Connection
Sometimes you need to look past what's on the outside to really see someone.
Chapter Two
Painting Blind
Date number two was at Iwabe's friends place who was helping coordinate the whole challenge. They'd gone all out setting up a room for the pair where they would be sipping wine and trying to paint without seeing a thing. Kawaki thought it would be funny if nothing else, he couldn't paint for shit, or he'd never tried to anyway, but he was excited to give it a try. He did like drawing sometimes but this was completely different.
As soon as they arrived, Iwabe blindfolded Kawaki and led him inside, explaining that B should have already been there. He talked to his friend on the ride over, to make sure there were no accidental viewings. The walk seemed long to get inside as well as the room he was taken to and then he was sat down by Iwabe.
"When B gets in here, we'll help get you two situated so you at least have a chance of painting something." Iwabe teased and Kawaki nodded, keeping his mouth shut. He was ready to get the date started because honestly, he'd been looking forward to it. It was interesting. B was interesting.
Before long B was brought inside and sat across the table from him and then Iwabe and Shikadai went about explaining where everything was and helping them get a feel for what they needed. They were given full glasses of wine and then left alone to get started and Kawaki heard his date shifting in his seat.
"B." He greeted calmly. "We meet again, huh?" And they would be, there were still eighteen dates to go.
"In a different venue. I can't believe they went as far as to have sponsors for us." B chuckled, the small bit of nerves he had calming.
"Only our friends would come up with some shit like this. But, I can't say I hate it." Kawaki admitted.
B smiled, feeling the same way. "Me either. So um, this painting thing. Ever done anything like this before?"
"Never. Haven't even thought about it, especially not blind." Kawaki said as he found his wineglass and raised it to his lips.
"They're going to be so bad!" B laughed, not even able to imagine what kind of monstrosity he would end up creating.
"Hey now, I wouldn't go that far. Since we're exchanging paintings at the end of the date, I'm going to create a masterpiece."
B bit his lip with a grin. "Oh yeah? Well mine will be something alright, you'll have to let me know on our next date." He said and then located his own wine glass. "Just don't hold it against me if it burns your eyes." He added, taking a sip of wine.
"They'll both be great." Kawaki told him with certainty. "Better get started. I think I may end up painting myself more than the canvas though."
"Then does that mean I'll get to take you home?" B teased and took one more sip before setting his glass down.
Chuckling, Kawaki picked up a paintbrush and stuck it in one of the colors. "That's something you really couldn't handle."
B hummed in both longing and response. "Can't wait to put that to the test."
…
Boruto wouldn't consider himself the artist type, but this painting thing was going pretty well. Sure he still couldn't see shit, but it felt nice to move the brush over the canvas. Though part of that was the wine too. He was proud that he hadn't got a speck of paint on himself, at least he didn't think he had. K on the other hand had trouble in that department and would curse under his breath. Boruto couldn't help giggling every time and really wanted to see what kind of masterpiece he was turning himself into.
"I think mine is coming along." Boruto mused, pausing to drink more wine. "What about you?"
"I'm pretty sure my hands are multicolored." K mumbled. "I have a vision but I can't make any promises. The wine is more of a sure thing than this painting."
Boruto snorted into his glass and then flushed, embarrassed at the sound.
K grinned and set his paintbrush down, wishing he could see the face of his date more and more by the second. "Fucking cute."
"It really wasn't." Boruto insisted and went back to his paintbrush. "I think . . . mine could use a little more blue."
"How the hell do you know what color you're using?" K scoffed, brows furrowing as his head hung. He had no idea.
"Shikadai cut me some slack and told me how the colors were arranged before we got here." Boruto confessed.
"Shit. I feel cheated." K sighed, wanting to throw in the towel, but he never would. "This is some bullshit."
Boruto refrained from laughing, but he really wanted to. "It's cheating, I'll give you that. But otherwise I wouldn't have a fucking chance. I have no idea what I'm doing here."
"Oh well, even if mine looks like a rainbow, it will be fine. For all I know I could be using the same color for everything." He chuckled.
Boruto did laugh then and had to hold onto the arm rest so he wouldn't fall over. "Sorry, I'm not making fun of you, K. Honest."
"Nah, it's funny as fuck. I know." He hummed in amusement, trying to find the bottle of wine to refill his glass.
It wasn't that funny, but added to the wine Boruto ended up slipping into a laughing fit. "Oh, oh god." He giggled right before he snorted again.
