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The sun is in it’s final descent when Bokuto sprawls out on Kuroo’s mattress. His room is cool compared to the heat outdoors, yet sweat still clings to Bokuto’s skin. Today’s temperature had broke the record book, heat scorching sidewalks and air conditioners turned to fullblast. It’s the middle of summer, and vacationing kids hadn’t dared to brave the heat, only salary-men stepping foot outside to suffer under the sun’s rays.
Bokuto and Kuroo had spent the day at the ocean, oblivious to the rising temperature and hot sand as they swam for hours and hours.
It was once they retreated to Kuroo’s house that Bokuto felt the sticky and suffocating heat of the evening air. He complained on the way back, shoulders burning from sun exposure and feet uncomfortably dry in his sandals. If only Kuroo’s mom could have saved them with a lift home.
He focuses on the oscillating fan in the corner of Kuroo’s bedroom, sighing when the cool air rushes over his bare back. It’s a comfortable feeling, and Bokuto finally registers just how tired he is from spending all day in the sun.
The doorknob twists and Kuroo’s returned from his shower, wearing nothing but a pair of tight, navy briefs. Kuroo meets Bokuto’s drowsy gaze with a frown. “Hey, did you not put on sunscreen?”
Bokuto lifts his head, thinks for a moment, zero memories of sunscreen application coming to mind. “Mm, don’t think so.” Kuroo’s eyebrows knit closer. “Why?”
“Bo, your back’s as red as a lobster.” He raises a finger. “Hold on - ”
Kuroo disappears, and Bokuto rests his chin on the cool fabric of Kuroo’s pillow once again. After Kuroo’s said something, Bokuto suddenly acknowledges an uncomfortable sting and burn that blooms across his back and shoulders. He must have gotten sun-burnt.
With a bottle in hand, Kuroo climbs onto the bed upon returning, mattress dipping from the weight. Bokuto feels Kuroo straddle the small of his back. Kuroo’s skin is hot against his own, and for a brief moment, he considers telling Kuroo to move before deciding against it. The heat of Kuroo’s body is more welcoming than the sun’s.
He hears a flick of a cap and a loud squirt. Bokuto perks up. “Hey, you doing something kinky back there?”
Kuroo laughs, and Bokuto can feel the shake of Kuroo’s body against his own. “It’s aloe vera, idiot.”
He’s ready to bust out another suggestive comment, but Kuroo’s hands find Bokuto’s back, sighing at the relief of Kuroo’s cooling touch. The aloe is like ice against his fiery skin as Kuroo spreads the gel over his back and shoulders.
“Good?” There’s a smirk in Kuroo’s voice.
“Mhm.” Bokuto closes his eyes, humming.
Kuroo applies another layer of aloe until Bokuto’s back and shoulders are completely cooled. The mattress dips and creaks again, a sudden weight finding Bokuto’s side. He opens his eyes to see that Kuroo is now beside him.
Bokuto looks up at Kuroo’s sitting figure, soaking in the lean, toned muscle of Kuroo’s body and sun-kissed skin against the sunset. They were outside all day, and he doesn’t remember Kuroo applying sunscreen at all.
“Hey, you didn’t put on sunscreen.” Bokuto accuses.
Kuroo blinks at him, once, twice, before speaking. “Because I don’t burn.” He flicks Bokuto between the brows and Bokuto pouts, jutting out his bottom lip.
Of all the summers he’s spent with him, Kuroo has never once gotten sun-burnt. His eyes flicker down to the waistband of Kuroo’s briefs, and Bokuto notices a tan line resting low on Kuroo’s hips, separating pale and caramel.
“You get really tan in the summer…” Bokuto mumbles, still eyeing the divide in skin tone.
“Yeah.” Kuroo rubs the back of his neck and follows Bokuto’s line of sight. “I've been like that since I was a kid.”
Kuroo tans and Bokuto burns . It’s unfair.
