Archive of Our Own

“Love is like wildflowers; it’s often found in the most unlikely places.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sitting on top of the front desk counter and staring out of the window during the late afternoon has become Shoyo’s favorite pastime in between clients since he started working at the tattoo shop. He mostly takes walks in since he started, getting a late start in the shop since he’d been in Brazil while they were starting up. Shoyo could claim his eyes are glued to the window because the scenery is beautiful or because he’s bored, but he knows the real reason.

Those piercing, ocean deep, blue eyes that belong to a certain florist across the street never fail to capture his full attention. He’s never seen them up close, but god would he like to. Though his face seems to default to a scowl, there are so many moments when it’s open and soft, especially when he’s leaning in close to the flowers he’s tending to. He swears he sees his lips moving sometimes, too, but he can’t be sure. If Shoyo had the courage to actually walk across the street, he’d actually find out. 

He wonders what his voice sounds like, especially when he sees him smile or laugh while talking to one of the other people in the shop. Oftentimes, he shows it freely, sometimes he covers his mouth with his hand shyly. If Shoyo could reach out and take that hand away he would, he thinks his smile is breathtaking. 

Perched on the counter, he often watches as customer after customer walks out of the shop grinning with all sorts of flowers he doesn’t know the names of, all the colors as vibrant and pure as the smiles on their faces. Shoyo actually doesn’t know a damn thing about flowers, he’s killed every plant he’s ever touched, but maybe with a little help from a pair of dark blue eyes, he could get the hang of it. He could even fall in love with flowers, he thinks.

“Staring at Yama-kun again?” Shoyo could hear the teasing grin in Bokuto’s voice and Hinata’s shoulders tensed at being caught. How many times had he been caught in the midst of daydreaming about the florist across the street now? He’d lost count.

“The flowers he just put outside are really beautiful,” he commented with a shrug, partially to shake the tense feeling in his shoulders, as he turned to give the owl bastard a look he hoped was casual to avoid the question Bokuto had asked. Humming, his coworker turned close friend sat down behind the desk Hinata was sitting on and stared directed at him with playful gold eyes.

“Why don’t you go ask him what they are?” he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as the silver jewelry through his left brow seemed to taunt him. Hinata groaned, burying his face in his hands as he shook his head. 

“You sound like Tooru-san,” he chanced a glance over his shoulder to see if Kageyama had gone inside. He tried to hide the disappointment when he realized he must’ve gone to an area of the shop out of Shoyo’s line of vision. 

“You’ve been staring at him since you got here three months ago,” Bokuto had already gotten a pen to attempt to push through his gauged ear like he’d been trying to for a while now, but his pen stopped as he looked up at Hinata with knowing gold eyes. Shoyo immediately hopped down and decided to see if there was someone in the shop who wasn’t going to tease him about the pretty florist across the street. 

“Gonna ask Iwaizumi to pierce my nose again, see ya!” Shoyo quickly jumped off the counter, going to the back of the tattoo shop as quickly as possible. He gave Bokuto no time to grab him with those huge muscles and force him into going over. The sound of needles poking skin filled his ears and gave him temporary peace to settle his nerves of being caught staring at Kageyama. 

Again. 

Admittedly, it had become more and more frequently lately and pretty much everyone had caught him staring. Even the one time Kenma came to visit him, he had caught him while Hinata was waiting for him at the front desk. Kenma just came in to get his left nostril pierced, Hinata had pierced the right side when he thought he wanted to be a tattoo artist and a piercer. That dream was short-lived after realizing how nerve racking it was to handle needles. He gave himself some credit though, he did do a good job and Kenma seemed in minimal pain plus it healed nicely. 

Shoyo was freaking out more than Kenma, cat-like eyes laughing at him practically shaking as he realized he was going to have to push the large needle through his best friend’s nose. 

“It’s not funny!” Hinata had defended with a frown, ruffling blonde hair with grown out brown roots with his free hand as Kenma continued to laugh at him.

“Now you have to wash your hands again,” Kenma only laughed more as Hinata cursed and stomped away. 

He was smiling at the memory as he entered Iwaizumi’s piercing space at the back. The spiky-haired man looked up when Hinata came in, smiling as he put his phone down and gave Hinata a knowing look.

“Smiling about blue eyes across the street?” he chuckled, to which the smile disappeared from Hinata’s face and was replaced with a glare.

“Didn’t you pine for Oikawa for your whole life before you got together?” he asked with a raised eyebrow, challenging him since was feeling a little defensive from already being teased by Bokuto. Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and picked his phone back up to avoid Shoyo’s eyes as he blushed, dark green eyes void of any amusement of being teased back.

He slightly turned his away from Shoyo and he wondered how it was possible for a grown man with a face full of piercings and a full sleeve to still look cute pouting.

“What do you want pierced now?” Iwaizumi questioned, not looking up from his phone as he began to type a message. Probably to Oikawa since he wasn’t in the shop today. The brief words exchanged were forgotten as the tension left the room, Shoyo excitedly told him his nostril had completely healed from where his previous stud had fallen out on him and he couldn’t push it back through.

“Alright, sit down,” Iwaizumi got up with a fond smile so he could sit and he settled down, still buzzing with excitement. It never mattered that he worked in a tattoo shop and could get this any time he wanted, it never failed to excite him. While being the one pushing the needle through skin wasn’t for him, he was never bothered by it pushing through his own skin. He felt the same way about getting tattooed, though he was less excited and more nervous about that one since Oikawa insisted on tattooing him when he was only 16.

“A tattoo?! Oikawa-san, my mom is gonna kill me!” He tried to jump up and dash for the door, but Oikawa only reeled him back in, sitting him back down on his bed.

“It’ll be tiny! I’ll put it somewhere that’s usually covered! Chibi-chan, please!” Oikawa had a lot of strong suits, but the strongest had to be his ability to look like a small child with just pitiful eyes and pout despite being 180 centimeters tall. Sighing, he took his shirt off and pointed to his side. Oikawa didn’t even have the dignity to not immediately look thrilled at getting his way.

“Is it going to hurt?” he asked nervously and Oikawa shook his head, smiling at Shoyo genuinely.

“Promise it won’t, you have my word, Hinata!”

True to his word, it really didn’t hurt at all after the first few minutes and the small strawberry was actually really pretty.

“You’re pretty good,” he said honestly as he looked at it in the mirror.

“You should come with me to study art in Brazil,” Oikawa said thoughtfully as he handed Hinata his shirt. He looked at his best friend in surprise at the request, but he smiled to himself as he left his house that day, dreaming about warm beaches and clear water for the first time that night.

Lost in his memories once again, he vaguely heard Iwaizumi’s deep voice in his ears as he came back to the present.

