Alexandria

Despite Kuroko's constant reminders of his distaste for close spaces, Kise hovered. It didn't matter what they were doing: grocery shopping, doing homework, playing ball, cooking, walking the dog, cleaning, brushing their teeth, jogging, window shopping, swimming…so it goes. Maybe it had to do with Kise's ability to assess entire situations in a matter of seconds, so easily that he grew bored of his environmental stimuli quicker than most. Whatever it was, when Kise was done, he hovered.

He stood in Kuroko's way at the grocery store, he looked over Kuroko's shoulder while he did homework, he was in Kuroko's way when he tried to dribble, he got elbowed for leaning so close while Kuroko chopped carrots, he bumped into both Kuroko and Nigou while they walked, he sneezed on Kuroko while they cleaned the dust off a shelf, he knocked shoulders with Kuroko when they both spit out their toothpaste at the same time, he ran Kuroko off the sidewalk on the daily, both his and Kuroko's breath fogged up those windows, and Kuroko would prefer stepping on a fish than being stepped on while splashing in the frigid ocean.

It would be endearing if it was just a desire for closeness, Kuroko often thought. But even that, he figured, would get old after a while. No, it was more likely that Kise's hovering was an attempt to subtly move Kuroko onto something else; it was his way of saying I'm done now, let's go with his body.

I'm done now, let's go, Kise didn't say as he hovered over Kuroko in the back of the old bookstore, as he repeatedly sniffled at the dust that had collected on every surface.

It was summer break, and after some off-handed comment from Hyuuga about how he didn't have time to read for pleasure anymore, Kuroko decided to find a book to devote his time to. He didn't think Kise had much time to read either, stretched as thin as he was, especially during a photo shoot-filled summer. But he also should have known better.

"I'm going to be a while longer," Kuroko said under his breath. He realized he didn't have to be so quiet, this was a bookstore and not a library after all, it was probably just a habit.

Kise just sighed.

Kuroko took a moment to imagine Kise at the beginning of time, hovering over his common ancestor as it discovered fire.

"I think I want a collection of short stories," Kuroko said, a suggested peace offering. When Kise contributed nothing, Kuroko moved down the aisle, scanning the titles and authors for anything that looked interesting. Kise followed. "Horror is a gamble, especially if it's a translation," Kuroko said, hoping to fill the silence with anything that wasn't Kise's sudden nasal congestion. "I don't care for science fiction or romance or…" He paused, for a moment, he was worried that Kise might take offense. But instead of going down that path, he plucked a book from the shelf. "A collection of historical fiction pieces…" He had never seen something like that before. Kuroko even almost apologized for making Kise wait, but then decided against it.

"I didn't know you liked books," Kise said in a tone that didn't fit with passive aggression.

"Oh," Kuroko managed. "Well, I haven't read a book in a while—well, one that I really wanted to…It doesn't help that I'm kind of a book snob."

"You couldn't be a snob if you tried."

Kuroko chuckled before he saw the look on Kise's face. This was definitely not part of the hover act. Kise looked…both frustrated and exasperated. "What's wrong?"

Kise shifted, almost uncomfortably, so he was leaning against the bookshelf. "I don't wanna not be around this summer." He wasn't looking at Kuroko anymore. "I wanna hang with you and Aominecchi and Kagami…and just do stuff. I haven't had a summer off in like, three years."

"I'm not gonna tell you to stay," Kuroko said. "You like modeling, you're making money…" He reached out, feeling bold in the dimly-lit bookstore, normally invisible dust floating all around them and pulled Kise's hand out of his pocket. "But if it's this summer, or next summer, or ten summers from now, I'll still miss you. This one doesn't matter in the scheme of things, I guess."

Kuroko moved closer, folding Kise's fingers into his own.

"I'm sorry, that probably doesn't help."

Kuroko's book hit the floor as Kise wrapped his arms around him, anxious and aggressive at the same time. Kise sort of dug in his arms, one hand around Kuroko's shoulder blade and the other in his hair. Kuroko didn't like Kise holding him like a large baby but he let it happen anyway.

It didn't solve the hovering mystery but Kuroko figured that was something else entirely.

I'm a super book snob.

I'm also slowly getting the hand of writing Kise but it is still agonizing and awful.

xoxo