floating

friendship

hawks and bao had been laying side by side for at least 2 hours by now, just staring at the sky. often they made jokes, or asked each other stupid questions. they just had fun, taking their sweet time getting to know each other.

this is nice for hawks, not often did he meet someone who took his mind off his challenging career, or that he could talk so freely with. most people got annoyed with his antics or shut his playful flirting down, but bao didnt do that. they laughed at his jokes, played along with the flirting. it was a nice and fun change of pace.

for bao, this was also fun. it was confusing as well though; why was the number two pro-hero spending his free time with them. it was fun because they actually had something to look forward to in the day, something to wake up for, something they actually enjoyed to pass the time. hawks was fun to hang out with, his lenient personality combined with his seriousness in genuine conversations was nice. bao knew that when they met hawks there would be serious things discussed, but they'd also fuck around and get to know each other.

currently though, it was just silence; both individuals enjoying the others company. they laid on bao's blanket, half of it folded to lay on top of bao and partly hawks, he wanted to give them plenty of room. hawks' wings lay folded beneath him; not the most comfortable thing in the world but better than bao laying on them. while for others this silence may be uncomfortable or just a transition to the next topic, but for the two it was just relaxing. the constant talking for the past few hours was straining on bao's throat and hawks had a long day of work beforehand. so they laid, comfortable, feeling the heat radiate off the other in contrast to the cold air surrounding them.

"shouldn't you get back home?" bao asked, confused why he was staying so long, it was already past midnight.

"i have today off, so i can stay as long as we'd like."

bao was appreciative that hawks had taken their judgment into mind; 'we', he agreed to leave if bao wanted with just a simple change in words. it also showed that he'd like to stay if possible, a gentle reassurance that being here wasn't a burden.

"okay," bao spoke, and then more silence.

bao shifted their head as they heard shifting in the blanket, curious as to what hawks was doing. when they glanced over, they noticed him taking off his jacket and gloves, wiggling his fingers now that they didn't have any restriction. while he was seated upwards, he stretched out his wings and ruffled the feathers before tucking them back in. hawks set down his jacket beside him, ruffled his hair, and laid back down, not bothering to recover himself with the comforter.

"aren't you cold?" bao asked, still watching hawks' face.

he shrugged as best he could for laying down, "no, kinda hot to be honest. the air feels nice, i've been in that stuffy jacket all day."

bao chuckled, "thats understandable."

they turned their hand back forward, watching the stars twinkle as their vision followed an airplane slowly passing above. they didnt notice hawks turn his head, now watching bao as bao had done to him.

he noticed the way their hair now fell out of their face, usually covering their eyes and most of their features; it was amusing to hawks to watch bao shove their hair out of their face only for it to fall right back. bao had dark violet hair, seeming black in low lighting but the small bulb on the side of the building made the purple undertones visible. hawks took note of their smaller, arched nosebridge, their semi-deepset brown eyes. their eyebrows had been cut off at the tails, without makeup they looked like rectangles. he noticed the smudged eyeliner that hadn't been washed off in most likely days, they way their mouth parted slightly and the small puffs of air that escaped, the way bao's upper lip was slightly larger than their bottom one. he saw a scar under bao's eyebrow that he hadnt noticed previously, curious as to where it came from.

he slightly panicked when bao's head turned, he quickly shifted his vision to the sky, acting as though he hadnt just stared at bao for possibly an uncomfortable amount of time.

"keigo?"

"yeah?" he turned his head again, making eye contact with bao.

"are we friends?"

bao's question caught him off guard, that's certainly not what he was expecting.

"yeah, if you want us to be," he quickly covered up his slight confusion. he had just assumed they were friends, why did bao need to ask?

"yes, i do."

"well, in that case, we're friends."

there was pause, bao's gaze shifting between hawks' eyes.

"cool." they shifted their gaze back to the sky. this time though, hawks noticed a small smile on bao's face. he too smiled, turning his head back to the dark sky.