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The company housing Seigi returned to was quiet, too quiet, and his eyebrows furrowed. Closing the front door behind him, he quickly made his way through the hallways, keeping an eye out for the dogs, and for his most important partner. He paused for a moment as he approached the kitchen, taking a moment to confirm what he had heard. A second later he was certain, he’d heard the low whines of the dogs, and he frantically pushed the half open door.
As he had expected, the dogs were there, turning their heads for only a moment to acknowledge Seigi’s presence—Seigi, who they hadn’t even seen for several days!—before going back to whining softly. The one they surrounded was Richard, who sat on the floor with his legs pulled up to his chest and his face buried in his arms, and Seigi could hear the quiet sniffles breaking the relative silence every once in a while.
He dropped his bags and collapsed to his knees next to Richard, calling out his name and whispering soft, soothing words as he cradled Richard in his arms. His demeanor was calm—he couldn’t very well comfort Richard if he, himself, was unable to remain collected, after all—yet his mind was in a state of frenzy and his heart thundered in his chest. What had happened? Was Richard hurt? His eyes swept over Richard’s curled up form, looking for any signs of possible injuries, but he seemed unharmed. He pressed his lips together as he gently rubbed Richard’s back.
“Richard, could you tell me what’s wrong?”, he asked in the most soothing voice he could manage even as he was beside himself with worry. “Are you hurt?”
Richard shook his head without raising it to meet Seigi’s eyes. “I’ll be fine”, Seigi heard the muffled words. “It’s really nothing to be concerned about.”
“How can I not be concerned? Talk to me, Richard!”
“It’s really nothing!” Seigi startled at Richard’s outburst, but what most surprised him was the tone. He was too distracted to notice it at first, but Richard’s voice… he really didn’t sound very upset at all. If anything, he sounded almost embarrassed! Seigi frowned and began to gently pry Richard’s arms away in the hopes of uncovering his face. He was careful not to use too much strength, and gave Richard ample opportunity to push him away. He hardly received any resistance.
“You can’t really be expecting me to just go away!”, Seigi said casually in the hopes to lighten the mood somewhat. Maybe being more relaxed would help Richard tell him what was amiss? “Come on, I’d like to see your beautiful face after such a long time!”
He heard Richard snort. “We’ve been FaceTiming every day!”, he said with a laugh, and Seigi finally cracked a smile. If Richard could laugh like that, then perhaps there really wasn’t anything all that much to worry about. Not that knowing so would have stopped Seigi from being concerned in the first place. It was simply not possible for him to see Richard in such a state and not worry. A smile suited that beautiful face best, after all.
“But that’s through the screen! I’ve been waiting expectantly to see you in person!”
Richard laughed again—the sound akin to music to Seigi’s ears—and acquiesced, raising his head and allowing Seigi to see his tear stained face. Even though his smile was undoubtedly what Seigi loved seeing the most, he was beautiful even when in tears.
He was beautiful, but Seigi would rather ensure Richard would never find himself in a state of distress that would bring forth such tears ever again.
He touched Richard’s cheek, and a single drop came to rest against Seigi’s finger. “I want to kiss you”, he involuntarily muttered, and Richard laughed some more. He was probably preparing to say something in response when he winced, and his eyes blinked rapidly as a few more droplets escaped. Looking closely, Seigi noticed the redness that was creeping out from the edges of Richard’s eyes.
“I’m sorry”, Richard said, pulling away from Seigi and squeezing his eyes shut as he did so. “My eyes feel like they’re burning. I was utterly foolish, rubbing them as I did.”
Like a puzzle, pieces slowly fit into place in Seigi’s mind. All but one, that is. The one final clue left before the entire picture could be viewed. Fortunately, Seigi already had somewhat of an idea as to the nature of this piece.
He looked up towards the kitchen counter. He had ignored everything around him to run to Richard earlier, but now he noticed the edge of a cutting board sticking out. “Did you wash your eyes afterwards?”, Seigi asked and received a nod of confirmation.
He let out a quiet sigh of relief and was about to rise to his feet when Richard’s arm shot out and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. “Don’t”, Richard said, still teary eyed and clearly embarrassed. “I know you have realized it already, but I would still you rather not see for yourself just how much of a buffoon I am capable of being.”
Seigi chuckled, and shook his head. “I would never think that of you.” Richard’s grip loosened, and Seigi smiled apologetically. “Would you like to continue making… whatever it was you were making? Or should I take over?”
Richard shook his head. “No, that won’t do. You have so often welcomed me back home with a warm meal waiting. And it has always made me incredibly happy! So I… wanted to return the favor.”
Seigi’s expression softened, not that Richard could see as he buried his face into his arms once more. Seigi guessed that this time it wasn’t so much due to the pain, but rather bashfulness. “May I at least help?”, he asked gently, and even he could hear the smile in his voice. “I can chop the onions, if nothing else.”
Seigi heard Richard chuckle, and the blond head rose once again. “I suppose I will take you up on that offer. I don't think I'd like to be close enough to smell a raw onion again any time soon.”
“Mm.”
“And just… give me a few minutes? We can start once my eyes stop burning quite as much. Go change and put your luggage away in the meantime.”
“Alright. Will you be okay?”
Richard huffed and made a shooing motion with his hands. “I may have done something monumentally stupid, but am not a child , Seigi. I think I can handle myself just fine for a bit.”
“Okay, okay, I got it!”, Seigi laughed as he made to stand back up, only to be stopped once again.
This time it was Seigi’s own hand Richard had caught, and he intertwined their fingers as he smiled, looking absolutely angelic even with tear stained cheeks and reddish eyes. “I almost forgot”, he said. “Welcome back Seigi. I’ve missed you dearly.”
Seigi lowered himself to his knees once again as he slipped his hand behind Richard’s head and kissed him deeply. “I’m home”, he whispered against Richard’s lips. “I’ve missed you too, Richard. I’ve missed you so much.” He then pressed a kiss to Richard’s hair, followed by a quick peck to Richard’s neck, eliciting a laugh from Richard who complained about how it tickled.
Seigi embraced him, and Richard’s scent surrounded him—a familiar cologne, mixed together with something else.
After a moment of hesitation, Seigi decided that he could perhaps wait a few minutes before informing Richard of the smell of onions still clinging to him. He didn’t want to let go just yet, after all.