Work Text:
Ominis perked up as he heard the front door close.
“Sebastian?” He called out as he walked down the stairs, his arm trailing along the wall to keep him centred.
“Yes, dear.” Sebastian replied with a fond smile, walking forward to meet him and gathering him into a warm hug.
Ominis smiled happily, squeezing his partner briefly before leaning back to kiss him. It was slightly off, but Sebastian simply smiled and tilted slightly so they’re mouths pressed against one another.
“How was your day?” Ominis asked softly as he pulled back, but remained in the embrace, his arms around his partner’s shoulders, Sebastian’s arms around his waist.
Sebastian shrugged slightly. “It was alright. Could have been better, but my highlight is right here.”
Ominis smiled despite the blush that rose on his cheeks. “Stop it, Sebastian.”
“Why? Can I not tell my wonderful boyfriend how much I enjoy his company? How much I want to do this?...” He trailed off as he pressed his lips to Ominis’ cheek. “Or this?...” He moved to kiss Ominis’ forehead, then other cheek, then nose, and finally back to his lips.
Ominis moaned softly as his eyes slipped shut.
“We- ah! – we have that… that dinner. We really… oh!... can’t be late, Sebastian.” He breathed out between kisses.
Sebastian grumbled unhappily before placing one final kiss and leaning back. “If we must.”
“Yes, I’m afraid so, darling.”
“Come on then.” Sebastian squeezed his hand affectionately before letting go and walking up the steps to their bedroom.
Ominis followed him and sat down on the bed as Sebastian got changed into something more appropriate for going out.
“Are we bringing anything for Poppy?” Sebastian asked off-handedly as he buckled the belt holding up his trousers.
Ominis nodded. “Yes, we bought her that book on dragons, remember? I also found an ornate picture frame that I thought would work well with it.”
“Sounds brilliant, darling.” Sebastian smiled, leaning down to kiss his boyfriend on the cheek before sitting next to him to tie his shoes.
Ominis smiled softly and leaned into his side as he waited.
Once they were both ready, they made their way out to Sebastian’s car. Ominis had his cane, but he tended to lean on Sebastian more so when they were together. Sebastian helped him into the car, shutting the door once he was in, before making his way to the driver’s side and getting in.
It was a rather chilly evening, making Sebastian glad that they’d thought to bring a jacket each just in case. Ominis tended to get cold easier than he did, and he didn’t want him to get sick.
A few minutes of driving later, they pulled into the carpark of the restaurant they were meeting their friends at for Poppy’s birthday. It was a small business, tucked just off the main street, but their pizzas were amazing.
Sebastian led Ominis to the front door, the latter clutching Poppy’s wrapped present tightly to his chest. It wasn’t that he was scared of being out in public per say, but new or uncertain situations did make him uncomfortable. It helped that Sebastian was with him, and not going anywhere, but he still felt rather tense.
Sebastian spotted Poppy and Amit sitting over at one of the far tables tucked into the back corner. They smiled and waved when they saw him and Ominis making their way over.
“Seb! Om! How are you? It’s been so long!” Poppy launched up out of her seat as soon as they were close enough and brought them into a big hug, bouncing up and down slightly on the spot. “Thank you so much for coming! Garreth, Imelda and Leander are on their way, but running a little late.”
Ominis chuckled at her behaviour before leaning back out of the hug and handing her the present. “Happy birthday, dear.”
Her face lit up. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!”
Sebastian smirked at her before pulling out a chair for Ominis and pushing it in once he sat down, sliding into the one next to him himself.
“There’s a small plate directly in front of you, the knife and fork on a napkin to the right of it. There’s an empty glass just forward of the cutlery, but there’s a jug of water here as well, if you’d like some?” Sebastian spoke softly to him, as custom to their routine of visiting somewhere for the first time.
Ominis nodded. “Yes, please. Thank you, darling.”
Sebastian filled his glass, as well as his own, Amit and Poppy already having some for themselves.
They listened as Amit launched into a recount of the latest gossip from his work, and a few minutes later, their other friends showed up.
“Poppy! Congrats on turning a year older!” Garreth threw his arms wide and enveloped her in a bear hug, Leander offering a pat on the shoulder briefly before quickly sliding into a spare seat.
Imelda snatched the remaining seat next to Poppy and sat down gracefully. “Happy birthday, Pops. Honestly, I would have been here sooner, but these two would not stop bickering about which way to go to get here.”
