Work Text:
"You really are useless without me around huh?"
Heart skipped a beat. It was the voice again, from the shrine. It was the same familiar voice...
Ron turned to see Toto standing so casually behind him, smiling. Ron's eyes widened. It was the same bright smile in front of him, the same face he'd always wanted to see every day, the face he had been deprived for for 3 months...
"Toto!!"
---
Ron and Toto walked out of Pot Coffee as they headed over to Ron's apartment. Ron had his hands shoved in his pockets as he was still processing the fact that Toto was alive. He is alive and healthy and he was standing right next to him. Ron couldn't help stealing multiple glances towards Toto, occasionally staring at the oblivious man who was his adorable partner.
He's alive... He's alive and he's right here. I could just touch him... one stretch of a hand and I'd feel his arm, the warmth of his presence...
Without thinking, Ron took one of his hands out and interlocked his fingers with the hand next to him. The hand that belonged to Isshiki Totomaru.
Ron saw how startled Toto was by the sudden action, watching through his dark bangs as Toto's eyes flickered down to their hands before looking back up with those big, bright, innocent eyes Ron couldn't get enough of. And then came that smile. Ron felt his face heat up from the warmth of Toto's smile, barely feeling Toto's hand gently hold Ron's hand back as a flood of emotions hit Ron like a tsunami.
It wasn't until they had entered Ron's apartment that the weight of that tsunami came down on Ron. Toto walked into the living area of the apartment, looking around like he had never been in Ron's apartment before.
"You know-"
Toto suddenly grunted feeling the full force of Ron ramming into him and making them both crash to the ground. Thankfully they landed on the Floor of Sloth with Ron on top of Totos's body that absorbed all the shock from the fall. Toto groaned in pain as his back yelled out in pain through his nerves.
"H-hey! Ron, what-"
A sudden sob interrupted Toto. Ron had Toto in an impossibly tight embrace, his face buried into Toto's chest as tears soaked Toto's suit. The floodgates had opened as Ron's mind had fully processed the situation of Toto's survival.
Toto was slightly shocked by Ron's emotional outburst but hugged Ron back as firmly as he could as Ron's tough exterior tore open like a piece of flimsy paper. After 3 months of thinking Toto was dead and then thinking Toto wasn't truly dead and just anywhere in the world, Ron hadn't given himself time to mourn. He had kept himself in line, composed and calm as he started their detective agency without the help of Toto next to him. But now as Toto was there in his arms, he couldn't help but break. For 3 months, he had endured the pain of losing his partner, his best friend...
His lover
Sobs racked Ron's body as he sobbed the loudest he had ever sobbed in a while since the bloody field trip incident. In fact, this might be the hardest emotional crashes he had had. Ever.
Toto could only hold onto Ron's trembling body as he let Ron process all the emotions he had locked up for the 3 months he was gone. Toto started to feel guilty for hiding his existence from Ron for so long, making Ron think he was gone forever. He, too, had missed Ron. He thought he would've never made it back once those fishermen found him. Hell, he thought he would've never seen Ron as soon as he left to find Alice. He thought he had accepted that it was most likely he would never see Ron, that Ron would be fine without him. But now, being here on the ground with Ron on top of him and holding onto his body for dear life, Toto couldn't help but feel how stupid he was.
Toto knew he caused all of this pain to Ron, and he couldn't help but hold onto Ron tighter. Tears of his own slid down his face as his own emotions started to well up. He was back in the apartment he had grown familiar with, back in apartment he had considered his own, back in the apartment with his life partner.
"I-I thought you w-w-were gone... I thought..." Ron sobbed out, his voice cracking as more tears flowed out of his eyes. "I thought.. I-I would never s-see y-you again.." Ron continued.
"I know, Ron, I know.. I'm sorry.." Toto said softly as he held Ron tighter.
"Toto..." Ron whispered. He kept repeating Totos name as a chant as he continued to feel the weight of the past 3 months without Toto.
It took a while, but Ron's loud sobs were reduced to hiccups and sniffles. He was still holding Toto with a death grip even as he calmed down.
"Toto.."
"Ron.." Toto replied. Toto gently tried to lean back to see Ron's face, but Ron wouldn't let him, his breaths growing faster.
"No.. No don't leave! Please, Toto! Don't leave! I-"
"Ron I'm not leaving, okay? Don't worry, I'll be here..." Toto reassured softly. "I just.. want to see your face.."
Ron took a few seconds but loosened his grip just enough to lift his head. Toto's hand cupped Ron's face, tilting it higher to get a better look at it, moving his bangs out of the way. Ron's blue eyes were now contrasted against his red eyes. Toto's eyes looked around at Ron's face as if to remember every detail. Ron had eyebags under his eyes, his face looking slightly paler and slime than Toto had last seen it. Ron's lips were dry and had slight blood on them, as if Ron were biting on them constantly.
"Oh, Ron..." Toto whispered, caressing Ron's cheeks with his thumbs, his eyes looking at Ron with warmth and with a gentleness that made Ron melt.
"I missed you, Toto... I missed you so much..." Ron mumbled breathlessly as he looked back at Toto with relieved eyes.
"I missed you too Ron..."
As both men continued to look at each other with longing and relief, Ron's eyes couldn't help but notice how plump Toto's lips looked... So kissable and he was right in front of him, gently holding his face. As Ron's eyes flickered back up to Toto's own, he noticed Toto doing the same. They stared at each other as the tension in the room seemed to thicken.
"Toto..."
"Ron..."
Their faces seemed to be magnetically pulled together as their noses bumped into each other. Ron's eyes were half-lidded as he looked back down at Toto's lips. He breathed out, his breath caressing Toto's lower lip.
"Ron... I love you," Toto whispered breathlessly, looking at Ron's eyes as they flickered back up to meet Toto's. Ron let out a shaky breath, staring into Toto's eyes and getting lost in the grey pools that were Toto's irises.
"I love you too..." Ron breathed out before finally closing the distance between them. He felt the softness of Toto's lips against his own, eyes closed as he relished in the moment. Another wave of emotions hit him as a tear slipped past his eyes. Ron leaned in closer, cupping the back of Toto's head as his tongue seemed to have a mind of its own. It slipped past his own and gently ran it over Toto's lower lip for permission. Toto's mouth invited Ron in and Ron immediately started exploring the warm cave that was Toto's mouth, occasionally embracing and dancing with each other.
Toto soon pulled back, breathing heavily. Ron matched the intervals of Toto's breaths as a string of saliva connected both of their mouths. They stayed like that for a few more beats of silence, their breath mingling and being the only source of sound in the apartment.
"I love you," Ron repeated as his breath evened out along with Toto.
"I love you too, Ron..." Toto pressed their foreheads together. "I'm sorry I hid for 3 months... I promise I'll never leave you like that again. Ever. I'll stay by your side for as long as you want me to..."
"You'll stay by my side until the day I die. No, you'll stay by me forever, even through the afterlife, even through reincarnation... You'll always be by my side. Forever." Ron declared.
Toto softly chuckled. "I'll happily be with you forever, Ron."
"I'll be with you forever and always..."