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“I’ll kill him,” Phichit snarled, seething.
“Phi, that’s really not necessary…” Yuuri rubbed his face with a groan.
“He was using you!”
“And now he isn’t, because I broke it off,” Yuuri said. Hands still covered his face, muffling his words.
“He was going to kill you, Yuuri!” Phichit fell back into the couch of their shared apartment.
“I wonder if he even knew it would,” Yuuri offered.
“Yuuri, you can’t be serious.” Phichit stared at his friend, scowling. “It’s common knowledge that a unicorn’s horn is its life. There’s a reason there’s a ban on unicorn horns in the market—”
“And trophy hunters are just poachers who think another name sounds more respectable, I know.”
“Exactly!” Phichit threw his arms into the air, but didn’t sit up.
“But can we please let it go?” Yuuri asked, finally moving his hands and getting up from the floor. As he walked into the kitchen, he called back to Phichit, “I just don’t want to cause a scene or scandal or something. I hate attention.”
“You love attention,” Phichit disagreed. “It just has to be the right kind of attention.”
Yuuri disappeared into the kitchen. All Phichit could hear was the clanging of pots and utensils echoing off the tiles. Dinner would be interesting—they hadn’t been grocery shopping in a while and Yuuri tended to go over the top when he was stressed out. Phichit asked him all the time why he decided against going into the culinary business. And Yuuri would always shrug in response.
“Fuck.”
“Yuuri?” Phichit sat up, leaning as far as he could to peer into the kitchen.
“Fridge is empty,” Yuuri said. “Ugh.”
“Do you want me to go get takeout?” Phichit offered, sliding off the couch and already reaching to grab his wallet and keys. Yuuri leaned out of the kitchen, poking his head through the doorway. He narrowed his eyes at Phichit but his face was otherwise neutral.
“You’re not going to go cause any trouble while you’re out, are you?”
“You’re so paranoid, Yuuri.” Phichit whined. “I’ll behave, I promise. Well.”
“Well?” Yuuri frowned.
“I might… Misbehave a little bit.” Phichit grinned. “Depends on who’s at the takeout place.”
“You have absolutely no shame,” Yuuri said.
“What? I can’t flirt with cute boys?”
“Not if you’re trying to get discounted food from the poor thing.”
“I’m leaving now,” Phichit whined. “Text me when you’re nicer and I’ll bring food.”
“Ass.”
“I have a great one, I know!” This time Phichit chirped. He dodged a flying spoon and ducked out of the apartment, laughing like a hyena dosed with a questionable amount of nitrous oxide. Yuuri swore after him, but didn’t follow him out the door—which was for the best.
“Phichit!” Chris grinned, waving as Phichit stepped into the restaurant. “I thought you’d show up. I thought about letting Seung-gil know you were coming, but then he’d probably flee.”
“Rude,” Phichit said with an exaggerated pout. “He knows he’s my favorite.”
“It’s a good thing I have a lot of self esteem.” Chris laughed. “But I’m sure you’re here for something other than food. You look half feral, you know.”
“I—didn’t know that,” Phichit admitted. He blinked a few times and shook his head, trying to school his features back into something humans would consider normal. “It’s just—you know the guy Yuuri’s been interested in for awhile?”
“Yeah, why?” Chris walked with Phichit to the counter.
“I need to know exactly where he is.”
“…Did he do something?”
“You two are bad for business,” Seung-gil cut through their conversation. “What do you want?”
“Uh.” Phichit paused. “You know, I didn’t actually think about that. Hmm… Oh! An order of Yuuri’s go-to comfort food and an order of… Oh, just get me two of those. I’m feeling some loaded cheese fries, too. And separate them so I can keep my share away from Yuuri’s voracious stomach.”
“Again?” Seung-gil frowned at Phichit, glancing at his figure. “Where does it all go?”
“Rude, Seung-gil!” Phichit gasped. “And I thought we had a thing. I thought I was special!”
Chris laughed beside them. He paid for Phichit’s order, leaving Seung-gil a generous tip for putting up with the usual shenanigans. “So dramatic, Phichit. Are you sure you didn’t major in theatre arts?”
