Archive of Our Own ^beta

Warm.

That was what Kamol first registered as he awoke that morning. It wasn’t the usual warmth that came from Thailand’s tropical weather, or even the type of warmth that came from cuddling with his lover. This warmth burned, built until it completely consumed him.

It was then that his sleep-addled brain registered his own arousal. He somehow coaxed his eyes open to follow the sensations down, and the cause for this burning became blatantly obvious. There, nestled between his thighs, nearly hidden under the blankets, was Kim. Kim, who was awake and staring him dead in the eyes as he used his mouth to pleasure Kamol’s erect flesh.

“Good morning.” Kim greeted after giving his mate’s navel one last nip. “It took awhile for you to wake up, but I couldn’t wait any longer.”

Kamol was still somewhat asleep, so words weren’t quite making any sense. “Good morning, Kim. What woke you up so early?”

“I wanted to be the first to say it.” Kim explained vaguely, as he crawled up Kamol’s body until they were nose to nose. “Happy Birthday, Kamol.”

Kamol’s thoughts came to a grinding halt.

Was it that time of year already? How did Kim know? Did his lover seriously wake him up with a blowjob at… Kamol glanced at the clock on his nightstand… 6:23 in the morning to guarantee he told him ‘birthday first’?

“I didn’t know you celebrated birthdays.” Kamol paused. Why did he say that?!

Kim gave a slow blink. “Merfolk don’t count the passing of time or aging the same way land culture does, so we don’t really do the whole ‘birthday celebration’ thing, but since it’s an important land culture event, and you’re from land, it’s important to me.”

That was… strangely sweet. And odd. Has Kim experienced a human birthday party before?

“I have many questions, though. Is the color of the wrapping paper on presents important? Why do you set fire to the cake? Kit said something about birthday spankings, what’s the point of that?”

Ah, there it was. Kamol twisted Kim over, pinning his lover to the bed, and proceeded to rain kisses down on the mer’s face. Kim burst into giggles at the ticklish sensation. “Thank you, Kim.” The mafia boss felt rather tingly with happiness.

“But I’m not done yet!” Kim complained with a pout, though it didn’t last long under Kamol’s onslaught of affection.

Kamol pulled back. “Are you saying you have more planned for little old me?”

“‘Little old me’ my ass.” Kim grumbled under his breath before smiling innocently at Kamol. “But of course, Khun Kamol.”

Kamol’s eyes darkened at the formal address, and his arousal spiked. “Who taught you that, hmm, my boy?”

“Everyone else calls you ‘Khun’, so why can’t I?” Kim asked, tilting his head to the side.

Kamol knew from the mischievous glint in Kim’s eyes that the younger man knew exactly what he was doing. Well, if Kim was going to be a brat, then he was going to have to show his little love why playing with him was a very unwise decision.

“There’s nothing that says you cannot address me as ‘Khun’. But I warn you, Kim, if you call me that you better be prepared to handle the consequences.” The declaration was paired with a nip to the mer’s scent glands, an erogenous zone for most merfolk.

Kim’s pupils – which had previously been slitted – had blown wide like a cat, as he stared up at Kamol. His breathing even began to become labored, taking deeper and deeper breaths, as if he was breathing in Kamol’s arousal (he was).

The mer looped his arms over Kamol’s shoulders and lifted his head to brush their noses together before tilting his head and bringing his lips to Kamol’s ear.

“Then show me.”

Kim pulled back and was met with Kamol’s dark gaze.

“Oh, Kim,” Kamol’s voice was dark with promise. “I’m going to absolutely ravish you.”

“Khun Kamol and P’Kim are late for breakfast. Should someone go and get them?” Baiboon asked, eyeing the stairs with worried eyes.

Kit, Ruj and Lop all eyed each other.

“Yes.” Kit nodded, giving a little grin.

“One of us should definitely check up on them.” Ruj agreed.

“Absolutely not.” The trio of guards jumped at the sudden voice. And no, Kit did not scream at the hand suddenly placed on his shoulder. Anyone who said otherwise was lying.

“Good morning, P’Khom.” Baiboon greeted, smiling brightly.

“Good morning, Baiboon.” Khom returned, giving Baiboon a soft smile.

“Good morning, everyone.” The trio of idiots jumped again. The group looked up and found Kamol helping Kim down the stairs.

“Oh, good morning, P’Kim, Khun Kamol! Happy birthday!” Baiboon greeted, his sunshine smile dialed up to 100%.

