Work Text:
“have you ever been in love before?”
tine’s voice is soft around the edges, no hint of teasing or joking. sarawat savors the feeling of tine’s softness directed just at him. they’re on tine’s balcony, alone, sarawat’s guitar seated firmly in tine’s lap. tine had confiscated it earlier after sarawat’s last ditch attempt at playing something that wasn’t scrubb. it’s early enough that the sky is still a haze of royal blue and cobalt, but late enough that stars are slowly peeking through.
sarawat can feel tine’s gaze, but can’t bring himself to meet it.
the question sits in the air for a second. two seconds. three.
“no,” sarawat says. his voice feels too small, too weak. tine is still looking at him. “i…” sarawat stops himself. swallows. “i’m actually not sure,” he amends.
in all the pretentious, anti-love indie music sarawat listens to, love is always described like it’s tangible. love is scorned. written about with a sarcastic edge. love is treated like a burden. like it’s painful. suffocating, or drowning, or burning up with desire. sarawat doesn’t think that’s what love is. he doesn’t know, couldn’t know, but love is softer, he thinks, sweeter.
sarawat works up the courage to meet tine’s eyes.
tine’s face is open. vulnerable. sarawat imagines he must look the same. tine isn’t blushing, but the tips of his ears slowly bloom pink, then red as sarawat levels his gaze. he doesn’t look away, though. tine is steady.
stubborn.
in the movies, sarawat thinks, this would be a good setting for the big kiss scene. the ambience is good, it’s quiet. they’re close enough to each other, he would just have to lean across the bench and kiss him. over his guitar, in tine’s lap.
sarawat watches tine’s finger tap against the wood, and then stop.
“i think… i don’t know enough about love to know if i’ve been in love or not,” sarawat says. tine exhales.
“oh,” he says. he breaks eye contact, his eyes jumping around, erratic. staring at sarawat’s guitar. then out at the sky. then the guitar. then somewhere below sarawat’s eyes. the blush finally creeps from tine’s red red ears across the high of his cheekbones. he meets sarawat’s eyes again. then looks down at the guitar.
“what do you know about it?” tine’s voice is soft again, sweet. but sarawat really can’t help himself.
“weren’t you so sure i knew absolutely nothing about romance? wonder when that changed...” sarawat let’s his lip quirk up as he trails off, sarcasm dripping from the lilt of his voice. tine’s eyes snap up and meet his. his eyebrows furrow together, and his lips pull out in a pout. cute.
“asshole! i’m asking for real!” the softness is gone. the moment is less daunting, more comfortable. this is familiar.
“why’d you wanna know?” sarawat says, leaning back, full on grinning now. “you think you’re finally falling for me?”
tine splutters, looking everywhere but sarawat, his hands catching on the guitar, face finally all red. sarawat exhales a laugh.
“i’m joking, nuisance, don’t freak out,” sarawat says. tine shoots him a glare.
“i was trying to make conversation!” tine protests, hands splaying. sarawat smiles.
“about love?’’ sarawat raises his eyebrows at tine, before turning away.
“about you.”
sarawat feels all the air punch out of him at once. he jerks back and feels his eyes go wide at he quickly tries to catch tine’s gaze. but tine is looking away, down at his fingers on sarawat’s guitar.
“there’s no way you’re so good at flirting and big romantic gestures without a little bit of the whole-” tine gestures with his free hand- “‘being in love’ thing.” his hand comes back down and his fingers find their place, plucking out something soft and rough around the edges. “you act so tough, but you’re really just a big sap so i just thought-” tine looks up and his hand stills as he catches the look on sarawat’s face. “what?” he says.
“nothing,” sarawat says. too quickly, rushed. his voice is too high. tine looks like he’s about to say something else, so he hurriedly adds, “i know nothing… about... love, i mean.”
tine stares at him, fingers still perfectly in place.
“i just… i just know that-” sarawat pauses, warily looking at tine.
tine is staring at him, previous expression melted away to reveal open and soft and hopeful. tine looks hopeful.
