Chapter Text
This wasn't how Kuroo’s evening was supposed to go.
He was supposed to get drunk, dance, and probably have super awesome mind-blowing sex with his boyfriend.
But instead, he’s here, pressing a cold icepack against Bokuto’s swollen cheek.
“I could’ve-“
“Don’t speak.” Kuroo spits, totally annoyed by now. Kuroo can deal with getting kicked out of the party. That’s, you know, whatever. They’ll be back next week anyways and nobody will remember.
He’s just so pissed that Bokuto ended up getting hurt.
“I could’ve taken him.” Bokuto says anyways. “You should have let me go.”
Kuroo rolls his eyes, “Are you kidding me? He whooped your ass.”
“He did not.”
“Oh, he definitely did. He got you twice in the face before you even had the mind to flinch.”
Bokuto pauses, and recoils when Kuroo presses the icepack up against his swollen eye. Bokuto looks like hell, and it makes Kuroo kind of want to cry.
Bokuto sighs, “He was so much shorter than me though! How did he even reach my face?”
“Only by a couple inches.”
“Like what was he, five foot?”
“Bo.”
“What was he, five foot?” Bokuto repeats again, and Kuroo sighs. He pulls the icepack away from Bokuto’s swollen face, before he reaches down to his knuckles, where they’re already beginning to turn purple.
“Dude, you can’t go around picking fights. We’re a year away from graduation.”
“I didn’t pick shit!” Bokuto yells, but lets Kuroo dote over his hand. “He was the one who grabbed your ass!”
“Dude, we’re in college. Everyone is always grabbing someone’s ass.”
“But he grabbed your ass while I was already grabbing your ass!” Bokuto cries. “I had to do something!”
“My hero.” Kuroo rolls his eyes, and reaches for the anti-bacterial spray. “That doesn’t give you an excuse to punch him.”
Bokuto opens his mouth to reply, but hisses at the sting of the spray. Kuroo is quick to wrap his hands in bandages, bringing his hand to his lips, and blowing, just to send the sting away.
“He had it coming though.” Bokuto replies, “He’s such a little shit! Did you know that last week he filled my backpack with peanut butter?”
“I did, in fact know that.” Kuroo says smoothly, “Because I was the one that cleaned out your backpack after you cried.”
“I did not cry.”
“So your eyes were just sweating then?”
Bokuto sniffs, and watches Kuroo finish wrapping his hand. He sniffs again, “I really liked that backpack…”
“I know you did, babe.” Kuroo says, and Bokuto’s eyes look up at the nickname. They’re still a little drunk- but have sobered up considerably, since that frat house threw them out of the party.
Bokuto’s eyes are big, and very pretty, and Kuroo really likes them a lot — but he sees that large bruise, and a sick feeling settles in his stomach.
“No more punching people.” Kuroo waves his finger in Bokuto’s face, and watches his pupils dilate into focus. Bokuto nods, a little cross eyed now, and Kuroo smiles. He gently reaches forwards, and presses a soft kiss against the lips he knows so well. Bokuto grins, more than happy to kiss him back.
“Kuroo. Kuroo. Kuroo-“
“What, what?” Kuroo looks up from his phone, and desperately looks around them. They’re eating lunch in the courtyard of the school. It’s actually quite nice outside, but Bokuto’s shiner is almost brighter than the actual sun.
“Terushima! Look!”
Kuroo looks up, and sees the little asshole talking with his friends. He sighs, and goes back to his phone, “Don’t even think about it.”
“I’m not thinking anything!”
“I know.”
“Hey!”
Kuroo laughs, and bumps their shoulders together, “I said no more fighting.”
“I know, I know.” Bokuto grins, and leans up against Kuroo. Its soon silent again, and Kuroo goes back to looking at his phone.
“Dammit…” Bokuto mumbles, “Why does that guy have so many friends?”
Kuroo doesn’t look up, but says, “He’s always been popular. Don’t act like it’s a surprise.”
“But why?!” Bokuto blinks, “I mean, we’ve got a pretty big group of buds ourselves, but like, we’re decent people.”
“Are we?”
“And I’m pretty sure he’s just one hundred percent evil.” Bokuto stares, and watches Terushima laugh.
“He’s a partier.” Kuroo shrugs.
