Work Text:
Day three:
harry potter au
/
magic
/ fall
He’s a twenty year old college student, so it’s not like he’s completely unfamiliar with the party scene, but Tsukishima Kei doesn’t really like it. The drunks, the party games, the shit music, the recklessness… none of it is particularly appealing, but even he can make exceptions. That’s why he finds himself walking to an acquaintance’s house — he won’t call these people his friends, even if one of them happens to be his brother-in-law — with his best friend on Halloween night, despite his protests.
Yamaguchi tried earnestly to convince Tsukishima to do matching costumes with him, even going as far as to suggest they dress like characters from Jurassic Park — ‘C’mon, Tsukki! You can be Goldblum!’— but Tsukishima agreed only under the condition that they would not match in any way, and that Tsukishima could leave at any time that he wanted. Some of the people that share the house they’re headed to are in their second year, like him, but Tsukishima can’t stand them. Most of them are just meatheaded jocks, and he just doesn’t have the patience for idiots.
Even if one of them is sort-of a little good looking…
He dragged his feet leaving, so the full autumn moon is rising higher into the sky. There’s a brisk breeze, that would chill him if he hadn’t been wearing something that acted as a windbreaker. He’s out with beige pants, a lighter tan button up, a nice hand-me-down leather jacket, a fedora that used to be his father’s — the only thing he’s missing is a bullwhip, but that would be a little awkward to lug around, anyway. He’s a little smug about his low effort Indiana Jones, but he still would have much rather stayed home.
Yamaguchi, the bastard, just wore a sheet and is going as a ghost — apparently his girlfriend that they’re meeting at the party is going to be wearing the same. He’s not quite sure why his friend would even suggest matching with him if he was just going to end up with the laziest costume on Earth, but he’s not going to say anything about it.
Leaves from deciduous trees are floating along the sidewalk in the wind, and as they finally walk up the driveway to the home, Tsukishima starts to feel dread in the very pit of his stomach. He can hear yelling and obnoxiously loud music from playing inside the house— is that ‘A Night on Bald Mountain playing? Okay, taste, but what the hell?— and Tsukishima is suddenly wishing he took his brother up on taking his nephew out trick-or-treating. The jack-o-lanterns lining the walkway seem to be laughing at him.
Oh well, nothing much he can do now but go inside, drink, and suffer, so Tsukishima reaches the door first and just goes inside without even bothering to knock. He walks in and just… stands in the doorway, needing to take a second to process. The party is in full swing, and nearly everyone is holding a red plastic cup in one hand. People are streaming in and out of a room that seems to have the speakers and a dance floor, while others mingle around the punch bowl in the kitchen at the end of the hallway.
A group of three stand at the bottom of a staircase on the left side of the hall. One of them is an idiot from his math course, Kageyama Tobio, and he’s standing with a red headed kid he thinks might be named Sho, and they’re both wearing yellow shirts and overalls. The bald goon who Tsukishima has the displeasure of knowing as his brother-in-law is wearing all black and a long, grey striped scarf.
They’re doing Despicable Me. That’s it, Tsukshima has had enough, but when he pivots to head right back out the door, Yamaguchi is right there, laughing and pushing him further into the hellhole.
“Sorry, Tsukki! We made it this far, we might as well stay for a bit!” He doesn’t even have the good grace to look sheepish. Rude.
“I hate it here already. I cannot believe you convinced me to do this.” He leans back a little, just enough to give Yamaguchi a hard time as they push past the three in the hallway, but before they make it to the kitchen where all of the sweet, sweet booze is, Tsukishima is caught by the sleeve of his jacket. He whips around and Kageyama is there, still latched on to the leather on his elbow, with a red cup in one hand and a red tint to his cheeks.
“I didn’t think you’d be coming tonight,” Kageyama slurs at Tsukishima, just a little bit, who snickers.
“Why would I tell you if I was or wasn’t? We had one project we worked on together. We sometimes hang out in the same space. We’re not friends or anything.” He smirks at the aggravation that furrows Kageyama’s eyebrows, which definitely isn’t cute, and wiggles his arm out of Kageyama’s hold.
“You don’t have to be such an asshole, you know. I was just making small talk.” There’s a slight pout to Kageyama’s lips that Tsukishima does his best to ignore in the same way that he always tries to ignore Kageyama’s appearance, and Tsukishima rolls his eyes.
“I didn’t ask you to. I’m going to go get a drink if I’m going to survive any amount of time here.” He turns on his heel just as Tanaka throws an arm around his shoulders.
