"Thank you for getting the tickets, P'Arthit. What did you think of the movie?" Kongpob asked while he held the cup in front of his boyfriend so he could take the last sip before he disposed of their drink cup and leftover popcorn in the trash bin.

"I loved it. Did you enjoy it?" Arthit asked even though he knew his boyfriend was just as much of a Marvel fanatic as he was. And Spider-Man: No Way Home came out just in time for Valentine's Day. It beats watching some sappy cliché romance movie any day. Just perfect!

"I did. I really did. Tickets were sold out months ahead but you even managed to get us perfect seats. Thank you, P'Arthit." Kongpob snuck a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek and quickly walked ahead.

"Kongpob!" Arthit placed a hand over his kissed cheek and looked around to see if anyone saw that while he tried to hold in his grin. His boyfriend was always so sneaky.

Catching up to Kongpob, Arthit let the sneaky kiss slide. It was Valentine's Day after all.

"So now with the multiverse concept, the possibilities are infinite." Arthit casually continued their conversation about the movie.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool to see all three Spider-Mans together. Let's try to rewatch all of Toby Maguire's Spider-Man movies again. It's been a long time since I've seen one of them," Kongpob said with a grin knowing that his P'Arthit didn't mind the kiss.

"Yeah, that was cool. I wonder if they'll ever introduce an Asian Spider-Man. That would be nice."

"Hey, if there's a Spider-Ham, then there can definitely be an Asian Spider-Man out there. Oh, remember there was one Japanese Spider girl in 'Into The Spider-Verse?'" Kong added. He loved seeing his boyfriend so enthusiastic and excited about something.

"Oh yeah, you're right. But that's animated, Kong. I want to see a real Asian person playing the role," Arthit said.

"Maybe there will be one someday. And when that day comes, I'll be the first to buy you a ticket for it."

"I wonder how long I would have to wait?"

"We have a whole lifetime." Kong held his hand up showing their matching ring and smiled at his boyfriend who blushed beautifully.

Arthit really did enjoy the latest Spider-Man movie. The idea of the multiverse was just fascinating to him. In fact, Arthit kept researching online the possibility of the multiverse being real. Not only was he so engrossed in Marvel's spin on the multiverse, his research took him into the laws and theories of the multiverse in physics. Why wasn't physics so interesting when he was still in school? People would enjoy physics a lot more if they sold it with a side of comics.

For this Valentine's Day, they decided to stay in instead of fighting the crowd to get a table at some fancy restaurant for the occasion. So throughout the rest of the evening Arthit kept researching and telling Kongpob about what he found on the multiverse while they made dinner together.

Kongpob seared two heart shaped steaks while Arthit fed him wine from his glass. And with a kiss here and a peck there, dinner was served. They sat down and lit a small candle next to the bouquet of red roses Kongpob had picked up in the morning for his P'Arthit when he was still sleeping. The flower shop was a complete mad house but it was worth it to see his P'Arthit's smile.

Over dinner, they continued to discuss how Doctor Strange had the ability to time travel and cross all the universes. And just maybe, with their fingers-crossed that he could help Peter Parker turn back time to save his Aunt May. Maybe. Arthit really hated that part of the movie. He had silently cried during that scene and so did his boyfriend. So he really hoped that Marvel would turn that tragedy around.
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"Maybe Doctor Strange could even turn back time so Iron Man wouldn't have to die," Arthit said while scrubbing his boyfriend's back.

"But Robert Downey Jr's contract is already over. So I don't think he would be cast as Iron Man again even if his character was revived." Kongpob rinsed himself under the water and then took over the loofah to lather his P'Arthit.

"New blood is fine, Kong. It's about the character." Arthit turned around so Kongpob could scrub the hard to reach places for him. "Hey, watch where your hand is going!"

Kongpob raised his hand and looked at his boyfriend innocently before continuing.

"True. The Avengers just don't feel the same without Iron Man. But I also heard there's going to be a new character that'll replace him. I think it's going to be a girl called Ironheart."

"Yeah, I read that somewhere too. But it's not going to be the same."

Kongpob nodded in agreement.
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It was getting late, but Arthit was still thinking about this whole multiverse thing. There were just so many 'what if' scenarios running in his head.

