Work Text:
ARCHI-TEXT-TURE
Mork:
does anyone else think it’s weird that the professor keeps
telling us not to feud with engineering, but he and the engineering
professor clearly hate each other?
Earth:
oh yeah
Bank:
absolutely
San:
it IS weird!
Tree:
yeah, like did you see them bump into each other in the hallway
yesterday? He looked like he was going to fight professor Pat for walking into him.
Earth:
and last week I saw him put the finger up when he walked past
Tree:
i wonder what their beef is?
San:
I heard they used to go here, apparently the faculties have always fought,
and they used to be rivals back in their time too
Mork:
oooh, really? that’s juicy!!
San:
I guess they’re not allowed to encourage the feud because they’ll
get in trouble, but they clearly still hate each other… i wonder what it is
that could make it last so long?
It’s been like, YEARS since they were here
Bank:
anyone else want to get to the bottom of this?
SEND-GINEERING
Kai:
have you guys noticed that the professor keeps
being weird around professor pran from architecture?
Tan:
oh, you mean the way they clearly hate each other and are pretending not to? Yeah
Kai:
Yeah! What’s that about???
Andee:
I heard someone talking the other day - apparently they’ve always hated each other
Bee:
Yeah my brother is in architecture and he said his friends heard the same thing
they’re investigating
Kai:
investigating??? then we should too!
Tan:
yes!
Andee:
I’m in!
Bee:
Omggg i’ll see if i can get info from Bank
Sail:
…..guys what did i just get home to?
Kai:
adventure
Sail:
we better not get in trouble.
Pat strode in the door with a loud, “Honey, I’m home!”
He could hear Pran’s eyeroll from across the room, even facing away from him. He slid his arms around his waist and pulled him back against his chest, tucking his chin in against his shoulder despite his protests.
“Pat- I’m trying to chop onions-”
“I’m not stopping you.”
“I am holding a knife.”
“And it’s a very sexy look on you,” he hummed, kissing under Pran’s ear.
Pran gave up on his protests and huffed out a helpless laugh. “You’re so annoying.”
“But you love me.”
“Unfortunately,” he deadpanned. He put the knife down and turned around to throw his arms around his neck, careful not to actually touch him with dirty hands, which was stupidly considerate of him, really, and Pat wanted to kiss that little smirk off his face.
So he did.
Pran leaned in, nipping his lip a bit as punishment, knowing Pat wouldn’t take it that way, and for a minute or two dinner was entirely forgotten and somehow Pran was on the counter and Pat was between his legs and Pran’s arms were having a hard time staying still. Eventually, however, his senses had to come back to him, and he pulled back, nudging Pat away so he could hop down and return to the onions. Pat pouted but was resoundly ignored, so he went back to hugging him from behind as he finished chopping the onions. Pran didn’t protest this time.
“How was your day?” Pat asked.
Pran shrugged, which jiggled his head in a way that could only be on purpose. “It was okay.”
“Anything exciting happen?”
“Our job is actively to make sure nothing exciting happens.”
Pat sensed an opening to tease him and jumped at the chance. “No, our job is to teach the next generation, you don't think that's exciting?”
“Don't twist my words.” Pran elbowed him.
“I didn't twist anything - you said that teaching isn't supposed to be exciting. I suppose that explains why all the architecture students are so bored that they've started looking into us.”
Pran closed his eyes and took a deep breath, clearly trying not to rise to the occasion and failing. “What are you talking about?”
“I overheard one of them asking an engineering student if he knew anything about our feud.”
“For the love of-”
“I think we should play it up.”
Pran shot him an unimpressed look. “Because we haven't done enough hiding of this relationship.”
“Alright, true, but consider this: it'll be funny.”
“How?”
“Well, clearly however we act at work is already making people think we’re feuding, so we just change nothing and then see who figures it out first, engineering or architecture. And then we reward them or something, I don’t know.” Pat shrugged; the idea that had started as a joke on his drive home suddenly felt like an actual plan. “We’ve got that joint engineering-architecture trip at the end of the year down to Uncle Tong’s, so we could announce the winner then.”
“And you don’t think this is going to make the feud between faculties worse?” Pran looked skeptical.
