Work Text:
•••
"Wow, this is kinda boring."
Hakuryuu freezes for a moment, eyes wide with shock at how there's suddenly hands around his waist and a voice against his ear. It doesn't take long for him to relax against the unexpected visitor though, leaning back against the other's chest for a few seconds, before elbowing the other roughly.
"Hey! I get here earlier than expected to surprise you and this is how you greet me?!"
Hakuryuu hides his laugh by raising his hand and scratching at his cheek for a made-up itch. "You were going to molest me in front of my students, Judar."
"It's not like they're looking." Judar complains petulantly, not denying his desire to feel him up. "And it's good for them to know that their beloved Hakuryuu-sensei is all taken."
Hakuryuu leans against Judar again, this time while they're side-by-side, both watching the twenty-odd students of the local preschool present their graduation skit at the makeshift stage. There's not a lot of space inside the largest classroom of their small school, but all of the attending family members are smiling at their children with pride. The children look like they're enjoying themselves, all smiles and grins and excitement as they show off what they have learned for the past couple of months.
"You are not going to scar my students for life." Hakuryuu warns him with another elbow to the side, but it doesn't come with real force. Hakuryuu's just the littlest bit annoyed that Judar surprised him here, instead of arriving as he mentioned later this evening. After all, he was planning on dropping by the supermarket to buy the peach sorbet that Judar has been whining about non-stop over the phone. Also, with them surrounded by his students and their parents – they cannot act irresponsibly. Hakuryuu actually misses Judar's clinginess – but it's not like he ever does need to admit that out loud.
"…come on, Hakuryuu, they'll live!" Judar quips, knocking shoulders with him.
"…Plus, I can't believe you're jealous of preschool kids."
"These kids start young, you know!" Judar keeps his voice relatively low and Hakuryuu is grateful for that. He doesn't want to be the source of interruption for this important day. He definitely doesn't want to draw too much attention to them, because he loves this job and there are still sadly some people who would be wary of sending their kids to school owned by one of those 'sinful homosexuals', as he'd heard one of them say one time.
"You would know all about that, wouldn't you?" Hakuryuu is actually ecstatic that Judar's back with him after two weeks of nonstop shifts at work, flying all over the world and encountering so many different places, food, people… Hakuryuu isn't worried that Judar will suddenly meet someone who he would decide he'd like to be with instead, but he would really prefer it if they can have more time together. Not that he'd ever say that out loud, no.
"Of course I do!" Judar admits proudly, never mind the fact that falling in love at such a young age isn't really something advisable. "I fell for you when we first met after all!"
Hakuryuu elbows him roughly again, reminding him to pipe down. Judar never gets tired of reminiscing how he fell for him when they first laid their eyes on each other, each retelling of the story more embellished than the last. "You were just weird."
"And you love it."
Hakuryuu freezes again, before sighing in resignation.
It's true though.
Judar was an unbelievably clingy and flirty child, not even bothering with excuses or reason for doing things like holding hands with Hakuryuu or kissing Hakuryuu, even when they were just six years old. That's not even counting the fact that Judar enjoyed trespassing into Hakuryuu's bedroom every single night to sleep while tucked inside the other's blankets. To this day, Hakuei still teasingly claims that it's because she was so lenient with Judar's affectionate actions that they're together now.
"I hope none of my students end up like you," Hakuryuu says instead with a sniff, his head lightly resting on Judar's left shoulder. They're at the very back of the classroom so it's not like they're within plain sight of everyone, but Hakuryuu still makes sure to be hyper-aware so he can smoothly detach himself from the other.
"I hope so too," Judar agrees so seriously that Hakuryuu raises an eyebrow at him.
"…that's great of you?" Hakuryuu says it slowly, because a serious Judar is always a beacon for troublesome things.
"I know right! If they end up like me, who knows how flustered and embarrassed you'd be—ow!"
Hakuryuu steps on the other's foot as sharply as he can, cutting off the other's words.
He doesn't bother denying Judar's words as he instead focuses on making excuses for their noisy interruption.
•••
With their mini graduation ceremony over, Hakuryuu busies himself with cleaning up the room, while Judar attempts to help him while practically bouncing on his heels as he surveys the classroom from all angles.
Hakuryuu's pretty used to it – he has known Judar for nearly twenty years now and has been living with him for the past ten – but he knows that Judar's actions can be irritating to those who don't know him too well. He's already aware that his co-teachers in this preschool are wary of his lover, so he thinks about the best way to tell Judar to get lost for the moment and maybe wait for him at the café down the road or something.