“i just know that love isn’t… painful. or hurtful. it’s nice. it feels good… to love someone, or for someone to love you.” sarawat stops again, looks at tine again.
tine still looks so hopeful. sarawat pushes on.
“i don’t think love is like… in all the sad indie music,” (tine smiles), “when they talk about it like its bad or… or-”
“like it hurts?”
“yeah. i don’t think that’s love. i hope it’s not.”
“me too.”
sarawat looks at tine again. he's smiling.
“i think love is comfortable. like… holding hands. or sharing a blanket. or talking late at night about nothing.”
tine checks his phone. “is eight pm late enough for a late night talk, ai-wat?” tine teases, still smiling at him. sarawat feels like he’s floating.
“maybe.” he reaches out then, and lightly pushes tine’s middle finger down a string. tine frowns at him, but sarawat just jerks his head toward his other hand, perfectly set in strumming position. sarawat can feel tine’s exhale on his cheek. he's still holding tine’s hand. tine shakily strums. a clear chord this time. “better?”
“yeah,” tine isn’t looking at the guitar. “better.”
they’re too close. sarawat’s heart is beating fast enough, loud enough, bold enough, that tine can definitely feel it, just a couple centimeters away. but tine is just looking at him, that same hopeful expression painting his gaze. his ears are red again.
sarawat leans away, back to the comfortable bubble of space between them. less space, though. if sarawat spread his legs a little more, their thighs would press into each other. he doesn’t.
“what about you, nuisance. tell me about love.”
tine’s face is thoughtful. looks down at the guitar, out at the sky, then locks eyes with sarawat.
“don’t laugh at me,” he warns, face serious. “but i think… love is like a scrubb song.”
“somehow i knew you’d say that,” sarawat teases. he lets their knees knock into each other.
“i said don’t laugh!”
“i’m not laughing!” tine hasn’t moved his leg back. sarawat can feel the heat of tine’s thigh against his, even through his uniform pants. “keep going,” sarawat says, and his voice is way too sappy. way too soft and syrupy, but tine either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. instead, he rolls his eyes.
“ugh, you’re so mean to me,” tine says. sarawat just smiles at him. “but i mean it! scrubb songs make me feel good! they make me feel like i could do anything i set my mind to, and… and make me feel better if i’m feeling bad, and boost my confidence when i really need it! they feel warm.” tine smiles, softly, to himself. sarawat feels weightless. “ i think love is like that.”
“that’s nice, tine,” sarawat says, genuine. tine turns that soft smile on him. sarawat’s heart speeds up on principal.
“i guess we’re both saps,” tine says. sarawat watches his grip on the guitar tighten and loosen and tighten and loosen.
their thighs are still pressing together. sarawat feels like his body is thrumming with his heartbeat.
“why were you thinking about love?” sarawat pushes, hoping hoping hoping the bubble this moment has created doesn’t burst. he watches tine’s finger go still, eyes go just a little wide. he bites his lip.
“i was just-” he cuts himself off, and his eyes dart toward sarawat. sarawat tilts his head.
“i was just wondering… ai’man was talking about love earlier-”
“don’t let him fool you, that dumbass doesn’t know anything,” sarawat adds, voice breezy. tine laughs, but it’s less of a laugh and more of a huff. he watches tine pick at the edges of his sweater in the corner of his eye.
“i mean, that got me thinking. and i think,” tine says, now back to playing with sarawat’s guitar, plucking out nonsense. “i think i’ve never really been in love.”
sarawat doesn’t say anything. his brain is blanking out. tine is waiting for his response but he can’t think. he swallows.
“i was so sure, before, but now… i’m not,” tine adds. the crescent moon peeks out from behind the build in front of tine’s balcony. sarawat swallows again.
