Chapter Text
“Kenma, I have a great idea,” Kuroo said, walking into their room.
“Why do I doubt that?” Kenma asked, not looking up from his computer.
He was pretty preoccupied. He was trying to figure out what game he wanted to play on a stream. Recently he’d been pretty indifferent about it, but he wanted to play something he would enjoy. Doing what you love for money tends to make you not love it anymore, and Kenma was trying to avoid that.
“Because you’re mean to me?” Kuroo offered.
“Maybe because your great ideas aren’t always that great. Remember the time with the-“
“That was one time!” Kuroo interrupted him, “I thought of a fun new date night activity for us.”
“Alright,” Kenma said, intrigued, “What is it?”
“We should go to that new Latin bar. We could try some Latin dancing,” he suggested.
“Uh, no.”
“Oh come on, don’t say ‘no’ that quickly. You enjoyed dancing the last time we went,” Kuroo pointed out.
Kenma realized that Kuroo was right about that. He’d taken Kenma clubbing a few times and he really loved it, which was very surprising to him. It certainly didn’t hurt that Kenma often could get VIP access to clubs. Something about the combination of the flashing lights, loud bass, and heavy intoxication was perfection to him.
“Okay, but I was pretty drunk and dancing was flailing around to loud club music, so it doesn’t really count,” he countered.
“You don’t have to be sober, or good at Latin dancing to give it a go,” Kuroo argued, “It is a bar after all. I imagine people won’t be particularly sober.”
“What even is Latin dancing anyway?” Kenma asked, “Is it just dancing to Latin music?”
“You’re sitting on a computer with an internet browser open,” Kuroo pointed out.
“You’re the one who wants to go,” Kenma said, narrowing his eyes, “Wait, do you not even know what it is?”
Kuroo stayed silent. Kenma laughed. He searched for what it meant. Apparently it wasn’t a specific dance, but a cluster of dance types. He pulled up a video showing the differences between them. Kuroo got up and watched over his shoulder.
Kenma laughed, “Yeah, not a chance either of us can do that.”
“I think we could,” Kuroo said, “Plus the website said that it was more of a club-like environment so it wouldn’t have to be that technical. I think it’s more about the type of movement and style of music. It said that you can watch and learn from the regulars if you’re new.”
“We’re going to look like idiots,” Kenma said, closing out the tabs.
Kenma went back to looking through his expansive game library for something to grab his attention. Maybe he could mess around in an old sandbox game. He always enjoyed playing them because he finds something to do and doesn’t feel constrained by the active story. Maybe picking an old one would work even better because it would have that nostalgia factor. He couldn’t quite remember the name of one he used to play. It was stuck in the back of his brain, bothering him.
“Maybe, but maybe it could be fun. We can drink and dance, and if it sucks, we can go home,” Kuroo offered.
Kenma was conflicted. He didn’t really like saying no to Kuroo, but it also sounded like something he really wouldn’t like. He tried to figure out if he wanted to say no just because it was out of his comfort zone or if he was saying no because he genuinely thought he wouldn’t enjoy it. He’d been trying to do more and more things out of his comfort zone. He more often than not found that he enjoyed them, but actually getting up the nerve to do them wasn’t quite as easy.
“I’m not nearly coordinated enough,” Kenma pointed out.
“You’re very coordinated. What are you talking about?”
“I’m not coordinated,” he insisted, “You’re just biased.”
“You’re a professional video game player and were a national level athlete in high school,” Kuroo pointed out, “You have to be fairly coordinated.”
“You know damn well that I wasn’t coordinated in high school. My main abilities had nothing to do with coordination,” he said.
“I disagree. You had pretty much the best technical skill as a setter,” Kuroo said, “Sure you didn’t have a lot of strength or endurance, but you were coordinated.”
“The best technical skill as a setter,” Kenma laughed, “Sure. Miya Atsumu, Kageyama Tobio, or even Akaashi. Step aside, the best technical setter is in the room.”
“You definitely had a higher technical skill than Akaashi. Your sets were a lot more accurate than his. Especially your backsets. Plus, your serves were better too,” Kuroo argued.
“Well you missed two out of the three examples I gave, and I disagree. My serves were pretty weak,” he pointed out.
“Sure, but they had pinpoint accuracy and so did your sets,” Kuroo countered.
“The only reason you think my sets had pinpoint accuracy is because I spent years learning how to set for you,” Kenma said, “And specifically you.”
“Which requires a lot of coordination and technical skill,” Kuroo explained.
“You’re out of your mind,” Kenma said, “Either way, being able to set a volleyball or play a video game will literally in no way help me when it comes to dancing.”
“You never know unless you try.”
“This is only like six miles out of my comfort zone,” Kenma admitted.
