Sincerely, Yours

46. A Day of Exploration

 Luan wakes up to a hushed voice and he looks over to see Thoma standing near the window. 

"---Okay and then what did she say?" Thoma asks.

Luan turns on his phone and the time reads 2 am. He sat up and tiredly called to Thoma. "Hey, Thoma, who're you talking to?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Thoma asked and Luan could hear the voice over the line teasing Thoma. It was probably Charlie. 

Luan wrapped himself in the blanket and tiredly leaned his head against Thoma's back. "Is it Charlie?" Luan asked and Thoma nodded.

"Hi Luan! Hope you guys are having just the BEST time in Japan!" Charlie called to him through the phone. "Hi, Charlie," Luan said tiredly and Thoma kissed his cheek. 

"Go back to bed, buttercup, I'll be right there." Thoma said and Luan agreed with a nod. 

However once Luan laid down he couldn't help but lay awake listening to Thoma talk. Not to eavesdrop necessarily but he felt comforted by the soft tone of Thoma's voice. 

"....are you sure she is telling the truth? It seems like a long shot to say that Michael Gardeen will be at such a small scale play in the middle of nowhere." Thoma whispered and now Luan was wide awake. 

Michael Gardeen? Wasn't he the guy that directed that insanely popular indie movie? Luan wondered to himself.

"..Well of course I wanna be there but right now.." Thoma said quietly but then tried to whisper even quieter, "I need to be here with Luan...I, uh, really messed up with his parents and I need to make it right."

There was silence and Thoma chuckled softly, "I don't know... but he's my lover and I won't leave him here alone." 

Luan felt like he understood enough of the situation but he didn't know how Thoma would feel about him eavesdropping. Whatever the situation was, if Thoma had to return home to take care of it, he wish he would. He would feel terrible if he missed out on an opportunity just for his sake. 

Luan had stopped listening for a while and eventually Thoma hung up and slipped back into bed. He cuddled up to Luan and kissed his cheek before laying down to rest. 

Luan felt so comfortable that he allowed sleep to overtake him as well. Whatever their conversation had been, Luan was sure Thoma would bring it up in the morning. 

-----

Luan and Thoma started their morning late but because of the incident last night, neither of them assumed that Luan's sisters' would be joining them. A text from Jona this morning confirmed the news. 

She said that upon both her and Hana coming home last night their father had been throwing things and angrily spitting nonsense about Luan, though they didn't dare repeat his words. Apparently Luan's mother had assumed that he was working and wanted him and his father to talk. Unfortunately the situation couldn't have gone worse.

Luan only relayed to Thoma what he felt was relevant information. He could see by Thoma's furrowed brow that he was upset but Luan quickly changed the subject. "We could start with those Japanese tourist dos and don'ts? We never got to it last night. Or we could go rent a bike and find someplace to eat for breakfast?" 

"I'll make us some coffee and then you can be my professor for the beginning of the day. I'd rather not embarrass myself again," Thoma said but the little laugh he did after was void of joy.

Luan began to make a list of all the things he didn't have to think about since he'd been a local. But he didn't want Thoma to feel outcasted or embarrassed because he wasn't aware of what was expected.