Work Text:
Inigo didn't except to have an heart attack just because he opened the door.
Well, he didn't have one, but he has been close to. He first thought he was seeing a ghost, or something like that. Then, he felt quite proud to have recognized him immediately.
Owain. Owain and his crazy blond hair, his cheeky smile, the way he was standing, confident but cool, and all the centimeters he took with the years (which was reassuring, if you ask me).
Inigo didn't say a word, silent for a moment, his eyes scanning the face of the man who was standing in front of his front door, and he couldn't suppress the dumb smile he felt blossom on his lips.
“Inigo of the Indigo skies !” Owain exclaimed with a bright smile, and something fell into Inigo' stomach, something which sounds like hedidntchangeatall.
Owain reach out his hand and Inigo tilt his head, quiet.
“I went through the lands and the places to find you !”
“Owain...”
The grin of the blond man widened while Inigo wrapped both of his arms around himself.
“You... Why, do you... “He started, stammering, in shock.
“Why ?” Owain repeated, genuinely surprised. “I told you I would find you back, right... ?”
“Owain, it was thirty years ago ?”
Owain blinked a few times then raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, sorry I'm not a professional detective, it wasn't easy to-”
“N-no, that's not what I mean.”
Inigo sighed, face hidden behind his hands. He briefly had a reminiscence of a younger version of himself. He was seven, crying like he never did and getting in the family's car, full of suitcases and bags. He had a reminiscence of the young-Owain too, crazy hair and and plasters on his knees, promising the would meet again because it was their “destiny” and that “fate would lead them to meet again”.
“You really spend thirty years of your life searching for me.... ?” Inigo demanded with a small voice, both happy and a bit guilty.
Owain has mattered a lot when they were children, he has been his “first love”, even if they never went further than the perk on the cheek. But he moved on and excepted his friend to do the same.
“Hmmm not really. I started searching for you when I was in high-school so I spent something like twenty years looking for you.
“You're amazing” Inigo breathed, face still captive behind his hands.
“I promised I would, right ?” Owain laughed, and it was an adorable sound.
Inigo was about to answer something, maybe inviting him to enter inside to chat and catch up, when Owain's expression softly changed. His smile slowly faded and he imperceptibly frowned. Inigo tried to follow his gaze but Owain spoke first.
“Oh. You got married ?”
Times stopped for Inigo who blinked a few times.
What-
He slowly moved his hand and noticed the ring he was wearing, the ring he forgot by always wearing it. He swallowed.
“Uuuh, I....”
“Hm.”
Owain didn't look mad, Inigo though, immediately wondering why he would be.
“I should have known thirty years was a lot of time” Owain said, arms crossed.
“What do you mean... ?”
He didn't understand what was going on. Owain sounded... Disappointed ?
“I thought I would be fast enough to take you to the altar right, but... Yeah. Twenty years.”
“E-Excuse me ??”
“We promised to each other, Inigo.”
His tone was not aggressive, and the reproach he could hear in was not quarrelsome. Inigo’s gaze darted a point at Owain's right, unable to look at him in the eyes. He sure wasn't really resourceful when he was a child, and it was a total possibility he didn't quite understand what their promise was really about. But it has been thirty years. Even if he had correctly remembered, Owain could not have thought Inigo would have wait for him.
He looked up to Owain who raised an eyebrow, and he felt all his cheeks turned red. He had always been the type of guy who flushed easily, and thinking about this possibilities was not helping at all. And, he had to admit that Owain had become really very handsome. He allowed himself to quickly take a look. If Inigo always danced, Owain tried all possible sports, and he kept a impressive body. Owain spoke again, stopping Inigo to think more.
“Well, I'm still happy to find you back you know, he said with a new smile. Even if somebody else already stole your heart.”
“A-actually...”
He ran a hand through his hair, thinking. He stepped back in order to see the clock hung in his house's entrance. It was not ten already, on a Saturday morning... He took a big breath, and faced Owain.
“You wanna come inside ?”
Owain quickly chased away the surprised expression that painted his face, and nodded, beaming. He was beaming and Inigo couldn't not smile too. Owain really changed, he was adult-ish now, and his face was had more mature features. But now, in this instant, Inigo really had the impression he was with his childhood friend and/or first love.
“I need to tell you something” Inigo stared, and Owain sat on the couch, making a sign that meant he was listening. “There is indeed someone in my life, and... This is the most important person for me.”
“I guess....” Owain answered, trying to figure out what was Inigo's point.
“And I have to admit that I misunderstood our “promise” (he made the quotation marks with his fingers) thirty years ago an-”
“Whaaaat.”
Owain opened his mouth, like a angry fish, and Inigo spoke again before his friend could interrupt once more.
“But. If I had, I would probably have waited for you.”
Owain smiled, a slight differently than before, and it was so soft Inigo wanted to crush into a cushion. He would have been ashamed, as a 37 years old man, though.
“Really ? Even for thirty years?”
“Well, we would have been more efficient if I had searched too. But..”
He took the blond haired-man's hand in his, and took a big breath.
“Even if I would have loved to spend all these years with you, I don't have any regrets because...”
“Dad?” A small voice interrupted, coming from a little bit further inside the house.
Owain mimicked a silent “whaaaat” and Inigo looked at him, his grey eyes saying “what do you think I did during THIRTY years?”. A little girl with long pink hair approached them in the living room, still dressed in a flashy pajama. She was maybe six years old, Owain thought. She stopped near Inigo, and gazed Owain before reaching her hand towards him.
“H-H-HELLO. M-m-my name is S-Soleil.”
“...Ohmygod, it's a mini-you. You have the same face.”
Inigo fondly rolled his eyes.
“Answer, you impolite guest.”
“Hello Soleil ! My name is Dark Ow- (he noticed Inigo's jaded look) just Owain.” He said, softly shaking the hand of the child.
“H-Hello!!” She said back with too much enthusiasm to be natural.
And then, the ran towards the kitchen to prepare her breakfast.
“She's adorable.” Owain softly said.
“She is. She's the reason I don't regret us being apart for so many years. I wouldn't have her if we were... A thing, you know ?”
“I do. Will her mother come down and greet me in the most awkward way or did your kid inherit that from you?”
“Of course she inherited that from me. And... No, it's just the two of us?”
“...uh...”
“Soleil's mum left when she was a toddler. We had a divorce, and Soleil wanted to keep the other ring and me this one”, he said, looking at his spread fingers. “I guess it kind of... protect me, somehow. So... I will talk to Soleil, aaand... If she accepted you, and if you still want to have me after thirty years. Maybe we can see if this works..?”
Owain smiled, and Inigo melt just by seeing him.
“Well, if she accepts me, I am sure this will work.”