir and Christa’s expressions shifted, confusion melting into understanding, and Eren hoped that he was onto something.

“Bonus if you actually hit their foot dead on,” he added, “but they’ll either move out of the way and lose a good vantage point, or wind up with their feet technically shot off and out of the game. So yeah. That’s my plan. Thoughts?”

Eren looked up to see what his friends were thinking.

Both women stared at him. He stared back, wondering if he had something on his face or if he’d had a minor brain malfunction and spoken to them in Cantonese or something.

Eren flushed as the staring continued and he had to break the silence. “What?”

Ymir shook her head. “You’ve never managed to string together so many words at once and have them all make sense.”

Christa’s tinkling laugh sounded seconds later and she nodded. “For a second I thought you’d switched bodies with Armin or something.” The little blonde teased.

“Oh, fuck off.” Eren smiled at the backhanded compliment, relieved that he’d thought up a plan that would give them half a chance at winning this thing. “Okay. I’ll lay down more cover fire while you move.”

The girls nodded, moving into positions so that they could run.

“Ready?”

“Ready.” They answered in unison.

It was the most organised that Eren had ever seen his friends.

“Okay, guys. On my count. 3… 2… 1. Go!”

On his signal both Ymir and Christa hopped up and ran to their respective barriers. They were fired at almost immediately and Eren struggled to provide enough cover for his friends to get to safety. Ymir made it, but Christa was slightly slower than her girlfriend and it cost her a shot to her left calf.

“Shit.” Eren hissed as he saw this.

It meant only one thing. He had to move.

Eren sucked it up and ran to where Christa was supposed to be, just barely making it without getting shot himself. He all but slumped against the barricade when he reached it, panting for reasons far from exertion. A low groan escaped him when he shifted to a crouch.

Christa turned to look at Eren, sending a concerned glance his way. “Are you ok?”

“I’m, hah, I’m fine. Really.” Eren panted and sat with his head between his knees for a moment. “Just have to, hah, catch my breath, is all.” He was trying and mostly succeeding not to rock in place, the plug inside of him feeling way too good to keep still. “You’d better get off the field before they yell at you.” Eren advised.

“All right then. Good luck.” Christa brushed off her trousers and stood. “I’m out!” She called and exited the field.

Eren could hear her talking to Marco and Jean, her voice getting quieter as she moved further away. He hoped that she would fill the other two in on his genius plan.

Suck on that, horseface.

Okay…he’d managed to stay still and by some miracle not abuse his prostate any further.

Ymir hissed in his direction. “What now?”

Eren turned and sought her out, meeting her gaze before he spoke.

He kept his voice low. “Same as before, I’ll just take Christa’s spot. Ready?”

Oh God, Eren hoped he was ready.

Ymir nodded, and Eren silently counted down using his fingers. They shot up and began firing at the gap between the fencing. Twin shouts of “sonofabitch” could be heard from the parapets, along with cheers from Marco and Christa. Jean just pouted, upset that Eren had stolen his thunder.

“Nice plan, Jaeger!” Ymir congratulated Eren, standing up to advance.

The click of a trigger being pulled sounded nearby and Ymir gave a shout of surprise as she was nailed twice in the thigh.

“What the hell?” She shouted, looking around wildly.

Eren was looking around with just as much alarm, although still wisely hiding.

Levi’s voice carried from the top of the fort. “You missed one. And it looks like I got first shot after all.”

“Shit.” Ymir groaned as she hoisted her weapon over her head to signal she was done. “Alright, you win this time, shorty.” The freckled brunette turned her attention on Eren and smirked. “Looks like it’s just you and Loverboy. You’re so fucked.”

Yes. Yes, he was.

Eren bit back a grin and tried to look troubled. “Don’t I know it.”

Ymir, you have no idea.

Well Eren supposed that there was nothing left but to get this over with. The brunet advanced to the edge of the ramp, trying to move carefully but also quickly. He was frankly quite surprised that Levi wasn’t taking a shot at him while he did so.

Where is he? Did he move?

The brunet wouldn’t have put it past Levi to be able to scale down the fort and come up behind Eren to take him by surprise. But surely Eren would have heard that.