“It’s good to get out of your comfort zone,” Kuroo reminded him, “Try new things.”
Kenma was just about to object, when an idea struck him.
“It’s good to get out of your comfort zone?”
“Yes,” Kuroo said hesitantly, not knowing, nor liking, where this was going.
“Good,” Kenma said, a malicious grin spreading across his face, “It’s time to get you your first piercing.”
“Hell no!”
Kenma just shrugged. He didn’t need to say anything. His point made itself.
“Love?” Kuroo said, hesitantly after a second.
“Mhm?” Kenma prompted, crossing his arms.
“I’m going to be the bigger man and model being out of my comfort zone,” he said, “I’m willing to bet a piercing for a night of Latin dancing, as long as I can pick where I get it.”
Kenma’s eyes widened. He didn’t believe for a second that Kuroo would even consider wagering a piercing. He was terrified of needles.
Kenma really didn’t want to go Latin dancing, but Kuroo laid it down and he would look like a coward if he didn’t accept. He set his jaw.
“You’re on.”
“The fact that we’re about to play a nearly entirely luck based game to determine whether or not I get a permanent alteration to my body is kinda blowing my mind right now,” Kuroo said, dumping the popcorn into a large bowl.
Kenma laughed from the frontroom as he set up Mario Party.
“Latin dancing in front of other human beings is going to permanently alter me as well, so it seems pretty fair.”
“Getting out of your comfort zone is a vital part of life,” Kuroo said, grabbing a remote from his boyfriend, who had already selected his favorite character.
“I’m not so sure that I agree,” Kenma said with a frown, “There’s nothing wrong with living how you like to live.”
“But you’ll never know how to live your happiest life if you don’t try new things.”
He sighed and set the popcorn on the end table next to his spot on the couch.
“I want some too,” Kenma objected, “Can’t you put it between us?”
“Nope,” Kuroo said as he plucked Kenma’s controller from his hand. He set it on the table next to the popcorn and then grabbed Kenma by the waist, pulling him into his lap, “Better now?”
“Hmm,” Kenma said, reaching over to grab a handful of popcorn and his controller, “Works for me. Can you see the screen?”
“Mhm, you’re short.” Kenma drove his elbow into Kuroo’s side, but Kuroo just wrapped his arms around his torso, holding the controller in front of him. He hooked his chin over Kenma’s shoulder. “You can start it.”
Kenma wiggled around to mess with him and Kuroo took the opportunity to tickle him for it. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Kenma’s jaw clenching in an attempt not to laugh. He was mostly successful, letting out the smallest of giggles as he started the game.
For a while, it was just focused playing with Kuroo littering kisses all over his boyfriend. It wasn’t an intentional attempt to distract him, but he was winning by a small amount.
“Can you do me a favor?” Kenma asked quietly. Kuroo waited for the cut scene to start to place a kiss on his temple.
“Of course.”
“If we, uh, end up at the bar, can you wear something ridiculous?”
“You mean like my normal wardrobe?” he asked.
“You said it, not me,” Kenma responded with a nervous laugh.
It took Kuroo a minute to figure out why Kenma was asking. He frowned when he did. Kenma was nervous about having all of those eyes on him. Kuroo would have to break out the sequined suspenders.
“I do love being the center of attention.”
He kissed Kenma’s neck, wet, sloppy kisses as he opened his inventory to use a mushroom. It got him all the way to the next star, giving him an even greater advantage.
“Damn this luck-based game,” Kenma whined.
“It’s only luck-based when you’re losing, huh?”
He could feel the stress start to build in Kenma’s shoulders as they played. To be fair, he was wrapped around his back so it wasn’t difficult to notice.
He nibbled on his ear while the next mini game started. Kenma ended messing it up in the last second, though he was quickly catching up. Even so, the tension in his muscles was only getting stronger.
When Kuroo could feel that Kenma was grinding his teeth, he reached around to pause the game on Kenma’s remote.
Kenma turned his head to look at him, confused. Kuroo took the opportunity to kiss him. His aim was to distract Kenma this time, but not in a strategic way; It was to relax some of the tension within him. Kuroo was competitive to his core, but his core was all Kenma, so Kenma always won out.
“Mm, turn around,” Kuroo said against his lips.
“But I have to beat you first,” he objected, even though he kissed him back.
Kuroo slid his hands under Kenma’s shirt, grabbing either side of his waist and pressing his thumbs into his lower back.
It had its intended effect. Kenma got up and then set himself back in Kuroo’s lap, this time facing him. He immediately threaded his fingers into Kuroo’s hair and licked into his mouth.
Kuroo ran his hands back under Kenma’s shirt, his fingers tracing up his spine and gently scratching at his shoulder blades.
“Mm, off,” Kenma said, his hands on Kuroo’s shirt.
