Chapter Text
The funeral itself is short, with none of the fanfare of a traditional ceremony. They don’t deserve it is what all the cousins had decided, huddled around Tankhun’s bed, not after everything they had been put through.
The sky was overcast and gloomy, a fitting end for the old kings. Even the skies would not show him a hint of anything other than disdain, the air thick with humidity that had them feeling stuffy underneath their suits. It was only the brothers and cousins who stood close to the pyres as they burnt, two brothers side by side, watched over by the sons that succeeded them. A promise was made, over the burning pyres, to not repeat the mistakes of their fathers, to stand by each other because they were all that was left of their family.
Pete, Porsche, Porchay, Pol, Arm and Chan were the only others in attendance though they stood closer to the cars than the actual funeral taking place in an open field, only dust and mud surrounding them. Arm and Pol were in attendance for Tankhun who was still recovering and Chan because Chan, I guess.
Porsche was having a hard time staying still, causing Porchay to scold him a couple of times when he got too jittery, leg bouncing and fingers twitching for a cigarette. He only settled when he saw the dying embers wafting towards the sky and the Theerapanyakuls walking back towards them.
Kim was the first to reach their little group, seeking out Porchay immediately. Vegas links fingers with Pete who pulls Macau into a side hug. Arm and Pol are fussing over a pale Tankhun. Chan, who was initially standing beside him goes over to Kinn who was at the back of the group.
Porsche bounced on the balls of his feet, trying to keep still while the two men spoke and couldn’t help the smile that took over his face when Kinn finally came to him. He embraces Porsche, burying his face in his hair. Porsche gives as good as he gets, arms firm around Kinn’s shoulders as he strokes his back.
“To the end of an era,” Kim says, almost to the wind, looking back towards the pyres. “And the beginning of a new one,” Vegas adds. They share a few more silent moments as the remnants of ashes flit past them along with the wind.
After that, Arm and Pol bundle Tankhun into the car. Vegas nods at Kinn, “We’ll take Kim and Porchay with us.” Porsche looks at Kinn, who smiles tiredly at him. Chan pulls out a set of car keys and tosses them to Porsche who fumbles to catch them, ears burning when he hears the snorts from everyone who witnesses it.
Everyone piles into their vehicles, Chan joining Tankhun’s before they set off, leaving Kinn and Porsche behind with the car they had come in. “What is going on?”
“We are going on vacation.”
“Vacation,” Porsche repeats as Kinn leads him towards the car.
“Yes. Kim’s suggestion. He and Chan plan to keep things afloat in the meantime.”
“Is this a vacation or a temporary retirement?” He teases as they climb into the car. Kinn just throws him a look that holds no real venom before putting the car in drive. “What about clothes and stuff, Kinn?”
“My love, we can literally buy whatever we want when we get there.” Porsche is the one to throw a look this time and Kinn sighs before continuing, “But I knew you wouldn’t approve of that so Porchay packed your bag. Tankhun tried to help, but Porchay quickly vetoed all ideas. It is in the trunk right now.”
“Good. Are you going to tell me where we are going now?”
“You’ll see when we get there.” Kinn reaches over to intertwine his fingers with Porsche before lifting it to his mouth. Porsche just smiles, making no attempt to take back his hand and instead relaxing back in the car seat.
Porsche doesn’t keep track of how long they drive until they come to a small airfield. Porsche only sees one small passenger plane in the entire field as he climbs out, Kinn heading back to grab the bags. Porsche takes his as they approach the plane, a man climbing out from inside.
“Khun Kinn,” He greets, a wide smile on his face. “Wai. How have you been?”
“All in all, no complaints. You?” Wai shakes Kinn’s hand very vigorously as Porsche watches. “Things are going, I guess.”
Wai nods sagely before looking over at Porsche. “I’m Wai. Nice to meet you.” Porsche shakes his hand with a smile while Kinn introduces him. “This is Porsche, my partner.”
“Oh, nice. You must be something real good if you are with Kinn.”
“He really is,” Kinn smiles. “Wai and I were in high school together. He came to work for the family after he got his pilot license.”
“Couldn’t have asked for a better job. Great hours and benefits, all the illegal activities aside.” Kinn rolls his eyes as Wai grabs their bags. “He’ll be our pilot today.”