He moved further up the ramp, paintball gun held ready with his finger on the trigger. The top was in sight and he crept cautiously up, turning around quickly just in case Levi was about to ambush him, but no one was there.

Where the fuck did he go?

No Levi in the parapets, no Levi on the other ramp. Eren crept about, feeling more and more anxious by the second as he looked through one of the arrow slits. No Levi out front either. What the shit? Had he climbed down and ran back into the barricades? Was he trollishly waiting for Eren back at the sniper’s nest all the way back down the field? Was Eren about to get shot out of nowhere and be given a heart attack?

Eren had half a mind to actually call out to the raven just to see if Levi would answer back. Turns out he didn’t have to.

“Hey, sweetheart. Up here.”

Oh shit.

Eren looked up, eyes wide in surprise, to find his boyfriend hanging upside down from one of the rafters above him.

Dammit. Before he could raise his gun to fire, Levi shot Eren twice on the top of his thigh.

“Gotcha.” He swung down from the rafter, landing with a dull thud and striding over.

The raven flipped their faceplates up, a fond smirk curving his lips, and he pulled the brunet down to give Eren a kiss. He had lost but that had been a creative escape on Levi’s part, not to mention the smooth as fuck dismount.

Eren couldn’t stay mad at Levi after that, even if his thigh stung something fierce. That shit would definitely bruise. It hardly mattered. Eren broke the kiss to call out that he’d been hit and to alert the others that the round was over. Victory for red team. Before he could walk off to join the others, however, the shorter man pulled him back.

Eren frowned, about to ask what was wrong, when Levi beat him to the punch.

“Is something wrong?” The raven questioned, a concerned frown pulling his brows together. “Did you get shot somewhere tender or something?”

“I-It’s nothing.”

“What’s nothing? It can’t be nothing. An ‘it’ is something.”

Levi pulled Eren in closer, his hands feeling around the younger man’s sides, searching his lower stomach and back for the tell-tale reaction to a bruise under pressure. Levi’s frown of concern deepened when he palmed Eren’s ass and the brunet tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

“Oh no you don’t.” Levi chided, his tone stern. “Let me check you. Hold still. Who shot you here?”

The brunet had no answer to give Levi but that just encouraged him further.

Eren’s face flushed a deep red as his boyfriend ran concerned fingers over his asscheeks, then slid them over the area between them.

Eren knew, he knew the second Levi paused that he’d been found out.

“Oh,” he said, and his tone was a perfect blend of surprised acceptance, “not a bruise, then. What’s this?” Levi sounded amused now.

God help me.

Eren forced himself to meet the raven’s eyes and he instantly regretted the decision. Levi looked almost smug, but there was a distinct fondness in his eyes, an affectionate mirth glowing in grey pools. A slow, heated grin broke over Levi’s face and Eren ducked his face into his boyfriend’s shoulder to hide his blush.

“Um, surprise?” He mumbled against Levi’s shoulder.

“It certainly is.” Levi agreed, turning his head to press a kiss to Eren’s ear, which had turned as red as his face. “But a good one. Definitely a good one.”

“That’s a relief.” Eren muttered sarcastically, squeaking a moment later as Levi turned them so that the others couldn’t see him press his fingers to the base of the plug.

Eren stiffened in his arms and bit his tongue hard to stifle a moan, feeling his arousal swelling and pressing against Levi’s lower abs. All Eren wanted was to rut back against the plug and fuck himself to completion. He wouldn’t even mind cumming in his pants at this point, anything would be acceptable if he could just get some relief from the insistent throb of pleasure that thrummed through him.

Levi chuckled by his ear and Eren wondered if he’d always sounded this smoky or if it was just one of those handy side-effects of lust.

“Well, this explains why you’ve been hanging back on defence today.” Levi purred, pushing on the plug again to hear Eren whine against his neck where the brunet had tucked his head. “I was expecting you to take point.”

“Oh God. Levi, stop.” Eren begged, resting his head on the raven’s shoulder and gasping in a breath. “It’s been, fuck, hard enough keeping a straight, hah, face today, and you’re making it worse.”

