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Kuroo’s lips pressed lightly against the rim of the glass as he tilted his head back to take a sip from the flute in his hands.
He let the liquid swish around in his mouth, the fizzing dissipating as it hit his tastebuds. His face scrunched up and his expression soured as the aftertaste settled.
“Why do people even pay for this stuff, it’s garbage,” he muttered, tucking the still-full glass of sparkling water behind a stack of used dishes on a nearby serving tray. You looked over at him with a bemused expression as you took another sip from the Earl Grey tea you had opted for instead.
“I think some of the big wigs here would fight you on that, Tetsu,” you laughed, lowering your mug from your lips. Kuroo simply rolled his eyes and gestured for your tea, his hand brushing over your fingers to hook onto the ear of the mug, the silver band on his ring finger twinkling softly in the purple light that bathed the room.
“It’s just carbonated water. Water that’s been carbonated. And it’s what,” he paused to pull out his phone with his other hand to search up the price. “$30 for a liter? You’re kidding me, right? Who pays for shit like this?” He took a sip of your tea, his frown deepening as his thumb continued scrolling through the listings.
“The people hosting the event, obviously.” You held a hand out to Kuroo, and he grudgingly returned your drink back to you.
“I get it’s fancy, but come on. I could breathe on this water for free and you could get carbonated water.”
“Don’t think that’s how it works, Tetsu,” you laughed, holding your mug in front of your face to let the steam caress you in its hold. You always found it comforting —the way that the water vapor would condense onto your face to offer the odd chill that so perfectly accompanied whatever eccentric rant your husband would always find himself spiralling into over tea and coffee. Your feet shifted in your spot; the back of the heels you wore were starting to dig into your skin. Perhaps you should have listened to Kuroo’s incessant nagging and taped the bandages onto your heel before you left your house earlier.
“You have to bubble it in,” you pointed out, “just breathing over your water won’t provide enough carbon dioxide to push the equilibrium to favor the production of carbonic acid.” You narrowed your eyes at the lapels of Kuroo’s freshly pressed black suit and reached out to pick a piece of lint off.
Kuroo clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth in annoyance at your counterpoint, though muttered a word of thanks under his breath for your help with his suit. “Damn Le Chatelier,” he murmured, locking his phone and shoving it deep into his trouser pocket. “Okay, what if I used a closed system,” he proposed instead. “Over time, I should build up enough carbon dioxide to push equilibrium to favor the products.”
“Doubt you’d be able to reach the pressure to manage that.”
“How about if I dropped dry ice into water?”
You leaned in closer to his face, your heels rising off of the ground as you balanced your weight on your toes. “Then it’d just sublimate into the atmosphere and not in the water, you silly old man.”
He huffed in resigned defeat, his hands brought up in a shrug as his shoulders hunched up. “I still think it’s stu—”
“—Kuroo-kun, there’s our young talent!” a booming voice interrupted from behind. Kuroo’s eyes widened and he abruptly caught his tongue to stop his sentence short, spinning around on his heel with the widest smile he could muster plastered on his face.
“Why, hello, Samuels-sensei!” he sang out in a honeyed tone. Your eyebrows raised in amusement as you hid your smile behind your mug. Standing before the two of you was the man of the hour, the host of the event —the Dean of Medicine himself, and none other than your husband’s boss. “How have you been? Wow, this event is absolutely amazing —brilliant even if I may. Your planning committee has truly outdone themselves.”
Brilliant indeed, Tetsu. You took another sip of your tea. Very sincere. You stifled another chuckle as you watched Kuroo’s overly animated hand gestures as he greeted the man.
“I’m happy to hear you’re enjoying the event,” the older gentleman in front of you beamed as he returned the hand that Kuroo had offered to him, his eyes disappearing behind a delighted smile. He turned to look over at you when he released Kuroo’s hand from his grip. “And this must be the Mrs. Kuroo I’ve heard so much about from the lunch room?”
“You talk about me loud enough in the lunch room for the Dean himself to hear?” you laughed, taking a step forward to stand in line with Kuroo as your hand reached out to poke at your husband from the side. He yelped out loud and jumped in his spot, having been caught off guard by your touch, and sheepishly laughed as he nodded, his cheeks flushed from both the remark and by his momentary stumble.
“Yes, this is her,” he spluttered out with a sniff as he straightened back up. “Samuels-sensei, meet Dr. (l/n) (f/n). She’s a clinical chemist working at the attached hospital of the school,” he introduced. You smiled and offered a hand out to Dr. Samuels, to which the older man graciously accepted.
“Oh yes, I’ve heard quite a bit about you, (l/n)-sensei,” he said as he returned your handshake. “I read your paper on the usage of platinum in novel detection systems. Truly amazing work indeed,” he continued on in praise as you returned your hand to your side and leaned back to stand straight. “We recently recruited you on as a lecturer for one of our classes, didn’t we?” You laughed politely as you gave a small nod.
“Ah, yes, indeed,” you confirmed. You had received the email from the Dean’s office last night, and had briefly skimmed over it just this morning while downing your coffee before work. You had originally planned to discuss the offer with Kuroo when you got home tonight, but it seemed like fate had decided that it would be best for the reveal now.
Your eyes trailed over to the surprised expression on your husband’s face. He tugged at the back of your dress, and you hummed in response. “Hey, this is news to me,” he whispered in your ear.