Kuroo first pulled off Kenma’s shirt and then his own.
“What happened to you beating me first?” Kuroo asked, a smug smile on his face. Kenma couldn’t help but kiss it right off of him.
“There’s no video game rules against shirtless making out three-quarters of the way through. I would know.”
Kuroo smiled against his mouth before bringing his lips down to Kenma’s neck. He started sucking, gently at first and Kenma pulled his hair, wanting more.
Kuroo was admittedly just playing around at first, but then decided to go for that spot- that one spot that made him lose it.
Every. Single. Time.
Kenma moaned a breathy little whine and started to swivel his hips. This was no longer just two dudes making out in a completely precedented way during a video game break.
It seemed like Kuroo figured that out too, dragging his tongue down Kenma’s neck and blowing on the spit, causing him to shiver. He then, with a tease of a lick, made his way back to Kenma’s mouth. He’d decided he missed Kenma’s lips on his own far too much to keep on his original path.
Kenma kissed him back forcefully, biting his lip.
It wasn’t long before they both ended up on the floor, Kenma pinning Kuroo’s hands above his head.
“Fuck, I wanna-“
“Alright,” Kenma said, tossing Kuroo’s pants to him, “It’s time to get serious.”
Kuroo was highly disappointed to find out that Kenma’s post nut clarity also applied to his video game skills.
He swept the rest of the mini-games, leaving him one mere star behind Kuroo with one final turn left. Kuroo had him dead to rights.
That was until his least favorite creation in video game history struck: The Nintendo 64: Mario Party 3’s ‘Chance Time!’.
It drove him absolutely crazy. It always fucked him over. It was essentially just slots and everyone’s stars and coins were up for grabs. There was no skill involved. Most of it was pure luck.
That was how he lost with a one star lead in the last turn.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Kuroo said, incredibly defeated, “I hate this fucking game.”
“You’re going to look so hot,” Kenma said, turning to kiss Kuroo’s cheek.
“You don’t even know what I’m getting,” Kuroo pointed out, “It could be heinous.“
“On you? Nah,” Kenma said, pulling out his phone and sending a text, “You’d look so hot with an ear full of metal.”
“Did you just text me?” Kuroo asked, feeling his phone buzz from his pocket.
Kenma nodded with glee.
“Contact info for my piercer,” he clarified, giving Kuroo a patronizing pat on the head, “Have fun!”
“You awake?” Kuroo whispered to the man currently acting as his jetpack.
“Mhm,” Kenma mumbled, pressing his face into Kuroo’s back.
“I’m going to get the piercing today.”
“Mm, what time?”
He kissed Kuroo’s shoulder blade, squeezing his arms around him.
“Six-fifteen,” Kuroo said hesitantly, “But I want to go alone.”
That made Kenma wake up a little bit.
“Oh.”
Kuroo flipped over, still in his arms.
“This is just a lot and I’m scared.”
“But I could help you,” Kenma said, “Walk you through it and hold your hand.”
“I know, love,” Kuroo said, placing a kiss on his forehead, “But I think I need to be alone for it. It’d make me more comfortable to not be with someone who knows what they’re doing. I feel like it’d add pressure and then you guys will be talking.”
“I mean, I could-“
“I promise, I love you, and normally you put me at ease, but just this one time I need to go alone,” he said, “Is that okay?”
“Of course it is,” Kenma said, trying to hide his disappointment.
“I want you there. I do,” Kuroo said, “But I need to be the only one there, to be the only one with any control over the situation. This is scary and I also really don’t want you seeing me that scared.”
Kenma pursed his lips.
“It’s no big deal. I was scared for my first one too and I want to support you.”
“You can support me when I get home.”
Kenma wanted to argue, but instead he simply said, “Okay.” He understood where Kuroo was coming from. It wasn’t like he himself wasn’t painfully bad at expanding his comfort zone.
“I’m excited, too, ya know?” he said, clearing his throat, “I really want to do this crazy ass thing. It’s good for me. It really is.”
Kuroo got to the tattoo parlor approximately forty-five minutes early and for good reason. He needed every single one of those minutes to panic an appropriate amount before his appointment.
Even with the head start, his hand hesitated on the doorknob for longer than it should have. A stranger was about to poke a needle through his body. What the hell.
He shook out his hands and opened the door, taking in the shop. The walls were covered with art. He immediately spotted a bi pride flag on the desk and it made him feel a little better. He still wanted to throw up, but a little less than before.
“I have an appointment for Kuroo Tetsurou,” he said.
The woman at the desk nodded at him and leafed through a stack of papers in front of her.
“Welcome, you’re going to need to fill out one of these.”
He leaned over to grab the sheet of paper she handed him. His eyes were too busy scanning the words like infection and serious side effects to notice the staff congregating in the corner, talking quietly.
