Work Text:
“Haa..”
Anaxa sighed, leaning back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes.
He was grading student papers, though the task felt harder than usual tonight. He doesn’t know whether to laugh or sigh at them. Some answers were wrong, obviously rushed just to pass before the bell rings. Others invented an unfamiliar formula that somehow led to the correct answer. Some even drew sad faces at the bottom, begging for pity to pass the subject. Which somehow, reminded him of a certain someone.
The living room was quiet, save for the soft sound of wooden blocks clattering against the floor and the incoherent babbling of their son somewhere nearby. When he looked over, the child was playing with the toy plane his pa got for him.
Anaxa pushed the papers aside and crouched beside the child. “Someone’s eager to see pa tonight,” he murmured softly with a small smile, brushing a lock of hair from the little one’s forehead. “Clean up time, ba-”
Just then, the phone began to ring.
Ring! Ring!
“Pa! Pa!” The child let out a gurgling laugh, flailing his arms up like he knows it’s his pa calling. He clapped his hands together, laughing, expectant eyes toward the table where Anaxa’s phone rang insistently.
Anaxa stopped for half a second, then exhaled through his nose with a smile, helplessly amused. He reached for his phone then positioned it in front of their son before swiping to answer the call.
The screen lit up.
Phainon’s face filled it a second later, still in uniform. The lighting looks like he’s still at the airport. His posture was straight, but there was something unmistakably tired in his eyes.
“Pa!” the child squealed instantly, leaning forward so fast Anaxa had to steady him with a hand at his waist. Tiny palms slapped against the screen with bubbling laughter.
Phainon’s tired expression broke the moment he saw him. “Hi, babyyy” he said softly, a smile tugging at his lips. “I miss you," the whine was obvious in his voice.
The child squealed again, clapping his hands.
Anaxa couldn’t help the small huff of amusement that slipped out of him. He leaned closer, angling the phone so Phainon could see him clearly too, his face appearing beside their child. “You look exhausted.”
Phainon let out a breathy laugh, though it sounded more of a sigh. “Mn… back-to-back flights,” he said. His eyes flicked between Anaxa and the child before stopping on the latter. His gaze softened further, “Worth it, anyway. I get this.”
The baby babbled excitedly, fingers still patting the screen with little smears left behind. “Pa! Pa!”
“Yes, yes, I hear you,” Phainon hummed with a smile. “Have you been good today, little Heli?”
The child answered by clapping again, grinning wide like he didn’t just try to eat one of the paper’s his ma was grading a while ago.
Anaxa snorted quietly. “...Define good.”
The other laughed, his smile reaching his ears, maybe even radiating off from the screen. Oh how Anaxa wished he was in front of him now to pull him down the collar and smother his face in kisses.
“I’ll take that as a no,” Phainon’s voice dipped into something fond. “You’re just like him, aren’t you?”
Anaxa raised a brow. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“Did you eat?”
…
Anaxa’s brow furrowed, a faint crease forming between his brows. He averted his eyes away from the phone screen and pretended to look at his computer on the table. “Hm.”
“Baby..”
“I did,” he grumbled, clearing his throat.
“Di-,” before Phainon could finish another retort, a disappointed sound interrupted him.
“Ba.”
The two of them went silent.
Then Anaxa slowly looked down. Heli was staring up at them with wide, earnest eyes, lips puckered in a pout. His tiny fingers planted on the floor like someone stating their stance.
Across the screen, Phainon covered his mouth with the back of his hand, shoulders trying to contain his laughter. His eyes sparkled with amusement as he leaned back. “I see,” he said, voice muffled behind his hand. Then he cleared his throat before adding, “Thank you, Heli.”
Anaxa looked at their son in disbelief. “..You,” Did his son seriously snitched him to his pa? On a call nonetheless. “Did you seriously snitch on me?”
Heli blinked. “Ba,” he said again, then leaned his head back against Anaxa’s chest.
“Pfhhh–,” The camera suddenly tilted away as Phainon turned it aside, laughing off-cam. The camera shook visibly that Anaxa had another reason to frown.
Heli shifted again, tapping his ma’s thigh. Anaxa just looked at him and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “…I had coffee,” he admitted at last.
Phainon hummed off-screen.
“With a toast.”
The camera steadied as Phainon turned it back, his laughter fading into a fond knowing smile. “That’s not dinner,” he said gently with the same tone Anaxa used to hear when the other coaxes him in those sleepless nights.
