Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“She’s dead!?” Tankhun shrieks.

“I’m sorry.”

“And she…I thought she was my friend.” Tankhun sounds a lot sadder now, things are starting to sink in.

“She was. She left you a letter that explains everything.”

“I can’t believe it. Why would she...” He trails of.

“The last time you met up with her, you had tea together. She had no idea it was all part of their plan to try to overthrow us, the tea had some very potent drugs in it.
She might have been part of the Paithoon family, but after you last saw her, they kept her as a mere prisoner.”

“I want them all wiped off the face of the earth!”

“Kinn left to go there about two hours ago. Kim and Vegas too.”

“They never include me in anything, so unfair!”

“In this case it’s because they know there’s something else for you to take care of.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her death was very unexpected, everything was going perfect right until the end. And because it caught them by surprise, they weren’t counting on us being there either.”

“At the risk of repeating myself, what do you mean?”

“Remember when you went to the hospital after the rubber duck incident?”

“You promised not to bring that up ever again!” Tankhun crosses his arms and pouts. “I still think they should have taken care of it here.”

“Anyway, back to what this is about, while we were there, Chay saw her and had his suspicions, told Kim and a simple test confirmed it.
Now that she’s dead, you’re all he has left. He’s yours. Khun, you have a son.”

“I’m..that’s…”

“Do you want to meet him?”

“I can’t! I’m not fit to be around a child! Everyone says I’m insane, how could you even think...”

“Come on, we all know that’s not true.”

“I..I can’t do it.”

“You need to think about this, he has no other family. He’ll go into the system if yo-”

“Where is he?”

“We set up a very basic nursery in between the guard rooms and the training room. We’ve all been watching him.”

Tankhun gets up, his coat swishing around him. “Am I wearing anything that could hurt him?”

“Take off the jewelry, everything else looks fine.”

“Take me to see my son!” Tankhun is walking to the door of his room already, tossing his jewelry everywhere on the way out.

Pol sprints after Tankhun, who comes to a sudden halt in front of the door to the temporary nursery.

“We should be very calm and quiet.”

“Of course Khun.”

Tankhun very slowly opens the door and they practically tip-toe into the room.

Arm is there, holding the baby in his arms, a bottle of milk warming up in the bottle-warmer standing on the commode next to the crib.

He looks up, smiles at them both and offers for Tankhun to sit and hold the baby.

“Are you sure I..can I do that, is that okay?”

“Of course.”

Arm gets up, Tankhun taking his place in the chair. The baby is gently placed in his arms.

Tankhun can't help but think about how he held Kim like this once.
Maybe Kinn too, but he doesn't have clear memories of that.
Kinn and Tankhun are much closer to each other in age than Kim after all.

The baby opens it’s eyes and blinks up at Tankhun.

Tankhun makes a soft cooing noise.

Pol and Arm are trying to hide it, but it’s obvious they think it’s a very cute sight.

“This simply won’t do.” Arm and Pol jump at how stern Tankhun suddenly sounds.
Tankhun goes right back to cooing at the baby, who seems not to mind the changes in tone all that much.

“W-what won’t do?” They fear the worst, Tankhun is absolutely not insane, but he is highly unpredictable.

“My son can’t stay in such a mediocre room. And what is his name? I can’t be expected to only call him son his entire life, can I?”

“Of course, we’ll set up a better nursery in any room you want. And he doesn’t have a name yet. His mother-”

“Woon. Her name is Woon.”

“Sorry, Woon only referred to him in her letter as her little droplet.”

“Woon means cloud, that’s probably why...Rain! His name will be Rain. Rain Theerapanyakul.”

Tankhun gets up, carefully holding Rain. “By the way, I realized my family would take him in anyway when we were halfway to this room. You tried to trick me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“As for your punishment...you can’t go shopping for the nursery and you’re on diaper-duty.” looking at Arm, then at Pol. He would have pointed, but his arms are full.

“What did I do?” Arm protests.

“You two always work together against me.” Tankhun then talks to Rain. “They’re so mean to your papa, can you believe that?”
He begins to walk out of the room with Rain in his arms. “I’m going to show you everything and introduce you to everyone. Yes, we’ll have fun, don’t worry!”

“Khun, it’s time for his bottle!” Arm calls after him. Tankhun is too focused on Rain to hear him. So after a quick temperature check, they go find to them in the hallway. Tankhun takes the bottle, grumbling about being interrupted, checks the temperature himself and then proceeds to feed Rain like he’s done it countless times before. He gently burps Rain, not at all bothered when a little spit-up gets on his clothes.

“Now where was I? Oh yeah, this portrait, that is your uncle, he’s very grumpy, but he’ll love you anyway, everyone will. And this..”
Tankhun walks further down the hallway, endlessly chattering to the precious little bundle in his arms.

Chapter Text

It’s already been a year since everyone helped him create this room for Rain and he still loves everything about it.
The walls are painted a soft blue, a pattern of clouds and stars spread out over them.
Tankhun decided on solid oak for all furniture. A commode, a closet, the crib and a comfortable rocking-chair right next to it. Toys are kept in a large toy-chest.
The wall between his own room and the nursery has an arch, making it very easy to go back and forth between the two rooms.
He looks at Rain, soundly sleeping in his crib and feels grateful that everyone loves him so much.

Tankhun is currently sitting in the rocking chair for just a little longer after Rain had finally fallen asleep, reading a book about koi-fish he had laying around.
He hasn’t had any fish for years now, since the tragic deaths of Elizabeth and Sebastian the whole thing had lost it’s magic. Reading about it is still enjoyable though. His peaceful reading-time is suddenly interrupted when Ken comes into the room. He has no business being there, Tankhun only allows certain people to take care of Rain and Ken is not one of them, he doesn’t really know him all that well.

“What are you doing here?”

Ken looks startled. “Khun Tankhun! I didn’t see you there…”

“Keep your volume down, Rain is sleeping. And answer the question.”

“I came to check on him.”

Tankhun can’t believe this nonsense. He reaches for his phone, but while he does, Ken tries to get around him.
So Tankhun gets up, grabbing his gun instead and puts the cold steel against the back of Ken’s head. “Get away from my son.”

“I don’t think so. If you kill me, they’ll have a reason to take away your precious little boy. No sane person would believe you or allow you to be around him anymore.”

Thankhun lowers his gun.

“Much better. Now, I can already imagine it, everyone will be talking about what happened, how the dramatic nutcase of the family seemed to be doing so well, when suddenly he snapped and killed his kid, probably because of some bullshit reason, like he wouldn’t stop crying a-”
Ken lets out a gasp, he looks down at the knife sticking into his lower abdomen. He’s then quickly pushed backwards into Tankhuns own room. He trips and lands in a heap on the floor.

“You really thought I’d put my own life before my son’s safety.”

“Your father was right about you.” Ken laughs, a bit of bloody spittle leaking from the corner of his mouth. “You’re weak!”

"The only reason I didn't shoot you is that I care about my kid. He doesn't need to see that."

Right at that moment, Vegas, who must have heard all the noise, comes running into the room.

“Ah, Vegas. Don’t worry, nothing happened to Rain.”

“Do you want me to take care of this?”

“Yes please, I want to get back to Rain.”

Vegas hauls Ken out of the room without another word.

Tankhun hurries back into the nursery. Rain is awake now, but he’s not upset. So he probably slept right through the whole thing.
There doesn’t seem to be blood anywhere in the nursery. There might be a little in his own room, it should be very minimal though, he never bothered to pull the knife back out after all. He needs to ask someone to check and clean up if there’s any, while he keeps Rain distracted, so he won’t see that either. He sends a quick message to Pol and Arm.

“Papa.”

“I’m here sweetheart. Do you want to hear a story?”

“Yes, cat.”

“Again?” It’s Rain’s favorite by far.

“Papa…” Rains lip starts to tremble.

“Alright.” Tankhun grabs the book from the bookshelf on the wall.

“Hurry, hurry! Help me catch that cat.”

“Sock!” Rain points at one of the pictures in the book.

“Very good.” Tankhun smiles at Rain. “She stole my sock and ran off..snatch her, grab her. Catch that cat!”

