Rain was difficult to surprise, his boy was nosy and inquisitive about everything. That is why Phayu had come up with this two part birthday gift for him. The first part was Phayu taking Rain and his parents for a week long trip during the school holidays. They were going to Korat to visit Phayu's parents and see some of the local architecture.
The second part he was currently discussing with Pai and Sky, who had agreed to cat sit while they were away. Even for this Phayu had to recruit Ple, Phan, and Anya to take Rain shopping.
"So let me get this straight, you are building Rain a dance studio in your gym and you want me and Sky to supervise." Pai said.
"Not at all," Phayu corrected, "I want Sky to supervise. I have told the foreman of the crew that Sky and only Sky has last word on any changes or additions made to the original plan." He says this with a warning look at Pai.
Rain is excited to be going to Korat, he has never been. He has met P'Phayu's parents twice when they have come to Bangkok and both sets of parents have also had dinner together.
It will be so much fun staying for the week with both sets of his parents. Best birthday gift ever in his opinion.
"Absolutely not," Sky looks at the concept sketch P'Pai has had the architect, P'Phayu's colleague, make for Rain's dance studio incredulously. Has P'Pai lost his mind? P'Phayu would kill them both if the studio included a stripper pole.
P'Pai sulks a little at this. "It's a legitimate form of dance." He says
"I'm sure it is," says Sky, "But not one that Rain is interested in. He studies K-pop groups and idols dances. He doesn't do the sort of routine that uses a pole."
"I don't know, Phayu might enjoy it." He hears P'Pai mumble. There is no way Sky is approving a stripper pole though.
Sky looked around, pleased with how everything was coming together. The polished hardwood floor was installed, the sound suppression wall panels installed, wall length mirrors adorned two sides of the room, the big screen tv and surround sound speakers were hung just waiting for the electrician to come and install the wiring, it was going to be a studio a professional idol would be envious of. They only liked finishing the lighting and decorations.
He turned and frowned when he saw P'Pai coming towards him with a handful of computer print outs looking gleeful. Now what?
Sky looked in disbelief at the print outs that showed a retro 70s style club complete with a disco ball.
"Retro is cool." P'Pai said proudly.
"I am not sure disco balls were ever cool when they were new." Sky says with a laugh causing P'Pai to pout.
No disco balls. Check.
Sky is feeding Stormy and Cloud their dinner when his phone rings. It is P'Pai's brother Plerng who is helping Sky find an interior decorator for the studio. There's not a lot that needs to be done for the studio, P'Phayu just wanted it to have those perfect little touches that Rain would love.
"Sky, I am sending you the contact information of a guy I think would be perfect." Plerng tells him.
"Before I call him and say the wrong thing, I need to ask, is this one of your ex boyfriends?" Sky asks him.
"Of course," Plerng says, "but he still likes me. We parted on good terms."
Plerng hangs up and Sky receives the text message notification with the decorator's contact information. Unlike his brother Plerng has exceptional taste, if he says the guy is good, he is probably the best.
Speaking of, P'Pai is heading towards him with another stack of drawings.
"Why," Sky asks trying to keep his cool, "would Rain want a full sized bar in his studio? Rain doesn't even drink."
"To dance on of course." P'Pai tells him, "I saw it in this movie and it was cool."
Sky has to hold his hands down to keep from face palming hard.
Sky is very pleased with the decorator Plerng suggested. Although the details are small they really pop and make the dance studio look stylish. The light gilding around the mirrors, the decorative stenciled letters on the back wall that simply said Rain's Studio as if it were a business, the padded bench along back wall for resting, the discreet small fridge disguised as a cabinet for keeping water and juices. Everything looked so perfect.
Except here was P'Pai again wanting to show Sky something he had pulled up on his phone. Sky took a deep breath before looking.
"A fog machine?" He asked.
"Sure the effects would be great." P'Pai said happily.
