[ Gardening and emotional projecting is a lot more common than channeling one's inner Mulder, thanks. ]
try not to pull one of those moves when we're playing against iwaizumi-san's team. i don't think our poor coach's blood pressure can take it. think of his daughters.
[ which, basically: do it anyway lol i have a bet running with bokuto. ]
also you realize that's not a good way of expressing affection, right? that's. really bad.
[ "shittykawa crappykawa trashykawa" is not a fun refrain to get stuck in the head, roommate. especially when it sounds like your dude. ]
I won't! I might like to goad people, but I always play by the rules. I'm not Daishou.
But... Maybe after the match. I'm sure our coach wouldn't mind some flirting after we win.
His daughters are cute, though. Maybe Takeru could have a play date with them when he comes to visit. They are about his age.
[Oikawa will do it when the mood strikes him. More or less.
And a small pause while Oikawa gathers his thoughts on this... delicate subject]
It's one of the reasons Hajime and I decided to go to different schools. We're aware that our relationship is...
Well, it's not a normal relationship, but we're not normal people, and we've known each for possibly way too long. We've always been in each other's back pockets. It's not as bad as you think it is. Out of all the people who insult me, which is a lot, Hajime's insults are the ones that have the least amount of impact.
He's always the one the to get me out of my funks. Sometimes violently... but that hasn't happened since middle school. Before we got together.
[ here's a majestic example of a kettle shading at a pot. ]
your nephew? aren't you a little young to be playing matchmaker? kid's not even in junior high, i thought.
[ ...it does make him wonder, though, if kenma's ever going to have a girlfriend. or boyfriend. a someone. he knows what he's doing when he goes home for the semester break. ]
if i may?
yaku and lev kick the shit out of each other, too. well, yakkun does, and lev handles it like a champ. i only know them, and i don't know you or iwaizumi-san enough to assume more than i already have at this point. but those two, loud as they are, i know they talk about it all the time, even now that we've graduated.
i guess what i'm saying is, we're roommates and teammates now. we're not in high school fighting each other for the nationals (thematically, i mean). college is a chance to reinvent.
i realize i sound like i'm suggesting something weird and insidious, but hear me out.
you got this far, you're likely not going to lose him if you both ease up with the punching.
Play dates aren't real dates. They're really just excuses for caretakers to get together and gossip while the kids play on a playground. Or in my case, endear myself to the coach in case Iwa-chan does drag me off the court and bangs me senseless in the locker room after a game. Also, to keep me in the forefront of his mind when choosing starters.
[Oikawa has priorities, after all. And those priorities include winning]
Takeru's just turned nine!
[Oikawa takes this moment to spam pictures of his nephew's birthday party at Kuroo. Takeru's expression in them ranges from happy, to unimpressed, to doting tolerance, including one where both Oikawas are laughing and smashing cake into each other's faces. One would think Oikawa was his nephew's parent with the amount of photos he takes.
Of course, that's really a distraction as he gathers his thoughts about the heavier subject.]
Only you would call that suggestion weird and insidious, Kuro-chan.
But you're right. And it's something we're already trying to do. Baby steps! We've had... oh jeez, I think some of my earliest memories are of him climbing our fence. We... were three? Four? Anyways, over a decade of bad habits to weed out.
I'm not afraid of losing him. That's probably not going to happen. But I am... wary of the nature of relationship changing drastically. But that's nothing I can really stop from happening. On either end.
[ Kuroo waits for the barrage of pictures to stop, fully aware that these pictures are a risk for both of them - Oikawa may be garbage (though Kuroo will keep his thoughts to himself on that, no matter how much he agrees with Iwaizumi's assessment), but he's also a genuinely good person inside.
Very very very deep inside. Buried under a mountain of crap. Somewhere there.
The photos with his nephew though — Kuroo's relationship with his own family mirrors his relationship with Kenma a bit, where they're pretty much left to do whatever they want. He's about as close to his parents as any regular teenager, sure, but Tokyo runs on a different timetable by virtue of being Tokyo. The volleyball club as good as family; he sees more of him than he does of his own parents, these days.
Oikawa looks genuinely happy. (It's a little bittersweet to look at.) ]
well, not everyone's into unsolicited advice. i had to tack on the disclaimer. and you're decent people, oikawa. a hell of a handful when you're missing your shampoo, but you're not terrible.
we should have more talks like this. they make you sound less like those aliens you really love.
[Deep down, yes. One day, he'll be a mature human being.
Probably when he's thirty.
Though Kuroo is wrong about one thing; sharing this pictures aren't a risk for Oikawa. Oikawa would share these pictures with strangers.