“I could totally out-drink him.”
“Dude, you totally could, but please don’t.”
Bokuto laughs, and reaches for his lunch once more. “You always got my back, bro.”
“Love you.” Kuroo responds automatically, and Bokuto grins.
They settle into another comfortable silence, but Kuroo doesn’t expect it to last long. They’re both big talkers, so Kuroo isn’t surprised when Bokuto gasps;
“Kuroo!”
“Hmm?”
“He’s walking over here!”
“What?” Kuroo jumps, and turns his eyes up and across the field and — yep. Terushima is definitely headed their way. “Fuck.”
“Should we leave?” Bokuto wiggles, and Kuroo hesitates.
“Uhh…no. If he tries to touch you I’ll just have to kill him.”
Bokuto looks pleasantly surprised at that, and turns his attention forwards. Terushima waves- fucking waves?- and stops a couple feet away from their bench. There’s a nice bruise on his right cheek, and Kuroo feels a little bit of satisfaction from that. His hair looks different than before- he must’ve gotten his undercut shaved down again. His eyes are big and gold, and they are horribly suspicious.
“Hey!”
“What do you want?” Kuroo stares.
Terushima lifts his hands up defensively, and grins, “Hey now, I’m not trying to pick a fight.”
“Really.” Kuroo blinks, and sticks an arm out in front of Bokuto.
“Yeah, I actually wanted to shake your hand, dude.” Terushima laughs, and Kuroo spots a tongue piercing. “You have a mean right hook! My face hurts like hell. Major respect.”
Fuck. Kuroo thinks, and looks over at Bokuto.
Of course, Bokuto is ecstatic, and happily shakes his hand. “No way! Really? My face hurts too!”
Kuroo stares, completely dumbfounded, but…actually not that surprised.
Bokuto was just spouting on and on about how much he hated this guy, but a few nice words, and Bokuto has already forgiven him. It’s an adorable trait, but at times like these, it gives Kuroo a headache.
“Really? Dude, we’re totally matching bruises.”
“Bro, we are!” Bokuto laughs, “You gotta’ tell me how you punch so fast.”
“Well,” Terushima begins, but Kuroo finally comes back to the real world.
“Babe.” Kuroo hisses, and Bokuto looks up, “Are you serious?”
“What?” Bokuto blinks.
“Look, dude.” Kuroo glares up at the man standing, “No offense, but also offense, because you punched my boyfriend.” He then turns back to Bokuto, “You can’t trust him!! Are you fucking serious?”
“Hey!”
“But he said I punch good.” Bokuto furrows his white eyebrows.
“I cannot believe you.”
“Hey, honestly. No hard feelings.” Terushima sticks out his hand to Kuroo, who then stares at it like its poisoned. There’s no shock buzzer strapped to his palm, or snake in his extra hand, but he still refuses.
“Terushima, last night you grabbed my ass and punched Bokuto in the face. The week before you trashed his backpack, and the week before that you pushed me into a pool.”
“Okay, well, three of those four things were dares.” Terushima laughs.
Kuroo raises an eyebrow, “Then why the hell do your asshole friends keep coming after us?”
“Er…” Terushima blinks, and Kuroo thinks he might be blushing- but his normal grin comes back tenfold, “No reason! But if you’re butthurt, I can totally apologize or something.”
“Hm.” Kuroo says, and ignores Bokuto’s gaze. “What do you want from us?”
“What?”
“I said what do you want?”
“Nothing, dude.” Terushima scowls, “Don’t be such an ass.”
“Are you serious-“
“We forgive you!” Bokuto butts in, and pushes Kuroo back down to the bench. “Totally.”
Terushima looks between them both, and smiles, “Cool. Johzenji is throwing a party next week. You guys in?”
Bokuto says “Hell yeah-“
But Kuroo says, “Depends. You gonna’ punch him again?”
Terushima laughs, “Nah, but I can’t promise I won’t grab your ass.”
They see him in passing, mostly.
Terushima is a strange creature; he’d always just been a name he heard around parties, until these incidents started happening.
Which were apparently all dares.
This just does not make any sense. Bokuto and Kuroo are a year older than him, and their friend circles hardly interact. They’re pals with other fraternities; Karasuno, Nekoma, Fukurodani- they’re all good frats, that can throw down hard, but also have strong morals.
