“terrible?” anton mock gasps, lips twisted into a pouting frown, but his dark eyes are bright with laughter. picking up one of the throw pillows he’d chucked on the floor - and damn, he really needs to stop buying those - he tosses it at michel, missing by a good two feet. “is appreciating my boyfriend such a crime? terrible, my arse.” he huffs back onto the bed, but he’s smiling fondly, curls in complete disarray around him. there are some things he loves about his life, and moments like these? moments where that are sweet and malleable and just theirs alone - never rushed, never fleeting, never fragmented - well. they unfurl inside him, warm and anchoring, a constant reminder that he’s done running. a constant reminder that he doesn’t have to worry about where his future is going or how he’s going to get there, because anton can see it. his future’s right in front of him, hanging up his leather jacket and getting ready to come back to him. it’s moments like these that anton just wants to pull michel close, press a kiss to his cheek and then kiss him again just for good measure. so he does. “i may be terrible, but you’re stuck with me forever, you know,” he says quietly, brushing his lips against mica’s and hiding a smile against his cheek. “mmh, you should really reevaluate your life decisions, kemmerich.”
a laugh bubbles out of him at that, surprised and so damn affectionate. “hey, all of this - ” he gestured to himself, “ - doesn’t just happen!” anton clasps the hand that had found its way to his thigh, squeezing it tightly as he listens to michel talk. it’s such a simple discussion, so goddamn domestic, but he loves the way the other’s eyes light up when he talks about something particularly interesting from class, loves the way he looks so content at the idea of spending a day roaming the halls of a museum. ( then again - isn’t that how they met? ) “plus, we’re long overdue for a day out.” his eyebrows raise as michel climbs onto him - a smirk at pull at the hair - but he offers no reply, merely blinking up at him in surprise. loosely curling his hands around mica’s waist, he trails them up across his back; fingertips digging gently into soft skin. “well, if it’s the best part of your day, then who am i to take it away?” anton begins lowly, tongue darting out to wet his lips before he dissolves into an easy laugh. he pulls michel down, a kiss already pressed against the curve of his shoulder. “and i’m always going to bere anyway, aren’t i?”
It’s funny how one moment he had been simply strolling through a museum, and the next he had been faced with the person that would change his life. He hadn’t even been looking for anyone, was too busy trying to recover from the trauma experienced in the battlefield, but he’d found Anton. He’d found him and he fell in love and built a life with him. This crappy apartment that they share together had become a home, even when the heating didn’t work and the floorboards squeaked. They’d bought Yoda together, painted the entire apartment together, at least tried to cook together, even if Michel had very nearly burned their kitchen down in the process. They’d picked out these sheets together, had decorated the rooms together, decided whose drawers would be whose, divided the bathroom equally, and Michel didn’t even mind when Anton’s crap ended up on his side. His mornings were made up of moving around each other in the kitchen and bathroom, and sharing kisses goodbye that lasted long enough to make them both late. His evenings were filled with soft banter about their days, being unable to keep his hands to himself and pulling his boyfriend close at night instead of pulling the blankets tighter around himself. Staring at Anton now, Michel can easily admit that every moment they had spent together had been the best moments of his life. Even when they fought with each other and he couldn’t stand the sight of his face that day, he loved Anton above all else.
“Marry me.” He lets it slip from his mouth, surprising even himself. The words have been on the tip of his tongue for months now, the ring had been sitting in his drawer for weeks and he’d imagined a million different ways he could do it, had been overthinking it so much that he simply couldn’t settle on one scenario, but none of them felt as right as this. In the midst of a soft domestic moment filled with adoration, and it’s so entirely them. Mica laughs softly, hands sliding up to cup Anton’s face between them as he smiles wide. “This wasn’t...I’ve wanted to ask for so long, and this wasn’t how I pictured it. But I meant it when I said this was my favourite part of the day, schatzi. You’re my favourite part of every day, and I want a million more moments like this. Just you and me and our life together.” His heart pounds at what feels the pace of a hummingbirds, excitement and nerves running through his veins as caution is thrown entirely to the wind and he hands over the power to destroy him completely. “I love you. More than I thought I could love anyone." He’d thought after he’d returned from war that such a thing wasn’t possible. He’d thought his soul had been darkened and twisted into something ugly and unlovable. And while that fact may still be true, Anton has pulled a warmth and lightness from him that he forgot even existed before. He’d made him feel human once more and he doesn’t think he could survive a single day without the light that Anton provided. “And I want to be bound to you in every possible way.”
His thumbs stroke across his lover’s cheeks and he wants to drink the moment in. He looks into brown eyes that he’s lost himself in a million times now and can not imagine never seeing again. His fingertips are brushing against dark, silky strands that he’s tangled his hands in more times than he can count, that he loves seeing splayed across his pillow morning out. His gaze falls briefly to the mouth that he’s elicited moans and gasps and laughs from day after day and he thinks he’d kiss him now if he didn’t want an answer so badly. Finally, his gaze returns to Anton’s and God, he loves this man. Loves the way he makes Mica feel, loves the fact that he has someone in this world that understands him completely and he would quite happily live out the rest of his days making sure Anton felt the same. He’s not a man of many words, but he makes a silent promise in that moment. He was going to be there through everything, thick and thin. He was going to go to every opening show and buy flowers every time. He was going to make a big deal of every tv show he was in and made sure everyone he knew made sure to watch it too. He was going to try and find the patience not to get mad every time he found glitter glue on the bathroom floor, and to make sure he made up for it when he got angry regardless. He would change the kitty litters without complaint, do the dishes after Anton cooked. And above all else, he would be there for him through everything. He would love him every single moment of the rest of his life. “So, Anton Louis Luxemburg. Will you marry me?”