“If it gets out of hand, we’ll step in,” Pat said. “I’m not irresponsible.”
“Say that again but with a straight face,” Pran joked, extricating himself from his hold so he could pass Pat a plate.
“Are you in or not?” He asked, piling it high with sides as Pran finished frying off the main course. He looked over at his husband, trying to think of the right way to get him to join in. Lightbulb. “What, do you not think you can restrain yourself around me? Is it impossible to resist me?”
“Calm down,” Pran made a face at him, “I think you know I can resist you just fine.”
“Oh really?” Pat leaned closer, gaze dropping flirtatiously.
Pran kept his eyes level, but Pat could see the effect he was having. He didn’t even have to suggest the idea himself; Pran did it for him. “Okay, I’ll go along with your plan. No flirting in front of the students, no pulling me into closets-”
“Hey!”
“-no admitting we’re married to give your students the upper hand.”
Pat thought about it for a second. “Deal.”
“Deal,” Pran grinned, and held up his fist for him to bump it.
He hesitated. “Do you really mean that about the closets-”
“Pat, it’s our place of work!”
“But sometimes you’re just too sexy and I can’t resist-”
“Well then you lose,” Pran said in that sing-songy voice he always used when he knew he’d won.
Pat sighed, defeated, but he fist-bumped his husband anyway.
This was going to be ridiculous.
SEND-GINEERING
Tan:
Is it me or do the professors seem extra frustrated today?
Sail:
yeah the atmosphere got super tense when professor pran showed up
Kai:
why was he even there in the first place?
Sail:
he needed to borrow whiteboard markers
Bee:
Bank said when he came back to class he seemed irritated
Sail:
to be fair, professor pat could have just given him the markers,
he didn’t need to be difficult
Andee:
it was extra obvious from the front row, me and sail could see him sorta being rude.
Tan:
why though? What is their problem with each other?
Bee:
Bank said he heard they hated each other at university,
but he heard a rumour they knew each other before that.
Apparently their *families* are rivals too!!
Kai:
WHOA, SERIOUSLY?!
Andee:
that’s dramatic
Sail:
it makes sense, i guess.
Tan:
we DEFINITELY need to do some more digging.
ARCHI-TEXT-TURE
Tree:
Okay so after that weird incident with the whiteboard markers last week,
and that whole thing where they did like, a mexican standoff with each other
in the hallway this morning, we’re all definitely agreed that those two have
a SERIOUS history, right?
Mork:
d u h
San:
yep
Bank:
I told you, one of the seniors said they’ve been feuding since they were kids.
They’re all time rivals or something.
Earth:
Why wouldn’t they just go work for different universities though?
Surely it would be easier to just stay out of each other’s way?
Mork:
maybe it’s about the competition - maybe they both want to win
San:
at what??? being university professors isn’t exactly something
you can ~win~ at???
Mork:
doesn’t the university keep stats? for graduates and stuff?
Tree:
you think they’re competing to see whose students do the best??
San:
that’s… pretty wholesome, actually
Bank:
doesn’t explain why they’re so weird around each other though
Mork:
Sure it does!!
they’re rivals, they hate each other - they’re competing.
Earth:
nah, i’m with Bank here, something feels weird.
Tricking the students was going even better than expected.
Largely because they’d barely changed their behaviour at all. In their efforts to remain at least semi-professional at work, they’d both always tried to keep something of a distance on campus. Occasional rendezvous in cupboards notwithstanding, of course. Their coworkers knew, and the seniors were probably aware by now, but if someone didn’t already know they were married, they probably wouldn’t be able to spot it immediately. Which, of course, was exactly what had gotten them into this situation. Because their safest way to flirt at work without crossing any kind of professional boundaries was to do what they’d always done; bicker.
Except now they were doing it competitively.
So it was even more fun.
For the next few months, it all played out the same way.
Pran would make an excuse to come by Pat’s class, or vice versa, and the person whose class it was would play up their annoyance at being interrupted. The interruption would always be something trivial - need to borrow markers, notify the other person about a change to the IT system, ask a question about the end of year trip - if it could easily be sent as an ignorable email, one of them would walk across the hall to do it in person.
