The security machine blinks a green light on Bokuto and the gate slides open. The house is not very big, but it still gives that mansion vibe. As he walks past the gate, he only catches a glimpse of brown fluffiness before it crashes down on him, effectively knocking him of his feet. The 'intruder' blinks in consternation as a poodle licks his face eagerly.
-"Apollo! Stop!" - The furry mess now dubbed as Apollo jumps off Koutarou's chest and sits obediently, eyeing his abashed owner.
-"Akaashi! I had no idea you owned a dog. But the name is totally-not-cute." - Bokuto stands up on his own, brushes dirt off his pants and pats his knee invitingly.
-"Come'ere, good boy. You just surprised me. - He gushes and Apollo approaches him, excited. The poodle lays on his back and his new friend is more than willing to pet his belly. Keiji can't help but smile.
-"He bears the name of the greek god of art. Be respectful." - Akaashi frowns almost playfully. -"He likes when I scratch him behind the ears, try it." - He mentions, and Bokuto does just that.
A good half an hour is spent showering Apollo with attention. However, they are abruptly stopped by a sudden cloudburst. The backyard isn't very big, but the three of them make a run for their lives towards the flat.
Bokuto takes his shoes off and dries his face with a towel. His shirt is slightly wet but he doesn't bother. Akaashi, in the meantime, baths his dirty companion thoroughly. Converting Apollo from a ball of mud to a ball of fabulous fluffed-up fur turns out well, but it has been a tough battle. The guest chuckles slightly at his host's misery and wanders around the flat shamelessly. There's a neat, marble kitchen island, connected to a suspiciously antique looking dining room. Kou knows better than to touch anything. Neither does he dare open what appears to be the bedroom and the guest room. But one of the rooms is open slightly ajar and he catches a glimpse of a feathery mess. It seems he took his sweet time peering inside, as Keiji approaches him with two cups of tea in his hands. -"Here, I don't want you to get sick because of me." - he mumbles.
Koutarou takes one of the cups from his hands carefully and their fingers touch. Akaashi's hands are pleasantly warm, he notes. -"What do you want me to do, anyway?" - Bokuto asks and, to his surprise, Akaashi pushes the mysterious door wide open.
There's an ironing board to his right, a huge-ass chest to his left, a fancy looking sewing machine in the corner and a long wooden table with various fabrics and sewing utensils sprawled on it backed against the wall. Huge whiteboard is drilled to the wall, but it's clean. But the center of the room takes the cake. There stands a male mannequin.
-"Akaashi, those are some fine abs." - Bokuto exclaims, half-jokingly. Keiji is not impressed. He picks up a furry mess from the table and drapes it over the mannequin's shoulders.
-"I am expected to present a collection at the upcoming Fall/Winter Fashion Week." - He grits his flawless teeth. -"But nothing seems right."
His companion scratches the back of his neck, confused.
-"Well, I'm not a fashion expert, but I can see that." - he pales as Akaashi gives him a death glare.
-"Okay, look. I didn't mean to piss you off. Apprarently, I'm here to help." - He wears a shit-eating grin.
Keiji sighs.
-"I need you to brew me a coffee and tell me about your day."
Bokuto blinks once.
Twice.
Three times.
-"Come again?"
The designer clears his throat, visibly embarassed.
-"I...came up with the theme for my collection at your cafe and I figured the place is my...muse. - He pinches the bridge of his nose, irritated. -"But then, I created something dark, and it terrified me. What is more, the ideas vanished around the time more people started coming there. And now my head is empty." -That might be the longest monologue Bokuto has ever pulled out of Akaashi and he's extatic. -"So I need you to pretend to be a barista. Here. I own a coffee maker so that shouldn't be a problem. Don't bother about anything, just hum ugly songs like always. Or tell me some foolish stories, that might work as well." - he takes a nervous sip of his tea, lukewarm by now.
These few sentences render Bokuto speechless. When he finally comes to his senses, he only splutters "My humming isn't ugly, thank you very much! And you smiled at the banana peel story, I saw that!"
Keiji raises his eyebrows.
-"So you're not questioning the task anyhow? You don't mind it?"
-"Of course not. You're my friend Akaashi!" - he pats the fashionista's back.
Keiji decides he likes the feel of this strong, rough, manly hand on his body. He bites his lip.
-"Anyway, what is this show all about?" - his private barista asks, and it gets the designer back on track.
-"Ferocious predators, beasts of the night." - he recites dully. -"Not as enticing as it seemed initially. As for now, it's basically fur, feathers, claws, graphic makeup. - He waves his hand dismissively. - "All in my head and all over the damned sketchbook. But not...there." - He eyes the mannequin almost accusingly.
Bokuto hums, deep in thought.
-"Can I see this scary thing?"
Keiji makes a displeased face. He walks towards the table and pushes scissors and coils of fabric aside revealing the cursed book.
There it is. A sketch. Somehow messy and detailed at the same time.
The lower half is soothing. Widening sleeves and coattail both adorned with feathers, bearing intricate designs. But above the chest, the drawing becomes creepy.
-"I don't know when that happened, but artistic passion got the better of me and I covered the shoulders and the high collar with liquid latex." - Akaashi breathes onto his employee's neck as they both bend over the table. Bokuto shivers.
