"Keiji accepted his sad life as an emetophobic chicken."

"Heeeey, hey, hey, Akaa~shi!"

Bokuto doesn't think he's ever seen his setter's lips press that tightly against each other, ever. It was a miracle he even managed to get a "Yes, Bokuto?" out.

"Look at this one! It's throwing up a pellet!"

Don't look, don't look, don't look. For the love of god, Keiji, if you look at that thing throwing up you will throw up.

Despite his best (see: subpar) efforts, he can feel Bokuto's fingers at his temples, turning his head towards the glass window of the owl exhibit. He keeps his eyes open because he is not a baby and, really, he needs to get over this thing with throwing up, besides, this can't even be a real phobia, and the owl isn't really throwing up or anything it's not like it's vomit or….or...

Akaashi hunches over and deposits the contents of his stomach onto the ground.

(If most of it hits Bokuto's shoes, well, he doesn't feel very bad about it.)

-O-

"What's it called when it's Anthropomorphism but the other way around?"

"Hoooo."

"Hooooooot!"

"Hooo whoooo."

"WHOO-!"

"Bokuto, for the love of god."

"But they're speaking to me, Akaashi!"

He watched Akaashi run a hand over his face. The lampposts gave just enough light in the park to watch the setter's eyes roll skyward.

"Okay. Okay, Bokuto, they're talking to you-maybe they don't want you to reply just now."

"They're talking to us, actually."

Bokuto was very certain that Akaashi gave him a fond look. Very, very certain. Like, 100% Akaashi-Keiji-is-fond-of-you look that sometimes looked like the I-Love-You-to-Death- Bokuto-Koutaro looks.

Bokuto Koutaro was happy with either one.

-O-

"Dead Man Kuroo Tetsurou walks among us. But not for long."

"Akaashi Keiji."

"What are you doing?"

"I've want to ask you this for a long time…"

"Please stand up, Bokuto."

"I know we've only known each other for a few years, but I feel...that our love is strong enough to…"

"We are in the middle of practice, please stand up."

"...strong enough to hold, even if I ask you this-"

"Bokuto Koutaro."

"Keiji. Will you…please...well, see, there's this place in America and it's supposedly a bar, right, and I know you're only 20 so you can't really go yet but when you turn twenty one we can definitely go there together because I thought it'd be great, since we were owls and I'm not sure where it's at but I guess it's popular and Kuroo told me about it so it must be good, right, and I haven't gotten chance to look it up online or anything but I really want to go so please take me."

Akaashi sighed through his nose, very lightly, and looked down to where his boyfriend was grasping his hands in his. Down on one knee. In the middle of practice. Thank god they were towards the edge of the gym and no one was paying attention to Bokuto's usual antics.

"What's the place called?"

"Kuroo said it's called 'Hooters.' Ya know, like owls."

(Akaashi looks the bar up later. It is not, in fact, "like owls" and Kuroo was going to be receiving very strong words from him for the disappointed look Bokuto wore for the rest of the day.)