I wrote more Kinn x Porsche x Big shuttup
I don’t actually remember the context around Ken’s whole *minor family thing*, I was distracted by Kinn and Porsche. So *shrugs* canon-divergence maybe.
Big’s hands shake. He wakes in a cold sweat, Ken’s name heavy on his tongue and the stench of his blood in Big’s nose. The image of his severed head lingers in a permanent afterimage behind Big’s eyelids, making it impossible to fall back to sleep.
Days pass like this. Weeks, perhaps.
Big feels flimsy with everyone’s Looks - of concern, of pity. Chan even makes a vague, stilted reference to compassionate leave. Big just doesn’t understand - he doesn’t understand how any of them can still trust him to do his job after this! He failed. He failed to see that Ken- Ken was compromised-
(Soon, only the cold stone of the bathroom tile under his knuckles makes sense as he learns to ignore the way his hands still shake and shake and shake.)
“Here,” Porche says, and slides a drink across the table.
He doesn’t ask if Big wants to talk about it, and for that Big is actually grateful. Porsche either doesn’t care, or knows better, and Big is happy for that to remain a mystery.
Instead, he raises the tumbler to his lips and winces against the gulp of harsh liquor. Nothing fancy, just a shot that burns all the way down, and Big finds he is grateful for the heat in his trembling limbs.
“Another,” he says to Porsche.
Porsche frowns, but keeps pouring. And pouring. And-
“Big,” comes Kinn’s voice and suddenly there Kinn is, right in front of him, cupping a hand under his chin and forcing him to turn his face for inspection. He knows how he must look - red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes, chapped lips, pale and drawn - in no state to protect anyone.
Kinn doesn’t absolve him of blame. It’s not a kindness. It just is. He knows, just as Big knows, that Big should’ve been more vigilant, should’ve found suspicion in his friend’s actions because no one - no one - is that good.
A bitter chuckle tears itself from Big’s throat, rasping slightly from cigarette smoke and the spirits in his drink.
For so long, Big survived by trusting no one.
He thought he was used to it. He thought he was getting good at it. He idolised Kinn for his own ruthless paranoia, and aspired to see five, six steps ahead too - the way Khun Kinn does, the way P'Chan and Khun Korn do.
(He tried to learn chess once. Tried to get Chan to teach him.)
But really, aren’t they all just hypocrites? Friendships, relationships: they create blindspots out of the desire to be wanted. To be needed. The desire to be indispensable to someone.
This is Big’s biggest fault.
“No,” Porsche says, just as Kinn sighs, “Big…”
Something ugly and vulnerable curdles in Big’s gut. He shoves his boss’s hand away and stumbles up from the table, his chair clattering to the floor.
“I can’t do this,” he sputters. “I’m not-”
He makes to flee, but Porche is faster, the nimble bastard. His arms come up to brace Big as he wobbles, even as Big aims a wild swing to his shoulder.
“Don’t,” Big snarls, but his voice is reedy and unstable.
“Big,” Kinn says then, closer than before. “Listen to me.”
“Khun Kinn-” Big hears the thinness of his own voice from a distance, as if it isn’t his own.
“Your feelings aren’t a weakness,” Kinn says, and reaches for Big’s hand.
A high whine of distress bursts from Big’s throat.