[NSFW! You have been warned.]
THE OXYGEN THAT YOU NEED.
Tine was sitting on the long side of the hospital bed, clad in the oversized, blue hospice pajamas while intensely staring down at his bare feet. The sun was shining into the room through the open window, bathing him in a dreamy, white haze. The stray sunrays splintered through his soft hair like dusty webs, creating an ethereal aura around him and Sarawat was startled at how much it reminded him of Tine's ghostly image. A cold shiver ran down his spine. Shit. It had really been such a close call.
Blinking owlishly, he instantly tried to stow way the unnerving anxiety that ran through him, pooling like hard lead in his lower belly. Sarawat was certainly not used to feeling like this and because of all these recent events, he would probably never be able to keep his cool around Tine ever again. Not when he looked so soft and innocent, still slightly anemic. Sarawat just wanted to scoop him into his arms and never let go. Aw, hell. When had he become such a sappy fuck?
"What are you doing?" Sarawat asked mystified when Tine kept on staring, very transfixed, at his own two feet, feather light lashes grazing his sharp cheeks.
Suddenly being addressed, the fair skinned man raised his head in alarm, brown eyes wide, having totally missed the other one's quiet entrance.
"Oh, hi," Tine laughed self-consciously while raising one slender hand to rub at his flushed nape, flashing his front teeth on a square grin and eyes crinkling. The flimsy pajama shirt shifted with his jerky movement, revealing that it was buttoned askance. A slice of creamy skin peaked innocently underneath the uneven collar and Sarawat tried not to stare at it too much with his owlish eyes. He licked his lower lip absently.
Frankly, it was driving Sarawat a little mad, knowing that he could so easily touch Tine right now but had to refrain for the sake of not spooking him. It was quite obvious that Tine did not remember anything about his little ghostly adventure, seeing as how bashful he was acting around Sarawat, every time just as surprised when the guitarist came to visit him at the hospital. Needless to say it had been two slightly awkward weeks. But with Tine's parting confession still lingering fresh on his mind, Sarawat was certainly not going to let it become an obstacle. This time around it was his turn to pursue Tine. Besides, it was just the perfect opportunity for Sarawat to get to know the real Tine, the Tine that he had been chasing traces of all this time.
"I was trying to wiggle my toes," Tine explained as if that was the most obvious thing in the world and once again looked back down at the pale appendages with a furrow between his dark eyebrows, legs dangling from the side of the bed a little forlornly. Why won't they move?
Tine had been going to physical therapy for several hours a day to regain his range of movement and so far it had been going extremely well, even if not a little too quick, too miraculous. Well, except for some minor things that seemed to take their sweet time, like wiggling his toes and moving his left arm. And for some strange reason, he always felt a little cold. Oh right, and one of his eyebrows, might it rest in peace. Although, Tine kind of liked it, he had decided. The thick, jagged nick in it certainly gave him a slightly roguish appearance and character, as if he had some interesting stories to tell about his otherwise boring life.
Sarawat inclined his head, a tiny smile tugging at his bow shaped lips. He slipped his guitar case off of one curved shoulder, while keeping his intense gaze focused on Tine, absently putting the instrument on the only chair available in the room. Sarawat then stalked closer to the hospital bed, reaching out one lithe arm and petting Tine's head softly, endearingly.
"Don't worry. It'll come with time." Like your memory of us, Sarawat thought. "Don't over extort yourself too much."
Tine nodded in reply quietly, rather immune to all the encouraging words that he been fed since the moment he woke up from his coma. His friends and family were constantly treating him with kiddy gloves, especially P'Type. It was almost unbearable when his older brother came to see him, on several occasions even trying to spoon-feed him like some kind of giant baby. It was highly degrading, especially if it happened when Sarawat was there to see it. Tine sniffed indignantly. He did not know how he finally got Sarawat to notice him, Tine did not dare questioning that yet, but Type was certainly cramping Tine's style with his mother-henning. And it was not like Tine needed any help with that, since Sarawat usually got him tongue tied by his mere existence alone.
The warm hand atop the crown of Tine's head slowly sloped downward, leaving a branding trace on his skin and curling around Tine's neck. Sarawat's fingers graced at the soft hairs on his nape, blunt fingernails craping over the soft skin there and Tine blushed a pretty shade of pink. He deliberately kept his head down, shying away from the other one's fleeting advances.
Sarawat was driving him crazy with all these tiny touches and kind gestures that promised of more things to come but that never rally ventured any further. He seemed almost like a completely different person too, warmer and kinder, making Tine only fall harder for him. Tine's heart thudded approvingly inside his chest, beating for Sarawat and sending an avalanche of sweet tingles through his body. Tine's lush lips parted on a shaky inhale.
