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Sethos is halfway through telling a story about an old lady who gave him food to thank him for his help when he notices Wanderer isn't listening. Or, rather, he's pretending not to listen.
The tea in front of him has gone cold and the book in his lap hasn't been turned for several minutes since his attention is fixed entirely on Sethos despite his best efforts to look indifferent.
Sethos can't help but smile at it.
“What?” Wanderer turns to look at him with narrowed eyes when he feels his eyes on him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Sethos tries his best to put on an innocent expression. "Like what?"
"Like an idiot."
Sethos laughs at the bluntness of his words. "Haha, that's mean, Hat Guy!"
"It's an accurate description."
Maybe this should bother him, but the fondness comes so naturally now that he barely notices it because he knows that Wanderer is trying to reflect his embarrassment.
Wanderer is sitting close enough that their knees occasionally bump together and the scent of tea lingers in the air as the soft afternoon light enters through the window.
It makes him feel like he's home.
Without thinking, Sethos scoots closer until their shoulders touch, causing Wanderer to look down at him properly.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"You're definitely doing something."
Sethos only grins in response and lets his head rest against Wanderer's shoulder.
Wanderer freezes momentarily, but he recovers quickly. With a long suffering sigh, he leans back just enough to make Sethos lean on him more comfortably.
Sethos nestles closer, placing his head on the crook of his neck after Wanderer encourages him by resting his arm around him to pull him closer.
“You're clingy,” Wanderer says, but he still places a tender kiss on Sethos’ temple.
Sethos hums happily. "Heh, and you're comfortable."
"... Hmph."
Wanderer's arm tightens slightly around his shoulders, betraying his real feelings.
Sethos smiles against the side of his neck, enjoying the way the room falls quiet.
It's the kind of silence that comes from knowing someone so well that neither of them feels pressured to speak.
For a while, all he can hear is the soft rustle of pages as Wanderer finally returns to his book.
When he was younger, he had always believed that the feeling of “home” would come from a place. Maybe from the Temple of Silence or the desert, and while he does love those things dearly, they can't be compared to this feeling.
Those places alone had never been enough to chase away the lingering feeling that he was standing apart from everyone else.
The burden of his role, the expectations placed on him, and the parts of himself he couldn't always share because of the image he was expected to maintain had weighed on him for years. They left him constantly aware of the distance between him and everyone around him.
It was lonely.
But then, Wanderer appeared in his life.
With him, Sethos never had to pretend. He never had to be anyone other than himself.
To Wanderer, he wasn't the former vessel of the Ba fragment or the current leader of the Temple of Silence.
He was just Sethos.
And that meant more to him than Wanderer will ever understand.
His heart swells with affection until it feels almost too large for his chest.
"Jun?"
Wanderer lowers his book immediately because Sethos rarely uses his name, his eyes filled with concern as he looks over him in an attempt to see if he can tell if there's something wrong.
Sethos lifts his head just enough to meet his gaze, offering a gentle smile meant to ease his worry.
"I was just thinking that I'm really happy."
Wanderer blinks, the concern draining away to be replaced by something softer.
"Oh."
A faint flush creeps across his cheeks, and after all this time, Sethos still finds it adorable.
"So sentimental," he mutters weakly.
Sethos chuckles, looking up to meet his eyes. “Maybe."
Wanderer clicks his tongue as if he's annoyed, but he doesn't look away. His book has been forgotten entirely now, resting open in his lap.
The afternoon sunlight catches in his hair, painting the edges of him gold. Sethos thinks he could spend hours looking at him.
"I mean it, though. I'm happy."
Wanderer simply stares at him for a moment, and then something in his expression shifts. The faint embarrassment remains, but there's something gentler there now.
Sethos knows that look. It's the look Wanderer gets whenever he's trying to decide whether to say what he's actually thinking.
The silence stretches, and then Wanderer hums.
"... Good."
Sethos is just about to tease him when he feels Wanderer squeeze him tenderly, followed by, "... I'm happy, too."
The words are so quiet Sethos almost misses them, but when he processes them, his breath catches in his throat.
Wanderer's face immediately turns redder. "Don't make this into something.”
Sethos smiles so hard his cheeks hurt. "I wasn't going to."
"You absolutely were."
"... Maybe I was thinking about it."
"Unbelievable."
Despite the complaint, Wanderer doesn't let go.
Sethos settles back against him after that, listening to the rustle of pages as Wanderer finally returns to his book.
Wrapped in the familiar weight of Wanderer's arm around him, Sethos thinks that maybe home was never a place at all.
Maybe it was always a person.