“Maybe I was going to surprise you at work one day,” you teased back.
“Sure you were,” he scoffed. You nodded adamantly with wide eyes, and Kuroo reached out to pinch at your nose, sticking his tongue out childishly at you. “Sure you were,” he repeated in the same annoyed tone with a roll of his eyes, though the goofy smile on his face suggested otherwise.
A clear of the throat caught your attention as the two of you looked back at the Dean who had been watching your squabble with an amused look. He raised his glass to the two of you, an eyebrow raised up in curiosity. “The two of you aren’t drinking? The bar’s got a brilliant selection of liquors and distilled spirits, if I must say so myself.” He lowered his glass, and gestured over at the bar in the center of the ballroom. “Handpicked the selection myself,” he added on proudly.
“Oh no, I’m expecting, that’s all!” you insisted as you gestured down at your stomach. Dr. Samuels’ eyes followed your hands down to your belly, and he nodded in understanding as his lips rounded into an o.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize,” he apologized with a worried smile. “I’m sorry if that offended you in any way.” You shook your head as you waved your hand in front of you, insisting that it was alright and that it wasn’t a big deal.
“Oh, but Kuroo-kun, you certainly are not pregnant yourself, are you?”
You accidentally let out a snort, and the Dean chimed in with roaring laughter, his head tossed back and his hand clutching against his stomach. Kuroo simply watched on with his lips drawn in a tight smile, an exasperated sigh escaping from his lips.
“Very funny, the two of you,” he griped. He hooked his arm in yours and pulled you flush against his tall frame, the smell of his cologne intoxicating you in the moment and hushing the sounds of your earlier laughter. “Designated driver for the missus,” he explained, looking down at you with a coy smirk on his face. “Though she treats me like an Uber these days, if I must be honest.”
“I do not!” you gasped in mock disbelief, playfully hitting his arm. You could tell from the glint in his eyes and the devilish smile on his lips that he had something up his sleeve. You’d play into it, you decided. For now, at least.
“Mhm,” he hummed as he leaned in closer to you, his eyes closed as a serene expression rippled across his handsome features. His eyelids fluttered open, revealing his light-brown irises that glowed golden under the soft lighting of the room as his grin widened again. “Sure, whatever you say.”
Another clear of the throat wrenched you back to the present reality, reminding you yet again that you were still standing in the middle of the ballroom surrounded by the loud chatter of the crowds of attendees present. You turned to look back at the Dean and bowed your head low as words of apologies escaped from your lips.
“Oh, to be young and in love,” Dr. Samuels gushed. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll leave you two lovebirds be, but Kuroo-kun, I can’t possibly let you walk around empty handed at my party! If you’re driving…” He looked around at the neatly organized castle of glasses on the table, and swiped one from the top. “Sparkling water, perhaps?” he offered to Kuroo.
“Oh, yes! I love sparkling water. I’ve got a preference for Mountain Valley, personally. Reminds me of when I did my PhD in the States,” Kuroo happily recounted as he accepted the tall glass from the older man.
“A man of taste,” Dr. Samuels praised as he raised his glass up to Kuroo, clinking the champagne flute in his hand with Kuroo’s sparkling water. “I knew we’d get along swimmingly when you first walked in through the door for your interview.”
“I don’t think I deserve words as kind as yours,” Kuroo laughed as he took a sip from the glass. You watched as he squeezed his eyes shut and stretched his smile out wider than usual as he forced down a gulp. “This brings back a lot of fond memories,” he lied between his teeth, turning his sights back onto you. “Reminds me of the nights we spent watching the stars in the back of my car.” His free hand travelled down your arm to interlock his fingers in yours, his eyes staring longingly with nothing save for love.
A content sigh brought your attention back to Dr. Samuels once again, and you quickly turned your head around with a wide beam, your face slightly flustered from Kuroo’s words just now. As much as you knew that the first part was nothing but a lie to get on the Dean’s good side, you knew exactly what he meant when he mentioned the countless nights the two of you had spent admiring the stars that seemed to litter the Californian nights while discussing the very dreams you were living out right now. The look he had on was anything but a lie —that you were sure of.
Oh, that mushy cat.
“Well, I won’t keep you for any longer. The two of you enjoy the rest of the night, alright?” Dr. Samuels walked ahead, but quickly retraced his steps back to where he was standing in front of the two of you. “Oh, and keep this between the two of us, but that tenure review coming up for you… Nothing to worry about,” he said with a wink before walking ahead again and disappearing into the crowd.
Kuroo’s shoulders relaxed, and his hand reached up to loosen his tie once his boss was nowhere in sight. He unravelled his hand from yours as he walked over to the serving tray from before and tucked the glass in his hands behind the same tower of used dishes right next to his original glass.
He looked back at you and frowned.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Stop it, it’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.”
You quirked an eyebrow up at your husband. “Seriously? You love sparkling water?” Kuroo’s lips disappeared into a thin line as he looked away. “The Tetsu from 10 minutes ago would beg to differ, I believe. Something about how you think that sparkling water’s stu—”
“—Hey, cut me some slack!” he whispered forcefully as he pulled you out of the ballroom, your hand held tightly in his. “My promotion’s on the line, let me live a little!”