“what changed?” he manages, staring stubbornly at the little nick in tine’s eyebrow. he tries not to think about kissing him, right there.
tine turns and looks at him, guitar forgotten. really looks at him, the same gaze he levels his guitar when he’s hunched over it, practicing. the same gaze he points at the tabs for scrubb songs sarawat had scribbled on napkins for him, or his chicken-scratch in a big notebook labelled ‘lawyer tine’ he proudly told sarawat were his notes. it’s like tine is studying him. it’s overwhelming. sarawat feels small. he holds his breath.
the air is quiet, and sarawat tries his best to not break eye contact. tine’s leg is warm.
tine finally looks away and sarawat feels himself breathe out. tine shrugs easily, and leans across the small space in between them. sarawat’s eyes go wide. tine deposits sarawat’s guitar back into his lap. he reaches across sarawat’s chest grabs his hand. tine places it, decliate, up onto the frets.
tine looks a sarawat for a second, his eyes, then down, then up again.
sarawat can’t move. tine’s face is a breath away, and sarawat is paralyzed.
tine doesn’t answer him. instead, he murmurs, “play me a love song.” sarawat can feel it against his lips. he still can’t move. sarawat’s eyes flick away, a quick glance at the houseplant beside him, and then back.
tine’s expression changes just slightly, and then he’s leaning away, back to just next to him. back to just their legs pressed against each other. sarawat’s hands feel shaky. he swallows, and looks down at his hands. plays a shaky test chord. swallows again, readjusting his arms. plays another test. better.
sarawat peeks at tine. tine is smiling at him, just in the corners of his lips and the look in his eyes.
sarawat looks away. plucks a couple experimental notes, bases of his unnamed love song. tine perks up beside him. sarawat shuffles again, and presses into tine’s side. tine presses back.
he plays a scrap. the barebones of a bridge, the start of a second chorus. no lyrics yet, just a soft hum in the back of sarawat’s throat. it’s soft, fitting of the thread of tine’s sweater pressing into his arm. he stumbles over a new bit, an unfamiliar chord progression plucked straight from the scrubb song tine had eagerly shared with sarawat over shared earphones earlier that week. he feels tine suck in a breath at that, and smiles to himself.
he lets his hum trail off, lets the final chord ring out, and holds his breath for a second. two. three.
“i feel it,” tine says, voice small. sarawat feels weightless.
sarawat turns, bewildered, and sees tine staring stubbornly straight down at his socks.
“what?”
“i feel it. you know? feel love,” tine all but whispers. his hands are clasped firmly in his lap. the night chill is setting in on tine’s little balcony but sarawat’s goosebumps aren’t from the cold. he looks up and meets sarawat’s eyes. sarawat vaguely remembers showing tine the intro to his song weeks ago, and remembers exasperatedly telling him to just feel it, not understand it. did tine vividly remember that? did tine think about what sarawat said? does tine still think about it, even now?
sarawat looks at tine, bright pink cheekbones and bitten lips, and thinks about kissing him. sarawat wets his lips, a nervous tick, and tine’s eyes dart down and then back up again, face going pinker. sarawat leans in, just a little bit, and slides his gaze down from his eyes, watching tine’s lips part. tine seems to lean in just a bit, unconsciously. sarawat looks back up to tine’s blown wide eyes. tine inhales, sharp, and then-
and then tine is suddenly jumping up to his socked feet and letting an uncomfortable laugh fill the space instead.
“it’s late! it’s late-” he gestures at the night sky wildly. “- so you should be getting home if you don’t want to stay here for the night!” tine laughs again, and it’s tight, like the slightest additional pressure will cause him to snap.
sarawat sits, the words slowly loading, before quickly jerking his head in a nod and then looking down at still fingers.
“oh,” he says, voice forcibly impassive. he sits for another moment, scorning his dumb heart. when sarawat gets up, guitar in hand, tine is still standing, right in the way of the door. sarawat tilts his head, and tine wrings his hands together and huffs another uncomfortable laugh. sarawat frowns.
