Chapter Text
Mhok stood in front of a building that he never knew existed. He had walked past this building many times before and had never taken any notice.
Shining Society for the Blind.
“Porjai, why am I here?” He really should ask more questions before agreeing to go anywhere with her if these were the kind of places she was dragging him.
Observing the sign on the door a feeling of dread crashed over him.
Blind Speed Dating.
What did that even mean? Isn’t that term disrespectful?
He scanned the poster briefly. Blindfolded? He was meant to be blindfolded?
Is this really how he was spending his Saturday evening?
Mhok glanced warily between Porjai and the entrance to the building. Could he sneak away while she was distracted?
“Don’t even think about leaving. We both need to try something different, branch out.”
“I have better things to be doingꟷ”
“Mhok, please. At least just try. I’m worried about you. This path you’ve chosen for yourself is leading you nowhere good.”
Mhok folded his arms over his chest defensively. “It’s not like that.”
“You don’t need to put up a front with me. I know you.” Mhok shifted his eyes away from Porjai’s knowing gaze. “Quit complaining. You’re coming with me There's nothing you can say that will get you out of this.” Reaching for his hand, she forcefully dragged him into the building.
After signing in they were each blindfolded and guided to their assigned seats. He was unable to tell whereabouts in the room Porjai had been placed. He was in an unfamiliar environment, completely out of his element.
Unsure of what to do. He felt the anxiety creeping up on him.
Mhok fiddled with the leather bracelets around his left wrist anxiously. He could feel his heart rate increase at the thought of being in a vulnerable position where one of his senses had been taken away.
He was completely out of his comfort zone. Unable to see his surroundings, in an unfamiliar location surrounded by strangers.
Reaching up and to feel the edge of the blindfold, wanting to rip it off, but knew he should at least respect the rules. He sighed, dropping his hands to his lap while he waited for the event to start.
His senses were heightened, every sound was amplified, he could hear the shuffling of feet as people were directed to their tables. Mhok could hear the seat across from him drag across the ground, the air shifted as someone sat down then adjusting in their chair to bring it closer to the table.
He felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, he clenched his hands into fists, trying to slow his breathing.
“I think that’s everyone. Welcome to The Shining Society for the Blind. Tonight is Speed Dating. This may be a little different to what you are used to. The blindfolds are to have everyone on equal footing. You may make a new friend or there may be potential for something more. You are not required to exchange details with someone after the event. But we’d like you to keep an open mind about meeting someone new.”
“The rules are simple.” Another voice chimed from the front of the room. “You are not allowed to give any information about your age or appearance during the event. Enjoy the company of those around you. Have fun!”
Voices in the room picked up as the event officially started.
Was he meant to start talking?
Where did he start?
“Sawasdee, my name is Sun. I haven’t done this sort of thing before. What sort of questions am I supposed to ask you? I don’tꟷ Oh I knowꟷ What was the last book you read.” A light masculine rambled, Mhok had to focus to keep track of what they were saying, words all melding together making them harder to distinguish.
At least he wasn’t the only one who seemed nervous and out of place
“Sawasdeeꟷ Uh my name is Mhok. I don’t read. Not to say I can’t. I just don’tꟷ”
Mhok shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He felt as if every pair of eyes was staring at him, which he knew wasn’t true, but he felt unsettled.
Was it his turn to ask a question? What did he really want to know about a stranger he’d likely never hear from again. Porjai should have given him some warning, even just a little bit of time to prepare.
“Uhꟷ What do you like to do in your spare time?” He wasn’t good at small talk. Never had been, but that much was obvious by the crowd he usually hung out with. Their conversations had never even been genuine, they were just his drinking buddies he spent some of his time with.
They tended to just drink, smoke, or for something else to do they bet on sporting matches for whatever game they could find.
Or on the extreme side of things; his ‘friends’ would anger someone or another and they would get into brawls.
It happened more often than he'd care to admit.
Most nights would end in either him stumbling home drunk or tending to his own wounds.
There was no in-between.
He’d come home with more split lips and bruised ribs than he’d care to count.
A sinking feeling crashed over him.
Besides Porjai did he have any real friends?
