Work Text:
“A… what…?” Phainon was in such a shook of what he had heard a moment ago, he snapped his phone away from his ear to stare at it. There was nothing to look at, but that didn’t matter.
“Is there a problem?”
Of course there’s a problem! Phainon and Mydei had known each other ever since they were children. They had told each other their secrets, hung out at the other’s home every other day from elementary to high school, shared most classes together and competed against each other on who can get the highest mark in those class by the end of the year, and used each other as a lie, saying the two of them were dating, to get annoying jocks off their tails when they were persistent on scoring a date with one of them.
They might be rivals, but they were still friends, nonetheless. So, to have Mydei withhold something from him this big was… jarring to say the least.
“No, there isn’t. But…” Phainon had to pause because, again, why did he hide this from him? “You have a date?”
“I do. I don’t need to tell you everything that happens in my life, Deliverer.” Mydei was a step ahead of him, aware of the exact concerns Phainon was worried about.
“I know.” He sighed and pressed his phone back to his ear. “It’s just, that’s a pretty big accomplishment to have in your life, don’t you think?” Even in his head, Phainon could tell he sounded like a sad puppy. It was starting to get pathetic. He couldn’t be caught lacking in front of Mydeimos, so he cleared his throat, sat up straight, and tried to face Mydei like how he had been doing all the years he had known him. “I never expected someone to be able to pull at the heart strings of the great, great Mydeimos.”
“Don’t make a big deal out of it.” At his tone-change, Mydei started to sound irritated.
Phainon laughed, back to their good-old bickering. “I know, I’m only happy for you.” That wasn’t a lie, it had been a long while since Mydei grew interested in someone. Because of that, he couldn’t help but be curious as to who the person that has managed to pull Mydei was. “So, what’s the reason for the date? How long have you two been together?”
“It’ll be our half-year anniversary.”
“Oh? Half-year?” Six months from now is the day Phainon graduated college. “It’ll be your half-year anniversary too?”
“…”
“…”
“Too…”
Damn that glib tongue of his. Amazed at his slip-up, Phainon continued to stay silent on the line.
“Your half-year anniversary is near too.” Again, Phainon kept quiet. Mydei was right on the money. He must’ve taken Phainon’s silent as confirmation because he proceeded with his statement. “You also have a date that you never told me about for six months that falls on the six-month date since you and my girlfriend graduated.”
“Has anyone told you that you’d make a great detective, Mydei?”
“No need to flatter me. I just find it funny how you’re surprised I’ve been hiding something from you when you’ve been doing the same.”
“My apologies, Mydeimos.” Now, Phainon was the one that felt bad about the whole situation. He doubted Mydei felt bad to begin with, but still, the feeling of being a hypocrite was starting to weigh on him. “My partner wanted to keep our relationship secret for some time now.”
“No need for an apology. Mine is the exact same.”
How amusing. “Our partners seem like very similar people. Are we perhaps dating the same person?”
“Don’t make jokes like that, HKS.” There was a bite Mydei put into his words, one that Phainon could feel through the phone. “If your partner were here, I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate whatever you just said. Also, my girlfriend would never date the likes of you.”
Phainon couldn’t help but laugh. Mydei acted so serious when he jokes around. Their bickering has been happening for ages, but it never failed to entertain him. “You’re right, you’re right, it was just in jest. He would certainly chew my ear off if he did hear that. We aren’t dating the same person, you confirmed a moment ago, for I am dating a man.”
“I see.”
There was silence on the line once again. It let Phainon think for a moment.
Mydei with a girlfriend? What’s that like? Although he did have a past lover. Phainon never saw what Mydei was like with them. With this new revelation between them, why not use it to his advantage, satisfying his curiosity, along with having a great time with friends and a loved one!
“Mydei, I have an idea.”
He heard Mydei sigh. He knew Mydei thought he was up to no good, but he swears this was different! “What is it?”
“If our partners agree to it, why don’t we have a double date?”
Phainon heard a hmph and felt a piercing glare shoot him right through the head. “We were perfectly fine going on our date on our own, what makes you think this idea of yours is a good one?”
As suspected, Mydei was skeptical. He couldn’t disagree with Mydei’s reasoning, but he thought this was the perfect chance. For his good friend to meet his boyfriend, Phainon was giddy just thinking about. That giddiness made him laugh again and he couldn’t help but smile to himself. “Come now, Mydeimos. I talk quite a bit about you to my partner and I’m sure he’s heard his ear off about it.” Their competitions, their rivalries, their childhood; Phainon would yap about it all to him, and despite his annoyed face, he would listen every time. “Even though he may not look like it, I know he’s curious to meet you in person. If you’re the same, then I’m assume your girlfriend would appreciate it as well.”
