kuroo | holly heights ic inbox 1436

[There's no argument to be had. Training indoors is definitely a lot safer when the seasons aren't cooperating, even if he's just arguing for the sake of doing so. Whatever stupidly smug expression he possesses falters slightly, though, as things progress. Worrying about people, that's suspicious. A sideglance suffices in place of an interjection, and then..]

-- Huh?

[He understands perfectly. Suga's gone; straightforward, cryptic..and while he was never particularly close to the guy himself, he's not an unfeeling asshole.]

Are you sure?

[He's never been on that side of being left behind, somehow. He was the one who disappeared last time and upon waking up, Bokuto had done the same -- but more efficiently.

The supplementary question, he already knows the answer to that too. It's more of an offering, inviting Daichi to confide a bit more if he so chooses.]

[Strangely, Daichi doesn't see it as cryptic. It's as straightforward a way of saying it as he can think of. Anything else might be misconstrued but 'gone' is a pretty pointed way to put it. Either way, though, Kuroo seems to understand.

He just nods when Kuroo asks if he's sure.]

It happened once before, too, with him, and he's hardly the only one. [Daichi's watched a lot of people come and go in the time he's been here. It's made it feel a lot longer than ten months.

He's quiet for a few more strides, waiting to see if Kuroo will ask and grateful when he doesn't. It makes it easier to want to talk about it, not having to couch it in terms of, 'are you all right?']

You can't ever really be ready for it, even though it happens all the time here. That sucks the worst. You never know when you're going to wake up without another chance to talk to somebody.

[And Daichi pauses again, gauging Kuroo's reaction.]

[Choice words are scant for this kind of thing. Sorry about that doesn't cover jack shit; when people take off, it's not necessarily something to mourn either -- other than the fact that all contact's been cut off until they decide to pop back in, or, theoretically, until it's time to go.

So he listens, quietly, though he feels like he's losing steam for this run, he presses on, hardly competing but remaining level. He's focused ahead, but attentive all the same. Daichi provides a few places for him to interject, but he relents.

You never know when you're going to wake up without another chance to talk to somebody.

That's really not so dissimilar from being back in Tokyo, back in wherever things were normal before this. He grins, but it lacks energy -- vivacity.]

All you have to do is wake up here and they give you a house. This place has been fishy right from the start. 'Your new home away from home', right? It's like we all signed up for some weird seminar, the lucky ones get to leave early.

[He offers a sideglance.]

Did you jack all his stuff yet?

[Step 1: be sad if you want. Step 2: take things.]

[Daichi's not fishing for sympathy with this, really. Waking up today and finding out Suga was gone again just drove something home that he's been thinking about for a couple of weeks now. He's thinking about it now too, aware of Kuroo running with him and of how he's slacked off a bit. It's not like Kuroo to go easy; he must be reacting to the change in atmosphere. Daichi feels a little bad about that, bringing the whole thing down, but he's not going to get anywhere by not bringing this up in the first place.

He nods when Kuroo talks about the weird nature of Holly Heights. It's never been normal here, never really been a place you could depend on. The comment about Suga's stuff makes him chuckle but there's little humor in it.]

He wasn't back long enough to get much stuff this time. His roommates can have it. It's not his stuff I'm thinking about, though.

[He's quiet while they round a turn, looking over at Kuroo when the path straightens again.]

This place lets you do stuff you'd never get to do at home. I fought a dragon with Suga. I'm living with Asahi. ... I made an ass of myself in front of you on Valentine's Day.

You took that seriously...

[It's mumbled, but audible. Now's a bad time to be fucking around, even if he's doing it with good intentions. Daichi mentions roomies, and he can only imagine them wanting to hand his stuff off to his teammates anyway -- unless the collection really was incredibly impersonal. Their eyes meet up until Daichi brings up Valentine's Day. Suddenly the path ahead is of utmost importance; it should've been in the first place anyway.]

Fighting dragons better not have a double meaning.

[What better way to pull away from the Valentine's Day subject and actually keep on track of Remembering Suga? By bringing up equally awkward implications that're focused elsewhere, obviously.]

[He knew it was a joke but Daichi's not completely in the mood to defend his dead-end sense of humor right now. He knows Kuroo didn't mean any harm by it, but he doesn't know what else to say right now other than to just answer honestly.