“Aw, little bro, some on! Don’t be so icy! We’re here to have fun.” A bit of beer sloshes out of his cup and onto his scarf as he talks, and Tsukishima grimaces. He looks across to the dance floor that’s filled with people, and allows himself the consolation of
at least I’m not in there.
“I told you that you didn’t have to call me that, thank you.” He slinks out from under his in-law’s arm and finally makes his way to the kitchen.
“You’re so mean for no reason, you beanpole! Go get a drink, maybe you’ll lighten up!” The short one finally speaks up, more boldly than Tsukishima would have expected. He’s a little impressed, honestly.
“Hinata,” well, at least now Tsukishima is at least able to place a name to the face, “shut up! Just leave him alone.” Kageyama is pulling Hinata by the arm to the next room, where one table is set up for beer pong, and another is set up for cards, and Tsukishima is finally free to get his glass of liquid courage if he’s going to brave the night. He hadn’t even noticed that Yamaguchi had abandoned him during the exchange, the traitor, and was already with Yachi grabbing drinks.
She’s also got a simple ghost costume, but he can admit that they look cute. He pretends not to have the slightest pang of jealousy strike his heart when he looks at them, and instead surveys his options.
Mass produced beer is a no go. He’s not sure if he can trust the bowl of red punch that has a little plastic eyeball floating in it, and he’s certainly not interested in the bottles of vodka sitting on the counter. He opens up the fridge and finds a bottle of Rumchata — not Kahlua, but he’ll make due — which he takes out and pours into a cup. There’s a bottle of cinnamon whisky sitting out, which he also adds. He spooks a bit when he turns around and finds Kageyama there again, watching him.
“What do you want, King? ” Tsukishima relishes in the way that Kageyama cringes when he says that — he’s not sure why it bothers him, but he’s heard members of the volleyball team refer to him that way and just naturally latches onto any way that he can needle at the other man.
“I just…” Kageyama’s flush on his cheeks has darkened, and he’s playing with a loose string on the side of his overalls. “I’m just grabbing another drink. We’re going to play a game — King’s Cup, if you want to play with us.”
Yamaguchi, who was just a little bit away from them with his girlfriend, snickers. Tsukishima is quick to send his most bone chilling glare, as if that’s worked on Yamaguchi at all in the last decade.
“Well, that’s a fitting game for you to be playing, but I’m not sure why you think I would be interested.” Tsukishima pretends to look at his nails in scrutiny, but his eyes keep snapping back to Kageyama like a moth drawn to fire.
Kageyama walks a little wobbly over to the counter and starts to make himself another drink with the vodka on the counter, but Tsukishima is quick to grab the cup out of his hands out of pure impulse. He pulls a water bottle out of the cooler on the floor and presses it onto Kageyama’s neck, who yelps at the sudden rush of cold on his neck.
“I think you need some water if you’re about to play a drinking game.” Tsukishima eyes the cup, sniffing it with a grimace, before shrugging and downing the entire contents. He fights back a cringe — for some reason, and that reason is definitely not that he wants to look cool in front of Kageyama — and starts to feel a little warm at the alcohol he doesn’t even like burning in his belly. “Drink up, King,” he says, pointing at the water, “or I won’t play with you guys.”
The tipsy man perks up at this, and Tsukishima hasn’t quite figured out why. Last time he checked, they pretty much hated each other.
“For real?” Kageyama is smiling, sort of, and Tsukishima can’t decide if it sends a chill down his spine because it’s creepy, or for a reason he doesn’t quite want to confront. He’s still trying to convince himself he can’t stand the man in front of him. “You’ll play with us?”
Tsukishima inwardly kicks himself for unintentionally agreeing to play, and mentally prepares himself to spend much longer here than he had planned. He sighs, downs what’s left in his own cup, and pours himself a new mix. At least that should make everything a bit more tolerable.
“Yeah, I’ll play. Only because it’ll be funny to watch the loser drink at the end . My drink has dairy so it’s going to be disgusting .” Kageyama laughs, a sound that Tsukishima hasn’t heard before, despite existing in similar circles for a fair amount of time. He tells himself he doesn’t like the sound. He looks down at his mixed drink and wishes that it would work faster.
“That’s evil. Well, alright, let me drink this,” Kageyama downs the entire water bottle in about ten seconds, which shouldn't be possible if you ask Tsukishima, “and let me get another drink, then we can go. It’s just the room over.”
Kageyama opts for a beer this time, and Tsukishima picks up two more water bottles from the cooler with his free hand. Kageyama drags Tsukishima to the next room by his sleeve, which is starting to make Tsukishima’s heart act a little funny. Yamaguchi snickers as they pass, throwing a thumbs up towards Tsukishima, who flips his friend off in return. It’s his fault he’s in this situation, anyway.