Johzenji was just a group of people they never really bothered with.
Like, yeah, Kuroo sees Terushima in the cafeteria, or in the hallway, or at parties, but he had no idea what spurred on the sudden…bullying? Could it even be called that? Probably not, because Bokuto and Kuroo are adults- not to mention that he knows at least a dozen people that could probably kick Johzenji’s ass- but that’s beside the point.
It was like this guy came out of nowhere, to slightly annoy them for a few weeks- only to get in a fight with Bokuto, and apologize the next day.
Kuroo is definitely suspicious.
Bokuto’s bruise is almost gone. Of course, he doesn’t really care about how it looks; Kuroo actually pays more attention to it more than he does.
They walk through the frat house, hands linked together, Kuroo leading them towards the beer. He’s totally ready to drink and forget about classes for a while.
Bokuto is the one to spot Daichi and Suga sitting on a couch, and they try their best to squeeze towards them. Johzenji doesn’t fuck around when it comes to parties — the music is loud, and there’s half-naked people dancing on every surface.
“Hey!” Kuroo half yells over the music, “Didn’t expect to see you guys here.”
“We can say the same for you.” Suga laughs. He’s a giggly drunk, and it’s always been adorable. Daichi has his arm slung around his shoulders.
“One of the Johzenji boys invited us.” Kuroo clarifies.
“Terushima!” Bokuto pipes, and takes a shot.
“Really?” Suga blinks. “Huh, we’re just here for the free alcohol.”
“Yep.” Daichi agrees — and they laugh.
“Boookuto.” Suga looks up, “What happened to your face?”
“Hm?” Bokuto touches his cheek, and then grins, “Oh! Terushima punched me.”
Daichi narrows his eyebrows in a whose ass do I need to kick kind of way, and Kuroo rolls his eyes.
“It’s a long story.”
They speak for a while, and it’s actually kind of nice. A drunk girl falls on Daichi’s lap at one point — and Suga about bites her head off — but everything else is fine. An hour passes before Daichi calls it quits, and picks up a wasted Suga in one arm, and waves goodbye with the other.
But at this point, Bokuto and Kuroo are pretty drunk too. It’s fine. Kuroo has an arm around Bokuto’s shoulders, and Bokuto has a hand wormed around his waist. Bokuto can down a shitload of alcohol before he loses it; but when he does, its catastrophic. Kuroo always thought he could party hard, but he's horribly outmatched by Bokuto. Except now, they're just cuddling together, people watching, and laughing at drunk people as they trip over the bump in the carpet.
Kuroo hasn’t seen Terushima, but he thinks of that as a good thing.
“My dudes!”
Speak of the devil.
Terushima rounds the couch, and throws out his arm. Bokuto stands up to meet him half way, clapping his hand in his own. You know, the thing straight guys do whenever they see each other- don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.
“Glad you could make it.” Terushima grins. He looks down at the table, and says, “Did you guys do some shots?”
“Fuck yeah we did.” Bokuto grins, and sits back down next to Kuroo.
Terushima nods at Kuroo, and the elder says, “Yo.”
“Heyyy, Teru!” A girl waves from the top of the banister, “Are you coming?”
Terushima looks up, and waits a moment before yelling, “Nah!”
The girl gives a thumbs up, and recedes back onto the top floor.
“What was that?” Kuroo asks, and Terushima takes a seat next to Bokuto.
“She wanted me to join her threesome.” Terushima shrugs, and reaches for one of the fresh beer bottles on the table. He chews on his lip, and says, “Well, she wanted to make it a foursome, anyways.”
“And you said no because…” Bokuto squints, and Terushima laughs, and Kuroo has a hard time looking away from his tongue piercing.
“Eh, I joined last time. I’m good.”
“Fuck, dude.” Kuroo blinks, “Is everything just a party here?”
“Pretty much.” Terushima says, and uses the corner of the coffee table to pop off the cap to his beer. “It’s not that great, though.”
Kuroo is surprised to hear that. “Really?”
“Yeah, my grades are pretty bad.”
“Oh, dude.” Bokuto elbows him, “You should have Kuroo help you! He’s really smart.”
“Bokuto.”
“You are!” Bokuto grins, and turns back to Terushima. “He’s in really hard classes.”