Another hmph. “You’re not wrong. She laughs at the idiotic things I tell her you do.”
“Then is it a date?” He didn’t get an answer yet, but Phainon stood up and was ready to write down the date in his calendar. “It’s been a while since we last saw each other as well.”
For the final time that day, he heard Mydei sigh. There was some shuffling on the other line and then footsteps. “Fine, but don’t make a fool out of yourself, Deliverer. Spare your boyfriend I the embarrassment of your antics.”
“On it, Mydeimos! Thank you for your time today. I have nothing else to share with you at this moment. I will see you then.”
“Castorice!?” “Castorice.” “Professor Anaxa?!”
It was Phainon, Anaxa, and… Castorice who spoke over each other.
Phainon was shocked, but not so much at the fact that it was Castorice that was able to pull Mydei. Moreso the fact that he never knew about it.
Phainon, Mydei, and Castorice were a part of a close friend group, each knowing each other at least on a personal level. His relationship with Mydei was obvious to those around them, but him and Castorice? Much to some surprise, the two of them were closer than most would think. Back in college at the Grove, both shared more classes than they didn’t. And in every one of these classes, they sat either next to or across each other. They would talk about not just the class material, but meaningless conversation as well as their own personal life. Phainon would rank Castorice second in the-person-he-is-most-closest-to in the friend group.
“It seems we’re all familiar with each other.”
Mydei snapped Phainon out of his train of thought and made him remember his personal mission: to introduce Mydei to the man he’s been boasting about after all these years.
“Of course. In college, Castorice and I shared Anaxa’s classes together.” To further emphasize his point, he put an arm around Anaxa’s shoulders and pulled him in closer.
Mydei scoffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, judgement clear in his figure. “So, you really did end up with that professor of yours?”
Phainon laughed. He knew Mydei was sick and tired of hearing Phainon rave about this professor of his. Maybe if Anaxa wasn’t so great, Phainon wouldn’t have said anything at all. “I won big, didn’t I? I asked him out after I graduated.”
“Right after he graduated.” Just like Mydei, Anaxa also crossed his arms and Phainon could feel a similar, yet different sort of judgement coming out of him. “Hence this day being our half-year anniversary. I see, though, that you and Castorice share a similar predicament.”
“Mm.” A simple nod was all Mydei gave to that. “I confessed to her after her graduation. I did not want a relationship to get in the way of her studies.”
Castorice stood next to him and giggled at his response, moving a hand to cover her mouth. “And I appreciate you for that, Mydei.” Once she dropped her hand, she looked up at Phainon and started speaking to him. “But Phainon, I did not expect you to be in a relationship with Professor Anaxa.”
Phainon was about to comment back before someone beat it to him. “Do you have an issue with that, Castorice? Also, you may no longer be a student in the Grove, but that does not mean you get to do as you please and call me ‘Anaxa’. It’s Anaxagoras.”
Castorice flushed as she shook her head and waved her hands in front of her. “No, not at all! I apologize if I came off as rude just now, Professor… Anaxa… It’s just, I never expected someone like you to be in a romantic relationship.”
“You’d be surprised about a lot of things with Anaxa, Castorice.” Talking about Anaxa always made him giddy, so Phainon pulled him in even closer. “And I’m surprised you find it surprising. All our friends told me how obvious my… crush on Anaxa was.” Saying it out loud, Phainon started to feel embarrassed. He used his free hand to scratch at the back of his neck as he diverts his gaze to the side Anaxa wasn’t standing on.
Castorice giggled once more, this time closer to a laugh with her eyes closing as she smiled. “I’m surprised by Anaxa, not you, Phainon.” When she opened her eyes, she looked back up at Phainon and softened her expression. “Our friends were right, you were head-over-heels over him, it was very endearing.”
Anaxa was quick to scoff at that. “More like pathetic.” He seemed critical of Phainon’s past feats, but he didn’t attempt to move away from Phainon’s one-arm embrace. “Every time I reject one of his advances due to our status as teacher and student, he looked like a sad puppy that got kicked to the curb.”
“I was hurt by it!” Phainon could feel the imaginary dog ears on the top of his head flop down. He pouted and this time, pulled Anaxa into a full hug, hugging him from behind. Like this, Phainon snuggled his chin on the top of his head. “Almost so, I didn’t think I had a chance with you by the time graduation came. I almost didn’t confess to you!”