He’ll talk to Vegas later, right now there’s a sock-stealing cat to read about.

~~~~~~~~~~

“So what you’re saying is, He tried to do that because of misplaced loyalty to some distant member of that family?”

“It was still all part of their ‘master-plan’, trying to trigger some psychotic break in you or something. Or outright kill both Rain and you, if necessary.”

“What a waste of time. I’m not even the head of the family.”

“They probably hoped you would snap and kill everyone or that the family would fall apart if both of you died.
I don’t know, the whole thing sounds more ridiculous every time I think about it.
Especially since you started going to therapy basically the moment after you saw Rain for the first time. ”

“I need it, I mean, I was doing it for Rain, but now I’m doing it for myself too.”

“You’re doing great. With Rain and taking care of yourself.”

“Thank you. You know, I really feel like a little fashion-show would cheer everyone up, what do you think?”

“Don’t make me take back what I just said.” Kinn groans. “What did you buy this time?”

“I might have bought Rain and I a couple of matching outfits...again.”

“Let’s at least wait until Vegas is finished downstairs.”

There's no way Kinn will suffer through this alone. He can already tell that it’s not going to be just a couple of outfits.
The last so called ‘little fashion-show’ lasted at least two hours.
If Rain didn’t always look adorable in every single outfit, he wouldn’t stick around for a second of it.

“He sure is taking his time.”

“That’s what Ken gets for messing with everyone’s favorite family member.”

“True.”

Chapter Text

Tankhun thinks it’s shame that they had to have the party here. Rain goes to a school with a lot of rich kids, so at least body guards are a normal and expected sight there, but no other mafia-families they're friendly with have kids going there. So now they’re celebrating Rain’s birthday at one of the villa’s the family owns instead of at the compound. And Rain could only wear the little crown Tankhun had custom-made for him because well, most of the kids are constantly showing off insanely expensive things anyway.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Rain, happy birthday to you!”

Rain unwraps his presents, and after every single one has been adequately oohed and aahed over, a PangPond themed birthday-cake with five candles is put on the table in front of Rain. Tankhun told Rain to make a wish when he blows out the candles. Everyone cheers when he blows out all the candles at once and Rain closes his eyes. “I wish-”

“You’re not supposed to say it out loud!” One of the kids yells.

Rain looks a little mad someone interrupted his wish, but he doesn’t say anything. He closes his eyes again, a concentrated expression on his face. After half a minute or so he opens his eyes.

“Did you make your wish?”

“Yes papa.”

“Good.”

The cake is cut, Rain squeals happily when he sees the swirls of color on the inside. After everyone has had way too much cake and lemonade, and the party games have ended, the little visitors are picked up by their parents.

“Did you have fun, my little prince?”

“YES!” Rain looks at the presents laying on the table. “Can I go play?”

“Sure.”

Kim comes up to Tankhun, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I can’t believe he’s five already.”

“Me neither.”

“Do you know what he wished for?”

“I bet it’s the same thing he’s been asking for ever since he started school.”

“He’ll probably throw a tantrum about it later.”

“He’s such a sweet boy, but he really doesn’t want to accept that he’s not getting a sibling. He gets jealous of his classmates that do have them, but I’ve explained why it’s not going to happen multiple times already.”

“Stubborn like his pa.”

“He has to learn that he can’t get everything that he wants.”

“That’s what you said about the cat too.”

“I couldn’t help it. Baibua looks exactly like the cat from that book he used to love. A child is something else entirely...Honestly I thought the Theerapanyakul family was going to cease to exist with all of us having little to no interest in kids, until Rain came into our lives.”

“True.”

“I hate disappointing him, but some things will just never happen.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of months later, they get caught up in a war between two rival families that has moved into their territory and uncover a small trafficking ring in the middle of the whole mess. After everything is finally over, with the two rival families appropriately dealt with, Rain has grown close to one of the kids that have been living in the compound temporarily. He’s the only one from the small group of children that hasn’t been picked up by family or adopted yet. Tankhun is sure he has heard him talking to Rain a couple of times, but besides that the boy doesn’t speak. At all. When Rain begs his papa to let Sky stay with them, Tankhun finds himself having trouble saying no. It’s not like they don’t have the money or space for one more person. But then again, there’s a couple that wants to adopt the boy, so..

“We can’t keep any kid that-”

“Only Sky!”

“We already found people who expressed interest in adopting him and-”

Sky starts crying, it’s the first real emotion he’s shown around anyone else than Rain. Rain clings to Sky, crying just as hard.

Tankhun really can’t separate them, can he. He sighs. “Fine. But that’s it, no other siblings, ever.”

“Thank you papa!” Rain hugs Tankhun and gives him a couple of pecks on the cheeks too. Sky stands back, silently observing the whole thing. When Tankhun suggests that he could move his room elsewhere, so Rain and Sky can have adjoining rooms, Sky very quietly and quickly says “Thank you sir.”

And so it happens.

Rain and Sky are inseparable. Tankhun gets ribbed endlessly for giving in to his son once again, but everyone quickly grows to love Sky as much as they love Rain.

As time goes by, Sky, although still a quiet kid in general, starts talking to people besides Rain more often. He now sometimes calls Tankhun dad and he lets Tankhun tuck him in at night, like he does for Rain. No forehead kisses though.

Tankhun wonders how he got lucky enough to now have two wonderful sons.

Chapter Text

“Boys, you know fighting is not allowed in school. Haven’t your parents taught you to obey the rules?”

“Papa said we should always stand up for other people!”

“First you get into a fight and now this? I’m sure your mom and dad-”

“Excuse me ma’am, w-.”

“Sky, I certainty didn’t expect back-talk from you.”

“Bu-”

“Let’s wait and see what your parents will have to say about this.”

The teacher sighs in annoyance, she really doesn’t feel like dealing with a couple of brats who feel like they can get away with anything, or their parents.

When the door swings open, she certainly hadn’t expected this. A man, wearing a shirt that says ‘bestestest dad in the world’ in sparkly blue letters, with a pink faux fur coat over it, leopard print pants, cowboy-boots, sunglasses shapes liked fish and a huge green sunhat comes rushing in and crouches down in front of the boys. After him, two men dressed in black suits also enter the room and calmly sit down in the chairs in front of the teachers desk.

“My babies, what happened?”

“Dad, she won’t listen to anything we say.”

“Papa, teacher wouldn’t let us explain!”

“I was simply stating that fighting is not allowed in school. And your boys started getting mouthy with me.” She huffs.

“So, they got into a fight?” One of the suited men inquires.

“Indeed.”

“With each other?” The other suited man sounds surprised at the idea.

“No, with another classmate.”

“Alright, so where is that classmate?” The extravagantly dressed man stands up and turns his attention to the teacher.

“There was no reason to keep him here.”

Rain and Sky start protesting at the same time, but with one look from their dad, they quiet down again. “Why did you fight with your classmate, my darlings?”

“Aadhav started pushing Ple around and slapped her when she didn’t want to give him a kiss. And you told us that we should stand up for other people, so we did. And then he punched Sky! So I punched him.”

“And then he punched Rain, so I-”

“Alright, I’ve heard enough. So, that kid can try and force people into giving him a kiss and punch our kids, but he’s not being punished?”

“Aadhav comes from an excellent family and-” The teacher nearly shits her pants when all three of the men turn to her, anger obviously radiating from all of them.

“Are you implying the Theerapanyakul family is anything but excellent?”

“T-the boys acted very aggressively and clearly lack ma-”

The suited men get up, and in a clear effort to calm the dad down, both put a hand on his shoulders.

“We’re taking our sons home now. We expect to never hear about anything concerning this matter again.”

“Well, it’s obvious where they get their attitudes from, I bet if their mother was here-”

Rain starts crying and Sky immediately puts his arms around him while giving the teacher a death-glare.

“Our boys sadly don’t have mothers anymore. But they do have the three of us.”

“Three!?” She splutters.

“Yes.” The suited men reveal their shirts, so the teacher can see sparkly letters matching the ones on the other shirt. “Come on boys.”

Rain and Sky walk out of the office with their arms around each other’s shoulders, followed by their fathers. They get in the car and while driving back to the compound, Sky asks:

“Why do all of you still have those shirts? We made those when we were like..seven or something.”

“Because they’re so sweet and this was the perfect occasion to wear them.”

“And your teacher nearly lost her mind when she saw that all three of us have one.” Pol chuckles.

Sky rolls his eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at your dads kiddo.”

Rain laughs. “I’m surprised those shirts survived for five years to be honest. But we did work hard on them so I’m happy they did.”

Sky rolls his eyes again.

“No eye rolling at your brother either.”

“Whatever.”

“Love you too my darling son.”

“Ugh, dad, come on.”

“Aren’t you a little young to already be embarrassed by your dear old dad?”

“Rain and I are twelve! That’s not young.”

“Sure.”

“Papa, can we have pizza for dinner?” Rain is hungry and doesn’t care about the shirts anymore.

“Ask your dad, he’s cooking today.”

“I’m not cooking, are you cooking?” Arm looks at Pol.

“Nope.”

“Fine, pizza it is.”

After cheers for pizza from both boys, everything is quiet for a little while again.

“OH!”

“Rain, what the..you scared me.”

“Sorry, I was just thinking, we didn’t get punished by the teacher and neither did Aadhav, but..Ple is for sure going to tell her brother.”

Rain and Sky now both look really happy.

“What’s with the big smiles boys?”

“Ple’s brother is fifteen, very tall and really protective of his sister.”

“Oh dear...well, as long as you boys don’t get involved..not my business.”

They arrive at the compound and Rain and Sky go to their rooms to work on their homework a little before dinner. Tankhun spends this time simultaneously looking into their boys’ teacher and different schools.

“You know they’d be sad if they have to change schools, right? Only one more year to go until they go to a different school too…”

“It’s not for our boys, I’m looking at the worst school to transfer that horrible woman to.”

Arm and Pol shake their heads, Tankhun always manages to find new creative ways to deal with his anger. But it could be worse. So much worse.

Chapter Text

Sky stomps into his room, glaring daggers at Rain who’s there waiting for him. “You ratted me out!” He manhandles Rain into his own room and Rain tries to argue, defend what he did, but Sky doesn’t want to hear it. He slams the door between their rooms shut and locks it. Then does the same for the other door that leads to the hallway.

He flops down on his bed and screams into his pillow. Things had been great, a group of guys from school invited him to go to a bar with them. Sky had been so happy, he didn’t know his seniors that well, but he was eager to make friends, so of course he said yes. Then right at the moment that Sky was having a pretty decent time, and a guy even started hitting on him, Tankhun had come in to ruin it all. And it was very obvious that Rain blabbed, he must have overheard the invite. It’s not fair! Everyone loves Rain so much, everybody wants to be around him, there’s always an abundance of people fighting to gain his attention, but the second Sky got a little taste of what that’s like, Rain had to mess it up for him.

There’s a knock on the door. “Sky, can I come in?”

“GO AWAY!”

“Sky, I’m worried, please open the door?”

“LEAVE!”

“Come on, don’t make me say it.”

“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!”

“I'm respecting your privacy by knocking but asserting my authority as your parent by coming in anyway.”

“YOU DON”T EVEN HAVE A BATTERING RAM!!”

The next moment Tankhun is already halfway through Sky’s door, proving that he does in fact have one.

“What the f-” Sky is not sure whether he should laugh or cry.

“Watch your language.” Tankhun steps through the destroyed door and sets the battering ram down on the ground.

“Fine, but I don’t want to talk to you.”

“I’ll talk then. Sky, sweetheart, you can’t go to bars like that, I get that it probably felt really exciting and cool to go there, but..it’s dangerous, I don’t want my kid to be in danger.”

“Rain’s fine, nothing to worry about.” Sky is angrily wiping away tears now.

“You’re both my kids. Rain is not more or less important than you are.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“It’s not.”

“It is! I know what everyone is saying, always talking about how Rain is so amazing and wonderful and sweet and that the only thing I’m better at than Rain is school-stuff...and even that’s only because Rain has something wrong with his brain.”

“Do you really think that’s true?”

“About Rain? Of course not. It wasn’t me who said that.”

“About you.”

“Nobody ever wants to be friends with me, Rain is the only friend I have. And he’s my brother, he doesn’t really have a choice.”

“Sky, do you remember when you first came to the compound?”

“Not really.” Sky’s memories of that time are vague at best, he remembers meeting Rain when they were both around five years old, but not much else about how that happened.

“Two waring families got into our territory and while working to get that situation under control, we dissolved a trafficking ring. A small group of kids came to live at the compound temporarily and you were one of those children. By the time all the other kids had been picked up by family-members or adopted, you and Rain had become best friends already. Rain was asking me for you to stay with us. And then you both started crying when I mentioned people had shown interest in adopting you. The two of you didn’t want to be separated, you clearly chose each other. And I was and always will be, so happy to have another son.” Tankhun pulls Sky in for a hug.

“I’m happy that I have you, Rain and the rest of the family too.” Sky sniffles. “I’m sorry for yelling papa.”

“I’m sorry for destroying your door.” Tankhun sighs. “I can’t say I’m sorry for coming to get you out of that bar, but I do want you to know that if you want to hang out with anyone, I won’t intervene, ever, unless I have a good reason. Or at least think I do. It’s about keeping you safe.”

“I know, I’m sorry for doing that.”

“If you promise to never do it again, it’s fine.”

“I promise. I should probably go make up with Rain.”

“Before you do, there’s one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“The guy who was flirting with you at the bar, I don’t want you to have any contact with him ever again.”

“Why?”

“He’s an adult Sky. Honestly, he’s lucky I was focused on getting you out of there.”

“But I was at the bar, he must have thought I’m at least eighteen. He was pretty nice…”

“Sky, you were wearing your school-uniform the entire time.”

“Maybe he doesn’t know the school?”

“I don’t want endless arguments about this, he clearly knew a couple of the seniors who invited you to that bar and because of that I strongly believe he knows what the different uniform-styles and colors mean. Also, Arm told me he saw him lurking around for a while, close to the compound almost right after we came back.”

“I’ll avoid him like the plague. How does he even know where I live, that’s creepy.”

“Alright, thank you, go make up with Rain.” After another hug, Tankhun says something about going for a stroll before heading to the elevators and Sky goes to open the door between the rooms again.

Rain immediately jumps of his bed and runs into Sky’s arms. Sky gives him a bear hug. “I’m sorry Rain, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. Thank you for making sure dad would come get me.”

“Of course.”

“You’re my favorite brother.”

“I’m your only brother.” Rain pouts.

“And my best friend.”

“You’re mine.”

“Sooo...do you want to play Mario-kart?” Sky has had enough of this emotional stuff.

“Yes. This time I’m definitely going to beat you!”

“No way.”

“Just watch me!”

And Sky does watch, as Rain predictably loses three times in a row. The fourth time he totally lets him win.

Chapter Text

“Can we go back home?”

“We’re almost there already and you’ve been excited to go since dad told us about it months ago, what changed?”

“What if nobody likes me?”

“That’s impossible.”

“What if someone sweeps you of your feet and you decide to get married and move far away?”

“Are you serious right now? You know very well I have no interest in meeting anyone. And dad promised that this whole ‘strengthening the bond between families’ is nothing like it used to be. Even if it was, he doesn’t want his ‘little babies’ marrying for traditions sake or to gain favor with another family, he wants us to marry for love, if we ever want to get married at all that is. It’s not like anyone else in the family followed tradition either. Also, you’re far more likely to do something like that, fall in love with the first guy you see and decide that he’s the one and only.”

“Hm.”

“You know I’m right.”

“Whatever.”

“And I need my baby-bro by my side, why would I want to move far away?”

“We’re only two months apart in age.” Rain does look pleased though.

“We’re here.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Sky and Rain get out of the car, walking up to the resort where everyone will be staying for an entire week. A total of five families including their own will be there. After checking in at the front desk Rain and Sky go to their rooms to put away their suitcases. Tankhun had sent a message that everyone is already outside on the beach, so they’re not surprised the place is nearly empty, a few employees walking around here and there.

“Do you want to change your outfit or are we going outside right away?”

“I’ll change it, I don’t know how it happened but this shirt has a torn seam.”

“Okay, hurry, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The second Sky steps into the room something feels off. And that feeling gets worse when he hears the door between his and Rain’s adjoining rooms getting locked. He tries to shrug it off as Rain suddenly caring about privacy, he’ll ask what that was ab-

“I didn’t expect to ever see you again, my little bar-cutie.”

Sky spins around, only to see bar-buy standing there, locking the door, then stalking over to Sky.

“Imagine my surprise when my cousins talked about all the families coming to this little get-together, I just knew I had to come along, I really didn’t want to miss this chance to...reconnect with you.”

“We only met once, two years ago, I don’t even know your name.” Sky tries to stay calm, thinking about what would be best to do.

“And isn’t that a shame, I still can’t believe your father was so rude to take you away from me before I could even properly introduce myself..” He cups Sky’s cheek. “But no-one will interrupt us now. My name is Gun, baby, you better remember that, you’ll be screaming it in no time.”

“My brother is here.”

“Oh Sky, my cousins are entertaining him right now, I thought of everything, don’t you worry.”