Levi reluctantly pulled his hand away, not really wanting to stop but also not wanting to embarrass Eren in front of all his friends. Eren had planned this treat for him to enjoy, not anyone else, and Levi didn’t intend to share the sight or sounds of Eren’s lust with anyone. He let Eren step back and catch his breath, calming himself as best he could while he watched his boyfriend struggle to regain his self-control. The brunet reached down and adjusted himself so that his arousal wasn’t blatantly obvious, tucking the tip under his waistband and pulling the top of the ACU’s down to cover his crotch. After a few moments of fiddling he turned to Levi.

“Can you see anything?” Eren asked, his tone pitching higher in his anxiousness.

Levi looked his boyfriend up and down, biting the inside of his lip.

“No, unfortunately. No sign at all of how much you’d like me to fill your ass with my hard cock.” He deadpanned.

Eren fidgeted in place. “Fuck, Levi. I’m being serious.”

“No, love, you’re fine. I promise. No one is going to know but me.”

The brunet sighed in relief. “Right then. Shall we join the others for lunch?”

“Yeah,” the older male agreed with a sigh, “better go eat before we get bitched at. Although, I’m looking forward to dessert more than sandwiches.” Levi commented casually and ran his hand over Eren’s hip.

The brunet grabbed it and held it with his own hand, pulling Levi out of the fort and over to where lunches were being handed out by the paintball range’s staff. They could both do with the distraction of food and company in order to calm down.

Eren had no idea how he was going to last till the end of the day. He prayed in silence that no one would make him run again.

If only it was as easy as sitting down and trying to forget about his arousal. From then on, Levi made it his mission to make Eren’s life a living hell of personal torment; torment of the most delicious kind. Eren had a word for it and that word was unbearable. Levi was a menace when he wanted to be and, although Eren knew that he was doing it to be playful, it was certainly not any sort of conventional type of playfulness. The raven was a constant reminder, keeping Eren’s lust simmering away. Trailing his fingers along the inside of Eren’s thighs when they were seated next to each other at the picnic tables, sticking his hand in Eren’s back pocket and palming his ass during casual conversation with his teammates, even going so far at one point to slide his arm around Eren’s waist and dip his fingers under his waistband to brush against the slick tip of Eren’s cock where it was still trapped. That last one had almost been too much for the brunet. It had taken all the inner strength he had to bite back a moan at feeling his boyfriend’s fingers brush against where he’d been wanting them all morning. He shot up out of his seat and stormed off towards the tree line, leaving everyone stunned at his abrupt departure.

Levi followed quickly after him. He’d guessed by the manner of Eren’s swift exit that he’d taken the teasing a step too far and the raven-haired man had every intention of apologising. He couldn’t resist playing with Eren, not when the brunet made himself so vulnerable, and it was both hilarious and adorable to watch the flush of combined arousal and embarrassment colouring the boy’s cheeks as they sat with their friends at lunch.

But now Levi was fully ready to apologise and even offer to take Eren home if that was what the younger man wanted. It was clear that he wasn’t doing so well in his agitated state and most of the blame for that was on Levi.

He would accept that blame and offer to drive Eren home. He would even explain to the others that they both weren’t feeling well. Some bullshit about one of those couples’ colds would do the trick.

When they both reached the tree line Eren spun on his heel, whirling around to face Levi. An apology was already tumbling from the raven’s mouth as Eren turned.

“Eren, I’m sor-” was as far as he got before he was thrown against a tree, soft lips crashing down onto his and Eren’s body pressed against his own.

As much as he should have anticipated something of this nature, Levi found himself surprised. He had expected Eren to be angry with him for getting him so riled up. Apparently he was wrong in that assumption.

Not that Levi was complaining, mind you. Frantically aroused Eren was a beautiful thing. Strong arms found their way around Eren’s sides and he held the whimpering brunet tightly until Eren slumped and let Levi take most of his weight. A few, encouraging licks lured Eren’s tongue out of his mouth which Levi coaxed past his own lips to suck on, listening to the younger man’s moan of appreciation.

Levi could feel his lover’s hard length trapped between them, Eren’s hands desperate as they slid as far as they could under his ACUs, reaching, searching, pressing against whatever skin they could reach. Eren sobbed once against Levi’s mouth and they broke apart to catch their breath. Levi hooked one arm further around Eren’s back so that he could bring the other up and cradle the back of Eren’s head as he gasped for air.

