Work Text:
Puen sighs, trying to shake back the feeling into his arm. It's not often he ends up injured during filming, but he’s not too surprised it’s happened today - filming a heroic rescue scene is understandably more dangerous than filming conversations. Still, he’s not hurt too bad, and Puen’s kind of glad for it because they let him go early which means he can go see Talay.
Who isn’t Talay. But might be.
Is.
Pins and needles run down Puen's arm, and he shakes his head, trying to physically clear out the thoughts ringing in his ears. It’s - fine. He knocks on the door with his left hand and waits.
Seconds pass.
There's an ant on the step, he notices. Maybe it's going to see its boyfriend too.
Not his boyfriend. But his boyfriend. Schrodinger's boyfriend.
Tick. Tick.
There’s rustling on the other side of the door, and Puen’s breath catches. If it’s Talay, he swears to himself, he won’t complain about anything anymore.
Tick. Tick.
If it’s his Talay, he’ll - he doesn’t know. But he’ll do something.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The ant crosses the brick.
The longer it takes for the door to open, the worse the feeling in his throat is. Puen doesn’t want to hope, he doesn’t want the disappointment to crush him whole, but - he can’t stand here and breathe without it.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Ti-
Movement catches his attention. The door swings open, finally, to a face that is so unfamiliar and yet one Puen can see with his eyes closed, and it’s like a crescendo building in his chest.
“Are you in there?" Puen asks, helpless and aching and desperate and a bit nonsensical. He can’t - he doesn’t want to ask, doesn’t want to hear the answer - he has to know, he has to know if it’s his Talay or if it’s -
Talay sighs. “You again?”
Ah.
It is at that moment Puen realizes there is no coming back from this.
His insides scrape with an absent-minded awareness and he is suddenly acutely aware of his aching arm and the ticking of the clock and the burn behind his eyes threatening to overflow.
He should have told Talay everything right from the start - maybe if he had promised to be better, maybe if he had been better, Talay would be here and he'd be Talay's portkey and they'd laugh and -
Swallowing, Puen forces a smile, watches Talay (not Talay)’s face carefully. “Nothing, I just missed Talay’s face.” It’s the truth, but only a part of it. Puen doesn’t think he’s strong enough to share the other parts - that he misses his Talay, the way his nose scrunches with laughter, the way he looks at Puen, the way he smiles, the way he looks when he's kissed, the - everything. He misses his Talay. “Can’t I?”
Tess stares at him, then sighs and opens the door the rest of the way.
The ant disappears into a crack.