“tine?”
tine just blurts a quick “come on” without making eye contact and walks into his moonlit dorm (sarawat doesn’t notice his shaky hands). sarawat follows, confused, and closes the door behind them.
tine hasn’t turned on any lights, so the room is still dark, just lit by the fairy lights tine has strewn haphazardly around and the deck window. tine turns, shifting from foot to foot next to his makeshift guitar stand, just one purposeful stride away from sarawat. he looks like he wants to say something, but the unpleasant twist of his mouth isn’t giving anything away. “tine,” sarawat tries again, and he jerks his head up to blink owlishly. sarawat takes a deep breath- “i feel it too.” -and dives headfirst.
it seems like someone hit pause on tine, because he just sits there and stares at sarawat. for a beat. another. another. sarawat sighs and nods to himself, before nodding a curt goodbye at tine and taking all of two steps towards the front door before-
a tug, on his left wrist. sarawat turns and is met with tine staring at his own fingers, wrapped around sarawat’s wrist, face bright pink. sarawat probably isn’t faring any better; he can feel his neck slowly heating up.
“i want you to stay,” tine blurts out, the words blurring together. sarawat can feel a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth and quickly schools his expression before tine looks up at him. the grip around his wrist tightens. the soft lighting glows on tine’s face, highlighting deep cheekbones and plush lips.
“do you have a change of clothes?” sarawat says easily, stepping toward tine and reaching around him to set his guitar down next to the one with tine’s name in it. sarawat leans back and raises his eyebrows. they’re close, and tine's fingers are curled right into his less-than-calm pulse point. tine looks confused, and he looks down at his own pink sweater (one of many, sarawat notes. this one is one of his favorites).
“for what?” he says, eyebrows pinching together. sarawat laughs, incredulous.
“for me? you’re not going to make me sleep in this-” sarawat gestures at his own starched uniform shirt “-are you, nuisance?”
tine’s eyes go wide and his grip squeezes around sarawat’s wrist again. sarawat heart rate spikes. “you’re staying?” he says, hushed and unbelieving.
sarawat tries his very best not let the pure elation he’s feeling show on his face. “you said you wanted me to,” he says, shrugging easily. he slips his wrist out of tine’s grip, and just barely catches the crestfallen look on tine’s face, before he just grabs his hand instead. tine sucks in a quick breath. “you want me to, right?” sarawat asks, holding his breath. tine stares at their clasped hands in the dark.
tine pulls away, and speeds around sarawat toward the other side of the room. the room is dark, and sarawat can just see his silhouette stoop down and dig around for something. he stands, and quickly turns back, walking back to sarawat and pushing something dark and soft into his chest. he turns back around and flicks on the lamp on his desk.
sarawat just stands, holding tine’s soft shirt and… sweatpants? staring open mouthed at tine bustling around his room. he turns back to sarawat after pulling his curtains closed, expression nervous. he seems to steel himself, and reaches out and pushes at sarawat’s shoulders, touch light.
“go get changed, asshole,” tine says.
sarawat bites his lip and nods, sparing one glance at tine turning his back on sarawat and lifting the hem of his pink sweater before quickly shutting himself into his little bathroom. he shakily exhales, and spills the clothes tine gave him into his dry sink. sarawat smiles to himself when he notices all of the skincare products stacked up on the edges of the sink.
tine had given him a pair of oversized cheer sweatpants and a soft, old t-shirt with a stretched out collar and a long worn out logo. they both smelled like him, an observation sarawat knew was weird, but he really couldn’t help it when he was pulling tine’s shirt on over his head. tine and him were around the same size, but his clothes fit a little big.
his face was way too red.
after an overly thorough splash of cold water on his face, and painstakingly folding his uniform to be as perfect as possible on tine’s cluttered counter, sarawat takes a deep breath and schools his expression to be as impassive as he can be (considering he’s spending the night at the house of a boy whom he may or may not be in love with after playing him a love song and thinking about almost kissing him).
tine had taken off his sweater and is in the black undershirt he had below it. sarawat immediately thinks about going back to splashing cold water on his very red face. he looks up from his phone when sarawat pads forward and smiles, soft around the edges. the room is dim.
sarawat’s mind is racing way too fast with that fact alone. he think about cold, cold water.
sarawat sits on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with the fraying hem of tine’s shirt. he hears tine make a little noise that sounds like a muffled giggle. tine nudges him. sarawat turns and tine looks nervous.
“are you tired?” tine says, hushed.
