blue lights || bokuaka

drinks

What if he stuttered in front of him? What if he dropped the vase and it broke with customers inside and they laughed at him? What if he made Bokuto slip on the water after not cleaning up the spill correctly?

His brain racks over the three million scenarios that had a sliver of a chance of happening, he knew, but there was something about the possibility of things going wrong when he didn't want them that made him physically ill.

Maybe he should have asked Suzumeda to do this, instead.

He pushes the door open with his shoulder, the cold metal nearly numb to his skin. He is tinted with the amber from the sunset against the skyline beside him as he makes his way next door, relishing in the warmth of the sky before he's hit with the cold air conditioning from the tattoo shop.

He lets out a breath as he looks around.

It's quiet.

The leather chairs were barren, the entire shop filled with an emptiness that most people would shy away from. The only sound is the faint hum of a tune he's heard on Bokuto's radio recently coming from the mounted speaker somewhere in the shop.

Maybe hope truly did work.

Akaashi is thinking of setting the bigger vase on the front desk and just running away before anyone catches him, before the same lady from last time rounds the corner of the doorway and gives him a hollow smile.

"Good afternoon. Did you order these?" Akaashi asks, and she nods once, before looking curiously at the tulip in its own tiny vase.

"Not that, though."

The realization settles in his head, and Akaashi wants to crumble it up in his hands, stomp on it until it's blue mush and kick it into the street to get run over.

But he doesn't, instead, sets the big vase in front of her on the counter.

"It's okay. I'll take it back, then."

She nods with an even softer grin and shifts the vase over to the side of the front desk. It looked nice against the white marble, but Akaashi just credits it to the fact that white lilies and poinsettias went together, rather than how it was made.

He didn't do much, really.

He walks quickly out of the shop before anyone else shows up, the sun catching on the petals of the tulip, azure satin on green stems. He held the vase gently, as if it would crumble into powder had he handled it wrong.

He hated how his hands looked against the porcelain and decided to keep his gaze trained ahead of him instead.

Akaashi makes a face, but eventually, sets the vase beside him by the time he settles at the table by the window at the bookstore.

Kuroo immediately slides into the chair in front of him, as if he could sense him when he walked in, his eyes focused on the tulip. He raises his eyebrows with a smile, finding amusement in the flower, and Akaashi wants to punch him.

"'kaashi! You're here early. Nice flower. Did your boyfriend buy it for you?" Kuroo asks, and Akaashi sighs through his nose, shifting in his seat.

"Not my boyfriend," Akaashi says. "I thought you would know he did, considering all you guys do is text each other."

"Can't help it!" Kuroo shrugs and shuts his eyes, stretching up to the ceiling and tilting to the side with a grin. "Mister CoolestMcCool is just an interesting guy."

Akaashi feels that same annoyance flooding into his chest, and before he has a chance to think, he tastes the jealousy on his tongue. He rests his chin on his hand and looks out the window. "You sure he's not your friggin' boyfriend?"