Kongpob switched the lights off before laying down next to his boyfriend who was now staring at the ceiling in the dark.

"Kongpob, after everything that I've found, do you believe in the multiverse? Do you think it's possible?"

"I don't know, Phi. In theory it's possible, but there's really no way to find out. But what I do know is that I would love you in every universe we're in," Kongpob said with a cheeky grin the other couldn't see.

"Yuck!" Arthit smiled in the dark and turned to hug his boyfriend to sleep. Trust his boyfriend to always say the cheesiest things.

"Goodnight, P'Arthit." Kongpob kissed the top of his Phi's head.

"Goodnight, Kongpob," Arthit said, snuggling closer to his boyfriend.

~~~~~~

"Sir?"

Arthit felt an annoying insistent tapping on his shoulder, "Five more minutes, Kong."

"Sir? This is the last stop. You need to get off the bus. Sir!"

"Bus?" Arthit instantly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. What the! He was inside an empty bus. And then he noticed the vexed woman standing in front of him with her hands on her hips.

"Sir, this is the last stop. You need to get off the bus so I can end my shift." The bus driver was in no mood for this.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Arthit embarrassingly got up and quickly left the bus. To say he was confused would be an understatement. He had no idea where he was and how he got there. Even that bus looked strange to him.

After walking a few more steps, something else occurred to him. Something was off. He felt different. Then he looked down at himself. What the heck was he wearing? Why in the world was he in a big puffer coat? And since when did he own combat boots? And they're huge. How did they fit him?

Then a gust of wind blew and he shivered with his hands clasped together against his chest. Wait a minute! Was this snow on the ground? How? Last time he checked, Bangkok didn't get any snow. But he looked up into the sky and it was definitely snowing. If he wasn't so confused at the moment, he would have definitely smiled seeing snow. He loved snow when he was in Beijing visiting Kongpob during his studies there. But something told him that he wasn't in Beijing right now.

He looked around more. Hey! He knew that tower. It's the Eiffel Tower. Oh my God! Was he in Paris? He spun around and he couldn't recognize anything else. How the heck did he get here?

Then a little black car honked behind him causing him to jump back a few steps before it slowly drove past him, and then he immediately froze. What the heck was that?! His eyes were playing tricks on him.

He quickly turned around looking for any glass surface he could find. But there weren't anymore cars around and he was standing in the middle of what he presumed to be a park. There! Over there was a store with giant glass windows. So he quickly ran across the street to get to the store.

Oh no! He couldn't believe his eyes so he pinched himself. "Ouuu!" He was definitely pinching himself except he didn't look like himself at all. Because the man staring back at him was white! With blonde hair and blue eyes! He slapped both cheeks staring at his reflection. Then he grabbed a clump of his hair, it wasn't just blonde but also curly. What the heck! How?

But then something moving behind the window caught his attention. Apparently, the store he was standing in front of turned out to be a cafe. And inside the cafe there sat a handsome olive skin young man with tousled brown hair talking animatedly and tossing his head back laughing. He was young and he looked so carefree just laughing away.

With his heart racing, Arthit stood there mesmerized by the sight. He knew. He knew without an ounce of doubt that that was his boyfriend. That was Kongpob. He didn't look anything like his Kongpob but he most certainly was. Arthit could recognize that smile anywhere and his heart was telling him so too. Kongpob looked so different yet he was the same to Arthit. He couldn't help himself from taking another step closer to the glass to get a better look at the young man. Who was that woman with him? Then Arthit's heart skipped a beat when the woman sitting across from the young man reached for his hand. Glowering at the sight, his heart sank deeper seeing them stay together like that. Was Kongpob still his boyfriend?

Arthit kept watching from the corner of the window. What should he do? Did Kongpob know him? What if he didn't? Then the young man looked up and Arthit quickly moved away from the window before he could get caught staring at them.

After calming his shaky nerves, he slowly turned back to try to watch the young man again. But just when he turned around, the young man and the woman came out of the cafe. And for a split second, Arthit and the young man's green eyes met. His heart raced in recognition of his other half. The feeling was the same as always. But just like that, the moment passed and the young man smiled at him and kept walking away with the woman.

Arthit stood there nailed to the floor, shivering in his boots as the love of his life walked away from him. So Kongpob really didn't know him. They were complete strangers. No more hugs. No more kisses. No more cuddles. No more P'Arthit. His eyes welled up as the man he knew in his heart to be his boyfriend disappeared around the corner. He wanted to go after him but what would he even say when he was nobody but a stranger. He wasn't his Kongpob's P'Arthit.

Feeling lost and aimless, he roamed in the city of love until he reached the Eiffel Tower. He felt too empty to care what he's supposed to do here. Nothing mattered. None of it made sense anyway. The sky was getting dark and the lights on the Eiffel Tower suddenly lit up. So he took a seat on the bench in front of the tower to stare at the light show, but he was too grief-stricken to really pay attention.

It was getting colder now as the last bit of sunlight was gone but he felt numb regardless of the weather. He didn't know where to go or what to do next. He didn't even know who he was supposed to be. So he reached inside his pocket and found a phone. The phone recognized him even though he didn't recognize it. He clicked on the contacts and it was filled with names of people he didn't know. Then he clicked on photos and there were pictures of him with people he didn't recognize. And none of them had his Kongpob or the young man he saw earlier. A lonely tear fell down his cheek. Where would he go from here? How could he go back? Then he thought, maybe if he went to sleep on this bench, then maybe he would wake up in his warm bed with his Kongpob beside him again. With that thought, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"Hey, you look like you can use one of these."

Arthit opened his eyes to someone's voice and then a cup appeared in front of him. He looked up and it's the young man from earlier. Then he looked around him to make sure the young man was actually talking to him.

"Kongpob!"

The young man chuckled, "Close enough I guess. The name is Léo. May I join you?"

Nodding his head, Arthit quickly scooted over to make room for Léo. He didn't know what Léo was doing or why he was there, but he didn't care. All that mattered was that he was there with him.

"Here, take this. It should warm you up." Léo placed the warm cup of hot cocoa in the other's hands.

"Thank you," Arthit said as he wrapped his hands around the warm drink with a smile. And then it suddenly occurred to him that he was speaking French. And he was speaking French earlier on the bus too. But how? That was strange. He didn't know French. The only phrase he knew how to say in French was, "Je t'aime." Realizing he just said that out loud, he quickly tried to correct himself. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

Léo chuckled again at the adorable man. "Maybe we should start with your name first." His cousin was right. The man that was watching him from the cafe is really cute.

"Arthur." Arthit covered his mouth, surprised at what came out of it. He swore he was saying Arthit but it came out as something else.

"Arthur, it's nice to meet you."

