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“You really must have lost your mind if you’re letting this happen,” Quincy admits to Kuya one night when they’re out with their friends for drinks. He points to the scene in front of him.
There was Rei, dreamily leaning to his side as he flashes a flirtatious smirk at a stranger who was most likely in his thirties, letting him close in on himself as he took a sip out of his glass. The stranger reached out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Rei’s ear, his jeweled earring gleaming under the warm lighting.
Kuya doesn’t respond immediately, choosing to watch Rei and the man interact instead. He waits and sees Rei finish his drink before setting it back down on the counter and caressing the rim of his empty glass with a gentle finger. The stranger calls the bartender immediately to order Rei another drink but before the bartender could go off to make it, Rei holds out two fingers and speaks.
The stranger nods and pays for the two drinks Rei orders and flashes him a proud grin, in which Rei visibly giggles in return before finally getting up. He picks up his two drinks and heads over to where Kuya and Quincy are sitting at.
“Free drinks,” Rei states simply as he hands Quincy a glass. He then turns to Kuya and stops himself for a second. “Damn, I should’ve ordered something non-alcoholic. You’re on antidepressants.”
Kuya takes the drink off his hands anyway. “I’ve mixed worse substances with my medication. I will be fine.”
Rei doesn’t look impressed. He squints at Kuya for a second before sighing. “I’ll monitor you carefully then, I guess.”
“Do as you please.”
“Sure.” Rei was about to turn away until he noticed the stranger still watching him. Huffing out a small chuckle, he glances back at Kuya and leans in to give him a kiss, tongue and all, before looking over at the stranger’s reaction.
The stranger, shocked and flustered at the realization that the man he’s been flirting with all night was taken this entire time, turns away quickly and disappears off into the crowd. Rei snorts as he begins to move back into the crowd too, waving goodbye to the two of them before heading off.
Kuya looks over at Quincy. “To respond to your comment, I simply allow my partner to go out seducing men for enrichment. Nothing more.”
“You make it sound like Rei is your pet and not your boyfriend,” Quincy mutters.
Kuya raises a brow. “Can he not be both?”
“Rei will kill you if he heard what you just said.”
“Exciting,” Kuya says. “I’ve quite literally set him on fire once and I’ve almost tried to kill him yet he still stayed with me. An actual murder attempt would be quite a nice change of pace.”
Quincy sighs. “You two are hopeless.”
“He refuses to leave me.”
“Disgusting.” Quincy scrunches his nose at that. He narrows his eyes at Kuya as he’s about to bring his drink up to his lips. “Doesn’t erase the fact you’re secretly jealous, though.”
Kuya raises a brow. “Jealous?”
“That whole ‘I allow my partner to seduce other men for enrichment’ thing is a lie.” Quincy gestures vaguely over in Rei’s direction, who finds another unfortunate victim near the darts board. “No sane person says that unless they’re overcompensating.”
Kuya lets out a soft, amused hum. “And what exactly would I be compensating for?”
“As I said, jealousy.”
Kuya scoffs so quickly it sounds almost offended. “You think I get jealous?”
“Yes,” Quincy says flatly. “Painfully.”
Kuya smiles, thin and sharp. “You overestimate your understanding of me.”
“No, I think I understand you perfectly.” Quincy points toward Rei again. “You’ve been staring holes into the back of every guy Rei talks to for the past hour.”
“I am merely observing.”
“You’re glaring.”
“I do not glare.”
“You literally look like you’re contemplating homicide.”
Kuya places a hand dramatically over his chest. “Quincy, I am wounded. You think so little of my emotional restraint.”
At that exact moment, across the room, Rei laughs brightly at something another stranger says and rests a hand against the man’s shoulder. Kuya’s smile twitches.
Quincy immediately points. “There. That. Right there.”
Kuya’s gaze remains fixed across the room. “That man’s hand placement is rather presumptuous.”
“Sure.”
“And frankly his face irritates me.”
“You’re jealous.”
