"You have everything that you need Chit?" Chris asked as he held the door open for his friend.
"Yeah, I think so," Phichit replied as he hurried out the door with his suitcase and carry on.
He had just spent a week with Chris, helping the Swiss skater clean out his parents' old house. It had been quite a lot of work for the two of them, but both had found it rewarding for different reasons. Though one of those reasons for both was that they were able to spend a little time together and were able to learn a hell of a lot about the other.
"Are you sure I can't take one picture for my Instagram?" Phichit pleaded as he was rushed into the car.
"I am sure ma petite," Chris replied as he closed the door behind his friend and walked around to the driver's seat. "Maybe if we had decided to sell it, then I would allow you to post it in hopes of it selling quicker, but we decided to keep it – and I just don't need Vitya's fans finding out where I live."
"I'm sure that your fans would love it though," Phichit winked as he reluctantly put his phone away. "All of the fanfictions that would have this little house as a setting. All of the hypothetical orgies that would take place here."
"Shut up," Chris laughed as he lightly slapped Phichit in his chest. They started down the long driveway and headed towards the airport.
The drive to the airport was filled with discussions about their fans and how creative they could be with their fan theories. Chris' fans ranged from ones who loved him for his sex appeal to those who swore there was a tortured soul hiding behind all the sex appeal. Chris loved his fans to bits and thought of each group to be equally adorable. Phichit's fans were a little more innocent – though Phichit swore that was only because he didn't read fanfiction about himself. They had theories about every single person that Phichit took a picture with and the context behind each picture. Chris was sure that Phichit had the most fan art done of him because Phichit provided the most reference content.
They were laughing about their fans right up until they made it to the airport. They kept laughing until they were in the ticket line up. Chris wanted nothing more than to beg Phichit to stay, and to tell the Thai skater that he hadn't felt this at home since his parents died and his brother moved away.
Chris knew that he couldn't though.
They were just friends.
So, he walked with Phichit up to the ticket counter and watched his bags roll down the conveyor belt. Chris hadn't even noticed that he had zoned out until Phichit was snapping his fingers in front of Chris' face while laughing.
"I know it's an early flight, but one would think that you were used to waking up this early," Phichit laughed as he watched a blush cross Chris' face in embarrassment at losing focus.
"Sorry, mon cher," Chris cooed as he focused back in on his friend.
"So, since we still have a bit of time, do you want to grab some food?" Phichit asked as he gestured to the barely opened airport restaurant across the hall from them.
"Sure, that sounds lovely," Chris grinned as he walked with the Thai man towards the promise of food and more importantly – coffee.
On their way there though, Chris' eye caught a small commotion. There was a couple in the corner waving their hands in a precise yet frustrated manner. He focused in on their hands and recognised a few signs from when he was younger.
"Excuse me Chit, I'll be right back," Chris stated as he kept his eyes glued on the couple in the corner.
Once he approached the couple he curled his right finger down before making a fist and placing it on the palm of his left hand. The couple looked at him intrigued before the wife's hands started to move in more relaxed signs. She did her best to stick to more basic language as she could tell that Chris was an amateur – but they were able to communicate. He figured out that they weren't sure which way to get to security and the people at the desks had gone quiet as soon as they realized that the couple was deaf.
Chris gave them some quick directions before finding his way back to Phichit. Phichit had already got Chris a coffee – one cream and nothing else – just the way he liked it.
"Good deed done for the day?" Phichit teased as Chris sat down and grinned into his coffee.
"Ah, they just needed directions, mon cher," Chris explained as he took a sip of the bitter drink.
"You're so full of surprises," Phichit stated as he took a sip of his own coffee.
"How so?" Chris asked as he cocked an eyebrow.
"French, German, English, and now sign language – there's hardly anyone that you couldn't defend," Phichit teased, although Chris didn't miss the way that genuine adorations showed through in Phichit's eyes.
"Hah, I'm not very good with sign language – I've been letting my fluency slip over the years," Chris sighed as he took another sip. "I really should take a couple refresher courses."
"Why do you even know sign language anyway?" Phichit prodded as a couple fruit bowls were placed in front of them.
"Oh, it's a long boring story," Chris stated, not deflecting the curiosity as well as he had hoped.
Phichit pushed a few pieced of fruit around in his bowl before jabbing into a strawberry with his fork and pointing it at Chris.
"Come on, now you have to tell me, no matter how boring the story is."
Chris chuckled in response. He took a few bites of the fruit in his own bowl before he sighed and started to speak.
"Believe it or not, I didn't have an easy time making friends when I was younger. I was shy and kind and a little too feminine for some of the boys in my class. Kids would laugh at me and call me gay – even though none of us really knew what that meant. Anyhow, there was one kid in my class that was treated almost as poorly as I was – and I say almost because children tend to feel more guilt and get in more trouble when they picked on handy – cap children. He was severely autistic – but he didn't mind hanging out with me. He had an easier time talking with his hands, and so my mum helped me learn how to sign so that I could talk to my friend easier. It was fun and quite the learning experience for me. He ended up going to a different high school, and not long after starting high school I dropped out of the public-school system. I tell everyone that it was because I had to focus on my skating to stand a chance at competing."
Phichit leaned across the table and rested his hand on Chris'. It wasn't an act of pity like that would come from any of Chris' exes upon hearing that Chris got bullied growing up. And it wasn't a mocking gesture that some of his earlier lovers would have cast him upon hearing that the only friend Chris could make was autistic. But it was a reassuring gesture – one that simply let Chris know that Phichit was still there – and that he wasn't judging Chris for his past.
"You should teach me some," Phichit finally said.
"Yeah?" Chris asked. He hadn't even noticed that he had been looking down until he moved to make eye contact with Phichit.
"Yeah, I need more ways to be able to connect with my fans. I think that it would be cool to show them that I'm trying to learn new things."
"I'll teach you anything that you want," Chris grinned as he picked up a piece of fruit and sucked it into his mouth.
"Oh my god, this will be so cool," Phichit grinned as he beamed across the table at Chris. "Oh my god, we'll be able to talk about Yuuri and Viktor right in front of them and they'll never know that we're talking about how adorable they are."
Phichit rambled on for a bit before his phone alarm went off signifying that their time together was ending.
Chris walked Phichit as far as he could before they said their goodbyes. Phichit started to walk away before he turned around and said, "Wait, what's goodbye in sign language?"
Chris chuckled to himself before replying.
"It's actually boring," Chris said as he waved his fingers goodbye. "It's what I do normally."
"So cool," Phichit beamed as he waved goodbye and headed off to catch his plane.
Chris watched him go as he curled his index and middle finger in while he left the other three standing in the general sign for "I love you."