It was ridiculous, frankly, but it did give them an excuse to see each other more during the day. Pat thought he’d be the one taking advantage of it the most often, but he was sorely mistaken. Pran’s competitiveness meant he was constantly finding reasons to appear in his presence and pretend to annoy him for fun.
One morning, barely two minutes into the lecture, Pran stuck his head around the door. “Pat, I’m getting drinks for the staff and I’m told that includes you - do you want anything?”
Pat smirked at him. “Whatever the most expensive thing on the menu is.”
“Iced milk tea it is,” Pran teased, knowing that was what he really wanted.
“Don’t you have a lecture on now? Should I report you for neglecting your students?” Pat asked, eyebrows raised. He could feel the students’ rapt attention, even more so than usual.
Pran stepped further into the classroom, errand forgotten. “They’re working on an assignment, designing a new bus stop. It’s a group project but they’re all good students so I trust them to work with limited supervision. Unlike when we worked on the bus stop, when I had to look over your shoulder constantly to make sure you did things right.”
“Like we didn’t do the same,” Pat retorted. “The amount of times Wai mis-measured something and we had to redo it so the structure didn’t collapse completely-”
“Because Korn did such a stellar job breaking that support beam.”
“He wouldn’t have fallen on it if you guys hadn’t left it where it was.”
“Where else was it supposed to go, on the roof? It wasn’t built yet!”
“It wouldn’t have needed to be if your friends hadn’t destroyed the old one, Architecture,” Pat challenged, calling him the way he had all the way back then, and he could see Pran’s eyes flash with recognition at the name.
“My friends? Would that fight have happened if your friends hadn’t posted that video?” Pran stalked forward, stopping just shy of his desk.
There was definitely not enough space between them. And they were in a classroom full of students. And there were no cupboards around. Pat tried to keep his mind on track. “There would have been no video to post if Wai had behaved.”
“Don’t bring him into this, it’s not about him.”
“Well then what is it about?” Pat asked, folding his arms. He really hoped it looked like they were still arguing, because all he wanted to do was jump over his desk and kiss his husband on the mouth, and he knew Pran well enough to know he was struggling not to do the same.
Pran lifted his chin. “You and me, Engineering.”
“Isn’t it always?” He flashed what he hoped was a mean grin. “Now was there something else you needed? Because I believe I was promised a free drink.”
Pran glared. “When did I say free?”
“You said-”
“For the other teachers. You have to pay.”
Pat swallowed his cheeky remark about paying later and just said, “Fine. I’ll leave the money on your desk.”
Was it his imagination, or did Pran look disappointed that he hadn’t managed to goad him into flirting as he strode from the room?
SEND-GINEERING
Bee:
well. that was. weird.
Kai:
holy SHIT
Bee:
The seniors were so right about their feud
Sail:
Did anyone else notice they said something
about a *video* starting a fight that broke
the old bus stop? Or did I hear that wrong?
It’s hard to tell because they were bickering so much,
I might have misheard.
Andee:
NO I HEARD THAT TOO!!
Sail:
well at least i’m not going crazy.
Tan:
Speaking of crazy, is it bad that I’ve maybe,
sorta, kind of, alreadyfoundthevideo
Kai:
wow, seriously?!!??!
Tan:
[LINK SHARED]
Kai:
burning_elmo.gif
Andee:
professor pat literally doesn’t look any older,
what is his beauty regiment and how can I learn it?
Sail:
Honestly i’m sort of with professor pran,
this looks kinda mean
Tan:
yeah it looks pretty harsh, but pat said that Wai,
the one they’re bothering, had done something to them first.
It’s not like we have the whole story, we only have this video
and whatever the professors say.
Kai:
Do you think they’d tell us if we asked?
Sail:
………….seriously?
Kai:
i’m DYING TO KNOW, SAIL
WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO
OUR SLEUTHING CAN ONLY GO SO FAR
WE DON’T HAVE THE MANPOWER
Bee:
I might have an idea
ARCHI-TEXT-TURE
San:
Whoa, did y’all hear the blow-up across the hall?