... but Takeru would be mortally embarrassed. The Oikawa clan is a really tight knit bunch. And a bunch of nerds. All of them; his parents, sister, and brother-in-law, all play MMOs together when they can. Takeru thinks they're all embarrassing.]
hmmm.. true! but I'm perfectly able to ignore if I want.
My hair doesn't look right when I don't shampoo it. You've seen it. It's a monstrosity!
We should! It feels nice to get these things off my chest.
no subject
try not to pull one of those moves when we're playing against iwaizumi-san's team. i don't think our poor coach's blood pressure can take it. think of his daughters.
[ which, basically: do it anyway lol i have a bet running with bokuto. ]
also you realize that's not a good way of expressing affection, right? that's. really bad.
[ "shittykawa crappykawa trashykawa" is not a fun refrain to get stuck in the head, roommate. especially when it sounds like your dude. ]
no subject
I won't! I might like to goad people, but I always play by the rules. I'm not Daishou.
But... Maybe after the match. I'm sure our coach wouldn't mind some flirting after we win.
His daughters are cute, though. Maybe Takeru could have a play date with them when he comes to visit. They are about his age.
[Oikawa will do it when the mood strikes him. More or less.
And a small pause while Oikawa gathers his thoughts on this... delicate subject]
It's one of the reasons Hajime and I decided to go to different schools. We're aware that our relationship is...
Well, it's not a normal relationship, but we're not normal people, and we've known each for possibly way too long. We've always been in each other's back pockets. It's not as bad as you think it is. Out of all the people who insult me, which is a lot, Hajime's insults are the ones that have the least amount of impact.
He's always the one the to get me out of my funks. Sometimes violently... but that hasn't happened since middle school. Before we got together.
no subject
your nephew? aren't you a little young to be playing matchmaker? kid's not even in junior high, i thought.
[ ...it does make him wonder, though, if kenma's ever going to have a girlfriend. or boyfriend. a someone. he knows what he's doing when he goes home for the semester break. ]
if i may?
yaku and lev kick the shit out of each other, too. well, yakkun does, and lev handles it like a champ. i only know them, and i don't know you or iwaizumi-san enough to assume more than i already have at this point. but those two, loud as they are, i know they talk about it all the time, even now that we've graduated.
i guess what i'm saying is, we're roommates and teammates now. we're not in high school fighting each other for the nationals (thematically, i mean). college is a chance to reinvent.
i realize i sound like i'm suggesting something weird and insidious, but hear me out.
you got this far, you're likely not going to lose him if you both ease up with the punching.
no subject
[Oikawa has priorities, after all. And those priorities include winning]
Takeru's just turned nine!
[Oikawa takes this moment to spam pictures of his nephew's birthday party at Kuroo. Takeru's expression in them ranges from happy, to unimpressed, to doting tolerance, including one where both Oikawas are laughing and smashing cake into each other's faces. One would think Oikawa was his nephew's parent with the amount of photos he takes.
Of course, that's really a distraction as he gathers his thoughts about the heavier subject.]
Only you would call that suggestion weird and insidious, Kuro-chan.
But you're right. And it's something we're already trying to do. Baby steps! We've had... oh jeez, I think some of my earliest memories are of him climbing our fence. We... were three? Four? Anyways, over a decade of bad habits to weed out.
I'm not afraid of losing him. That's probably not going to happen. But I am... wary of the nature of relationship changing drastically. But that's nothing I can really stop from happening. On either end.
You're a good friend, Kuro-chan.
sorry for the late tag :c
Very very very deep inside. Buried under a mountain of crap. Somewhere there.
The photos with his nephew though — Kuroo's relationship with his own family mirrors his relationship with Kenma a bit, where they're pretty much left to do whatever they want. He's about as close to his parents as any regular teenager, sure, but Tokyo runs on a different timetable by virtue of being Tokyo. The volleyball club as good as family; he sees more of him than he does of his own parents, these days.
Oikawa looks genuinely happy. (It's a little bittersweet to look at.) ]
well, not everyone's into unsolicited advice. i had to tack on the disclaimer. and you're decent people, oikawa. a hell of a handful when you're missing your shampoo, but you're not terrible.
we should have more talks like this. they make you sound less like those aliens you really love.
it's cool
Probably when he's thirty.
Though Kuroo is wrong about one thing; sharing this pictures aren't a risk for Oikawa. Oikawa would share these pictures with strangers.
... but Takeru would be mortally embarrassed. The Oikawa clan is a really tight knit bunch. And a bunch of nerds. All of them; his parents, sister, and brother-in-law, all play MMOs together when they can. Takeru thinks they're all embarrassing.]
hmmm.. true! but I'm perfectly able to ignore if I want.
My hair doesn't look right when I don't shampoo it. You've seen it. It's a monstrosity!
We should! It feels nice to get these things off my chest.