“No!” Tankhun says, feeling a buzzing, hurt rage in his head as he updates his Instagram feed. Again. Still no pictures or announcements.
“Why haven't they posted anything?!” he says, tossing his phone to the side, “Pete just posted the kittens yesterday! Vegas posted a story of Pete helping him cook breakfast with a heart as the caption this morning! Where’s the baby? Vegas was NOT holding some doll in the cemetery, and he referred to Pete as Papa!”
“Maybe they adopted her and it isn't finalized yet,” Arm says gently, “Or maybe they are fostering her and can't post pictures. We don't know the situation, which is why I am offering to call and ask Pete for clarification. We talk to him pretty regularly, and I don't see him keeping this from us unless he had a reason.”
“The reason is Vegas,” Tankhun mutters, “He probably told Pete to not tell us. He's rude like that.”
Arm lets out a sigh and takes his hand, “Tankhun. You have been worried sick about Vegas the last few nights-”
“Lies!”
“You said you thought Douglas hurt him too, and then you have been blaming yourself ever since,” Arm continues, “Why don't you…talk to him?”
Tankhun stares at his deranged boyfriend incredulously, “Absolutely not.”
“You said you used to babysit him a lot,” Arm says quietly, “And when you made a mad dash out of the safe room to get to me during the attack-”
“To save you, which I did!”
“You crossed paths with him, and he left you alone,” Arm says, “And when we found out about him getting shot, you broke down and cried.”
“Hmph!” Tankhun says, because it is much more preferable than admitting Arm is telling the truth.
“He's been the main thing keeping you from actually hanging out with Pete in person, but he never stopped it from happening the few times it has occurred,” Arm says, now massaging his hand, “He seems to be very content out of the business as well, and you just found out you, Kinn, and Kim may share an abuser with him-”
“We don't know if that's true,” Tankhun says, feeling his voice grow hoarse, “He may have just had to pee.”
Arm breathes out, “...And he just so happened to drive out of his way to a cemetery to pee on the freshly dug grave of a man associated with your family?”
“...Fine. That is far-fetched,” Tankhun says, “Maybe it was a witchcraft ritual, and that is why he was so okay with us holding a fake seancé. Vegas had a fixation on witchcraft when he was eight! I still think he likes the aesthetic, to be honest, but when he was little? He and I would be dark witches, and Kim would be a nice witch. That's all he would play for a while. Uncle Gun hated it, but Auntie Milan thought it was funny, especially when Vegas made a Ouija Board and we insulted our stupid, dead grandfather through it because we both hated him-”
“Tankhun,” Arm cuts in, “You're doing it again.”
Tankhun tilts his head at that, “What do you mean?”
“Talking about your cousin with fondness.”
“I did no such thing!” Tankhun says with a gasp.
“Lies,” Arm says simply, and that is true, but still!
“Will you be okay with never knowing for sure if Douglas hurt him?” Arm asks, “Because I would understand if that is the case. There is a lot of bad blood, and the feud your father had with your uncle strained things between you and your cousins. If you want to keep your distance, I will support you. But I thought…I don't know. We have been together long enough-”
“Two years in a little over a month,” Tankhun reminds him.
“It's coming up very soon,” Arm says, a small smile forming on his lips, “You have opened up to me a lot during that time. More than you ever did when I was just your friend and your guard. So I know enough to know that at one point, you really cared about Vegas. Loved him, even. And when we found out about Namphueng, you told me you wondered if we had fought for the right side.”
Tankhun looks away at that, “...I felt that way because Pa faked his death, let us mourn him, and got people killed. And because Kinn told me Pa kept Namphueng locked in a room and away from her sons. I also felt that way because he told me Uncle Gun saw her and cried, which wasn't like him. Uncle Gun wasn't good either. He became despicable too. But he wasn't evil enough to lock a woman up in a room and keep her from her family for years, let alone medicate her with...whatever she was being given."
Arm says nothing, and Tankhun understands. No answer Arm can give will be a good one. If he defends Pa, it undermines everything horrible he did, and how many lives were ruined or ended because of him. If he sides with Uncle Gun and Vegas, then it would ignore the fact that several of his coworkers died by their hands.
But there is no denying Pa is the one who set it in motion, regardless of what happened to any of them. He and Kinn were just expected to fight for their lives until Pa thought it was appropriate to make himself known, and they just went along with it because that was all they knew.
And when he thinks about it that way, he supposes Vegas was in a similar situation and trying to meet his own father’s horrible expectations, that he was groomed by him, just like Pa tried his best to groom his own sons, albeit in a different way.
Just like he might have been groomed by Douglas like Kinn was.
Just like Vegas may have been threatened or hurt by Douglas like he and Kim were.
“Ugh, I'm mad at you!” Tankhun says, jumping to his feet to glare down at Arm, “I don't want to talk to you for the entire night!”
