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Noya noticed a few things were off when he opened his eyes.
First of all, Asahi was the one already sitting up on the side of the bed and trying to coax him awake. No matter where they were, Noya was always the one who had to get Asahi up in the morning--it was routine.
This was not.
Asahi was looking down at him with that smile, the one that was a little too bright and still left all the worry clear in his eyes. “Noya? Are you waking up?” He was speaking softly, even for him.
Noya blinked and looked up at the harsh fluorescent lights above him. Wherever this was, it was not the hotel room.
Asahi squeezed his hand. “How are you feeling, baby?”
The answer was not well. The back of his head was killing him at the moment, throbbing with a dull pain.
Noya wiped at his eyes with his free hand. “Where are we?”
“The hospital. You got a little bump in the head.”
Noya groaned. “Oh god, this is gonna kill our travel budget, isn’t it?” He slowly sat up and brought a hand to the back of his head, flinching at the brief touch.
“Careful, careful.” Asahi rose his eyebrows at him. “You remember we’re traveling, then? Do you know where we are?”
Noya rolled his eyes. He had gotten this whole concussion quiz a few times, was used to it after volleyball season, but it never stopped being annoying. “We’re in Egypt. We were at the pyramids, right?” His brow furrowed. “How did I get hit in the head?”
“You were on your knees, and a camel… uh, it kicked you.”
Noya blinked. “I got kicked by a camel?”
“The doctor said it was surprisingly common-”
Noya laughed, because Asahi looked so damn serious, and he was talking about a camel injury-
“It’s not funny, you could have a concussion!”
“It’s definitely funny,” he said, “how does that even happen? Why was I kneeling in front of a camel, anyway?”
Asahi’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, you uh- you don’t remember that part?”
“No?”
Asahi shifted in his seat. “You were trying to give me this,” he said, and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, slipping it into Noya’s hand.
Nishinoya stopped laughing.
He had bought the box, and the thing inside it, back in Japan. He was planning on saving it for one of their later stops in a more romantic country, but Asahi looked so happy that day, and Noya was never a patient person. He remembered thinking that today was the day when they had gotten to the pyramids. He could almost remember getting on his knee.
“I proposed?”
Asahi nodded slowly.
Noya’s hands fumbled to open the box. The ring was still inside, still off Asahi’s finger. Those last few minutes of his memory were fuzzy, and despite how hard he was trying Noya could not for the life of him remember the most important part-
“What did you say?”
Asahi blinked. “What?”
Noya looked up at him. “When I proposed, what did you say?”
“Oh, uh- I didn’t get to answer. You didn’t even really finish the question. Because of the whole camel thing.”
Noya frowned down at the box. “Stupid camel.” He threw back the covers and started to swing his legs over the side of the bed.
“Hey, you shouldn’t be moving around yet-”
“It’s not like I’m going far,” he said, and he pushed himself up from the bed. Asahi really was exaggerating; He didn’t feel dizzy at all, so however concussed he was, he doubted walking was going to be a problem.
But then, he wasn’t planning on walking much anyway. As soon as he was up he knelt down right in front of Asahi.
Realization flashed over Asahi’s eyes, but he didn’t say anything, just stared as Noya opened the box and pointed it towards him.
“Azumane Asahi, will you marry me?”
Asahi looked like he was trying to say something, swallowed, tried to start again. “You know you can’t just ask something like that without warning me,” he said, “I’m gonna get all emotional out of nowhere.”
Noya laughed. “Sorry, but I really don’t think I can wait anymore. So?”
Asahi smiled down at him and cupped his hands over Noya’s. “Well, obviously the answer is yes,” he said, half-laughing even as his voice started to crack. “It’s not even a question.”
Noya pulled back his hands so he could take the ring out. He was grinning like an idiot now, as he reached out and grabbed Asahi’s left hand. “I was hoping to wait until Paris or something,” he said, “but I decided I couldn’t wait. And I already know I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so it’s not like I have a reason to.” He slid the ring onto Asahi’s finger and smiled down at it. It was simple for an engagement ring, but it still looked perfect on his hand.
Asahi laughed. “You have to stop saying that stuff, or I’m seriously going to start crying.” Asahi’s eyes were already getting misty.
Noya smiled up at him and squeezed his hand. “Well, you’re not allowed to cry, because then I’ll start crying, and then we’ll really be useless.” He started to stand and brought his hands to Asahi’s cheeks. “This isn’t exactly the most romantic place for this, is it? Sorry, the camel ruined everything.”
Asahi put his hands over Noya’s. “It’s perfect,” he said, and then he was leaning forward and kissing Noya, as his first tears spilled onto his cheeks.
Noya wiped at Asahi’s cheeks with his thumbs while he kissed him, gently, pulling back after only a moment to rest their foreheads together. “Can we go ahead and get out of here? Because I really want to be alone with you somewhere where a nurse won’t walk in.”
Asahi laughed through his nose. “I should go get the doctor and make sure you don’t have a concussion first,” he said, but he didn’t move. Noya didn’t either; For the moment he couldn’t bring himself to pull away from Asahi, didn’t want to be any farther than he needed to. He wanted to stay like this for the rest of his life.
And the best part was, he was going to.