“I took an improv class once?” Phichit offered. He shook his head, expression turning solemn. “Anyway. This is really important.”
That got Seung-gil’s and Chris’s attention. Neither of them could recall Phichit looking so serious in recent memory. At least, not since the incident with the Incident that got him and Yuuri thrown out of the dorms a semester before graduating.
“The guy that Yuuri had been seeing,” Phichit started.
“Had been? Did he break Yuuri’s heart?” Chris narrowed his eyes. “I’ll skin him.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Seung-gil hissed. “Not on this street. You hunters and your messes…”
“No, he didn’t—he didn’t get the chance to.” Phichit fiddled with the zipper on his jacket. “Yuuri didn’t give him the chance because I…”
“What did you do?” Seung-gil’s tone softened. It wasn’t like Phichit to feel guilty over something.
“I didn’t do anything,” Phichit said. He didn’t sound like he was defending himself, though. “It’s not what I did. It’s what I overheard.”
“Go on.” Chris leaned against the counter.
“Not here,” Seung-gil lowered his voice, ushering the two away from his counter. “Out back. I’ll meet you there once I hand in your order for Yuuri.”
“Thanks, Seung-gil,” Phichit breathed.
Seung-gil nodded and shooed Phichit away again. Phichit couldn’t help the small smile. He shook his head. They left the counter just in time for another customer to walk up and Seung-gil pointedly walk away from them. Phichit disappeared through the back door after holding it open for Chris and waited for Seung-gil to join them. Phichit made himself comfortable on a stack of crates, pulling his jacket tightly around his body. For being just outside of a kitchen, it was ridiculously cold. He shivered as he watched Chris lean against the brick wall. They waited like that for little over a minute before the door opened and hit them with a warm burst of delicious smelling air. Phichit let out an audible, hungry whine.
“What happened, Phichit?” Seung-gil asked, closing the door behind him. He knelt in front of Phichit and looked up, meeting his gaze. The bob of Phichit’s throat distracted him for a moment. He’d forgotten what he was going to ask next. Phichit seemed just as unfocused.
“What did you hear that made Yuuri break off a relationship he was happy in?” Chris added.
Phichit jolted and shook his head. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair before dropping them into Seung-gil’s waiting hands. The weight of Chris settling behind him on his crate-stack had him relaxing again.
“C’mon, bunny,” Chris encouraged him, letting his hands rest on Phichit’s shoulders, rubbing them. “Tell us what you heard.”
“The asshole was just using Yuuri,” Phichit hissed. “I had an uneasy feeling, y’know? So I hid as a hamster and followed him—the cat at Plisetsky’s cafe is a menace—to that sketchy pub at the end of the block. You know the one on the corner? Looks like it hasn’t been used used in years?”
“We know the one.” Seung-gil squeezed Phichit’s hands. “What did he think Yuuri has…?”
“It’s not what he thought.” Phichit’s face contorted into a furious scowl. Briefly, his eyes were that of a reptile’s, gleaming and predatory. The look passed as quickly as it came. “I think… Using Yuuri was the wrong term. More like…”
“Oh no…” Chris wrapped his arms around Phichit’s torso, kissing the top of his head. “You’re not about to say what I think you are, are you?”
Phichit heaved a sigh, but it didn’t unburden his shoulders.
“Fuck.”
“…Well, that’s one word to use,” Chris said, going for a light tone but just sounding strangled.
“I’m going to barbecue him,” Phichit snarled. He huffed and a puff of smoke blew from his nose. The reptilian eyes were back again. “Treasure hunters. He was meeting with treasure hunters. Talking about how in a matter of time, he’d have a unicorn’s horn and all without having to fight for it. He was going to kill my best friend!”
Chris sighed and pressed his forehead against the base of Phichit’s neck, holding him tightly in an attempt to settle him down. Seung-gil tangled his fingers with Phichit’s, though he did wince at the sharp claws that Phichit’s nails were turning into. He kept silent through it.
“So—so naturally, I told Yuuri about what I’d overheard, you know?” Phichit’s voice was hoarse. Whether he was about to cry or breathe fire, neither of the other two men could tell. “And for a moment I thought— that maybe Yuuri wouldn’t believe me. You know how he tends to get blinders.”