Earth:
I didn’t hear it myself but Mork was closest to the door.
Mork:
oh yeah they fully fought
Earth:
Over what???
Mork:
Over the bus stop assignment! Apparently it's based
on an actual thing that happened here once - they fought
and broke the old bus stop.
Bank:
That bus stop has been replaced loads of times
San:
Yeah, they redo it, like, every two years or something
Mork:
But apparently they were the first to break it
Tree:
Oooh then there HAS to be something in the school
records about it, we could totally sleuth this out
Earth:
We've got to send someone who's on good terms with
the staff though, they won't just show those records to anyone.
Mork:
I mean, we *are* doing an assignment on it,
that's probably a good enough excuse, right?
Tree:
Maybe??? I still think we need help though
Bank:
Actually, I might have something that could help! My sister just
texted me, apparently they found footage of a fight from back
then that started the whole bus stop thing - her friends are
trying to figure this thing out too.
Why don't we all just join forces??
Mork:
hell yeah!
Tree:
Sure, i’m in!
San:
If they’re okay with that
Earth:
Should we make a new group or just add them into this one?
BANK has added BEE to the group.
BEE has added SAIL
BEE has added KAI
SAIL has added TAN
KAI has added ANDEE
Mork:
we’re going to need to change the group name.
“This has sort of backfired in the best possible way,” Pran hummed, biting into a carrot stick as he leaned back in his chair.
That should absolutely not be as sexy as Pat found it, but what could he say - he loved his husband. “Hmm?” He asked, trying to wrap his brain around the things his husband was saying rather than what he looked like eating.
“We made it a competition and they turned it into a team-building exercise.” Pran grinned, proud.
He shrugged his agreement. “It helps that two of them are twins, so they're probably not going to feud if they can help it.”
“I've seen you and Pa fight.” Pran reminded him.
He shook his head. “But we still love each other.”
“I'm just saying, it's nice that they're making progress.”
“It's not like we're trying to perpetuate the feud. It just looks like we are.” Pat leaned closer. “It's not my fault that it's so much fun to argue with you.”
Pran bit off another piece of carrot and shook his head, amused. “There's no point having this conversation right now, is there?”
“What do you mean?" Pat was practically out of his own chair, hands gripping the armrest of Pran's as he leaned over him. Okay, so he knew exactly what he meant.
“We're at work.” Pran reminded him.
“We're in the staff room,” Pat volleyed back, tilting his head down so he was almost nose to nose with his husband. “Who's going to see?”
Pran looked back at him with that look he only reserved for when Pat was really having an effect on him. To anyone who didn't know him, he appeared unimpressed, but Pat could see the way his pupils were blown and he was having trouble swallowing. Pran was just as worked up as Pat was, and he was on the verge of breaking-
“Professor P-” A voice cut off in surprise and Pat straightened, irritated at the way Pran's blank expression turned smug in that subtle way only he could spot.
There were four students standing in the doorway to the staffroom, two architecture and two engineering. He recognised the engineering ones - Bee and Tan - and one of the architecture boys was clearly Bee's twin brother, but he wasn't sure who the other one was.
“Mork,” Pran answered the unspoken question for him, “is there something you need?”
Mork shuffled his feet. “We were wondering if it would be okay to look at the records of the old bus stops.”
“You don’t think that would be cheating?” Pran asked.
“We don’t want to steal them so other people can’t use them, we’re just utilizing our resources. If nobody else thinks of it, then that’s on them,” Bank shrugged.
“Oh, I like this one,” Pat grinned.
Pran rolled his eyes. “You would.”
“Can’t even take a compliment from me now, Architecture?” Pat feigned hurt.
“I’ve survived without your praise my whole life, I think I can manage,” Pran said.
“Your whole life, huh?” Pat raised an eyebrow. “Well I won’t bother in the future then.”
Pran seemed to realise he’d made a mistake. “Don’t sulk. I’m not arguing with you.”
“You clearly are.”
“You’re ridiculous,” he said, but Pat could see the regret behind it, for saying something he didn’t mean. He was halfway through an internal debate about exactly how much of his praise he should withhold from his husband as punishment when the students cleared their throats.
