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"What are you doing?" Kei asks, leaning his shoulder onto the doorframe of the bathroom. He watches Akaashi standing at the mirror and cocks his head to the side as he observes.
Akaashi pauses his activities, hand midway to his face as he huffs. "I'm getting these contacts in my eyes or I'm going to die trying."
Kei hums, a little smirk tugs at the edges of his mouth. "What kind of flowers do you want for the funeral?"
"Glad you have so much faith in me," Akaashi grumbles. He seems to consider for a moment, bringing his hand to his eye and trying to mash the contact that sits on the tip of his finger in there, before responding, "I think lilacs would be nice."
"Those would be nice, but I don't think they go well with black." Kei crosses his arms, getting as comfortable as he can while being pressed into a doorframe.
"Everything goes with black." Akaashi makes eye contact with Kei through the mirror. His eyes are rimmed in red from the constant press of fingers and watery from the dryness of the contact, yet somehow he's still as handsome as ever.
"True," Kei hums. "Put some more solution on that contact. Otherwise, it'll hurt when it goes in."
"That's what she said!" Bokuto calls from just outside the bathroom.
Kei ducks his head out the door and yells, "I'm not above hitting you." He's met with snickering and giggles. Then he brings his focus back to Akaashi, who's dousing his contact with saline solution.
"I think if I can't get this thing in my eye soon the only thing I will be getting is violent," Akaashi mumbles, nearly subconscious-sounding.
"Wow, you really hate contacts," Kei muses.
"No shit," Akaashi says. His contact slips off his finger and hits the bathroom counter with a sad little plink. His eyes widen and he looks at Kei apologetically. "Sorry. That was rude."
Kei shrugs. "Look who you're talking to. Rude's kind of my thing." He laughs through his nose and smiles a little as Akaashi relaxes, thoughts of having offended Kei leaving his mind.
"You're not rude," He says. He turns back to the mirror, picking his contact up and dousing it again in saline. "You're just," He grasps for the right word before landing on, "Prickly. Like a cactus."
"I am not like a cactus," Kei says, mock-offence thick in his tone.
Akaashi giggles a little, a low noise from the back of his throat, musical and perfect. "You're exactly like a cactus. Tall, thin, prickly. Not to mention your jersey's green." He gapes very suddenly, a smile tugging at the edges of his wide-open mouth. "Oh my god. My boyfriend's a cactus. I've been dating a plant this entire time."
"What the hell are these contacts doing to you?" Kei asks, words broken up by a breathy chuckle.
"Driving me insane," Akaashi says, serious again. He tries once again to get the contact in his eyes and ends up blinking it back out into his palm. He groans. With one final attempt, he carefully places the little disk onto his eye, then slowly pulls his finger away. And wonderfully, it stays. He blinks with wide eyes, a singular tear tracing the cheek beneath the eye with the contact in it. He looks to Kei for approval, before swaying a little on his feet.
"Put the other one in first," Kei teases.
Akaashi sticks his tongue out. Funny how much of a little shit he is when no one's around to see, Kei thinks.
Akaashi sighs and picks up the second contact. With dexterous fingers, he manages to get it in on the first try, and he smiles a little at his red-eyed reflection.
"Finally done?" Kuroo asks, popping his head atop Kei's shoulder and making him jump at the sudden interruption.
Akaashi glares at him.
"Finally," Kei agrees, a little smirk tilting the corners of his lips.
"I take it back," Akaashi says, "You are rude."
Kei chuckles. "Talk to me when you can get your contacts in without crying."
"You're downright evil." Akaashi scowls. The affectionate light in his eyes betrays his outwardly upset attitude.
"Right." Kei crosses the bathroom to plant a little kiss against Akaashi's temple. He looks at himself in the mirror, adjusts the collar of his dress shirt and runs his hands down his chest, smoothing the wrinkles. He tugs at his sleeves, letting his fingers linger for a few extra seconds on the golden cuff links that sparkle against the black fabric.
"You guys are so slow!" Bokuto cries from the living room. He draws out the words in a high whine that rings out through the entire house.
"We do have somewhere to be," Kuroo points out from where he's occupied Kei's spot in the doorway.
"Right, well, I'm trying my best," Akaashi grumbles. He straightens the beige vest he wears over a white dress shirt and wipes at his reddened eyes.