“Wanna check the placement?” he asked him, mirror already in hand just in case. Shoyo was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even feel his friend marking where he was going to pierce. 

“Nope, I trust you, Iwa!” he grinned at him and Iwaizumi only chuckled before moving his head exactly how he wanted it before putting his gloves on, opening the needle, and pushing it through in one swift motion. Shoyo made a small displeased noise as Iwaizumi placed the tiny stud in his nose and cleaned up any excess blood. 

“Looks good on you, Sho, lines up perfectly with your other side.” Iwaizumi hummed, actually looking kind of impressed as he handed him the mirror from earlier after removing his gloves.

“Damn! I love it!” He turned his head slightly to the right so he could see in all it’s glory and grinned. After trying (and failing) to repay Iwaizumi with a tattoo or lunch or anything, he dejectedly made his way towards the door.

“Sho,” Iwaizumi said before Hinata could make it out of the door, he turned around and stared at his best friend expectantly. “I’d like a tattoo of some orchids, actually. With your style I think it’d look really good.”

It was pretty rare for Hajime to want any tattoos, especially if they weren’t coming from Tooru. The few he had were all super meaningful, but he’d never even heard him talk about this flower before. Actually, he had no idea what the flower even looked like.

“What flower is that?”

Iwaizumi only offered a knowing smile as he shrugged.

“Kageyama told me about them, maybe you should ask him.”

That night Shoyo dreams of the same familiar ocean as he often does. The same starry night sky and the same full moon high in the sky, illuminating everything around him. Usually he sits on a beach he doesn’t recognize alone, splayed out in the cool sand and letting the crisp air attempt to tame a fire burning in his chest that seems dead set on burning him up from the inside out. 

That night on the beach is different. That night there’s a man standing a few meters away from him, just far enough away that Shoyo can still stare without being spotted. He’s on the other side of the beach, standing tall just on the edge of the water and letting whatever waves come up wash over his ankles below where his pant legs were rolled up. Shoyo sat up on his elbows, in a trance as he watched the moonlight dance over his pretty fair skin and the wind ruffle his already messy, black hair. One second Shoyo was just watching him, the next he knew his feet were moving on their own accord, bringing him closer. The man only watched, dark blue eyes not giving away any hint of emotion until he was just close enough for them to reach out and touch each other. They both seemed to realize this as they reached out at the same time, finger tips about to touch when a wave came through and Shoyo lunged forward to push the other man out of the way.

Startled awake, Hinata looked around his still dark apartment as his eyes adjusted. They landed on the large painting on his wall that he doesn’t need any light at all to see. It’s of a beach that doesn’t look exactly like any he’s been to before, but still reminds him of his time in Brazil. It was the last thing he did before leaving the country, deciding that the scenery was too beautiful to remember only with photos. Plus, this was probably his last real piece for a while since he’s decided to make tattooing his full time job. The only time he really gets time to draw is when a client is asking for a piece and typically it’s only in black and white. 

Personally, Hinata preferred color. While there were various styles he was good at, like geometric and lately his new favorite is continuous line, he felt his true style was mixed somewhere between watercolor and realism. 

Sitting up in his bed and stretching with his eyes closed, images of long fingers stretched out to him and ocean blue eyes fill his head and he snaps his eyes open. Shoyo really, really needed to find a way to get the courage to get across the street and talk to Kageyama. 

Thoughts of Iwaizumi’s flower tattoo came into his mind, he didn’t know if he was teasing or being serious, but after spending the better part of his morning looking up orchids (among other flowers) online, he had a feeling the purple petals would be much prettier in the flower shop across the street.

“He was serious, Tobio-chan showed him the flowers a few weeks ago and he hasn’t shut up about them,” Oikawa told him later that morning at his station before his first client as he changed his belly button ring. Shoyo didn’t have one until that afternoon, so he was there to help him pick the jewelry. He handed him the teal butterfly and Tooru hummed in appreciation.

“You think he’d let me see them? To draw, for reference,” there was a slightly nervous edge to his voice that only Oikawa would pick up on after hearing it so much over most of their lives together. Shoyo thinks he’s become a pretty confident person, self assured and not afraid to back down from anything. Well, except for when it comes to dating… 

He’s never really had much luck keeping a partner, but he feels like it’s because he’s first boyfriend somehow cursed him to be more in love with art than people. Why would Yamaguchi dump him at an art museum during his first year anyways? Shoyo clearly remembers staring at a painting of the moon high over deep blue ocean waters and expecting to feel resentment, but instead he felt peace. Shoyo could remember thinking he was feeling the cool breeze attempting to burn that fire in his chest for the very first time. Initially he thought the fire was due to being heartbroken, but after many failed attempts at relationships, he thinks it’s because there’s a space in his heart that even his greatest painting can’t fill.

“Are you going to go talk to him or will I have to push you out the door?” Oikawa gives him a challenging look, brown eyes daring him to back down as he crosses his two fully tatted arms over his chest. Shoyo will be damned if his best friend pushes him around like they were back in high school. A fire lit under Shoyo’s ass as he suddenly stood up, giving Oikawa a glare. 

“I’M GOING,” Hinata grabs his messenger bag with a few art supplies he packed especially for today and was planning on making a dramatic exit until he realized what he was going to do and paused with his hands on the door. He looked again, Kageyama was definitely alone and looked to be tending to the flowers. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and took his first step.

Walking across the street was harder than he thought it would be, even though he’d rehearsed the words he was going to say all morning, he hoped his words wouldn’t get caught in his throat. The warm spring sun wasn’t as hot as it’d be in a few hours when the afternoon got here, but he still felt like it was causing his skin to feel like it’s burning up. Or perhaps it was just the thought of finally seeing those blue eyes up close. Shoyo didn’t know what it was about Kageyama, but he had such an aura about him that beckoned him to come closer and closer. An aura that said he was so much more than just a pretty florist across the street, that he’d calm the fire that’s been set ablaze in his chest. 

Hinata was dying to know all there was to know about him.

Upon entering the shop, he takes another deep breath to try and get all his words out in one go because if there’s even a moment of hesitation he might turn around and bolt. 

He stops dead in his tracks at what he sees.

At what he hears .

“Hi pretty,” Kageyama whispers quietly to a pretty orange flower that Hinata wishes were him right now. Never in his life has he been as jealous as he is right now, and count on his crush to make it be of a damn flower. There are more delicately spoken words to the flower, but Hinata can’t make them out clearly. Partly because hearing such a sweet, soft tone from him was something Hinata wasn’t expecting. He’d taken to imagining his voice as a mix between bored and angry, but the deep calming tone he’s using has Shoyo’s feet glued in his spot. Maybe he’s a little bit in a daze right now.