Right on cue, there’s a scream from the other room. And with this distraction, Sky doesn’t hesitate any longer, no more thinking. The knife Sky pulls out of his boot makes Gun gasp in surprise as it cuts into him for the first time. Another gasp when Sky lunges at him. The gasps are quickly replaced by pleading, then gurgling noises and finally, silence.

“Thought of everything, yeah right.” He hadn’t even bothered to check if Sky had any weapons.
Sky figures Gun must be a really distant cousin to be this unprepared for dealing with a mafia-kid.

Sky gets up, off of the body and the floor, distantly aware that he needs to get to Rain, he feels a little strange, sort of like he’s not really here. After kicking Gun in the dick a couple of times to make absolutely sure he’s dead, he walks to the door between the rooms. Luckily the lock is pretty flimsy.

Rain is on the bed, there’s blood all over him and there are tears running down his face. Two bodies on the floor. Sky decides to give them the same treatment as Gun. One of them screams. A few quick moves of the knife solve that problem. Sky then drags himself over to the bed and wraps himself around Rain. “It’s okay, we’re okay. They can’t hurt us anymore.” He’s not sure if it’s Rain or him saying the words. Maybe both.

Minutes or hours later, Rain and Sky can’t be sure, the door is kicked down and there’s their family, and what must be most of the other families, storming in.

Sky is still a little out of it, he’s not sure who to trust right now, so he sits up, knife in hand. Rain follows his example, holding his handgun.

“My babies, everything is okay, you can both put that down, it’s safe.”

The weapons end up clattering to the ground. Tankhun carefully approaches and when they allow it, pulls them into his arms. Arm and Pol join the embrace.

Just when they’ve calmed down a little, a woman starts wailing. She’s being held back by her husband, but she’s still trying to get to the bodies on the floor. Tankhun thinks she wasn’t there when they first came looking for Rain and Sky, she must have been searching for one or both of the young men now dead on the floor. “Who did this?! My sons!”

Tankhun looks at Kinn, hoping he’ll take charge and deal with this. Kinn gives him a nod and walks over, puts a hand on the woman’s arm and leads her and her husband out of the room. Tankhun, Arm and Pol stay with Rain and Sky on the bed for a long time, then when they start feeling sort of normal again, their dads start to gently urge them to talk about what happened.

“We killed people.”

“I know sweethearts, I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t feel real..”

“Unfortunately it’s very real.”

“Are we in trouble?”

“No, absolutely not. You were defending yourselves.”

By now, the bodies in Rain’s room are already gone. But Gun’s body is still laying on the floor of Sky’s room, they can all see it through the open door. Sky realizes there’s no-one coming for Gun, no wailing or screaming about what happened to him. Right then a couple of the guards walk in and quickly put the body in a bag. They carry it out of the room.

“I think I’m going to throw up.” It’s the only warning they get before Rain pukes all over himself and the bed. And then Sky throws up too, because he can see part of what Rain went through in that puddle of puke. It’s mostly blood, but there’s unmistakably part of a finger in there and some other chunks that look an awful lot like human flesh too.

“You’re both going to see a doctor right now.”

One extremely fast car-ride later, Rain having puked two more times, they’re in the hospital.

Normally the doctors that the family has at their disposal would have handled this, but the resort is more than an hour away from home and Rain’s stomach might have to be pumped. Rain and Sky refuse to let go of each other, Tankhun finds himself painfully reminded of how the boys did the same when they were five years old, the idea of being separated forever had them holding on for dear life.

They both end up having to get sedated, it’s the only way to do the examinations without them panicking about not being as close as possible to each other.

When he wakes up again, Rain calls for Sky.

“Sky, I can’t get up!”

Sky gets up from the chair next to Rain’s bed, removes the bandages used as a quick solution to tie Rain’s arms down when he kept pulling out his drip and gets in the bed next to Rain, mindful of his own broken fingers and Rain’s sore body.

“You kept pulling out your drip, so they had to do that.”

“Have you been awake for long already?”

“Maybe ten minutes.”

“It’s still like everything didn’t really happen.”

“Yeah…”

“How do you feel?”

“I’m feeling weird..and I have a couple of broken fingers. You?”

“My stomach hurts a little and same, feeling weird.”

They lay there for a while, nurses walking in and out, sometimes pausing to ask them a question about how they’re feeling or simply checking their charts.

“Sky?”

“What?”

“I don’t understand why anyone would do something like that.”

“It’s...did you see the guy in my room?”

“Not really, I only saw him from the back on the floor.”

“It was that guy from the bar two years ago.”

“What the..how even?”

“The guys in your room, they were the sons of one of the family’s heads. And the guy in my room was their cousin. He planned this whole thing when he heard about our family coming to the resort. He tagged along on their trip, that’s how he got inside, no-one would have batted an eye at another family member coming to an event all about families getting closer. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault that he planned to assault you! And those cousins were no better! They tried to do all kinds of things to me, so I kicked and bit them while trying to get my gun out.”

“Good job.”

“You too.” Rain yawns.

They curl up against each other and quickly fall asleep.

Chapter Text

The next couple of days at the hospital are fairly uneventful for Sky and Rain. They do get a visit on their last day there though, from the parents of the men that assaulted them, who they reluctantly allow to enter their hospital room, but there's no real comfort or forgiveness Rain and Sky can offer them. What happened can't be undone and neither they nor the parents were the ones in the wrong here. With guilt and grief palpable in their voices, the parents tell them that they understand, they don't blame anyone but their sons either. After they leave, Rain and Sky are exhausted, while there were no tears shed, it had been emotionally draining nonetheless.

Much later, back home, when they’ve had about a month and a half to process everything that happened, their dads tell them they received messages from the two sons of one of the families that had been at the resort, asking for permission to court Rain and Sky.

“They saw us at the resort?”

“The one and only time anyone from the other families saw us, we were covered in blood, what the hell.”

“Can you tell us about them? Are there pictures?”

Sky groans, of course Rain is curious, he’s always been more interested in having a relationship.

Arm hands over a folder with everything they have gathered about the two.

“Sky, come look.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Come on, please?” Rain’s lip quivers and he makes puppy dog eyes at Sky.

“Ugh, you’re horrible. Show me.”

“Thank you.”

They talk about how both men sound pretty normal as they read the information about the two, then when they flip the page, they see the pictures and both go quiet. Sky looks at Rain and Rain looks at Sky. It’s clear that they’re having similar thoughts right now. What if they're both interested in the same man? While they would both be willing to step aside for the other, at the same time they definitely don’t want to break the other’s heart, so they would have to the reject the courtship completely if that’s the case.

“Which one is interested in courting Sky and which one wants to court me?”

When Pol tells them who’s who, and who each of them wants to court, Sky and Rain both breathe a sigh of relief.

“I would love to be courted by Phayu.” Rain looks really excited. He snatched Phayu’s picture out of the folder already too.

“I’d like to get to know Prapai.” Sky is a little reluctant still, it’s pretty weird to receive requests like these from men that have only seen Rain and him once, in a horrible situation no less.

“How about we arrange for a double date?”

“That’s fine with me.”

“Me too! Oh, Sky, we should go shopping, I definitely need an amazing outfit for the date!”

“I doubt either of them really cares much about looks, do I need to remind you again that they saw us once, while we were covered in BLOOD?”

“A nice outfit still won’t hurt, it will be the real first impression they get of us after all, the other one doesn’t count if you ask me.”

“Alright, but we’re going to other stores too, I’m not spending the entire day waiting around while you try on clothes.”

“Of course! You’re the best!”

“Hm hm...oh yeah, can Big and Chan come as our guards for the date? There’s no way I want any parents around for that.”

Arm and Pol look part disappointed, part relieved.

“I didn’t even think of that, yeah, it would be better if Big and Chan come along as our guards.”

“We can be really normal and cool about things, you know?” Arm and Pol jokingly protest.

“Sorry pa, sorry pop, it would just be weird, right Rain?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, at least we still have each other now that our sons are all grown up.” Their dads make a little dramatic scene out of it, fake crying and all. Sky and Rain both roll their eyes at this.

“You guys are so silly.”

“Can I, as the parent with the most fashion-sense, at least come along to shop for the date-outfits?”

“No dad, if that happens there’s absolutely no way I’ll see anything else than clothes all day. We’ll go together or with our friends.”

Tankhun pouts.

Chapter Text

“Let’s go get ice-cream? I’m tired of looking at clothes.”

“Absolutely.”

When they finally picked out flavors and sit down at a table, Ple asks if there’s something special that Rain and Sky need these clothes for, as Rain dragged them through the entire mall to find the perfect outfits for Sky and himself.

“We’re going on a double date this Saturday.”

“A date?” Por sounds curious.

“Yeah.”

“That’s great, but are you guys sure this is a good time for that?” Sig actually looks a little concerned.

“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Ever since you two got beaten up, you’ve been closer than ever. There doesn’t seem to be much space for anyone else right now.”

This is the downside of not telling their friends that they’re part of a mafia-family. They couldn’t tell them what really happened so they made something up about a fight that resulted in Sky’s broken fingers and Rain’s stomach issues when they saw their friends for the first time after getting back from the resort. And it’s true, they’re closer than ever. But right now they just want to shop and hang out with their friends, not think about what actually happened.

“We hang out with you guys all the time though.”

“Right, forget I said anything, I’m sure you’re both really excited for it.”

Rain goes on a rant about Phayu and how handsome he looked in the picture, talking about everything he knows about him so far. Sky doesn’t really feel like talking about Prapai, he wants to keep it private until he’s sure that they’re actually a good match and want to continue seeing each other after that first date. Otherwise it’s pointless, he doesn’t want to talk about someone if that someone isn’t going to be around for long.

“What about you Ple, I mean, I can’t imagine you smiling at your phone has anything to do with Som coming to pick you up at whatever time he feels is best.”

Ple blushes. “He’s not coming to pick me up, I’m going on a date.”

“Oh my god, everyone is dating, Por, we’re the only singles now!”

“You mean you guys aren’t dating each other?” Rain looks at them with big innocent eyes, but he’s only able to keep it up for a few moments before he bursts into laughter. Sky and Ple both chuckle. Sig and Por look at Rain, look at each other, then they’re laughing too.

“We should make one of those pacts if we’re single at thirty to marry each other.”

“I think I’d rather stay single!”

“Hey!”

They’re all laughing and joking around, only interrupted when someone comes walking up to their table.

“Hey Ple.”

Ple looks up in surprise. “Oh! Phan, you’re early.”

“I hope you don’t mind?”

“No, of course not, guys, this is Phan. Phan, these are my friends Sky, Rain, Sig and Por.”

Rain looks at Sky, he’s sure Phan looks at least vaguely familiar, but he’s not sure where he knows her from. Sky brings a finger to his lips signaling not to say anything, looking at Rain and then at Phan. Phan gives them a small, barely noticeable nod.

“It’s so nice to meet all of you, Ple talks about her friends a lot.”

“Do you want to join us or are you leaving for the date right away?”

Ple looks at the time. “I think we’d better go, Phan’s a little early but that means we’ll have more time to pick out snacks before the movie.”

“What movie are you going to see?”

“Five nights at Freddy’s.”

“Scary!” Rain makes a face, Sky and Rain had gone to see it, but Rain really isn’t a fan of jump-scares at all.

“Don’t worry Rain, we'll protect each other.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

Sky rolls his eyes. Rain really is a little clueless at times.

Ple and Phan leave, holding hands.

“I think they met when Ple went to the beach like...three weeks ago or something? Right after she went to the beach with her family, she started constantly checking her phone, even in class, and smiling a lot more.”

Not completely clueless then at least.

“I’m leaving too, there’s a pan of my mom’s shrimp soup waiting for me.”

“Shrimp soup? Can I come?”

“Nah man, I’m not sharing that with someone who’s not even willing to make a pact with me.”

“I’ll marry you if it means I get to eat that soup.”

“That’s going to sound great in couples therapy, ‘Yeah, he married me for my mom’s soup’, go find your own food!”

“Bye guys.” Rain and Sky call after Sig and Por as they walk away, Por chasing after Sig still asking for the soup.

“Idiots.”

“Right.” Rain giggles. “Do you want to go to any other stores?”

“Nah, let’s go home.”

They’re in the car when Rain remembers where he’s seen Phan before. She was in a couple of pictures with Phayu and Prapai. “Phan is Prapai’s and Phayu’s sister, right?”

“Yeah. Looks like she’s also keeping quiet about being part of the mafia.”

“For good reason, I think, it might be dangerous to just tell whoever.”

“Yeah.”

When they’ve reached home and showed their outfits tot their dads to see what they think, Sky and Rain go up to their rooms to both do their own thing.

Not even ten minutes later Sky asks if Rain wants to watch a movie.

“What movie?”

“I was thinking we could watch Host.”

“That doesn’t sound like a fun movie. I've had enough of those after Five nights at Freddy’s. And don't try to tell me it's not scary like you did with Annabelle, I'll disown you if you traumatize me with a super-scary movie again.”

“Let’s watch Luca instead. That’s Disney.”

As they sit close together watching the movie, Sky thinks about what their friends said.
He really hopes it’s not going to be an issue.

Chapter Text

“There they are.” Phayu and Prapai wave at Rain and Sky so they can easily find their table, it’s pretty busy in the restaurant. Sky and Rain get there, they greet each other and Rain and Sky sit down across from Phayu and Prapai. A waiter comes and gives them menus.

“So, do you both like Korean food a lot?”

“It’s my favorite!”

“I do like it a lot, but I don’t really have a favorite. What about you guys?”

“It’s my favorite too.” Phayu smiles at Rain.

“I think Italian is my favorite, but Korean is a close second.”

They all chat while looking at the menu, order food and get right back to talking. It’s a good date already, they have a lot of things to talk about and when the food comes out it looks absolutely amazing, they’re all quick to start eating.

Prapai is trying to not overwhelm Sky, since he can clearly see that he’s a bit more reserved. He does feel very tempted to feed Sky a couple bites though, Rain looks more than happy that Phayu is doing that. He’s not trying to compare, it just looks cute and he wants to do cute things with Sky.

“I know what you’re thinking, but please don’t, I hate being fed.”

“Do you want to feed me?”

Sky doesn’t answer, he simply takes his chopsticks and offers Prapai a piece of pork. Prapai eats it and smiles at Sky.

Sky feeds Prapai a couple more bites, then puts down the chopsticks.

“I don’t enjoy it that much.”

“Thanks for giving it a try. You know, not saying we would, but I think they wouldn’t even notice if we’d leave.”

It feels like it’s true, it looks like Rain and Phayu are already in their own little world. Sky feels a sting of something that feels an awful lot like jealousy, it always looks so easy for Rain to connect with new people, and like it’s easy for him to fall in love now too. Turning his attention back to Prapai, he hopes he didn’t notice that.

Prapai starts talking about an anime he’s been watching and soon they’re enthusiastically discussing which character from One piece is the best and which is the worst.

“Would you look at them, I bet they’ve completely forgotten we’re here.”

Rain looks at Sky and Prapai animatedly talking and he feels a little weird, Sky is usually not like this, not even with their friends. The only person he’s completely comfortable with is Rain. Does this mean that Sky.. Rain shakes off the thought and focuses on Phayu again.

All too soon, all the food is gone, they’ve had dessert too and they’re stalling a little, not really ready to leave.

When they do finally leave the restaurant, they end up sitting by the huge koi pond in front of it for a while.

Phayu takes Rain’s hand in his own.

“I had a great time, I’d like to go on another date with you.”

“Me too, and I’d love that. Text me?”

“I will, sweet boy.”

They silently watch the fishes swim around, holding hands the entire time.

Prapai is fascinated by Sky, who’s been telling him everything he knows about koi, after Prapai made a comment about not knowing what the fish eat.

“My dad used to have some and he still has a lot of books about koi, but he hasn’t had any koi since the last ones died tragically, one of my uncles pissed in the pond.”

“Oh, ew.”

“Yeah, I know, it’s super-gross.” Sky checks the time. “We’ll probably head home soon, it’s already getting a little late.”

“This was fun, I would like to see you again.”

“Yeah, it was. And sure, we can do that.”

“Maybe you can text me and tell me what you’d like to do on the next date?”

“Okay, if you have any ideas, you can text me too. Don’t go overboard though.”

“With the ideas or the texting?”

“Both.”

“Of course my Sky.”

“Not yours.”

“Not yet.”

Sky rolls his eyes.

Phayu and Prapai walk them to the car, Rain gives Prapai a fist-bump and Phayu a hug and a kiss before getting in. Sky says goodbye to Phayu, then Prapai takes Sky’s hand and kisses it. ”I hope to see you again soon my Sky.”

“Still not yours.” The car-door closes before he can hear Prapai's response, but he can see Prapai’s lips moving and in his mind he can hear the words. “Not yet.”

Chapter Text

“Do you think they’re okay? I mean, I really want to seriously court Sky and I think he likes me too, but..what if it’s too soon after what happened at the resort? They probably never had to kill before. Sky got really nervous at the idea of Rain not noticing it if we would have left while you two were talking.”

“Rain had pretty much the same reaction when he saw you and Sky talking like nobody else existed.”

“They did agree to the date though, so it’s not hopeless, but they’re probably more traumatized than they realized before this.”
~~~~~~~~~
The drive to the compound is silent. When they get to the house, Rain and Sky go upstairs with only a quick wave to their dads.

