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A peaceful morning on Rhodes Island. Sesa wakes up in the comfortable room he shares with one man with whom he decided to share his life. Yes, it was Passenger, Elliot Grove. The older man is still sleeping, his breath is almost unheard.
With the sunlight streaming down from the window Sesa is able to find every wrinkle on the face of his loved one, and somehow it makes him even more attractive than he already is. Passenger has been still suffering from nightmares quite often, so seeing him like that – defenseless, almost naked gives Sesa a mixed feeling of fondness, admiration and melancholy. Both of them aren't at that age when children call them "old men", but they aren't very young indeed. Regardless, he is happy.
"Good morning," Passenger slowly opens his eyes and reaches for a glass of water.
"Morning, sleepy head," Sesa waits until Passenger finishes, and puts his palm on his cheek, "feel better than yesterday?"
"I think so," Passenger nods. There are some days when his legs aren't in a very good condition, so he has to use one of his tools to walk. Oripathy has robbed his health so much, no matter how well the stubborn man wears his mask of perfection. Yesterday was one of those days.
Then he puts his own hands, a bit smaller than Sesa's ones, to his cheeks and suddenly kisses his forehead.
"Hey, that's not fair," Sesa complaints jokingly.
"And have I ever been a fair man?" Passenger parries his words with a rhetorical question. Having lived together for a long time, both of them are used to morning conversations like these. In reality Passenger was honest and fair, but only when he wanted.
"Okay, okay, you got me," Sesa bursts out laughing, and the corners of Passenger's eyes go up.
They fondly gaze into each other's eyes for a few minutes like that, blue meets red. Sesa notices that Passenger's hair looks a bit messy. Maybe he was too tired yesterday to manage it properly.
"Mind if I help?" Sesa points at a few sticking locks which make Passenger adorable.
The man silently gives him a black hairbrush.
Sesa begins to comb Passenger's hair. It's a way longer than his own, but somehow it doesn't feel very heavy. Minutes pass quietly.
"I finished. Do you need help with the braid too?"
"Thank you, but no. I prefer doing this by myself."
Sesa doesn't argue, knowing how much this is important for Passenger. The braid is a remembrance of his deceased teacher, Thorne, whom the young Elliot loved deeply.
Passenger weaves the braid with an absent look. Probably, he sinks in his teen reminiscences, trying to find something buried deeply inside him.
Sesa patiently waits for his return, not calling or interrupting.
Passenger blinks a few times and returns to reality.
"Did I make you wait?"
"It's okay. Let's go and eat something, shan't we?"
Today will be a good day.