"We can take care of the clean-up, Hakuryuu!" Alibaba tells him with a grin that's part mischievous and part constipated. "You can go with your boyfriend and do… boyfriend-y… things…"
Hakuryuu's taken aback, not only because he knows that Alibaba isn't really fond of Judar, but also because Alibaba finally uttered the boyfriend word to describe their relationship. He also takes a moment to think about how he can comment on that, but Aladdin beats him to the chase.
"Eh? How can you say that, Alibaba? You don't even have a girlfriend!"
"That doesn't have to do with anything!"
"He doesn't have a boyfriend too."
"Not you too, Morgiana!"
Hakuryuu smiles at his friends' antics, appreciative of them being understanding. He bows down to them in gratitude, promising to make it up to them next time. Though, before he leaves:
"…you're really unpopular, Alibaba."
"You take that back, Hakuryuu!!!"
•••
"…You were pretty lively back there," Judar comments as soon as Hakuryuu steps out of the classroom, arms automatically wrapping around his waist, leaning on him like a deadweight.
Hakuryuu lets him be, because he's stronger than the other anyway. He walks with relative ease, not minding the added weight and the obvious intimacy of their positions. Though…
"You were pretty quiet out here."
"You say that like I'm noisy all the time."
"You've always been." Hakuryuu still remembers how their other roommates at college hated all the noise that Judar made after all. That's not even counting the countless complaints from Kouen and Koumei regarding Judar's lack of discipline when he drops by their house while they're busy studying.
"Hmm, point." Judar steers him to the side windows, nudging him so he can watch the scene that has effectively held Judar's attention for the past couple of minutes. "Look, Hakuryuu, he's gonna get rejected!"
"What the hell are you doing," Hakuryuu says flatly, though he can't help his curiosity as he watches Miki-kun stutter his way to a confession while holding out a lollipop to Midori-chan.
"Pug-nose guy has been trying to say love for the past ten minutes. While Split Ends keep on grabbing for the lollipop, hahaha. They're such losers."
"They're my students," Hakuryuu tells his lover with a mock-scandalized tone, knowing that Judar doesn't have any real malice for them. It's just that he really likes being mean to others who are not Hakuryuu. It's almost like a compensation for how nice he acts when they're together – he'll probably implode if he doesn't balance it with mean acts.
"Hakuryuu, I love you, but I don't think your greatness is enough to save these two from loserdom."
"At least Miki-kun prepared a gift for his confession, unlike a certain person I know…"
"You weren't complaining back then!"
"No? I seem to remember protesting a lot when you tried to stuff weeds to my face."
"Details."
Hakuryuu chuckles at that, linking elbows with Judar to steer him away from his students. He debates whether he should say his next words, but well. They've known each other twenty years now. He can afford to let this slip: "Well, I'm glad that you still kept on going even when I rejected you a hundred times."
"Two hundred forty-four," Judar corrects him quietly, pausing in his steps. "…Though I could have kept going even if you had rejected me a million more times."
Hakuryuu pauses as well, cheeks burning. He looks around and finds the hallways empty, so he pushes Judar to the wall and kisses him with the pent-up enthusiasm of waiting for the other for two weeks, as well as the longing for someone who had waited for him for ten years.
"I really do hope that my students don't end up like us," Hakuryuu murmurs breathlessly against Judar's lips, before dragging Judar to one of the classrooms that he's supposed to be locking up before leaving for the day.
Maybe he'll have the courage to admit that he's thankful for meeting Judar in his childhood later, but for now this will do.
•••
("When I said they can do boyfriend-y things, I didn't mean for them TO! DO! IT! HERE!" Alibaba cries in half outrage and half pity for himself.
"Don't worry, Alibaba, I'm sure you can find someone to do those things with!"
"…Really, Aladdin? You're a good friend!"
"Yeah! We can invite Elizabeth here tomorrow even!"
"URGHHH.")
(Morgiana just snaps a picture of Hakuryuu and his childhood sweetheart, making sure that she only captures everything above the waist, adding it to her collection of happy photos of her friends.)
•••
(Day 1 of Judar's return ends with them being locked inside the preschool, no peach sorbets in sight. But that's more than fine, because he has Hakuryuu with him—who still hasn't woken up why is he such a heavy sleeper at times like this.)
••• end