“Really.” Terushima’s eyebrows shoot upwards, and Kuroo scowls.
“What? Did you think I was stupid?”
“A little bit.”
“Hey-“
Suddenly there’s screaming, and Terushima perks up like a dog. He looks over the heads of the students, and grins. “Oh! Be right back. They’re playing a drinking game over there.”
“Take your time.” Kuroo says sarcastically, and watches the younger bounce away.
“I like him.” Bokuto says, blatantly. Terushima dances his way across the room; there’s six people holding up another, pouring alcohol down his throat. Terushima jumps into the pile, excitedly.
“You literally hated him last week.”
“Yeah, but now I like him.” Bokuto shrugs, “He’s pretty cute, when you get past the whole asshole vibe he gives off.”
Unfortunately, Bokuto is right. There's something about that dyed hair, sharp eyed look. His stature is strong- not as much as Bokuto's but not as slender as Kuroo- and then there's the piercings. They really do work in his favor.
“You know…you’re always a really good judge of character, and I hate it.” Kuroo growls. Bokuto laughs, cutely, and shifts a little closer to him.
“It’s just an intuition, I guess.”
“What did you first think of me?” Kuroo asks in honest.
Bokuto hums, and slides his arms up and around Kuroo’s neck, “I thought you were a jerk.”
“Rude.” Kuroo teases, and slides closer to him on the couch. Warm hands wrap up and around his waist, pushing up his shirt to feel his back muscles.
“But I also thought you were cute.” Bokuto says, and dips his fingers into Kuroos spine. Kuroo leans down to press a soft kiss against Bokuto’s bruise, before pulling back. “And now I love you, so.”
Kuroo doesn’t say anything back. He grips Boktuo’s waist, and tugs him forwards, forcing them into an open mouthed kiss.
Bokuto tastes like vodka, and, well- Bokuto. It’s a nice taste, and Kuroo could distinguish it blindfolded. He slides his hands up and into Bokuto’s hair and pulls- because he knows he likes it. Their mouths slide together once, twice and finally three times, before Kuroo pulls back to kiss him again. Bokuto is very predictable, but also not, at the same time. Kuroo expects the tongue that slides against his lips, but doesn’t expect hands to slide around his front, and thumb across his nipples. His shirt pools around Bokuto’s hands, and he sighs into the mouth against his own.
Kuroo has half a thought- aren’t we in public? He opens an eye, and looks around. Nobody seems to care; there’s more couples making out across the room, and everyone is too wasted to pay attention to a gay couple on the couch.
He closes his eyes, and tugs on Bokuto’s hair again. His lower lip slides beneath Bokuto’s, sucking on skin, and coming back for that open mouthed kiss. It’s a little dirty, but it’s very them. Bokuto presses forwards, hard, teeth pressing against teeth- but it isn’t bad. Their tongues slide together twice, before Kuroo pulls back with a pop, and a gasp. They breathe for one second- before they meet back together.
Kissing Bokuto is like chasing a waterfall; its endless and impossible to reach the end. It’s a continuous loop that sweeps you away, and sometimes, all you can do is hang on.
But Kuroo doesn’t just hang on. He knows Bokuto well- he knows how to control him; he knows how to kiss him senseless.
So he does. He kisses him shamelessly on the couch of that frat house. He swallows up every wet sound, every hum, every gasp Bokuto makes, and he relishes in it.
The back of Kuroo’s neck tingles, and he opens up an eye.
Sure enough, Terushima is standing across the room, a beer in one hand, completely frozen. He’s just staring, wide eyed, as Bokuto and Kuroo inhale each other. His face isn’t disgusted, or confused- it’s flushed, and needy, and suddenly everything makes sense.
Now, Kuroo isn’t a bad guy. He’s actually a very nice person- but he does like pushing buttons. It’s what he excels at.
So he looks Terushima straight in the eye, and shoots him the smuggest look he can muster. Terushima jumps- he doesn’t look so much like a badass partier, but more like a cute underclassmen with a very visible hardon.
Kuroo grins against Bokuto’s lips, pulls on that owl-hair, slides his eyes shut, and sucks on Bokuto’s lower lip.
Yeah, Kuroo likes pushing buttons.
