a little 750-word post-canon ficlet inspired by a cartoon i saw earlier today.
Simon doesn’t think much of it at first.
It’s early in the morning, way too early for either of them to be awake. Wille is bleary-eyed, barely out of bed with his hair sticking to different directions - of course he wouldn’t have shaved. The farewell kiss is sweet and goes on until Simon has to run out the door in order to not miss his train.
He doesn’t think anything of it when they videocall later. Wille’s having his first free day alone and by the sound of it, he’s made the most of it, spending time on the couch with his books and videogames and the little too fancy pizza.
Simon only starts to notice it by the end of the week. How Wille’s face looks a little different of the small screen of his phone, how the stubble is longer than Simon ever remembers seeing.
He knows he should ask, he wants to ask, but he knows Wille would say nothing’s wrong, that Simon shouldn’t worry. However, Simon worries a little, he can’t help it.
It’s the first time Wille’s spending more than a few days on his own. Back then there was always someone around - either his family, or someone working for the royal family to keep an eye on him. Now it’s just Wille, alone at home, with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company. Simon knows he has work, it’s why he isn’t on the other side of Sweden with Simon, but a couple of meetings barely make a difference.
By the time Simon gets home, the stubble is much more than that. Wille’s eyes have looked lively and sparkly when they’ve been on videocalls and nothing about what they’ve chatted has made it sound like Wille was spiraling into depression. But the growing facial hair is making him worry.
“Hi,” he greets Wille, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s neck as soon as he’s through the door.
“Hi. Did you have a good trip back home?”
Simon nods and leans up to give him a kiss. It feels different from what he’s used to, the skin under his palm covered with hair that isn’t as rough as Simon expected.
“Are you okay?” he hears himself ask before he’s even had time to think about when and how to bring up the subject.
“Of course, especially now that you’re back home. Why wouldn’t I be?” Wille asks with a tiny frown between his brows but a smile on his face.
Simon runs his fingers over his cheek, feels the beard - because that’s what it is at this point, a proper beard - under his touch. “I was just— What’s this then?” he asks.
Wille’s grip on him loosens slighty and he huffs out a nervous laugh. “I had this idea— You’ll think it’s stupid.”
“Wille, I could never think that.”
“Before you left… The movie we watched.”
Simon tries to recall the film they’d seen the night before his trip, some mindless bulk flick Netflix was putting out every month. He frowns, “What about it?”
Wille’s eyes seem to be studying Simon’s nose very intently when he answers quietly, “The lead guy. You said you’d never kissed someone with a beard and well… I thought I’d… better make sure when you did, kiss someone with a beard, that that someone would be me.”
The laughter spilling from Simon’s lips is tinged with a mixture of relief and disbelief. “You grew a beard because you wanted to make sure my first experience of a bearded kiss was with you?”
Simon shakes his head. He can’t believe his silly, amazing boyfriend would do something like that. “I can’t believe you’re real.”
Then he kisses Wille, long and deep, trying to get used to the new sensation when Wille’s beard tickles Simon’s cheek and jaw.
When they break apart, Wille asks, a little tentatively, “So, how do you like it?”
Simon ponders for a while. He lets his nose trace a path along Wille’s jaw before murmuring, “I like it. It’s different, but I like it.”
The corners of Wille’s mouth tug upward and a bright smile spreads on his face. “Should I keep growing it, then?”
"That’s up to you. However, if you decide to shave it off, can you wait till we’ve tried how it feels against some other body parts?” Simon says with a smirk and a small wiggle of his eyebrows.
Wille’s laugh is boisterous and breathy when he starts steering Simon towards the bedroom.
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