Tankhun, Pol and Arm go to check on them after about an hour, only to find them fast asleep in Sky’s bed. They silently leave the room again.

“Do you think we should’ve waited longer? I know they were both excited for this but...did I fuck up?”

“I don’t think you fucked up, we all agreed that they could choose for themselves if they want to be courted.”

“They had to fight for their safety, defend themselves and they didn’t have us there to help.”

“They’re in therapy, they come to us when something is wrong, they have each other. That day at the resort only happened the way it did because those little bastards planned out how to get to our boys.”
~~~~~~~~~
Sky yawns, stretching out, arms brushing against Rain. He remembers what happened, how exhausted both of them felt when they got home after the date. Checking his phone, they’ve slept for a long time, it’s already past ten in the morning.

“Are you awake?”

“Hm...nooo..”

Sky puts his arms around Rain, pulling him close. “I don’t think we’re doing as well as we thought we were.”

“The date was good….”

“It was, but I think we both had moments where we felt uncomfortable with how much we focused on our dates instead of on each other, like we’ve been doing since the resort.”

“Hm.”

“You do like Phayu right? And I like Prapai...”

“I really like him.”

“We’ve always had our own lives, our own friends, things we do apart from each other and this is one of those things.”

“I know. It just felt weird.”

“I know.”

“…”

“What is it?”

“I kept thinking that you won’t need me anymore now that Prapai is courting you.”

“And I was thinking the same about you and Phayu.”

“Guess I know what I’m going to be talking about with my therapist today...”

“We’ll be fine, it’s just going to take some more time than we thought.”

“Sky?”

“What?”

“I’m sure we’ll both feel better about it with some therapy sessions and also, when we’ve gone on a couple more dates with them. And you know you’ll always be super-important to me right?”

“Yeah, yesterday was just something new for both of us, so it’s not like we already knew how to deal with it.” Sky gives Rain a small but genuine smile. “And you’ll always be just as important to me too.”

Chapter Text

It took them quite a while, but the next time they go on a date, independently from each other, following the advice of their therapists, both dates are a huge success. Rain raves for days about Phayu taking him go-karting and Sky tells everyone who will listen how much Prapai loved the botanical gardens.

After that, they both enthusiastically agree to go on another date, and another one, and so on. Sometimes they still go on double dates, but everything is far more relaxed and besides the romantic relationships blossoming, Rain and Prapai as well as Sky and Phayu have started to become close friends.

And..

“He did??!! Oh my gosh Sky, that’s so exciting!”

“I…” Sky starts crying.

“What?”

“I couldn’t give him an answer! I’m horrible!”

“But….you do like him, a lot. Right?”

“I really do. I think I...no, I know...I love him.”

“Then why didn’t you say yes?”

“He can do so much better. I’m a nobody.”

“That’s not true at all.”

“But it is. I don’t even know who my parents are or more likely, were. You, on the other hand-”

“Like Pai cares about that!”

“I care, because he’s incredibly important to me.”

“And it’s obvious you’re the most important person ever to him!”

“I fucked up. So now he probably won’t even look at me again.”

“I doubt that. Come on, you told me he wanted to send a marriage proposal right away instead of a courtship one. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t burst from holding it in all these months. That’s how much he loves you.”

“Please help me?”

“Of course, yeah...Alright! I know just the thing. Trust me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prapai has been sulking, occasionally crying a little, Phayu has already tried comforting him many times since the failed proposal the day before.

“Are you okay?”

“I should have known it was still too soon.”

“I don’t think that’s it. Sky has deep insecurities about his parentage and thinks he’s not good enough for you because of it. And now that he wasn’t able to give you an answer, he’s probably feeling terrible too.”

“I love him so, so much. Do you think I overdid it?”

Phayu sighs. “I just told you, that’s not what this is about. And considering you’ve wanted to marry him from the second you saw him, I think you did pretty good making it to six months of courtship before asking him.”

“I don’t know, I can’t even make him see that it doesn’t matter to me who his birth-parents a-” Prapai turns to the window when he sees something out of the corner of his eye. “What the hell?”

Phayu opens the door and guides Prapai onto the balcony when he sees some kind of hot air balloon with Sky in it hovering close by. Sky has a megaphone in his hands.

“Prapai! I apologize for my cowardly behavior and I desperately want to make things right! I love you! So now I’m the one asking you, will you marry me?!” He’s holding up a ring-box.

“YES! Now get out of that thing, you’re terrified of heights, what are you even doing?!”

Somehow, the thing manages to get close enough to the balcony that Sky can safely get out of it and into Prapai’s arms.

“I was making things right.”

“Please be careful.”

“It had to really mean something, I wanted to show you that I have the courage to do things I am afraid of.”

“So you’re saying yes to me?”

“Obviously. Can I put the ring on you now, please?”

“Only if I can do it too.” Prapai takes out the ring-box that hadn’t left his pocket after the proposal.

“Yes please.”

Sky puts the ring on Prapai’s hand and Prapai does the same for Sky.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” Prapai feels tears welling up.

“Please don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s just that I’ll start crying if you are.” Sky softly kisses Prapai, which stops the tears rather quickly.

“Aw, look at them...so sweet.”

“Darling boy, when did you get here?”

“Really? Who did you think was helping Sky and flying that horrible thing?”

“Please tell me you landed it safely. And turned of the burner.”

“Uhm, well..yeah?”

“Are you sure baby?”

“I’ll be right back!” Rain hightails it out of the house and Phayu sighs to himself. His wedding proposal will definitely not include any hot air balloons or fire in any way. If he can beat Rain to it, that is.

Chapter Text

They had forgone most of the Thai wedding-traditions, since it was a destination wedding, but they honestly cared more about actually being married than the wedding, so they didn’t really mind it all that much. They did however make merits, that was important to both of them.

“I’m not sure it was a good idea to put your dads in charge of planning our wedding.”

“You mean dad. Pa and pop are fine.”

“Yeah well...the swans are a bit much?”

“I agree, I already vetoed the swans, the solid gold arch and also, we’re definitely not pouring Romanée-Conti 1945 like it’s tap-water.”

“Alright.”

“But, we’re all good to go with the surprise.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s all planned.”

“I almost can’t believe it, we’re getting married, I’m so happy, my Sky.”

“Still not yours.”

Prapai just smiles.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The wedding day is absolutely perfect. A couple miscellaneous swans and an ‘accidental’ cannon shot can’t change that. Sky is walked down the aisle by all three dads, Prapai by his mom and dad.

“We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Prapai and Sky. A special thanks to all of you that traveled from far and wide to witness the promise these two are about to make to one another. We are here to offer our love and support, and to stand with them as they begin this new chapter of their lives. They will now exchange their vows.”

Prapai: “I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.”

Sky: “I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me.”

Together: “I love you for the part of me that you bring out.”

Baibua, with Rain holding her lease, is a wonderful, calm ring bearer. Even though she’s getting old, she’s still chipper as ever. Sky and Pai pet her, while Rain removes the rings from the ribbon around her neck.

“I love you, Sky.” He puts the ring on Sky’s finger.

“I love you too.” Sky does the same for Prapai.

“I now pronounce you husbands. You may kiss each other.”

They kiss, Prapai then whispers something in Sky’s ear, Sky laughs and kisses Prapai again. After making their way back down the aisle and posing for some pictures outside, they walk under the arch everyone has formed, getting into the car to drive to the reception-area.

