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"Oh, so this was a date?" Pangi lifted his head, mustering a weak smile. He enjoyed the deer-in-headlights look that overtook Lukey's face and how red his cheeks got as the other man realized he'd caught on to what he said.
"I mean—our… night out! Slip of the tongue—'cause I take everyone here, ya know?" The Brit stumbled through his words.
Pangi inwardly winced at the last sentence. “Crazy Freudian slip by the way. I'm honoured you wanted to take me here. If you wanted a date, though, it didn't have to be so fancy. We could've just gotten some cheap pizza and a bottle of wine and sat somewhere together... chat. Like on your birthday." Pangi gave him a weak smile before lying his head back down in his arms, the nausea from the moving boat getting worse.
He refused to throw up. Not on his first official date with Lukey. "Can we go though? Cause, I think I might genuinely throw up."
Lukey's eyes widened, and he immediately shot up to help him stand. "You can head off the boat first, there are a couple of benches outside. Wait for me there. And uh, don't fall into the water."
Pangi looked up at him, brows scrunched together. He looked cute when he was needlessly worried. "I might be motion sick, but I know how to swim, Lucas. I literally train to be an awesome swimmer. You’ve seen me swim."
"Well its not that you would drown, but water here ain't exactly swimmer friendly, plus, it's cold and dark."
"Fine, fine." He tried to wave him off, but Lukey insisted on assisting him to the entrance. A warm hand gently rubbed circles on his back, only lifting away when Lukey left to pay their bill.
A first date? Only now? Pangi chuckled to himself and greeted the bouncer, carefully leaning against the railing to get off the boat.
The moment his foot met the solid ground, he took a deep breath. The faint scent of grilled food mixed with the brisk river chill almost reminded him of Amsterdam. Pangi exhaled, and the discomfort within slightly lessened.
It didn't take long to find the bench. It was only a few steps away from the docking bridge and offered a clear view of the London Eye across the Thames. But instead of sitting down, Pangi walked over to the railing and leaned against the edge.
He closed his eyes. The corners of his mouth slowly lifted as he let the riverside breeze gently caress his face.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" The familiar voice, toned down to a dulcet whisper, tickled his ear. Yet, the expected warmth only sidled up to his right. His smile faltered for the briefest second before returning even wider.
Pangi opened his eyes and cocked his head to the side before pushing himself against Lukey's shoulder. "Yeah, the view is pretty nice too." He burst out into a fit of giggles as he watched Lukey roll his eyes.
He didn't miss the slight pause before the other man leaned back against him, pushing their shoulders together.
"I was being serious!" Lukey complained. "There are very few places like this in London that won't gut your wallet, offer decent drinks, and offer a view."
He shrugged noncommittally, looking away from Pangi. "Just didn't know you got motion sick. The boat barely even moved."
"Bro. You didn't feel it bob up and down?! It was like having that setting in Minecraft turned up to like a million!" Pangi watched Lukey break into a fit of laughter and nudged his shoulder again. "It's not funny!"
"I mean, it kinda is." Lukey tried to hide his smile with a hand.
"Lucas Osborn, are you really making fun of me on our FIRST OFFICIAL DATE?!" He raised his voice at the latter three words, earning a glare from the Brit. "What? Suddenly, you’re embarrassed that you took me out?"
Pangi placed his hands over his chest and bunched up the centre of his jacket. "I thought this was gonna be the start of something beautiful..."
The Brit had fully covered his face with his hands now. "Okay, tell the whole world why don't you. You're actually worse than Max." Pangi guffawed.
"Now you're COMPARING ME to your PAST DATES?!" Pangi raised his voice again; it seemed people were getting off the boat right at this moment. From the corner of his eye, he saw one of them point in their direction.
"Dude! Shut up! You're actually gonna get us banned." Lukey turned to him, hands flailing towards his face, to no avail. Despite certain videos floating around, he could overpower Lukey any day.
"Now you don't want me to speak?!" Pangi’s roguish smile couldn’t be hidden anymore.
"Sem!"
Oop—!
Pangi stopped, a grin still hung on his face. He had managed to grab Lukey's hand and wrist. "Okay."
He leaned in and pulled Lukey closer; those eyes he was so familiar with swirled with so many emotions. Surprise. Worry. And something else he couldn’t describe.
His eyes slowly fell from Lukey's nose, to his stubbled stache, to his lips, which were exceptionally red despite it being so dark, before moving back up to reaffirm the emotion he saw. "I'll stop..."
Lukey didn't say anything or even move. Their breaths mingling between them for a few beats.
"I—"
"Sem—"
"Oh." They both chuckled silently before falling silent.
"You go first." Lukey nodded. Pangi could feel his fingers slowly flex and move in his hand—tentative and careful.
"I was gonna ask, would you still kiss someone who got sick on a first date?" He licked his lips before he nervously bit his bottom lip. Pangi could barely make out his worried reflection in Lukey's eyes.
"Pfft."
There was barely a held-back snort. Bastard.
"I don't know. Did this someone actually get sick, or was he just faking it so he could get someone else out alone at the pier?" Lukey leaned in closer, the tips of their noses brushing up against each other as he slightly looked up.
Well...
Pangi adjusted their hands, finally feeling reassured as their fingers intertwined. A smile crept up to his lips once more. "Why can't it be both?"
"Greedy," Lukey whispered. Their lips hovered infinitely close to each other.
"I mean, if it's you..." The words died as Pangi closed the distance. He kissed him and pulled him closer, flush against his body. The warmth that he'd been craving was finally and ultimately in his arms.
Maybe being a little motion sick wasn't too bad. Pangi couldn't help but smile at the thought.