300,000,000 m/s ; mutual pining & pre-relationship ; word count: 747 + 92
Kuroo flicks the light switch off and comes out of your restroom to be welcomed by your apartment turned into a void. The yellow light coming from the street lamps, through the curtains helps him saunter his way back to the couch, avoiding getting swallowed by pitch black darkness.
Upon entering the living room he spots the one source of light in the room coming from your handheld. โDidnโt a responsible adult in your life tell you itโs bad for your eyes to do that?โ Referring to your habit of playing video games in the dark. The myriad of colors reflecting on your face as you keep your focus on the quest at hand. โThey did, I just didn't listen.โ
Playing in the dark feels more personal, with a hint of coziness and a helpful nudge to reduce your electric bill.
He follows you on the couch with his phone screen lighting up his face; you eye him from the corner of your eye and wonder how he doesn't seem to have any bad angle, not even with bad lighting he always manages to lookโ
The sky lights up in a blinding light, the brightness capable of briefly lighting up every single corner in your living room. As it has always been said: Light travels faster than anything, including sound and so the brighter a thunder seems, the closer it will strike.
Next thing, Kuroo quickly tackles you, leaving his phone and your handheld dropped somewhere on the floor and laying both of you horizontally on the couch and holding your body close to him in a protective manner. His body shields yours from the rumbling windows the thunder strike left until once again the sound of the pouring rain and far away thunders are all that surrounds you.
You notice how easy it could be to wrap your arms around his body to hug him and it would be a lie to say you haven't thought about doing that before.
โWhat are you doing?โ Your breath hitting his ear makes his heart almost stop. โI ... donโt know.โ Both of you talk in whispers, as if any of you could break anything in the room if you dared to speak at a usual volume.
โWhat do you mean you donโt know?โ He truly doesn't. His body moved swiftly the moment he caught the frightened look in your eyes when you saw the light from the upcoming thunder.
He lifts himself just enough to support his weight on his forearm, catching your eyes glancing briefly to the muscle revealed by the sleeve of his shirt that rode up with the movement. โWell, aren't you afraid of thunderstorms?โ
Never has he ever been more thankful that the lights were off, because otherwise you would have noticed the flush across his cheeks and the tips of his ears and probably would have made fun of him for being so corny. โNot thunderstorms in general, but when they strike close to where I am it gets a bit scary.โ
โThere. I'm protecting you.โ Kurooโs soft smile hides the worries within him; that he might have done something wrong, might have crossed a line without ever meaning to.
Shifting slightly on the couch, you make room for him to lay comfortably by your side and once again he follows, โWell, thank you. It feels nice.โ A warm feeling fills his chest at realizing this is the closest he has ever been to you; so close he can feel your breath meeting his chin. โDid it strike 3 km away from here?โ
โI would say 1 km to the west.โ Kuroo's own lips stretch into grin mirroring yours. The same smile that effortlessly makes his heart almost burst out of his chest, he also wonders if you can tell by the close gap between you.
โHow are you gonna determine the direction just from the sound?โ The sound of the rain might be liked by many people all around, but he finds your laughter to be a tough contender for his favorite sound.
โHey, don't question my methods.โ Kuroo takes one finger to poke at your side, prodding more laughter to fall from your lips.
Like the photograph that encapsules a moment freezed in time, neither of you make any move to change, neither the position nor the closeness you are apart. Both of you wondering when are you going to act on your feelings, unaware the other is thinking the same thing.
Fun fact: you can estimate how far a lightning struck if you take the time it took since you saw the lightningโbecause the speed of light is so fast you could "consider" it instantaneousโuntil you hear the strike and multiply it by the velocity of sound in air (roughly 343 m/s in 20 ยฐC). Or if you want to express it in km/s, given that 0.343 km/s could be rounded to 1/3, you can just divide the time you got by 3 and you are done !! ^_^
My hope for whoever is reading this is that your life starts making sense and coming together. I hope the good days are right around the corner for you.
Iโm thinking about ending my only irl friendship
A little more insight
Me and J have been friends for about 9 years. The first few years everything was good we used to hang around whenever possible, with kids or without since she is also a mom. Until we didnโt. Last year I only saw her once, this year she came to see me for about an hour and that has been it. She got a job now and I understand completely sometimes our schedules donโt align, so itโs hard to see each other. Well at least thatโs what I used to thinkโฆ
About 3 or so years ago I was going through some relationship issues and I went to her for comfort, she dropped everything and came to be with me. She listened to me and I cried my heart out to her. A couple of weeks went by and she invited me to a family gathering, I went to yk have a good time to forget about things for a little. But I ended up being the main topic everyone was talking about. Her family knew everything I had told her , I was mocked by a few of her family members. They knew things they shouldnโt because she went and told everyone.
Prior to this she wasnโt hanging out with me anymore. Claiming sheโs always busy. My txts go unanswered sometimes, only to receive an apology about how she forgot because yk mom life and all. I let it go like that for years. But now I think Iโm done with all of that.
She hits me up only when something is going on with her and I answer. Always. Then she disappears. She pops up randomly with a gift and promises to make time for me. And Iโm trying to convince myself that is not jealousy Iโm feeling over her other friends, because she goes out to concerts and does other things with them but there never seems to be time for me.
I think is best for me to let this one go, I donโt think is a healthy friendship for me anymore.
Togame was in the lead for a while but it looks like Aki took the lead overnight. Quite possibly the only time Aki will take the lead when it comes to sex skskskskkdkskf