Kageyama is crouched down at the plant’s level, elbows resting on the table while his hands support his chin. The purple apron tied around his slim waist isn’t as tight as it could be, but his shoulders seem to be struggling against the black fabric of his shirt. His shoulder to waist ratio has Shoyo’s throat suddenly dry. God, he’s not even at full height, but Hinata thinks he’s underestimated just how tall he is and wonders just how small Kageyama can make him feel. He flushes at his less than pure thoughts, trying to control his mind from deep diving right into the gutter in the middle of this flower shop.

Hinata doesn’t know how long he stands there, but he figures long enough when Kageyama nearly knocks over the entire pot upon seeing Hinata standing there staring at him.

He’s far from disappointed when he sees just how beautiful his object of affection is up close, messy black hair and those enticing blue eyes making his heart race faster.

Growing up, Tobio was pretty much always surrounded by flowers. His mother loved them and his father constantly brought them home for her, loving to see how happy they made her no matter how many times he got them. 

He didn’t quite understand what the obsession was all about, but he did think they were pretty and made the house smell nice, at the very least.

One year for his mother’s birthday, his grandpa took him to a flower shop so they could pick out a bouquet for her. Despite not really understanding flowers, he was happy to go anywhere with his grandpa. 

Through the window there was a huge display of pretty, tall yellow flowers with a huge dark center and seven year old  Tobio broke free from his grandpa’s hand to rush into the shop, staring wide eyed at these flowers he'd never seen before.

“ Pretty ,” he whispered in amazement, blinking slowly. Behind him the shop owner smiled softly, kneeling down next to him.

“Flowers thrive off of sweet, soft words,” she says quietly and a crease forms between his brows, he didn’t know flowers knew what we were saying. “You should take the sunflower with you, keep caring for it to see how tall it grows for you.”

So he does. With the help of his grandpa, the sunflower lasts through the entire season, but when late October rolls around, he’s devastated to find it drooping and lifeless. Crying into his mother’s arms, she rubs his back and reminds him that he can always grow it again season after season, that under his care the flowers will always come back for him.

Since then, sunflowers have always been his favorites, but he continued to plant flowers over his entire childhood. With the help of his grandpa and his mom, Tobio had an entire garden of flowers by the time he was 12. He spent a lot of time studying the language of flowers as well as how to care for them, enjoying how while he may not always have the words for someone, he can make them a few flowers and convey his feelings that way. The only time he really can get his words out the way he intends is when he’s talking to flowers. Talking to people has never been his forte, especially if it’s when he’s initially meeting them, something always ends up going wrong. 

Like now, he was just caught by possibly the hottest guy he’s never seen whispering to an amaryllis. The brief moment they stare at each other seems to stretch on forever as Kageyama really takes him in. The first thing that catches his eye is the silver chain above the tip of his nose, seeming to be attached to matching silver studs. He’s only seen stuff like that on Instagram. His arms and the parts of his legs that are exposed through his ripped jeans have their fair share of tattoos. Orange hair that he’s pretty sure is natural in a neat bun low on his head.

Meanwhile Tobio is sure his own hair is a mess since he’s been pushing it back all morning and he can feel how hot his face is getting at the contrast between them.

For fuck sake, get it together Tobio , he thinks before averting his gaze for a moment and clearing his throat to get somewhat of a hold on himself.

“W-welcome to Garden Dreams, are you looking for anything specific?” it comes out weakly, but he hopes the hot orange head doesn’t think too lowly of him already.

A bright laugh comes from him and Tobio’s sure he sees a silver ball in the center of his tongue. Just when he thought this man couldn’t get any hotter? He offers him a blinding smile.

“Sorry for… interrupting,” he teases, warm honey eyes full of mischief and Kageyama feels less embarrassed and more like strangling him as he glares his way. “I work across the street at Enchanted Ink, I was wondering if I could draw a few flowers if it’s not too much trouble?”

Even his voice is sexy. How has someone this hot been across the street from him and he had no idea? He nods, most of the embarrassment gone. Of course he doesn’t mind having a modern day Greek god sit in his shop and draw flowers that he grew himself. Well, some of them at least.

“Let me get you a chair…” he trails off, realizing that while his name badge is on full display, he doesn’t know the hot stranger’s name.

“Hinata. Hinata Shoyo,” he offers a hand to Kageyama and he takes it, his palm snug and comforting against his. He curses the fact that his own hand has a few callouses, that probably feels awful against his soft hands and he pulls his own away after a brief moment.

“Kageyama Tobio,” he nods in a way he hopes isn’t awkward and turns to retrieve the chair. As he makes his way to the back, he remembers when the tattoo shop opened a little over half a year ago. He’d brought them an arrangement fit for a housewarming gift and Oikawa had practically melted, saying how much he loved them. From then, he occasionally brought them small bouquets, but as things started to get hectic in his own shop, he had been neglecting going over. 

Which is how he’s missed this modern day Adonis of a man who was just a few steps away.

“Who was that?” Akaashi’s curious eyes watch him as he picks up the chair. He was also obviously eavesdropping and probably heard 90% of their conversation, so there was really no reason to ask other than to be nosy. Kageyama rolls his eyes at him.

“Ask your boyfriend, they work together.”

“Which one-” Kageyama leaves with the chair as quickly as he came, no need to be constantly reminded that Akaashi has two boyfriends while he can’t even get one.

Hinata was standing in front of the orchids, and Kageyama cleared his throat to announce he was back with the chair. Turning around to give him a kind smile, he takes the chair with a thank you and sits down, taking out his art supplies and immediately getting started on his drawing. Kageyama tries to keep himself busy so he’s not just standing there staring at Hinata draw since business hasn’t picked up yet, but every time he passes by, he finds himself walking a little slower to get a peak at what he’s doing. He finds that he really likes Hinata’s art style a lot.

Getting too caught up when Hinata was almost done after he’d taken care of a customer, he finds himself unable to stop himself from standing over Hinata’s shoulder and openly staring at his drawing.

“Like what you see?” Hinata asks without even looking up, so Kageyama doesn’t exactly see the look on his face, but he can hear that same teasing tone from earlier and he glares at the back of his head.

“No,” he states firmly.

“Liar,” he giggles and finally looks back at Kageyama and feels like his breath is caught in his throat. The neat bun his hair was in had gotten a little messier as he scratched at his head with his pencil and a few stray pieces had fallen out, somehow framing his face in a way that was… cute. Tobio was even close enough to see that there were a few faint freckles scattered on his cheeks. His warm brown eyes were glittering with joy, joy that Kageyama knows he’s getting from doing what he loves: drawing. He remembers the look on his own face from the videos and pictures his grandpa would take of him planting flowers in his yard. He blinks a few times and then raises the corner of his mouth in a bit of a smile.