Bokuto gasps into his mouth, and decides that this position isn’t working for him- he slides in between Kuroo’s thighs, and braces his hand on the armrest behind Kuroo’s back. The taller moans, more for show than anything, and opens an eye back up to drink in Terushima’s face.
Kuroo grins.
He’s not sure how they started hanging out, but, it definitely happens.
Actually, if Kuroo really thinks about it, it might've happened while they were eating lunch.
Terushima shows up with a wave, and a grin, and Bokuto welcomes him happily. First they talk about parties; the people that showed up, the events that went down, who banged who- and then they talk about going to the gym, then their majors, and their friends. Bokuto warms up to him easily, happy to talk about whatever Terushima wants, because Bokuto is a really nice guy.
Unfortunately, Kuroo is warming up to him too. He really hates it when he’s wrong, and he especially hates it when he’s wrong while Bokuto was right- but Terushima isn’t that bad of a guy.
Terushima looks at him differently, ever since that party. His looks are especially interesting whenever Bokuto’s fingers tangle with Kuroo’s or whenever they kiss, or hug, or laugh together. Kuroo gets some kind of sick satisfaction out of it.
He walks out of class, bag thrown over his shoulder, eyes tired. He really just wants to grab Bokuto, and a good movie and not exist for a little while.
There’s his name:
“Kuroo!”
He turns on his heel, and sees Terushima jog up to his side.
“Aye.” Kuroo nods.
“Did you hear about the bonfire tonight?”
“Is it Johzenji?” Kuroo asks, and begins walking.
“No,” Terushima shakes his head, hair swishing this way and that. He’s a got a new piercing; another ring right at the top of his ear. “Well, sort of. It’s Johzenji and Karasuno.”
“Karasuno?” Kuroo blinks, “We’re friends with some of their members.”
“Which frat are you a part of?” Terushima asks, tipping his head a little, and it’s almost cute.
“Ah, well.” Kuroo begins, “I used to be in Nekoma. Bokuto was in Fukurodani. We stopped all that nonsense this year though, since we live together. Now we just kind of float by whatever parties we feel like.”
Terushima nods, “Ah, yeah. I’m kinda’ thinking of doing the same.”
Kuroo blanches, “No way. You’re going to leave the party scene?”
Terushima laughs,“Yeah, go figure, right?” He rubs the back of his undercut. It looks really soft, but Kuroo forces his eyes away.
“Is your liver failing?”
“No, but my grades are.”
Kuroo hums, and opens the door to the outside world; Terushima nods his thanks.
“That sucks, dude.”
“Yeah.” Terushima shoves his fingers in his pockets. He really does have an intimidating stature; he walks so confidently, his gold eyes are always narrowed, glaring at the world around him. But he looks up at Kuroo, and he doesn’t look like the guy that about knocked Bokuto out, all those weeks ago. “I um…was actually wondering…”
Kuroo stops walking, and stares at the shorter. He looks up and swallows, “Bo said that you were good at um…math and…”
“You’re an English major, right?”
“Oh, yeah. All that I can deal with, but my core class…” Terushima sighs, “I don’t think I’ll pass the final.”
Kuroo pulls out his phone, as he says, “What day is it? The 27th?”
“Yeah.”
“If you come by twice a week up until finals, I can have you ready.”
Terushima’s entire face lights up, and he grins. It’s actually quite adorable, “You’re kidding?”
“Nah.” Kuroo says, and begins walking again, “I’ve done the impossible with Bokuto. You couldn’t possibly be any worse than he is.”
Terushima laughs, and jogs to catch up with Kuroo’s long legs, “You’re kidding!”
“I’m not.” Kuroo grins, “His focus is horrible too. I have to bribe him with sex.”
Terushima’s body seems to visibly tense at that, and Kuroo looks at him out of the corner of his eye.
They go out to the fire pits- there’s a large group of people huddling around a bonfire. Kuroo instantly recognizes Asahi, sitting next to Daichi and Suga. Asahi is cradling a guitar, gently strumming. Some people are roasting marshmallows- despite the weather being fairly warm.
Someone walks up behind Bokuto, and wraps an arm around his shoulder, “Hey bro!”
Bokuto jumps, before grinning, “Yo! Tanaka, my dude.”
“Did you get taller?” Tanaka laughs, and raises his hand up to compare their heights.