“I told you the main street was going to be packed! But did anyone listen to me? No.” Leander pouted and crossed his arms.
“Oh come on, Le. I took a chance! I was wrong, but that’s beside the point.” Garreth smiled charmingly at him, sliding an arm over the back of his chair.
“On the contrary, I think that’s precisely the point!” Leander huffed, turning away from him.
Garreth leaned closer, placing his head on Leander’s shoulder, and a hand on his knee. “I am terribly sorry, darling. I know I was wrong, I should have listened to you.”
Leander glanced at him but remained turned away.
“Come on, sweetheart. You know you can’t stay mad at me for too long.” He whispered, sliding his hand slightly up to his thigh before Leander’s hand smacked it away.
“We are in public.”
Garreth grinned, leaning forward slightly to kiss his cheek. “Then can we say that I am forgiven, and we can pick this up again later?”
Leander sighed before turning to kiss him briefly on the mouth before turning back to face the table. “Fine then, you are forgiven.”
They both glanced up at a stifled giggle.
“I apologise.” Imelda spoke, a hand over her mouth, despite her eyes still laughing. “I just imagined what must have happened after all your other fights. Honestly, if you always just end up in bed together, why have the fight to begin with?”
“Keeps me on my toes, he does.” Garreth smirked at her.
Leander rolled his eyes but smiled softly all the same.
They ordered their meals when the waitress came over and ate it all with happy conversation, and reminiscing their old school days. Having graduated a few years ago now, they found it nice to look back on whenever they could. Sebastian and Ominis had been friends all throughout, but hadn’t begun dating until their final year.
Garreth and Leander had hated each other all throughout their schooling, but in the years after, they had realised that they actually enjoyed spending time together, despite how much they still fought. After a couple of years being friends, they eventually began to date as well.
Poppy had been seeing a girl at her university for a few months now, but she had been away at a conference this week, so wasn’t able to make it for Poppy’s birthday. Imelda had seen a few people over the years, of all genders, but was mostly happy simply working on herself at the moment. She had goals and wasn’t going to let anyone or anything get in the way of them.
At one point during the evening, Sebastian left to use the restroom, squeezing Ominis’ shoulder affectionately as he walked away from the table.
“So, Ominis. What’s happening with you and Sebastian?” Imelda asked coyly.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you’ve been together a long time now, you live together, are you thinking about marriage? You could adopt some kids? Maybe a dog? What’s next for the dream team?”
Ominis hesitated. “I’m… not really sure, to be honest. I think we’re happy where we are at the moment? Anything else that’s meant to happen will happen when it is right.”
Imelda rolled her eyes, her stubborn streak shining through. “Oh, come on! You must have some hopes for the future, some expectations? Where’s all this going?”
Ominis huffed, already tense from the evening, and now simply agitated and frustrated. “I don’t know, Imelda. Can we please change the subject?”
“But-”
“Drop it, Imelda.” Poppy interjected.
A tense silence encompassed the table then, Sebastian returning shortly after, his smile faltering slightly as he noticed.
“Did I miss something?” He asked, glancing to Ominis.
He noticed his partner’s hands held tightly into fists in his lap and he was holding himself very still.
“Ominis? What’s wrong?” He sat down quickly next to him and leant closer to speak softly.
Ominis leant into him with a sigh. “I’d like to go home now.”
“Come on, Ominis, you don’t have to go.” Imelda complained.
He narrowed his eyes. “I am not comfortable here anymore, so I will be leaving.” He turned in Poppy’s direction with a softer expression. “Poppy, thank you for a lovely dinner, and happy birthday again.”
“Thanks, Om.” Poppy replied softly.
Sebastian was still mostly confused by the situation, but he helped Ominis up from the table and put on his jacket, before leaving enough money to cover both his and Ominis’ meals. He waved at them all briefly as he led Ominis back out of the restaurant and into the car.
Ominis sighed heavily once he was settled, his head falling back against the seat with a quiet thunk.
“Are you alright?” Sebastian asked softly as he pulled out of the carpark and started back home.
“I will be. Imelda can just be so… ugh!”
He quirked a smile. “Well, she was known for being like that all throughout school, it makes sense that it comes out every now and then.”
“Perhaps, but she had no right to keep pushing and pushing, despite how uncomfortable I was. We didn’t need to be having that conversation at all.”
“What conversation?”
Ominis hesitated briefly. “Just… She was asking about… our future. What our plans were, that sort of thing.”
Sebastian’s brow furrowed ever so slightly. “Why is that a bad thing, though? We’re okay, yeah?”