“I simply dislike his aura.”
“Jealous.”
Kuya exhales through his nose and finally tears his eyes away from the scene, glaring into his drink like it has personally wronged him.
“I trust Rei completely,” he says coolly. “That is not the issue.”
Quincy pauses, then a small smile forms on his face. “You’re not worried about Rei leaving — you just hate other people touching what’s yours.”
Kuya goes still. “You say that as though it is an unreasonable sentiment.”
Quincy stares at him.
“That is the most possessive thing you’ve said all night.”
“Is it possessive,” Kuya muses, “to dislike seeing vermin place their hands where they do not belong?”
“Yes?”
“Curious.”
“You’re insane.”
“Mm. Perhaps.” Kuya swirls his drink lazily. “Though if anyone were foolish enough to believe Rei’s flirtation means anything beyond free alcohol, amusement, and schemes, then disappointment is the least of what awaits them.”
Quincy gives him a long look. “So what, you’d actually do something?”
Kuya smiles into his glass.
“That depends entirely on how bold they decide to be.”
Before Quincy can respond, Rei suddenly reappears at their table once more, another drink in hand and looking smug.
“Well, someone over there just bought me a seventy-dollar cocktail,” Rei says proudly. “Honestly, men are embarrassingly easy.”
He pauses, glancing between them. “What are you two talking about?”
Quincy instantly points at Kuya.
“Your boyfriend’s jealous.”
Rei freezes. Then his entire face lights up.
“Oh?” he says, delighted.
Kuya visibly sighs.
“Quincy,” he says flatly, “I hope you know I dislike you.”
Rei leans onto Kuya’s shoulder immediately, grin widening into something foxlike and wicked.
“You’re jealous?” he coos. “Aw, Kuya, you should’ve said so. That’s adorable.”
“I am not adorable.”
“You’re possessive, then?”
“No.”
“You want me all to yourself?”
“No.”
“You hate when other men touch me?”
Kuya stares at him. “I hate when inferior things forget their place.”
Rei goes completely silent. Then he bursts into delighted laughter so loud several nearby patrons turn to look.
“Oh, that is worse,” Quincy mutters.
“So then,” Rei laughs, “Do you want me to stop?”
“I would like you to lessen your flirtations with other men who are not worthy of your fraudulent affections,” Kuya mutters.
Rei looks up at the ceiling in consideration, humming to himself before looking back at Kuya and shaking his head. “Nope. No way.”
Kuya’s smile sharpened at Rei denial, something sly and glittering slipping behind his eyes as he tilted his head and regarded him with the kind of look that usually preceded either a very bad idea or a very entertaining one.
Then, with all the false sweetness in the world, he says, “Very well, then. Since you seem so confident in your abilities, perhaps we should make this interesting.”
He rose from his seat with elegant slowness, setting his untouched drink upon the table before smoothing a hand over the front of his clothes. “Let us settle this properly.”
Rei blinked up at him, suspicion immediately overtaking his amusement.
“Settle what properly?”
Kuya’s grin widened. “A competition, darling. Since you so adore collecting drinks from strangers, let us see which of us can gather more by the end of the night.”
Quincy, who had only just sat back down after nearly fleeing the conversation altogether, stared at them in disbelief. “Oh, absolutely not —”
“Done,” Rei interrupts instantly, his eyes lighting with manic delight before Quincy could finish. He jabbed a finger toward Kuya, smiling with all the confidence of a man who had never once doubted his own charm. “And when I win, you admit I’m better than you.”
Kuya let out a low hum. “Bold of you to assume victory is yours.”
Rei scoffed. “Please. Have you looked at yourself? You flirt like a Victorian widow trying not to faint.”
“And yet I still somehow seduced you,” Kuya replies smoothly.
“Which remains your most confusing accomplishment,” Rei mutters.
And just like that, the game begins.