“Maybe,” he says over his shoulder as he walks away.

The shop had actually become much busier after that, customers and his other workers had come in at seemingly the same time, leaving him with a lot to do all of a sudden. On his way out, Hinata tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a grin as he waved.

“See ya, Kageyama-kun! Thanks again!” he says cheerfully and jogs across the street. He watches as the sun shines down on him, making his tan skin that much more beautiful and can’t help how the corner of his mouth twitches up.

Daichi raises an eyebrow at him.

“You still with me, Kageyama?” He jumps at that and nods quickly, going over the changes in Daichi’s delivery route for the day as he tries to forget about the man who reminded him of a sunflower.

The next morning he’s walking over to Enchanted Ink with a small, yellow bouquet made up of cowslips, buttercups, and even a few crocus. When his sister asks why he’s pulling out one of his floriology books, he just waves her away. 

Benefits to living close to his sister were that he never really got lonely, but the downside is that she’s still the same nosy sister she’s always been. He just wanted to make an arrangement that said “new found affection”, but couldn’t remember whether to pair the buttercups with cowslips or crocus, ultimately he decided on both when he read that crocus and buttercups paired together meant you were charmed by whoever you were giving the flowers to.

And Kageyama definitely was charmed by Hinata Shoyo.

When he enters the decently sized shop, he hears music in a language he doesn’t recognize, but the sound of it is familiar, and there’s no one at the front. Cautiously walking further into the shop, he realizes he’s never been further than the front desk to drop off flowers before. There is a tattoo he wants, but he holds it so close to his heart he’s scared of getting it done. He wonders if there’s any tattoos Hinata has that are like that. Tattoos where he’s waiting on someone special to have them do it for him, or even someone to get them done with . 

Kageyama was momentarily so focused on his thoughts that he almost drops the bouquet at what he sees. 

Hinata and Sakusa are dancing to what Tobio can clearly hear now is Fake Love by BTS, it’s also the actual choreography and he can’t help but stare at the way their bodies move in sync with one another. In a fleeting moment, he wonders where Hinata learned to move his body like that. Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he realizes that he hasn’t been spotted yet and takes the opportunity to tease Hinata the same way he was teased yesterday.

“Didn’t know you knew how to dance,” he says over the music and both Hinata and Sakusa jump, Sakusa fumbling to turn the music off on his phone. “Or listened to BTS,” he smirked at him.

“Ka-Kageyama-kun, what brings you in?” Hinata trips over his words, eyeing the small bouquet in his hands.

“Sorry for interrupting,” he repeats the playful words from yesterday and Hinata huffs.

“Fuck off,” he mumbles and Kageyama laughs without warning, covering his mouth with the back of his hand out of habit of laughing around new people.

Hinata thinks he can listen to the sound of Kageyama laughing over and over on repeat without ever growing tired, resisting the urge to reach out and take his hand away from his face. After he settles down, he walks closer to hold out the bouquet to Hinata, a slight blush on his cheeks.

“I… brought you more flowers to draw, in case you can’t make it to the shop,” Kageyama explains, and Hinata’s whole face lights up as he takes them tenderly, as if it was a piece of delicate glass. 

“They’re beautiful, I love them!” he says excitedly, looking down at them with a soft expression. 

“Do you still have a vase from the front?” he asks, a ghost of a smile on his face as he watches Hinata’s joy over this simple gesture. He finds that he really likes making him happy. 

“Actually, I do,” Sakusa speaks up then, Kageyama had forgotten he was there. Being around Hinata was probably going to have that effect on him more often than he will ever admit. As he handed Hinata the empty vase, Hinata took it, but not without question. 

“What happened to your flowers, Omi-san?” Hinata said, concern on his face as he realizes that he’s had flowers at his station since he’s gotten there. Well, up until recently.

“They died,” he shrugged, attempting to make his voice sound neutral but ended up sounding bitter. Walking back over to his station at the same time as Atsumu came in, all eyes landed on him. 

“What? Something on my face?” Atsumu blinked, a fully sleeved arm coming up to pat his face. 

As Kageyama and Hinata looked at each other and then to Sakusa, who was glaring in the blonde’s direction, they decided to just shake their heads.

“I’ll show you how to care for these,” he says in a rush, and Hinata nodded frantically, pointing in the direction of the sink so they could escape the awkward tension. 

Over the next couple of months, they find an easy rhythm.

After Hinata gives Iwaizumi the tattoo of the orchids, it does really well on Instagram and Hinata becomes much busier. Kageyama thought this meant he’d start seeing less of his favorite head of orange hair as his clientele picks up, he’s formed a habit of coming into the Garden Dreams before Enchanted Ink opens to practice drawing flowers.

What Kageyama doesn’t anticipate is how Garden Dreams also starts to become busier since Hinata tagged them in his post and added “ best flowers in all of Okinawa!!!!”

No one is really complaining about having more hours or making extra delivery runs, the only problem is when Hinata comes over in the middle of the day and gives Kageyama the worst description of a flower he’s ever heard and expects him to know what he means.

Oddly enough, he usually does, so he drops whatever he’s doing to help him.

Even stranger, he finds the descriptions sort of endearing, especially since he never hesitates to literally run over and ask him for whatever flower he needs for a reference no matter what he’s doing. 

One morning Kageyama watches him draw a lily and asks why he doesn't just Google the flowers, and Hinata looks up at him with a slightly embarrassed look.

“I’d rather ask you, Kageyama,” he clears his throat and scratches at his head as he looks back at the flower before him. For a second, the morning sun creeping through his windows seems to highlight the flush on Hinata’s cheeks.

“It’d be more convenient if you would just text me,” the words come out before Tobio can stop them, but he figures it’s worth it when Hinata looks up at him for a second time with his pretty red cheeks and big hopeful eyes. “Just for convenience,” he clarifies, a smirk on his face to rile Hinata up and the other man huffs, smacking his leg with his sketchbook.

“I thought we were friends, Kageyama!”

“I’m kidding!” Kageyama laughs, placing his hand on top of Hinata’s head and smiling down at him. “Give me your phone.”

The first morning after that, Suga makes a comment on the bags under Kageyama’s eyes and asks what happened the night before. He doesn’t know how to explain to him that he and Hinata had stayed up until 4am talking about nothing and everything all at once.

Hinata talks about Brazil and the man who taught him how to really tattoo, Ukai. Kageyama mostly talks about his mother and sister, but he briefly mentions his grandpa and how they opened up his shop together a few years ago, he even tells Hinata that his grandpa picked the name for the shop.

