Days Go By | lavashipping

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Some taps on his phone screen, then he put it aside and turned to look. It was perfectly timed, just when he turned to Kai, they took out their phone and looked at the notification.

"Ooh, what's that?" Cole exclaimed, his focus shifting to something else. He reached for the phone but Kai quickly got it out of his reach.

"No!"

"I saw it!"

"You saw nothing!"

Cole retracted, happy to see Kai relax. He waited for the situation to settle down, going back to what he was doing before, pretending he lost interest. And Kai followed suit, continuing to eat as if it was going to be this easy. Then Cole smirked to himself.

"Cole the cutie, huh?" he mentioned off-handedly, reaching for his mug to take a sip while Kai coughed beside him.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't."

"Please spare me this." He turned to them, unable to stop smiling. Kai shook his head, a silent plead in his eyes. It wasn't going to get him anywhere, Cole tilted his head to the side, propped it up with his hand. They stared at each other, Cole's smile growing with each passing moment. Then he slowly pushed his shoulder.

"You have a crush," he mused, having to contain his laugh when Kai closed their eyes. "You like someone."

"Please don't."

Cole moved closer to him, now using both his hands to poke Kai. "You think I'm cute."

"I have to re-evaluate my decisions."

"Look at you! You're so adorable, wow, I didn't know you can be so romantic!" They hid their face in their hands. "Aw, do you like-like me? Be honest."

"I hate you."

"Hey, don't feel bad, I think you're cute too."

"I'll rename you to Cole the cunt, is that what you want?"

"Who cares what I want, it looks like you want me! I'm humbled!" While Kai tried to pry him away and scoot farther from him, Cole wouldn't budge. "Look at you, about to turn 27 and you like-like me! That is soooo embarrassing!"

Kai turned their back to him, hugging his knees to his chest, not saying anything.

"Kai?"

Nothing.

"So are we sulking now? Come on, I understand. I would also like-like me if I were you, it's not your fault."

But he remained silent.

"Oh, so you're ignoring me." When there wasn't any response again, Cole tried poking him, tried to tickle him – which almost worked but Kai's body tensed up and it was harder to find the weak spots. "You can't ignore me forever, honey."

Another idea sprouted in his mind.

"Sweetheart?" Of course Kai didn't react. As frustrating as it was, Cole also wondered how long they would be able to keep it up even if he left him alone. But he wasn't going to leave him alone, not at all. "Teddy bear. Sweetcheeks. Darling? Pumpkin, nugget, muffin... Now that would be an interesting shopping list..." Cole sighed, racking his brain. "My prince in shining armour, my king, my moon and my sun, my universe, talk to me."

Kai huffed. That meant progress!

"I'm sorry, I won't tease you anymore, talk to me, I miss your voice, my dearest sugar." Sure, there was a chance that Kai's movements were caused by pure discomfort from his sitting position but Cole was a believer and he believed he was cracking the ice.

"I am terribly lonely, honey boo. I'm so cold, please warm me up again, please I will be good just help my unearthly heartache."

Did he hear laughter?

"I can feel the darkness swallowing me, aking mahal. I'm falling into the monster's mouth. I can feel its teeth sink into my skin like thorns of roses, Oh what a hopeless romantic I am! It's so cold and dark here without you, my sunshine, please, allow me one last look into your beautiful eyes before I go to sleep for the last time. I will wait for you on the other side, be it years, decades, centuries or millennia! Nothing quite fulfils me like your love does. Oh, what a fool I am! What is the meaning of life if I can't listen to your angelic voice?"

He was laughing. He made Kai laugh. He made him turn back around. What an achievement!

"You are so ridiculously dramatic," they chuckled.

"Whatever do you mean? I am simply disclosing my experiences from when the sun died!"

"Thank god you're not a poet."

"You would love my poems," Cole replied, then paused. He thought, took everything into consideration... "Because you love me!"

Kai sighed. "There we go." They started to turn back around but Cole quickly caught him by the waist and pulled him closer, fighting against his aggressive squirming.

"Okay, okay I'm done, I won't tease you anymore."

"Now see? This is where you lie. You're an ugly liar. No one likes 'em."

"Is this a test?"

"I don't know... is it?"

"Maybe I am a liar but I'm also cute according to you. I saw that very clearly."

"All right, fine!" Kai exclaimed, finally managing to get out of his grasp. "So maybe I think you're cute, so what? Have you seen yourself?"

Cole leaned in to give Kai a quick peck on the lips, the smile stuck forever to his face. "I'm flattered, guwapo."

Huffing once again, Kai reached for his food to continue eating, now that the situation actually calmed down. They fell into the familiar content silence that didn't need any words spoken and felt just as good as their chatter.

"What does aking mahal mean?" Kai asked after a few bites.

"My beloved."