~~~~~~~~~~~

After more pictures, the first dance, speeches and the cake-cutting, Sky is getting a little antsy.

“Everyone please gather for the bouquet-toss.”

Everyone crowds together, but instead of actually throwing the bouquet, Sky heads straight for Phayu. He hands him the bouquet and asks him to turn around. Everyone has made space around them.

Rain is on one knee in front of Phayu.

“Phayu, I love you, I know you're the one I want to share the rest of my life with, no one else can ever hold my heart the way you do. Will you do me the honor of becoming my husband?”

“Yes!” After Rain puts the ring on Phayu’s hand, Phayu picks him up and spins him around. Sky and Prapai are both wiping away a couple of happy tears, as are a lot of other people. Things calm down again when the food is brought in, everybody slowly returning to their tables to enjoy their meals.

“I’m so happy it went exactly as planned.”

“Me too.”

“And now I get to call you my Sky.”

“Don’t overdo it.”

“No promises.”

Chapter Text

“A-are you alright?”

“Yeah. Are y-you?”

“Yes.” Sky gestures at the babies tied to his chest and back in make-shift slings. “We need to take them with us.”

“Of course. Let’s get out of here.” They rush to where the plane is waiting for them. Right now, they’re feeling extra thankful for the private planes both families have at their disposal. Once they’re safely onboard, with one of the babies on Prapai’s chest and the other two still in the slings on Sky's, now that they’re sitting down, Prapai has to ask.

“Do you want to keep them?’

”I do, but if you don’t want to, if you’re not ready, let’s at least make sure they’re safe and away from here. If we don’t, it would be like…like I’m leaving myself behind. You remember how I became part of my family, right?”

“Yes. Of course. Darling, I’m ready for anything with you by my side. So...what should we name them?”

“I love you so much. How about nature or weather related names?” The girls hadn’t been old enough for the traditional Nepalese name-ceremony yet, so they would have to come up with something.

“I love you too, my Sky. How about...Wren, Coral and Hazel?”

“Uhm...how in the world do you just have three amazing names ready? I thought you said…”

“Just because I didn’t expect it to happen so soon, doesn’t mean I hadn’t thought of having kids with you before.”

“Pai, every time I think I can’t possibly love you more than I already do...”

