Work Text:
Trin wakes up to the sound of his shower running.
He’s in bed, wearing only his pyjama pants.
Blearily Trin reaches for the space beside him and finds nothing but warm cotton sheets. Rolling over, he squints as the blue light from his clock blinks back at him: 4:12 AM. Too early to be awake on a Saturday but too late to go back to sleep because his internal body clock has fucked him over long before he even became a lawyer.
Trin fishes his tablet out from the bedside table instead. He’d been reading about precedent cases concerning International Hybrid Rights last night — particularly about the appeal of Astrid Bruun, a Belgian Malinois hybrid in Denmark whose request to take the exams required to become a medically licensed doctor eventually reached the Supreme Court. The ruling agreed with Ms. Bruun’s legal team, who had proven that she was of sound mind and in possession of all her reasoning faculties to take the licensure exam and even cited her hybrid traits as an advantage in the field she was intending to pursue.
Over two decades after the landmark ruling, Ms. Bruun is now one of the most recognized oncologists in the world. Trin knows this because he was in the middle of watching an interview where Ms. Bruun talked about the initial discrimination she’d had to deal with, her favorite patients, and even how she met her current partner who was fully human.
Really, Trin would know more if he didn’t get distracted. But it has been an extremely long week and—
“Au! Did I wake you?” Tanwa peeks from the bathroom, hair still mostly wet and the rounded ears atop his head twitching to flick away droplets of water. The shirt he’s wearing is so familiar Trin can recognize it even if the first four buttons are undone and the fit is slightly looser on his frame.
Well.
Let’s just say some temptations are harder to resist when one isn’t thinking straight.
“You’re getting the collar wet,” Trin stifles a yawn as he places the tablet atop the bedside table before walking over to Tanwa. His fingers touch the previously crisp collar which he’d ironed himself and Trin pulls away with a huff. The collar isn’t wet just yet, but it’s already damp.
Tanwa just smiles at him, all dimples out — including the ones high up on the apples of his cheeks.
Damn. It is too early for Trin to think about what that is currently doing to his pulse.
“Come with me,” Trin exhales, looking at Tanwa like he's hopeless before wrapping a hand around his wrist and leading both of them back into the bathroom. “There’s a fresh batch of towels in one of the bathroom cabinets.”
Trin finds what he’s looking for easily enough: a pile of white, fluffy bath towels that are too small for him to use daily. He doesn’t even think twice before he picks one up and starts running it through Tanwa's hair. The corners of his lips turn up at that — he’d bought the right size, then.
“Oh, those are new,” Tanwa pipes up before closing his eyes and leaning into Trin’s touch. “Behind the ears, please.”
“Yes, I got them for—” Trin agrees before his treacherous, sleep-fogged brain finally catches up to what his body has been doing. He freezes. A few beats pass before he finally clears his throat, handing the towel over to Tanwa. “Emergencies.”
“Right,” Tanwa agrees easily, beaming in a way that makes Trin want to run away from his own room. He has no problem drying his hair by himself, though something has to be said about the way he shakes his head — like he’s a dog — every so often sends water droplets flying into Trin’s face.
It should be annoying.
Instead, Trin finds himself fighting to tear his gaze away from Tanwa. That’s how he lands on the pale expanse of chest on display in front of him. With Tanwa leaving the first four buttons of his shirt undone, Trin is treated to clear porcelain skin marked only by a splotch of color — the beginnings of a bruise.
A hickey, some twisted part of Trin’s brain supplies with delight. It’s on Tanwa’s chest, right beside a mole Trin shouldn’t know about. He isn’t proud of it, but he can't help but let his gaze linger either. Unfortunately, Trin has an amazing memory and he has no problem recalling how he’d left a few more hidden beneath the fabric just last night.
“What?” Tanwa hums, growing still as soon as he feels Trin staring. He raises a brow, somehow finding the perfect, annoying balance between cute and suggestive. “Are you feeling like finishing what you started, Trin?”
Trin swallows around the lump in his throat.
Tanwa is beautiful.
He is also very off limits for the time being.
At least until the hybrid equality and emancipation bills they’re working tirelessly on are finally passed. It’s not like dating would be considered ethically wrong — Tanwa is an informant, not a client and Trin is rendering his services as a volunteer pro bono anyway — but any bill that aims to shake the status quo is always met with pushback.
The reality is public opinion can sway whether a bill passes into law or not. The moment they submit this bill to congress, Krailert will be under intense scrutiny. As will his immediate family and those who work close to him.
Objectively, it’s best to keep everything professional for now.
Now whether or not Trin can actually stay objective is a different matter altogether.
“Hey, don’t look so grumpy,” Tanwa soothes as he takes a step closer. “Sorry I woke you up.”
