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Firmino peeked around the doorway. Alisson was on the bed, quietly playing his guitar. It was one of those slow, sad country songs that Alisson played sometimes, one that had been heard too many times in the past ten months.
Firmino hated seeing his best friend like this. It felt even worse now, because Firmino knew very well that this was his fault. He had been very open and clear about the processes involved in his transfer from Liverpool to Al-Ahli. He'd said his goodbyes, packed his stuff, and promised to keep calling and visiting. Yet Firmino couldn't erase the fact that he and his teammates would miss each other terribly, especially since Saudi Arabia was so far away from England.
He took a deep breath before softly knocking on the doorframe. Alisson nearly dropped his guitar when he saw Firmino standing there, holding a metal box and looking incredibly guilty.
"Ali, we've got one last day together before I go to Saudi Arabia," Firmino began. His gaze fell on a photo of the three of them together, and he felt his throat close.
He swallowed hard and smiled. "I spent yesterday hanging out with Fabi, so maybe we could spend the day together, just you and I. That is, if it's okay with you. I know you've had mixed feelings about me lately, but--"
Before Firmino could finish, he was wrapped in a familiarly tight embrace. It was his first bear hug from Alisson in two days--which was an anomaly in itself. But this hug felt just as warm and real as all the others before, perhaps even more so.
"Roberto." Alisson let go of Firmino, ruffling his hair. He set aside the guitar, motioning for Firmino to sit next to him on the bed. "Even if I don't know how I feel about you moving to Al-Ahli, I'll always want to spend time with you. Even if it isn't possible to do it in person."
Firmino sighed in relief, flopping onto the hunter green comforter in what had to be the most inelegant way possible. "If only I could take your hugs with me."
Alisson zipped his guitar into its case, dusting it off with a flourish. "Hey, that gives me an idea!"
Firmino internally groaned, wondering what he'd done this time. Alisson wasn't one to come up with crazy ideas, but Firmino had a reputation for giving people wild plans that often ended in chaos. Thankfully the chaos was rarely harmful, but Firmino was sure that it would lead to accelerated wrinkles in his future. "This had better not be a moving hair-moisturizing machine that runs entirely on banana fruit and gut acid."
"I could make a hug machine to take with you when you leave," Alisson explained as if it was the most obvious idea in the world. "I know I'm not all that good at constructing things, but we could draw up a plan and figure out how to make it..."
Firmino tried not to laugh. He ended up laughing anyways, the sound poorly muffled by the comforter. Firmino only realized that Alisson was watching him when he felt a pair of eyes on him.
"So...what do you think?"
Oh, Everton.
Language! A voice in Firmino's head scolded him. Darwin would kill you if he caught you saying Everton without a swear word.
" Idiota , do you think you can be replaced by a machine? The machine would hug me because I told it to, but it wouldn't hug me because it wanted to. You want to, every one of your hugs are filled with love."
To Firmino's relief, Alisson didn't seem offended. Instead, he pulled Firmino into another, yet less tight, hug.
" Ay Deus! What am I going to do without you and your dazzling teeth? You know what I think we should do?"
Firmino's eyes lit up. He knew that he and Alisson were thinking the same thing. "We should do what we did when we first met each other."
Alisson opened the metal box. Inside was a single banana peel, frozen in a block of ice. His expression went from one of curiosity to one of disbelief. "I swear you will be the death of me. You want me to purposely slip on a banana peel?"
"No, that's for me! Remember? I slipped on a banana peel three seconds after you walked in through the front doors. I tripped down the Melwood stairs, and landed smack in front of you."
Firmino remembered his and Alisson' first meeting like it happened five minutes ago instead of five years. Alisson, who'd been slightly anxious upon arrival at Melwood, had tried to hold back his laughter when Firmino held up the culprit and joked about his "new pair of slippers". The rest was history.
Alisson shut the box, preserving the banana peel in its icy safe. "I was worried at first, but you popped up from the ground a millisecond later and made your horrible slipper joke. That's when I knew that I was going to like you."
Firmino grinned, his immaculate teeth glinting in the sunlight. "So it wasn't when I scored that Hollywood-level brace past you in the first leg?"
Alisson gently whacked him with a pillow. "Oi, cale-se!"
"You love me." Firmino laughed impishly, reaching over the gap between their beds. "Close your eyes."
"You'd better not hand me a Benzema action figure, otherwise I just might tattoo its picture onto your teeth."
"NOOOOOO not my teeth! Open your eyes now, you tooth-abominating devil."
Alisson obliged, opening his eyes to find a familiar gray and tan lump. "You want me to keep Ozzie?"
"Well, I don't know how the Saudis will approve of a stuffed ostrich that looks like it's been around since the Crusades." Firmino gave the stuffed animal a pat on the head, holding up its tail feathers. They had been stained with red from one of Firmino's hair dye experiments. "Plus, the hair dye still has my DNA here, so that means I will always be with you, whether you like it or not."
"Okay, now that has to be the sweetest yet weirdest thing you've ever said."
"Sweet and weird, but true." Firmino glanced at the clock and gasped. "Oh, I completely forgot that I've got to finish up my packing! It's amazing what eight years of storing things in the basement can do to you. Wait, but I promised to spend the entire day with you.”
"You know what? It's okay. I'll help you." Alisson carefully set Ozzie on the bed, ruffling his feathers before standing to join Firmino. “You deserve to enjoy yourself in Saudi Arabia. Just…call us sometimes, okay? No matter where you go, we love you here. You can always come back if things don’t work out.”
Firmino rolled his eyes, but the misty look in his eyes conveyed just how much that particular statement meant to him. “I will.”