Rei vanished into the crowd first like a predator spotting prey, all wicked smiles and honeyed laughter, slipping into conversation with a group of men clustered near the bar so seamlessly it almost looked effortless. Within minutes, one of them was laughing too loudly at whatever nonsense Rei was feeding him while another was already flagging down the bartender.
Kuya watched with narrowed eyes, arms folded, expression unreadable save for the twitch at the corner of his lips. Then, after a pause, he turned away and drifted toward his own unfortunate victim with the ease of someone who knew precisely how devastating he could be when he wished to be.
Unlike Rei’s bright, playful charm, Kuya’s method was quieter — slower, more insidious, built of lingering eye contact and half-lidded smiles and the sort of voice that made people lean closer just to hear him.
Quincy sat frozen in his seat between them, watching the entire spectacle unfold with the exhausted horror of a man witnessing two natural disasters race each other.
Drinks began appearing at the table in absurd amounts. Rei returned first carrying three glasses balanced between both hands, beaming smugly as he deposited them in front of Quincy.
“Courtesy of some finance bro who thinks I’m mysterious,” he announces proudly. “He said I have an alluring aura.”
“You told him your hobby was emotional manipulation,” Quincy deadpanned.
“And he thought that was charming,” Rei replies. “That’s his problem, not mine.”
Moments later, Kuya returned with four drinks of his own, setting them down with a look of unbearable satisfaction.
Rei’s jaw dropped. “What the hell?”
Kuya smiles serenely. “It would appear some people appreciate maturity.”
“You cheated somehow.”
“Do not project your own underhanded nature onto me simply because you’re aware I surpass you.” Rei hisses under his breath and immediately storms off to seduce someone else harder out of spite.
Kuya should have felt satisfied. That had been the point of this little game, after all. He had accepted the challenge partly for entertainment, yes, but mostly because he had wanted — perhaps rather embarrassingly — to see some sign of irritation from Rei.
But every single time Kuya returned with more drinks, Rei only laughed, rolled his eyes, or doubled down harder as if this were all one enormous joke. There was no jealousy, no possessiveness, no subtle territoriality — nothing. Just amusement — delight, even. And though Kuya would sooner set himself ablaze than admit it aloud, the absence of reaction irritated him far more than it should have.
Eventually, with Rei occupied charming yet another stranger across the room, Kuya drifted back toward Quincy with an expression carefully composed into something neutral, though Quincy knew him well enough by now to see the displeasure simmering beneath it.
“Oh,” he says dryly, “that’s pathetic.”
Kuya narrows his eyes. “Excuse me?”
“He’s not jealous, huh?” Quincy murmurs, amusement evident even beneath his typically calm demeanor. “You look miserable.”
“I do not look miserable.”
“You look like someone insulted your pride and then spat on it.”
Kuya scowls into his drink.
Quincy’s mouth twitches upward faintly.
“Well,” he says, voice quieter now, softer in that infuriatingly gentle way of his, “if it makes you feel any better, I think this whole thing was a stupid plan from the beginning.”
Kuya huffs. “Your reassurance is touching.”
“I’m not reassuring you,” Quincy mutters. “I’m insulting you.”
“Of course you are.”
There is an ease to their conversation that comes naturally — too naturally, perhaps. The kind born from years of knowing exactly how the other speaks, exactly where to press to provoke a reaction.
Quincy leans back against the counter, cradling his own drink loosely in one hand as he eyes Kuya from the side.
“You know,” he says after a moment, “You’re still making that same face.”
Kuya blinks.
“That face,” Quincy repeats, calmer now, his voice dropping into something quieter. “The one you used to make whenever you were upset but didn’t want anyone noticing.”
Kuya goes still. For a brief moment, the noise of the bar seems to dim around them. His gaze slowly shifts toward Quincy. “…You remember that?”
Quincy snorts softly, as if offended by the question.
“Obviously.” He looks away, ears faintly pink despite his composed expression. “You weren’t exactly subtle, idiot.”
A quiet laugh slips from Kuya before he can stop it.
How strange.
How very strange, to be remembered so specifically.