“Good morning and happy birthday, boss!” The throuple greeted.

Khom simply bowed.

“I see you’ve roped them into this.” Kamol gave his lover a pointed look, his arm around Kim’s waist being convenient in keeping the mer at his side.

“I’ll have you know that Auntie Nee told me when your birthday was, these guys just wanted in on the fun.” Kim defended, crossing his arms.

“So you’ve already said.” Kamol acknowledged.

Kim made a point to turn his head, so he wasn’t facing Kamol, suddenly much more interested in the design of the wallpaper. Kamol refrained from chuckling. His lover was so cute. Apparently, his expression was smitten enough to make the group at the foot of the stairs search for excuses to leave.

“I’ll go help Grandma set the food out.” Baiboon smiled and left.

“Uh, Lop and I need to… um… practice our sparing.” Kit fibbed, grabbing Lop by the elbow and dragging him away.

“I need to… uh… wash the plants.” Ruj exclaimed before running away.

The trio watched Ruj disappear from sight with varying degrees of disbelief and amusement.

“I didn’t know you had to wash plants.” Kim turned back to Kamol for an explanation, having forgotten his earlier sulking.

“We don’t. Ruj is just a terrible liar.” Kamol mused, shaking his head fondly.

Ruj’s inability to lie had always been a source of amusement for the mafia boss, and was one of the things that endeared the bodyguard to Kamol in the first place. And while Ruj may not be able to lie, he knew when to keep quiet about something, and that was one of the main reasons Kamol had added him to his elite guard.

“It’s true, Khun Kim. Ruj can’t lie to save his life. Ask him anything and it’s easy to spot.” Khom agreed with a nod of his head.

“Really?” Kim tilted his head to the side. “So you don’t wash your plants?”

“Not exactly. We have to water them, and some might require a bit of root maintenance which could include rinsing them in water, but calling that ‘washing’ would be using that term incredibly loosely.” Khom explained. And he would know. He had a few potted plants in his room, two of which were orchids that he’d groomed and potted in charcoal. The process had involved soaking the roots in water in order to loosen up the moss and dirt tangled in between. As well as a lot of pruning and detangling the roots before he’d been able to properly repot them in charcoal, which was shockingly good for them.

Khom liked gardening, so what? It’s not like a bodyguard liking plants was a crime. And besides, Kamol encouraged his guards to have “healthy” hobbies. (Gambling and picking useless fights were not “healthy”, but card games and cigarettes were, so take the word “healthy” with a grain of salt.)

“Khom is our resident green thumb. If you have any questions about plants or gardening tips, he’ll either already know something or be willing to research it.” Kamol said, motioning to Khom.

“Green thumb?” Kim looked incredibly confused. “Khom doesn’t have green thumbs.”

“It’s a figure of speech that means Khom is good with plants, which are typically green.” Kamol explained, getting an ‘ah’ from Kim in understanding.

“Speaking of plants, I have to go check on my orchids. I forgot to do that this morning. I’ll see you at breakfast, Khuns.” Khom bowed before leaving.

“Orchid?” Kim wondered.

“It’s a type of flower.” Kamol said simply.

“Oh.” Kim blinked. “Like a lotus?”

“Not quite, but kind of.”

“Is it present time yet?” Baiboon was practically wiggling in his seat.

“Not yet.” Kim shook his head. “We all need to finish breakfast first.”

Baiboon sighed and slumped into his chair, pouting at his empty bowl. “But you all are taking forever. I wanna give Khun Kamol my gift already.”

“I know, I know.” Kim placated, running his hand through Baiboon’s hair. “You’ll get to give it to him soon.”

Baiboon grumbled his agreement and cuddled into Kim’s side, mostly content to lay there and get head scratches.

Kamol subtly pulled his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture of the two, smiling at the sight the pair made. He was happy to see Baiboon act more like a teenager rather than the polite, docile, little thing he’d been when he’d first arrived at the manor. He’d become so happy – willing to speak his mind, and express his feelings since Kim had taken him under his wing – that it filled Kamol’s heart with joy to witness such a transformation.

Yes. Meeting Kim and bringing the mer home with him had been the best god-damn thing Kamol had ever done in his life, and he was sticking by that. Sure, becoming the man he was – feared and respected in both the legal and illegal worlds – was great, and there were many things he accomplished to get there that he was proud (and not so proud) of. But Kim would always be number one.

