#NOTE: their ending lines are actually 'okaeri' and 'tadaima' but I'm not sure the best translation offhand

[lostlegendaerie]

yesss please drabble about the dreamxxdream rinharu airport art 🙌 I love that one so much I have it printed out on my wall

[based on this piece by @dreamxxdream ]

It's been a shit day. Flying always makes him feel a little sick between the motion of the plane and the dehydration of the air pressure, and he fought with his sister over text before boarding, so he didn't get any sleep on the flight. He's come home on a coach-enforced training break after he sprained his Achilles tendon when he slipped getting out of the pool and overextended the joint, and he just got the news the stray cat they always fed had to be put to sleep. If he were a few years younger, he'd be trying not to cry in public. (He still is, but he's succeeding this time. Take that, middle school self.)

What's worse is that Haru is the one who is picking him up today. Not to say that he isn't excited to see him; he's only been in love with the guy since he was in elementary school, but the feelings have always seem to him to be one-sided. That had even been what he fought with his sister about before he left Sydney; refusing to agree with her delusions that his friend and rival was even half as excited to see Rin as Rin was to see Haru.

He knows Haru won't be there with flowers and a sign with his name on it (he would crawl under the furniture with embarrassment if he was, oh my god) and that he'll get a nod and an offer to help carry his bags and a quiet drive back to his house. It's just--

Today is the kind of day he wishes he'd get a little more than that. But it's Haru, bothering to get out of the bathtub and pick him up, so he'll be grateful about it and pretend he's not a yawning wound of a man, waiting desperately for Haru to fill him. Makoto would have been a better choice. Might have even given him a hug.

The world is still unsteady under Rin's feet when he finally makes it through customs, still adjusting the backpack straps on his back, and makes eye contact with Haru just outside the glass doors. He steps forward, a cocky smirk already stretching across his face but--

Haru isn't waiting. He's coming to meet Rin, bright-eyed and just barely stopping himself from running. Rin's expression buckles, the exhaustion and simple human need to be touched yanking him forward despite the pain in his ankle and he only barely remembers to drag his wheeled suitcase behind him as he breaks into a hobbling jog.

Rin is hit with an armful of Haruka Nanase like an emotional sledgehammer, and just that easily his emotional walls crumble. He buries his face into Haru's shoulders, tears welling up behind his eyes, and squeezes Haru back.

"I missed you," Haru says, holding him back just as tight.

"Yeah," Rin chokes.

"I'm sorry about your cat."

"Yeah," he repeats, an eloquent and mature man who is absolutely not crying in the Tokyo airport. He does, however, squeeze Haru a little tighter as he breathes in the familiar scent of honeysuckle detergent, cheap deodorant, and the ever-present tang of chlorine that forms the aromatic memory of Haru in his mind. "Me too." To all of it.

Haru doesn't let him go immediately, letting them stand there and sway gently in the chaos of the airport, lost in each other's embrace. If Rin listens, he can hear Haru's heartbeat, just a little faster than normal, and he wonders if he owes Kou an apology for more than just his tone.

"Welcome home," Haru says, and Rin laughs into his shoulder.

"It's good to be back."

#rinharu #harurin #NOTE: their ending lines are actually 'okaeri' and 'tadaima' but I'm not sure the best translation offhand #saro's writing #fictional pet death mention