Work Text:
So admittedly, Prapai might have gone a little to far this time.
Prapai liked giving people presents. He always went overboard on his siblings' birthdays, nearly outdoing his parents. In fact, his family made a rule that he wasn't allowed to give anyone presents unless it was actually a special occasion because he tried giving his brother an expensive watch on a random Tuesday. It was so bad that he knew the birthdays of everyone he worked with and got them something for the day. Phayu was not the exception.
His best friend since before they knew the word was not getting away from Prapai's efforts to spoil the people he cared about, no matter what he had to say about it. The good thing about Phayu is that he really didn't say much. Usually it was just a simple shake of his head in exasperation, but that was okay because he always accepted the gesture. It was only fair since he never let Prapai do anything else. Phayu insisted on paying for every meal they shared, opening every door they came across, and driving them anywhere they were going.
It was only reasonable that he repay Phayu generously, especially for all the years he was still getting to know the other man and didn't have the money for lavish gifts. He just had to make sure Phayu understood that.
Prapai wasn't typically a nervous person, but he knew what Phayu was like, knew the kind of dressing down he was easily capable of. He resisted the urge to shift his feet, feeling that if he moved at all he'd end up acting like he was presenting lottery winnings.
Phayu came outside before Prapai could give in, looking down at his phone. Prapai waited patiently as Phayu put his phone in his back pocket, then as he turned and locked the door, and finally as he turned back around to find Prapai and the totally reasonable present.
Prapai continued to be patient while Phayu looked between the bike and Prapai, no doubt reading the younger's posture and smile and coming to the exactly right conclusions. This was not Prapai next to a new bike of his, this was present giving Prapai in front of Phayu's house with an exorbitantly expensive bike. And it wasn't even Phayu's birthday or anything. A small consequence of Prapai's behavior meant that Phayu memorized all potentially important dates, both to prepare for Prapai's gifts and to do his best to match them somehow, which usually meant taking his somewhere expensive or doing something he normally wouldn't just because Prapai would want to.
"Pai," Phayu said both incredulous and warning.
"Look it really didn't cost that much and-"
"-Stop," Phayu interrupted, tone allowing no argument. He walked up to Prapai and the bike, eyes on the bike.
"This is the same one?" He asked. Prapai had seen Phayu looking at the bike at a race a couple of months ago. There were only a dozen or so manufactured with that specific design and Prapai knew it was damn near close to Phayu's dream bike. The one Phayu had seen had belonged to Pakin himself and it had sentimental value to him too. Even Prapai could acknowledge that this was a little much, he had to after spending months negotiating with a crime lord.
"Yes, of course," Prapai answered, though the intense look Phayu gave him made him worry he should have stayed silent.
"Don't. Why would you-" Phayu broke off, taking a deep breath, "What did it cost you?"
"Just money and the promise that you'd race it. He doesn't want you or the bike cooped up in the garage," Prapai explained.
"That's it? Don't lie to me Prapai," Phayu warned.
"That's it, I swear," He assured him honestly. Pakin cared about the bike but only because his nephew loved it. The nephew didn't know how to ride motorcycles though and wasn't inclined to learn, Pakin found out too late his nephew was only ever interested in looking and never thought expressing the interest would lead anywhere.
Phayu looked at the bike, then back at Prapai. Prapai took that as his cue to offer the keys, holding them out in his left hand. However, Phayu just looked between the keys and Prapai's face. Worried he might have more of a lecture in store, Prapai opened his mouth to speak, only for Phayu to grab his wrist and start dragging him back to the house.
"Phayu?" Prapai asked as the older unlocked the door. Prapai gave one last look to the bike that got him in this mess before he was over the threshold and Phayu was closing the door behind them.
Phayu pushed him against the closed door and set about giving Prapai a heart attack by aggressively kissing him. Scrambling to match his best friend's pace all the while overwhelmed by a rush of emotions, Prapai didn't notice he had followed Phayu when he pulled away, trying to recapture his mouth.
His eyes met Phayu's darker than midnight ones, "Yes or no, Prapai?"
"Yes. Definitely a yes," Prapai answered.
Sunlight streamed in through the dark curtains, dimmed but not obstructed. But that's not the first thing Prapai noticed. It wasn't the time or that this wasn't his bed, let alone his room. The first thing Prapai registered as he woke up was that he wasn't alone. Not only was there an arm under his neck, his arms around a chest, but when he had opened his eyes he found himself inches from Phayu's face.
