#icethai

The sky was quickly darkening overhead as Erik and Kiet strolled through the carnival. Erik wasn’t really into carnivals or places with lots of people but he was enduring for his boyfriend’s sake since tomorrow was his birthday. And after spending the last few hours being dragged onto every ride in the vicinity by the thrill seeker, he was relieved that their pace had slowed down. When he wasn’t looking, Erik gave a long glance over at Kiet. Admiring the way the multicolored carnival lights illuminated his smiling face and dark, spiky hair. His gaze drifted further down to where their hands were interlocked as a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“Erik?”

The young man’s face snapped up in response when he realized Kiet was talking to him. He could feel his cheeks burning bright red and hoped that his boyfriend didn’t notice.

“Er, uh what?” he stammered.

Kiet jerked his thumb behind him, in the general direction of some carnival booth. “Can we go check this out? Pretty please?”

“Sure.”

And the two silently made their way over to the display. It was a carnival game, the one where you had to knock down the pyramid of bottles to get one of those cheesy stuffed animals. And upon closer inspection, Erik understood why Kiet had wanted to go to this particular booth. One of the prizes suspended against the wall was a big white, fluffy elephant. He could see how his boyfriend’s golden eyes sparkled in excitement at the prospect of adding another member to his already large elephant collection back at their apartment.

Without second thought, Kiet slammed a bill on the counter and was already aiming to knock the pyramid over. The first try was a fail and the second time he had come closer but it still wasn’t good enough. Just as he was ready to give up, Erik hesitantly offered his own money to the booth attendant and took on the challenge. Again, there was no luck in winning the prize.

“Oh well.” Kiet laughed, “Guess it wasn’t meant to be.” He was ready to go but again Erik laid a few more bills on the counter.

“Uh Erik?” He questioned with a hint of concern on his face.

“I’m gonna win you that prize.” He said, with a determined glint in his eyes. “I can do it.”

“But you don’t have to I—“

“Consider it an early birthday gift.” Erik stated before hurling a ball. It was just a stupid game, how hard could it be?

____________________________________________________

An hour later, the couple was returning to their car after their night at the carnival. Kiet’s smile was the size of the moon as he walked away holding the prized white elephant in his arms. Erik looked on with a slight smirk on his face.

“I told you I’d win that for you.”

“And you came through on your promise.” Kiet paused for a quick chuckle. “All it took was 10 tries, a bunch of Icelandic curses, and a hefty bribe for the owner.”

 Erik pouted at this before adding: “Yeah well, it was worth it. You’re worth it.”

Kiet stopped walking in shock while Erik tried to pick up his pace. Trying to hide the second round of blush on his cheeks. Then all of a sudden, he felt a tackle from behind as the other man wrapped him up in a half hug.

“You’re cute when you wanna be you know that?”

Erik scoffed. “Yeah sure.” Kiet transferred the elephant to his left arm before wrapping his free one around Erik’s shoulder.

“Anyway, thanks for the gift.” He whispered before planting a quick kiss on Erik’s reddened cheek.