Disclaimer: I own very little.
A/N: This was my birthday fic for Dan. Given that he's my favourite character and I have several Dan-muses (three RPGs and two pending, several longer fics, fluff-muse, angst-muse, etc...) there's no way I could let him not get older without a fic. 3
My standard adult!Dan is a Tennis pro. My standard adult!Akutsu is a surgeon. It'd take a lot for these two facts to change, and thus, they stand for this ficlet, too.
Home to You
It had been three weeks.
Three weeks, two days, seven hours, and twenty-seven minutes, actually, the data-oriented part of Dan's mind corrected him. ...Twenty-eight minutes, now. In any case, it had been far too long since he had last seen Akutsu.
Good thing, wasn't it, that he was already at the airport.
Akutsu doubtlessly would have come to get him if he'd called, but it was fairly late already, and angry grumbles about idiotic brats waking him up in the middle of night were not the kind of greeting Dan wanted to har. Therefore he decided to take a taxi and wait just a little while longer until he could see Akutsu.
Three weeks, two days, seven hours, and forty-three minutes.
Dan sighed as he looked out of the taxi's window, struggling against sleep. He was exhausted, yes, but it wasn't that long a way home. He should be able to wait until he got there and could fall asleep in his own bed.
He hadn't slept a wink on the plane, he never did. Not if Akutsu wasn't there with him.
It was demanding, yes, but then, he'd never expected it to be anything else. It was the price he had to pay for living his dream, the constant practice and competition and the long times away from home. However difficult it was at times, he wouldn't have exchanged it for anything.
Three weeks, two days, and eight hours. Too long, far too long.
Of course, he shouldn't have complained about not seeing Akutsu. The older man had his own job, one he actually enjoyed, ever so demanding and infinitely more useful than Dan's. If his schedule didn't allow him to fly around the world to accompany Dan to the tournaments, well, that was something Dan just had to deal with. He was simply content in the knowledge that Akutsu watched his matches on the TV whenever he could, recorded them and watched them later whenever he couldn't. USA, France, Wimbledon — the good thing about high rankings was that your matches were often broadcast.
Dan still couldn't help but think that nothing had ever been a better incentive than Akutsu glaring at him from the stands in the Japan Open finals.
Soon enough, he thought, he would be home. Soon enough he could get to bed, and sleep, and then wake up and eat breakfast and chuckle as he listened to Akutsu growling at the defenceless morning paper before downing his third cup of coffee.
If only the taxi would have driven a little faster.
Finally they reached the right address, and Dan paid with the first big enough Japanese bill he had at hand, telling the driver not to bother with the change. All he cared about was getting home as fast as possible.
The apartment block was fairly high class, as Dan was once again reminded as the night guard nodded at him in greeting as he hurried towards the elevator. He supposed something less luxurious would have been enough for the two of them, but the neighbourhood was nice, as was the apartment, and it wasn't like they couldn't easily afford it so why not. At least they had enough room to have friends over sometimes, and besides it was close to the hospital Akutsu worked at.
Reaching the right floor and then the apartment, he opened the door as quietly as he could, poking his head inside to listen. The apartment was eerily quiet, just like he had expected it to be. Stepping in and closing the door just as silently as he had opened it, Dan set his suitcase against the wall. It could very well wait until morning. At the moment all he wanted was to get to sleep.
Shedding his shoes and jacket, Dan navigated quietly through the dark apartment. At the doorway to the bedroom he paused for a while, listening to the quiet breathing in the nigh-complete darkness of the room before allowing himself a small smile and closing the door behind himself.
He'd been away for over three weeks, yet nothing seemed to have changed; Akutsu was a creature of habit and nothing would make him change his ways, damn it brat don't you dare move that desk. It was therefore fairly easy for Dan to get through the darkness without bumping into anything. Finding a chair exactly where there had always been a chair, he took off his clothes, folding them neatly despite his exhaustion. An enquiring hand reached for the chair's back, finding an over-sized t-shirt right where it was supposed to be. Pulling it on, he then padded to the bed over the lush carpet.
Akutsu slept lightly, as Dan well knew, and he was thus careful not to awaken the other man as he got into the bed, careful of how his weight made the mattress shift. Carefully, so as not to wake up his partner, he slipped under the covers, slowly making his way closer to Akutsu. He could smell the other man, now, sweat and remains of cologne and a tiny hint of danger, and the smell of cigarettes he'd long since grown accustomed to. Finally, curled up right next to the other's warm body, he risked a quiet whisper of, "I'm home."
Akutsu stirred, then, though did not wake, an arm reaching out to draw Dan closer. The dark-haired young man found himself held securely against the firm, muscled chest, warm and comforting and Akutsu. The cold he hadn't even been aware of seeping into his bones faded away instantly.
Although he was sure Akutsu was asleep, he could have sworn he heard the other man whispering into his hair, the rough, deep, familiar voice barely audible in his slumber, "Welcome home."
And then, finally, Dan could sleep.