“He totally did.” Nishinoya laughs at his side, “So not cool.”
Bokuto laughs too, and reaches over to pat Tanaka’s shaved head. Kuroo smiles, hands in his pockets. Karasuno is a really good frat, with some really good morals. Daichi, Suga, and Asahi really watch over these guys.
There’s some shouting off in the distance, and Kuroo turns- he sees some Johzenji members screaming with two of the Karasuno first years- and yep, somebody’s marshmallow is definitely on fire.
“Hinata!” Nishinoya yells, and runs towards the fire, “Hinata no- don’t- don’t wave it around!”
There’s distant calls of “Calm down dumbass!” and more laughter from Johzenji.
Tanaka laughs, and rubs his nose, “Damn, well, assuming that Hinata hasn’t burned all the marshmallows yet- we still have some stuff to make smores, so, help yourself!”
“Thanks!”
“Yeah,” Kuroo nods, “Thanks for letting us tag along, too.”
“Yeah! Terushima said he invited you two. I didn’t know you guys were friends?”
Bokuto and Kuroo share a look, “Well…”
There’s a distant call, “Hey! Tanaka! Come play chubby bunny!”
Like the sweet little one-tracked-mind child Tanaka is, he gasps, and bounces off. Kuroo smiles to himself, and lets Bokuto tug them over towards the third years.
“Hey.” Daichi smiles, “Long time no see.”
“Yeah dude, how you been?” Bokuto pats his shoulder as he sits down.
Daichi vaguely gestures to Tanaka and Nishinoya, who have way too many marshmallows already stuffed in their mouth- and then he gestures to Hinata, who has burned yet another smore- “Ahh, well, as good as I could hope.”
Kuroo laughs, “They look like they’re having fun.”
“They are.” Suga smiles, and sticks a new hotdog onto a skewer. Asahi is still thrumming the guitar lightly, the sound harmonizing with the cracks of the fire.
Kuroo accepts a skewer from Suga, and passes it to Bokuto instead. He looks around, and spots Terushima almost immediately. He’s laughing at Tanaka, who is struggling way more than Nishinoya.
“Chyuhy bffuffny!”
“Ew!” Terushima laughs, “You almost spat marshmallow at me!”
“Sffofry!”
"Come on Tanaka! Put that big mouth to use!"
"Shuh hup!"
Kuroo laughs, and snakes an arm around Bokuto’s waist. Terushima’s laugh is almost contagious- and he seems to get along with Karasuno very well. It’s a little surprising.
“How’s studying for finals?” Suga asks. His face is a little flushed from the fire- but that could also be from Daichi’s arm, which is wrapped snugly around his shoulders.
“Fine.”
“Horrible.”
Kuroo turns to Bokuto with a raised eyebrow, and Bokuto sputters, “I-i- mean, great!”
“It better be.” Kuroo squeezes him, “Especially after all that tutoring I’ve done for you.”
Suga and Daichi laugh, and Bokuto rubs his nose.
“It’s just so hard…”
“You’ll get it.” Daichi pats his shoulder, “Don’t worry.”
“Thanks dad.”
Kuroo snorts into his hand, and Daichi narrows his eyes.
Suddenly there’s more screaming;
Tanaka definitely has way too many marshmallows in his mouth, and he gags, spitting them out into the fire.
Tsuksishima, who had been perched happily on one of the logs next to Yamaguchi, shoots backwards, and about trips over the bench.
There’s various shrieks of eww gross! and Tanaka no!
Terushima is crying laughing, and Nishinoya laughs too- spitting marshmallow all over the fire as well. Bokuto yanks his hotdog back just in time, barely missing the onslaught of gross soggy marshmallow bits.
Johzenji is not helping whatsoever- they’re cheering and laughing, crying as Nishinoya and Tanaka choke out bits of marshmallow. It’s almost a nice sight- Johzenji looks to be having fun without alcohol.
Daichi presses the pads of his fingertips into his forehead, and sighs, dejectedly.
Kuroo watches Terushima laugh, and laugh, hands at his sides, tears in his eyes. The younger looks up, and pauses, mid inhale. Kuroo stares, raising an eyebrow, and watches the brat flush slightly, and grin back.
Bokuto is laughing heavily at his side, patting Daichi’s back as he laughs, and laughs. Kuroo breathes in, and for a moment, forgets about all his worries.