There’s already a few others at the card table— Sugawara, Shimizu, and Asahi, all of whom he knows pretty well from school. Across the room, Hinata and Tanaka are playing an increasingly rowdy game of beer pong.
“I’m genuinely shocked to see you here, Tsukishima,” Sugawara says as they place cards face down in a ring around an empty cup, peeking up at Tsukishima from under the brim of an over-sized witch hat. Tsukishima is actually pretty happy to see them here — he considers them to be pretty close, since they’ve taken a lot of the same courses. On their left sit Asahi and Shimizu, who both look just as out of place playing such a plebeian game as Tsukishima feels. “I hope you’re not afraid to drink a lot, we can be pretty ruthless when we play.”
“Whatever, I’m only here because this guy begged.” He points a thumb over at Kageyama when he takes his seat next to Shimizu’s left, and Kageyama scowls as he takes the last empty seat in between Tsukishima and Sugawara.
“I did not beg . I asked, nicely, since you were standing in the kitchen by yourself like a loser.”
“Hah? I’m a loser? You’re the one sitting there dressed like a yellow monstrosity — ”
“Now, now, boys. Enough flirting,” Sugawara says with a mischievous smile, completely ignoring their argumentative sputtering, “Let’s play. Is everyone familiar with the rules?”
Everyone nods, and the game begins.
Expectedly, it moves along pretty quickly. Sugawara was right, everyone is a little more ruthless than Tsukishima had expected. When Tobio drew his first eight, he instantly chose Tsukishima as his mate, and no one at the table bothered to stifle their snickers. Shimizu had the audacity to make a no bickering rule, which was clearly targeting him and Tobio— wait, Tobio? Since when are we on a first name basis? Maybe the alcohol is doing its job— and when Asahi drew an Ace, he chugged his entire full beer, forcing everyone at the table to down theirs in the waterfall, too. Tobio had insisted on refilling Tsukishima’s drink for him when he went to replace his own, which left Tsukishima vulnerable to the vultures at the table.
“You know,” Shimizu says quietly, with a small knowing smile, “you guys are very cute.” He’s well past tipsy at this point, and can’t control himself well enough not to blush. He can feel the tips of his ears burning, which only makes him blush harder, but he can’t bring himself to talk back to her.
“We’re definitely not cute. I don’t even really know him that well…” He doesn’t mean to sound melancholy, but the alcohol is making him a lot more transparent than he would like.
“Oh, but it sure sounds like you’d like to,” Sugawara says with a wink, “to know him better, that is. And by the way he’s been shooting heart eyes at you all night, I’d bet real money that he’s been feeling the same a lot longer than you.” They giggle at the sour look on Tsukishima’s face, only getting more bold as they drink more.
“Sugawara, I think you’re great, but I hate you so much right now it’s not even funny.”
“I don’t know, Tsukishima, it’s pretty funny,” Asahi chimes in, much to Tsukishima’s chagrin. “But we’ll be quiet now that your boyfriend is coming back.”
Tobio came back with the drinks, and sits down. He’s practically glowing red from the flush of alcohol, but he’s honed in on the sanguine blush on Tsukishima’s face.
“Are you feeling okay?” He places a clammy hand on Tsukishima’s forehead, who forgets that he’s supposed to flinch away. “Wait, it’s too hot in here, I’m not sure why I did that. Here,” Tobio hands him a bottle of water, keeping the refilled mixed drink in front of himself. “You’re not allowed any more alcohol until you finish this.”
Tsukishima is thankful for his long legs so he can kick at Sugawara, who coos from across the table. They must be expecting the blow, because they tuck their legs up under their chair right when Tsukishima strikes. He drinks the bottle of water begrudgingly, and Tobio beams.
“I was going to drink water anyway, King. Don’t look so pleased with yourself.” He’s thankful he’s already as red as he could possibly get so this entire exchange couldn’t make him blush more. Tobio deflates a little at the nickname, and Tsukishima feels a little pang of regret.
“Whatever, asshole. Let’s keep playing.”
A few more rounds has Tsukishima thankful that Tobio had conned him into drinking more water — he seems to have been the one chosen for every two drawn, and he loses every ‘five for drive.’ When Tobio draws a queen, Tsukishima is very careful not to answer any questions that he’s asked. He does a good job of it for two more rounds, until Tobio catches him off guard.
“What is your costume supposed to be, anyway? You look pretty boring.”
“Boring? Boring? You’ve never even seen these movies?” On some level Tsukishima knows he shouldn’t be answering, but he can’t bring himself to stop. “You think Indiana Jones is boring? I genuinely cannot believe I agreed to play this stupid game with you. You obviously have no taste in—” he cuts himself off when he realizes that everyone is just laughing at him, and he turns to realize that Tobio is wearing the most maniacal grin.