Anaxa opened his mouth to argue but stopped when he felt Heli’s body relax against his stomach. The child let out a yawn, blinking slowly.
The other noticed immediately and huffed. “Oh,” he murmured, eyes softening. “Sleep time for you, baby.”
He followed his gaze, one hand coming up to caress Heli’s hair. “He’s been waiting for you since earlier,” he said quietly. “Wouldn’t settle.”
“Ah..”
From the screen came a small, disappointed sound. Phainon scratched the back of his neck, posture slouching. His eyes flicked away down for a moment before returning. “About that…”
Anaxa’s hand stilled for a moment. “What happened?”
“Our flight’s been delayed,” Phainon continued, his voice apologetic already, like he’s holding out on whining. “For a few days.”
…
The hand on the child’s hair resumed, thumb brushing gently along the crown of his head. Anaxa lowered his gaze, watching their child lulled to an even deeper sleep. “For a few days,” he repeated.
On the screen, his puppy-like husband’s shoulder sank further. “Yeah,” came the soft reply. “I promised to come back on time for Valentine’s Day but–”
“I’m not telling you to come home on time,” Anaxa exhaled slowly through his nose. “I want you home in one piece, that’s all,” he said, looking directly at the camera as Heli shifted for a more comfortable position on his lap.
Phainon blinked, the tension he had been carrying seemed to loosen all at once when he heard him.
Then followed by silence.
The quietness made heat creep up Anaxa’s neck before he could stop it. He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling the embarrassment double. He wasn’t one to say those types of lines after all. “I’ll ask you the same question,” he said calmly despite the embarrassment doubling in his chest. “Have you eaten?”
A beat passed before a sound came from the other end of the line that could only be described as a whine. “‘Naxaaa,” Phainon brought his hands to his face. “You’re so mean,” he said, peeking through his fingers. “I’m literally oceans away from you, and you keep acting cute like this.”
“Ha?”
A long sigh followed, “I had airport food,” Phainon said, slumping back against his seat. “ And it was cold,” sniffs. “And bad.”
Anaxa couldn’t help himself, a quiet laugh escaped him, as he watched his husband’s face turn into that pitiful, almost helpless expression. The way Phainon looked utterly incapable of keeping himself upright despite all the hours of discipline his job demanded when he heard his beloved’s concern.
“I miss you..” the other said, whiny and tired. “I miss you so bad it’s unfair.”
The hands caressing their son’s hair stopped as Anaxa’s breath looked away from the screen. “…You’re being dramatic,” he said at last, though the warmth creeping up his ears betrayed him entirely. And if Phainon were to see it, he knows the other would just capture the moment with the built in camera in his head.
“I’m–!” Phainon started, but before he could finish, a call rang out from his side.
“Phainon!”
He looked up from his phone, his posture straightening instantly that made Anaxa hold back another huff.
His coworkers called for him to move along, to attend some tasks that required his involvement. Anaxa watched silently, observing the small details. His husband’s growing eye bags, though not obvious, puts a frown on his face.
When Phainon finished the small talk, his eyes flicked back to the screen, a small pout forming.
“Don’t let them keep you too long,” Anaxa murmured, just enough to be heard. “Take care of yourself, Phainon. Come back soon.”
Phainon’s lips twitched into a fleeting smile, “Mn,” he said. Then, just before the call might be cut short, his gaze returned to the camera, “I love you.”
Thump. Thump.
Anaxa can’t really get used to this, can he?
“..Love you too.”
“Phai..”
His groan was muffled by the pillow. The same pillow Phainon slept two nights ago before he had to leave because of an unexpected flight. Anaxa pressed his face further, inhaling the faint trace of Phainon’s scent.
“Baby..”
Phainon leaned closer to the camera, his face covering the entire screen. His brows were frowned tight with worry, eyes scanning Anaxa “I promise I’ll come home soon.”
“..My stomach hurts,” Anaxa said, burying his face on the pillow. He was in his third trimester now and his husband leaving home isn’t really the ideal situation.
The other’s face instantly turned into worry. He started asking a bunch of questions. “Where does it hurt? Is it sharp? Rate it out of 10. Wait, right now–”
The questions made Anaxa smile in the pillow, “..Just aches,” he murmured. “Feels heavy.”
Phainon stopped mid-ramble, worry still clinging to him. “Heavy,” he repeated gently. “Okay. That’s… that’s still not great, but it’s not the worst.” His shoulders eased a fraction but his face is still plastered on the TV. People who’s seeing Phainon must think he’s trying to become one with his phone with how close he is. “Is it constant, or does it come and go?”