Was it even possible to fall in love with the same person twice?
There was undoubtedly something heavy and unspoken lingering in the air between them, something magnetic and maybe not so innocent. It was heady and intoxicating. And alive. Tine felt a tangible, electrifying bond with Sarawat that was ready to snap at any time, especially since he kept foolishly thinking soulmate, that it was his other half, each time he glanced at the stoic young man, bones melting to goo at the smug little smirk curling on those sensual lips. Sarawat was just shining so brightly inside his mind's eye, like a ghost light pulling Tine out of the dark sea he had fallen victim to. Maybe Sarawat's presence pulled him out of the coma?
Honestly, Tine did not even dare to breathe in the direction of the obvious pink elephant present in the room, not brave enough to question why the other man came to see him every day at the hospital. How could he? It was like a dream come true to have his crush acknowledging him so avidly, carefully strumming Tine's favorite Scrubb songs at his bedside, the familiar plastic pick gleaming between Sarawat's talented fingers as his hand glided effortlessly over the strings. It was like some kind of catharsis and Tine was very afraid to jinx it.
But okay. So. Maybe Sarawat realized that he liked, or at least was interested in Tine somewhere around the time of the accident. Right? That seemed like the only plausible explanation since Tine would have remembered if they had started dating way before that, or became friends even. Most of his memories from a year ago were intact by now but weirdly enough only those connected to Sarawat and how they finally got together were gone, almost as if being erased. Nada. Zero. Zilch.
Why?
What history did they have together that Tine had managed to block out of his head? Had something bad happened? A ghostly chill ran down Tine's spine. However, if they indeed had been dating, then why the heck was Sarawat not acting more couple-y with him? And if they had not dated at all, then why was Sarawat even there with him? Something was not quite right here, Tine thought with a worried pout.
With this in mind, Tine looked up sharply, narrowing his eyes at Sarawat from under his dark, fluffy bangs. His pointy chin was raised defiantly.
"Are you just going to pet my head forever?" He then spluttered, worried to lose the nerve to do this before he even managed to string these words together.
Sarawat jolted slightly, moving his hand away from Tine, certainly taken aback by the swift change in topic and the ferocity in Tine's otherwise usually cheery and somewhat shy gaze. His dark eyes then fluttered over Tine's fair features, trying to gauge his serious expression. What had led this on?
"I mean, aren't we-," Tine started saying but then broke off a little forlornly, glancing down at his own curled hands in his lap and then tried again, this time more subdued, "...aren't we like d-dating or something?"
An unbearable moment of silence followed where only their breathing was audible inside the private hospital unit, the sterile surfaces surrounding them seemed almost too white and too cold in the impenetrable tranquility.
"Oh, did I get it wrong? Shit." Tine instantly panicked, shoulders hunching in on themselves as he curled his body into a ball where he was sitting on the bed, withdrawing himself slightly away from the other man. "Uh, s-sorry. I'm really sorry," he mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut and wishing that the ground would just open up and swallow him whole. "I fucked that one up, huh? Just forget I said anything." Tine chuckled mirthlessly, blinking away the sudden sting in his eyes, lips quivering slightly.
Had he really misread all the signs? Fuck, fuck, fuck. Sarawat was going to hate him, find him disgusting for liking a boy and never come back to see him again. He should have just kept his mouth shut. Stupid!
Sarawat just stared stunned at Tine as the other kept rambling, not even giving him a chance to say anything, drawing all the wrong conclusions. But then the musician smirked, eyes glinting as he moved to stand right in front of Tine. When he did not look up, Sarawat only pushed closer against Tine's legs, finally making Tine jerk his head up and focus his sweet, round eyes on Sarawat with disbelief swimming inside of them. W-what?
"And what do you suggest we do instead of the head pat?" Sarawat asked teasingly, eyes darting down to Tine's pretty mouth when Tine self-consciously licked his own lips. "Should we kiss then?"
Not wasting any time, Sarawat smoothly pressed his hard body even closer, leaving Tine with no other choice than to spread his round knees with a tiny squeak and let Sarawat slot in between his pajama clad legs.
"Um- okay," Tine replied stupefied as a breath hitched inside his throat, chest heaving up and down rapidly as his eyes tracked the other one's predatory movements.
Tine was trapped still, like a prey hypnotized by the alluring view before him. Sarawat's shirt was complimenting his tall body very nicely, tastefully outlining his toned chest and lithe shoulders. Tine's cheeks felt hot as they blossomed in a beautiful shade of pink at the close proximity, body warming up and going a little gooey as he tried to keep himself from flopping backwards on the slightly elevated bed. He could hear blood sloshing inside his ears, clouding his senses.