“are you?”
“not really.”
sarawat hums, scooches a little closer.
“do you wanna watch a movie?”
sarawat can feel tine’s gaze on him. he tilts his head, smiles just a little bit.
“what movie? because i’m not watching scrubb music videos with you.” tine smacks his shoulder and sarawat laughs.
“asshole! i mean like… a real movie,” tine says, comically frowning.
“sure. you choose,” sarawat says. he turns to tine before adding “no scrubb.”
sarawat dodges tine’s hand this time, grinning and scrambling toward the other side of the bed.
“idiot…” tine grumbles, begrudgingly getting up and padding over to his desk. sarawat watches his bare shoulders, his upper back, flex as he opens his laptop for all of three seconds before his neck gets a little too hot and he looks away.
sarawat really hates that his clothes smell like him.
tine flicks the light off as he walks back, easily sitting on the other side of his bed, next to sarawat.
he leans across sarawat to plug in the charger, nudging sarawat with his shoulder to get him to lean back. sarawat stares stubbornly at tine’s laptop and not the expanse of tine’s skin pressing into his chest. tine scoots back against his headboard, plugging in a pair of earphones and easily reaching over and pressing an earbud into sarawat's ear. sarawat feels like he’s on fire.
tine puts on something foreign, with subtitles. sarawat is having a hard time reading the subtitles with the sluggish pace of his brain.
all because a very warm tine is pressed into his side.
everytime tine shifts even just a little bit, their hands brush together, or tine’s arm entangles with his, or tine rests his head just above sarawat’s shoulder against the headboard. sarawat’s mind is blank. they’re just sitting next to each other, they’ve sat next to each other countless times. but sarawat’s heart is racing.
maybe it's the ambience of the dim room with tine’ face lit up next to him with just the soft glow of the laptop screen. maybe it’s the soft feeling of tine’s clothes. or maybe it’s just tine, who asked him to stay, very awake beside him.
tine’s room was seemingly, up until now, off limits. it wasn’t like he wasn’t allowed in, but being alone with him usually happened at his little apartment. tine’s dorm was usually a revolving door of friends, and sarawat was usually the one who was clear and open with requests for tine to come and stay and sleep over, so most of their time after-dark together was spent pressed against each other on sarawat’s bed.
this was different, though. tine had asked him to stay.
tine’s dorm was daunting. most of the times he was here he was either drunk, hungover, or getting broken up with. but now he was one well-placed arm away from cuddling with tine. in tine’s bed.
it wasn’t like tine didn’t know about his feelings. sarawat had kissed him and told him pointblank he liked him for fuck’s sake. but tine had still asked him to stay, and was currently leaning against him with very very bare shoulders.
he was going to die here, cause of death tine teepakorn.
something happened in the movie, and tine gasped, shoulders jerking up and dragging against sarawat’s.
then, tine drops his head onto sarawat’s shoulder.
sarawat can see his tombstone now: ‘cause of death: tine teepakorn’
a scene passes before tine seems to notice how stiff sarawat is, and whispers a nervous sounding, “is this okay?”
sarawat’s eyes go wide. he pauses for a second, and tine doesn’t move, still against him. sarawat leans his head against tine’s, and nods.
sarawat can see tine’s smile in the reflection of the laptop screen.
they stay like that for a while, with tine occasionally leaning more weight against sarawat’s side, or turning his head different ways against his shoulder, or reaching out for sarawat’s hand just to play with his fingers instead of holding it.
it’s nearly torture, and sarawat had long given up on paying attention to the movie. his heart rate hadn’t slowed since the beginning of it, and the constant stream of tine tine tine definitely wasn’t doing him any favors.
at some point, a lull in the plot with less reactions from tine, sarawat just closes his eyes and enjoys tine’s presence next to him. tine had snaked an arm around sarawat’s, and was hugging sarawat’s arm to his chest like a pillow. he had long given up on not being pink in the face. they stay like that for a nice couple scenes from what sarawat can hear. some kind of monologue is happening when tine jerks forward and the movie stops.
sarawat’s eyes snap open to just see tine pouting at him. he goes to say something but tine beats him to it.