“So, like this?” Terushima slides his paper forwards.
Kuroo reads over his solution, and taps his pen against the table. He does the math in his head, quickly, and shakes his head, “No. Close, but no.”
“Dammit.” Terushima sighs, and takes his paper back. “What did I do wrong?”
“You had the formula right, actually.” Kuroo blinks, “I think…your problem is that you make tiny mistakes. You go too fast.”
Terushima rubs at his cheek and nods, “Okay. Thanks.”
Kuroo sits back, and digs his hand back into the bag of chips. He’s almost surprised at how…civil Terushima is being. He’s perched politely in their chair, one hand in his lap, the other clutching his pen. His eyebrows are scrunched together, and Kuroo kind of wants to reach over and smooth out the wrinkles on his forehead.
Terushima erases the problem, and begins again, silently chewing on his bottom lip. Kuroo watches, eyes neutral, and says with a mouth full of chips, “I don’t get you.”
Terushima looks up, “Huh?”
“Sometimes you’re a brat and sometimes you’re totally cool.” Kuroo says shamelessly, and grabs another Dorito.
Terushima blinks for a moment, before squinting, “Well, I can say the same thing about you.”
Kuroo waves his hand around nonchalantly, and says, “True.”
Terushima huffs out a laugh, and turns back to the paper.
“You’re not a bad kid though.” Kuroo admits out loud. “Not that bad, anyways.”
Terushima pauses, pencil halfway through writing the number four. He looks up, and grins, “Wow, I'm surprised you didn't just choke swallowing your ego, considering how huge it is. ”
“Watch it.”
Terushima laughs, and rests his head in his free hand, “Sorry. Thanks man.”
It’s silent for a few moments, Terushima scribbling on the paper, Kuroo licking the orange flavoring from his fingers. Occasionally Terushima’s eyes flicker over, narrowed and serious, and watch him delve his tongue between his fingers- before Terushima looks back to the paper.
Kuroo smiles against his hand, but says nothing.
There’s the sound of keys jingling in the front door, before it opens, Bokuto announcing his presence loudly;
“Kuroo! Kuroo!”
Kuroo leans around to look at him, and says, “Hey Bo-“
“Dude! I was just with Akaashi and he was telling me about this sex toy and we totally need to get it-“
Bokuto cuts himself short when he sees Terushima turn around, bright eyes wide, eyebrows pushed up to his forehead.
“Oh.” Bokuto blinks. “Hi Teru!”
Kuroo presses his face into his hands, and sighs, as Terushima laughs.
“No, no. Don’t let me stop you. What were you saying?”
“…Nothing.” Bokuto gives a little laugh, and slides his backpack onto the table. “I didn’t know you were coming over!”
“Kuroo agreed to help me with math.”
“Oh really? That’s good! Kuroo is a really good teacher.”
“Eh, he’s okay.” Terushima says plainly, and Kuroo elbows him.
“Dude! I thought we were having a moment.”
Terushima laughs, contagiously, and Kuroo laughs too. Bokuto’s eyes flicker between them both, before he grins, “How long have you been over?”
“Umm…” Terushima picks up his phone, “…we’ve been working on my practice test for like…an hour and a half?”
“Ugh gross.” Bokuto says, and waddles into the kitchen, “Are you staying for dinner?”
“I uh…”
“You’re staying for dinner.” Bokuto decides for him, “Kuwoo and I are making spaghetti!”
“Mom’s spaghetti?” Terushima smirks, and Kuroo groans into his hand.
Bokuto pops back around the wall of the kitchen to point and say “I like you” before popping back into the kitchen.
Forks clink against plates, and Kuroo’s ipod plays in the background. Terushima actually agrees to stay for dinner- and Bokuto is happy to feed him. Bokuto likes feeding people- It’s really adorable.
“Oh!” Terushima says, half a bite of pasta on his fork, “I forgot to tell you, I was at a Nekoma party the other day.”
Kuroo raises an eyebrow, “Yeah?”
“Mhmm.” Terushima twirls his fork, “That Lev guy can really throw it down. I did like six shots with him.”
Kuroo sighs, and closes his eyes, “God, I hope Yaku and Kai are watching over them.”
