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“That boy can't stay in this house.”
His father hands down his edict like an ax cleaving through flesh. For Naphitch, the decision is a final straw.
“If Sangnuea can’t stay, then neither will I.”
Whether his father liked it or not, Sangnuea was now his bonded mate. Naret may have no loyalty to his mate, but Naphitch would. He anticipates the slap before it comes, only stopped by Nakhun who steps in to spare Naphitch the sting of their father’s ire. Words are exchanged, loudly, over Naphitch’s loyalties to his family; his brothers at his defense. For so long he’d felt like an outcast in the Devathitirat manor, and now, he feels the outpouring of love from his brothers who all but tell their father to get out. More than once, his father threatens to cut him off if he leaves with that “whore”. All of which Naphitch stands there and takes, because he’s already resolved in his decision. His father doesn’t want Sangnuea in his home, and Naphitch knows Sangneua doesn’t want to be there. Sangnuea would always feel confined within the gilded cage of the manor. He’d never truly be at home there.
When all the dust settles, Nakhin helps him secure a condo that’s close enough to the Devathitirat manor to ensure Naphitich doesn’t feel cut-off from his brothers, but far enough that Sangnuea doesn’t feel suffocated. Naphitch insists on the condo being a two bedroom, two bathroom home with plenty of space for Sangnuea to spread his wings a bit. Given all the bad blood between his family and Sangnuea, Naphitch doesn’t have any expectations of the omega. Despite having shared a bed since the bite, he doesn’t want to force Sangnuea to stay glued to his side. He wants him to have his own room; his own space. Even his own bathroom would make their cohabitation feel more balanced rather than like an imprisonment due to forced proximity. All Naphitch wants is for both of them to feel like somewhere is home.
They wait until after Nakhun’s birthday to officially move out. Naphitch isn’t entirely sure what he expects upon moving into his new condo, but, he thinks, he expected some immediate changes. The only thing that really changes upon their move is that the tension leaves Sangnuea’s shoulder as he circles the places as if he were a stray kitten, unsure of its new surroundings. There’s not much Naphitch can say or do, because in their first week they're both finding their own routine. An equilibrium between alpha and omega who are mated but not in love. He allows Sangnuea to choose where he wants to sleep which results in the omega spending the first night in the second bedroom before he decides he wants to sleep next to Naphitch. There’s no cuddling, no touching or words as Sangnuea strictly sticks to the farthest end of the bed. Most importantly, it's Sangnuea’s choice to sleep there. During that first week, Naphitch realizes that the kitten analogy is very apt. Like a kitten, he has to wait for Sangnuea to come to him, or else the claws come out.
Sangnuea has lived his life on the defensive since childhood. He’d always looked over his shoulder, wary, and desperate, ready to use the only assets he had at his disposal to survive. Life with Naphitch goes against every hardship the omega has faced and Naphitch knows he needs time to be comfortable in his new normal. He’s just happy to have a take-out dinner with Sangnuea—even if they barely exchange words—and go to bed without the threat of being smothered.
As the first week turns into the second, Naphtich starts to notice things. He spends quite a bit of time outside the condo as he learns the legal sides of the Devathitirat business under Nakhun. Never once has he told Sangnuea he has to stay in the condo, nor has he prohibited him from shopping; in fact, he’d given him a card linked to a shared bank account. He’s not sure what he expected Sangnuea to do with unfettered access to money, but he doesn’t think he anticipated flowers. Specifically, vases of pink roses that appear around the condo on a Tuesday afternoon. One appears on the table near the doorway, and another in the dining area, two vases in the living space, one in the guest bedroom and even one on Naphitch’s side of the bed. The soft pink of the petals does wonders to break up the monochromatic theme of the condo, and Naphitch thinks that’s why Sangnuea bought them. If Sangnuea likes them, then Naphitch likes them too. Plus, they do wonders to accent Sangnuea’s lingering pheromones through-out the condo.
Next, comes the blankets. Three baby blue blankets that are made of the softest fabric that Naphitch ever felt. There’s one over the back of their white sofa in the living space, one on the end of their bed, and one that must be for the second bedroom but Naphitch finds Sangnuea wrapped up in it like a cocoon more often than not. No comments are made about the blankets, and life moves forward.
On the Friday night of their second week, Naphtich comes home to find Sangnuea in the kitchen. It makes Naphitch stop, stare, and watch as the omega moves with his phone in one hand, tongue between his teeth, and something on the stove that smells the wrong side of overcooked. They’re still learning each other, but Naphitch has the feeling that Sangnuea was the type of omega who wanted to be a homemaker. In another life, he thinks, Sangnuea would make a “proper” omega spouse who would be a stay at home spouse, and raise children, quite like Naphitch’s step-mother. Maybe, in this life, he wanted those things too, and now, he saw the opportunity to try the things he’s never done before. Perhaps, he’s even trying to find himself.
“Do you need help?”
The way Sangnuea glares makes Naphitch think his tough armored exterior is back, until he says, “I can do it!”
