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“Pete,” said Vegas hesitantly and Pete slowly lifted his eyes up. He was right in the middle of reading the news on his phone, but when he saw that Vegas had sat down next to him and had something to tell him, Pete slowly put the phone away and he leaned back against his chair, smiling when his eyes met with Vegas’.
“Yes?” asked Pete and clasped his hands together.
Vegas looked at Pete and then he glanced down. Pete knitted his brows together as he waited for the other one to say something. It was obvious that there was something on his mind, but for some reason it was hard for Vegas to bring it up? Pete waited for a little while, allowing Vegas to take all the time that he needed to ask him. Or tell him what was on his mind.
“You know, the other day,” started Vegas and Pete blinked a few times.
“Which day?”
“The day you and Porsche went to the mall,” slowly started Vegas, trying not to make it too obvious what he was trying to ask Pete.
Pete slowly smiled and he nodded because how could he forget that day? Kinn had finally gotten over the huge blow to his ego that happened that day and Pete was holding back his laughter as he slowly nodded. It’s been a week or so since the day he and Porsche found their boyfriends running around the playground, acting like children themselves and it was quite-
“Yes?” asked Pete and Vegas opened his mouth and then he frowned because he didn’t know how to ask the question. He could feel himself getting awkward and he opened his mouth, silent for a few extra moments before he spoke up again and Pete snorted when he heard the question.
“If you wanna go shopping with Porsche, I wouldn’t mind taking you to the mall again,” said Vegas and narrowed his eyes.
That wasn’t too obvious was it?
Nah, Vegas was pretty sure that he nailed it with that question.
Pete pressed his lips and he kept staring at Vegas, who was now keeping up his poker face and he shook his head because he couldn’t believe it. Vegas wanted to go back there and continue their game of pretend mafia? That was… adorable. Of course, Pete could never say that out loud or Vegas wouldn’t be too happy about that, but-
Was it so hard to ask what Vegas really wanted to do?
For someone like Vegas, yes. So, of course, he needed to go around it somehow else and Pete chewed on his lower lip and he hummed along. He considered calling Vegas out on it, but then he decided not to do that.
“Hmm, shopping you say?”
“Yes,” said Vegas and then he crossed his legs. “You know - in case you forgot to buy something last week, or,” said Vegas and squinted his eyes when he saw the grin on Pete’s face. But, he decided to ignore it. “Or if you need something else from the mall. I don’t mind taking you there,’’ Vegas cleared his throat. Right, don’t make it obvious. “I have some meetings, but I can, you know, cancel them,” he said and smiled. “Since it’s for you.”
Ah… who was the bad liar now?
Pete almost burst out laughing, but he took a deep breath instead, fighting back the urge to smile. Pete didn’t need anything from the mall, no. But how could he say no to that hopeful face?
Vegas was looking at Pete, waiting for a response. There was still a grin on Pete’s face, which raised Vegas’ suspicions, but he decided not to dwell on it. Instead, he decided to keep on his poker face and in the end, Pete shook his head. Thinking that Pete would say no, Vegas almost felt disappointed, but then Pete looked up at him and spoke up.
“Now that you mention it,” said Pete and Vegas perked up. “Yeah, I could use another trip to the mall,” he said and Vegas’ smile widened and then he happily nodded. “Are you sure that it wouldn’t be too much of a bother?” asked Pete playfully because he knew that Vegas had his days packed with meetings, but Vegas quickly shook his head.
“I’m busy, but for you I can always make time,” said Vegas and winked.
“Ah, aren’t you the gentleman,” said Pete in amusement and then he grinned happily. “Great, then you can take me shopping this afternoon?” he asked and Vegas was more than happy.
Vegas happily smiled as he leaned back against his chair.
Vegas couldn’t wait to be the mafia boss again!
“Are you sure you don’t wanna go to the mall with me?” asked Pete and Vegas nodded.
“Shopping malls aren’t for me,” said Vegas and Pete arched his brow. “Look, you have fun - I will be waiting for you right here,” said Vegas and pointed over to the benches on the other side of the road. “I don’t mind waiting for you here,” he said and grinned. “Besides, didn’t you say that Porsche is coming as well?”
“Mn,” said Pete in the end because he did call Porsche about… coming to the mall.
“See? I don’t want to interrupt you two shopping,” said Vegas. “I’m not much of a shopper,” he said. “I get grumpy too easily.
What a blatant lie.
Pete snickered, but then he nodded and then he placed his hand on top of Vegas’ shoulder, who was studying his face. There was that smug grin on Pete’s face that almost told Vegas that Pete knew what was happening, but Vegas refused to admit it himself.
“You’re the best boyfriend, do you know that?” asked Pete, who was still playing along and Vegas nodded.
“I know.”
“So selfless,” said Pete and Vegas narrowed his eyes. Pete knew that he was pushing it, so he quickly back-paddled and then he sighed. “Alright, then,” said Pete and glanced towards the mall and then he looked at Vegas again. “I’ll try to be as quick as possible. I don’t want to make you wait too long,” said Pete and Vegas smiled.
“You can take as much time as you need,” said Vegas quickly and Pete smiled.
