Neverland Pride

Day 7

Can closed his eyes and let his body sink fully underwater.

Yesterday, when he had put Tinkerbell back into his suitcase, he had found a small bubble bath bottle that he must have taken from another hotel. Ever since, he had been itching to soak himself in the surprisingly large bathtub in the otherwise cramped bathroom.

But... he hadn't dared to go back and do that, after just coming out of the bathroom; not just because Tin would surely think he would take Tinkerbell for another ride and it would make him look insatiable. It felt wasteful, taking a full bubble bath after the extensive shower earlier.

Today, he had informed Tin of his plans to take a bath, and had gone for it.

Can couldn't get the knowing smirk on Tin's lips out of his mind, the one he had shown when he had told him to enjoy his bath.

It wasn't like that!

Tinkerbell was still in his suitcase!

With the vague idea of informing Tin of this fact, Can pushed upwards and enjoyed the sensation of water splashing from his head as he re-emerged.

He rubbed the foam out of his eyes and opened them carefully.

The white mountains of bubbles all around him made him feel like he was floating in the clouds. He would value the privilege of being able to travel more once this quarantine was over. You didn't appreciate how good it felt to get around and be out and about, until you were prevented from it.

The thought that had originally made him come up from underwater, had already slipped his mind.

Can didn't care.

He smiled.

Yesterday evening, they had finished watching that Pride and Prejudice series. It had been fun. Not the series itself, which Can couldn't really form an opinion on anyway. No, since Tin had only found the British original version without subtitles, Can had had difficulties understanding what was said – and Tin had often paused and explained the scenes and the story to him in Thai.

Can felt smarter for it. He had never learned about the classics of English literature before, but Tin seemed to know a lot.

He would probably not have enjoyed the experience so much, if he hadn't watched it with Tin.

The entire package had made it great: sitting next to each other on the bed, their sides almost touching; Tin's voice, when he repeated some of the dialogue to him in his flawless English; seeing Tin's eyes light up when he explained something, a sign of passion Can had rarely seen in him before in their days of quarantine.

Now that he had actually seen the series – along with Tin's patient explanations – Can understood why Tin had chosen a reference to this Mr Darcy as his screen name. There were parallels, and not only because Tin was a lot more handsome than that Darcy guy. Tin had also been cold and aloof in the beginning, but Can now thought that it might just have been a difficulty to express himself, pride, and prejudice, just like the Darcy in the series.

But did that mean Can was Elizabeth?

The water splashed around him as he shook his head.

Why would he be Eliza, he wasn't a girl and he didn't... it wasn't that... there was no interest... no, no, there shouldn't be...

The truth was: since Tin had mentioned helping him get the real thing, instead of Tinkerbell, Can couldn't get it out of his head.

He was curious.

And... he wanted it.

It was unreal how much he wanted it.

But.