Ornstein slowly walks towards the armoured figure he had noticed out of the corner of his eye. Knees feeling weak, he hardly can believe it. "Smough?", he asks. No, that can't be true. He had seen Smough's dead body. But this figure in front of him looks so much like him.
Smough silently extends a hand and touches Ornstein as if he has to make sure the man in front of him is real. The next thing Ornstein knows is that he is hugging Smough, their metal armour clanking against each other, tears streaming down his face. He can feel Smough reciprocate the hug, running his fingers trough his ponytail, pulling him closer. A voice in the back of his mind is whispering: "Time is convoluted in Lordran. This isn't real. He can't be the one you lost." But Ornstein doesn't care. Sobbing, he repeats the same words again and again: "I am sorry."
He can hear Smough whispering something into his ear, but he can barely make it out through the fog his thoughts have become. It feels like he tries to comfort him. "I can hear you crying too.", Ornstein mumbles, which prompts Smough to answer: "I thought I would never see you again..."
The both of them stay silently in the hug. There is so much Ornstein would like to say or would like to hear, but he knows the truth. He opens his mouth to speak. "You are not my Smough.", he says. "And I am not your Ornstein."
"Yes...", Smough just quietly says. "I know this..."
"Can we still stay like this?", Ornstein wants to know. Smough pulls him even closer into the hug, stroking his back. Ornstein just leaves his head lying on the large chest of his boyfriend. In the back of his head he knows what happened here. Time is indeed convoluted in Lordran. He had encountered a link with a Smough who clearly had lost his Ornstein. Like Ornstein had lost his Smough.
They stay like this until the link between them starts to weaken. Ornstein doesn't want to let go but ultimately the figure of Smough vanishes and Ornstein hits the ground without the support of the hug. He slowly gets back up, looking at the spot where Smough had been.
He hadn't even dreamed about meeting Smough again and he perfectly knows that one day he had to move on and accept his death. But he also knows that this day isn't today.
(Author's note: This fic had some kind of aftermath in my head and I commissioned the very person who inspired that fic, tumblr user nightmaredaisy, to draw it out. The finished commission can be seen here: post/178414016245/painting-commission-for-mrslittletall-based-on
And I absolutely love it! It turned out so stunning! It is exactly the thing I had in my mind for this aftermath. Please check his stuff out and consider supporting him.)