Work Text:
"How dare they choose someone else's photos over yours?" Thee raved, pacing back and forth in the sunroom.
Peach hummed and lifted the lid of the tea pot on the table before him. The scent of chamomile, spearmint, and lavender, with a slight underlying musk from valerian root, wafted out. Nodding, Peach removed the mesh container holding the tea leaves and set it aside, then poured a cup of tea. The whole time, his husband huffed and puffed and glared at everything, including a falling leaf outside.
Lifting the cup, Peach intercepted Thee's path. A gentle hand on the shoulder stopped Thee in his tracks. The mafioso dropped his furious expression the second his eyes landed on Peach. "Thank you," he said in a soft voice. He immediately took a sip and then winced.
"It's hot," Peach warned too late, on a huff of laughter.
Thee waved it off and, as if daring the beverage to burn him again, took another sip. It burned him again. Peach shook his head fondly and returned to his seat at the table. With the willfulness of a lakorn character scorned, Thee finished the entire cup of tea and then threw himself into the chair across from Peach to pour himself some more.
"That charlatan clearly paid for his victory, and those crooks accepted the pay off," he continued to grumble, even as he added a small amount of honey to his second cup and stirred it in. "If they can't tell how superior your skill is, they shouldn't even have eyes. Clearly, they aren't using them."
"That's a bit much," Peach said calmly, relaxing into the cushion along the back of his chair as he watched Thee blow on his tea.
Thee still winced after taking a sip but kept going. Anger could power him through the pain of a burnt mouth, it seemed. Or maybe it was stoking the fire. But it wouldn't last long. Peach knew how fast Thee guzzled tea when upset—especially when Peach provided it—and how quickly Thee's body reacted to valerian root. Besides which, the warm liquid should calm Thee down on its own, as it put of the flames of indignation from Peach coming in second place at a competition. A nice nap and Thee would give up all thoughts of revenge for Peach not winning first place.
After finishing that cup of tea, Thee immediately poured a third. If Peach didn't stop him, he might down the whole pot. So, when Thee finished pouring, Peach calmly moved the pot to the far end of the table. Thee was so laser focused on his cup that he didn't even seem to notice.
One sip of the new cup—and one more wince Thee powered through like it was his life's mission—and then Thee declared, "They don't deserve to look at your photos, let alone judge a contest. I'll have them blacklisted from every institute of photography in Thailand."
That was already a step down from removing their eyeballs. Progress.
"Tempting, but let's not," Peach said, clasping his hands on the tabletop. "It was only second place."
"Exactly! There's nothing only about your photography," Thee grumbled, gesturing wildly with his teacup but not spilling a drop. "They should be grateful they even get to view your work." He took another sip. "This is very good tea. What's in it?"
This wasn't the first time Thee had used this blend to sleep better. But he was terrible at remembering the difference between teas. Like the food the chefs prepared for them at each meal, he just ate it and said whether it was good or not, not really aware of which ingredients gave it which flavors.
Peach leaned forward and looked up at Thee through his bangs. "Chamomile, spearmint, lavender," he said. Thee nodded and took a sip. "And valerian root."
Thee didn't spit the tea out, but it was a near thing. Instead, he swallowed like he was swallowing a bug, then cast Peach a wounded look. "Lookpeach," he whined like a sad puppy.
Peach shrugged and sat upright again. "You were more upset about the results than I was, and I knew this would help calm you down."
"I'm going to fall asleep," Thee complained, setting the cup on the table and giving it a look as if it had personally offended him.
He mumbled something but Peach didn't catch what it was. "Huh?" he asked.
With a great, heaving sigh, Thee said, "I don't get to cuddle you when I drink this tea."
Now Peach didn't withhold his laugh, even though it made Thee pout. A pout for missed cuddles was even better than stepping back from eye mutilation. Thee would be asleep within fifteen minutes.
Getting up, Peach rounded the small table. He put his hands on the arms of Thee's chair and leaned in so that he was looming over the man. Then he gave a relaxed smile.
"I'll make sure to make you the little spoon when I join you later, after my work call, okay, P'Kian?" he said.
Most times, Thee liked being the big spoon, the protector. But sometimes, when he was especially tired or not feeling well, Thee just wanted to be held and treated like he was precious.
It was Thee's turn to look at Peach through his bangs. "Promise?"
Peach nodded. "Promise." Then he leaned down for a kiss. A second one. Then a peck on the tip of Thee's nose that had the older man giving a besotted smile. "Now, drink your tea and take a nap. The kids want to watch a movie with you after dinner."
Holding Peach's gaze, Thee lifted the cup to his mouth and took another sip.
…
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fin