Work Text:
"Naaaa Hia Peem…" Q watched as Toey made a pout next to Peem that gave him mixed emotions. On one hand he wanted to pinch Toey's cheeks to make him stop, on the other, he wanted to bite it. "Can you make me cup noodles?”
Peem scoffed but was smiling anyway as he gently placed another cresting wave onto his painting. “Did you skip lunch again today?”
Q frowned as Toey nodded vigorously. “I had to meet a deadline for the professor and I worked through lunch.”
“I thought I told you not to do that again,” Q said without looking away from his work. Toey deflated even further and Q moved more towards pinching than biting. “Your deadline is not the day to start.”
"Phi Q, I tried really hard this time!"
"Did you?" Q's brush strokes took on a slightly aggressive motion despite the delicate ballerina he was painting mid jump. "I saw you bothering Phum and Beer yesterday for snacks. The day before that it was P'Fong. And Chain was just telling me that you were asking him to drive you to the mall last weekend."
Peem's smile changed. "Is the problem N'Toey's work ethic or N'Toey asking everyone but you for things?"
Q shot Peem some side eye. “Your shitty work habits have rubbed off on my mentee.”
"But surely you can forgive your mentee because he's your boyfriend?"
"You've gotten really cocky," Q said before throwing his brush into some paint thinner. "I need to talk to your boyfriend."
Peem opened his mouth to object but stopped as Toey carefully latched on to Q's arm. "Phi Q, don't be upset. Milk Frappe Boy doesn't want to stress out Pencil Senior with lots of little things." Peem shook his head and walked off to leave Toey and Q alone, giving Toey a little wave which was met with a wink.
"You're trying to be cute to make me less upset."
"Is it working?" Q reached up and messed up Toey's hair. "Phi!"
"I'm your boyfriend, N'Toey," Q said before settling down and sorting out Toey's hair. "You can bother me with little things. Don't keep letting the others spoil you rotten." Q punctuated this with a pinch to Toey's cheek.
Toey rubbed his face into Q's shoulder as soon as the older boy let go. "Is that Phi Q's job?"
"It's certainly not Phum or Peem's job."
"Other people might do things for me, but only Phi Q loves me," Toey said as he leaned against Q's shoulder, feeling the senior relax. "Just like the song you sang at the bar the other day."
"Paying attention were you?"
"I always pay attention to Phi Q's songs!" Toey looked up at Q with sparkling eyes. "Maybe you didn't mean it quite fully at that time, but the song gave me hope that Phi Q might like me back one day. "
Q huffed and resumed his painting. “You're such a lucky brat.”
"I'm super lucky! I managed to get my Phi Q and Pencil Senior in one."
"Are you both done being cute," Peem asked from the hallway. "I went and got drinks and came back already."
"Don't act like that smudge on your neck is paint and not a hickey," Q said after a short glance, but did not dislodge Toey or stop Peem from entering the painting room. Toey only smiled and made grabby hands at Peem to encourage the release of the milk frappe from Peem's bag into his possession.