“Now is it present time?” Baiboon’s question draw Kamol out of his thoughts.

Kim let out a sigh. “Yes, Baiboon. You can give Kamol your present now.”

Baiboon let out a whoop of excitement, and reached under his chair before thumping a medium-sized box onto the empty space next to Kamol, before whipping out his phone and hurriedly tapping it.

Kamol was rather distracted by the shiny blue paper and gold ribbon that it took the crackle of a phone speaker to draw him out.

[“Is it happening?”] Rain’s voice rang out, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Yep!” Baiboon agreed, pointing the phone at Kamol, which was the biggest indicator that this was a video call. “Say ‘hi’.”

[“Oh. My. God. AHHHH! It’s happening! Sky! Sky, it’s happening! Get over here! SKYYYYYY!”] Rain shouted, causing the occupants of the table to chuckle.

[“What’s happening?”] One of Rain’s classmates asked.

[“Papa Kamol’s opening his gift!”] Rain squealed.

Baiboon froze.

[“Rain.”] Sky said, followed by a thumping sound.

[“Skyyyy, what was that for? Why'd you hit me?”] Rain whined.

[“We’re on speakerphone.”] Sky deadpanned.

[“And?”] Rain asked, confused.

[“And I thought you didn’t want Khun Kamol to know we called him Papa.”]

There was a pause, a moment where there was complete silence, before a screeching noise sounded through the phone that could only have been produced by Rain dying of embarrassment.

Kim, who was very amused having already known that his pod-children referred to Kamol as “Papa” in private, made a pointed nudge to the gift. “Open the card, then you can attack the wrapping paper.”

Kamol blinked, but followed his lover’s instructions, and carefully removed the white envelope tucked into the ribbon on top of the box. Opening it revealed a homemade card with a beautiful ink drawing of a house on the beach, stained with beautifully artistic splotches of water color paint. He opened it.

🎈 HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 🎈

Khun Kamol,
I hope you have a very happy birthday. We prepared this gift for you after we heard you had problems sleeping. I found that this gift helped me, so our hope is that it can provide a bit of comfort for you as well.
Sky

PapaKhun Kamol,
Happy birthday! Sorry we couldn’t be there, we had school which I totally would’ve skipped if Sky hadn’t glared at me. Anyway, I wish you many more years of happiness!
P.S. The origami was my idea
Rain

Khun Kamol,
Happy Birthday! I am very thankful you took me in, so I hope this day I can return a bit of those good feelings to you. May your day bring you many joys.
- Baiboon

Kamol’s expression was so soft as he read the letter that several of the table’s occupants had to look away. Kim, of course, watched, content to see his mate so happy. Once Kamol set the letter down, Kim nudged the gift once more, and everyone took that as their cue to look back.

“Oh, it may not be as nice since it’s so bright in here, so make sure to see it in a darker room later for the full effect.” Baiboon spoke up.

[“I totally forgot about that.”] Rain groaned from over the phone.

[“How can you forget that it needs to be in a darker area? They’re literal lights.”] Sky deadpanned.

Kamol let the bickering pair continue as he undid the gold ribbon and carefully unwrapped the blue paper. It revealed a cardboard box that had been taped shut. Well, no problem. Kamol held out his hand, and didn’t have to wait for longer than 2 seconds before Khom was passing him a pocket knife. After that it was as simple as flicking the blade out and cutting the tape.

Opening the box revealed 3 large mason jars that glowed with deep blue, light blue, and white lights stuffed in with a lot of blue and white tissue paper.

Picking up the deep blue jar, Kamol held the jar up to examine it. It had a strand of little blue LED lights coiled inside, and decorating the glass were little stars that depicted constellations in a rather accurate rendition of the night sky.

The second one had a coil of light blue LED lights stuffed inside, and glued to the glass and tucked within the coils were a bunch of little origami animals.

The third and final jar had a strand of white LED lights coiled inside, and glued to the outside of the jar were several shells, all strategically placed for light to peek through the cracks and pattern the surfaces around.

Each jar had a little switch poking up through a hole in the lid that showed the off-switch for the lights which Kamol flicked a few times just to make sure it worked.

“Sky placed all the stars, Rain did the origami, and I glued the shells.” Baiboon explained, pointing to each one.

“They’re very well-made, thank you.” Kamol thanked, his eyes sparkling softly at the teen and the phone he was holding.