“Uh, sorry, but where do we find the records?” Tan asked politely.
“I’ll show you,” Pran got to his feet, making a point of shoulder-checking Pat as he passed.
Pat watched him go, barely bothering to conceal his disappointment. It was his own fault, really. He should have known better than to start a bet like that with the only person alive more competitive than he was. Still, he missed being able to flirt with him more openly. Bee looked over her shoulder at him as they left and he quickly wiped the look of longing off his face and made himself look busy.
ARCHI-GINEERING
Bee:
did you guys see that?
Tan:
professor pat getting in professor pran’s face?
yeah what the hell
Bank:
were they going to fight??? right there in the staff room????
Mork:
no, it looked… different
Tan:
different how? it looked the same as normal to me
Bee:
you didn’t see how Professor Pat looked when we were leaving?
San:
what are you guys talking about??
Bank:
when we went to the staff room looking for
someone to help us find the records, Professor Pat
was leaning over Professor Pran’s chair, it looked
like they were getting in each other’s faces
Mork:
yeah, but like… weird
Kai:
weird how??
Mork:
they looked,,,,,,,,, close™
Tan:
they still looked like they hated each other to me
Bee:
no, Professor Pat definitely didn’t look like that.
when we were leaving, i looked back at him and he looked… sad
Tree:
sad? why?
Bee:
i don’t know, but i have an idea
or, like, a theory, i guess
Earth:
A theory? That’s very scientific of you!
Andee:
What’s your theory?
San:
Yeah, spell it out for all of us idiots who weren’t there!!
Bee:
This might sound crazy, but hear me out - do you
not think that maybe, just maybe, Professor Pat might have
a thing for Professor Pran?
Tree:
…………huh?
Earth:
W H A T ? !
Sail:
What are you talking about???
Andee:
WHERE THE HELL DO YOU GET THAT IDEA?!?!
Bank:
Actually, she might have a point
Tan:
not you too - you don’t have to jump aboard the
crazy train just because she’s your sister
Mork:
no, i agree
it makes sense, don’t you think?
we were wondering why they both worked here
when it seemed so weird for rivals to follow each
other around, but it makes so much more sense if
you think about it this way
if professor pat really likes professor pran,
then maybe he followed him here on purpose
Bee:
EXACTLY!!!!
Kai:
oh shit, mork do be making points tho
Bee:
I said it first!
Earth:
Okay, Bee, start from the beginning:
what kind of sad look, exactly?
“They think I’m in love with you!” Pat almost slammed the door in annoyance but held back by a hair as he collapsed onto the couch. He could smell Pran’s cooking even with his face pressed into the cushion and he could hear his own stomach growl.
“You are in love with me,” Pran pointed out. “How was your sister?”
“She’s fine, she hates wedding planning.” He lifted his head. “They think I’m pining for you! They think I’m following you around and annoying you because I’m secretly in love with you!”
“Again, I’m not hearing anything that’s not true,” Pran teased, putting food into the table and jerking his chin at him to get him over there.
Pat rolled to his feet tiredly and shuffled to the table, forgoing the chair to wrap himself around Pran from behind. “They think it’s unrequited.”
“Are you pouting? I was in unrequited love with you for years, you can’t handle it for five minutes?”
“But it’s not true!”
Pran snorted.
Pat felt very small, but he was going to have to say it or he’d just stew in it all night. “It’s not true… right?”
“Don’t be stupid,” Pran scoffed. He turned around in his arms and tugged on his hair meanly. “You know I love you.”
He couldn’t help the flicker of relief in his chest. He knew it was dumb, but Pran had been so relaxed throughout this whole thing that sometimes he felt like he was the only one who was actually suffering.
Pran tilted his head. “You were actually worried?”
“No,” Pat shoved him away so he could sit down, but Pran dragged him back.
“Look at me,” he caught his chin. “Do you want to end the bet? We don’t have to keep doing it.”
He sighed. “No, I know it’s irrational. You’re just so much better at this than me, it makes me paranoid sometimes, like you really don’t care.”
Pran made a distressed noise. “I’ve just had more practice than you.”
