blue lights || bokuaka

prices

It's a Tuesday afternoon, and Akaashi is the only one working in the shop today.

The day was almost over, the sun setting and letting a dark halcyon through the windows, soft shadows from the flowers cast against the hardwood. Roses perfume the air, from where Akaashi cut their stems recently and let them sit in a small bucket of water, reminding him of the spring back home.

He was waiting for Kuroo's shift to be over so they could go home together, like they usually did on Tuesdays. Akaashi worked overtime to accommodate Kuroo's schedule for today, wasting time by periodically turning the vases a certain way or listening to the peonies hum a different tune than yesterday.

Not that he minded.

His head is filled with the next adventure, as he sits on a stool and watches his fingers carefully step across the maplewood counter he was behind, pretending he was skipping over flat grey stones instead, trying to avoid the rushing ice water at his feet. He imagines that the waterfall near him is loud, blaring against his ears and blocking out all of his stresses, letting adrenaline flow into his bloodstream rather than the worries of due dates and midterms.

He was almost to the other side.

Almost, almost .

The door opens and the bell dings softly, almost apologetically, letting in the gentle heat of summer and the urgent call of bush warblers for a moment, a wind that felt heavy riding on the balmy warmth the season brought.

The breeze steps on the toes of familiar canvas shoes and through a yellow hoodie, a scent of latex and soap that was not supposed to have a scent, but did anyway.

Akaashi is picking lavender flowers from a field in Norweiga, having just crossed the stream, a purple pearl dust on his palms, before whoever is at the door calls for his attention with a silent shout of their presence.

"Welcome." He says out loud, letting his fingers fall onto the maplewood so he could work, his dreams and his hands flat against the table, waiting to be delved into again.

Akaashi looks up, and finds Bokuto Koutarou staring at a display.

The world stops spinning for a moment, and Akaashi feels his thoughts collide with each other.

He silently wonders if the universe was giving him a blessing or a curse for this, allowing him to really look at Bokuto in natural light.

Akaashi didn't really stare at anyone for too long, because he always felt like a creep when he did. He always felt like he would find out too much by accident. But his eyes were drawn to Bokuto in a way where he felt like he had to, taking in every curve and soft edge of his face to see what he was truly made of.

He was breathtaking, really, but everyone must have known that.

There was something about him that reminded Akaashi of the sky, beautiful, colorful gradients that changed over time, that held something new with each passing day. The sun made a home in his smile while the stars flickered behind his eyes before a race, his head often sat on the moon as he seemed to be everywhere at once sometimes.

Akaashi had only seen Bokuto's daybreaks and afternoons, but he feels like his dusks and dawns were just as beautiful as he imagined.

He watches as Bokuto tilts his head as he peers into the stamen of the gardenias near the window, curiosity practically dripping from his eyes and onto the petals. The golden sheen of sunlight seeps into his skin, decorating his hair in marigolds as he watches the flowers wave back at him within the small draft coming from the vent.

Akaashi forces himself to stop thinking so much about a guy he only spoke to twice. He wasn't sure if he should be annoyed at the intrusion of Bokuto particularly or not.