Work Text:
Iwaizumi Hajime was having a shit day.
His phone had died the previous night so his alarm didn't go off; he missed his train that morning and had to wait an extra twenty minutes for the next one; he was thirty minutes late to work, which meant everything was behind schedule and would result in even more work later on; and, to top it all off, it started snowing as he walked back home.
Of course I'd forget my damn coat. Just the cherry on top. Iwaizumi shoved his hands into the pockets of his zip-up, shivering in the thin fabric. His knee twinged (slipping on the train station stairs), his back ached (pulling a muscle during training), his head throbbed (an oncoming headache/the result of getting hit in the face not once but four times that day), and his stomach would not stop growling (he hadn't eaten breakfast and had barely any time for lunch).
His sore feet somehow made it up the stairs of the complex to his apartment door. Iwaizumi dug around in his pocket for the key, grasping it with numb fingers and turning the lock with a shaking hand. A blast of warm air hit him in the face, along with the smell of something delicious. The apartment was glowing with soft lamplight, stretching out the shadows of picture frames along the wall. Christmas decorations were placed all around, adding to the homey atmosphere. Iwa could hear the radio playing a Christmas song in the kitchen, with someone humming along just barely underneath the melody.
Iwaizumi shut the door and knelt down to untie his shoes. Snow had blown in, leaving tiny smears of white along the wood of the genkan. He tugged and picked at the laces, but his fingers were too stiff with cold.
Come on, you stupid things! Move! Iwaizumi grasped one end of his shoelace and yanked as hard as he could. Instead of untying like he wanted, it squeezed his aching foot so tight that he let out a yelp.
The humming in the kitchen stopped. Footsteps followed, getting closer to the genkan as Iwaizumi wrestled with his uncooperative laces.
"Welcome home, Iwa-Cha--what exactly are you doing?"
"Trying to get these damn things off," Iwaizumi bit out, not looking up from his shoes. It was starting to get difficult to see his laces, with tears pooling in his eyes.
Somehow, after all the crap that had happened, after getting scolded by his boss, after barely eating a thing, after just wanting to curl up and sleep all day, he was broken by a length of fiber.
Warm hands slid on top of his. "Your hands are freezing, Iwa-Chan. Did you take your gloves?"
"Didn't I tell you not to mother me, Shittykawa?" Iwaizumi snapped. "I'm not five." His voice broke on the last sentence and he swore quietly, yanking one of his hands up to scrub his eyes.
"What's wrong? Did something happen? Hey, look at me." One of the warm hands tilted his face up from his shoe to look at Oikawa's face. The lamplight glowed behind his head, casting a beam over his wild brown hair.
"'S nothing," Iwaizumi grunted.
Oikawa's face drew into a frown. "You were fighting with your shoelaces in the genkan while looking like you were about to burst into tears."
"Don't worry about it." Iwaizumi moved his face away from Oikawa's hand and started reaching for his laces again, when Oikawa batted his hands away. He reached down and started gently untying Iwaizumi's laces, relieving the pressure and slipping the shoes off Iwaizumi's feet. Oikawa stood up and held out his hand.
"Come on, Hajime," he said in a soft voice.
At the use of his first name, the world blurred completely into soft light and brown hair as Iwaizumi fought back his tears. He took Oikawa's hand and followed him to the couch, where Oikawa sat down and patted the spot next to him. Iwaizumi sat down and leaned against his boyfriend, breathing in the familiar smell of sweat and overpriced hairspray.
"Tell me what happened, Iwa-Chan." Oikawa's voice vibrated through Iwaizumi's head like he was taking control of his mind. And maybe he was, because Iwaizumi found himself immediately starting to speak.
"It's been a shitty fucking day." He sniffled and rubbed at his eyes.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, I just want to eat something. I've eaten fuck all today."
"I just finished with dinner. Do you want to come to the table or do you want to eat out here?"
"I'll eat out here. I really don't want to move."