~~~~~~

"P'Arthit. P'Arthit. Wake up, P'Arthit." Kongpob blew into his boyfriend's ear but it wasn't working. His boyfriend was mumbling in his sleep again. So he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and nibbled on his ear instead.

"Five minutes, Léo." Arthit said with a little giggle.

Kongpob cocked a curious brow at his boyfriend and tried again, "P'Arthit. It's time to wake up."

Arthit slowly blinked his eyes open and turned around to face his Kongpob, "Je t'aime."

Kongpob smiled, "I love you too, P'Arthit."

Arthit wrapped his arms around Kongpob and hugged him tightly. He had never missed his boyfriend so much. He hoped in his heart that Arthur and Léo would be together forever in their world, but he was glad to be back in this one where he was with his Kongpob.

"Good morning, P'Arthit," Kongpob said and nuzzled against the other's neck. "So who's this Léo? Should I be worried?" Kongpob asked with a grin. It was rare that his P'Arthit would be this affectionate and delighted to have been woken up.

"My French boyfriend, of course."

"Phi!!!!"

~~~~~~
AN: Sweets, I hope you enjoyed this short little one-shot. It's just something I randomly wrote. I had originally named Arthit and Kongpob as Autry and Cabot thinking they sound close. However, I'm no French speaker, and apparently those names were horrible (😂 forgive me). So I've renamed them to Arthur and Léo. I hope that's better.

Happy Valentine's Day!!! 💝

Curtsy,
Lana ❤️