Work Text:
He had been restless since earlier that morning, spending a couple hours trying to force his brain to overcome his current writer's block. He gives up after the seventh time of spinning around the room in the new gaming chair that Nubsib had purchased him. He didn’t even really play video games often, but the younger man was adamant that this chair would be better for Gene’s back compared to the uncomfortable plastic one he usually sat in. Unfortunately the younger was right, so he could not even complain about how much more space it took within his bedroom.
After giving up on writing he tried numerous things to try to keep his mind at bay. First he sat in front of the TV flipping through different channels, trying to settle on something to binge watch. However, everything that was airing currently was not captivating enough to keep his interest. He then tried to clean up a bit, but living with Nubsib meant that pretty much everything in the house was kept spotless. It was like some type of super power, because Gene knew for sure that he wasn’t exactly neat. But with his boyfriend around it seemed like the house came with its own auto-cleaning setting.
He gives up on trying to find something to do, and dramatically throws himself onto his couch, coming to terms with the fact that he was most likely just going to wilt away from boredom. He grabs his phone off the coffee table, his heart skipping a beat when he sees the new lock screen on it. It was a picture of Nubsib and him in bed, the younger man cradling him to his chest as the writer slept. He bites down on his bottom lip to try to contain the automatic upward movements of his lips. He shouldn’t be this fond of someone breaking and entering into his phone and rearranging things, but he couldn’t help it.
His thumb traces over his boyfriend’s cheek before he shakes himself from the spell he had been put under. He enters in his passcode, zero-nine-three-four, going straight to his messages. He immediately opens his with Nubsib, the younger man being the last person he had messaged with, and sends a when will you be home? Immediately after he types out an I miss you staring at it for a few moments before turning off his screen and tossing his phone to the side. He brings his hands up to his hair tugging slightly…when had he become so clingy?
He lets his hands fall back down to his sides fighting the urge to immediately get back on his phone and watch for any semblance of a response from Nubsib. He loses any ounce of self control within himself rather quickly, picking up his phone once again. His eyebrows furrow when he sees that his message had been read but not responded to. His finger hits send on the I miss you message before adding in an angry teddy bear sticker in a fit of passive-aggression.
He flicks his phone away once again, hearing it bounce off the couch and onto the floor. He brings himself to his feet beginning to mindlessly wander around the house, grumpily flinging his limbs around. How could Nubsib just ignore him like that? He just wanted to know when he would be home to plan dinner…or more realistically start a countdown for when he would be getting attention and affection again. Not that he could ever admit that out loud. The power would immediately go straight to his boyfriend’s already inflated ego.
He paces for awhile before hearing the familiar sound of the door being unlocked by the keycard, his head tilting to the side because it seemed a bit early for Nubsib to be home. He walks over to the door, crossing his arms over his chest when he remembers he’s supposed to be annoyed at the younger man for ignoring his text. He has to train his face into one of grumpiness, trying to push down the butterflies that were fluttering in his chest at him finally being home.
The door opens and the tall man enters, his work bag slung over his shoulders. He ignores Gene for a moment, sliding out of his dress shoes before finally facing his slightly smaller boyfriend. They just stare at each other for a moment, before that annoying smirk of his works its way onto his face. “I’m here, Gene,” of course the younger man would automatically begin teasing him. He should have known to never text him something like that even out of indignation. “You don’t have to miss me anymore.”
At the words Gene doesn’t even have to force himself to scowl, hands coming up to push at the man’s chest without any force at all. No matter how irritating his lover’s pride was at times he was right. His presence did make his day ten times brighter already AND he no longer missed him. “Why did you ignore my text?” He questions instead, not wanting to show any signs of caving to the younger man just yet.
Nubsib’s hands come up gently wrapping around each of the writer’s wrists, holding his palms in place on his chest. He pretends to think for a moment. “I was trying to come up with an excuse to leave work to come see you. Was missing you all day too.” He says it so simply, with so much ease that Gene can’t help but be envious. Envious that the younger was so good at expressing his feelings. Envious that he had the ability to make the older man’s knees weak with just a few words.
His expression must have softened because he is pulled in a bit closer to the younger man. “I’m sorry I left for work,” the younger speaks, voice softer and less teasing than before. “I’ll quit and be your personal assistant if you want,” he receives a quick sniff kiss to his cheek. He knew the younger said it to lighten the mood, but also knew if Gene told him to he would.
“If you quit your job you’ll be sleeping by yourself next door,” He speaks, no bite within the tone of his voice at all. He drags his hands up so that rest on his boyfriend’s shoulders instead. “Forever.” He adds for dramatic affect, feeling more than seeing Nubsib’s hands drag down his body to rest on his hips.
“If you say so,” the younger man speaks as if he’s calling his bluff, and maybe he was. Gene didn’t know if he could make it a full night without having the vexatious young man glued to his side. He had come accustomed to him taking too much of his space to the point it left him feeling disheveled when it was missing. It was as if there were being melded into a single unit, one organism that lost half of its functionality without the other around.
He had always found romance novels that talked about the concepts of soulmates to be extremely cringey. They were always written with flowery words and what he assumed to be over exaggerated feelings of love and devotion. The characters would always go through intense suffering whenever they were separated and somehow could feel each other’s pain. It was totally unrealistic to him…until he got a taste of what that was like.
Somehow falling for Nubsib and having the younger man be a constant part of his daily life had altered his views on what he thought was just cheesiness for the sake of cheesiness. He had learned what it felt to be completely devoted to one person, and to want someone else’s happiness and wellbeing to come before his own. He had come to know first hand the pain of unwillingly being separated from the one person he craved to have by his side. He had learned what it was like to feel someone else’s pain and want to fix every single problem that they would ever stumble across.
However, looking at it from a mythical point of view felt even more fitting. Two halves of a whole being separated and forced to find each other to be complete once again. He and Nubsib were so different, but able to fill in the holes within each other’s empty spaces. He believed that they both had helped each other to become better people and they both encouraged the growth the other needed to become their best selves. So, yeah maybe he still shuddered at cheesy romance novels, and even his own boyfriend’s over the top lines of devotion, but he was open to the idea that if soulmates existed Nubsib would be his.
He brings his hands up to cradle the taller man’s face between, eyes trailing over each of his features. He truly was flawless in Gene’s eyes. He didn’t know why fate decided to send him his soulmate in this lifetime, but he was willing to worship every deity that had a hand in the decision for the rest of time if it meant he got to keep Nubsib. His boyfriend must have been expecting it, or maybe he was the one who had moved in first, the writer really didn’t know. All he could focus on now was the warmth that rushed over him as their lips met.