“Alright,” said Pete and pressed a little kiss against Vegas’ cheek before he pulled back and headed over to the mall. Vegas smiled as he crossed the road, waving to Pete, before he watched Pete slowly go inside of the mall and then he sighed as his eyes glanced over to the playground.
Vegas didn’t even know why he wanted to go to the playground again. Maybe it was because his childhood was shit and now he was making up for the lost time. Or perhaps he liked knowing that the kids didn’t judge him based solely on his appearance. Or perhaps he liked being the mafia boss of them all, but… it just made him feel carefree and that was something that he couldn’t really experience on a daily basis.
When Vegas thought that Pete wasn’t watching anymore, he slowly approached the playground. What he didn’t know was that Pete was already sitting in the cafe that was in the mall, out on the terrace and he could see him slowly approaching the playground.
Hesitantly, Vegas slowly made it over there and Pete laughed, pulling out his phone as he wanted to check up if Porsche was anywhere near. He needed company while he was going to be spying on his boyfriend.
Vegas leaned against the fence and waited there for a little while. It didn’t take long for the kids to notice him and the boy from the last time, Nat, pointed over to the fence and literally screamed on top of his lungs.
“Our boss is back!”
Vegas smiled as he lifted his hand, waving over to the children, who quickly ran over to the fence. There were more children this time around, who weren’t there when Vegas was there the last time, but they’ve all heard about the myth, the legend himself - The New Boss of their mafia clan!
“You’ve brought Kinn with you?” asked Pete when Porsche sat down next to him and Porsche grinned.
“Mn,” said Porsche and then he shrugged. “Thought it might add to the fun,” he said and winked. Pete laughed and shook his head as he watched Kinn on the other side of the road, who was now sitting on the bench in front of the playground, but he didn’t really care too much about the children playing.
Pete narrowed his eyes - wait, where were the children, anyway? Just before he could see them talking to Vegas, but now they weren’t there anymore.
“Where’s Vegas?” asked Pete and squinted his eyes.
Porsche glanced over to the other side of the road and at first he couldn’t see Vegas, but after a few seconds his eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he saw Vegas kneeling behind the bushes, the kids there with him. Porsche nudged Pete’s shoulder and he pointed over to the side.
“Look, there,” said Porsche and Pete snorted when he saw Vegas. “What are they doing?’’
“Waiting in a set up for Kinn,” said Pete, probably guessing right.
There was no way that Vegas would pass on such an opportunity and Porsche laughed, sighing underneath his breath. Kinn was sitting there, completely peacefully and he pulled out his phone. Porsche knew that the peace wasn’t going to last long as he could tell that Vegas was talking to the children, pointing over to Kinn.
“Ah, they have a plan,” said Porsche and Pete nodded.
“Mn,” said Pete and couldn’t fight back the smile. It was almost ridiculous how happy Vegas looked over there. But, at the same time, it warmed Pete’s heart up. To see that Vegas was so good with children. It didn’t really come as a surprise. He was an older brother, he had to be there for Macau through thick and thin - no matter what, he was there.
Now he was just making up for the lost years of his own childhood. It made Pete happy that Vegas managed to look so carefree and happy, even if it was only temporarily.
Kinn puffed his cheeks as he leaned back against the bench and he pressed his lips together. He didn’t know why Porsche insisted that he would come down to the mall, but he decided to tag along. Porsche said that he was going to be very quick, so Kinn decided to be a good boyfriend and wait for Porsche outside of the mall - he didn’t really feel like going inside. So, there he was.
He didn’t really mind the waiting. He was there alone, enjoying the silence… unlike the last time. The playground was empty, which was a plus in Kinn’s opinion. He didn’t want the kids to call him a butler again. No, no.
It was a nice, sunny day. Kinn still hoped that Porsche would be done with his shopping soon. Perhaps he could take him out on a date; he was pretty free that day.
However, after a few more moments passed, Kinn felt something. Kinn’s been doing this for far too long to not know when he was being watched and he tensed when he could sense that there was someone creeping up from within him and he cursed under his breath. He didn’t really think that he would need a bodyguard with him in the middle of the day.
It was just a quick trip to the mall!
Kinn’s hand twitched, reaching inside the jacket and he relaxed when he felt up his gun, but he didn’t pull it out quite yet. He gritted his teeth and he glanced around, narrowing his eyes. There was someone in the bushes. He could see and hear whisperings coming from behind it, but he didn’t want to make it too obvious.
Kinn was holding his breath and he glanced against the playground again.
Good, it was empty. He didn’t want to leave a kid traumatised if something went down.
So, he sat there and waited for a few more moments, his hand now gripping around his gun, keeping his eyes on the bushes, but he was caught off guard when someone jumped from behind him from the opposite side and he yelled out on top of his lungs, standing up quickly. Before he was able to pull out his gun, his eyes widened when he saw Vegas standing there.
“Vegas?”
“Got you where I needed you, Kinn, ” said Vegas with a grin and Kinn arched his brow, but his eyes widened when he saw Vegas holding a gun, pointed at him, the hand on the trigger and Kinn froze in place.