So maybe it was true then? Had they actually, really been dating? He thought excitedly. Pity that Tine did not remember how it all started. His last memory was of seeing Sarawat together with a girlfr-
Sarawat chuckled lightly at the cute, fuzzy human in front of him and raised his warm hands to squish Tine's confused face between this wide palms, tilting it upwards so that Tine would look him in the eyes and not stare at his chest. Oh, right. They were going to kiss, Tine's mind supplied stupidly.
In all honesty, it was not like Sarawat was trying to be a gentleman or anything like that. He very, very much longed to have his hands trace all over Tine's fair skin, to have the other young man come undone underneath him in pure ecstasy. And sure, maybe he did not want to overwhelm Tine yet, since the poor guy already had to deal with a bunch of things while settling back into his life. Except that maybe Sarawat needed some time too.
It was just that kissing Tine made him a teeny, tiny bit nervous because of what it recently had entailed. Sarawat was still horrified over the bloodbath, not to mention the excruciating pain that he had found himself in after the last time that they had locked lips. So he had been taking his sweet time too, working himself slowly up to it. Deep down he was still as human as anybody else and such things could shake him up badly too.
Regardless of his fleeting anxiety and because it was just the perfect opportunity, Sarawat inclined his long neck and came down quickly to press his lips softly against Tine's, testing the waters. With a startled little sound, Tine raised his own hands to clutch at Sarawat's elbows as their lips collided warmly, both men enjoying the reassuring pressure of skin against skin.
Sarawat's curvy lips parted slightly, hot breath hitting Tine's skin as he trailed his lips to the corner of Tine's mouth, softly nosing at Tine's cheek as he placed openmouthed kisses along his sharp jaw. Tine instantly inclined his head to the side, eagerly giving Sarawat more access to his porcelain skin, his hands sneaking around the guitarist's waist and tremblingly fisting at the back of his shirt as he tried to keep himself upright. Sarawat then placed one last fluttering kiss just below Tine's earlobe, on his pulse point, before finally slotting his hot mouth over Tine's lush lips, a little more forcefully this time.
Tine was not able to hold back the moan that escaped him when Sarawat suddenly kissed him with so much heat and passion, but still it was not quite enough. Tine's tongue darted out, boldly slipping into Sarawat's already open, velvety mouth, gliding over his teeth curiously and then hotly colliding with the other one's sleek tongue. Tine never stopped to amaze Sarawat. He only seemed to be shy but he was bold with his actions when he set his mind to it. Blazing arousal shot through Sarawat's veins. Finally. Tine was finally alive and he was his and nothing could take him away now.
Their kiss grew more feverish and sloppy. Saliva trailed down at the corner of Tine's mouth, making their lips sleek as their tongues interlocked again and again. Tine even eagerly tried to open his mouth wider and sucking deeper, to give Sarawat access to all of his being as their stuttering breaths filled up the tranquil room while they kept devouring each other.
And nothing bizarre happened. No twirling light of life sharing force, no chilly, billowing smoke, no lights suddenly going off. Nothing. They were just two living human beings, sharing an intimate moment of passion.
Tine crossed his legs around Sarawat's thighs, pulling him even closer and slotting Sarawat snugly against himself. He instantly felt Sarawat's hard-on through the layer of their clothes, his own arousal skyrocketing. Aw, fuck. Sarawat was just so hot and he was apparently hot for Tine only. Tine's slender hands scrambled around Sarawat's narrow waist, trailing to the front of his pants and lingering there. He was unsure whether he was allowed to trail lower, to touch Sarawat more intimately. Tine's fingers grazed teasingly at the taut skin of Sarawat's abdominals, making him suck in a breath as the dotting fingertips left hot tracks on the guitarist's skin.
"Tine," Sarawat mumbled in between their kisses, "you drive me so crazy. Stop teasing."
Tine hid a satisfied, little smile from fully breaking out on his flushed lips by throwing himself into another heated kiss with the other man, teeth grazing at his lower lip. If Tine had known that this was the reaction that he would get, then he should have fucking confessed ages ago. There was just so much pent up tension between them that needed resolving.
Sarawat's hands sloped down, squeezing Tine's shoulders briefly and then trailed further down his chest, slipping under the badly buttoned hospital pajama shirt that had been taunting him all this time. Tine's heart stuttered as he felt Sarawat's deft fingers slide with interest over his chest, the blunt nails grazing over his skin, catching on his nipples and rapidly setting Tine's whole body on fire. Ah, this man...