Anaxa flinched as he relaxed onto him. He knew Anaxa wasn’t the fondest of PDA, but when he didn’t feel any push-back, Phainon decided to test his luck. To ease him into the situation, Phainon moved his hands to Anaxa’s shoulders and started to caress them, encouraging him to relax alongside him. That seemed to do the trick, and he felt Anaxa’s shoulders settle down as he exhaled. “But you did, and now we’re here. So, stop worrying about it.”
On the Gods above, Anaxa was way too cute. He didn’t know what Anaxa did in that moment that made Phainon grew so fond, but he couldn’t help the notion. After a small laugh came out of his mouth, he moved one hand to hook his finger and thumb around Anaxa’s chin. “You’re right. And I thank you for that.”
Before any sense of Anaxa-will-kill-him-if-he-continues could hit him, Phainon turned his head to face him, and he leaned down to seal their lips together.
He felt Anaxa jump in his skin as he gasped into Phainon’s mouth. He expected Anaxa to push him back the moment he noticed Phainon lean in, however, the contrary happened, and the kiss lingered far longer than Phainon could have ever imagined. It gave him time to think again as Anaxa melted into his lips (to his astonishment!).
His lips were amazing as always. Though, nothing has changed since the last time they did this; his lips were soft, supple, and everything Phainon loved about Anaxa. And even with his distaste in PDA, Anaxa went along with Phainon’s antics. It made him want to indulge even more in the moment they shared together.
Phainon knew Mydei and Castorice were watching them. And rather than be shy and embarrassed about the whole thing, he felt prideful at the prize he had scored. The adrenaline was starting to rush to his head however, which caused Phainon to be even bolder with his moves as he moved his hand to place it on the back of Anaxa’s neck to further push him into his mouth.
It was then that made Anaxa push him away. “You idiot…!” He stumbled out of Phainon’s grasp a few feet away and looked up to glare at him with his eye. He was flushed, but Phainon could tell it was more so over embarrassment than annoyance. “There are people right in front of us!”
But you kissed back! Phainon wanted to retort, but he, too, was also dazed by the whole thing. He looked over to Mydei and Castorice to check up on them, but all he got from that was both of their impassive faces. Now he was embarrassed. He felt heat rise to his face and turned back to Anaxa to share their embarrassment together. “Sorry, sorry, I couldn’t help it, you’re too cute, Anaxa!”
“Say sorry to them, not me. You’re making a complete fool out of yourself.”
“No need to worry about that.” Mydei stepped forward, making his presence known. “We all already know how much of an idiot the Deliverer is.”
Phainon… had nothing else to say to that. He looked at all three faces around him and realized that none of them had anything new to say either. For the sake of him and Anaxa, it would be best to move on from this situation. They had a double date to attend to!
He took a second to relax. Any tension that he put onto himself, he tried to wash it out with one breath in and one breath out. He looked over at Anaxa to check if he was fairing any better.
Anaxa looked composed, as if the last 10 seconds of their public intimacy had never happened. When their eyes met, all Anaxa did was tilt his head to the side. The motion was small; small enough for Mydei and Castorice not to notice any change in his person. But it far slipped Phainon’s mind. Anaxa’s eye settling on his own, the smallest head movement, and eyebrows raised up more than usual: he was asking Phainon a question. Are you alright?
Whether Anaxa was asking out of concern or out of not-knowing-what-the-hell-Phainon-was-up-to, Phainon didn’t know. But it didn’t matter because Anaxa’s expression was adorable. Phainon felt the heat rush back to his face. Not again…! He didn’t want to grow red once more, so, to ease the feeling, he reached out and grabbed Anaxa’s hand, interlocking their fingers and pulling him over to walk by his side.
Anaxa hummed in approval and let himself be pulled in. “I suppose this is your way of telling us to get on with it?”
“… Yeah…” Phainon massaged Anaxa’s hand with his thumb and faced the three to each give them a smile. When his gaze landed on Mydei’s, he nodded in his direction, and he got a nod back. Mydei got his message and reached out as well to hold Castorice’s hand.
“Let’s not waste anymore time. Castorice, Anaxa, leave it to Phainon and I to treat the two of you. And Deliverer…” The blaze in Mydei’s eyes ignited as they stared into each other’s eyes. Phainon felt the flame catch onto his own and a smirk planted both their faces at the same time. “Why don’t we, out of the two of us, see who can please our partner the most?”
It wasn’t like their other rivalries in the past weren’t worth investing in, but this one was different. A competition for Anaxa’s pleasure? Mydei must be out of his mind to even think about challenging him on something like this. “Bring it on, Mydei! But you’ll soon regret ever challenging me on a matter where Anaxa’s brought onto the line.”