“I know. Which also makes me feel guilty,” Pat ducked his gaze again. “Is this how you felt all that time? I hate that. I hate that I made you feel that way.”
“Oho,” Pran lifted his chin again. “Is that what this is? Feeling guilty? You can make that up to me very easily.” He raised an eyebrow suggestively and leaned in to kiss him, which Pat sank into with some combination of relief and desperation.
Dinner was forgotten for a while after that.
ARCHI-GINEERING
Mork:
he’s definitely in love with Professor Pran
I saw him in the hall earlier, he was looking into
his classroom as he passed
it was all ~yearny~
Kai:
Agreed. Did you see the way he brightened up when
Professor Pran came to borrow some paper today?
Bee:
urgh, i know right?
he’s so gone for him, it’s almost cute
Sail:
Cute? It doesn’t make you sad?
San:
Professor Pran didn’t look any different
when he came back to our class though
Earth:
You don’t think so? I thought he looked a bit happier
Tan:
do you think he knows?
Bee:
what, and he just tortures poor professor pat?
Bank:
that seems too cruel
Tree:
Professor Pran seems too nice for that
Mork:
I dunno, he has a sadistic side
he can be really scary sometimes
Kai:
that’s just evil though
Bank:
I can’t believe he’d ever be that mean
Andee:
you don’t think…
Sail:
Think what???
Andee:
that maybe…
Tree:
omg spit it out!!
Andee:
that maybe professor pran
secretly likes professor pat back???
Earth:
…….do you have any evidence to back this up?
Andee:
not really? only that none of us think
Professor Pran would be cruel enough to string Professor Pat along,
and Professor Pat isn’t doing a lot to hide his feelings
Mork:
well THAT’S true - I’m surprised we didn’t notice sooner tbh
now that we know, it’s like,
SUPER obvious that professor pat is in love
Bee:
So. wait. Are you saying that professor pran is
ALSO secretly in love???
Mork:
well, he could be! do we have any proof that he’s not???
Bank:
I don’t like this look on Mork’s face
Tan:
What look?
Bank:
The “I’m definitely going to meddle” look.
Tan:
Please tell me he’s not thinking what I think he’s thinking
Mork:
If you’re thinking that i’m thinking we should
set them up, then
YES THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING
Earth:
Absolutely not
Tree:
dude, we can’t meddle like that
Kai:
I dunno, sounds like a plan to me
Sail:
We should really leave them alone, it’s not our business
Bank:
But if they both like each other,
then shouldn’t SOMEONE do something?
Bee:
yeah, usually THEY would
Bank:
but they clearly haven’t!! Isn’t it our moral duty to help out?? Bee??
Bee:
…………….
maybe
Mork:
c’mon guys, they should be together!!
we should help!!
Sail:
Meddle, more like.
Kai:
I’m in.
Sail:
I told you guys, if this affects our grades, i’m out
Mork:
If anything, it’ll IMPROVE our grades!
Bee:
what’s the plan?
Mork:
so you know the joint architecture-engineering
excursion in a couple of weeks? We’re all sharing
accommodations there as part of the team-building,
so why don’t we try something there?
maybe get them to share a bed?
San:
WHAT FANFIC ARE YOU WRITING RIGHT NOW I STG
Andee:
burning_elmo.gif
In the month leading up to the excursion, they had noticed the students’ efforts to match-make.
It wasn’t hard.
The way Kai and Bee had bought Pat a drink and then made a show of saying they had an extra one and maybe he should go across the hall to give it to Pran.
The way Mork had kept deliberating breaking whiteboard markers so Pran had to come over to borrow some - “Seriously, Pran, he’s going to have to start thinking of something else to break, I’m running out!” - and eventually Pat started restocking them out of his own money because he thought it was funny.
The way Bank and Andee had joined forces pretending to need help with their assignments only to “bump into each other” in the library with the professors in tow.
They were good plans, to be fair, if a little ridiculous.
Pat thought it was hilarious.
Pran rolled his eyes, but Pat could see how much he secretly enjoyed it too.
The day of the excursion, they bundled the students onto the bus and Pat could see them shooting glances between each other. The ringleaders were obvious, but it seemed they had nearly the entire classes in it by now. Just to make it more fun, he made a point of plonking down right next to Pran at the front of the bus.