“Of course we are, darling.” Ominis leaned over and ran his hand between them until he found Sebastian’s leg and squeezed reassuringly. “I only meant that she was asking personal questions that I wasn’t comfortable with. Things that we hadn’t necessarily discussed yet, so I didn’t want to discuss them with her.”
“Like what?” Sebastian asked as he dropped one hand from the steering wheel to squeeze Ominis’ hand back briefly.
He sighed heavily. “Marriage, adoption, whether or not we’d get a dog, that sort of thing. She just made it seem like we weren’t moving forward quickly enough. I am happy with where we are at the moment, no matter what the future brings, but apparently we’re taking too long to get to the next step.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Don’t listen to Imelda, sweetheart. She can be an insensitive cow sometimes, honestly.” He sighed. “I’m happy where we are too. I know we don’t talk about the future much, but I would love anything that it brings, as long as its with you by my side.”
A light blush crawled up Ominis’ face. “You know, we’ll be having any kind of conversation, and then you’ll say something so unfairly romantic, and all my thoughts seem to leave my brain.”
Sebastian grinned. “Unfairly romantic? Are you sure that’s a thing?”
“Of course it’s a thing. If not, I just made it one. How do you expect me to compete when you can pull something like that seemingly out of mid-air. I’m sure there’s many others out there that are much better at these confessions of love than I am.” He glanced down somewhat self-consciously towards the end.
“Hey, no. Honestly, William Shakespeare could be here begging, and I’d still choose you. I don’t care about how you tell me you love me, sweetheart. You show me every single day. We’ve built this life together and I’m so proud of it and us for getting to where we are. I’d never want to do this without you, Om.” Sebastian trailed off as he glanced over at him. “You’re my forever person, Ominis.”
“Oh, hell. Please tell me we’re home?” Ominis squeaked, furiously rubbing against his cheeks as tears fell down.
Sebastian smiled softly, turning into their street and parking in their driveway. “We’re home.”
Ominis flung open his door and jumped out, prompting a worried frown from Sebastian as he hurried to do the same. As soon as he stepped out of the car, he was ambushed with an armful of his koala of a boyfriend.
Sebastian wrapped his arms around Ominis’ waist, letting his head rest atop his that was buried into his neck.
“I love you.” Ominis muttered in between his silent sobs.
“I love you, too, my darling.” Sebastian squeezed him closer, pressing a kiss atop his head. “Come now, let’s get you inside.”
Sebastian locked the car and guided himself and Ominis inside, still grasping each other’s hands tightly. He hadn’t meant for the evening to become so emotional, but he had to admit it was a highly overdue conversation.
They made their way upstairs to their bedroom, Ominis immediately collapsing down onto the bed. Sebastian reached down to him to unlace his shoes and slip them and his socks off his feet, before helping him to sit up and take off his jacket and dress shirt. He passed Ominis his sleep shirt and shorts, before standing up to take his own clothes off. He pulled on a loose pair of sleep pants then went to brush his teeth.
Ominis soon joined him, tired eyes darting around unseeingly.
Once they had both finished and were ready for bed, they climbed in and settled under the covers, Sebastian reaching out to wrap around Ominis and pull him closer, guiding his head down to rest against his chest. Ominis sighed into him as he reached a hand up to hold onto his stomach, feeling as it rose and fell with each breath.
“I’m sorry for how I reacted.” Ominis whispered into the dark.
“There’s nothing to apologise for, Om. We probably should have talked about this stuff ages ago, but none of what happened tonight is your fault, okay? Poppy won’t be insulted that we left early, Imelda will probably apologise the next time we see her, or she’ll send a text or something, and then we can let it become water under the bridge.”
Ominis remained quiet, but he still felt tense.
“Hey, for the record?” Sebastian ran a hand softly through his boyfriend’s hair. “I’d love to do any or all of those things with you someday.”
“Truly?” Ominis whispered, his hand tightening slightly against Sebastian.
“Definitely. Whatever we decide we want to do when we’re ready, I will love it. Whether that’s getting married, or adopting one or a few kids, or getting a dog or a cat, or all of the above. If I’m with you, then I know our future will be amazing.” Sebastian pressed a kiss to his forehead.
Ominis smiled happily as he blushed. He pushed himself up and, using his hand to find Sebastian’s mouth, leaned down and kissed him.
Neither knew exactly what the future would hold, but for right now, they were happy. As long as they had each other, they would be okay.