It’s not just that that Bokuto discovers. He notices a single, dark freckle just above Kuroo’s hip. Bokuto immediately wonders if Kuroo has more. The more he searches Kuroo’s body, the more freckles he finds and Bokuto’s oddly smitten. Freckles just work on Kuroo. In his head, Bokuto silently praises the sun, praises himself for dating someone so good looking.
He wiggles closer as Kuroo’s giving him a questioning look. “Your freckles are cute.”
Kuroo open his mouth to speak, “Bo - !” Though Bokuto interrupts his train of thought, placing a kiss to the freckle located just above Kuroo’s hip.
It’s times like these where Bokuto curses his poor attention to detail, and to make up for it, he goes to acknowledge each freckle on Kuroo’s body. Bokuto starts to place small, wet kisses to each freckle he finds. There’s one on Kuroo’s lower back, he kisses it. A freckle high on his shoulder blade, another kiss.
“Wh-What the hell are you doing?” There’s no bite in Kuroo’s voice, sounding more so like he’s on the verge of laughter.
Bokuto doesn't answer, finding another freckle to attack with his lips. Kuroo shivers under the touch, then laughs. His arms slither around Kuroo’s waist, uncaring of the heat and sweat that gathers in the crooks of his limbs. Bokuto’s lips latch onto Kuroo’s neck, monopolizing the splotches of freckles along tan skin. Laughter is replaced with a breathy hitch in Kuroo’s throat. Bokuto works his way further up the flesh of Kuroo’s neck until he’s kissing the faint freckles that color Kuroo’s cheeks. He can feel Kuroo smile beneath his lips.
Kuroo’s eyes are hooded and dark when Bokuto faces him, catching his breath. “How come I've never noticed this before.” He kisses Kuroo’s cheek again to further his point.
“How come you’re so obsessed?” Kuroo snorts.
“Like I said, ‘cause it’s cute.”
Looking back on the summers he’s spent with Kuroo, he regrets that his distracted eyes never noticed the enticing tan lines and freckles. Bokuto still would have kissed Kuroo all over if he had noticed back then.
Kuroo smirks. “Yeah, and your sunburn is super cute.”
“Shut up.” Bokuto groans at Kuroo’s teasing.
When Bokuto kisses Kuroo’s lips, a shiver runs down his spine and his stomach flips. He had admired and kissed everywhere else but here, and it’s a sudden rush for Bokuto. Kuroo’s lips are warm just like the rest of his body, chapped after spending hours in the sun. Bokuto nibbles and pecks at Kuroo’s mouth, makes no move to turn it into something deeper, and neither does Kuroo. Bokuto can’t tell how long they kiss like this, lazy and slow and affectionate.
He’s not one to hold back on deeper kisses, but Bokuto can never resist the soft and tired pecks that they share now. It’s like a perfect end to the day.
Kuroo’s the first to withdraw with small gasps of air.
He watches as Kuroo licks his lips, which are now sheen with saliva and a pretty pink. “You finished?” Kuroo’s smile is warm, and Bokuto is immediately hit with the urge to kiss him again.
He does. Bokuto presses their lips together, relishing the high that comes with the kiss. It’s longer, more hungry than the ones they shared seconds ago.
Grinning, Bokuto pulls away until just their foreheads are touching. “Now I am.” And Kuroo snorts. His thumb gently traces the group of freckles on Kuroo’s neck, drawing lines and connecting dots as Kuroo hums appreciatively. Freckles aren't anything uncommon, yet Bokuto is still so enamored to see them on his boyfriend’s body. He’s just simple-minded like that.
The sunburn on his back is no longer blazing like a kiln, and neither is the sun. It's dipped below the horizon, casting dark oranges and reds in the sky.
“My mom will be home soon.” Kuroo murmurs against Bokuto’s lips.
His focus returns to Kuroo’s eyes, unsure of what else he’s implying. “Alright?”
“So,” Kuroo begins with a cheeky grin, “if you still wanna be weird and keep kissing my freckles, then you better get on with it.”
Bokuto mirrors his grin. “You don’t need to ask twice.”