He was going to need more presents.
Prapai did his best to disentangle from his sleeping companion without waking him only to realize his phone would be wherever his pants ended up and not conveniently placed on the bedside table within reach. Getting up from the bed without alerting Phayu was more difficult but finding his slacks was easy. His lock screen told him the time, just past seven in the morning.
"What time is it?" Phayu asked, causing Prapai to look back at his best friend. Phayu was propped up by his elbows, the comforter pooling around his waist, and his hair falling around his face, a few strands sitting in front of his eyes. There was a word to encompass all of it, hot.
"Seven," Prapai told him.
Phayu nodded, unfazed, before getting up, pulling on a pair of sweatpants, and announcing, "I'll make breakfast, get dressed and try not to break your brain before its ready."
Prapai just watched him leave the room, convinced his brain was already broken. Listen, Prapai and Phayu didn't become the friends they are without knowing what the other was like romantically. And Prapai had slept with plenty of people, he knew that sex didn't have to mean feelings, even if you knew the person before hand. He knew Phayu slept with his fair share, tried his hand at a few relationships.
But they had never gotten together and Prapai had thought that was for a reason. That they both cared too much about their friendship for a casual hookup, beyond that he didn't think Phayu was all that attracted to him. He knew Phayu considered him good-looking, he had said as much one night when they were drinking. But Phayu cared about a lot more than looks, even when it came to sleeping with people. He had standards upon standards, special requirements not even Prapai knew the whole of. And he had only built on those standards over time, so if Prapai ever had a shot it would have been much earlier.
He got dressed quickly when he realized how long he had been standing in the middle of the room thinking. Replaying their whole friendship. His button down was wrinkled beyond all sense but he put it on anyway, doing his best to smooth them down. He ran a hand through his hair as he walked to the kitchen. He couldn't tell what state it was in and didn't have time to check, though he was certain Phayu would let him know if it was too bad simply by mocking him.
Phayu was still making the food when he entered, glancing over at the sound of his entrance.
"Why are you wearing those clothes?" Phayu asked, his tone was nearly indistinguishable but Prapai caught a hint of confusion.
"You told me to," Prapai said, looking down at his frankly unimpressive appearance. The wrinkles were starting to get to him.
"I meant clean clothes, stupid," Phayu explained. Prapai knew not to take any offense at the term, Phayu called everything Prapai did stupid and though Prapai got his position in part due to his father they both knew that only meant he had to work twice as hard.
"If you want me in your clothes you're going to have to try a lot harder," Prapai told him, coming to stand next to Phayu and examine the food.
Phayu gave him an unimpressed look, like Prapai wasn't actually that hard to get. The assessment was completely right but also unfair, because Prapai could act circles around Phayu. Though, Phayu had a way of always knowing Prapai's true intentions. It made surprising the other man incredibly difficult.
Having sufficiently seen the food, Prapai sat down at the other side of the counter. In his hurry earlier he left his phone upstairs so he had nothing to do while Phayu finished up breakfast, a meal Prapai usually skipped or grabbed something small on his way out. Phayu was a little crazy about regimens so Prapai knew he wasn't getting out of this one.
The few minutes of silence started to wear on Prapai in a way it usually wouldn't. There were very few things Prapai was ever nervous about. He had experience with this sort of thing, friends who helped each other out, but those had been different. Phayu was always different from everyone else. And Prapai knew what Phayu liked, he had a very specific type, it wasn't Prapai.
God, he missed his phone. He knew he was fidgeting, his leg bouncing up and down on the stool's lowest bar. It was all he could do to resist tapping out a beat on the counter or stand up and walk back toward Phayu, who was plating the food. Phayu who wasn't even looking over at him when he said it.
"Settle."
Prapai reacted immediately to the tone, freezing and then relaxing. It was a dirty trick, but Phayu didn't seemed to care, setting the plates down in front of Prapai and the seat next to him. Prapai watched as Phayu came around him to sit on his right, one hand reaching for silverware and the other going to Prapai's nearest thigh. Prapai looked away from him then, staring at his plate instead.
"We are going to talk about this, yes?" Prapai asked his food. He could feel the smirk come over Phayu's face and stifled the urge to push his annoying friend away.