"P'Pai," Sky explained as calmly as possible. "Those things are terrible for the lungs. Do you want Rain to end up sick."
"Oh." P'Pai obviously hadn't thought of that.
Done, Sky thought with satisfaction. Everything was done. The Wi-Fi was connected to the studio so Rain could stream in his favorite K-Pop groups or dance instructional videos. Everything had received a last minute cleaning and polishing. It was absolutely perfect.
P'Pai is there again with a catalog opened eager to show Sky his newest discovery. Sky frowns, might as well get this over with.
"I am sure you will like this one, Sky. Mood lighting."
P'Pai's idea of mood lighting is two spot lights that Rain would pass out if he tried to dance in their heat and a strobe light that would probably give him a seizure.
Sky looks at him and simply says, "No, just no."
Rain and P'Phayu are due back tomorrow and Rain's birthday is the next day. P'Phayu and Rain are staying at Rain's parents house the night in between so that Sky and P'Pai can set up the surprise party for Rain.
Sky is checking off his list to make sure everything is right while Ple, Phan, Anya, Sig, and Por decorate the house. He frowns when he see's P'Pai coming towards him. He is much too busy today for any of P'Pai's ultra insane ideas.
"Sky, I was thinking." P'Pai starts, and Sky thinks that it's probably not going to end well, "We haven't gotten Nong Rain a birthday present from us. What do you think about this."
He shows Sky a stylish wardrobe full of different dance costumes. It was supplied by a local shop that would fill the wardrobe with costumes in the customer's size.
Sky frowns in concentration and P'Pai looks like he is bracing himself for Sky's answer.
"That is.......actually a good idea. Rain would love it." Sky says, thoughtfully.
"Really?" P'Pai says surprised.
"Really," Sky says. "I will go check on Rain's sizes and you can go pick it up for us while I finish here."
Sky starts to leave when a thought strikes him, "actually I will get both Rain's and P'Phayu's sizes. You better get a set in each."
"Why?" P'Pai asks, "Phayu doesn't dance."
Sky isn't about to explain this one, "just trust me."
The house is purposely dark when Rain and P'Phayu come in. "P'Phayu wha...." Rain starts but just then the lights come on and everyone shouts "Happy Birthday!"
Rain is laughing, over joyed at the surprise, and almost jumping with glee when Sky brings out his cake with the candles in the shape of a '20' lit. Rain makes a wish and blows out the candles.
Once everyone has their fill of cake and ice cream, Sky sees P'Phayu whisper something to Rain. Rain's eyes go wide. Sky thinks Rain says, "another gift?" That means it's show time.
P'Phayu takes Rain by the hand and leads him outside, around the pool, and to the gym area. He opens the second door next to P'Phayu's own gym and the group following behind hears Rain gasp in wonder. "This is for me?" He asks. P'Phayu nods.
Rain runs in and tries to look at everything at once. Sky moves forward to show Rain the controls for the TV and speakers.
"Oh, P'Phayu this is wonderful!" Rain says obviously very happy.
"Like it, good boy?" P'Phayu asks him.
"I love it," Rain answers. "This is the best."
"Well you have Sky to thank for taking care of all the details." P'Phayu says.
Rain runs to Sky, practically pouncing on him and wraps him in a hug. "Thank you Sky!" He says.
"Hey I helped too." P'Pai says with a puppy dog look.
Rain hugs him as well. "Thank you, P'Pai."
All in all everything is a great success and although it doesn't seem like Rain could be any more excited he somehow is when he finds the wardrobe of costumes with the card hanging on it that says, "Happy Birthday from Sky and P'Pai.". That earns each of them another hug.
At the end of the night Sky lets P'Pai take him home. He is absolutely exhausted it had been a long week but seeing his best friend so happy had made it worth it.
********
Notes:
I wanted to do a 5+1 format for this. Five ideas of Pai's that makes Sky go "hell no" and one he agrees to.
Thank you to my discord group that helped me come up with four of the five "nopes"