Teal eyes blinked open, glossy and dazed, and Levi could see how far gone Eren was. His pupils had blown wide and those soft, cherry-red lips were swollen from their kiss.

Eren tried to speak once and failed, choking on another needy sob. He tried again after several moments of Levi hushing him quietly, threading his free hand through brown locks.

“It’s okay, Eren. Take your time. We have time. Shh.”

“Fuck, Levi,” Eren’s voice shook and he sucked in a harsh breath before continuing, “I want you so fucking much. I’m not going to make it through the rest of the day.”

Eren surged forward and took his lips again, tongue licking into his mouth and long fingers grazing themselves through the short fuzz of Levi’s undercut while he frotted against the older man’s thigh. Lean arms clung to Levi like a vice, unwilling to relent in their crushing grip for a moment, and the raven just let him hold on. After getting Eren this riled he wasn’t exactly in any position to deny the boy. Eren was a tidal wave of need and it was all Levi could do just to hold on and ride it out or else be swept away by it.

At last the wild lust subsided for just a moment, enough for Eren to breathe without gasping, and Levi spoke up gently.

“Hey, hey, easy.” He cooed in as soft a voice as he could manage and it seemed to help bring Eren back down from his half-crazed state.

Eren panted in his arms, his breathing still shaky and not easing up on his death grip much at all, but it was a start. Leaning close, Eren rested his forehead against Levi’s while he struggled to catch his breath, trying to gather what shreds of composure he had left. They couldn’t go back to the others like this and he knew that.

The raven stroked his lover’s cheek while they waited, then he tapped a finger under Eren’s chin to get him to look up.

“Mm?” Eren managed, not trusting his voice with word yet.

Levi’s gaze softened further and he tilted his head just so to peck the corner of Eren’s mouth before leaning back.

“We have the military simulation arena next, right?” The raven-haired man asked, waiting for Eren to nod in affirmation before continuing. “It’s the biggest arena they have. We’ll be ten on ten this time.”

Eren looked at him, confused. He cleared his throat before attempting to speak. “Yeah, so?”

Levi smiled softly. “So, it’ll be hard to keep track if a player or two wanders off into the brush somewhere. I doubt anyone would even notice we were gone.”

For a moment nothing registered on Eren’s face apart from confusion. He frowned, opening his mouth to ask some question that was lost a second later as realisation set in. Eren processed Levi’s words and his eyes lit up with what the raven was suggesting.

The brunet lunged forward into a kiss that caught Levi off guard with its intensity but the raven didn’t seem to mind. Pulling back, Eren beamed at his boyfriend, unable to contain his sudden happiness.

“I knew there was a reason I love you.” He stated merrily and kissed Levi again. “Are you sure, though? We won’t have much time.”

The smirk Levi shot Eren wasn’t quite wry but the brunet got the message when his hand was guided to the front of the raven-haired man’s ACUs to feel the bulge between his thighs.

“Oh, I’m sure.” Levi uttered, holding Eren’s gaze so intently that the brunet didn’t so much as blink.

The heated staring contest was interrupted when the pair heard heavy footsteps coming their direction and they hastily pulled apart. Levi fussed with Eren hair for a few, quick moments to get the locks in order and Eren rearranged both of their attire. Once they were sure that they had made themselves acceptably presentable for whoever was approaching, they assumed casual stances a few metres apart. Hopefully it would look like they had just been talking.

The crunching of sticks and leaves stopped just as Mike came into view, looking concerned. His gaze travelled between the two men, quickly taking in their stances and expressions to get a read on the situation. Eren felt anxious under that stare but he knew that Mike was probably just making sure that he hadn’t walked in on an argument.

The big man seemed to relax a little when there were no signs of aggression between the other two men and at last he spoke.

“Is everything ok back here? Everyone was getting kind of worried.”

Eren flushed, his cheeks and ears glowing red. “Ah, no, everything’s ok. Just needed to clear the air, that’s all.”

The brunet really hoped that he was believable. Levi’s face gave nothing away, as usual, and Eren hoped that Mike didn’t read into that and think that they were having trouble.

There was a moment of quiet that seemed to stretch on for ages. Eren almost started sweating. And then Mike nodded, apparently satisfied.