The sound of it forced K to laugh loudly and this was what went on between them for the next few minutes until they finally calmed. "Damn it, stop. I can't find the wine. Did you take it?"
"Yeah, I got it over here." Boruto breathed, trying to locate it. "Hell, I haven't laughed that hard in ages . . . and just so you know, I don't normally snort. Pretend that never happened. Talk about embarrassing."
"I think it's cute." K smiled. "Nothing to be shy about."
That only made him shy away even more. "Come on, no one thinks it's cute." Boruto stated just as his hand knocked over the wine bottle. "Oops."
"Ah, fuck!" K screeched, getting to his feet at having the wine spill all over his lap.
"Oh shit! Did that get on you?!" Boruto yelled in surprise.
"Yeah." K told him, trying to figure out a way to clean himself up.
Boruto quickly shrugged off his jacket and held it out to where K's voice was coming from. "Here, use this. Reach out."
"What is it?" He questioned, reaching ahead of him to feel the jacket. "Fuck no, I'm not using your jacket. It's cold outside. I'll just take these off to dry."
"It's alright, I don't min-" Boruto cut himself off when he processed the implication of his words. "You . . . y-your gonna take it off?"
"That's not a problem is it? It's not like you can see anyway. Unfortunately." K smirked.
Unfortunately was right, but Boruto could still imagine. "Damn these fucking blindfolds." He huffed and pulled his jacket back on.
K stripped off his jeans, glad the liquid hadn't seeped through them. He settled them on the back of his chair and then sat back down. "Well, this is like blind strip painting."
"Blind strip painting?" Boruto chuckled, his words lightening his mood again. "Sounds fancy."
"Entertaining at least. As long as we could feel a little bit. Otherwise it would be pointless."
Boruto heated up at the idea. "You think we should?" It was bending the rules a little, maybe a lot, but he was extremely tempted.
"You're not ready, B." He mused quietly. Whether he liked the guy or not, he didn't want him falling in love with him.
"Says you." Boruto mumbled under his breath. He picked up his paintbrush again and dipped it in the blue container. "Maybe we could persuade them to lower the number of dates to like ten."
"So you can get away from me?" K questioned tauntingly.
"No!" Boruto quickly denied. "So I can see what I'm working with." And get to work on it.
"You would love it."
K was certainly confident and it gave Boruto hope. "Right back at you."
"Ooh. This is going to be hard as fuck." K said, trying his best to picture his date.
They were totally cheating at the moment, but technically still didn't know what the other looked like so it was passable. "Tell me about it. These rules are a pain in the ass."
"Truly. But it makes this more interesting." K grabbed his paintbrush and dipped it in the paint. "Okay, one more stroke."
Boruto choked on his spit. "K! You goddamn tease!"
"Never that. I think your mind is in the gutter, B." He laughed.
Well, he wasn't wrong. "It usually is." He admitted as he started painting again. "Especially when I'm drinking."
"I'm not even gonna attempt to have anymore wine. It's probably best that way."
That could mean a number of things and Boruto wisely decided not to imagine them all. He could only take the teasing and flirting so far before it became a real problem. It was hard to hold back, but it couldn't be helped. Boruto had to see it through to the end and prove Shikadai was wrong, he could go on some dates without fucking. Probably.
…
The date was over, ended by Iwabe coming in to tell Kawaki it was time for them to leave. It had been hours since they started their painting and chatting that was flirty and suggestive a fair amount of time. These dates did have to come to a close but then there was always another to look forward to.
Kawaki got to his feet, getting into his jeans and thinking how happy he was going to be to take the blindfold off—even if he did wish the date didn't have to end. B was fucking adorable, growing on Kawaki with little effort. He loved teasing him, loved the way he reacted to everything and wanted to spend more time with him.
This was definitely good for Kawaki, he did need something like this in his life. It was strange, but he was happy with things as they were for now. It had only been a month since he first met B and they'd only had two dates, but he'd felt a connection between them in those several hours of alone time with him than he had with anyone else in his life. There was no touching or fucking, nothing but a distance and mysteriousness that kept them both on the edge of their seats. Their friends were indeed crafty and Kawaki wasn't going to complain.
The dates were planned to be two weeks apart and the long span irked Kawaki. He wanted them more frequently so he could get through the set amount and finally reveal the guy he was so curious of. He wanted that guy falling at his feet more than anyone else ever had—no matter what he looked like, and he was going to make that happen.