He's not surprised to suddenly be getting an eyeful of Kuroo's profile after he mentions Valentine's Day, but Kuroo's question actually earns a genuine laugh. Wow. Leave it to Kuroo...]

Nope. An actual dragon. Breathing fire and everything. I had a shield I could throw at it.

[Not exactly his fondest memory but also not something he's likely to forget, no matter how long he's here. This run isn't either, if he can just get himself through it.]

I wouldn't have gotten to share a Valentine's with you at home either, probably.

[~~it's so awkward when u have ur character sit out of fun events...why did i do that...i signed them up and everything~~.

You would think the dragon talk would be enough to draw the whole conversation into that direction; or at least keep things linear -- talk more about Suga, the inner-workings of Holly Heights and How Stuff Works. Philosophical introspection into the sunrise. Maybe if his bestie weren't so invested in video games and things of a similar nature, he wouldn't be so desensitized to talk of slaying hungry dragons.

He draws in a breath, unrelated to the run thus far, ambitious about pretending this is a normal convo.]

Wouldn't that have been better?

[For the better is what he meant, but uh.]

[Daichi'd like to pretend this was a normal conversation too. He's not about to drop all his thoughts on Kuroo because that'd be even worse than Valentine's, but when he woke up this morning and Suga was gone, the first thing he thought of was Rin's words. It was another reminder that even if this place is weird and has dragons and corgis in bowties and all kinds of other stuff going on, it's still a place nothing's permanent. It'll punish you if you waste time.]

Oh.

[Kuroo's answer gives him pause but Daichi's nothing if not determined. If this goes wrong, well, he already made a fool of himself once. At least it's under his own power this time.]

I don't know. Even if it wasn't how I would've wanted to say it, I still meant what I said.

[There's gotta be a myriad of things Daichi's feeling right now. This entire thing may've started on a competitive foot, but Kuroo's reigned himself in; whatever Daichi feels like venting about, he chose Kuroo as an ear and as big of a pain in the ass Kuroo tries to be, he's not about to trample on that.

He could definitely chalk what he's saying up to something dramatic and overboard; in light of all things, he's figuring any bit of sentimentality is a product of desertion..or something. But something like that might force him to be more introverted for a few days than, say, invite him out on a run to talk about feelings.

There's a sideglance, a flowering grin.]

What, that you liked the bear?

[There's more he'd like to do; accuse him of hoarding plushies as a secret weird habit, or maybe it's more about just having someone to spend time with on Valentine's Day? It all remains abbreviated, though his heart's beating a slight bit faster, and it's not at all due to their jog.

...Not completely.]

[Daichi's picked up on the fact that for all his needling and trying to redirect, Kuroo's being respectful. It's part of the reason he called him; there's more to Kuroo than anybody might think when they first meet him, especially if they meet him a a rival. Right now, he needs the side of Kuroo who sees him as an equal but isn't going to treat him with kid glove just because that equal isn't in the best condition.

The comment about the bear still earns an eyeroll.]

The bear's a pain in the ass. The chocolate was good, though.

[He slows his pace a little because this is hard. He could power through this as Captain Sawamura but he wants to talk to Kuroo as Daichi. That's going to take all his breath.]

It didn't happen at first sight, or second, or hundredth, but something happened. I got to know you and I got to like you.

[There. He said it, kind of. He continues before Kuroo has a chance to twist it or make a joke out of it.]

I like you and I wanted you to know in case one of us ends up leaving.

Well, now I know.

[Which could either be a threat or -- it's probably a threat. Daichi should be more cautious about telling Kuroo what kind of sweets he enjoys. Whatever amount of downplaying he's trying to muster is all but overwhelmed as he continues talking. His own pace slows, still trying to match up with Daichi's stride; outrunning him is a first year thing anyway...

Anyone eavesdropping might think their entire conversation to be incredibly normal, but with having brought up Valentine's Day and being invited on this run all by his lonesome -- there's plenty of implications. Not to mention his pulse and the amount of times he's had to reel in his own thoughts.

He stops moving entirely, offers a scrunched-brow look, but doesn't exactly seem repulsed at his words. He's not quick about reciprocating those sentiments, even if something similar crosses his mind.]

It happened once already.

[His hands flex between clenching and easing -- apprehensively, something to do with his hands...]

But who thought it would be so easy to win you over?

[Daichi gives himself a couple more strides to go after Kuroo stops, just because he knows what he said was a lot and part of him wants to keep going. The bigger part of him is better than that, though. He's not going to run from the consequences of this.