“Of course it’s heavy,” Anaxa stopped himself from saying it out loud. Whose baby does his husband think he’s carrying? He shifted slightly, adjusting the pillow under his chin. ..Constant,” he admitted, then added, almost as an afterthought, “But tolerable.”
Phainon exhaled, “Okay. That’s okay. You’re okay,” his fingers curled against the edge of whatever surface he was bracing on. “Did you drink water?”
“..Mm.”
“Mm yes, or mm you forgot?”
…
Anaxa didn’t answer right away. He just adjusted slightly, stretching his legs. “…I drank some.”
“Okay.. that’s good,” he said. Then without waiting for a reply, he kept going. “I swear, the moment I land back home, I’m buying one of those giant water bottles that you can’t ignore. I’ll even put dromas stickers on it if I have to.”
A faint huff sounded from the pillow, and that was enough encouragement for Phainon to continue.
“And today was a mess,” Phainon continued. “The briefing ran over by forty minutes because someone forgot to file a report, and guess who was pushed to fix it. Not naming names, I know you’ll personally call the airlines, but it all worked out in the end.”
The camera shifted slightly as he moved, the background lights of wherever he was blurring for a moment. “Oh, and I saw this couple at the terminal earlier,” he added, huffing a smile. “They were fighting over who gets to pay the bill. It reminded me when I first asked you out.”
No response.
Phainon paused, brows knitting together. “Baby?”
…
Only the slow, steady rise and fall of Anaxa’s shoulders. The arms wrapped around the pillow went slack, fingers curled loosely now.
A soft laugh escaped him, disbelieving and fond all at once. “You’re so..” He trailed off, glancing down at his face. A loose strand of hair had fallen across Anaxa’s cheek and the faint twitch of his lips like he’d been dreaming about something pleasant.
Unable to resist, Phainon tapped the side of his phone quickly, taking a screenshot.
“Rest,” he murmured quietly, thumb brushing the edge of the screen. “I’ll be home before you know it.”
…
“..I love you.”
“Professor, you’re married?!”
“Idiot, haven’t you seen his ring..”
“And you have a BABY?!”
“Since WHEN?!”
Heli blinked at the attention, then smiled wide, giggling at the students surrounding them. Anaxa adjusted the baby on his arms, setting down his bag on the table. “Lower your voices. You’re scaring him.”
“Umm..” the baby babbles, his arms flapping on Anaxa’s shoulder.
“HE’S SO CUTE!”
“Prof, did your genes even try?”
“He’s such an angel..”
Anaxa cleared his throat once and the students were back in their seats. “…This is Heli,” he said flatly. “He will be observing today’s lect–,” he was cut off when his baby started grabbing on the hearts. “No,” Anaxa said, stopping the tiny wrist. “That’s not yours.”
Heli frowned. “Baa..”
“It’s decoration.”
The two went for a staring contest before Heli decided to let go of the heart. The little man made a soft noise and slumped against Anaxa’s chest, cheek pressed flat. “As I was saying–”
Heli made a small offended sound. “Mm!”
“That is not yours either.”
Another round of awww swept the classroom that made Anaxa sighed in defeat and took the heart on the table and gave it to Heli.
This is gonna be a long day..
.
.
.
“Alright, that will be all,” he said as he capped the marker. “Read chapters six to eight. We’ll continue next week.”
The students groaned while fixing the chairs. Some even bolted out the moment Anaxa announced the end of class. And some, well, stayed at the podium for their professor’s baby.
Heli had slept through nearly the entire lecture. Anaxa expected some fussing, a bit of tantrums, but no. The baby only stayed curled against his chest, occasionally some tiny babbles, fingers curling into his ma’s coat, but that was it.
Behaved Heli.
Suspiciously so.
Anaxa adjusted his hold, sliding one hand beneath Heli’s bottom to support him better. His son only made a small ‘umph.’
“Prof,” a voice piped up from the back, though everyone’s gaze was fixed firmly on Heli rather than the speaker. “What are you doing later?”
“Later?” He repeated, lifting a brow as he glanced down at his son, who was now giggling at the other students, small hands clutched on his shoulders as he drooled.
Another student leaned forward, grinning like they’re planning something. “It’s Valentine’s Day, right?”
“Yes,” Anaxa said, wiping Heli’s mouth with a bib. Though Heli kept pushing it away.