“We know,” Chris said. “But you said Yuuri was the one to break it off?”
“When I told Yuuri, he just…” Phichit actually broke this time, with a strangled sob. “He got that look. You know the one. Where he—where he starts thinking he’s not worth anything and that of course someone would only use him for his horn. Of course no one cared about him as a person, just what he is and the power he has. It took me all week, guys. All week to get him out of that mindset.”
“Where is he, Chris?” Seung-gil cut in. He lifted Phichit’s hands to his lips and held them tight.
“I’m not sure,” Chris admitted. “But I know where to look.”
“Don’t take the satisfaction away from me.” Phichit whispered.
“Of course not, bunny.” Chris smiled and pressed a kiss to Phichit’s neck. “We’d never dream of it. Seung-gil and I will send him your way. Say… outside that sketchy pub? This time tomorrow?”
“Thank you.” Phichit seemed to have lost all his energy. His features were once again entirely human and he sagged in Chris’s arms. His grip on Seung-gil’s hands was tight as ever. He frowned at the scratches he’d left. “Ah… Sorry, Seung-gil. I didn’t mean to hurt you…”
“Hey. Enough of that.” Seung-gil let go of Phichit’s hands, only to slide his own up Phichit’s arms and rest them on his biceps. He gave Phichit an awkward, but reassuring smile. “I knew what I was doing. Now, your order is probably ready now, and Yuuri’s probably waiting.”
“Mmn,” Phichit assented. He laughed, though it was short and weak. “He told me not to start trouble. I wonder if he’ll believe me this time.”
“I’d say I’d vouch for you,” Chris said, “but I think that would make him even more suspicious. Do you want us to walk you back?”
“No, no, I’ll be okay,” Phichit said. He shook out his hands. “I don’t want to risk getting either of you fired, either. Thanks, both of you.”
“Don’t thank us, Phichit,” Seung-gil said. He gave Phichit’s upper arms a gentle, but firm squeeze.
“We are family, after all,” Chris added while ruffling Phichit’s hair.
“Cash Anderson.” Phichit’s voice was stony, colder than ice.
The man in question wasn’t very tall—shorter than Yuuri. His nose looked like it had been broken three too many times. His artificially midnight blue hair was unevenly cut and it set Phichit’s teeth on edge as he reined in the desire to fix it. There would be no fixing Cash Anderson. Well. Maybe a little fixing.
Setting him on fire counted as fixing, right?
“I thought I was meeting Yuuri,” Cash said.
“Disappointed?”
“Ah.” Cash smirked. “I see. Yuuri too shy to come ask me back himself?”
“As if.” Phichit’s nostrils flared and tendrils of smoke wafted from the corners of his mouth. If anyone could make nineties valley girl slang sound intimidating, it was Phichit.
“Then why are you here?” Cash narrowed his eyes at Phichit. “Haven’t you done enough meddling in my Yuuri’s affairs?”
“Your Yuuri?” Phichit hissed. His teeth were suddenly sharp, fang-like in the way they peeked out even when Phichit’s mouth was closed. “You don’t have the right. You think I’d let you anywhere near my best friend after I heard you plotting with your friends to steal his horn? You’d have him killed just to get your hands on a shiny trinket?
“How did—” Cash stopped. His face contorted in fury. “I thought I smelled a rat that night. You filthy little rodent!”
Something snapped in Phichit. Wings unfurled themselves from behind his back and his face elongated into a dragon’s head. The rest of his body followed suit and suddenly, where Phichit had stood, a dragon snarled and snapped at Cash. Cash froze on the spot. Evidently he thought that Phichit could only be a rodent. The Great Dane sized dragon was a surprise. It was one of Phichit’s favorite forms - a gleaming body of red and gold scales warmed in the sun and the underside of his wings was a bleeding sunset.
“Fuck.” Cash unfroze himself and turned, bolting down the rest of the street and toward the edge of town.
Phichit chased after him, snapping his jaw and spitting fire. He came frighteningly close to tearing a bite out of Cash’s ass but the man yelped away, stumbling over his steps in his haste to escape a dragon’s wrath. If anyone thought it strange, a man running down the street with a dragon nipping at his heels, no one made a fuss. Phichit chased Cash all the way into the woods.