“They were.” Terushima says, and takes a bite, “Bfut tha Yaku ghuy whas kinda’ mhour fhocuused ohn bhanging Lev.”
“Didn’t anyone teach you not to eat with your mouth full?”
“No way!” Bokuto says, ignoring Kuroo completely, “Yaku is sleeping with Lev?”
“I could only assume so.” Terushima swallows, “The sex eyes were pretty intense.”
“I’m not really that surprised.” Kuroo says, and runs his finger around the ring of his cup, “I could pretty much smell the gay on Lev.”
Bokuto snorts into his hand, and Terushima laughs.
“True!”
“Everyone is pretty gay in Nekoma.” Bokuto says.
“Eh.” Kuroo makes a noncommittal hand gesture, “Not as bad as Karasuno.”
“You’re right!” Bokuto laughs.
“What, really?” Terushima blinks, “I mean, I know Sawaumura and Sugawara are a thing, but…”
“Are you serious?” Kuroo laughs, and sets his fork down, “I think the straightest guy they have in that frat is Tanaka, and that dude is Bi as hell.”
“No shit!”
“Yep.”
“What about uh….” Terushima blinks, and raises his hand up above his head, “-tall glasses dude?”
“He’s fucking freckle boy.”
“Nishinoya?”
“He’s with Asahi.”
“Uh, uh.” Terushima blinks, bracing his hands on the table, “Carrot head?”
“Kageyama.”
“Fuck!” Terushima laughs, “That’s amazing.”
“We love them.” Bokuto says and slurps his spaghetti.
“Man, most of Johzenji is straight.” Terushima says lightly. The table goes silent, and Terushima looks up through his eyelashes.
Kuroo blinks, expectantly, and watches Bokuto do the same.
Terushima sputters “W-well, obviously not me!”
“Okay, good.” Bokuto relaxes, “I was worried my Gay-dar might need maintenance.”
Terushima laughs, “What does that mean?!”
“Dude, I knew as soon as I saw the tongue piercing.”
“Uh,” Kuroo turns to Bokuto, “You should have known as soon as he grabbed my ass.”
“Eh.”
Kuroo laughs, and tugs on Bokuto’s chair, bringing him closer. He presses a kiss against Bokuto’s cheek forcefully, and the other giggles, pressing a hand against his cheek.
Terushima shuffles a little bit in his chair- almost nervous. Kuroo sees his face redden, just a little, but he chooses to ignore it.
Bokuto’s thighs are pressed warmly against his own. He can feel hands trailing up and around his back, soothingly, and Kuroo sighs, resting his face in Bokuto’s shoulder. Bokuto is so strong, but so soft. Kuroo breathes in, and says, “You smell good.”
“Thanks! I took a shower.”
“I’m proud of you.”
Bokuto chuckles, low, and squeezes Kuroo closer. The hand trails up his spine, fingers pressing against every bump. His knuckles ghost across his upper back, before his warm hand slides back down. Kuroo presses his left thigh closer between Bokuto’s, and hitches his right up and around Bokuto’s hip. It’s warm, and snuggly, and Kuroo feels his eyelids droop. His belly is full, and his chest his sore from laughing.
“I think…” Bokuto begins, and runs his hand up and through Kuroo’s messy hair, “…I think Teru likes us.”
Kuroo blinks against Bokuto’s chest, and gives a soft, short laugh. “So…you noticed too.”
“He’s very transparent…even though he tries not to be.”
“Mhmm.” Kuroo agrees, sleepily. “Do you like him?”
“He’s cute.” Bokuto says honestly. “He’s a little bit of an ass, but he’s sweet.”
“Mmm.” Kuroo purrs, “You know, I kinda’ agree with you.”
Bokuto suddenly pulls back, and looks Kuroo in the eye. He blinks, “Hey, I know that tone. What are you thinking?”
“Nothing.” Kuroo whispers, and tucks his head back down, “The little mouse doesn’t know what he’s getting into.”
“Kuroo.” Bokuto fake gasps, “Are you thinking of teasing him?”
“Just a little.”
“That’s mean. Teru already apologized for the pranks.”
“Hmmm.” Kuroo purrs, “That doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun. We both agreed that he is cute, after all.”
He feels Bokuto smile into his hair, and Kuroo grins, before drifting off to sleep.