“What are you doing later?” the first student pressed again.
“Nothing.”
…
Heli responded with a small gurgle. The students around him exchanged glances, some can’t even hide that plotting smile.
“Nothing? Not even flowers, a date, or anything?” someone asked.
“I don’t remember my love life being public information,” A few of them coughed nervously, others stifled laughs behind their hands. Heli, however, seemed to find the exchange entertaining, wiggling in Anaxa’s arms.
“Now if you’ll ex-”
“PROFFFFFF!”
A sudden shout from the door cut him off. Anaxa turned his head toward the doorway, eyes squinting slightly. A flustered student stood there, out of breath, “Prof– Professor Anaxa! Some students are fighting in the vacant room down the hall!”
Anaxa’s brow furrowed, wiping Heli’s drool as he adjusted his grip. “Fighting?” he repeated. “Today, really?
“Someone said they’re fighting over a girl..”
He let out a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose for a brief second before looking up again.
Valentine’s Day.
Of all days.
He glanced down at Heli, who chose that exact moment to pat his cheek and babble loudly. “You picked an interesting day to behave,” he murmured under his breath. “I suppose I’ll give you some ice cream later.”
“Ba!” Heli responded enthusiastically.
The student at the door shifted, almost like.. impatiently. “W-what should we do, professor?”
Anaxa straightened at once, fixing Heli’s hair with one hand. “I’ll handle it.”
His eyes swept across the classroom, then paused on one student near the front. “You,” Anaxa said, already stepping closer.
The student stiffened. “M–me?”
“Yes.” He adjusted Heli on his hip once more. “You seem competent. Hold him.”
The room collectively inhaled.
“WAIT–!” the student blurted out, hands half-raised in panic like someone held at gunpoint. “I mean– yes, yes, professor!”
Anaxa transferred Heli with practiced care, making sure his baby was settled securely against the student’s arms. Heli blinked up at his new holder, studied their face for a second, then reached out and grabbed their hoodie closer.
“Don’t let him eat anything, no sharp objects either. And if he starts crying–” his gaze shifted on the toy his son likes to bring everywhere , “..just mimic an airplane.”
…
‘Huh?’ was probably the collective thought ringing through the room. It even showed in their faces that Anaxa wanted to smirk. “So then, which vacant room was it?”
The flustered student straightened at once and hurried ahead. “This way, Professor.”
Anaxa followed, coat swaying lightly behind him. The hallway buzzed with more noise than usual. Valentine’s decorations hung along the walls, paper hearts taped beside classroom doors, and a few balloons tied to railings.
Students who had no reason to be lingering suddenly found reasons to linger. Some even had their phones conspicuously lowered when his gaze drifted in their direction.
This doesn’t resemble the atmosphere preceding a fight.
If anything, it felt more like anticipation.
He slowed his steps by a fraction. And then suddenly, a pair of hands suddenly covered his vision. Anaxa halted, “..What are you doing?”
“Please keep them closed,” another student said quickly, who’s obviously trying not to laugh. “Just– just for a bit.”
Anaxa frowned, though no one could see it beneath the palms covering his vision. “Is this supposed to be some kind of prank?” Confusion threaded into his tone, but it was edged with warning. “If you are wasting my time–”
“No! No, no, it’s not like that!” someone else cut in quickly, shoes squeaking as they hurried closer. “We wouldn’t– I mean– it’s not a prank!”
“It’s not bad!” another voice insisted.
“It’s good!” someone added, immediately followed by a hissed, “Don’t say that!”
Anaxa exhaled slowly through his nose. The hallway had gone noticeably quieter now. He could hear fabric brushing against fabric, the faint creak of a classroom door opening, then closing again.
This level of coordination required planning.
And planning meant intent.
“Just– trust us, please?” the first student said again.
Trust us.
That alone was suspicious.
Anaxa’s lips pressed into a thin line. He settled his hands at his side rather than reaching up to remove the pair of hands. “This is not Teacher’s Day,” he pointed out dryly. “Nor is it my birthday.”
A few students audibly stifled laughter at that. “We know, Professor!”
“Then perhaps you would like to explain,” he continued. “Why am I currently being escorted blind through my own department.”
“It’s just for a moment!”
“You’ll like it!”
“That is a bold assumption,” Anaxa replied calmly. He could feel the slight tremor in the hands covering his eyes, the warmth of anxious palms pressing more firmly as if afraid he might test their resolve.