This gave Tine the courage to finally slip his hands lower, palming and squeezing at Sarawat's erection through his pants and eliciting a heady moan from him that fanned hotly over Tine's moist lips. Sarawat broke away from their kiss with a smooching sound, lips grazing Tine's flushed cheek as he thumped his slightly sweaty forehead against Tine's shoulder. Taking this as a good sign, Tine kept massaging his hard dick, kissing and then sucking on the golden skin of Sarawat's stretched out neck, hearing him groan hotly and highly arousing next to his delicate ear.
Sarawat was just so intoxicating and Tine's whole body was buzzing with sweet anticipation by now as he was gradually losing himself in Sarawat's heat and his masculine scent. He could not believe that this was really happening. He was kissing Sarawat. Heck, he was touching his dick even and Sarawat was liking it.
"Nuisance, the things you do to me..." Sarawat trailed off on a choked breath when Tine has finally had enough, making quick work of unbuttoning the other one's pants and slipping one clever hand inside the heat of his boxers. Sarawat sucked in a wheezing breath through his teeth. "F-fuck, Tine."
Fuck, indeed. Tine really hoped that it would happen someday too.
His dick was hot and heavy in Tine's hand, already leaking precum and slicking up Tine's palm as he slid his hand down the length of it, squeezing lightly and feeling it twitch in his hand. Sarawat mouthed at Tine's collarbone desperately, crowding closer to his body and seeking Tine's warmth. His hands were clawing mindlessly at Tine's chest now, heart beating loudly behind his ribcage. Tine's touch was electrifying, sending popping sparks behind his eyelids.
"W-wat, please, call my name again," Tine stuttered as he was jerking his hand up and down in earnest now, trying to bring the other one closer to his release. Fuck. Seeing Sarawat falling apart like this was pure magic, he would make sure to take good care of him, just like he had been doing with Tine for these past couple of weeks.
"T-tine, you're so hot," Sarawat stuttered as he trust into Tine's hand, briefly pausing to swallow and then raised his head slightly so that he could whisper directly into Tine's pink ear. A tiny smirk curled on his lips. "Tine, hurry up. I can't wait to have my lips and my tongue around you, tasting you. I'm sure you'll fill out my mouth real good."
Tine's mind completely blanked out at that, white buzzing noise filled his ears and he hurriedly turned his head to the side to catch Sarawat's filthy mouth and resume their sloppy, openmouthed kiss. Patches of damp hair was curling faintly at his forehead, trapped between their faces.
Tine felt the rapidly building tension inside of Sarawat just as he finally released hotly into Tine's hand with a blissful shudder, liquid ecstasy sizzling through his veins. Sarawat then slumped bonelessly into Tine, hugging him close and panting harshly into the nook of his pale shoulder as the aftershocks of his orgasm rocked though him.
"Tine," he mumbled suddenly on quite a serious note that sent a tingle of worry through Tine amidst the heady arousal that was still clouding his senses. "I love you, Tine. Please be mine?"
A breath hitched in Tine's throat as he hurriedly slipped his hands out of his underwear and around Sarawat, not caring about the tacky mess that soiled his one palm as he clutched the other man close to his body, hanging on for dear life to his soulmate. Tears suddenly stung his eyes and Tine could not for the hell of it understand why he was suddenly feeling so overly emotional as something deep rooted and painful tugged mercilessly at his stuttering heart, pulling him closer to this man.
He sobbed into Sarawat's shirt, squishing his face against his still heaving chest.
"What's wrong? Tine?" Sarawat asked alarmed and leaned away slightly, trying to catch Tine's tearful gaze. "Why are you crying?"
"I-I don't know," he replied with a wobbly smile that was supposed to be reassuring but came out rather pitiful instead. His glossy, clumped eyelashes fluttered as tears continued to stream down his pixie face. "I just- there's just so much. I feel- I feel like-"
"I know. I feel it too," Sarawat said subdued, more somber. His life essence was the one filling Tine's whole being now, granting him precious life. It would be rather alarming if they did not share a bond after all. Sarawat carefully wiped the fat tears off of Tine's flushed face with his thumbs.
"It just feels so right," Tine whispered between them in the quiet room, round eyes earnestly gazing into Sarawat's owlish ones, piercing straight into his gloomy soul. "I think- I love you too." Tine tipped his head back, begging for a kiss from Sarawat and mumbled just before their lips met softly, "I'm already yours anyway, it has always been you."
Sarawat's heart beat faster. Why was he so sweet? Tine would be his undoing. Again and many times over.
Note:
Next chapter will mainly deal with the remaining side plots and some loose ends :)