“I knew you couldn’t have come with that!”

“Go to hell, dumbass!”

They talk about things they like and dislike, about weird dreams they have, and even the shades of green they prefer. Since they’re both around colors so much they definitely have strong opinions on them. They talk so damn much that Kageyama has to get up to grab water because his throat is dry. He’s never talked this much in his life and while a part of him is afraid they’ll run out of things to talk about for next time, another part of him is hopeful they’re just planting seeds to grow for their future conversations.

“Sunflowers, that’s what happened,” he mumbles tiredly, yawning before taking another sip of his black coffee. Suga only eyes him curiously before leaving him in the back to wake up a little bit more.

[9:32] hinata: how are you holding up?

[9:33] hinata: omi said i look like death

[9:35] kageyama: the tattoo shop isn’t even open why are you up

[9:36] kageyama: fuck you for keeping me up all night

[9:38] hinata: love you too bestie!!! 

[9:38] hinata: to text you lol duh

They definitely never stay up that late again, but Kageyama enjoys learning new things about Hinata all the time. 

Their conversations feel like they’re tending to their carefully planted garden together, watering flowers and getting rid of weeds as they divulge pieces of their lives to one another. With every night they spend growing closer and more comfortable with each other, their own little personal night garden grows bigger and bigger.

Other than their occasional bickering, their mornings together are pretty quiet. Hinata sometimes hums when he draws, deep in concentration and when Kageyama knows that he’s close to finishing, he’s formed a habit of watching him.

“Do you like it?” Hinata asked once after drawing a few tulips, staring at him with a look not unlike a dog waiting for his owner’s approval. 

“I can practically see your tail wagging,” Kageyama fights back a smile as Hinata shoves him half heartedly. “Yeah,” he says then, not looking at the drawing at all as Hinata holds up the drawing for them both to look at. “It’s beautiful.”

On the days he doesn’t make it in the morning, Kageyama will find a moment during the day to walk across the street to leave him at least one flower. Sometimes he’s sitting at his station preparing for his next guest, sometimes he’s not even there, but Kageyama always leaves it anyway.

As time goes on, Hinata starts to recognize some of the flowers he brings over and there are even times when he knows the meanings of them. Him proudly stating that pink hydrangeas meant affection ended Kageyama’s little game of him bringing flowers that he thought held meanings only he knew. It’d be super embarrassing if Hinata started catching onto his little crush, so he started bringing random flowers too.

Today though, he's bringing daisies upon Hinata’s request when he overhears him talking to Oikawa while the brunette is tattooing a client. 

“Tooru, can you set me a few balls this Sunday? I’ve been dying to go to the beach!” He pouts and Oikawa smiles at him fondly, a look he’s seen nearly everyone in both shops give him. It’s impossible not to be a little bit crazy about Hinata.

“You played volleyball?” Kageyama asks suddenly, looking right at Hinata with a confused face as he sets the daisies down on Hinata’s station and walks over to where he’s standing in front of Oikawa. 

“Kageyama, you play volleyball too?! Wait, why do you sound so shocked?” Hinata squints at him with a frown, nudging Kageyama in the side. 

“You’re short,” he states it simply, as if Hinata should know exactly why Kageyama said it in the first place.

“Fuck you Bakageyama! I bet I could even beat you ,” he’s smirking at him as he jabs a finger in his chest and while Tobio would typically want to jump his bones, he still does, but he also wants to make him eat those words.

Before he can open his mouth to retaliate, Oikawa cuts him off.

“Enough flirting you two, you’re gonna make my client sick,” Oikawa groans. “Go be gay at your own station, Sho!”

Giving Oikawa the bird as he sticks his tongue out, he takes Tobio’s wrist and leads him back to his station, patting his chair for Kageyama to sit down. The second he lets go of his wrist, he places his own hand over it as if to hold onto the warmth Hinata left behind.

He watches Kageyama, but says nothing about what he’s doing. Only tells him he’s going to put the daisies in some fresh water and Kageyama reminds him to wash the vase with soap and water.

Sighing, he relaxes back into the chair and stares up at the ceiling. It’s still early in the afternoon, but he’s already feeling exhausted from the rush he had this morning. He’d decided to take an early lunch in hopes of getting some energy back for the rest of his day. Hearing his stomach growling at the thought of food, he closes his eyes and wonders if Hinata wants to grab something to eat together.

Which is another habit they’ve formed. At the end of their street is a fairly new boba shop that has some of the best milk tea Kageyama has ever drank. Unsurprisingly, he first had it when he was bringing Hinata peonies. 

The light purple drink was sitting on Hinata’s station and when he asked him what it was, he shoved it in Kageyama’s face and forced him to try it. Drinking from the same straw from the guy he wanted to kiss more than anything was embarrassing, but knew that Hinata wasn’t going to take no for an answer. 

“That’s really good,” he blinked a few times, staring down at the cup. “Is it taro?” 

“Yeah! You can have the rest Kageyama, I have a client right now, so I won’t be able to finish it. Maybe we should get some together next time!” 

There was a faint pink that reminded Tobio of camellias dusting Hinata’s cheeks and all he could do was nod, a gentle smile on his face as he turned to leave with Hinata’s drink in hand. 

“What are you smiling about?” Hinata asks curiously as he comes back to his station, a freshly washed vase with daisies already in it. Kageyama opens his eyes slowly, blinking a few times as he sits up. He doesn’t miss how Hinata’s put just enough water in the vase like Kageyama showed him a couple months ago.

“Sunflowers,” he says easily, and Hinata gives him a confused look. Tobio doesn’t say anything else on the matter though. “Do you have time for lunch? I want boba and a muffin.”

They’ve long moved past the stages of Kageyama denying that he’s watching Hinata draw, but he feels as if he’s lingering much more this time in particular. Today, he chose to draw the dahlias. Their deep, rich, burgundy color drew him in for some reason and he got to work right away. Typically, when he comes over, he spends more time talking to Kageyama before getting started. Hinata got right to work today, maybe that’s why Kageyama is hovering so much? Not that Hinata minded, he really preferred when he stayed by his side as much as possible while he drew. 

While he did spend most of his nights texting or talking to Kageyama, he liked having him close in the mornings, too.

“I really like your art style,” Kageyama’s quiet voice fills his ears, but it’s his tone that has Shoyo stopping his movements. It’s different from how he’s heard it up until now. There’s a touch of sadness, like there’s something Kageyama isn’t saying. He looks up at him and frowns slightly, about to ask him if he’s okay when Kageyama suddenly shakes his head as if to will thoughts out of his head, dark hair falling over his eyes as he walks away.