“No, don’t apologize,” Trin replies as he takes a step back. “This is on me for having that cup of coffee before bed. I’ll be fine as soon as I have some breakfast.”
“All I'm hearing is I could have done a better job helping you get that extra energy out of your system,” Tanwa pouts.
This is exactly the problem.
Just minutes ago Trin was on his tablet, completely focused on picking up where he left off regarding Ms. Bruun’s case. Now, he’s desperately trying not to recall even more of the activities he and Tanwa have been getting up to recently.
Of course, his brain’s immediate solution to this issue is to contemplate on weighing the pros and cons of inviting Tanwa out for breakfast.
Pro #1: Having Tanwa around always does wonders for his mood.
This is proven at this point. Ever since Tanwa crashed into Trin and sent the briefcase of confidential paperwork Krailert had entrusted to him flying into the Grand Paradiso’s pool, Trin had grown more confident at handling perceived failures.
Con #1: The hybrid initiative is Krailert’s. It would be selfish of Trin to risk it all just because he can’t keep his libido in check.
Even worse, Krailert is also actively committing illegal — though technically moral — acts just to keep as many hybrids out of harm's way as possible. If anything goes wrong, it’s Krailert’s reputation and license to practice law on the line. The goal to secure equal rights for hybrids and give them options to live independently, without needing oversight or control from any human, should be the top priority.
Pro #2: Grabbing breakfast together doesn't have to mean anything.
Tanwa is a popular guy. Of course he is — he’s the vocalist and lead guitarist of Moonshine and they’ve been growing increasingly popular after the princess herself recommended their entire discography on her podcast over half a year ago. Their albums have performed so well since then that the possibility of winning a few awards at the end of the year isn’t a pipe dream anymore.
It’s not uncommon for people to want to hangout with Tanwa. Trin thinks as long as he breaks the worrying habit of falling into bed with the guy they should be fine being seen in public once.
Con #2: Tanwa is an exception, not the rule.
Whether he likes it or not, Tanwa does benefit from being Padoem Chatbodhi’s son. No other hybrid can wander through Bangkok without being checked. It’s what makes him invaluable to their operations. Tanwa, purely because of his surname and his notoriously unpredictable demeanor, can stroll into high-risk situations with no questions asked.
Of course, being related to one of the staunchest critics of the hybrid rights movement does come with some caveats. For example, Tanwa is a textbook reflection of the complexities of human-hybrid genetics. Science says that neither his parents manifested as hybrids but there had to be recessive genes in both bloodlines for his hybrid traits to manifest. Padoem vehemently denies this and instead insists that Tanwa's late mom had corrective surgeries done to pass as human. Given his influence, he has consistently pulled some strings to reiterate this narrative and some misinformed individuals believe his lies to this day.
Really, Tanwa's family ties alone should account for ten reasons on the list of cons.
Trin must truly lose himself in his thoughts because he does not see Tanwa close the space between them until there’s a brief kiss pressed against his lips and a lion hybrid nuzzling at his cheek.
“Keep looking stressed like that even if you've just woken up and I'll have no choice but to invite myself to stay overnight more often,” Tanwa purrs like he’s a damn house cat. “I can't have my favorite human overthinking himself to an early grave.”
Silence.
Trin…doesn’t really have anything to say to that.
Tanwa laughs, too bright and too light as he pulls away then nudges their shoulders against each other. “Don't look so serious! I was just joking.”
Pro #3 / Con #3: Trin really likes Tanwa's smile.
The real one, not the one he uses as a shield that Trin is witnessing right now.
Trin hates this smile.
“How about breakfast?”
Tanwa blinks.
“I'm grumpy by default in the mornings. Get some food and a cup of coffee in me and I'm much better, though,” Trin continues. “Let’s go out for breakfast. Will that ease your mind?”
The smile on Tanwa’s face is genuine as he plants a kiss on Trin’s cheek. “Sounds like a plan.”
Then, because Tanwa has never been someone who Trin would consider as even remotely predictable, he tackles Trin until they land unceremoniously on the mattress.
“There's still a few hours before breakfast, though,” Tanwa muses, gaze locked on Trin and looking every bit of the predator hybrid he actually is as he crawls up the bed. He stops just as their hips align. “I know a good way to pass the time.”
“You just took a bath,” Trin argues.
“So?” Tanwa laughs, already trailing hot kisses up Trin’s bare chest. “Make another mess with me and clean me up after.”
As if adding insult to injury, Tanwa meows.
Trin groans but it doesn't stop him from flipping them both over and pinning Tanwa to the mattress.
Con #4: Trin isn't sure how much longer he can keep things casual.