Kei looks at himself, looks at Akaashi, looks at Kuroo, thinks about Bokuto sitting on the couch right outside the door. He thinks about the celebratory dinner that isn't really celebratory because nothing important has happened recently but Kuroo's still insisted on making a big deal out of nothing and taking them all out somewhere fancy. The whole thing is Kuroo's idea, but Kei knows it's Bokuto who'll end up paying.
"Okay," Akaashi says with finality, "I'm ready."
Kei smiles.
•
Bokuto's nearly skipping across the kitchen, sliding on his socks as he bounds towards the front door. Kei takes note of his mile-wide grin that seems nearly capable of splitting his face in half and the way that he hums a little bittersweet tune in his low voice.
"Where are you going?" Kei asks.
"It's raining," Bokuto says simply, as if that explains anything. Maybe after living with him for this long and maybe after loving him for even longer, it should make sense, but Kei is still clueless.
"It is," Kei responds. Because it is raining. It's been raining all day. It had only been sprinkling when Kuroo and Akaashi had left for work in the morning, when Kei should have left as well. He hadn't left the house. Instead, he'd stayed home with Bokuto. Something about the rain always puts Kei on edge. It makes him drowsy and it chills him all the way down to his bones until he's forced to curl up inside all day and call in sick. And to add to all of that, now it's pouring outside, pounding down on their roof is the constant assault of water droplets.
"I was gonna go outside," Bokuto elaborates. He flexes his fingers at his sides like staying still physically pains him.
Kei hums.
"Maybe go for a walk," He continues. He looks at his feet, the wall, the ceiling, anything but Kei. "If you wanted to come," He says quietly.
Kei blinks. Once. Twice. Obviously he doesn't want to go outside when it's pouring and chilly and gray and generally gloomy out. Obviousy not. Except that he kind of does. Something about the pure poeticism of dancing with one of the loves of his life in the rain, splashing in puddles and having their hands interlocked and swinging between them seems appealing.
Kei sighs and pulls himself out of the blanket cocoon he's created on the couch. "Sure, I'll come." He says it like a complaint, even if he's doing this by choice he'll have it known he's not happy about it.
Bokuto lights up instantly. Kei can nearly see a ghostly tail wagging behind him as that smile reappears on his face.
"I'd never say no to time with you," Kei says. A little smile makes its way across his face, bringing a warmth to his chest that combats the chill of the rainy day.
Bokuto snorts, "That's such a lie." He doesn't put on shoes and he doesn't put on a jacket. Instead, he jumps out the door and runs down the driveway.
"I swear he's like a child," Kei grumbles as he shuffles on a pair of shoes and throws on his jacket.
He runs after Bokuto, winds whipping at his hair and stinging the back of his throat as the two jog through the streets. It's cold, it's wet, and it's downright unpleasant, but the way Bokuto grips Kei's hand and presses short kisses to each of his knuckles makes it worth it. It's worth it to see the smile on Bokuto's face, to see him tilting his face skywards and letting the rain roll off of him. To see golden eyes shine against the gray of the storm clouds.
It's all worth it, even if the next day Kei actually does have to call in sick.
•
Kei thinks if he had a catchphrase it would probably have to be: Kuroo is an idiot.
He's said it more times than he can count. Back in high school when he would be teased for a crush on a certain beheaded captain his response would be that very line. Kuroo is an idiot. When their relationship had started Kei hadn't liked to admit how much he enjoyed it, so instead he admitted that Kuroo is an idiot. When the four of them had started living together it was something said daily. Eventually Kei had upgraded to Tetsurou is an idiot but that doesn't have as nice a ring to it, in his opinion.
Regardless, the line is something that has been repeated so many times throughout the years that it has nearly lost all meaning. So when Kei says, "You're an idiot." In response to one of Kuroo's worse ideas, Kuroo's response is quite simply to wave it off.
"Yeah, yeah, what else is new?"
With the four's decision to go on a weekend camping trip came the long day of set up and trying to figure out where everything is situated around the park. When Kei says long day, he feels as though he's spent hours pitching the tent and scrambling around in search of the convenience store, and a deep ache has worn itself into his muscles. With the nice meal they'd cooked up over the fire already digesting in his stomach, he's ready to sleep the pain away.