Hinata resists the urge to reach out and grab him, make him come back so he can make him smile again.

As usual when the sun gets higher in the sky, the shop gets busier. As he finishes up, Shoyo feels as if just dashing out like he usually does wouldn’t feel right. Even if they’re going to text each other later, he wants to make sure Kageyama is okay right now. Nowhere to be found, Shoyo peaks his head into the back and finds Kageyama leaned against a shelf, staring down at his phone. It looks to be a picture of him and an older man, but he doesn’t get a good look before Kageyama is turning his screen off and looking up at him with eyes that still look too sad for his liking.

“I’m gonna head ba-”

“Can I see the dahlias?” he asks softly, cutting Hinata off. He doesn’t say anything more, just nods as he takes his sketchbook out of his bag and flips to the drawing he just finished before handing it over to Kageyama.

He stares at it for a moment, a sad smile on his face. There looks like there’s a thousand thoughts in his head, so many things he wants to say right now, but he just swallows thickly.

“Can I…” he hesitates, not able to look up at Hinata. “Can I keep this?” he asks, and Hinata’s face grows tender.

“So you do like what you see,” he says teasingly with a smile, ruffling Kageyama’s hair in an attempt to lighten the mood and hopefully get him to look a little less sad. The other man only scowls at him in response, but Hinata counts it as progress. He takes his sketchbook back to carefully tear the page out and hand Kageyama his drawing. Staring at it for a moment, there’s fondness replacing the sadness in his eyes and then he sets it down gently on the table before looking up at Hinata and pulling him into a warm hug.

They’ve never done this before, there really hasn’t been an occasion where they would have hugged up until now, but Shoyo wishes they’d done it months ago as he puts his arms securely around Kageyama’s waist and holds him in close. He imagines he’s pulling out all the sadness from Kageyama’s body with his embrace so he never has to see the upset look in his beautiful, blue eyes again.

“Thank you,” he whispers in a tone not unlike when he’s talking to his flowers after a moment and Hinata thinks he’s going to pull away, but he only holds him tighter.

Finally feeling a bit less jealous of Kageyama’s flowers, Shoyo wishes they could stay wrapped up in each other all day like this.

Honestly, Kageyama didn’t even mean to ask for the drawing. He figures that Hinata probably needed it for an upcoming tattoo and a part of him feels like maybe he should give it back. Another part of him, the more selfish part, says he wants to ask for his entire sketchbook to hold and cherish forever so this was just a small token to hold him over for now.

That night, Tobio places Hinata’s drawing on his nightstand next to the picture he has of his grandpa standing in front of his shop the first day it opened. He doesn’t stare at the photo too long, emotions climbing up his throat too quickly for his own liking. Instead, he takes one last glance at the drawing and rolls onto his back to stare at his ceiling as he allows his mind to drift to thoughts of Hinata.

Specifically how it felt to hold him close. 

Their bodies fit together perfectly, Kageyama could feel Hinata’s steady heartbeat against him. He expected his own to be racing at their closeness, but it seemed their hearts were beating in sync against each other. Hinata rubbed his back in a comforting way, smooth circles that allowed him to keep the tears that were moments from spilling over at bay. 

Hinata didn’t say anything, but his actions were more than enough. Kageyama was half afraid that when he pulled Hinata into his arms, he’d push him away or freeze him and awkwardly pat his back, but neither of those things happened. The way he melted into his arms and pulled him even closer felt like he was falling into a field of sunflowers. 

Surrounded by a level of comfort he hadn’t been around in a while, maybe ever. He was bad at making and keeping friends, as he’s gotten older, it’s gotten better, but he’s still not the best. Having Hinata nearby felt good, it felt like he fell into Kageyama’s life exactly when he was supposed to and not a day too soon.

The next day, he has to go pick up a few flowers he’s running low on, so he won’t be in his shop. 

He usually would be more excited about visiting Kita’s flower farm, but has he texts Daichi to remind him what time he'll be back so he can help him unload flowers and to send Asahi to complete the morning deliveries, he sort of wishes he weren't so far away from Hinata. Especially with their embrace still lingering on his skin. 

[7:22] daichi: you got it boss 

[7:22] daichi: tell kita i said hello

[7:31] kageyama: i’m telling suga

[7:32] daichi: wait! 

[7:32] daichi: i’m KIDDING

[7:45] daichi: KAGEYAMA TOBIO YOU DID NOT?????

“Kageyama-san? Something on your mind?” Kita's calm voice suddenly says, staring at him with a look that says he knows the answer, but was just asking to be polite. 

Tobio had been thinking of Hinata again, as most of his thoughts lead to these days. Typically, he and Kita have a lot to talk about, since they both love flowers, their conversations never run dry. The first time he visited the flower farm, Kita told him that his grandma introduced him to flowers and from then, they’ve always talked through his entire visit. He was almost always late coming back as they exchanged stories and caught up on life since their last visit. Today, Kageyama had hardly said two sentences to him. He felt sort of guilty, but he really didn’t know how to explain what he’s going through. He’s never felt like this about anyone before, he’d dated guys in the past, but feelings this strong have never come up.

“Sunflowers,” he says slowly, which is only a half lie. He’s here to pick up more sunflowers, among other things, today since he sold his last one yesterday, but he’s also thinking about his sunflower. His own little personal source of happiness that has him smiling more often than he has in his whole life.

Kita hums in acknowledgement, nodding as he loads the various flowers onto the truck, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead under the pressure from the steady rising summer sun. 

“They’re your favorites, right? What got you into flowers?” The question is casual, but he can tell from Kita’s tone that whatever he’s about to say will definitely be something he’ll be thinking about from now until forever. It’ll probably be so damn profound he won’t know what to say back. He nods, handing Kita another crate full of flowers.

After putting the crate into the truck, he turns to look at Kageyama, studying him for a moment. Tobio fights the urge to squirm under his gaze.

“What’s your favorite thing about them?” He asks after his search is over, though Kageyama has no idea what he was looking for. He doesn’t have to think at all about what his favorite thing about them is.

“How they follow the sunlight until night, then they wait for the sun to rise to do it all over again,” he says easily.

“That’s only the young ones though,” Kita says back, a gentle smile on his face. “Once they mature, they continue to face east all day, as if instead of being so enamored with the sun and waiting for her to rise, they want to watch the moon rise too. It’s almost like they’re waiting for her arrival instead, maybe they’ve spent their childhood learning to appreciate the beauty of the moon.”

Kageyama blinks a few times and Kita just laughs, eyes sparkling as he grabs another crate from beside him and loads it onto the truck.