“Good. If everything’s ok, we’re about to set up for the afternoon’s battle. Come join us when you’re ready.” With that, Mike walked off.

The two men waited until they could no longer hear footsteps. Eren slumped with relief but remained on his own feet. He cast a sheepish glance at Levi.

The raven shook his head at the younger male. “You ready?”

Eren’s eyes flashed at those words and he straightened. “More than you know.”

The military simulation range was the largest the facility had, covering almost fifty acres of woodland. It was designed to be used by larger teams, from ten players each and upwards. Various wooden structures dotted the landscape, including swinging bridges, sniper towers, and bunkers along with barricades and fencing. Several clearings covered in low-lying gorse added some variation to what was otherwise a wholly deciduous forest. As many as sixty players could be accommodated, but today only a third of that would be using the course. Normally it would be a game of Last Man Standing, but with such few players both teams opted for Capture the Flag.

A unanimous vote chose Mike to be the team leader. Before he could begin to assign roles, Levi spoke up.

“Eren and I will defend the flag.” The raven stated simply.

Jean snorted. “Wouldn't want Eren to work too hard today.”

Eren bristled at the comment before he noticed the look that Levi was giving Jean. He paled a little but refrained from stepping back if only so as not to draw that stare onto his person.

“Want to come over here and say that, twerp?” Levi’s toneless string of words had obvious been a question, but to Eren (and probably everyone else) it sounded more like an order to come and sign your own death warrant.

Eren knew he should probably say something and save his friend from Levi’s wrath. Jean was just playing around, of course. It’s just what he did. He was a professional at shit-stirring. Even if Levi was mostly retorting out of a defensive need to get Eren alone, the brunet knew that they should avoid this sort of attention I they didn’t want to risk getting caught. Before Eren could respond, though, Marco spoke up.

“Eren held his own on the fort today while we were all taken out. If he wants to defend, I don't see why he shouldn't. It's about having fun, right, Jean?”

Eren’s mouth hung open, stunned at being defended. Levi clearly wasn’t going to say anything more if it meant that he got his way. Jean went to complain a moment later, but Marco cut him off with a kiss to his cheek. It was Jean’s turn to be stunned into silence.

Ymir laughed. “Well done, Marco. Well done indeed.”

Mike assigned the remaining four veterans to offensive positions, then divided up the other four into teams of two to cover their half of the area. They would be stretched thin, but it was possible to beat the other team if they kept their wits about them. It had appeared that the other team was made up mostly of high schoolers and college kids, but someone had definitely brought their little brother along. Eren groaned. That kid was going to be a little shit, he could tell.

Once everyone was familiar with their assigned role, Mike signalled to Hannes they were ready. Hannes checked the other team and their captain, a tall lanky kid who stood out like a beacon in his ridiculous red shirt and camo trousers, gave him a thumbs up. Both teams slapped their visors down and Hannes blew the whistle.

The players ran to their respective bases, attaching and raising their flags before advancing on the opposite team. The enemy team seemed very enthusiastic about making as much noise as possible, probably an intimidation tactic. Or just plain fucking stupid, as Levi had put it moments after the racket had begun.

“Amateurs. Why not just paint a target on themselves and stand around waiting to get shot?” Levi grumbled, rolling his eyes. “Morons.”

Eren grinned beside him but said nothing. He let the others set the camp up, since the most he could manage at this point was a half-hearted, limping jog. Honestly, he must have looked ridiculous. If any of his teammates saw him moving around they would definitely think he was injured. Thankfully, by some miracle from the gods on high, no one paid him much attention. The camp was set up quickly and once the flag flew high, Levi grabbed the younger man’s elbow and led him into the forest.

Eren stumbled after him as best he could, trying to keep up with Levi’s stealthy but rapid pace without tripping and falling flat on his face.

“What about defending the flag, Levi?” He reminded the raven, glancing back over his shoulder.

Levi scoffed but it was an amused sound. “Do you really think that my guys are going to let that group of kids anywhere near our base? Please. They're not going easy this time.”