Because Quincy had known him before—
Before the freedom,
Before the confidence,
Before the carefully cultivated charm and polished madness Kuya now wore like silk over sharpened teeth.
Quincy had known him when he was locked behind white walls and sterile hallways.
Had known him when Kuya was younger, thinner, meaner, quieter.
When he had looked less like a fox and more like a feral creature cornered with blood in its mouth.
A patient.
A problem.
A thing people watched from behind glass.
And Quincy—
Quincy had simply sat beside him anyway. Week after week. Month after month.
Never because he had to. Only because he wanted to.
“You used to sulk every time visitation ended,” Quincy says lightly, though there is something quieter beneath it.
“Would glare at me like I’d personally offended you for leaving.”
Kuya scoffs, though his smile has gone softer around the edges. “You flatter yourself.”
“You practically clung to my sleeve the first time I tried to go home.”
“I was fourteen.”
“And dramatic.”
“You kept visiting.”
Quincy’s gaze flickers.
Then softens.
“…Yeah,” he murmurs. “I did.”
Across the room, drink still in hand, Rei stares at the sight before him — Kuya leaning far too close into Quincy’s space, Quincy red-faced and visibly flustered beneath him, both of them speaking low enough to seem intimate from afar.
Rei’s smile vanishes instantly. His eyes narrow into slits. The poor stranger beside him said something that Rei didn’t even seem to hear as he shoves his drink into the man’s hands and stalks toward them with the terrifying purpose of a man who had just spotted a crime in progress.
Kuya saw him approaching and immediately knew.
Because suddenly there it was — that look. That irritation. That sharpness in Rei’s gaze. That unmistakable flicker of jealousy he had been seeking all night.
And Kuya, the horrible bastard he was, smiles.
Rei stops in front of them and stares directly at Quincy. “Move.”
Quincy blinks. “What?”
“I said move or I’ll remove you myself.”
Kuya’s grin becomes nearly unbearable as Quincy gawks between them.
“Oh,” Quincy says slowly, realization dawning. “Oh, you little hypocritical bastard — you’re jealous.”
Rei’s expression somehow darkens further, which Kuya had not thought possible considering the murderous look already on his face.
“I am not jealous,” Rei says through gritted teeth.
Quincy raises a brow. “You just threatened bodily harm because I was standing too close to your boyfriend.”
“You were breathing in his direction in a way I found irritating.”
“That is not helping your case.”
Kuya, still leaning lazily against the bar with all the smugness of a man who had just achieved exactly what he set out to do, tilts his head and sighs softly. “Now, now. There is no need to become hostile, darling. Quincy was merely comforting me in my time of distress.”
Rei slowly turns toward him.
The look in his eyes is enough that Quincy physically takes a step back.
“You,” Rei says quietly, “Need to stop talking.”
Kuya’s smile only widens.
“Why? Have I upset you?”
“No,” Rei replies immediately.
Kuya hums. “Then I assume you will not mind if Quincy and I continue our conversation.”
He turns his head slightly toward Quincy, voice lowering into something almost conspiratorial. “As I was saying, you always did know me rather well—”
Rei grabs him by the wrist so abruptly Kuya nearly laughs aloud.
“Outside,” Rei says flatly.
Quincy lets out a sharp breath through his nose, somewhere between disbelief and amusement. “Well. I’m definitely not interrupting whatever this is.”
“You should leave before collateral damage occurs,” Kuya advises pleasantly.
“I plan to.”
Rei is already dragging Kuya away before either of them can say anything further, weaving through the crowd with such single-minded fury that more than one person stumbles out of his path. Kuya follows with almost insulting ease, allowing himself to be hauled toward the back exit while wearing the expression of a man being escorted somewhere delightful.
The moment the door swings shut behind them and the muffled noise of the bar dulls into the background, Rei rounds on him.
“What exactly was that?”