It's a good sign, he thinks, when he turns around and Kuroo doesn't look grossed out. He looks confused but Daichi was prepared for that. It was easy to dismiss everything at Valentine's Day as just landlord interference, but Daichi's certain there's more to his side, at least, than just that.

He's not surprised that Kuroo doesn't immediately dissolve into shojo sparkles and run to him. The response he gets is actually half-encouraging. At least it gives him room to keep talking. He's already jumped off the cliff. Anything that happens now is just a matter of determining what happens when he lands.]

Yeah it did, but things have changed a lot since then. Or I've changed, anyway.

And it was only easy because you didn't know you were doing it so you weren't trying. [The fact that Kuroo wasn't trying was probably a huge part of how it happened in the first place. The idea of Kuroo wooing him is odd. The idea of Kuroo being himself and Daichi realizing that that self is a great guy seems natural, now.

He's not going to deny being won over but he is going to leave room in case somehow it was on purpose.]

[Who even knows what the point was in bringing that up. It's not like he wants Daichi to be on his toes, constantly worrying about who's going where. Maybe he was just trying to underline that point. Maybe even encourage him, without even meaning to.]

That doesn't make any more sense.

[Rather, that's so insulting, implying he's not a very good seductress. All in all, he's not very scarred for life over the whole situation; it's a little odd, sure, not anything he expected to hear on his morning jog, but he's not about to bolt off into the opposite direction.

He makes up for a step, even, moving closer to Daichi.]

You're making fun of me without even trying.

[There's a mock-punch that'll find its way to Daichi's ribs; it's playful, lacking any force whatsoever.]

Don't confess to somebody while acting like an asshole.

[It'd help if he weren't smirking; feigning offense, that is.]

[He's not worrying all the time but Daichi's seen too many people leave to never think about it, either. If he was comfortable with the idea of people leaving, he wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

Kuroo's reaction gives him pause. The last thing he wants is for Kuroo to walk away from this with the idea that Daichi's turning this into a joke. There's something about Kuroo's tone, though, and especially the way he comes closer and mock-punches him that says he's not serious. Any other time that might be enough to get Daichi to relax but not until he's sure he's been understood right now, even if Kuroo doesn't feel the same way (which is the expected outcome, really; Valentine's Day likely started off just to see how Daichi'd react, and it was only the roses that made it something more).]

I'm not making fun of you any more than you're making fun of me. If this was your plan all along then I never knew and it's pretty rude to just leave me in the dark.

[He returns the punch with one of his own, right to the center of Kuroo's chest.]

That'd make you the asshole.

[Right in the kokoro...hmm hmm hmm.]

I was only making fun of you at first.

[And who knows how true that even is. Maybe his subconscious knew to pursue Daichi all along, but his brain's state of everlasting escapades, always and forever. His hand's the first to withdraw, only as far as Daichi's wrist -- the one with that hand attachment resting at his chest.]

Don't accuse me of leaving you in the dark when I haven't had a chance to think about this. Then again, if I say I need time to think about it, that means I've been fooling you all along.

[Rather than shove his hand away, his fingers spread out from Daichi's wrist, over the back of it, partially.]

I'm not leaving you anywhere.

[He didn't plan it but it just made sense. He'll get at Kuroo's heart one way or another.

It's surprising to at least hear him admit he'd been making fun, but rather than respond Daichi just listens when Kuroo answers back. The answer's pretty fair, at least assuming this wasn't Kuroo's plan. He's still not totally sure about that but he's not going to press the issue, especially not when Kuroo's response--both the touch and his words--have Daichi's heart speeding up.

Leave it to Kuroo to be smoother than he is at his own confession.]

You can have time if you need it, but you know you can't promise not to leave. [That sounds a lot more bitter than he meant for it too. He turns his hand over, still leaving it against Kuroo's chest, and grabs just one of Kuroo's fingers.]

It just means every minute counts.

[It's true, that's something he can't rightly decide. He never decided to come here to begin with, but at least he can promise he won't be..literally abandoning Daichi here where he stands under these circumstances. That his confession isn't enough to chase him off.

From that point, his finger curls naturally against Daichi's hand and he steps in closer, his arm stretching and bending across the length of his rival's shoulders, drawing him in for a hug.]

What the hell is that? Telling me I have time and then saying every minute counts. You're rushing me no matter how you look at it.