"Okay, I'll be right back." Oikawa kissed the crown of Iwaizumi's head and stood up, walking into the kitchen. Iwaizumi closed his eyes and let his head fall back onto the couch with a thud. Now that he was sitting, he could feel all the aches and pains from the day everywhere, seeping into every crevice.
"Here you go, Iwa-Chan!" Oikawa set a warm plate on the table, beaming like an idiot, though Iwaizumi, but his attention was soon drawn to dinner.
"'Kawa, is that..." He picked up the plate and poked at the agedashi tofu sitting on it.
"Go ahead, say I'm the best boyfriend ever." Somehow, Oikawa's grin got even bigger. He plopped down next to Iwaizumi and started pressing kisses all over his face. "I took time on my day off to make my Iwa-Chan his favorite dish."
"Stop it!" Iwaizumi batted at his boyfriend, but Oikawa just clung to him and stuck his head under his chin. "I can't eat like this, you big dummy!"
"Whoops, guess you can't." Oikawa moved away and Iwaizumi started shoveling the tofu into his mouth. The familiar taste made tears well up in his eyes again. After a day of unintentional fasting, it was probably the best thing to ever bless his taste buds.
"Iwa-Chan, do you like it?" Oikawa rested his head on Iwaizumi's shoulder, looking up at him with giant brown puppy eyes.
Iwaizumi swallowed his bite, then cleared his throat. "'S good. 'S really good, 'Kawa."
"Oh, goodie!" Oikawa grinned. "You sure tore through it quickly. There's more if you want me to get it."
{}{}{}{}{}
Three plates later and Iwaizumi was lying in Oikawa's lap, letting him play with his hair. The wind was still howling outside and battering against the window, but it was safe inside. Their clock, which Oikawa had brought back from Brazil, read 8:46 in bright text. It was so warm in here. Iwaizumi's eyes were starting to fall closed when he felt Oikawa tap him on the forehead.
"Hey! What was that for?"
"I want to go to sleep in bed and I'm not carrying you there if you fall asleep here. Also, you need to shower."
"God, you're annoying, Crappykawa."
"I know, I'm the worst. Come on, up you get." Oikawa pulled Iwaizumi to his feet. Iwaizumi followed behind as they walked down the hallway to their room. Pictures of them, from toddlers all the way up to high school, lined the walls. Oikawa had joked that it was like a hall of memories the first time they had gone down it together.
Their room was small but cozy, with several thick blankets askew on the bed and piles of clothes on the floor. Iwaizumi counted at least three stray volleyballs lying around. Oikawa started rooting through one of the clothes piles, probably in search of pajamas, while Iwaizumi walked across the hall to the bathroom for a shower.
The warm water felt incredible on his sore muscles and washing the grease out of his hair was one of the greatest moments in his recent history. After putting some bandages on his scrapes from earlier and brushing his teeth, Iwaizumi went back into the bedroom to see a giant lump under the covers. He huffed out a laugh and the lump moved, two large eyes looked out at him.
"What're you laughing at, mister?"
"None of your business." Iwaizumi slid under the covers and flipped off the lights. He moved over to be closer to his boyfriend, who promptly grabbed him around the waist and forcibly turned him over.
"Wha--hey! What the hell, Tooru!"
"Oh, so now you'll use my name, huh?" Oikawa snuggled up behind Iwaizumi, trapping him in as the little spoon. Iwaizumi only grumbled a little bit, stopping when a hand started petting through his damp hair. Damn that man.
"I love you, Hajime," Oikawa murmured. "I love you so much." He kept running his fingers through Iwaizumi's hair.
"Love you too, Tooru," Iwaizumi mumbled, already slipping into half-sleep. "Thanks for d'nner. 'N for puttin' up with me."
A soft kiss on the back of his head. "I'll always put up with you, Iwa-Chan. Bad day or not."
Iwaizumi Hajime fell asleep loved, full of food, and so, so warm in his boyfriend's arms.