Naphitch backs off to let the omega finish the task he set out to do. In the end, it turns out he can do it, but not entirely all that well. By the very technical definition the food is edible, but only just barely, and from that moment, Naphitch vows they would cook together; that way neither of them has to starve. Plus, it might be in their best interest to keep Sangnuea out of the kitchen for his own safety.
“Does a Devathitirat heir even know how to cook?” Sangnuea asks around a bite of rice that’s a bit too mushy. Clearly, Sangnuea has forgotten—or didn’t know—that Naphitch wasn’t like his brothers. He’d lived an entirely different life before his mother died, and his father brought him into the Devathitirat fold properly.
“My mother wasn’t rich,” he answers as he digs around the chicken, looking for a piece that’s not too blackened, “She always taught me that, despite dynamics, relationships were about balance. She wanted me to be a good alpha to whoever I mated, beta or omega, so she taught me to cook so I could provide for my future mate.”
Sangnuea hums, and Naphitch isn’t entirely sure what Sangnuea thinks of the information, but he also doesn’t stop Naphitch from sharing.
“Did your mother ever cook for you?”
The silence is long enough, stretched taut between them that Naphitch thinks the omega is declining to answers. Then, slowly, he shares, “I don’t remember him well enough to know.”
Naphitch refuses to pity him; Sangnuea hates pity.
He just accepts the small step forward towards them getting to know more about each other. Cracks have begun to form in the mask of pain Sangnuea has worn for so long, and Naphitch is happy to take a look at the man beneath. From then on, he makes sure to come home every night around five so that they can start cooking together, and build new memories.
Week three offers a new dynamic to their relationship that Naphitch had never considered before; nesting.
It’s gradual at first. Those blue blankets find their way into their bed, and Naphitch notices them move over and over, as if Sangnuea can’t figure out where to place them. Then, comes the shirts that end up more in a pile than in any sort of discernible pattern but Sangnuea sleeps on them at night, even if he tosses and turns. Towels come into the bed on the third day, and again, the arrangement apparently doesn’t work for Sangnuea which Naphtich confirms when he comes home for lunch only to find the omega muttering in frustration to himself. Naphitch stands in the door, and just watches him.
He takes everything off the bed, before trying again to arrange it in a manner that fits whatever ideas are in his head.
“What kind of omega can’t build a nest?” he hears Sangnuea mutter, and that is when Naphitch realizes that Sangnuea has probably never felt safe or comfortable enough to make a nest. Some part of his alpha pride feels validated that he’s made his mate comfortable enough to nest, but the other part recognizes the frustrated omega who is trying to build his first nest.
“Can I help?”
Sangnuea snaps his head to him and the look on his face isn’t one of anger, but distress, “I can do it,” he says shakily, unsure of his own words.
Naphitch nods, and stands where he is to watch. Sangnuea lays the towels out first, covering the entirety of the bed, and then the shirts come next, piled and crumpled until he’s satisfied and then, the blankets, but only two of them. Naphitch realizes the two blankets are the ones Sangnuea is usually wrapped in and the one from their bed; the two that will carry the most scent. After the nest is completed, Sangnuea crawls into the bed, sniffs for a moment, and then his face lights up with the brightest smile that Naphitch has ever seen. Another crack under his well crafted facade as he stretches out in self-satisfaction and in that moment, he knows he’s seeing even more of the real Sangnuea.
“I did it!”
“You did,” Naphitch confirms, “I’m proud of you.”
Sangnuea’s face pinks at the praise, whether from happiness or embarrassment, Naphitch isn’t sure. What he is sure about is that he certainly has lunch, but doesn’t eat after Sangnuea crooks his finger and invites him into the nest.
Once the mask has cracked, it begins to fall away even more to show the true personality Sangnuea had forced himself to lock away. Real Sangnuea likes to cuddle which is another unexpected facet of the omega. Sangnuea has never been touch-starved, per say, but his life has lacked affection. There had been no security, or comfort which leant to Sangnuea to being a special brand of starved. It starts slowly, with him leaning on Naphitch while they watch TV, or asking Naphitch to hold his hand when they go to CTW together. Sangnuea likes when Naphtich will put an arm around him and draw small circles on his arm, and he likes the way Naphitch rubs his knuckles with his thumbs; practically purrs, in fact. When he wants to be kissed, he’ll tilt his head to the right, look at Naphitch, and stroke a finger over his jaw as if reeling him in. Then, it escalates further, to full-on spooning when they sleep at night. Sangnuea clings to Naphitch like an overeager koala with a large branch it refuses to let go of.
He’s truly endeared to that aspect of Sangnuea—even if it can be a bit suffocating— and thinks he'd happily be his branch any time.