"Yes, Prapai. Eat first."
Satisfied with that answer, trusting Phayu, Prapai focused on eating. Phayu's hand never left Prapai's thigh, but Phayu made no other move. He didn't offer conversation either, but Phayu didn't do that often anyway. He only ever brought things up if he considered them interesting, whereas Prapai could be content giving a complete rundown of his whole day.
Without conversation to slow them down they were finished pretty quickly. Phayu stood first, "Wait for me in the living room, okay?"
The question was said gently, like Phayu was trying to reassure Prapai of something. He wasn't sure what it was and the looming promise of talking about everything suddenly felt more foreboding than comforting. Still, Prapai stood and left for the living room, hearing Phayu start washing the dishes as he went.
He sat on the couch, leaning back so that he could look at the ceiling. He stopped holding the memory of last night back. He thought about it, from the very beginning, still somewhat unsure of what prompted Phayu's actions. It was obvious in some distant way, he had given Phayu a gift he could never have dreamed of getting, he knew how it would make Phayu feel, that was why he did it. But he hadn't thought Phayu saw him in that sort of light, something aside from friendship.
He felt Phayu sit down across from him on the couch, when he looked over he had one leg tucked under him and one hanging off the couch. One of his arms was thrown over the back of the couch.
He was smiling, just a little, that small smile he only ever gave when Prapai was especially endearing. Prapai still couldn't figure out how to manufacture it.
Phayu shook his head a little and said, amusement in his voice, "You ruin all my plans."
"You had plans?" Prapai asked, trying to grasp that information. Phayu always had plans. He was always looking ahead, he had the next five years of his life planned out. But what kind of plans did he make around Prapai?
"So many. I wanted to make it perfect," He told him, "Instead, you did."
"I didn't plan this," Prapai explained, not wanting to taint the gift as some kind of cheap bid to get in Phayu's pants. He really had just wanted to give it to him. To see him smile and know he was happier for it. And maybe to see him ride it but still.
"I know," Phayu said reassuringly, voice unwavering. He had full confidence in Prapai's intentions, it made Prapai feel trusted, known. It wasn't a new feeling around Phayu but now everything he felt was like the first time, overwhelming.
Phayu continued, "I know you value our friendship. I do too. So if you don't want to be anything more, we won't. That being said, I'd like to take you on a date."
Prapai took in that offer as best he could. Phayu wanted to take him on a date. He didn't want to just be friends and forget the night before. He didn't want to become friends with benefits. He wanted to date Prapai. He had plans. These were the plans.
"You like me," Prapai said, surprise pulling the words from his head. He was turning over every moment they had spent together, trying to figure out when, where, how, why.
"Yes, Pai, I like you."
Phayu gave him the time to think, sitting patiently across from him. Phayu had always had the patience of a saint but now Prapai wondered what he thought about when he sat staring idly at Prapai.
"But I'm not... I mean, I can be like that sometimes, but not all the time, not like... I know what you like, the obedient type. Sweet, a little innocent. I've paid attention," Prapai told him.
"Have you?" Phayu challenged.
"I have a preference sure," he said with a shrug, "How many lasted more than a month?"
He let Prapai realize the number. Not zero but not more than two and they didn't last much longer than that. It occurred to Prapai that maybe he shouldn't know that sort of information, the timelines of every one, maybe he shouldn't have been paying quite as much attention.
Satisfied with the look in his eyes once he returned them to him, Phayu continued, sincerity taking over his eyes in a way that made them look darker, more intense, "I'm serious about this, you. I know what I want, I wouldn't risk our friendship if I wasn't sure. You balance me, Prapai, in ways I didn't think anyone could."
Prapai thought about all of it then, the whole scale of their relationship. He thought about what Phayu was saying and how right it felt. How similar he felt. All the racing, all the late nights, all the dinners and the presents and the time. He looked at Phayu, sitting quietly in front of him, quiet but not quite calm. His eyes were searching, as if he could catch the moment Prapai came to his decision. He would have to ask him later what he saw. If he knew.
Prapai felt the smile overtake his face when he thought it, "You know this means I get to give you more presents."
Phayu chuckled, "I figured."
They were both smiling now. Then a second, better thought occurred to Prapai, "I left my phone upstairs."
Phayu's eyes darkened, "I'll help you look."