The ‘friends’ he usually hung out with were a complicated crowd. They were reliable to a certain extent. He could rely on them for company when he wanted to drink, but anything more than that, he’d look somewhere else.
It was hard making friends at his age, but he knew deep down that his ‘friends’ were just dragging him down with them.
He didn’t always listen to Porjai, but was she right? Were his ‘friends’ just dragging him down a self-destructive path?
Mhok liked to think he was reasonable. But he did tend to have a short fuse.
He was just protective. It just came out at the least inopportune times.
Those times it had come close to the police being called.
And he couldn’t afford to have a criminal record. He could lose his job if he set a toe out of line.
Even with his job as an auto mechanic he was struggling to get by as it was.
Maybe it was best to cut ties with them and start fresh.
Sun broke Mhok out of his inner turmoil, “Ohꟷ I like to draw. I might not be very good at it. But it’s something I enjoy.”
Mhok had times for dwell on his life choices later.
_
He had lost count of how many people he had spoken to in the last couple of hours.
They all seemed to blur together. Every conversation was a repeat of the last one. Introduce self. Asking mundane questions about hobbies, what genre of music do you like the most, favourite movie and so on and so forth.
They were the same questions just asked by a different person.
He just wanted someone to come along and surprise him
Mhok didn’t think he was that picky when it came to partners. Gender didn’t hugely matter to him. To be fair he had only dated women, but he was open to having a relationship with a man.
One of the most important things to him was at least getting along with his significant other, there was no use dating someone if he didn’t like them.
Mhok hadn’t found anyone at this event that he would be open to spending more time with.
There was no one he fully clicked with.
Whatever that meant.
“Sawasdee, my name is Porjai. What is yourꟷ”
Mhok perked up at the familiar voice. “Porjai, it’s Mhok.”
“Oh, it’s about time I got paired up with you. I want to tell you about someone I jusꟷ.”
“Porjaiꟷ”
“Met. Can you stop interrupting me, Mhok. His name is Night. He dragged his brother here. Seems his brother needed to get out of the house. Meet some new people. Then Night got roped into joining the event.”
Dragged like he was?
Was the brother just as reluctant to be here?
“He’s not another Keng is he?”
“Mhokꟷ I thought we agreed not to bring him up again. But noꟷ He’s nothing like Keng. Night makes me laugh, he’s calmer than Keng, sweeter. I think Night would be a good fit for me.”
“You can do better than, Keng. Hell, I wasn’t that much better than Kengꟷ”
“Mhok, you are nothing like Keng. I know you think you’re a bad person, but you’re not.”
Porjai fumbled for Mhok’s hand, squeezing it gently. “You’ve just made some questionable choices yes. And anyway, you and I were just not right for each other. At least we found that out quickly. We are definitely better off as friends. That was always going to be the better choice for us”
“Oi, you just told me off for interrupting you. But I get what you mean. I appreciate your friendship, more than I ever did as your romantic partner. And even that was short lived.” Their time together was brief, after he had realized his feelings leant more towards best friend territory, and any romantic attachment faded.
He enjoyed being able to tease her like this, he wasn't comfortable enough with his drinking buddies to be able to playfully tease them.
“Mhokꟷ”
“Hey! Maybe I can marry your potential’s brother then we’d be in laws.” Mhok joked, nudging Porjai’s foot under the table.
Porjai had to smile at that. “That’ll be the day.”
_
The table shifted when someone kicked the table
“Shit.”
Mhok reached out uselessly. “Are you ok?”
The person was guided into the seat after their stumble. “Sorry about that. Not used to having restricted vision like this.”
“I get it. I feel restless. Like I can feel eyes on me even though I know almost everyone in this room is blindfolded.”
The man coughed awkwardly. “Uhꟷ I’m Night. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Oh, you’re Night. Porjai was just telling me about you.” He could feel an involuntary grin tug at his lips.
Not that Night could see it.
“You know Porjai?” Night’s voice softened, becoming fond.
“She’s my best friend. Porjai is the one who dragged me here.”
“What did she say about me?” Mhok could hear Night shifting in his seat, had Night leaned closer to Mhok?
Mhok was wary after everything that had gone down with Keng.