[It's hard, trying to ignore his natural instincts to be contrary for no reason at all.]

[This is not what he was expecting at all. How he came to a point of caring this much about Kuroo while still not always trusting him is beyond Daichi, but it's where he is. Maybe it's a good thing because it means things Kuroo does, like pulling him in to be hugged in the middle of the jogging path, will continue to be pleasant surprises.

Daichi loops his free arm around Kuroo, too, resting his forehead against his shoulder. Kuroo isn't Suga but that's fine; he's something else altogether, both in general and in Daichi's life, but he's still helping to alleviate the loneliness that came with not finding Suga's name in his phone this morning. After a couple breaths, Daichi huffs out a laugh without lifting his head.]

Somebody's got to make sure you don't get lazy here.

[Daichi's opinion on Kuroo plummeted so far, he's started experiencing the opposite effect. Which isn't anything to complain about, obviously. If Daichi were to continue putzing around, Kuroo would have to keep chasing.

Which wasn't at all a bad thing up until this point. It's hard for him to dissect the situation, pinpoint exactly where things stopped being fuzzy and playful. When he started being into guys...

Or maybe not guys, but the idea of romance at all. Not something he'd been avoiding or against, but there wasn't any time for it. He couldn't have ever predicted things would've ended up this way, though.]

Then you should start out with that, instead of pretending to worry.

[He doesn't mind standing here like a support beam for...er, however long. This might get tedious a couple hours in, and they might get mowed over by runners, but it's fine.]

[Daichi's never yet been putzing around. He's been a victim of the landlord and he's been confused, but it's never been for want of an attempt to figure it out. Of course, the fact that it was Kuroo he was trying to figure out meant nothing about it was easy, but that just means that the outcome--acceptance and even a kind of reciprocation--feels more like something he earned.

Finally, Daichi does lift his head, butting it against the bottom of Kuroo's jaw.]

I wasn't pretending. If you need more time, you can have it. Every minute counts for me and I didn't want to spend any more of them not... telling you...

[His voice gets softer the longer he speaks because holy crap, that's the most embarrassing speech he's ever given. It sounded a lot smoother in his head but Kuroo's never going to let him forget this. Ever. In any universe.]

[He's quiet, on the other hand. The silence between them is lingering, but not so much that it makes things terribly awkward. A hand does reach up to smooth at Daichi's back, rubbing between his shoulderblades, trying to be soothing. Hell is freezing over the longer they interact like this.]

I know.

[Because he always knows. Hesitantly, another hand cradles the back of Daichi's head, a silent form of consent -- encouragement? Just trying to smooth all of this over without putting so much effort into it that it would make this all the more difficult...awkward.]

You're starting to sound like one of those actors from those TV shows our parents watch.

[Kuroo's quiet is just that much more embarrassing, really, but on the other hand there's something... nice about his hand on Daichi's back. That realization is finally enough to get him to start to stand up straighter again. Kuroo's hand on the back of his head is almost enough to get him to lean back in again, but he needs more air than those close quarters allow.

He's careful not to actually pull away, though. Kuroo's hand--hands, now--can stay if he wants them to.]

Yeah, and if it's up to you I'll just keep talking till I've dug myself in nice and deep. I've said my part, though. [He pauses, huffs a little.]

So I hope you remember that speech because I'm not doing that again.

[That's allowable. His hand falls to the small of his back, resting there without forcing him to linger close. They're both playing a weird game of let's stay close but I'm not tryin'a overdo it tho.]

You've already done that.

[It could be worse, really, but if we've learned anything today, it's that Kuroo shouldn't be relied upon for things like reassurance or coddling, not without horrible (great) repercussions.]

I wouldn't forget something like that so easily.

[That just confirms what Daichi already suspected, but unlike getting caught on camera in his work uniform or making an ass of himself while hopped up on landlord magic, he finds he doesn't mind so much. The feeling may last or it may not but right now it's good. Doesn't mean he doesn't roll his eyes though.]

I don't know, I can still see the sky from here.

[There's something so genuine about Kuroo's response that it takes Daichi by surprise. It also sounds vaguely sinister, so really, it's all pretty standard Kuroo. ...once again it's Kuroo who takes him by surprise.]

I know I won't because you're not going to let me.

[And with that, Daichi tugs on their joined hands. C'mon, bedhead. It's getting cold standing still.]

holly heights ic inbox 1436

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