Work Text:
tine grumbles involuntarily when he hears the alarm in the morning. he’d somehow rolled over to the edge of the mattress throughout the night, dangerously close to falling right off. blearily, he crawls back to his boyfriend, ever unperturbed by the noise, as he fumbles to switch the ringing off.
it’s going to be a long day, and even longer when he thinks about the pathetic four hours of sleep he got.. that wasn’t even good . in all the flurry of deadlines and exams, tine’s dreams were muddled with reciting points about advanced contract law and intellectual property arbitration . he’s not sure to be glad his brain was really working for him or angry he still feels tired and cranky even after the sleep.
he gives himself another minute to indulge, soaking in the body heat of his boyfriend, pressing his face against his arm. just because. sarawat remains asleep, pillowy lips resting slightly apart, and tine thinks he’d so much rather spend the day curled in his arms than take two exams back-to-back and rush home to finish his essay due midnight.
but, well. being a law student in his fourth year just happens to be like that. tine would cry but he barely has the energy or time to — he needs to get out of bed and in the exam hall in two hours, and hopefully squeeze in some last-minute revision before going in to take the tests.
with a sigh, he places a chaste kiss on sarawat’s cheek, before he finally gets up.
%
“fong, can you test me this again?” he shoves a flashcard in his friend’s hand, clenching his fists in frustration he’s having a hard time getting a particularly long definition to stick. the four musketeers (or as tine prefers to call, the ‘tine khun chic chic gang’) are huddled together outside the examination hall, reviewing their notes for the last round before their second exam. the first one had, well, kicked tine's ass, so. he's on the fence between giving his best for this paper and giving up altogether already.
“sure,” fong agrees kindly anyway, putting away his own for a second. “what does section 23 say about —“
“tine!”
they all look up in unison to see sarawat jogging up to them with his guitar slung over his back, a blue hawaii in his hand.
“wat?” tine’s surprise is evident on his face — but his body visibly relaxes, tension melting out, just seeing his boyfriend here.
“hey,” sarawat greets them all, though he only looks at tine. “i missed you in the morning. i forgot you’d be leaving early.” he scratches the back of his neck sheepishly.
tine smiles kindly. “it’s okay, i didn’t want to wake you anyway.” happily, he takes the drink from sarawat’s grip, automatically knowing it’s for him. sarawat is always so sweet.
“thanks,” he takes a sip and grins at him, all smiley eyes and unabashed glee. it’s not just the drink — it’s his favourite drink, it’s sarawat knowing , and sarawat taking the trouble to get it for him in between classes even though he disapproves how sugary it is.
“you’re welcome, nuisance,” sarawat smiles. it’s not that big of a deal, in actuality — being in the same school, they’ve taken to stopping by each other’s classes from time to time, dropping off snacks, forgotten homework, or sometimes, just a hug. but it’s these small things that seem so insignificant that makes tine’s heart bloom each time they see each other. knowing their love for each other is simple — it’s underwhelming, unassuming, and always, always warm.
“don’t stress too much na?”
“mhm,” tine agrees, though they both know tine will always hold himself to high standards, and he’d worked as hard as he can for this. “i’ll see you later?” tine asks instead and internally whines that he can’t even just crawl into his boyfriend’s arms until his final essay is submitted at night.
“of course,” sarawat answers easily. and, “i’ll grab you coffee later.”
tine rests his head against sarawat’s neck and moans in both gratitude and misery.
“..and once that essay is done, i’ll have my boyfriend back in bed with me.” sarawat adds, thumbing tine’s earlobe gently, and rolling his eyes at ohm and phuak who are eyeing tine weirdly, and making a mock retching face, respectively. it’s uncommon for tine to get this affectionate and needy with sarawat in public — he’s still. shy. most of the time. but it’s one of those days, so sarawat understands. even indulges, mildly, guiltily, at the expense of his boyfriend’s suffering.
feeling the soft pads of sarawat’s fingers trail to his nape, tine let out a tense breath he hadn’t even known he was holding. instinctively, tine looks down, a small smile curling on his lips at sarawat’s words.
when the touch he particularly craves for doesn’t come, though, he frowns. “sarawat,” he grumbles softly.
“yea?”
when tine peers up, sarawat is looking at him adoringly, as always, though his free hand that isn’t clutching onto the strap of his guitar case continues to lie uselessly behind his ear.
and tine tries his hardest not to — but he’s definitely pouting now. if sarawat notices, he’s either cruelly uncaring, or simply enjoying it.
“here,” tine instructs, and reaches for the offending hand before dropping it on his head.
sarawat’s hand falls on tine’s head with a soft thud, and he looks confused for a moment — but then in a quick second, he gets it.
“oh,” sarawat says, and here comes the shit-eating grin, but he kneads his fingers gently against tine’s scalp anyway, as he always does, as tine always loves.
“better,” tine sighs softly.