“Just a thought, Kageyama, don’t get a stroke thinking about it! Now help me load your flowers, we’re almost done.”

Kageyama definitely doesn’t have the brain cells to absorb the impact of that “thought” right now, so he slowly starts moving his feet again, wondering when the pieces would come together.

Tobio has a love/hate relationship with summer. On one hand, it’s one of his busiest seasons, but on the other hand it’s so damn hot he feels like his skin is going to melt off just from walking across the street. He prays for just one damn cloud.

Hinata texted him the night before to ask if he wanted to try the new summer boba flavors Black Sugar was introducing today, so Kageyama was waiting for him to finish up his client at the front, sitting patiently in their waiting area.

He hears Hinata before he sees him, the familiar, bright laugh reaching his ears in a delightful way and he looks up in time to see his beaming smile. Their eyes meet for just a moment and Hinata’s smile seems to glow even brighter before looking back to his client. 

As he goes over the aftercare procedures and the client pays, Kageyama finally takes note of what Hinata is wearing.

It’s the first time he’s seeing his bare arms and even a glimpse of his bare torso since he’s wearing a tank top and it seems he has even more tattoos than Tobio realized. Every color under the rainbow paints the expanse of so much of Hinata’s tan skin, he even notices the different styles of art. Squinting, he even spots a small strawberry on his side, the only reason he notices it is because while most of his tattoos are in color, that one is just black and there’s nothing else near it.

After the client leaves, Hinata waves at him and gives him that special grin again.

“I’ll be ready in just a moment, let me grab my wallet!” he dashes to the back and Tobio stands, walking over to lean on the counter as he waits. When Hinata comes back, he has a frown on his face. “Maybe it’s back here,” he mumbles and turns around to dig into his messenger bag and Tobio stares at his back with saucer-like eyes.

Without realizing he’s even moving, Kageyama is on the other side of the counter, long fingers reaching out as he gently traces over the large sunflowers on his back near his shoulder.

“Pretty,” he whispers in a way he hasn’t since he was seven years old, sixteen years ago, and suddenly he realizes he’s touching Hinata’s warm skin and not an actual sunflower and he moves away, quickly jerking his hand back before stuttering out an apology.

Hinata catches his wrist before it can drop to his side, staring at him with an expression Kageyama has never seen before.

“Didn’t think you liked my tattoos,” his quiet voice has just the hint of teasing to it, moving just close enough to Tobio to have his already pink cheeks turn red. Is Hinata… flirting with him? His eyes catch sight of Hinata’s freckles that have only become more prominent under the summer sun and he thinks they’re too adorable for the sultry look in his friend’s eyes right now.

“Never said that,” he retorts, too stubborn to turn away from Hinata’s alluring gaze. “I’ll pay, don’t worry about your wallet,” Tobio says after not even a full second and averts his eyes away to look at the ground, unable to take anymore of… whatever the hell they were doing right now. 

“Does that make it a date?” Hinata grins, poking at his side as their intense moment fades and Kageyama swats his finger away.

“Shut up, dumbass, just come on before the line gets too long,” he mumbles and grabs his wrist to lead them out of the door. If Hinata saw the corners of his lips twitch up slightly, then he chooses not to make a comment.

Once they get in the line that is definitely longer than usual, Kageyama pulls up their Instagram so he can look at their seasonal drinks. He’s having trouble deciding, but when he turns to ask Hinata which one he’s getting, he notices that he’d never let go of his wrist. He slowly lets go in hopes of not making it awkward, already missing the weight in his hand. A small frown forms on Hinata’s face and he looks down between them in clear disappointment.

Kageyama doesn’t even know if Hinata knows he’s staring dead at him since they’re standing so close together that he has to look down further than usual to see him, so he quickly looks back at his phone to avoid being caught.

After Hinata looks away, he reaches over with the intention of taking his wrist again, but ends up feeling the back of his hand on his fingertips instead. Hinata doesn’t even look up, just laces their fingers together and squeezes gently.

What the fuck is going on?

“Kageyama, are you okay?” Hinata asks after they’ve gotten their drinks and found somewhere to sit. Luckily most people were getting their orders to go, so there were still tables available. Though it was hot, Hinata still opted for a place where he could look out the window and see Garden Dreams down the street.

Perhaps it was just a habit to sit and stare out of the window at the flower shop now.

At first he was sure that Kageyama was red because they were holding hands for the first time, usually they’d just drag each other around by their wrist or arm, but now he’s wondering if he’s actually overheated or something. His scowl is deeper than usual and he could barely get his order out. Aran had asked him to repeat it twice.

When Kageyama didn’t answer, he wasn’t sure if holding hands flustered him that much or if there was a chance he wanted to let go. Slowly, he let go of his hand the way Kageyama had let go of his wrist earlier without looking over. From the corner of this eye, he saw him glance in his direction before putting his hand into his lap, using his other hand to rub at his fingers. Turning his head to look a bit closer, he noticed Kageyama rubbing at his callouses.

Was he insecure about them?

“Kageyama,” Hinata said, ducking his head down so he could catch his eyes. Once he did, he smiled softly. “I like your hands.”

After staring at Hinata in confusion for a moment, he seems to realize what he was trying to say and turns his head away. Partly in embarrassment and partly to hide his smile.

“Whatever dumbass.”

Laughing, Hinata sits back up straight and decides not to push it anymore. They eat and drink in silence for a while, Hinata’s mind drifting to how Kageyama reached out and touched his sunflowers. Fingers delicately grazing his skin made his knees feel like they were about to give out and sent a chill down his spine in the most delicious way.

Hinata has always been the type to take what he wanted from this world, but he always felt he needed some sort of permission or sign first. With deciding to tattoo over being a traditional artist, it was the high praises from both of his best friends and even Ukai. 

Now, he feels like the past few months have been a series of signs that the boy sitting next to him was definitely into him too. Kageyama reaching out and touching the tattoo that he convinced Ukai himself to give him, a tattoo almost as special to him as his first one was definitely not by mistake, it’s his sign that it’s now or never.

“Are you still off tomorrow?” he asked, nudging Kageyama with his elbow.

“Yeah, you?” he answers back, clearly not knowing where this is going.

“Do you want to go to Sesoko beach? Maybe around 4? There’s this ice cream shop nearby we can go to afterwards, I think you’ll like it,” he suggests. He’s well aware there’s a chance Kageyama has been to the ice cream shop since he’s worked in the flower shop longer than Hinata’s lived in Okinawa, but it’s worth a shot.

Kageyama blinks at him before looking down at his milk tea, swirling the pearls at the bottom.

“If not, I guess I could have Oikawa set for me instead…” Kageyama immediately perked up at that, determination in his eyes as he glared at Hinata.

