Orchid Mantis

“I still think this is a bit excessive…” Caleb said as they made their way up Alice’s front steps.

“You grew up in the Victorian era,” Erwin said, giving him a wry grin. “Of course you think this is excessive.” He gestured to the two bags of chips he had in hand. “I bet they didn’t even make Doritos back then.”

“I don’t mean the chips,” Caleb chuckled before shooting him an amused smile. “And I’m pretty sure it was called the Gilded Age in the states.”

“Psh,” Erwin shrugged. “Same thing.”

“But really,” Caleb continued, fidgeting with case of soda in his hand. “This feels like quite a lot on my account…”

“Babe, it’s fine,” Erwin assured him as he knocked on the door. “We want to do this for you.” He shifted the chips to his other arm and reached out to take Caleb’s free hand. “Let us do this for you.”

Caleb sighed as he intertwined their fingers. “Okay.” He smiled as Erwin pressed their shoulders together. “Okay.”

The door swung open, revealing a beaming Alice on the other side. Her dark hair was braided behind her head in a messy bun, wisps of it falling into her face.

“Babe?” he heard Caleb gently ask from the doorway. “Are you hungry?”

Erwin couldn’t even form words—he just let out a tired groan.

There was a pause and soon, Erwin felt the mattress shift. Elegant fingers combed through his hair. He lifted his head just enough to see Caleb sitting next to him, concern dancing in his pretty eyes.

“Hey,” the vampire’s voice was gentle, as he brushed a lock of hair out Erwin’s eyes. “You okay?”

Erwin let out a deep sigh, as if he was emptying his lungs. He had slept terribly the night before. Caleb had held him close and kissed his forehead, but he hadn’t been able to banish the nightmares that Erwin had been subjected to.

Grunt crossed the room and took a seat opposite of the trio, keeping the same serious expression he had worn earlier.

He placed the folder on the table and started flipping through it, looking at document after document and photograph after photograph. They sat there in silence as he leafed through the folder. The atmosphere was tense as they waited for him to say something. This was all a game—he was trying to get them to crack under the pressure, make them so nervous that they would say anything. Erwin was almost relieved that Grunt hadn’t seemed to learn anything from their last meeting.

After a couple more minutes of silence, Grunt sighed and closed the folder, looking at the three of them with steely gray eyes.

“Alright,” he said, his voice gruff. “Who would like to start?”

Erwin cleared his throat, shifting in his seat as he let go of Alice and Caleb’s hands. “I will.”

“So now you’re willing to talk,” Grunt huffed. “Or are you going to pull more of that lawyer shit?”

“No, no lawyer shit,” Erwin said. “I’ll tell you everything.”

Alice turned to him in surprise. “Wait, Erwin—!”

When Erwin woke again, he was being cradled in Caleb’s arms.

His eyes slowly slid open and immediately focused on Caleb’s worried face. Even though his mind was foggy, his face stung, and his body ached, he felt nothing but relief in that moment.

“Erwin?” Caleb asked and Erwin nearly broke at the sound. Caleb was real—this was all real. He was back.

“It’s me,” Erwin croaked out. His throat ached—probably from all of the screaming the Mother had been doing. “I’m still me.”

“It’s you,” Caleb said, his voice heavy with relief. “Thank god.”

Caleb pulled him close, wrapping his arms tighter around Erwin. Erwin quickly returned the embrace, holding tightly to the vampire as if he would disappear at any moment. He squeezed his eyes shut as he took in the moment, memorizing every detail from the feeling of the vampire’s rough denim jacket to the faint scent of blood and plant matter clinging to Caleb’s being. He let out a long, shuddering breath as he tucked his face into the crook of the vampire’s neck. It was over. It was all finally over.

This is the face of a man that has not slept and is surviving off of sex and coffee alone

Art by @chikao-art

She’s canonically killed a man ❤️

Erwin turned the filter over in his hands as he looked it over.

“I think this will work. We’ll need to test it a few times to be sure.” He sighed and put the filter down on his desk, rubbing his eyes. “God, I hope this works.”

“You’ll get it figured out,” Caleb said from behind him, his arms looping around Erwin’s shoulders. He nuzzled his face into Erwin’s shoulder and gave him a quick peck on cheek. “Take a break, babe. Don’t burn yourself out.”

“But I’m so good at it,” Erwin said and gave his boyfriend a wry smile, one hand coming up to rest on the vampire’s forearm. He faced Caleb just enough so that their noses were touching. The other man nuzzled close to him, pressing their foreheads together, and Erwin hummed in contentment. It was perfect—just him and Caleb, alone, with Glen Campbell’s Wichita Lineman playing quietly in the background. He could stay in this moment forever if he could. “Just give me a few more minutes? I think I’m close to done.”