They guided him the rest of the way slowly, covering his eyes as if he were their close friend rather than a professor fully capable of failing their grades with a red pen. Anaxa walked without resistance, he followed them to whatever antics they had in mind.
He could feel the shift in air when they reached the vacant room, a door open in his front as they nudged him slightly forward. The hands on his face disappeared, followed by a gentle close of the door.
Anaxa didn’t open his eyes immediately. He just stood there, listening to his surroundings. There were no hurried footsteps retreating, nor the muffled giggles outside the door.
After a few seconds, he opened his eyes.
The vacant room was bathed in afternoon light, golden streaks scattered across the floor. Paper hearts hang across the glass, some suspended from thin threads, others taped at the board. The desks had been pushed aside, leaving the center of the room suspiciously empty.
No banner.
No crowd.
No cake waiting on a table.
No “fight over a girl.”
Just the hearts and the desks.
He scanned the room once again then turned towards the door, intending to demand clarification from whichever student had volunteered to sacrifice their GPA for this.
His fingers barely touched the handle when something shifted beside him, a hand came down against the wall near his head.
Anaxa stilled.
His gaze slid sideways first, taking in the sleeve, the familiar cut of fabric, the wrist watch he had seen countless times resting on a bedside table.
Then slowly, he looked up.
Phainon stood close enough, one hand braced against the wall beside Anaxa’s head, the other at his back. His hair was slightly out of place, like he ran his fingers through it too many times just for this moment.
For a heartbeat, Anaxa simply looked at him.
The silence stretched, threaded with the gentle swaying of paper hearts behind them.
“..You.”
Phainon’s grin widened. “Hi.”
The sun sure played the part, catching Phainon’s hair that made the entire ridiculous setup feel almost cinematic, along with the paper hearts’ shadow swaying over the floor and over the two of them like some kind of filter.
Anaxa’s hand remained on the door handle. But he didn’t turn it, nor did he step away. His head was still angled toward the man who apparently decided that deception was an acceptable Valentine’s Day gift.
His stupidly handsome husband.
It was obvious the other rushed his way just to see him. Phainon’s hair looked messy, the coat hanging slightly crooked over one shoulder, and he’s still in his uniform.
“You,” he repeated, less disbelief and more of an accusation wrapped in composure. “You said your flight was delayed.”
“Yes.”
“For several days.”
“Mhm.” Phainon didn’t even attempt denial, he just smiled brighter. And then slowly, he pulled out something from his back.
“Happy Valentine’s.”
Anaxa’s gaze dropped.
The other was holding a bouquet of white and pink flowers tied with a red ribbon. Not big enough to block his vision but definitely big enough that it could cover half of his upper body.
He stared at the flowers, completely stunned. Then slowly lifted his eyes back to the man holding them. The bouquet remained extended between them.
“I didn’t want to send something,” Phainon removed his hand planted beside the other’s head, then scratched the back of his neck. “I wanted to hand it to you in person.”
Anaxa doesn’t know what to say. When he opened his mouth to reply, a shout cut him off.
“KISS HIMMMM!!”
The shout was so loud it reverberated off the classroom walls.
He closed his eyes. Outside the door came a scatter of frantic whispers layered over flustered squeals. There was a chorus of scandalized laughter and the unmistakable sound of hurried footsteps scrambling away from the door.
“Why would you yell that?!”
“Because he’s stalling!”
“Get down!”
“OW!”
“Ugh.. he’s going to assign homework, I just know it.”
Phainon blinked, he looked over at the window, then visibly tried not to laugh. His lips pressed together in a failing attempt at composure.
For one irrational, fleeting moment, Anaxa considered lifting the bouquet and shoveling it directly into Phainon’s face. Then–
Tap.
Tap tap.
Both of them turned at the sound.
There were small fingers smacking enthusiastically against the glass window of the classroom door. A tiny, cute, little face squished slightly against the pane, cheeks round, eyes bright with delight.
Heli.
Their small little sunshine.
He was being lifted by the side by a student just out of sight. His cute palms pressed flat against the glass as he babbled excited nonsense, words dissolving into happy syllables that carried through the door in muffled bursts. “Ma! Pa!”
“HI BABYYY!!” His husband called without hesitation, waving at the window with the same enthusiasm.
Heli shrieked in delight at the response, tiny hands slapping the glass harder. He bounced in the student’s grip, almost knocking his forehead against the pane again in his eagerness.
“Don’t drop him!”
“I’m not dropping him!”