Eren couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he let Levi lead him off into a secluded area. He had almost pleaded for Levi to slow down twice when the quick pace jostled the plug inside him. They didn’t have time to stop and wait for Eren to calm down again so the brunet clenched his jaw and struggled on. Each step made it harder to concentrate on anything but following his lover, the rest of his thought process centred on keeping himself from tipping over the edge of release before he finally got what he wanted.

Finally Levi rounded the base of a large oak tree where there was some brush to cover them from anyone who might pass by. The raven turned and pulled Eren to him as they heard semi-automatic fire from paintball guns in the distance.

“Come here.” Levi all but growled the command.

Eren did just that. He dove at his raven-haired lover, sending them stumbling back against the tree. Levi’s back hit bark as Eren crashed into him, not bothering to hide their mutual need any longer. Mouths collided, limbs met in a passionate tangle, and Eren pushed for more still. Their kisses consumed each other, lips pulling, teeth biting, and tongues fighting for dominance over the kiss until Eren allowed a whine to escape. Levi groaned in response, pulling Eren tight against to show him he wasn't the only one in need.

Eren pulled back for air and Levi pulled his chin down to look him in his eyes. “This is going to have to be quick.”

He sounded apologetic but Eren only nodded, understanding their predicament. He wasn’t willing to hold out for much longer regardless. Eren hurriedly began undoing his trousers, Levi doing the same. Both men pulled them just low enough to allow access, knowing that anything more would be too risky for the open environment. They switched up their positions, Eren leaning forward and placing his forearms against the trunk of the oak while spreading his feet and arching his back to give his boyfriend full access. Levi reached down and began to pull the plug out from Eren, pushing it in then pulling a little more each time. He leaned forward and spoke softly into Eren's ear.

“This was a wonderful surprise. My favourite toy, too. You’ve had this thick plug in your ass all day and I didn't even know.” He pushed it in again, teasing Eren as he spoke. “How hard -” push “- it must have been for you to keep such a pretty blush from showing every time you moved. Thinking about me finding this -” pull “- buried deep inside you -” push “- and how hard it would make me to know you had been edging yourself this whole time.” One last pull and the plug was out, followed by a whimpering moan from Eren. The brunet dug into his trousers pocket, clawing for something like a madman, and at last he passed Levi a small tube.

“Fuck, Levi, hurry up and fuck me already. Please.” Green-blue eyes met silver-grey ones over Eren’s shoulder.

“Hmm, good boys should get what they ask for.” Levi mouthed at the back of Eren’s sensitive neck, driving his need even higher.

Eren’s knees had begun to tremble and it was taking all the willpower he had not to just take himself in hand and get it over with. He wouldn’t do it, of course not. That would be a waste of a day’s elaborate efforts; besides, the reward would be very much worth the wait. But really, if Levi dragged this out any longer Eren feared that he might actually lose his mind. He knew Levi, knew that was the privilege he wanted for himself, but if his boyfriend didn't shut up and fill him already he was gonna -

Eren never completed the thought. Levi poured a generous amount of lube into his palm and stroked himself several times to make sure he was slick. He lined his cock up with Eren’s entrance and slid in deep, able to take Eren in one long thrust rather than easing himself in. The effect was delightful but Levi was glad that Eren wouldn’t last long as he felt he wouldn’t need much to reach his peak either. With their limited amount of time, that would work out quite nicely. Both men groaned as they adjusted, then Levi began pounding hard into Eren’s ass. One hand rested on his boyfriend’s hip to steady him, while the other, still slick with lube, wrapped around Eren's cock and stroked.

The younger man’s breath hitched and he moaned a moment later, leaning his head against his forearms and groaning.

“Oh Christ, Levi, yes, fuck, just like that. Oh you feel so fucking good. So fucking perfect.”

Levi drove his hips harder into him with those words and Eren couldn’t move. It was all he could do just to keep himself upright, balanced against the tree, panting and trying not to moan too loud as his lover pleasured him. He was almost at the point of climax already and then Levi started speaking.

“Is this what you've been wanting all day, huh?”

“Y-Yes.”

“You’ve been wanting my hard, Ranger cock buried in your sweet ass?”

“Yes, God yes!” Eren’s voice cracked around a whimper and he couldn’t have cared less who heard them at that point.

“How much, Eren? How much have you been wanting it?”