“you’re not watching!” (still pouting. cute.)
“yeah i am. come back,” sarawat makes grabby hands at tine but tine bats his hands away.
“oh yeah, asshole?” tine points at the character on screen, an grizzled, older looking actor. he’s not familiar. “who’s that?”
sarawat stares at the screen, but it gives nothing away. “uh-” sarawat looks at tine, hoping his expression is pity-inducing. tine is just raises his eyebrows. “uh… trick question, he hasn’t been introduced yet?”
tine gasps, scandalized. “he’s the main character!”
that sits in the air for a moment before sarawat huffs a laugh, shocked. tine shakes his head, unbelieving.
“if you didn’t want to watch you should’ve told me, asshole,” tine says. sarawat’s mouth snaps closed.
“that’s not it.” tine just huffs at him, so sarawat reaches out tugs at his waistband. “no, no, it’s not that i didn’t want to watch, i just-” sarawat searches for words, gesturing unhelpfully. tine’s eyebrows knit together.
“i didn’t want to go to sleep,” sarawat finishes weakly. tine looks unimpressed.
“you closed your eyes!”
“i was just! resting?”
tine huffs again. “i could’ve put on a movie you liked though…”
“tine,” sarawat says flatly. tine looks at him, still unimpressed. “i wasn’t going to pay attention anyway.” tine glares at him for a second, no heat behind it.
“then why did-”
“i just want to spend time with you.”
tine’s eyes are bright and wide when he whips around toward sarawat. he tugs at tine’s waistband again, fingers curling into the fabric of tine’s undershirt. tine’s all red, even a little dusting of pink on his shoulders. he sits, shellshocked, staring at sarawat, for a couple seconds. finally, it seems to hit him, and he turns away, batting at sarawat’s hands again.
“stop flirting, weirdo.”
“i’m just telling the truth…”
sarawat can’t see tine’s face, but his ears are hot red. tine’s hands still over sarawat’s for a second, before grabbing them and turning. he's is still glaring at him. sarawat bites the inside of his cheek. tine scoots forward, and then unceremoniously collapses into sarawat’s chest. he goes still.
he didn't expect petulantance to work.
sarawat’s hands hover over tine’s waist, tine’s hair. tine reaches a hand out blindly, feeling around the blanket. tine sighs again, and lifts himself up just to close his laptop, plunging them back into darkness.
sarawat feels him lean across his lap to place the laptop precariously on the bedside table. tine easily collapses back into sarawat, head against his chest.
“didn’t you wanna finish the movie?” sarawat reaches down and drags his fingers through tine’s hair. he sighs contentedly.
“nah. i was just watching because i thought you were. the main guy is super annoying.” sarawat scoffs.
“i didn’t know you liked foreign films.” sarawat lets one hand wander down and fan out across the back of tine’s neck. tine giggles.
“no way. i just thought it was pretentious enough for you to like it.” sarawat frowns, and tugs at his hair. tine just laughs harder.
“i’m not pretentious.” sarawat brushes the hand on tine’s neck out, across his shoulder.
“you listen to bands nobody knows about.” sarawat scratches his nails against tine's shoulder. tine sighs.
“that just means i have taste.” sarawat drags his hand back up through tine’s hair.
“and you’re not self-aware.” sarawat scoffs and jostles tine with his legs. tine giggles again.
“nuisance.” sarawat drops one hand from his hair and rests it on his leg.
“i’m just telling the truth,” tine parrots at him. sarawat pokes at his waist and tine gasps, squirming.
“nuisance.”
tine squirms some more, finally rolling away from sarawat and sitting across from him. sarawat can make out his basic silhouette, the soft smile on his face in the dark. sarawat unconsciously leans back, letting his back hit tine’s headboard.
“are you tired?” tine asks again, voice soft.
“are you?” sarawat repeats.
tine goes off script, humming noncommittally. he’s been slowly inching closer, and now sarawat can easily make out all the details on tine’s face, even in the dark.