“I aim to please.”
~~~~~~~~~

“You what? They what?”

“Dad, we got into a shoot-out and we had no choice…”

“And now you have three daughters?”

“Correct.”

“Pol, Arm!”

“What?”

“We’ve just become grandpas!”

Prapai and Sky show them the babies in their arms.

“It’s perfect, there’s three of us, so there’s one grand-baby for each of us to hold.”

“I’m pretty sure Pai’s parents will want to hold them too.”

“Well, they’re not here right now, are they?”

“Not yet.”

Pol, Arm and Tankhun are holding their brand-new granddaughters, happy as can be. Pai and Sky are relieved the first thing they did after getting off the plane and to the compound, is to have the doctors take a look at all three babies. Wren is a little smaller than the other two, but everything looks like she’ll catch up to them soon. They’re all healthy, and old enough that it’s fine for everyone to hold them, but Sky and Pai still keep a close eye on everything, of course.

“Are they triplets?”

“Yes...we were staying with their parents, who we met during our trip and then...that happened. And after everything was done, everyone else was dead. So we tied the babies to me and got the hell out of there.”

“Are they from a family we know?”

“No. They were normal, innocent people.”

“Sky..”

“Sorry dad, but it’s true, they had nothing to do with the mafia.”

“Okay.” Tankhun doesn’t push to talk about it any further.

“Sky! You’re back!”

Prapai turns around, shushing Rain.

“Wh - oh...babies?”

“You’re an uncle now.”

“Three babies??!”

“Yes, now be quiet and sit down if you want to meet them.”

Rain plops down on the couch, staying completely silent. Wren and Coral are put in his arms.

“Rain, were did you go? What are - babies?”

“Phayu, you’re an uncle now.”

“Oh!” Phayu sits down next to Rain and gently holds Hazel.

The doorbell rings.

“Must be my parents.”

“One of the guards can let them in.”

“Rude.”

“Fine, you do it then.”

“I will.”

Tankhun goes to open the door, greeting both of Prapai’s parents with hugs. “Can you believe it? We’re all grandparents.”

“It isn’t something we expected just yet, but we’re happy.”

“Come on, hurry, look, how sweet are they?”

Sky and Prapai can’t help it, they’re beaming at the words. It’s true, their daughters are absolutely the cutest.

Chapter Text

“I have something for you.”

“What is it papa?”

“It’s a letter from your mother. She left it for you to receive on your wedding day.”

“She wrote to me? But you said that her death was unexpected.”

“Woon...she always trusted her intuition. She hoped it would all go well, but she was worried.” Tankhun sighs. “That’s what she wrote in the letter she left for me.”

“Do I...have to read it now?”

“No, it’s yours to do with what you want. And you can read the letter I got too.”

“Thank you...I’m going to save it for after the honeymoon, I’m already emotional enough right now.”

“I almost can’t believe that you’ll be married in just a couple of hours….my sweet babies got big so fast…..first Sky, now you...what’s next, will you come back with grand-babies for your dads too?”

“We aren’t planning on it. But then again, neither were Sky and Pai...so no promises.”

Rain goes and puts the letter in a safe place. He’ll probably let Sky read it at some point..and Phayu too, but for now, he wants to keep it somewhere where no-one can touch it. After that, he’s too busy getting ready to really think about it anymore, and before he knows it his outfit, hair and make-up are done and he has a few moments alone before he’ll be walked down the aisle.

“Rain.” It’s Phayu.

“Yes?” Rain frowns a little at not being able to surprise Phayu with his look anymore, but Phayu looks so..sad?

“I’m sorry..can we talk?”

“Sorry? For what?”

“I don’t want to get married. I thought if we waited a little longer…..I still don’t want to.”

“So you lied when you said you wanted to wait for our nieces to be old enough to be flower-girls...? Why did you wait so long to tell me?! Or even say yes in the first place?”

“I do love you. I’m sorry, I’ve been thinking and...I just want different things.”

Rain is trying hard not to cry or make a scene. “So, now what?”

“I’m going to Europe.”

“Oh.”

“I’m s-”

“Stop saying that! You’re going to explain this to everyone, you don’t get to put that responsibility on me.” Rain cries, although he’s still trying hard not to. “I’m going back to the house. Don’t be surprised if someone tries to kill you for making me sad.”

Rain leaves without looking back, driving to the house in the car that was supposed to take them to the airport after they...Rain shakes his head. They’re not getting married anymore, his future with Phayu is no longer a thing. And he will not take him back if Phayu changes his mind! He won’t let this get him down, it’s Phayu’s loss! He, Rain Theerapanyakul, has more dignity than that. Even though he already misses him….

Chapter Text

Phayu opens the door at almost the same exact moment the music starts playing. He needs to be quick, before Rain’s dads start wondering why Rain isn’t there waiting for them. So he practically sprints down the aisle. The music abruptly stops and people look at him in surprise. He can already hear the first whispers.

He grabs the microphone the officiant has set up.

“There will not be a wedding.”

“And would you like to explain to everyone why you decided to wait until the absolute last second to announce that you don’t want to marry Rain anymore?”

Crap. Tankhun. Literally breathing down his neck. And Arm and Pol standing on either side of him.

“I...uhm..”

“Well?”

Phayu takes the microphone again. “None of this is Rain’s fault. It’s mine, I want different things and I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt Rain.”

“And yet you did. Now, I won’t do anything to you, simply because it would upset Rain even more...and he could have easily done it himself, don’t even doubt that for one second. But you will leave and don’t even think about coming back.”

Phayu drops the microphone and sprints out of the room and the building as fast as he can.

“Sorry people, time to go home.” Tankhun puts the microphone back into it’s stand. People start leaving, whispering as they go. He walks over to Sky and Prapai, who are busy comforting their daughters, who are very upset about not getting to be flower girls, they’re three years old, they don’t fully understand what’s happening besides that.

“Let’s go home to Rain?”

“I’ll drop off the girls at the babysitter. And then I’ll come to the house...if Rain wants me there that is...I swear I didn’t know Phayu didn’t want to get married..” Prapai is blinking away tears.

“I know you’d never hurt Rain, you’re such close friends.” Tankhun pats his arm.

“There were things that might have...but I thought it had to do with our family...and he always said sweet things about Rain..I…”

“What kind of things?”

“Let’s talk about it at the house? I really don’t want the girls to have to hear all this.” Sky hugs and kisses their daughters. “Have fun at Sukhum’s house my sweethearts, be good, okay? Love you.” The girls all hug him back, Coral whines a little about not going with him but Sky calms her down quickly and then gives Prapai a kiss. “Pai, be careful, okay?”

“Yeah, of course. Let me know if Rain wants me around or not?”

“I will, don’t worry too much please. I love you.”

“Love you too my Sky.”

Sky goes to the house with his dads. They find Rain curled up in Sky’s old bed, like he used to do any time he got upset when they were younger. “We all know what he needs right now, so we’ll be downstairs later, alright?” Sky then curls up against Rain, holding him tight. Rain doesn’t even wake up, it’s obvious he exhausted himself crying, his whole face is blotchy and his eyes are swollen.

“It’s going to be okay, we won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.” Sky whispers.

Chapter Text

Rain wakes up and tries to stretch, but arms are wrapped tightly around him.

“Sky.”

“Hm?”

“Wake up?”

“Are you...how do you feel?”

“I’m mad and sad…but I’m honestly already happy I didn’t get married.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah…imagine if..no wait, don’t. Never mind. Pai would never. Do you want to go to the shelter with me?”

“The shelter?”

“They always let me play with the animals. I need that right now.”

“That’s a good idea. Let’s tell everyone and then we’ll go.”

“Can’t we just go? I want to spend time with you.”

“We’ll still go together.”

“What about Pai?”

“I’ll text him. He’s worried you won’t want him around, but this is not that, right?”

“Oh...poor Pai! I didn’t even think about that...shit...no, I just want to spend some time with my bestie and all the animals...I’ll send Pai a message right now!” Rain grabs his phone and starts frantically typing away, Sky thinks he sees at least a couple dozen heart-emoji’s and random smileys. When Rain puts his phone down again, he looks a little less worried.

“Think I managed to convince him that we’re fine friendship-wise, that he’s not responsible for what Phayu did. And he’ll come by for dinner later so we can all talk.”

“Alright.”

“Shit, I’m still in this outfit…I need a shower.”

“I’ll tell everyone where we’re going in the meantime then.”

When Rain has scrubbed himself clean of anything that could serve as a direct physical reminder of what was supposed to be, he goes downstairs. His dads all hug him for a long time, but they do let them leave without any real protest. They obviously trust Sky to take care of him. Not that Rain can’t take care of himself, but everyone probably thinks he’ll break down emotionally at some point.

“I really miss Baibua.”

“Me too.”

“You know, I might actually adopt a cat. Or a dog. Or both. Maybe I’ll go wild and adopt all the animals, blame it on my supposedly fragile emotional state!”

“You can do whatever you want, but pa is allergic to most animals.”

“Right...well, I can still move into the house that-” Rain bursts into tears. Sky immediately pulls over. “Why didn’t he…..why couldn’t he marry me Sky? Am I…..not good..enough?” Sky holds Rain, rubbing his back. “He could have told me at any point…...But he lied!”

“You’re great, wonderful. Everyone is lucky to have you in their lives.”

“Then why? Why?...I hate him!……..and I miss him so much…” Rain sobs and sobs. Sky wonders if it would be overly dramatic to travel to Europe and take justice into his own hands. If only their dads didn’t just let Phayu walk away….he’ll consider his options later, right now, he should focus on Rain again.

“Hey…..do you still want to play with some cute animals?” Rain deserves to be happy. That is the most important thing.

“Y-yeah...what if the animals hate me too?”

Sky can see more tears coming, so he shuts that down right away. “Animals love you, remember? You’re like a Disney princess with how they flock to you.”

Rain perks up the tiniest bit. “You’re right.” He wipes the tears away. “Animals do love me!”

“They absolutely do. And so do I. And our dads. And all our friends.”

“Yeah...let’s go!”

They manage to get to the shelter without any more tears and they play with the animals for a bit before Rain sort of hides away in a windowsill with one of the senior cats on his lap, tears rolling down his face as he pets him. Sky leaves him to it for a while.

“Hey.”

“Hey, did you have a good time?”

“Yeah...I guess. I still really want a pet. And I think I want to live on my own. Like you and Pai.”

“Oh yeah, that’s a good idea, if you stay at the compound, that works. Everyone would get really concerned if you moved anywhere else right now.”

“Yeah..I want to stay close to all of you…but I also want privacy and, also, all the pets!”

Sky watches as Rain practically runs back to the car. Rain might be overdoing things a bit right now, trying a little too hard. But if it helps to keep him distracted and they all keep an eye on him, surely everything will be fine.

Chapter Text

Rain runs to hug Prapai the moment they’re back at the compound. They’re both a little emotional.

“I’m so sorry Rain, I never saw this coming.”

“Of course you didn’t.” Rain sighs. “If you knew, you would’ve told me. And I didn’t see it coming either….”

“No-one did. And it sucks.” Sky joins them.

Rain decides to change the topic. “Look, this is Fafner.” He takes the pet carrier from Sky and holds it up.

“A lizard?”

“He’s a Chinese water dragon, that’s why I named him Fafner, it means mythical dragon. Since pa is allergic to fur and I decided I don’t want to move out right now, this is the best solution. And look how cute he is!”

“Very cute.”

“And of course we bought everything Fafner needs right away too.” Sky gestures to the car. “We should probably get it all set up for him before dinner.”

“I’m sure we’ll have it done in no time.” And it’s true, they have everything done and Fafner exploring his terrarium with time to spare.

“You know what? I hate that we’re going to have to talk about Phayu. I want to...I don’t know, he fucks off to Europe and I have to deal with the aftermath...it’s not fair.”

“It can wait.”

“Not really though, because I want to be able to start processing this shit as soon as I can, if I have to wait to find out what it is that you want to tell everyone...it will probably make it a lot harder.” He’s really glad he already made an appointment with his therapist for the next day.

Rain zones out a little, vaguely aware that he follows Sky and Prapai to the dinner table, only able to focus on what’s happening around him again when Prapai starts talking.

“So, Phayu was getting in a lot of fights with our parents, he talked about leaving the mafia life behind, that’s not what the fights were about though, they were fine with that, but he started saying that they robbed him of the chance of having a normal life and that he would never even think to raise a child in an environment like this. And the fights got worse for a while after Sky and I brought our girls home, he didn’t say anything about that specifically for the last couple of months though, just that he wanted to leave this lifestyle behind.”

“I would hav-” Rain’s phone dings, indicating he received an email. When he glances at his phone, he goes several shades paler. “Phayu just send me an email.”

“Do you want to look at it?”

“No?.. Can you look at it for me? In case it’s something actually important.”

Sky takes Rain’s phone and clicks on the email. His eyes go wide, Prapai takes the phone when Sky’s hands start twitching. He then turns off the phone when it dings again.

“The only thing you really need to know is that Phayu has send back the letter your mother left for you, since it was in a box he put in his suitcase.” Sky looks absolutely enraged.

“He took the wedding money! I put the letter in our special gift-box because someone was supposed to be keeping an eye on it at all times!”

“Bastard.”

“Did he send something bad?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

“I don’t know, I’m so sick of this already and it’s all happening so fast...I have an appointment booked with my therapist for tomorrow. Just tell me one thing. Did he send a picture and was there more than one person in it?”

“Yeah, how did you know that?”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I want to forget any of this ever happened.”

“Rain-”

“You already know, don’t you?” Rain looks at Sky.

“You told me what happened on your holiday there with Phayu..and now with the picture..yes.’