“Fuck, more than anything.” His gut clenched and Eren could feel his pleasure quickly approaching its peak. He sobbed. “Harder Levi, wreck my ass so I can't walk after this.”

Levi growled and let go of Eren’s cock to grab onto both of his hips. “Remember, you asked for it.” With that, he began thrusting faster into Eren, pulling the younger man’s hips to his own to bury himself deep while Eren fisted his own cock in time with his thrusts. He could feel Eren start to clench around him and knew that both of them were rapidly approaching climax.

“Fuck. Levi. Yes. Please. Yes. Fuck, I'm gonna come. Fuck. Fuck.”

Eren’s pitching words were punctuated with gasps as he clung to the tree, forehead resting on his arm to keep himself steady as Levi fucked into him. The last word slipped out as a yelp as Eren climaxed, his come splashing in white ribbons against the tree and dripping from his length onto the forest floor.

“That's it, sweetheart. Fucking come for me.” Levi followed with his own climax right after his lover, finishing deep inside Eren.

The brunet let out a deep, shuddering sigh and slumped against the tree, happy and sated after almost a whole day of torturous teasing. Most of that had been his own fault, though. He’d been right; it had been completely worth the wait.

Both men panted to catch their breath, suddenly exhausted. No wonder, too. It had been a long day and all Eren wanted to do was lie down in bed and not move again for hours. If Levi was there for him to snuggle against, then even better. But they still had to finish up here before they could get home and get cleaned up. Eren sighed at that and went to stand, but Levi held him in place for a moment longer, sliding out of him with a brief shudder. Before he let Eren go, Levi slipped the plug back into place, trapping his seed inside the younger man.

“Shh.” Levi hushed when the brunet whimpered a plea for mercy. “It’s so that you won’t get jizz all over your clothes. My clothes, remember?”

“B-But Levi, please, I’m so s-sensitive.” Eren whined, trying not to shift too much.

“I know. But you can manage it a while longer, can’t you?” Levi purred encouragements by the boy’s ear. When Eren protested Levi kissed the small of his back. “Be a good boy and keep it in there a little while longer, and I’ll reward you when we get home.”

With a few more high, breathy whimpers of complaint, Eren conceded and both men dressed quickly, wanting to get back to the base before the others noticed their absence. They tried to be sneaky, but to their chagrin their whole team was waiting for them by their flagpole.

Eren was just about ready to fall into the nearest ditch and die of embarrassment, whereas Levi didn’t so much as blink at all the pairs of eyes that were suddenly on them.

Levi gave them a look. “What?”

Jean took a step forward. “You fuckers were supposed to be guarding the flag! You’re lucky we won!”

Levi shrugged. “It’s clear we weren’t needed, so we made our own fun.” He deadpanned, crossing his arms.

The group was silent, although Eren was sure that his blushing was so violent by now that it could be heard. Gunther shifted, casting a look at Eld and then all of the others. They seemed to come to some sort of unanimous agreement via telepathy.

Gunther looked over at the others. “Ready?” The others unslung their paintball guns and levelled them at the two. “Fire!”

Levi moved fast when he was avoided retribution and he dove behind a fallen log as the team sprayed paintballs at him and Eren from less than fifteen feet away. Eren was too shocked to move and ended up completely covered from his neck to his knees, barely able to do more than flinch and protect his most sensitive areas. When it was all over he looked like he had tripped and fallen into cans of red and blue paint.

“Fuck!” Eren exclaimed once the shooting was done and he was left stinging in more places than he could count.

His boyfriend looked up from behind cover and broke into a grin. “They got you good.” Levi smirked.

Eren shot a glower at him, wincing. “Thanks for nothing, you ass. I hope you don’t mind dating a human bruise for the next few weeks. Prepare yourself for all kinds of interesting shades.”

“Fifty Shades of Eren?” Levi supplied helpfully as he stood, brushing off a few stray leaves.

Eren narrowed his eyes at the raven, pulled his paintball gun to his hip and fired, nailing Levi in the chest. “That’s for leaving me high and dry, lover.” He cringed as the sting from the paintballs and aimed a weak glare at the others. “I’ll remember this next time, guys.”

Levi smiled internally and patted his boyfriend’s ass as they walked off the field. Oh, this was a day none of them would forget.