Keng had seemed trustworthy at first. He had adored Porjai, but Mhok had found Keng was straying with a younger woman.
Mhok didn’t want to be the one to break her heart, but he had to tell her.
Now Mhok didn’t know whose intentions he could trust.
But even with his restricted vision he could tell Night was genuinely interested.
But was that a front?
Would he eventually show his true colours like Keng had?
“She didn’t say too much, but I’ve known her long enough to know what was implied.”
There was a lull in the conversation while Night processed the information Mhok had just given him.
“Do you think I’d have a chance?”
“That’s not for me to say. I can’t speak for her. She’d hit me if I did. But I will say this; you have a better chance than anyone in this room.”
Night went silent, Mhok waited a few moments before continuing his train of thought. “She did say something that piqued my interest though. I heard from her that you have a brother.”
Mhok heard Night choke out a startled laugh. “Well, that’s one way to get a reaction out of me. I wasn’t expecting you to say that. Are you interested in Day?”
“Oh, is that his name? I haven’t met him yet. It was a joke I made about marrying your brother so Porjai and I could be in laws.”
“Day can be handful.”
“Maybe I like that in a man.” Mhok teased, he hadn’t had this much fun in a while. He may not be interested in Night romantically; he’d leave that to Porjai.
But he could definitely see them becoming friends.
“I wish you luck then. Day can beꟷ Picky?”
“He has standards is what you’re saying? I’m looking forward to meeting him. He sounds like he’d keep me on my toes.”
Night seemed like he was about to say something else, but they were interrupted by the buzzing that told them it was time to move on.
_
After meeting with Night there had been a lull in the conversations he’d had with people. He wasn’t as eager anymore.
To be fair, he wasn’t any better at coming up with original questions he could ask people.
It all started off as a joke, but he had his heart set on meeting Day.
He kept thinking about what he’d say to Day when he finally met him.
What if Day wasn’t actually that interesting? What if he had hyped Day up in his mind, that his imagination was better than reality.
Mhok was waiting anxiously for the next person to be seated across from him. There couldn’t be too many people left to meet. It was coming to the end of the night, and he hadn’t come across Day yet.
He heard the chair across from him shift slightly as someone sat down.
Could this finally be Day?
“Sawasdee, my name is Cherry.” Mhok could feel himself deflate.
That was rude.
It wasn’t their fault that he was finally expecting to meet Day
“My name is Mhok.”
_
“Nice to meet you my name is Kaiꟷ”
_
“Sawasdee, I’m Peach.
Was the world just messing with him?
_
“My name is Tai. If you were an animal, what would it be?”
_
“The name is Chan. How do you unwind after a long day?”
_
“Could a vampire policeman enter a house if they had a warrant?”
What? That’s a new one. What happened to questions about hobbies? Or his favourite colour? Sure, he hadn’t had those specific questions in a while, but with every new person he began to expect them.
He was getting a bit bored of answering the same questions
“Did you really just ask me about vampire policemen?” This was a nice change, but it was still an odd question to ask at a speed dating event.
“It’s a valid question. You don’t know if there could be vampires in our midst. Aren’t vampires allowed employment?”
Mhok had to laugh at that, he felt himself relaxing into his chair. “Ok, ok. I’ll take the question seriously. It all depends I guess. They still have to be invited in; the warrant doesn’t automatically give them access to the property.”
“Hmmm. I see your point. It would also depend on homeownership. Is the homeowner the only one allowed to give permission? What about people who rent? Can they just say they aren’t the homeowner and close the door on them?”
“Would you really close the door on a vampire policeman? He could decide that he’ll just drink your blood to get you out of their way.”
“You know you are the only person who has indulged me with this question. Everyone else has changed the subject. And that includes my brother.”
Brother?
Was he finally meeting Day?
Mhok could feel his heartrate increase in anticipation.
He couldn’t get ahead of himself. It could just be another person at the event who came with a sibling.
“Not that I don’t love talking to you about vampires, butꟷ I would at least like the chance to introduce myself. My name is Mhok.”
“Oh? Did I forget to introduce myself? I guess I was too eager to get your opinion on vampire policemen. It’s Dayꟷ My name that is. My name is Day.”
Finally.