As he sits with Kuroo around the fire, the embers now fizzling out, and Bokuto and Akaashi sleeping away in the absolutely massive tent the four have come to own, Kuroo has suggested a late-night swim in the lake. The freezing cold, icy lake, with depths that shine, reflecting starlight in the chilly night.
"If you don't come with me I'm just gonna do it alone," Kuroo says. He's already standing, grabbing a towel that's been hung to dry on a nearby tree.
"Have fun drowning." Kei scoots closer to the dying embers, trying to savour their warmth before they extinguish completely.
"Don't you want to spend time with me?" Kuroo pouts. Even in the dark his puppy eyes are nearly impossible to resist. Nearly.
"No. It's cold," Kei says.
"If you come with me I'll buy you coffee for the next month."
Ah. Bribery.
"Fine." Kei stands with a sigh, already shivering in the night breeze.
"I knew you loved me," Kuroo sings. He tosses Kei a towel and starts whistling his way down the path to the beach.
Akaashi had specifically requested they book a site close to the beach, so they'd gotten one with only a thin trail separating their closed-off site from the sandy expanse leading to the lake. Something about stumbling across a muddy trail, stepping over leaves and branches in the dim night until the ground shifts to soft, soft sand makes Kei feel like he's in another world. Like he's swimming through realities as Kuroo jogs to the nearby dock.
Kei struggles to keep up, skidding across the sand with his hands in his pockets to grasp at any tendrils of warmth he can manage. His feet make little indents in the dry sand, markings of his whereabouts that will be wiped away by the time the sun rises.
Then he's pattering across stained wood, dry sand sticking in the cracks and cobwebs strung between the posts. There's a metal ladder leading down into the dark water, but Kei doubts Kuroo has any intention of using it.
"You cold?" Kuroo whispers, affection evident in his tone.
"No shit," Kei snaps.
Then he's sideways, careening through the air at an angle that can't be safe. He catches Kuroo's smirk, his teeth glimmering in the pale moonlight, and then everything's dark. And cold. And wet. He's been thrown in the water and all he can think is, Kuroo is an idiot.
Kei kicks wildly, propelling himself up in a desperate attempt at reaching the surface. When his head breaches the water he gasps raggedly, inhaling as much air as he can.
"You asshole!" He spits, shaking water from his hair, his eyes. He reaches up. Miraculously, his glasses have stayed perched on the bridge of his nose.
Kuroo has the audacity to giggle right before he jumps into the water, splashing Kei in the process. He surfaces seconds later and spits a jet of lake water right into Kei's face.
"Why do I even put up with you?" Kei asks, not really meaning it as water drips from his glasses down his cheeks.
"Because you love me?" Kuroo smiles and paddles around the murky depths of the lake.
"Yeah," Kei sighs, "I guess I do." His teeth chatter a little. It really is cold, chilling him down to his bones as he wades neck-deep in water.
This was not a good idea, but seeing as it was Kuroo's that isn't too surprising.
At least the stars are nice, the sky painted in a gorgeous swath of blues and speckled in gleaming white. Kei can ignore the deep chill burning into his nerves to look at the stars. He looks at Kuroo. He supposes the view isn't all that bad.
"Isn't this nice?" Kuroo asks. He backstrokes his way in a circle, head tilted skywards as he hums a little tune. His voice is low, tired and full of something a little like yearning and a lot like love.
"No," Kei says. But he can't hide the smile on his face. The warmth in his heart does little to help against the cold of the night, but its attempts are appreciated.
"You ready to go back?" Kuroo asks. He's already swimming in the direction of the ladder.
"I've been ready since you pushed me in here," Kei says through chattering teeth.
He and Kuroo make their way back onto the dock, back across the rotting wood of it and onto the soft sandy beach. They only pause for a moment to slot their lips together under the moonlight. Kuroo's cold and wet as he presses further and further into Kei's space.
He has the audacity to say, "Let's hurry back."
And they do. They strip their soaked clothes off in the doorway of their abnormally massive tent, they dress in warm nightclothes to protect against a chill that has already made itself a home buried bone-deep. And then they fall into their sleeping bags, next to the already fast-asleep Bokuto and Akaashi.
Bokuto stirs. He wraps an arm around Kei's waist and pulls him in close. "You're cold," He mumbles, still half-asleep, "What happened?"
Kei sighs and huddles in closer, relishing the human heater that is Bokuto. As an explanation, all he offers is, "Kuroo is an idiot."