“wat,” he says. it’s not a question, and sarawat takes a shaky breath. his heart is pounding in his ears.
“yeah?” his voice is raspy. he swallows.
tine inches forward. sarawat feels his exhale against his lips. tine’s fingers curl around sarawat’s wrist again.
“can… can i-” tine trails off, eyes darting away.
“please.” tine’s eyes widen. sarawat feels himself go red. (he sounds so needy. very not aloof and cool and sexy of him.) he really hopes he read the room right. tine looks down at sarawat’s lips and sarawat feels simultaneous proud of himself and like his face is on fire.
tine seems to pause for a second, thinking, before leaning in and then pausing again, right against sarawat’s lips.
this is some kind of sick torture, sarawat thinks. tine is somehow punishing him for something. his entire body feels like it’s buzzing. sarawat lets his eyes slide shut.
he feels fingertips lightly skim across his jaw, and then rest just below his cheekbone, softly cradling his face. sarawat parts his lips
and then tine is kissing him. a soft press of plush lips against his.
sarawat’s mind goes blank.
tine is kissing him.
tine is kissing him.
he’s a really good kisser.
tine pulls away to sigh against sarawat’s lips, fingers tapping at his cheek. sarawat inhales, shaky, and tine taps him again.
“breathe through your nose,” tine murmurs, against his mouth. sarawat sits, eyes firmly shut, shocked still. sarawat nods belated, and their noses bump with each nod. tine laughs, all breath, and then tilts sarawat’s head with his fingers and kisses him again.
sarawat feels weightless.
tine pulls away first, brushing his fingertips across sarawat’s skin and then pulling them away. sarawat keeps his eyes shut. he hears tine rustle around, before sarawat feels a tugging on his hand. sarawat peeks.
“it’s late,” tine says. he’s laying down, facing sarawat. “we should sleep.”
sarawat just stares at him, lips parted. tine chews on his lip.
“yeah,” sarawat manages, all breath. his slips down until he’s lying on his back. tine is still lightly holding his hand. he looks thoughtful, like he’s calculating something.
“tine-”
“wat-”
they look at each other, shocked, and then tine smiles, looking nervous. he squeezes sarawat’s hand.
“goodnight, wat.” sarawat takes a shaky breath and rolls over so they’re face to face.
“goodnight, nuisance.”
tine smiles at him, sarawat let’s himself smile back. sarawat contemplates, and moves to lean in again. tine’s eyes widen, and he lets go of sarawat's hand to push him by the shoulders back onto the bed.
“go to sleep!” he hisses, trying to look intimidating. he’s failing, obviously. “you have an early class tomorrow, right?”
sarawat raises his eyebrows, snaking his hands around tine’s wrists, still on his shoulders. “how do you know that? are you stalking me?”
tine jerks, pushing him again. “no way,” he hisses out. “you told me you had a morning class earlier today, asshole, don’t be so full of yourself.” tine falls back down onto his side of the bed. sarawat laughs.
“stop being so mean to me, you just kissed me.”
“shut up asshole, go to sleep.” tine pouts at him. sarawat gives him the best shit-eating grin he can manage.
“goodnight, nuisance,” sarawat hums, sickly sweet. “sleep well.”
tine scoffs, and then rustles around with the covers. then it goes quiet. sarawat can just hear the soft humming of tine’s laptop next to him.
sarawat replays tine’s fingers brushing against his cheek in his head. he starts drifting, it really is late, but snaps awake when he feels a hand slip into his. his eyes dart over to tine but it's too dark to see.
“sleep well,” tine whispers. he squeezes his hand. sarawat smiles. squeezes back. it's quiet, and there's a rustling again. then he feel tine curl up into his side, head on his shoulder.
sarawat is too tired, too drunk on the replaying memory of tine leaning in and kissing him, to be bashful, and lets himself relax into tine's embrace. he turns and wraps an arm around tine, and feels tine's smile curl into his shoulder. somehow, this, being wrapped up in each other, feels right. sarawat squeezes tine’s hand. tine squeezes back.
sarawat mentally adds another lyric to his love song.