Chapter Text
It was always like this.
“Well, someone got out on the wrong side of bed this morning, didn’t they babe?” His tone was always teasing, sounding as if he was moments away from laughing at his own joke. But the fondness included was undeniable, intertwined in his every word as if every movement of his lips released an aura that whispered how much he cared about the man on the other side of that line.
“Only because you weren’t there to tuck me in darling.” His tone was borderline bored, as per the norm, sarcasm and snark punctuating every sentence in a way that he could only pretend would disguise the unconscious upturn of his lips from every phone call or visit. When asked, he would claim he only continued the joke so he wouldn’t lose this game they had going, but no one felt the need to ask when they knew just how fond of the agent he actually was.
Kuroo’s genuine laughter could be heart over Tsukishima’s speakers, not yet entering the hyena territory he was known to venture into, his voice still deep and pleasant instead of the ridiculously high pitched howling the hacker had the honor to listen to yesterday.
“Well, guess I’ll have to just stop working overtime, can’t have my beautiful spouse home alone all the time.” Kuroo sounded like he was purring, his joke overused and tiring, but for some reason that must be caused by supernatural forces, still welcome. Tsukishima allowed his lips to quirk up further, pretending as best he could like he was exasperated. “I need you to check up on something for me: male, likely mid to late twenties, history of drug abuse, look for a bad family history like reported abuse or tragic deaths.”
The snort he made was louder than intended, and he could hear Kuroo’s muffled chuckle from over the phone. Tsukishima always acted as if every single task was too small for his level of skill, even if it was something that would take him hours (‘Can’t let people see you do work hard, can you?’ Kuroo had once commented). “Well, considering where you are right now, that’s going to be a very long list. I’ll sent the ones that can’t be immediately ruled out. Anything else?”
“No, that list and your lovely voice is more than enough for me. Thanks Tsukki.” Tsukishima could practically hear the grin on the others mouth with that comment. He felt like ordinarily, with anyone else, he’d respond to that comment with a brutal shut down.
But he supposed things had stopped being ordinary a while ago.
“Give me something more difficult next time, I’m getting bored over here.”
Ah, and there was the hyena laugh that he still couldn’t believe belonged to someone who could manage to intimidate murders with one look.
Kuroo Tetsurou and Tsukishima Kei were not married. In fact, they weren’t even dating or bordering on a relationship. No not-so-secret one night stands that caused office drama.
It was simply something they’d picked up and never stopped, something everyone in the office and on their team knew about and tolerated on a daily basis.
Kuroo hadn’t been there when Tsukishima was brought in, but he was there the first day he began to work for them instead of for some rogue civilian group that hacked databases of unethical businesses.
Kuroo was a friendly flirt by nature, and sometimes he got just a tad bit ahead of himself. He made a point to never make people uncomfortable, but he was known to be a bit unprofessional on accident from time to time around coworkers he cared for.
One of the few exceptions in his attempts at keeping his professional appearance came in the form of a tall blonde who somehow managed to fit right in with a team of government agents from day one. (It’s always the blondes, isn’t it?)
He’d walked into the office, exhausted and half-dead from getting up before dawn when he’d only just barely shut his eyes, and loudly proclaimed his entrance with ‘Honey, I’m home!’
He really hadn’t expected to be met with a stranger grumbling, just loud enough for the whole office to hear, ‘Late again. This is why I’m the only one ever taking care of the kids’. The newcomer’s eyes had widened slightly as if the sarcastic comment had slipped out on pure accident and he was terrified he’d made a huge mistake.
Luckily enough for the tall bespectacled blonde, Kuroo wasn’t much for the whole overly polite workplace deal and he frankly found the push back to be delightful. He couldn’t stop himself from a laugh that was dangerously bordering on a giggle, setting his coffee down before it was spilt so he could prop himself up on a nearby desk.
He eventually reigned in his laughter by some miracle, straightening up from where he was hunched over the closest flat and stable surface he had found during his surprise laughing fit. Kuroo’s smirk was sharp as always, but the illusion of a suave man was lost with how much it looked close to a grin, considering how utterly bright with joy his eyes were as he held out his hand to make introductions.
“Kuroo Tetsurou, criminologist.”
The blonde was wary as he held out his hand, his head bowing once politely. His eyes were guarded, but Kuroo couldn’t help noticing the shimmering golden color behind the black frames or how his eyelashes were light enough that he actually could be a natural blonde.
“Tsukishima Kei. Computer hacker just trying to keep out of jail by switching sides.”
Kuroo threw his head back to laugh again, his stomach muscles in danger of aching despite his high level of fitness.
“Glad to know the name of my doting husband. Welcome to the team.”