“Sweetheart, won’t you tell all of us what’s going on?” Tankhun can’t stop himself from asking anymore, they’re all so worried about Rain.

“I wish I had been wrong, but when he said he would go to Europe...I already had a suspicion.”

Everyone looks at him, worried, a hint of curiosity maybe. Vegas is fiddling with a knife. Kim and Chay are whispering.

“Phayu cheated on me while we were on a holiday in Europe. I guess his ‘little mistake’ led to something he never told me about.”

Dead silence.

“Oh well, at least he had the decency to get out of my life, right?” Rain starts laughing. “The asshole.” Tears start flowing again. “Telling me he loved me so much and that of course it was fine for us to sleep together because we would get married…I wanted him to be the only one I would ever do that with...”

"Did you?"

"Do you really have to ask? You'd know if I did."

Chapter Text

Rain makes the decision he will go back to school after only a couple of weeks mostly filled with therapy appointments and spending time with Fafner. And he knows exactly what he wants to do.

So he announces it during family-dinner.

“You want to be a vet?”

“Yeah. And nobody has to tell me that it’s more than just ‘playing with all the cute animals’ I’m not a child.”

“No-one thinks you’re a child, my darling little baby.”

“Papa…” Rain rolls his eyes.

“That’s different! I’m your papa! I will always call you and Sky my babies!” Arm and Pol both agree, they still call them their babies or their boys all the time too. Rain and Sky can’t help but smile. They feel very lucky to have such sweet parents.

“So anyway, I already applied. And got accepted.”

Everyone’s congratulating him. Rain is happy he’s able to share the news with all of his family there for it. And then the questions start, of course.

“Are you moving out?”

“No, the university is close enough to still live here.”

“When do you start?”

“Next month.”

“What about marketing?”

“I dropped out. I didn’t like giving up on it, but I was never really happy in that faculty...I was stupid to ever think studying that was a good idea...I’ve been talking about this with Saachi, my therapist...I’d given up on a lot of things I wanted to make Phayu happy without even really noticing it. But now I feel free to do whatever I want again.”

“Good.”

“Sky has some news to share too.” Rain has had enough of being the centre of attention.

“Yeah...so, someone contacted me on Instagram. And it turns out he’s my half brother.”

“Are you sure?”

“Pa and Pop already did a background check, he had the tests done and everything. It all checks out.”

“Any other family?”

“No, there’s no one else who’s related to me.”

“What’s his name?”

“His name is Poi, he’s a year younger than me. He’ll come to visit soon and I would love for him to meet my wonderful family when he does.”

Everyone agrees to try to be there at some point during the visit.

“What about his family?”

“He’s close to his dad. But that’s the only family he has. And I guess he has me now too.”

“If he’s just as likeable as my sweet baby, he’ll have a whole new family.” Tankhun is already excited to meet him.

“You can’t claim him as your own right away, okay dad?”

“I’ll restrain myself from offering him a fabulous bonus father and family..I guess.”

“Thank you.”

“But we do have to show him a good time, right Sky?”

“I don’t really know if I should subject him to your idea of a good time.” He pokes Rain in the side and laughs.

“Excuse you, I always have the most excellent ideas.”

“Like that time you pierced your own belly button?”

“Or that time that you tried to make the mouse that lived under your bed your pet?”

“Or when you ate that entire cake?”

“Or-”

“Fine, no ideas from me then! Entertain him your own.” Rain sticks out his tongue. “I might not even introduce him to Fafner with you acting like this.”

“I’m sure he’d be devastated.”

“Whatever, Fafner is the best.”

They finish eating soon after that, and everyone goes to do their own thing again. Rain wanders off too. But before Sky and Pai can leave with Coral, Hazel and Wren, Rain comes back and pulls Sky to the side.

Sky thinks he already knows what’s coming. “Of course you’re my best friend and favorite brother, I don’t know Poi at all, we’ve only talked a couple of times so far.”

“Not what I was going to say. But thank you.” Rain smiles brightly. "I wouldn't mind if you got close to him too though."

“Thank you. So, then what where you going to say?”

“Fafner laid eggs.”

“What?”

“Eggs.”

“Huh.”

Chapter Text

“So I figured we should get the heavy stuff out of the way first, that’s why I asked you to meet me one on one first.”

Sky glances over to where Big is standing. “Well...”

“It’s understandable, don’t worry. Anyway, I have something for you.” Poi hands Sky a box.

“Oh?”

“I didn’t want to talk about this online, that felt too cold to me…do you know anything about your dad and our mom?”

“I barely remember anything from before I was five honestly. I think I’ve had some dreams that could be memories though.”

Poi sighs. “I’m sorry, this is probably going to be a lot.”

“It’s okay, I want to know what happened.”

“Alright so, our mom and your dad were only together for a short time and they had actually already broken up at the time, but tried to make it work again when they found out about the pregnancy, then shortly after you were born they broke up for good.” Poi sighs. “She moved into a boarding house, where she would later meet my dad, which led to her staying there with him and then they had me.”

“I honestly thought my mother cheated on my dad, because we’re so close in age.”

“I only realized it shortly after our last conversation online, but you and I actually have almost a two year age difference.”

“Really?”

“Yeah I didn’t exactly look at your date of birth when I first found you. Right now you’re twenty-four and I’m twenty-three, but your birthday is only a month away and mine was last week.”

“Happy belated birthday.”

“Thanks. So anyway, no cheating involved, luckily.”

“But didn’t my mom want me?”

“She did, the boarding house was only a short distance away from where your dad lived. They co-parented really well apparently, but you stayed with your dad more often at first because mom was trying to get back on her feet, finding a job and all that. And once she did it was 50/50 pretty much.”

“What happened to her?”

Poi gets a little teary eyed. “She died in a car accident.”

“Shit...I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you. You should probably open that now.” He gestures to the box. Sky does. On top of what looks to be clothes and toys is a small photo-album. He takes that out first.

“Our dads actually got along really well, so after your dad died..and we thought you did as well, my dad made sure I would have things to remember you both by, but now it’s yours. And I had these photo’s printed for you, so we can both have them.”

Sky opens the album and right away he feels like crying. “Is this..?”

“That’s our mom, that’s your dad, that’s mine. And those tiny boys are you and me.”

Sky wipes away tears as he looks through the pictures. “When did our mom die?”

“I just turned two when she died, so you must have been three.”

“So that’s why she didn't come looking for me after the bad things happened...”

“Yeah, I know you told me some basics about how you got adopted, but our mom and your dad would have done anything to keep you safe if they had still been alive. Like I said, I don’t remember much, but my dad still talks about them, mostly mom, he always says they were both wonderful people.”

“So why did everyone think I was dead?”

“Because…..shit...it’s really awful...I’m sorry..”

“I’d rather hear it from you than find out some other way, but if you’re not okay with talking about it, you can just say that.”

Poi gulps. “Please don’t make me repeat this, ever.”

“Okay.”

“You and your dad were supposed to come to visit us, but never showed up and then your dad’s body was discovered laying in a random garden along with a smaller body, which was assumed to be you. Partly burned and decapitated.” He gags.

“Have some water.” Sky wipes away a couple more tears.

“Thanks..” He drinks a little.

“I hate that all of this happened, that our mom died, that my dad got killed…..and I got taken by those fucking traffickers.” Sky sighs. “But I’m very thankful to have an amazing family now...a wonderful husband too and even kids of our own....and I’m so, so happy that you and I found each other again.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner.”

Sky pulls Poi into a hug. They stay like that for a while.

“So how did you find me?”

“Well, long story short, the body of that poor boy got correctly identified recently, by a DNA-match after years and years of research. And that meant that there was a chance that you might still be alive. So we started looking for you again.”

“Again?”

“Yeah, my dad had a lot of trouble accepting what happened. And even though he was terrified, because of your dad getting killed, he would try to look for you every now and then, hoping against all hope...he always loved you a lot too. He cried happy tears when we actually found you. You haven’t been to a regular hospital very often, right?”

“Yeah, we have doctors here at the compound. But Rain and I had to go to one some years back..”

“We hadn’t tried for some time, but then when we did, we got a match almost right away. And then I contacted you.”

“And I’m very happy you did. I would love to meet your dad sometime too.”

“He’ll be so happy to hear that. He thought maybe it would be too overwhelming to meet both of us at once and all that.”

“Yeah…"

“I should probably go now, give you some time to process all of this?”

“That’s a good idea. But I’ll see you next week?”

“Absolutely.” They walk outside, hug again, then Sky waves as Poi drives away from the compound.

Chapter Text

He hadn’t thought about it until Poi mentioned that he was worried Sky would be overwhelmed if his dad had come along to meet him. So Sky re-planned everything, he blames his enthusiasm for it but he still feels a little silly for wanting to introduce him to his whole family all at once. So now he’s doing it step by step.

He introduces him to Prapai, Coral, Hazel and Wren first.

Prapai and Poi get along really well, especially when Poi asks about Prapai’s motorcycle and mentions he likes to watch races. The girls also really like him, wanting to play together and asking him to read them stories. Around dinner-time, Rain comes over too. He had been all huffy about not being the very first person to meet Poi, but Sky couldn’t help it, Rain promised to help Phan and Ple with wedding-stuff this weekend, the plans for it had been made long before Sky even knew Poi existed.

“Ple and Phan said hi. And Phan asked me to remind you to send her the information about the jeweler.”

“I just send it a couple minutes ago.”

“That’s good, where are Sky and Poi?”

“Sky is cooking, Poi is showering, we were getting some veggies and fruit from the garden for dinner and a papaya exploded all over him.”

“Oh, that’s funny.”

“Yeah.”

Sky walks in. “Hey, how’s the wedding-stuff going?”

“It’s all going as planned.” Rain smiles. “And I’m fine too, no sad feelings or anything.”

“Good, I’m glad.”

“I’m so excited to meet Poi!”

“He’s excited to meet you too.” Sky has told Poi a lot of stories about his family already, so he’s at least a little prepared whenever he meets any of Sky’s family members.

“Sky, I hope you don’t mind th-oh?” Poi has walked into the room. “You must be Rain?”

“Yeah, that’s me. Hi!” Rain hugs Poi. “It’s so nice to meet you!”

“It’s very nice to meet you too.”

“Do you want to see some pictures I took of Fafner? You do know about Fafner, right?”

“The best lizard to ever exist? Of course, Sky told me all about Fafner and how she surprised everyone by laying eggs.”

“Dinner is ready, the pictures will have to wait.”

“Oh, alright. What did you make?”

“You’ll see.”

Before Rain has any time to pout about it, Sky serves everyone, Rain cheering up when he sees it’s Sky’s ‘famous’ eggplant-dish.

“Sky is-”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, that’s gross. And a bad example.”

Rain swallows. “Sorry Sky.” He turns back to Poi. “What I wanted to say, Sky is the best cook in the whole family.”

“I totally believe that, this it delicious.”

“Isn’t it?” Pai smiles. “The girls and I are very lucky.”

“Oh stop…” Sky is blushing from all the compliments.

Dinner is pleasant, they chat about everything and nothing, the girls are on their best behavior too. Sky suspects it’s mostly because they really want dessert and also hope for Poi to read them more stories. When dinner and dessert are done and a ton of stories have been read, the girls are tucked into bed and the four of them sit down for a bit. Rain takes the opportunity to shove his phone in Poi’s face, showing him all the pictures, until finally: “And this is my favorite picture of Fanfer so far, she climbed on my shoulder for this first time and I took like a million pictures, but this is the best one!”

“That’s very cool. You really like animals, yeah?”

“I do, I’m going to study to become a vet!”

“That’s great.”

“So what do you do? Are you working or studying?”

“I’m studying, I’m in a project that aims to increase the amount of rural medical doctors.”

“Oh that’s awesome. You probably already told Sky and Prapai all about it….you’re going to have to answer the same questions so many time meeting everyone...”

“I don’t mind, I like hearing about other people’s interests and talking about mine too.”

Rain smiles his cute bunny smile. “Everyone will love you, I’m sure.”

“Thank you.” Poi yawns and stretches. “I should probably get going.”

“You can stay in one of the guest rooms if you’re too tired to drive.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to be a bother.”

“It’s fine.”

“Well, alright then. Thank you.”

“Sky! Can I stay over too? We can all have a sleepover!”

Sky rolls his eyes. “Fine. But stay in your own room. No pillow fights. Or scary stories.”

“Sure.”

Chapter Text

The next morning, after a very restful night of sleep, Sky goes to the bathroom, but notices the door of Rain’s room is open when he enters the hallway. He looks inside and is met with a very surprising sight. Poi is on the bed with Rain, an arm loosely wrapped around him. When he notices Sky, he puts a finger to his lips, then motions for him to come closer.

He whispers. “He was having a nightmare, I heard him crying when I came back from the restroom. I went to see what was wrong and he woke up when I came closer. I asked if I should go get you or Prapai, he said not to, because you both don’t get nearly enough sleep according to him. But I didn’t want to leave him alone either...he was really upset. I left the door open so you would know nothing inappropriate was happening.”

“Thank you.” Sky whispers back. “I’ll tell Prapai and we’ll try to keep the noise to a minimum so you can both try to sleep some more. We do have to get the girls ready for school though.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Sky quietly leaves the room, tells Prapai, then they go wake up the girls.“Sweethearts, please be as quiet as you can. Uncle Rain had a really bad dream so he’s still sleeping” The girls really try their best. Sky and Prapai have their daughters and themselves dressed, fed and out the door in record time with only a little noise. Prapai goes to the office, Sky brings their daughters to school, then goes grocery shopping and by the time he comes back, Rain and Poi are both sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast.