-"The collar is supposed to cover the model up to the nose. As if to suffocate him. 'It's a bird choking on an oil spill'. Helpless, cornered by a ruthless force it doesn't understand."
The room seems unbereably hot.
Golden eyes meet steel blue ones, darkened with undefined emotions for a split second.
-"I'm gonna fetch you that...coffee." - Bokuto mumbles as he trips on his way to the kitchen.
He pushes Akaashi-centered thoughts aside for the outfit's sake. The one in the sketchbook, not to mention his own, too.
It's close to 2AM already and Tetsuro is doing relatively well. He hasn't scalded anything besides his left hand and preparing the coffee is easy since every intricate drink is described in a huge-ass book labeled "Bo&Suga's awesome recipes". So far, nobody complained, apart from a student, who received his latte with an art...of a cat.
"It looks kinda...phallic." - Tetsu heard her mutter, cautiously.
Maybe, just maybe...he shouldn't have done that. But what Bokuto doesn't know won't hurt him. He, personally, thought the cat was cute.
Then, Bo's coworker comes and Kuroo has to explain himself.
Because OF COURSE you don't warn your friend and co-owner when you hire somebody to work at your shared business, even temporarily. "Good job, bro."
But then, Sugawara turns out to be a cool guy. He pats Kuroo's back like a proud parent.
-"Good job, Kuroo-san! I hope it wasn't too stressful!"
It was a little stressful but Tetsuro pretends otherwise, hiding his red hand inside his jeans' pocket.
-"Nah, I've had worse jobs than that. Plenty of them!" - Koushi hums in understanding.
-"Ah, about that! Kuroo-san, are you employed right now?" - Okay, that stung. Scratch that, Suga is not a cool guy.
-"No." - he runs a hand through his unrully hair. - "No, I'm not."
Then comes the unexpected.
-"Would you...perhaps consider working the 2Am-10Am shift with me? It's awfully busy in the early mornings, and with so many cafes surrounding us, who would have thought..."
Tetsu considers that for a while as Suga goes off to put on an apron and wash his hands.
Koutarou comes back with a cup of disgusting, bitter hell-spawn to see Akaashi lying on the floor with hands intertwined together on his chest, eyes closed.
-"Put it anywhere." - He cracks one eye open as he smells the coffee. -"I'm thinking, creating." - Then closes his eyes again.
His barista chuckles.
-"Fucking artists."
As the cup finds a safe spot on the table right beside a pair of ridiculously huge scissors, Bokuto sits cross-legged next to his employer.
-"My brain is empty again. Silence, nothing, null, zero, nada. Talk to me." - Kou stares down, studying his companion's irritated face.
-"About what? If you want to hear about my day, then you're in for a ride." - he chuckles.
-"Entertain me, then."
Akaashi's frown easens down to completely dissapear from his face as Koutarou tells him the story of "How my friend's kid beat up mine, only to make a weird-ass truce against the 'dumb adults that don't get anything' in no time."
At first, when Keiji would sit on the barstool, Kou would pester him with stories about his highschool times or his idiot of a "brofriend" whatever that is, but now, he keeps telling him stories about his sister's, ah, no, his kid.
In Keiji's eyes. Bokuto-san has been a strong, proud man already. But he grows stronger the more Keiji learns about him.
-"So you see, me and Sho-chan, we are OWL by OWLselves." - he winks down at him and clenches his fist in a sense of accomplishment. -"Whoa, two puns in a row, I'm on a streak!"
Strong and proud, but still an idiot.
But the puns change the gears in Keiji's head and he opens his eyes abruptly.
-"Bokuto-san. It's not about animals, it's about people."
-"Say what?" - The position seems awkward so he lifts himself up to kneel on both knees, facing the other man.
-"What's the point of exploring the animalistic instincts, if I can do that with people's nature? - He gets fired up and slips into furor poeticus, a weird, artistic mood noone has probably seen him in before. -"A whole wide range of human emotions reflected on birds and mammals. Hapiness, Sadness, Anger, Lust, Shame, Disgust, and more. Sometimes, I feel suffocated, like the pelicans on the Gulf of Mexico, I feel angry, and helpless. And sometimes, I feel predatory, too." - He leans closer and Bokuto holds his breath. -"Like the owls. Lurking in the dark. Would you be seduced by that, Bokuto-san?" - Their faces are only a few centimetres apart and Kou shivers. He wants to close the gap.
...
A scratch on the door.
A loud bark.
Okay, a serie of loud barking. And scratching.
The designer flinches away and stands up rapidly. He opens the door for Apollo and starts weaving his fingers into the dog's curly back. - "You got lonely and restless, huh? Sorry about that. Daddy was working." - Somehow the poodle doesn't look convinced by that, but seems pleased with this longed-for affection nontheless.
Bokuto stands up. His face is on fire, so he fishes his phone out of his pants' pocket and presses it against flaming cheeks. Then, something dawns on him and he glances at the display. It flashes 4:49AM.
"Oh, shit." - That catches Keiji's attention. -"I'm happy you got...inspired. Are we done?" - Keiji frowns as he stutters -"I m-might as well catch some sleep before daycare. I mean, I don't need daycare, I need my son. Ah, My son, my son needs daycare."
He is presented with an unreadable expression.
-"Yes, Bokuto-san. We are done, for today."
Only after the high-security gate closes behind him, his eyes go wide.
'For today.'