“You still haven’t told me where we are going,” Porsche says as they follow Wai to the plane. “You’ll see, my love.”
With no way to get it out of him, Porsche just follows Kinn into the plane and buckles in.
The plane ride isn’t too long. Kinn manages a short nap and before you know it, they are back in the car, zipping down a relatively empty stretch of road. Porsche has his window down, head out as he enjoys the ocean breeze, a pair of Kinn’s sunglasses are perched on his nose.
“Good?” Kinn asks from inside and Porsche briefly looks back inside to grin. “Good.”
They had changed on the plane. Porsche felt more comfortable in a pair of shorts and a shirt with the short sleeves rolled up because he is annoying like that. Kinn wore linen pants and a white shirt with only the last two buttoned, another pair of sunglasses on the edge of his nose that he had pulled out after Porsche had stolen his.
Porsche had missed the beach and revels in the humidity and taste of salt in the air, the skies clear and the sun visible over the water. He remains with his head out the window, not unlike an excited dog, till they finally pull into a driveway, just off the road and right on the edge of the beach.
Kinn climbs out with a smile, rounding the car to hold open the door for Porsche. He climbs out and looks up at the small house, the dark wooden exterior striking against the blue skies. Kinn takes his hand and leads him inside. The interior matches the outside but everything is marble, from the floors to the countertops, complementing but not clashing.
“Kinn, what is this?”
“For as long as I’ve known you, you have been consistent about one thing. How much you loved the beach. So I thought you’d like this place. It isn’t too huge, honestly smaller than your place back home and just enough for two people. It makes a nice getaway spot, doesn’t it?”
“Did you buy it?” Porsche asks, walking over to the huge glass doors that lead straight out onto the beach.
“The house or the beach?”
“You bought the beach?” Porsche looks at Kinn incredulously, making him laugh at shake his head.
“I bought a small strip of the beach, just enough to have privacy. But yeah, that and the house. Do you like it?”
“Oh, Kinn. I love it.” Porsche turns around to grab Kinn by the front of his shirt and draws him in for a kiss that has Kinn pining him to the glass doors. Kinn is warm against his front, making Porsche smile into the kiss that has the heir kissing him that much harder, Porsche’s head knocking back against the glass door. When they pull away, both are breathing heavily, pupils blown.
Porsche moves back in for another kiss but Kinn stops him. “Come on. I have more to show you.” He reaches behind Porsche to slide open the door, leading him by the hand and Porsche cannot help how excited he gets when they go down the small stone steps. He kicks off his shoes and laughs when he finally burrows his feet into the warm sand.
Both of them hobble over the sand bare feet, deep laughs filling the air and that is when Porsche sees the small shack-like structure, just past the trees that line the property. It’s a bar, Porsche realises, a personal bar. “I still remember what you said, about wanting to open a bar by the beach. This isn’t exactly that but I thought you’d like it.”
Porsche appreciates that it isn’t extravagant, just a simple wooden bar with shelves underneath it, stocked to the brim with everything a bartender could dream of from cocktail shakers and strainers to mixers and seasonings. The shelves behind him are full of their favourite liquors and spirits, the bottom row lined with glasses and a bowl of lemon that looks suspiciously decorative. “Kinn, this is amazing. Thank you.”
“You are welcome, my love.”
“When did you even have the time to do all this?”
Kinn’s radiant smile dulls just a little bit. “I, uh, I had this done a while ago. I wanted to bring you here before- before everything happened.”
Porsche leans on the bar, one hand stretching out to cover Kinn’s. “I’m sorry.”
“It isn’t your fault, Porsche.” Kinn lifts their hands to press them against his lips, “It was never your fault.”
“I know. But maybe things would have been different if I had come to you, instead of running away.”
“You did what you thought was right to protect your brother, Porsche. I will never blame you for that.”
“It’s insane to think about it now, isn’t it? How much has changed in such a short period.”
“Yeah. But for the better, I think. If it wasn’t for all of this, I wouldn’t have the relationship I have with Kim and Khun. We would still be detached from each other, the way my father wanted it. And we would still be in a senseless war with the minor family.”
“I’m sure you would’ve resolved it at some point.”