Kuya blinks with practiced innocence. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Do not start with me.” Rei jabs a finger into his chest. “You spent the last hour complaining every time I looked at another man, then I turned around for five minutes and suddenly you’re pressed up against Quincy reminiscing like bitter exes in a melodrama.”
Kuya raises a brow. “Pressed up against is a dramatic exaggeration.”
“You were leaning into his face.”
“He was sitting down. Geometry required accommodation.”
Rei stares at him in disbelief.
“You are unbelievable.”
“And yet deeply beloved.”
“Not right now, you’re not.”
Kuya’s smile softens into something sly. “Still jealous, then?”
Rei flushes instantly. “I told you, I’m not jealous.”
“Mm.” Kuya takes a slow step forward. “Then why exactly did you look ready to commit murder when you saw him near me?”
“Because,” Rei snaps, then cuts himself off.
Kuya waits.
Rei scowls harder.
“Because what?” Kuya asks sweetly.
Rei exhales sharply and drags a hand through his hair, clearly debating whether pride is worth the effort of continuing to lie.
Finally, he mutters, “Because you looked… close.”
Kuya’s teasing expression falters just slightly.
Rei looks away, jaw tense.
“You looked like you were having some private moment with him,” he says, quieter now, irritation bleeding into something more honest. “And I hated it.”
Kuya studies him for a moment.
Then he laughs — softly, warmly, without mockery this time.
Rei glares. “Do not laugh at me.”
“I’m not laughing at you,” Kuya murmurs. “I’m simply pleased.”
“That makes it worse.”
“It should not.” Kuya steps closer again, close enough now that Rei has to tilt his head up slightly to keep eye contact. “You were impossible to provoke all evening. I was beginning to think you simply felt nothing at all when others approached me.”
Rei’s eyes widened. “Wait — so this was all on purpose?”
Kuya smiles. “Naturally.”
“You manipulative asshole.”
“And yet my methods proved effective.”
Rei lets out a sound somewhere between a groan and a laugh of disbelief. “You used Quincy to make me jealous because I wasn’t reacting enough to your weird flirting competition?”
“When you phrase it so bluntly, it sounds somewhat ridiculous.”
“Because it is ridiculous.”
“And yet here you are.”
Rei glares at him.
Then suddenly steps forward, grabs the front of Kuya’s shirt, and pulls him down into a kiss. There is too much irritation in it, too much bruised pride and pent-up jealousy and aggravation. Their teeth click briefly before the kiss deepens, messy and heated and full of the sort of fervor reserved for arguments that had simply found a more productive outlet.
Kuya makes a pleased noise against his mouth and immediately kisses back just as hard, one hand sliding to Rei’s waist while the other tangles into his hair. They stumble backward until Kuya’s shoulders hit the brick wall behind him.
Rei presses in closer, kissing him like he is still angry and intends to stay that way.
When they finally part, both slightly breathless, Rei glares at him from inches away. “You are deeply irritating.”
Kuya smiles, lips flushed. “And you are jealous.”
Rei narrows his eyes. “Do not ruin this moment for yourself.”
Kuya laughs under his breath. “My apologies.”
Rei kisses him again anyway, shorter this time but no less heated, then rests his forehead briefly against Kuya’s.
“You’re lucky I like you,” he mutters.
“Lucky?” Kuya echoes. “Darling, I engineered this entire situation because I knew precisely how this would end.”
Rei stares at him, then groans. “God, I hate that you’re smug even after being kissed.”
“And I adore that you kissed me while angry.”
Rei rolls his eyes and shoves lightly at his chest. “If you ever pull something like that again, I’m actually setting you on fire.”
Kuya’s smile turns fond and wicked all at once.
“So possessive.”
Rei groans louder and kisses him a third time purely to shut him up.
From inside the bar, faintly through the wall, they can hear Quincy shouting something that sounds suspiciously like “If you two start having sex outside I’m leaving without you.”
Neither of them acknowledge it.
Kuya only smiles into the kiss, victorious in the most insufferable way possible, and pulls Rei closer.