“. . .you knew what my costume is from, didn’t you.”
Tobio just nods, like he’s won the game. In a way, maybe he has.
Tsukishima sighs, deeply, and takes a big drink from his glass. “I’m lucky my drink is good.”
Tobio stops his giggling, and quirks an eyebrow curiously at Tsukishima’s cup. “Do you mind if I try it?”
“No,” Tsukishima offers with a shrug, “Go ahead.”
He takes a sip, and Sugawara laughs at Tsukishima from across the table.
“Aw, guys! Indirect kiss!”
Tobio chokes a little bit. “What are we, twelve? Don’t be annoying,” he gripes as he sends them a glare, “and besides, why bother with an indirect kiss when I can just have the real thing?”
It’s Tsukishima’s turn to choke, and his glasses keep fogging up with how much he’s been blushing. For once in his life, he can’t think of anything witty to say, so he just draws his next card— the third king, and he pours his dairy drink heavily into the mixture of beer and vodka in the center of the table. That’ll show them.
The game goes on, and Tsukishima finds himself in contact with Tobio more often the longer they play. Their knees touch, every once in a while Tobio bumps his shoulder with his, and for some reason, he doesn’t know how long Tobio’s hand has been resting on his thigh. He doesn’t say anything in an effort to avoid drawing attention to himself, but he’s way too inebriated to pretend he’s not feeling butterflies in his stomach.
He’s hoping he won't actually act as impulsively tonight as the alcohol is making him feel.
Sugawara draws the last king, and the game finally ends. Tsukishima just snickers at them when they grimace at the smell of the drink.
“I’m sure if you drink it quickly, you won’t even notice that it’s curdled.” He sneers at them when he stands up, but when he does, he realizes exactly how much he’s had to drink. When he stumbles, Tobio catches him, and Tsukishima swoons. Actually swoons.
He’s gonna go ahead and blame the alcohol.
“Woah there, are you okay?” Tobio grabs another water bottle off the table before steering Tsukishima towards the sliding glass door that leads to the backyard. They both pointedly ignore the jeers coming from the table.
The cool autumn air feels great on Tsukishima’s face, and he eyes the pool that’s in the middle of the yard. He plops himself down on the grass, tugging off his boots and rolling up his pants. Tobio laughs, but follows suit, toeing off his shoes and cuffing his overalls.
“What are you doing?” Tobio is looking down at him way too fondly, and Tsukishima yanks his socks off as if they’ve personally offended him.
“I’m putting my feet in the pool. Help me up, please.” He holds a hand out to Tobio, who grabs it firmly as he pulls Tsukishima upward, and he doesn’t let go of his hand when they both sit on the edge of the pool and stick their feet in. The water is freezing, but it feels nice to a couple of drunks. Tobio hands Tsukishima the bottle of water, who drinks it without complaint.
They sit there for a few minutes in silence, with their fingers still intertwined between them. The silence is broken when Tobio speaks.
“I’m glad you came today. That game was fun because you were there.” His thumb is tracing lazy lines along the side of Tsukishima’s hand as he speaks.
“You know… I’m glad I came today too. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.” He lays flat on his back, and looks up at the full moon overhead. “You’re also… not as bad as I was expecting.”
Tobio follows suit, laying down next to him, letting his foot splash the surface of the water just a little bit. “That’s pretty high praise, coming from you.”
Tsukishima snorts, “Don’t get used to it. You won’t be getting compliments from me very often.”
“Oh? But it might happen again?”
Tsukishima can’t help the smile that inches onto his face. “Maybe, if you play your cards right.”
They lay there for a few moments more before Tobio speaks again.
“Hey.”
Tsukishima tilts his head towards Tobio, who is already looking at him.
“Let me kiss you.”
Tsukishima bites his lip. He really wants to, and that’s not just the alcohol talking, but—
“I’m not kissing a minion. ”
Tobio chokes on his laugh, bringing up his free hand to wipe the tear from his eye.
“I’m only wearing this because I lost a bet. Well, what if you came over tomorrow and we watched a movie? I actually haven’t seen Indiana Jones before.”
“I suppose that would be acceptable.” Tsukishima takes his phone out, messing around with the settings. “I’ve unblocked you now, so just text me tomorrow if your hangover doesn’t kill you.”
“What? You blocked me? You really are an asshole.” Tobio smiles at him again before looking back up at the full moon. “But I’ll still be looking forward to tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” Tsukishima says, his eyes lingering on the other man for just a moment longer. “Me too.”