Tingles and Things

Celery and Sandwiches

Despite what people may assume, Tine is exceptionally athletic. He knows how to play football (non-American), baseball, basketball, and golf and is an excellent swimmer. His dad was adamant about getting him into a sport to get an athletic scholarship to college. The problem was Tine didn't like any of those sports. He thought they were too physical and, in the case of golf and swimming, boring. Also, his teammates would foul and attack him for no reason. It became too much effort to put in the dedication needed when he constantly worried about his safety.

One day he was coming down from a sniffling attack – because he was absolutely not crying if anyone asked — after another brutal practice and saw a signup sheet for the school's cheerleading team. They were looking for athletic males. Tine was athletic, and he was male. Plus, girls were on the cheer team. Attractive girls who would rather date him than punch him in the stomach because he was better at the sport than them. Determined but probably more desperate than anything, he signed up for the cheer team. Thus began his stint as a cheerleader.

His dad hated it, of course. But Tine was good, like really good. So good the coach personally came to their house after Tine quit to convince his parents to let him continue. They had a chance of winning finals this year with him, and the school needed this win – needed him.

His parents reluctantly (aka a lot of screaming matches later) let him finish the semester. Still, when the team brought home a championship trophy – the first in school history – there was no way they could pull him from the team. Scouts were interested, and he actually had a chance at higher education, so they left it alone.

Cheer was why he could get into the college his parents attended and where his brother received a full scholarship. Granted, he didn't get a full scholarship, but it pays most of the bills. Which was more than his parents expected from him.

He never did get dates with the girls on his team. Most of them thought he was super adorable but not boyfriend material. They preferred someone a little more 'manly,' like a footballer or basketball player. The coach also strongly discouraged relationships between team members because they were there to win championships and encourage school spirit. It's hard to do that when half the team hates each other due to inter relational politics. If they want a relationship, they should date people from other sports, please and thank you. So, no, the cheer team wasn't the best place to meet girls. The girls were sweet, though. They would play with his hair, pinch his cheeks and cry on his shoulder over their latest boy problems.

He did have girlfriends. Well, he had girls he took on dates, but no one lasted more than a month. Once they move past the dating phase, they'll get bored and dump him. He's still trying to figure out why. They only ever gave him vague answers. But the gist mainly was that they thought there was more to him, and his personality was a little dry. I don't know Tine, you're just too much. I thought this would be simple.

So fast forward to the present day, Tine wasn't sure what was happening with his emotions. The thought of a relationship with a guy had never crossed his mind. In fact, he spent the majority of his life trying to convince people he wasn't gay. And he's not, he doesn't think. He still finds girls attractive. But, well, maybe men now too. It's not as though he finds anything wrong with gay guys.

On the contrary, he's friendly with many guys who like guys. It's hard being a cheerleader and not being tolerant of different lifestyles. But he never considered that for himself. Until Sarawat crashed into his life.

Sarawat was a mystery. It's easy to see why anyone could question their sexuality next to him. He was unnaturally attractive, and he knew it. Tine didn't think he was conceited about it, which made it worse. He just held himself in a way that exuded power and confidence. And he was sexy as hell. Tine wanted to do things to him. Things that made him blush.