At close to a month of living together, Naphitch learns the definition of the phrase “cuteness aggression.” Nakhin has once described “cuteness aggression” to Naphitch as the overwhelming desire to squeeze his mate whenever he did something he found particularly adorable. For Nakhin, it was when Ongsa experimented with new recipes, and his face would light up with a bright smile when he was successful. For Nakhun, apparently, everything Phatsa did triggered his “cuteness aggression”. He had thought his brothers were exaggerating until the day he walked into his condo and saw Sangnuea. He’s dressed in one of Naphitch’s old t-shirts that hangs loose around him with one of the blankets over his lap. There’s a pair of pink headphones over his head, shaped like cat ears that light up in rainbow colors while Sangnuea’s fingers move over the controller in his hands. Sangnuea’s tongue is between his teeth in his usual subconscious habit, his eyes narrowed in determined concentration. Naphitch is immediately overwhelmed by the desire to squeeze, hug, and never let go of the omega.
“This game is bullshit,” Sangnuea curses and tosses the controller down. Faintly, Naphitch thinks he hears Phatsa laughing from inside the headphones. Headphones that Sangnuea shoves down with a pout before he notices Naphtich standing behind him, “Don’t even offer to help!”
“I wasn’t going to.”
Video games were never his thing. He used to play with friends in high school, but it was never something he was that good at.
“Good!” Sangnuea huffs and his cheeks puff out just the slightest bit. At that point, he can’t help himself and he sits on the couch next to his mate. He opens his arms as the only warning—giving the omega the chance to flee—before he wraps him into a tight hug, and draws him in to place a kiss against his head.
“Lets make dinner together tonight.”
Sangnuea sighs, resigned, and Naphitch can hear the subtle changes in his tone now that actually betrays his own excitement even if his words sound blasé, “Fine, whatever.”
Shortly after that is when he figures out he’s falling in love with Sangnuea.
It’s a completely normal Saturday. They had gone out for breakfast, some casual shopping and then came home to watch the latest drama that Sangnuea had taken to recently. The premise is a corny love at first-sight plot between an alpha and omega, who have more drama in their lives then strictly necessary but Naphtich tolerates it for Sangnuea. While they’re watching it, Sangnuea pulls out a bag of yarn and hooks, inspired to try a new hobby suggested to him by Phatsa; which had been suggested to Phatsa by Naphitch’s step-mother. Ever since becoming pregnant, the pure omega had become obsessed with crafting since Nakhun wouldn’t let him into the field, so he was desperately trying to find some way to keep himself busy. This crafting, he seems to be passing on to Sangnuea, who pulls out a book and flips a few pages before setting it open on his lap.
Naphitch watches Sangnuea more than he watches the show. Sangnuea chooses a light blue yarn and wraps it around the hooks with a look somewhere between concentration and consternation. He loops the thread carefully before he unloops it, and then tries again, apparently not happy with whatever he’d just done. Out of everything Sangnuea has done since they began living together, this is by far the hardest he’s worked at something. Naphitch wants to offer to help, but he has no idea what the omega is doing, so he has no idea how to assist.
Soon enough, his tongue is poking its way through his teeth as he looks at the book, and back at the yarn in his hands. Back and forth, back and forth, for longer than Naphitch knows. What he does know is that he likes seeing Sangnuea like this, the soft edges that have formed over their time together. They’re still learning from each other, and still growing in their relationship but Naphitch knows that he likes Sangnuea. Sangnuea had said that he likes direct people, but Naphitch likes that Sangnuea is more like a puzzle with no guide on how the pieces fit.
Their relationship didn’t start in the conventional way but that was okay.
“Do you want my help?” He can’t help but tease and laughs at the immediate glare he receives in return.
“I’ll kill you.”
He continues to sit there, watching his omega work until some time later, he holds up what looks to be the head of a teddy bear triumphantly. Naphitch can see the picture on the book, and knows there’s more parts to the creation to go, but it was a small victory for Sangnuea. One that makes him smile wide, and bright, and look at Naphitch as if his pride in him matters. The way he hums happily when Naphitch rewards him with a kiss makes him realize that he’s definitely falling in love with the omega.
Sangnuea catches him off-guard, yet again, by being the first one to actually say the words. As so many other things in their relationship, it’s unexpected, mainly because it’s the morning and Naphitch had just gotten out of bed. He’s in the bathroom, hair still a mess from sleep, dressed only in his boxers, and brushing his teeth when his mate enters the bathroom. As usual, Sangnuea is dressed in only one of Naphitch’s tshirts, his own hair sleep mussed, his eyes barely open when he rests his head on Naphitch’s shoulder.
Then, he drops the words without any preamble.
No fanfare.
No romantic gesture.
Just those simple words.
“I love you.”
He has to take a moment to clean his mouth of toothpaste but the response comes easy.
“I love you too.”
He even punctuates the statement with a kiss to Sangnuea’s forehead.
They were both on the same page now. It was not that they needed this to work because of the bond anymore. It’s that they wanted it to work.
They wanted to be with each other.
They wanted to be mates.
“Oh,” he chimes as he lifts his head, “I’m pregnant.”
Naphitch's toothbrush drops.