“What are you doing?” Pran looked over at him impassively.
“Sitting,” Pat pulled out a book.
Pran raised an eyebrow. “Is that how you’re going to play this?”
“Play what?” He feigned ignorance even as he leaned slightly into Pran’s arm.
The bus took off, students whispering gossip about them while Pran seethed silently at his side, but notably didn’t move away.
The first day was the same as it always was; Uncle Tong introduced himself and his message, and got the students to do some teamwork building exercises, and after a long day of learning about conservation, everybody headed down to the beach to eat dinner. This trip had been particularly interesting, as so many of the students seemed oddly preoccupied with their lecturers more than the activities at hand, whereas usually students were delighted to be doing something other than staring at their professors. By the time they reached the beach, the sun was setting, and the students were entirely mixed among the faculties, not even using the tables but sprawled on the sand and chatting together.
“This is the most cohesive I’ve ever seen a group of you lot,” Uncle Tong remarked as he sat down in the folding chair beside Pran.
Pat, on Pran’s other side, laughed. “They’ve already been doing their own teamwork lately.”
“What kind of teamwork?”
“They think we’re secretly in love with each other; they’re trying to get us together.”
“And being very subtle about it,” Pran deadpanned.
Uncle Tong snorted. “To my memory, you’ve never once been particularly secretive about it. Even when you were keeping it a secret.”
“True,” Pran shrugged. “We’re not really hiding it now, it’s just…”
“Funny,” Pat admitted.
“Plus, it got them all working together. There were clearly two groups that started it, but basically the entire year is in on it now.” Pran said, a vaguely satisfied look on his face. He really was proud that the faculties had managed to get over their long-running feud simply on the power of wanting to get to the bottom of their relationship. “Maybe we should do this every year.”
“Don’t you dare,” Pat reached over and pulled him by the back of his neck, and Pran would have toppled from his chair if Pat weren’t holding him up. They were dangerously close now, faces barely an inch apart, and Pran’s chair teetering on one leg, and Pat looked at him with all the fervour of a man in a desert desperate for water. “I am not doing this again. I know I suggested it, but I was wrong, let’s never do this again, deal?”
Pran raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you realise what you’re doing right now? Are you prepared to lose?”
“I don’t care,” Pat’s eyes dropped to Pran’s lips.
“Oh thank god,” Pran breathed, and closed the distance.
The kiss lasted barely a second before a shriek went up from the beach, which dominoed until every student was staring over at them, slack-jawed, some of them pumping the air in victory.
Pat pulled back just long enough to flash him a smug grin. “You lose.”
“Yes, every day, because I married you,” Pran retorted, and then pulled him back into the kiss, and it was Pat’s turn to almost lose his balance on his chair and save himself by just standing and bending over him and kissing him harder, and Uncle Tong was tutting good-naturedly next to them and the word “MARRIED?!” was rippling loudly across the beach.
Well, that was one way to tell them.
ARCHI-GINEERING
Mork:
THE WHOLE TIME?
Bee:
SERIOUSLY?!?!?!
Bank:
MARRIED?!?!??!
Tan:
THE WHOLE TIME
San:
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON
Kai:
ARE THEY KISSING?!?!?!
Tree:
MARRIED?!?!??!?!
MARRIED?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?1
Andee:
DID THEY KNOW WE WERE TRYING TO SET THEM UP
Bank:
THAT’S SO EMBARRASSING
Sail:
IS THIS GOING TO GET US IN TROUBLE?
Earth:
THEY’RE TOGETHER??? THEY’VE BEEN TOGETHER THE WHOLE TIME???
ARE WE STUPID?!?!?!?!?!?
Mork:
hey, at least the mystery is solved
Bee:
for YOU maybe, i have about a million more questions
Bank:
well. At least they seemed to find it funny? So we’re probably not getting in trouble!
Kai:
I don’t care about THAT
WHEN DID THEY GET TOGETEHR?!?!?
Mork:
…………………SLEUTHING TEAM UNITE!
Sail:
endless_facepalm.gif