“Without you and Porchay? Not a chance. If you guys hadn’t entered our lives, who knows where we would’ve been right now? You don’t understand how much you affected our lives just by showing up.”
“Yeah, seems like a Kittisawat speciality.” Porsche laughs.
“I hope you know how grateful I am to have you in my life, Porsche. How grateful I am that it was you I ran into in that back alley.”
“Even though I took your watch?”
“Especially because you took my watch. Otherwise, I would have never found you again and wouldn’t have this life. For a long time, family meant responsibilities and work and keeping things afloat. I had a skewed understanding of what that word even meant.” Porsche can feel the telltale pricks of tears behind his eyes but doesn’t say anything as Kinn continues.
“And then you came into my life and you not only gave me a family, you helped me fix my relationship with my brothers, something I thought would never change till the day I die. But it did, just by you being in my life, being exactly who you are, who you have always been. So, thank you, my love, for existing.”
“Fuck you, Kinn. You are making me cry.”
“Happy tears, I hope. I want you to know that you are it for me. There is never going to be anyone else and there never will be. I am yours, Porsche Pachara Kittisawat.”
“And I yours, Kinn Anakinn Theerapanyakul,” Porsche’s voice comes out a little waterier than he intended but it doesn’t stop him from speaking, “You have given me so much. Even before we were together, you allowed me to take care of my little brother. Because of you, he will have a better life than I did.”
Porsche looks down at their hands, unable to handle the look of adoration in Kinn’s eyes. “I never thought I would have the chance to love someone, let alone be loved by someone that I have no intention of ever letting go. You have given me a reason to wake up in the morning, a reason to look forward to every day because I get to see you. I love you, Kinn, more than you know because I have never loved someone before you and I will never love anyone after you.”
Both of them have tears running down their faces but of overflowing happiness, a welcome change from the tears they have shed in the past. Kinn leans over the bar to take Porsche’s face in his hand, wiping away the tears with his thumbs.
“God, the two of us are getting sappy. If Kim was here, he would be making fun of us for acting like an old married couple.”
“Well, we’ve earned the right to be old and sappy. Screw him. Besides, he is one to talk, the way he trips over himself to make Porchay happy.”
Kinn laughs, sitting back down on one of the tall chairs lined up in front of the bar. “I’m glad he finally got his shit together. Porchay is good for him. He grounds Kim in a way I have never seen before.”
“Something only a Kittisawat can do, huh?” Porsche asks and Kinn nods.
“Obviously.” Kinn squints out into the distance, watching the waves lap at the beach, tiny boats visible in the distance, before turning back to Porsche. “What do you say we break in our new bar?”
“Seems only logical,” Porsche straightens out, putting on the most fake bartender smile he can muster and making Kinn laugh at his unnaturally wide smile, “Welcome to KP Bar. I am Porsche and I will be your bartender today.”
“Hi, Porsche. I’m Kinn and I will be your customer today.”
Porsche’s smile drops as he snorts, “See, it is things like this that make Kim call you old. Why do you have to make such lame jokes?”
“Excuse me, I thought you are supposed to love all parts of me.”
“The jokes are a deal breaker, Kinn. I cannot do this anymore.” Kinn leans over to swat at a grinning Porsche. “Shut up. Aren’t you supposed to be making me a drink?”
“After that horrible joke? I feel like I need a bouncer to kick you out. You have made this a very uncomfortable work environment.”
“Porsche!” Kinn whines, his annoyance betrayed by the mirth in his eyes and Porsche coos at him. “Okay, okay. Stop whining you big baby.”
Porsche turns around to observe the various alcohols sitting on the shelves while his hands dig around for glasses to pour their drinks in. “What do you feel like drinking?”
Kinn doesn’t reply right away, making Porsche look over his shoulder at Kinn who seems to be lost in his thoughts, eyes trained on Porsche. “Kinn?”
He startles out of it, a pink tinge to his pale cheeks and Porsche smiles. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”
Porsche turns back to the shelves when he finds the glasses, setting them down as he scans the bottles. “What’ll you have?”
“Whiskey Sour.”
Porsche turns around to chide Kinn about his basic taste in drinks but the words die in his throat, blinded by the twinkling diamond ring in Kinn’s hand.