“My sets are better than Oikawa’s, I’ll show you tomorrow!” he said decidedly and Hinata grinned at him.

“And leave your wallet at home,” he winks, leaving Kageyama to stare at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks as he laughs at his cute expression.

That night, Hinata figures he shouldn’t stay up all night talking to Kageyama so he’s well rested for tomorrow. Instead he decides to send him a text to jab at him a bit.

[22:01] hinata: i still wanna beat you at volleyball

[22:05] kageyama: you’re too short

[22:06] hinata: we’ll see if you’re still talking shit after i beat you tomorrow!!!

[22:06] kageyama: you’re on shrimp!

As warm sand shifts beneath his bare feet, Kageyama figures that Hinata was right about two things. One, he was really good at volleyball since he did manage to beat Kageyama in their little “game” of one on one, if you could even call it that. Two, he does love the ice cream at this shop.

As they sit side by side with their thighs touching on the beach and ice cream in hand, watching as the sun dips lower and lower into the horizon, he wonders if he’s really on a date with Hinata or if they’re just hanging out as friends.

Damp, salty ocean air whirls around him much like the thoughts in his head that he’s been unable to stop thinking about since Hinata said “ and leave your wallet at home ”.

Which he didn’t because he had to pay for the train, but Hinata has still paid for everything. A part of him wonders if Hinata is just repaying the favor of him paying for their boba yesterday, but then he remembers the flirtatious “ does that make this a date? ”. So Tobio thinks this means that they’re supposed to be on a date, he’s almost sure of it, but in the event that he’s wrong he doesn’t know how he’d be able to deal with the disappointment. With the feeling of getting his hopes up for no reason after months of pining.

Amber eyes were shining happily in the evening sun as Hinata told him a story about the first time he had a late night adventure in Brazil with Oikawa. They’d snuck into a beach and went skinny dipping with a few of their other friends and he says there was a late night ice cream shop that he went to with Oikawa afterwards. 

“It was really good, but it’s not as good as this,” he hums as he takes another lick and Kageyama tries not to think about anything that would make him blush right now. Instead, Tobio thinks about how he finished his own ice cream half way through his story.

“What happened then?” Kageyama asked once Hinata went quiet for a moment, seemingly reliving the memory. He seems to do that a lot, and every single time Kageyama finds it more endearing.

“Oh!” he perks up then. “We went back to our apartment, freezing cold and still damp,” he laughs. “Then we drank a few beers and Oikawa kissed me, it was really weird and-” he stops abruptly, his brain finally catching up to his mouth as he stares at Kageyama in a mix of shock and horror at what he just said.

Tobio only hums in response, a small crease forming between his brows as his eyes drop down to his hands in his lap to avoid Hinata’s face. He doesn’t want to embarrass himself by looking too disappointed.

So maybe it wasn’t a date after all. He doesn’t have a ton of experience, but he knows bringing up past hook-ups feels less like a date and more like two friends hanging out on their day off. As the emotions are building up in his chest, he realizes he wasn’t able to stop his heart from being hopeful that this was finally his first date with Hinata.

Hinata reaches out and places a comforting palm on Tobio’s arm and he looks up slowly to apologetic round eyes.

“I haven’t been on a date since,” he blushes then, biting his lip nervously. “Well, it’s been a while. I’m kinda rusty. I just get really comfortable around you and then I talk too much, kinda like now... Sorry, Kageyama,” he explains nervously, eyes conveying that he really didn’t mean to say that.

“What?” is all Kageyama can manage.

“About Oikawa, it was a one time thing because him and Iwaizumi broke up over something stupid and he was just really upset and-” Kageyama feels like his ears are slow to catch up what Hinata is saying, but he’s sure that he caught the word “ date ” and the phrase “ comfortable around you ”. He’s also sure that Hinata is trying his best to soothe his doubts right now and it’s making him want to kiss him more than he ever has before. 

So he does.

Tobio leans over, capturing Hinata’s sweet lips in one swift motion.

One hand reaches up to cup Hinata’s soft cheek, pulling them as close together as they’ll go as their lips move against each other almost cautiously. Everything about it is gentle and asking the other for permission, asking if this moment is really okay. Feeling as if he wants to make the first move for once in his life, Kageyama presses in more, parting his lips and Hinata takes the bait as his tongue snakes into his mouth.

So that’s what his piercing feels like against his tongue. He definitely wants to do this again. At least 100 more times tonight alone.

They’re both breathing a little heavier as they pull away, Kageyama not moving the hand he’d placed on Hinata’s cheek yet. He studies his face for a moment. The way his lips are slightly parted and glossy and his freckled cheeks are tinted pink, the way his amber eyes are staring back at him with a little shock blending in with the overwhelming joy there.

Seeing Hinata reach an even higher level of beauty gives Tobio the urge to experience every expression the beautiful man in front of him is willing to give.

When they’re walking back towards the bridge to go back into Okinawa and to the train station where they’ll part ways for the night, Shoyo can’t help but swing their arms a bit as they walk. Under the brilliant full moon and the smell of the ocean surrounding him, he feels that the kiss he shared with Kageyama has finally begun to quell that burning in his heart.

He’ll need at least two million more kisses to put it out completely.

Kageyama looks down at their swinging hands and snorts fondly with a smile.

“You seem happy,” he smirks and Hinata pulls him in closer, kissing the back of Kageyama’s hand and making him blush.

“So do you,” he smiles up at him and Kageyama only hums.

“Are you going to be okay on the train this late?” Kageyama asks as he eyes the train station up ahead. Shoyo suspects he’s not ready to say goodbye yet and neither is he, but he knows sleep is the last thing he’d be doing if he invites Kageyama over to his place.

“I’ll be fine, Bakageyama, the moonlight will lead me home,” he grins and Kageyama stops, staring at Hinata with an unreadable expression. Shoyo can tell the gears in his mind are trying to put together some puzzle he can’t see. He can practically hear them.

“Moonlight?” He repeats slowly and Hinata squints at him, not sure what’s going on, but he’s curious to what he’s thinking about.

“Yeah,” Shoyo starts slowly, taking Kageyama’s other hand and pulling him a little closer as he looks into deep blue eyes that he recalls took him three months to get the courage to see up close. Now that he has them here, he doesn’t want them any further than this. “What are you thinking about?”

“Sunflowers,” Kageyama is giving Hinata a smile he’s never seen before, as if he’s holding onto a secret he’s not letting him in on anytime soon. 

That night when Shoyo can’t sleep, he sends Kageyama a drawing of a full moon over an ocean, a single sunflower floating in it’s calm waves.

every night i wait for the moon

for a moment alone with you

h.s