At the tree line, Cash hesitated. The woods were known for dangerous creatures and mysterious disappearances. He swallowed the terrified lump in his throat and looked over his shoulders. Phichit stood there, scaled tail swishing over the grass. He wore a delighted sneer, if ever a dragon could. Suddenly, he pounced with his talons stretched out as far as he could. Cash screamed and disappeared into the forest so quickly he could have teleported. Phichit nodded in satisfaction and flew back to his shared apartment.
When Phichit walked into the apartment, he was not at all surprised to see Seung-gil and Chris sitting with Yuuri on the couch. With Chris braiding some of the longer pieces of Yuuri’s hair and Seung-gil pouring him a glass of tea, the living room looked quite homey. Well. Homier than usual. Phichit couldn’t help his grinning.
“You guys started a party without me!” He whined.
“Of course we didn’t,” Yuuri said, blinking rapidly. He wasn’t panicking—yet—but he was certainly bewildered enough to cause concern.
“Tea, Yuuri.” Seung-gil handed him the mug and moved, making room for Phichit.
Phichit flopped into the empty space that Seung-gil made for him, dropping most of his body weight onto his taciturn lover. Seung-gil grunted but otherwise didn’t complain. Yuuri gave them a small smile as he sipped his tea—with great care, so Chris didn’t pull his hair. It was a great relief when Chris finally finished braiding the section at his ear. Yuuri relaxed and downed the rest of his tea, ignoring the burn of the hot liquid.
“…Thank you,” Yuuri said. “All of you.”
He took a breath and got up, collecting the teacups and carrying them into the kitchen. He left Phichit and his two lovers alone on the couch. It’s not that Yuuri didn’t appreciate the company. It was nice of Chris and Seung-gil to come stay with him while Phichit went off and did whatever it is that Phichit does. It’s just…
Yuuri shook his head and put the dishes in the dishwasher. He returned to the living room and settled into his arm chair, leaving Phichit and Chris to invade Seung-gil’s personal space. Watching them made something in his gut twist, but they were his friends dammit. He wasn’t going to be jealous of his friends.
“Hey, Yuuri?” Phichit bit his lip. “It’s okay, you know.”
“What is?”
“To be sad.”
Yuuri sighed again. “I’m not… sad. Not really. Just…”
“Being lonely is okay, too,” Chris said.
“But I shouldn’t be!” Yuuri snapped. He flinched at his own voice, curling up in the chair. If only curling up and wrapping his arms around his knees would actually make him smaller. Unfortunately, it didn’t. His tail lashed in frustration against the side of the chair and his horn didn’t reflect any of the light with its iridescence. “I’m sorry. I—didn’t mean to snap.”
“It’s fine, Yuuri,” Seung-gil said, in that strangely reassuring neutral tone.
“He’s right!” Phichit chirped. He smiled as he stretched across Seung-gil’s and Chris’s laps and relished the hand in his hair and the back rub. “It’s okay to be lonely, even if you’re with us. I mean, it’s not like we can fulfill everything for you, silly. We’re your best friends, sure, but we’re not, you know.”
“I just—” Yuuri buried his face in his knees. Despite himself, some of the light came back to his horn and his tail stopped thrashing.
“Yuuri, stop.” Chris chided—as gentle as Chris could be. “It’s okay. Sooner or later you’ll actually meet someone who thinks of you as a precious treasure, not your horn. But you as yourself.”
“I—thank you.” Yuuri breathed. He lifted his head and rested his chin on his knees, offering the three across from him a tiny smile. Then he furrowed his brow. “…Phichit, you weren’t causing any trouble today, were you? You didn’t do anything?”
“So suspicious.” Phichit whined. “I… May have chased him out of town as a dragon. He ran into the woods, though, so who knows if anyone will ever find him.”
Yuuri heaved a sigh but he couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face. “Stupid… But—thank you. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle running into him on the street but… I guess now I don’t have to worry.”
“Exactly!” Phichit grinned. “That was my intent all along.”
“You’re a treasure, Phi.” Yuuri returned his grin easily.