Arm’s entire face drops, “Khun-”
“The entire night! You can sleep on the couch!” Tankhun reiterates, then storms off to his room and slams the door behind him. He shuts his eyes and tries to stick to his resolve. How dare Arm make him overthink their strained family ties? He is supposed to be on his side! Also, it makes no sense for Arm to encourage him to reach out, even if Vegas had been hurt. Vegas hurt and killed several of their guards. They may not have been guards Arm was close with, but they were allies and their lives meant something.
Even though Pa clearly felt differently, since he triggered the whole attack purposely.
Arm is so annoying! If he weren’t so smart, compassionate, gorgeous, and incredible, Tankhun would be DONE.
Although, Tankhun supposes he has made mistakes of his own in the past. Arm has just taken them in stride, or sometimes worked with him on the occasions Tankhun expressed he would like to change the way he reacts to certain triggers.
But that doesn't make him less annoying! Arm is supposed to be aligned with HIM, with Pol coming in second because Arm loves Pol as a brother and Tankhun loves Pol too.
Just like they love Pete. And Pete is with Vegas, which makes that relationship strained because their relationship with Vegas is strained. And now, Pete and Vegas have a baby, and Pete hasn't said a word. That's probably because a baby binds him and Vegas together forever, and that means Pete will never leave Vegas.
Especially if Vegas actually treats him well and truly makes Pete happy.
Ew!
“What are you still doing on the couch?” Tankhun asks sullenly as soon as he opens the door again.
Arm meets his eyes and lets out a sigh, “I did pace for a little while and hover my fist over the door. But I wanted to give you space if you needed it.”
“No,” Tankhun says, lightly stomping his foot, “I want you in here.”
“Ah,” Arm says, standing up, “I must have misunderstood.”
Tankhun nods once in agreement, then leads Arm to his bed so they can both sit down.
Their bed. Arm stays here more than enough for this to be their bed.
“I can understand your concerning willingness to make up with Vegas,” Tankhun says, “You just found out one of your best friends is raising a baby with him. Of course you would like to extend an olive branch. Of course you would like to hang out with Pete in person a lot more. I get it, because…because I want those things too. It's just hard.”
“I know.”
“And…” Tankhun continues, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, “The thought of getting Vegas’s confirmation that Douglas hurt him upsets me. I used to babysit him when he was younger. I used to adore him, and I know there is no point in denying that. So if he admits Douglas hurt him too, that means I failed him as well, and I don't know if I can handle that.”
Arm puts his hand on his back and rubs it, “Would you be able to handle never getting a confirmation, always wondering, and just continuing to have weekly FaceTime chats with Pete? Or is that preferred over finding out what Vegas went through and possibly...mending things? I don't know if that's possible, but it might be a step in the right direction if the issue is thought out and approached in the right way.”
Tankhun thinks on it, then breathes out, “I think it should be Kinn who reaches out. That would be the best way to go about this.”
Arm looks slightly startled by that, “But he hates Kinn the most-”
“But Kinn was also hurt by Douglas the most,” Tankhun interrupts, “And if Douglas actually managed to hurt Vegas, he may be bitter over the fact that Kim and I fought back and managed to get out of whatever Douglas planned to do to us. And if he got away from Douglas like we did, I…As much as he resents Kinn, I can't see him being happy about a fourteen year boy being sexually assaulted. I can't even see him being happy that Kinn went through something like that, because at one point, he loved Kinn.”
“...Do you think Kinn would be willing to admit that to him?” Arm asks.
“I don't know,” Tankhun groans, “Probably not. But Porsche is in contact with Pete and Vegas and visits them. Maybe he can help set up and facilitate a conversation like that. I just…Fuck, Arm! You are SO annoying!”
“You have said that before,” Arm acknowledges as Tankhun pulls out his phone. He sets up a group chat with Kinn, Porsche, and Kim before adding Chay at the last minute. Chay games with Macau and talks with him. Maybe that connection could provide a backup plan that Tankhun doesn't fully have formed in his head yet.
But regardless…
Tankhun: I need to have an important meeting with the four of you. Kim, Chay, I know you two have been working on music all day, but please take a short break. I hope we can come to a decision about this and move forward with my plan within the next couple of days.
Kim: What is this about?
Porsche: It sounds serious. There are no emojis.
Tankhun: 🎾🐁🌬️🎫📟🖨️🩻
Kim: You never even use any of those.
Tankhun: That's because I need to have a serious conversation with all of you. Come here. Now. Kinn, you too.
Tankhun reaches out to his brothers for a proposition, while Porsche reaches out to his best friend to gather details about some new developments. Kim returns to the music industry after putting a few conditions in place. Kinn agrees to a potentially heavy conversation.
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