He fished his ID out of his pocket to hand to the woman and finally she asked what they were all wondering.
“Kuroo-san, are you Kozume-sama’s Kuro?”
“Uh, yeah?” Kuroo said, raising an eyebrow.
“Ah shit, y’all, we got royalty in here,” she said with a laugh, “He didn’t tell us you were stopping by.”
The group laughed and came over, introducing themselves, much to Kuroo’s confusion. How many tattoo artists did it take to poke a hole in him?
“Huh, you are pretty cute,” one of them said, “Ko-chan, that’s three-thousand yen.”
Kuroo just looked at them, confused before filling out the rest of his form. He handed it to the woman working the front, hoping she wouldn’t notice his hand was shaking.
“Want me to put this on Kozume-sama’s card?” she asked.
“Actually, yeah,” he said with a small smile, “Also, this is gonna sound weird but you can just call him Kenma. He prefers that.”
They all laughed again and he looked between them, bewildered.
“Yeah, we know,” she explained, “But we take great joy in annoying him.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re all my kind of people,” Kuroo told her, “So, uh, I don’t really know how this works.”
“Oh, you haven’t done this before?” she asked, “Come sit. You guys go fuck off somewhere.”
He awkwardly sat on the couch she was pointing at and she sat next to him as the others left the room. She explained to him everything: how much it would cost, how to keep it clean, how they are all certified professionals, how the sterile field works, how it feels, and how long it takes to heal.
“What questions do you have for me?” she asked.
“Do I get to pick out the starter jewelry then?” he asked, feeling significantly better than he had.
“Absolutely,” she smiled, “You can pick anything from the second case.”
Kenma practically giggled to himself as he made dinner. He couldn’t wait to see Kuroo with a piercing. What would he choose? A lobe? A septum? He didn’t care. His boyfriend would look insanely hot regardless. He knew he was being ridiculous, salivating over the mere idea of his boyfriend coming back with a little something extra. He was bothered at first that Kuroo wouldn’t let him come with, but the waiting made it so much more fun.
When he heard the car door close, he wiped his hands on a towel and went to greet him. He opened the door as Kuroo walked in and his eyes went immediately to his ears, then to his nose, then to his eyebrows, then to his lip. There were no piercings in sight.
“Hi, sweets,” Kuroo said, awkwardly giving him a side hug. He had his backpack slung over his shoulder. He must have went to the parlor straight from class.
Kenma tried to hide his disappointment. Kuroo must have tapped out. It was fine. It really was. Kenma would never want to force Kuroo to do something he didn’t want to, but he was so excited to see it. He just knew that Kuroo would love it if he just gave it a try.
“Hey, love,” Kenma said, “Dinner is on the stove.”
“Are you really not going to ask me, Kozume-sama?” Kuroo asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“It’s okay,” Kenma said, with what he hoped was a reassuring smile, “The sanctity of a bet is not more important than your comfort.”
Kuroo laughed.
“Give me more credit than that,” he said, making his way past Kenma, “I got pierced.”
Kenma’s eyes widened as he followed Kuroo into the kitchen.
“Did you.. oh my god..”
His eyes went from his dick to his nipples. Man, Kuroo was really a go-getter, regardless of what he chose. Kenma was impressed.
“Ta-da!” Kuroo said, carefully lifting up his shirt. It revealed a navel piercing adorned with a purple and pink rhinestone butterfly. Kenma snorted into a laugh.
“Oh! It’s your bellybutton! That’s incredible!” he said, bending down to look closer at it, “That barbell is so tacky. I love it.”
“Wait, where did you think it was?” Kuroo asked, pulling his shirt entirely off.
“It’s possible I thought you got your nipples pierced,” he admitted.
“You mean you were hoping I got my nipples pierced,” Kuroo said with a laugh.
“Absolutely not,” Kenma said, his face flaring.
“You know, maybe I could, but-“
“They’re addicting, right?” Kenma said, gesturing to his own filled ear.
“You’d have to up your side of the bet.”
Kenma bit his lip, trying to decide. He knew logically that the original stake was outside of his comfort zone, so whatever Kuroo upped it to would be bad. On the emotional end, Kuroo with nipple piercings.
“Deal,” Kenma said, “What you got for me?”
“The bar is having a dance competition and I want to register us in the novice category.”
“Oh, fuck no,” Kenma said, scooting around Kuroo to serve dinner.
“Hmm,” Kuroo said, grabbing his hand. He grabbed it and brought it to his chest, circling his own nipple with Kenma’s fingers.
“Okay, fuck, fine. You win. Let’s play a rematch after dinner,” Kenma said, the defeat showing through his voice.
“Double or nothing.”