“Rain, are you feeling okay? You can always come to me and Prapai, alright?”

“I’m fine now...you’ve been talking about how little sleep you’ve been getting lately...and Pai said the same, I didn’t want to make things worse.”

“That’s sweet, but if you need us, we’re always there for you, you know that right?”

“Yeah, of course, thank you.” Rain finishes his breakfast and then excuses himself, he really needs some more sleep.

Sky sits down with a cup of coffee. “Thanks again for helping Rain.”

“It’s no problem. I do have a question though.”

“Yeah?”

“Who’s Phayu?”

Sky sighs. “Rain’s ex.”

“Rain said his name a couple of times before he woke up, that’s why I’m asking.”

“Ugh...poor Rain. I won’t go into detail, but he treated Rain really bad. And that’s putting it very lightly.”

“What an asshole, Rain is such a sweet guy.”

“Absolutely.”

“I know I’m supposed to meet more of your family today, but maybe I can meet Fafner first? It would probably make Rain happy.”

“That’s a great idea. Do you want to take a nap first too? Since Rain will probably sleep for at least a couple hours anyway.”

“Yeah. Sounds good.” Poi puts his plate in the dishwasher and goes back to bed.

A couple hours later, both Rain and Poi come into the living room, looking much more well-rested.

“Poi said he wants to go meet Fafner!”

“I know.” Sky smiles.

“Come on, let’s go!”

Chapter Text

Rain gives Sky that look that means he wants to talk one on one. With Poi busy feeding Fafner, it’s easy to just step out into the hallway real quick and not make Poi feel abandoned in a place he only visited once before.

“What is it?”

“Okay so...I’m not going to act on it or anything...and I mean, I have no idea, he might be straight, not that I’m gonna..anyway...I think I have a teeny tiny crush on Poi.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. And all things considered, it’s not something I want to do anything with, just...I’m happy to kinda, sorta...have an interest in someone else than Phayu for the first time?”

“Okay.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, while I think it’s good that you don’t want to do anything about it right now, I mean, you don’t have to want to instantly actually date any guy that you think is nice and attractive, I think it’s part of moving on from the whole mess. I’m happy for you.”

“I know it’s probably weird since he’s your half-brother and we’re brothers too and I only just met him yesterday and all that stuff with the wedding is not that long ago too...Not that I would..you know...”

“You don’t have to explain yourself, it’s totally fine.”

“Thank you. You’re the best.” Rain gives Sky a quick hug and they go to join Poi again.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah.”

“Yup.”

“Okay. Fafner ate three crickets, but she doesn’t seem interested in more.”

“It’s all good. I’ll give her some salad.” Rain feeds Fafner the rest of her food and then puts her back into the enclosure.

“Do you feel ready to meet our dads?”

“I’m a little nervous to be honest.”

“It’s going to be fine.”

“My babies!!” Tankhun makes his spectacular entrance.

Poi’s eyes go wide when he sees Tankhun. He had been warned that the man tends to dress in quite an eccentric manner, but seeing it in real life is something else entirely. There’s feathers and glitter and sequins and very bright colors. And also, probably the biggest hat Poi has ever seen.

“Hi, you must be Poi, it’s so wonderful to meet you!”

“Likewise, sir.”

“Please call me Tankhun!” Tankhun does a little twirl. “What do you think?”

“It’s a very nice outfit sir, I mean, Tankhun.”

“Thank you! I figured I should dress to impress.”

“Calm down a little Khun. You don’t want to scare him and prevent him from coming back, right?” They’re joined by who Poi assumes are Sky and Rain’s other dads.

“Right...sorry!”

“It’s very nice to meet you Poi, we’ve heard a lot about you already. I’m Arm.”

“And I’m Pol. It’s great to meet you. And don’t worry, Sky has only had good things to say about you.”

“Nice to meet you both too.”

Arm tuts a little. “Are you alright? I know meeting Tankhun can be a bit overwhelming.” Tankhun makes an angry little noise at that.

“I’m fine sir.”

“Please call me by my first name too, sir makes me feel so old.”

“And me too.” Pol pats Poi on the shoulder.

“Alright.”

They all go into the living room, sitting down to have tea.

“Sky told us that you live with your dad and that you’re studying to be a rural doctor?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“If you have trouble finding work when you gradu-”

“Dad, there’s literally a shortage of rural doctors. He’s in a special program, so he’s going to be fine. You don’t need to offer him a job.”

“Sky is right about that, but I do very much appreciate the offer si-Tankhun.”

“Such a polite boy! Sky told me that I’m not allowed to try to adopt you, because obviously you already have a dad, and I respect that, but you can be part of this family no matter what.”

“I..uhm..”

“Papa.” Rain gives Tankhun a stern look. “Sky also told you to not overwhelm Poi.”

“I’m very sorry…”

“No, it’s...I’m…” Poi wipes away a tear. “I just didn’t expect any of this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I didn’t think that finding Sky again would lead to getting such a warm welcome from his family...I was already really happy that Sky and I get along so well, and now this...”

“Everyone will love you, I’m sure.”

“I’m really looking forward to meeting everyone else too.”

“Don’t let Vegas, that’s my cousin, whatever, he’s basically another brother by now, try to scare you.”

“Is that the one who tortures people?”

Pol and Arm laugh loudly at that. “Hah….yeah, basically.”

“You’re pretty well-informed already, aren’t you?”

“Sky said he felt like he should give me some basic knowledge about everyone. But I sometimes mix up who’s who, since I haven't met them yet.”

“Understandable, there are quite a lot of people here.”

“I honestly really like the idea of having more family, for the biggest part of my life it’s only been me and dad.”

“Well, that does it, you’re an honorary Theerapanyakul now.” Tankhun looks extremely pleased.

Sky shoots Rain a look. Rain instantly knows what it means. He also knows Sky won’t actually make the joke, because he really is the best brother.

Chapter Text

School starts again, but Poi still makes time to meet the rest of Sky’s family. First Kinn and Porsche, who unfortunately but not unexpectedly, are still very busy while Poi is there, even dinner is constantly interrupted by phone calls about things they have to take care of. They apologize a million times, both giving him a hug and telling him they would love to see him again soon, regardless of how busy they might be.

Then he meets Kim and Porchay by chance when he’s leaving.

They seem to be in a hurry but Porchay still stops Kim when he sees Poi, recognizing him from the pictures Sky had shown them, and calls out. “Hi! Poi, right? We’re Sky and Rain’s uncles, Kim and Chay.”

“Yeah, I’m Poi, it’s very nice to meet you.” Poi is a little star-struck when he realizes exactly who they are. Sky had told him his uncles were famous, but he had no idea just how famous.

Kim puts his arm around Porchay, pulling him just a tad closer to himself. “Poi, how nice to run into you like this, I know we haven’t been able to set up a time yet to really meet, but I’m sure you know how things get. We’re here to pick up some of my angel’s things before heading right back into the studio.”

“I, uhm, that’s okay, with how famous you both are I’m sure you’re busy all the time.”

“Oh, you’re familiar with our music?” Porchay looks thrilled. Kim presses a kiss into Porchay’s hair and pulls him even closer, giving off a ‘slightly’ possessive vibe.

“I’m a big fan of both of you.”

"Oh, that's wonderful! Kim! Did you hear that?”

“Angel, I’m literally right here, am I not?”

“Yeah, of course! My darling husband is by my side, where he should be.” Porchay chuckles. Kim looks extremely pleased after that and he’s acting a lot more relaxed towards Poi too. Before they rush off again, Kim tells Poi to just ask Sky or Rain whenever he feels like attending one of their concerts. Porchay nods and agrees that all Poi has to do is ask. Poi makes sure to thank them both profusely but also immediately decides not to ask often, debating if he should even ask at all, he doesn’t want to abuse anyone’s kindness.

And a week later, he finally meets the last of Sky’s direct family. Vegas, Pete and Macau. They greet him enthusiastically, they’ve heard Sky talking about him for ages and they’re very happy to meet him.

And then Vegas gets a call. Afterwards, he’s pretty pissed.

“So my darling cousins need our help right now, today of all days. I guess there’s another thing our fathers fucked up coming to the surface and it needs all hands on deck right away. Hence we have no choice but to go.” Vegas looks at Macau. “Not you though, you will stay here and entertain our guests and be safe. Understood?"

“Sir, yes sir…you know I’m not a child anymore, right?”

Vegas ignores that completely and he and Pete say goodbye to Sky and Poi.

“Well then, guess it’s just us now.” Macau looks at Poi “Do you like..video games?”

“Yeah.”

They play Splatoon for a while, before Macau orders dinner. While eating, the three of them chat, and Poi and Macau discover they have quite some things in common, video games they both like to play, books they enjoy and a shared love of martial arts and animals.

“Speaking of animals…” Macau leaves the room for a moment, coming back with a huge, fluffy cat that he promptly sets down on Poi’s lap. The cat lets Poi pet him all he wants and meows loudly in protest when Macau and Sky try to get some cat-hugs too. “Guess he’s your cat now.” Macau jokes. “His name is Yusraa.”

“He’s so sweet.” Poi pets him some more.

Macau looks at Yusraa, beaming with pride. “I love him so much, he’s the best.”

Unfortunately, Vegas and Pete don’t manage to come back before Poi and Sky have to leave. Macau asks to exchange numbers before Poi goes. “You know, just in case you want to come over to play Splatoon again.” He looks surprisingly shy asking, even after they talked so much during this visit.

“We could always play online.”

“Yeah, well, you should come back anyway, Yusraa likes you. And we could maybe spar sometime too..”

“Sure.” Macau still seems a little unsure of himself so Poi decides to just say bye and not go for a hug or anything, even though he feels like it might have been nice. “See you later.”

Poi is invited back surprisingly fast and frequently. He has to decline the first couple of invitations as he’s busy with school, but manages to sometimes play online with Macau. It’s much more fun in person though, and although Sky seems a little surprised, he’s not jealous when Poi starts coming over more often to spend time with Macau by himself. Although, Sky does tease him a little but Poi is not sure what that’s about. Sky laughs, not in a mean way, when he asks about it. “Don’t worry Poi, It’s nothing, I’m just happy you’re getting along great with everyone." Pete and Vegas always welcome him with open arms as well, quite literally as the whole family is really fond of hugging. The only person Poi hasn’t hugged at all yet is Macau, who keeps acting shy. They’ve all become pretty close, and one evening when Poi is visiting them, while Macau is busy talking on the phone with a friend who’s having relationship problems, Vegas asks, cheerfully, with a conspiratorial wink:

“Would you like to see where we deal with people who try to hurt our family?”

“Uhm...I guess, is anyone in there right now?”

“No, unfortunately not, I’ve been horribly bored.” Vegas grins and winks, then leads Poi downstairs, showing him the cells and the room where it all happens. Poi is not a fan of torture, but he is impressed by all the equipment Vegas has at his disposal. Vegas hands him anything he asks about, explaining what’s what if Poi has questions and he mentions “If you ever need anything, like scalpels, forceps or any other medical instruments, I can get it for you. And it’s practically legal.”

“Oh, thank you.” Poi can’t be bothered feeling bad about the ‘practically legal’ part of what Vegas said, it’s either a joke or just something that comes with being in the mafia.

“You’ll stay for dinner, right?” Pete pops in to ask, his bright smile and colorful apron a stark contrast to the torture room.

“I’d love to.”

“Great! Any allergies or dislikes?”

“No, I’ll eat anything.”

Vegas grins eerily, but Pete shuts him down immediately. “Vegas Theerapanyakul, don’t you dare.” Pete gives him a stern look. “No jokes about human flesh and the blood of your enemies.”

“Fine love, I won’t.” Vegas blows Pete a kiss.

Pete goes back upstairs, mumbling about Vegas being an idiot on his way out.

“Can you believe that, he even went for the full name.”

Poi giggles. “Should we help cook?”

“No, Pete won’t allow anyone else in the kitchen while he’s cooking, he says it makes him feel calm and having other people there ruins it.”

“Alright. Can I ask something?”

“Of course, feel free.”

“Is Macau your son or your brother? Sky might have told me, but I don’t remember”

“Brother. But I did sort of raise him I suppose, I had to keep him safe...our father, much like my cousins’ father, was a garbage person.”

“I see. I’m sorry if that was too personal.”

“Nah kid, you’re part of this family now, and this family likes to share things.”

“I like it, it’s really cool how close you all are.”

“It wasn’t always like this, Rain, and then later Sky, changed all of us a lot, for the better.”

“It’s a shame they aren’t here today, but I’m happy to hang out with you guys anyway.”

“And we’re very happy to have you.”

“Macau said something about sparring, is it true that there’s a huge training space for the guards? He said we could maybe use that.”

“It is true, didn’t he show you yet?”

“No, I asked a couple of times but I feel like maybe he changed his mind about us sparring and just doesn’t want to tell me.”

Vegas rolls his eyes. “My baby-bro can be a little shy sometimes, but I’m sure he would still love to spar with you.” Vegas suddenly looks a lot like the Cheshire cat, grinning almost maniacally.

Poi feels like the whole family knows something he doesn’t. When he talked to Rain about hanging out with Macau, he grinned in a very similar way too. And Poi didn’t forget about Sky teasing him either. But he figures he’ll worry about that later, right now, it’s time for food. They go back upstairs, where dinner is already served and Poi sits down next to Macau.

“You’re such a great cook Pete.”

“Thank you Poi, that’s really nice.”

“Macau, Poi said something about the two of you sparring?” Vegas is grinning again.

Macau looks a little flustered. “Well, yeah, uh…yeah.”

“Maybe you can take advantage of the space being empty most nights, do a little sparring after dinner.”

“Great idea.” Macau sounds a little squeaky.

“If you don’t want to-” Poi is interrupted by Macau.

“I do want to. Definitely."

“Alright.”