Chapter Text
Only when Phainon closed the door of his chambers, was the moment he let himself relax, a deep sigh escaping his body, one that he wasn't aware he was holding. In fact, these weren't his chambers. Phainon reminded himself.
The chambers smell just like Mydei.
It's familiar, it's weird, it's pleasant. It's a lot of things at the same time, overwhelming even. One isn't conscious of their own scent when they're at home, so used to your own smell it turns to nothing in the air. But now, in Mydei’s body, in Mydei's chambers, the space smells just like him. The scent is familiar in two ways: one, because Mydei is his friend and he's been near him enough to recognize his scent, nice and clean, something that identifies him deeply; and two, because being in Mydei's body allowed him to feel familiar to the smell.
He walked forward, a lot of thoughts running in his mind. How are they going to keep the facade? How are they going to shift back to normal? How long are they going to spend like this? Phainon’s heart –relative, though, but whatever– didn't plan to calm down. Phainon sat down in a chair, bringing a hand towards his face, rubbing it and then locking his fingers in his hair, letting out an exasperated groan. It felt so weird, for such a normal gesture to feel so foreign, since this face wasn't his own, neither was the hair, soft between his palm. He was getting too anxious, and so he thought that taking a bath and calling it a day was the best option.
Until it isn't.
He entered the bathroom, and in a reflex act, he turned to the mirror, looking at his friend's expression that was his own in the moment. He felt lost in the view for a moment, so it felt wrong. But still, he analyzed how his own feelings reflected on his rival's face, how his uncovered chest went up and down with every breath, following the path of his tattoos. Suddenly, even bathing felt overwhelming. He just wanted to rest.
He pushed away all kinds of thoughts and started undressing himself. He began with the armor, the big, heavy gauntlet and the shoulder pad, leaving them gently over the counter. Then, he pushed away the cloth on his only covered shoulder, feeling the clothing go down his arm to show the symmetry of Mydei's tattoos. Rarely does Phainon recall having seen his tattoos completely, only when they went to the hot springs together, nothing more. He continued by taking off the lower part of the armour; the shoes, leg and knee pads. It would've been a funny thing to look at if Phainon wasn't the one undressing himself, to see Mydei without his armour, for it is a rare sight. Phainon put the thought aside again. Enough was that he had to see Mydei while facing himself in the mirror to even think of him too. Without a second thought, he took off the cloak and pants, leaving him with nothing in front of his reflection.
The tattoos continued down, even reaching his hip bones, to keep going down his legs to his feet. Phainon often forgets that Mydei's tattoos actually cover him entirely. He dared to lock his eyes with the ones of the reflection, losing himself again. Is not a secret for anyone that he finds Mydei handsome, attractive, cute, all these adjectives that he has confessed thinking to Mydei himself, but this is completely different. Looking at himself in the mirror was as tempting as wrong, feeling like he was profaning his friend's body yet unable to look away. A couple of minutes later, he decided not to give it more importance and got in the shower.
His heart was racing as the water poured over him, conscious of the fact that he will need to touch this body if he wants to bathe. He murmured a quick prayer, hoping Mydei won't mind, he won't be out without showering for an unknown period of time anyway.
He looked at all the shower products, grabbing all and each of them to read what the fuck they were, because there were a lot. And Phainon better kill himself before messing this up, knowing they're important to his friend. He found what was the shampoo and poured some in his hand, bringing it to his hair. Just then he found out he hasn't unbraid his hair. He did it quickly, thinking that he will have to ask Mydei to braid it for him tomorrow. He spread the shampoo over his scalp, the smell filling up the room, and somehow it relaxed Phainon if just a little. He washed it off before applying some conditioner that said on the bottle that must be left for some minutes before washing it off. He then took the body gel and poured a lot of it on one hand, applying it over his shoulders and torso first, in rushed moves. He shouldn't be thinking this so bad, it’s not as if Mydei's body was so foreign to him. They're both grown up men by the end of the day. That thought kept his sanity in line as he finished washing the body gel off along with the conditioner, and he didn't waste no time in getting out of the shower, drying himself, applying a body oil he found in the counter –because his body started feeling kind of dry after the shower, is that the reason why Mydei has such a collection of products?–, wrapping the towel around his hips and going back to the room for something to wear to bed.
He found some chitons in a drawer, and so he took one and carefully wrapped it around himself, taking the wet towel and spreading it over a chair to dry.
Going to bed was even more weird than showering. The bed smelled entirely like Mydei, and while his anxiety and thoughts were keeping him awake, his body felt so tired that he found himself falling asleep almost immediately. He knows Mydei falls asleep as soon as his body lays down, so it might play a part in all this, Phainon's soul vs Mydei's body in its prime. Phainon has never thanked falling asleep this fast in his life.