Vegas?
Why was he-
Kinn quickly gripped on his gun, but it was already too late. Kinn was about to yell when he saw Vegas pulling on a trigger, ready to feel pain, but…
… all that that did was get his shirt wet.
Huh?!
The sheer confusion on Kinn’s face made Vegas laugh out loud and the other one blinked a few times, quickly removing his hand away from his real gun and he glanced at Vegas. Water gun? Kinn then heard children cheering, all jumping from behind the bushes and Kinn quite quickly realised what was happening and he gritted his teeth.
Vegas was behind this?
Kinn almost attacked Vegas for real!
“Yay, the boss got him!” said Nok happily.
“Yes, the evil has been defeated!” cheered Nat happily and then he glared up at Kinn, who was looking down at him with confusion. “Why are you still standing? Boss shot you, you should be on the floor.”
“Yeah, you’re not very good at being dead,” said the other Nok.
“The boss didn’t miss!”
Vegas was laughing along and he tipped his chin up proudly and Kinn glared at him, then he looked at the kids. He had no idea why in the world why Vegas was there again, but Kinn wasn’t amused and he gritted his teeth. Vegas cocked his head to the side.
“Right, I didn’t miss,” said Vegas proudly and Kinn huffed. Did he really expect that he would play along with the whole thing? “Don’t be such a hard ass, Kinn,” said Vegas and rolled his eyes since Kinn was taking all of this far too seriously.
Kinn looked around and then he pressed his lips together.
Porsche wasn’t there, right? It was just them… Kinn knew for a fact that Vegas wasn’t ever going to mention any of this in front of other people. They were the heads of the main and minor family, so it was expected for them to maintain the reputation.
But, when Kinn glanced at the kids, who were sighing out in frustration and disappointment, he kind of…
Kinn sat back onto the bench and then ‘collapsed’.
“There… dead, happy?” asked Kinn and glanced at Nat, who nodded.
“Better!” said the boy and looked at Vegas. “What should we do with this one, boss?” asked the boy and Vegas laughed as he glanced at Kinn, whose lips curled up in a little smile.
“Oh!” said a boy in awe when he was observing Kinn making a knot. “It’s really strong,” he said as he was pulling on the strings, trying to break it apart, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Mn, the strongest one out there,” said Kinn. “When you tie someone-” he started, but then he realised that he was still in the company of the kids and Vegas started laughing. “When you tie something, ” he quickly changed his sentence and the kids nodded. “Together like so, it won’t come apart,” he said and Vegas was shaking his head, sighing.
Honestly, he didn’t know how much time had passed, but Pete was still at the mall and he glanced at Kinn.
“Boss, he’s useful,” said Nat and Vegas laughed.
“Mn. Good thing I let him live,” said Vegas and Nat nodded quickly.
“Yes, he could work for us,” said another boy and Kinn glanced at Vegas. Ah, so the kids finally decided that he could be trusted now that he taught them a few harmless tricks?
“He could be,” said Vegas. “Good job, cousin dear, you’ve been promoted from your job as my butler.”
“Yay,” deadpanned Kinn when Vegas plopped down next to him and he sighed. “Porsche still isn’t done shopping?” he asked and pulled his phone out, sending a text to Porsche, who quickly texted him back, saying that he still needed some time and Kinn sighed.
“What’s the hurry?” asked Vegas and shrugged.
Kinn rolled his eyes and then he huffed, tucking his phone away.
“I think they’ve put us up for this,” said Kinn and Vegas arched his brow. “Using the mall as an excuse. Porsche was acting kinda off. I think they just want us to get along and spend more time together,” said Kinn and Vegas dryly laughed.
“Well, it’s not that bad, is it?”
“Eh, so-so.”
“Watch it,” said Nat and Kinn glanced at him. “You can go back to being a butler.”
“Oh, do forgive me,” said Kinn, completely unimpressed and all that Vegas could do was laugh.
“How long will we let them run around like toddlers, Pete?” asked Porsche, who was watching their boyfriends and he shook his head. “It’s been an hour already.”
“Let them be for a bit longer,” said Pete and laughed as he watched them. “So much for hating each other,” said Pete, shaking his head. Kinn and Vegas got along quite well from the looks of it.
“I know, right?” asked Porsche, rolling his eyes.
“Mn. Both too stubborn.”
“True,” said Porsche and grinned as he glanced over to Kinn, who looked quite content with himself. Who knew that Kinn would be so good with children? It kind of made Porsche feel… all fuzzy and giddy on the inside to see that Kinn was father material as well.
Pete was at the same place with his thoughts. If he and Vegas happened to adopt one day or something… it wasn’t a bad thought for somewhere in the future at all. Not bad at all.
Eventually, Pete did send Vegas a text, saying,
‘When you and Kinn are done playing, come join Porsche and I. We’re at the cafe, over at the mall~’
Which immediately made Vegas look up, over to the mall and somewhere in the distance he saw Pete and Porsche, grinning, laughing and waving at them. Vegas rolled his eyes and he huffed under his breath.
Pete knew… Well, of course he knew.
Still, Vegas didn’t mind.