[“So he likes them?”] Rain piped up.

[“Yes, Rain.”] Sky sighed. [“Can you not see his expression right now? Khun Kamol looks like a man holding a kitten.”]

[“Skyyyyy, why did you plant that image in my head?! Now I have to take him and Mama Kim to a cat café!” Rain whined.

[“Not my problem.”] Sky deadpanned.

[“You’re mean.”]

[“I’m aware.”]

In the end, despite all of Rain’s whining and later having to leave because of class, gifts were passed around, and Kamol gained a small pile. This included a set of hand painted watercolor bookmarks from Ruj, a potted orchid from Khom (which Kim kept poking), a book on shibari (that Kamol surprisingly didn’t have) from Kit (and yes, he got smacked for it), and a new pair of sunglasses from Lop. Of course, Auntie Nee’s gift was all of Kamol’s favorite foods specially prepared for each meal, and a generous selection of treats for dessert.

And that was before Khom announced that some of their associates had heard about Kamol’s birthday and sent something as well.

From the Minor Theerapanyakun Family there was a sleek, black, hand-crafted pocket knife from Vegas and Pete, and a beautiful photo of Kim and Kamol from the MMM set in a black frame from Macau (which was going on the desk of his home office). From Tae Lerttravinont came a new cologne which had Kim glued to his wrist from where he’d swatched it which piqued Kamol’s interest. And finally, from the Kittisawat brothers was a box of candies and a book on mixed drinks.

Overall, a lot more gifts than Kamol was used to.

“What about Khun Kim?” Kit asked.

“Yeah, Khun Kim hasn’t given you a gift yet.” Lop pointed out.

“Bold of you to assume he hasn’t.” Baiboon blurted out, before blinking and immediately looking away like he hadn’t said anything.

“Oh, no. I heard that. What’s that supposed to mean, Nong Baiboon?” Kit inquired, leaning over the table.

Kamol chuckled fondly at the scene before him, and stifled the sound behind his hand. Ruj, who had heard the sound, looked over only to zero in on the Mafioso’s watch. The guard gasped and blindly reached for it, though it ended in him smacking the other guard’s arm.

“What?” Kit questioned, pulling back.

“Th-th-”

Kit followed Ruj’s finger and looked at Kamol, he was confused for a second before he too noticed Kamol’s watch.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“What is it?” Lop asked, leaning over.

“Watch.” Ruj managed to spit out.

“Huh? Watch?” Lop looked so confused, but followed.

The trio’s dramatic behavior drew attention to Kamol’s watch which the mafioso calmly displayed while propping his chin up on his palm. The watch in question had the face of one of Kamol’s favorite watches; a Naturalist from HOLZKERN with a marbled blue face which clocked in at $329 USD. The only difference was that instead of its usual brown leather strap there was a strand of thick semi-translucent blue mer scales laid to fall like a line of scale-mail.

“I’m honestly surprised it took you this long to notice it.” Khom commented, pouring himself another cup of coffee from the pot on the table.

“You shouldn’t be surprised, P’Khom. Those three are rather… unobservant sometimes.” Baiboon said, tapping away on his phone in reply to several messages on a group chat called ‘ Pod Children Support Group ’ which consisted of Baiboon, Chay, Macau, Rain, and Sky.

“What about Auntie Nee? She didn’t see it.” Kit protested.

“Consider me impressed, but not surprised.” Auntie Nee responded. “You three on the other hand don’t seem to have grasped Kim’s ability to easily one-up you all while not making a big deal about it.”

“Damn. So mean.” Lop muttered with a pout.

“The truth can be brutal.” Baiboon sighed dramatically.

“Alright, who taught you to be so snappy? Because it certainly wasn’t any of us.” Kit demanded, staring at Baiboon.

“You forget that Baiboon has become friends with Macau Theerapanyakun and Porchay Kittisawat, is in the same pod as Rain Tangwai and Sky Chaijinda, and is in regular contact with Prapai Sengngai.”Khom spoke as he calmly took a sip of his coffee.

Kit groaned and slumped dramatically onto the table. “It was definitely Khun Macau and Khun Sky’s fault.”

“I agree, both Khun Macau and Khun Sky are quite… creative when it comes to insults, and are well versed in the art of sarcasm.” Ruj nodded.

Kim only smiled proudly.

Kamol shook his head. This was the best birthday ever.