Of Spices and Everything Nice (Magkaru)

Magnus used to love touching everything. When they were together, this meant that his limbs had never failed to wrap themselves around Hikaru, as if he would escape away the moment their bodies came apart. And when lingering touches weren't possible, he would resort to small, little touches that somehow affected Hikaru more than the bolder ones did.

In lonely hours like this, he can recall so vividly all the time their hands graze one another, the hand on his knee, or the fingers working on the nape of his neck like Magnus would cease to breathe if he wasn't in constant contact with his skin. Like he needed him to ground himself.

Especially in mornings like this, Hikaru misses having to fuss over the other man not letting him get up fast enough. He misses having a reason to stay in bed longer because his boyfriend was hugging him too tight, and the hold had felt too comfortable to sacrifice for something as meaningless as an opening ceremony.

In boring events like this, Hikaru misses having someone to be here for and being the one silver lining for someone who had despised the formality of it all more than him. Thus, in boring events like this, his eyes instinctively look for that someone to see if he's feeling the same way.

Magnus is not looking at him, which is expected. He wonders how much of the avoidance is due to the left-over tension from yesterday's trip. Why had he agreed to let Hikaru tag along if he wasn't going to be happy about it? Magnus can be so confusing sometimes. It's funny if he's still sulking over the fact that Hikaru had basically stolen his friend away from him the entire journey. He'd decided to drape himself all over Isek out of pettiness anyway, so Magnus better still be moping about it.

Personally, Hikaru still can't get over how good the other man had looked bathed in the sunset, but it's a secret that he would be taking to his grave.

The hall is way too cold, and Hikaru wishes that the people who are supposed to sit next to him can make their way here quicker. His legs are still numb from yesterday, adding to the agony of having to wait for the event to end. The hike seems to be more and more of a bad decision by the minute. Hikaru would take it all back if not for how nice the experience was, he hadn't felt such calmness for a long time.

It's also very crowded here, but he doesn't want to look at or hear from anyone; finding intrigue instead in his shoes as he tries to drown the outside noise out with his thoughts. Chess competition never fails to make him feel utterly out of place, despite his many years on the scene. Maybe he shouldn't have come back after his hiatus after all.

Hikaru's contemplation of another hiatus is abruptly interrupted by one of the event staff as someone is guided to the seat on his left. Hikaru doesn't look up, choosing only to shift his legs slightly to the right so that he won't clog up the guy's space. His head is still foggy from exhaustion, and the pain in his legs is only making it worse.

"Are you okay?" The person beside him is apparently Firouzja and Hikaru thanks the lord above for not putting Magnus there.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired," Hikaru grumbles. The boy smiles at him, and Hikaru assumes that it's because this is good news for his competitor. Maybe Hikaru will crash out early, even he himself doesn't know. "How was your flight in?"

"Good, was yours not?"

No, it was great. Hikaru just made a stupid decision because he overestimated his own stamina, which seems to happen a lot as he gets older. Would this be good advice for the young man next to him? Hikaru can't decide. "It's so-so. I just walked wrong yesterday." God, that makes him sound even older. What is he doing? Firouzja laughs at his response, at least someone's finding humour in this. Hikaru's about to ask him about his school when someone else lands on the seat next to him.