“Stop pressing your face on the glass, Heli– no, don’t lick it!”
Phainon glanced back at him over Heli’s wriggling body against the door. Their son’s eyes sparkled with amusement that made Anaxa’s chest tighten because of cuteness.
His husband tilted his head slightly, lips quirking into that infuriatingly charming smile that said ‘you can’t be mad at me’, and then smiled wide enough.
And who was Anaxa to say no to that?
He pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked back at Phainon with a small glare as their little sunshine continued babbling and tapping enthusiastically against the glass.
“..You’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”
BANG!
The door slammed open with a force that rattled the shelves. Anaxa’s hand paused as he looked up. “Anaxa! You have to get to the court! Now!”
He blinked, trying to focus through the haze of fatigue. He’s purely running on caffeine at this point when his friend barged into the lab, breath coming in uneven pants. “Phainon.. he got into a fight!”
Anaxa froze, the pencil almost slipping from his fingers. For a second, he thought he’d misheard. “A fight?”
Phainon? In a fight?
It didn’t register at first, Phainon wasn’t reckless. He wasn’t the type to throw himself into chaos without reason, but for it to happen so sudden.. it must’ve been serious.
He rubbed at his temples, trying to steady his racing thoughts, but the sharp smell of burnt coffee in the lab only sharpened his senses. Sleep was a distant memory, his body running purely on caffeine and stubbornness, yet every instinct screamed at him to drop everything and get to Phainon.
“Which court? Where exactly?”
“He’s in the gym courts– just got into it. He’s.. probably fine, but it looks bad. Like, uh, yeah!” His friend waved their hands in urgency.
Anaxa shoved the pencil and notebook aside, his chair scraping the floor as he rose too quickly. He grabbed the jacket Phainon gave him this morning from the back of the chair.
By the time he reached the outside of the gym, the scene was already chaotic. There were shouting and cheering inside. His heart thumped frantically as he entered the gym.
Students were formed in a rough circle, leaning forward on tiptoes or craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the center. Some were laughing, others were whispering bets to their friends.
Anaxa pushed through the crowd. He thought it would be difficult to force his way through, considering most of these people were taller than him. But surprisingly, they seemed to make way almost automatically.
..?
A few of them glanced at him with expressions that were far too entertained for a fight. Someone elbowed their friend and whispered, “He’s here.” Another failed to hide their squeal. His steps slowed as he reached the center of the circle.
There was no fight at all.
It was just.. Phainon.
Just flushed from practice, not with bruises or marks of being punched. His posture was straight but kind of stiff, and one hand was tucked behind his back.
Phainon turned at the sound of shoes shuffling in the crowd. And then–
Their eyes met.
Phainon smiled, the same smile he wears every time he walks Anaxa home safely. There was something almost boyishly nervous about it, something that made his stomach flutter.
“What–” Anaxa began, but his voice came out thinner than intended. He cleared his throat, painfully aware of how many people were watching. “What is this?”
The culprit of it all walked forward, then stopped directly in front of him. Close enough that Anaxa could smell his perfume that he himself personally picked out for him months ago. Something clean, a calming scent.
Anaxa’s pulse skipped.
“You ran,” the other said softly. There was genuine concern there and that only made this worse. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to think it was something bad.”
Phainon’s hand shifted from behind his back. It wasn’t a big movement but it drew every eye in the room. Then he looked at him, pulling something out.
A bouquet of flowers.
“Happy Valentine’s.”
Anaxa stared at it for a full second too long before slowly reaching out to take it, his hand brushing against the other. He could feel his face down to his neck feeling hot that he looked down in embarrassment.
The sight made Phainon stunned.
In the months they’ve been together, Anaxa was always composed, even when embarrassed. His reactions usually sharpened rather than softened. He would retort, or even deflect. But right now, in front of Phainon, he was standing there. Clutching the flowers to his chest, his gaze lowered and ears visibly flushed–
Unable to assemble a single cutting remark.
The sight seemed to strike Phainon straight to the heart. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and pulled Anaxa against him. One arm wrapped around the other’s shoulders while his other hand slid up to cradle the back of his head.
If the flowers were crushed, he would buy another dozen tomorrow. A hundred if he asked.
But he would not allow a single person in that gym to witness the full sight of the color spreading across Anaxa’s face.
Anaxa’s ears burned hotter, and his fingers fumbled uselessly against the bouquet he still clutched. Phainon watched it all with a face full of adoration, his arms tightening around him.
“Gods.. I love you so much.”