come trick-or-treat in my inbox requesting ficcies and I’ll either treat you to some fluff or humor or trick you with a horribly twisted sad AU (I’ll use a random generator to pick trick or treat)
send me “trick or treat” and a character(s) or ship in my inbox and I’ll write you a short little thing (I’ll be doing these all of October so send away!)
trick (1k so it’s under a cut)
Thunder crashes and Asahi looks up from his desk with a frown. The storm is a powerful one, to be able to be heard so clearly from all the way inside the library, almost unnatural in it’s ferocity. He finishes checking in the small pile of books next to him and wanders off to reshelve them. The rain has kept most of the people away today other than the handful that used the drop box to return their books and he’s almost starting to feel a little lonely as closing time creeps closer and closer.
The lights flicker in warning and a moment later he hears the old wooden doors of the library creak open, the sound of the storm raging outside nearly overwhelming in the quiet of the library before the doors swing shut.
He finishes putting away the books in his hand and is wandering towards the front desk when he hears the small bell on his desk chiming through the building.
“I’ll be right there,” he calls softly, knowing his voice will carry up to the desk.
“No rush,” a familiar voice calls back.
He can’t keep the smile off his face as he rounds the last aisle and spots the man leaning against his desk.
“Hello, Sousuke.”
“Hey, Asahi.” Thunder crashes again and Sousuke frowns. “Sure is a heck of a storm going on out there.”
The lights flicker and something deep in the library grumbles and growls. Asahi smiles when Sousuke looks towards the aisles.
“Some of the old vents and air circulation units get a bit tetchy during storms,” he explains as he leans against the desk beside Sousuke. “So what brings you here tonight? No Rin or Momo to keep you company?”
“Nah. They’re busy with some project. I was running some errands and thought I’d take shelter here for a few minutes.”
“Well I’m always happy to have some company.”
They make small talk, Sousuke trailing after him as he reshelves the rest of the books, and before he knows it he only has one book left and the deep floor shaking chime signaling the building is closed and locked for the night almost startles him when it goes off.
“Did you need me to leave while you finish up?”
“Always asking me such silly questions.” Asahi shakes his head with a smile. “No I only have this last book and then I’ll be done.” He leads Sousuke deeper into the library, passing aisle after aisle after aisle.
“I didn’t realize the library was this big.” Sousuke is looking over his shoulder towards the front of the library, Asahi’s desk barely even visible in the distance.
“Oh there’s a lot about this library that people don’t know.”
The bookshelves are larger in this part of the library. Older. Made of rough hewn wood with wicked looking splinters jutting out at every angle and filled with leather bound tomes.
Sousuke gulps as he tilts his head back to try and see the top of the shelves. The shadows grow deeper and deeper the longer they walk and this time when he looks over his shoulder he can’t even see the bright lights of the main part of the library. The floors seem to vibrate under his feet, a deep almost subsonic rumble that he feels in his bones more than anything else.
“Asahi?”
“We’ll be there in a jiffy,” Asahi murmurs. Something high over their heads shifts and a stale breeze ruffles their hair. “Did you know that I’ve been the librarian here since I was seventeen?”
Sousuke shakes his head. “Uh. No. Do you like being the librarian?”
Asahi lets out a little laugh. “I never really wanted to be the librarian,” he admits. “It’s a lonely job. Taking care of this old place. But the benefits start to make up for it. For the most part.” He looks over his shoulder and grins. “Still gets pretty lonely.”
“Good thing you have someone like me to come keep you company then, huh?”
Asahi’s grin grows. “Oh very much so.”
The shadows are so deep now they almost seem to pulse at the edge of his vision. Chittering comes from their left and a shiver runs down Sousuke’s spine. He walks just a little closer to Asahi.
“Asahi,” he asks again.
Light in the distance flickers as the sound of their footsteps seems to be swallowed by darkness around them.
“Almost there,” Asahi’s voice is so soft Sousuke has to strain to hear it.
Suddenly they’re stepping out of the darkness and into a long room. Instead of the impossibly high shelves they had been walking past the room is filled with waist high podiums. Each as empty as the next. Asahi walks over to one a few feet from the door and carefully sets the book he’s been carrying on the top of it. The entire rooms seems to shiver and shudder, the walls shifting and stretching, and Sousuke stares as the book… dissolves? After a minute the room stills and he watches a gold plate appear on the podium, words scratched onto it in a language he’s never seen before.
“What?”
“Humans,” Asahi says, fingers running along the top of the podium. “Are fascinating. The stories they tell. The worlds they create. The knowledge they carry with them from birth to death. Absolutely fascinating.” Asahi’s eyes meet his and Sousuke shivers. “Libraries are fascinating too, if you stop and think about it. All that knowledge, all those stories, all those worlds. Collected and categorized and catalogued. Knowledge is power,” he says softly. “And librarians, well.”
He chuckles in a way that makes Sousuke’s stomach drop as he remembers something Asahi said.
“You said you’ve been the librarian since you were seventeen.”
Asahi’s eyes light up. “I did. You were listening!”
“I was. So. Um.”
“Ask.”
“How old are you?”
“Very old.”
“What… what is this place?”
“The library.”
“Is it… alive?”
Asahi’s grin turns wicked. “Do you want to find out?”
“Can I object? I’m going to even if you say I can’t, but it’d be nice to know.” - AsaSou
So. Uh. This took a turn. :D
“Can I object?” Sousuke doesn’t wait for an answer before he continues. “You know what, I’m going to even if you say I can’t. It’d just be nice to know.” Asahi sighs, long and low, used to Sousuke being a contrary.
“You said you needed a roommate,” he reminds Sousuke, “what is there to object?”
“Well,” Sousuke replies, pointing directly at his new roommate’s face, “he’s just as fluffy as Rin, and looks about a hundred times more wily and conniving. I do not have the energy for that. Makoto does more than cover my wily and conniving monthly quota.”
“Seriously Asa-chan? This is the salt lick I’m moving in with?” Asahi runs a hand over his face. This wasn’t going to end well.
“Yamazaki Sousuke, meet Oikawa Tooru. You both need roommates, and this is the easiest, most convenient, and affordable option. Take it or leave it. Happy travels!” Asahi doesn’t stick around for the fall out, opting to flee the scene of the potential crime before it takes place.
He doesn’t make it too far down the block before his phone starts ringing.
“Asahi,” Sousuke’s voice sounds gruff and in any other circumstance Asahi would find it ridiculously sexy. Right now, it sounds lethal. He can hear crashing and banging in the background. Oikawa’s making himself well at home, then.
“Yes, dear?”
“He will not survive the night, I swear to god. He’s rearranged the kitchen and keeps chirping happily at someone called ‘Dai-chan’ and I really don’t want to know who it is that can handle that much fucking sunshine in one sitting.”
“That sounds a lot like not my problem.”
“I can make it your problem.”
“He’s responsible, neat, practical, and quite pretty in the right light. How do you already have a problem with him?”
“He called me a salt lick, Asahi.”
“Well, he’s not wrong.” Asahi hears Sousuke growl before he hangs up. For a brief moment, Asahi contemplates going back for damage control. In the end, he decides against it. His boyfriend was just going to have to deal with this one on his own.
He’s back in his dorm room barely an hour when there’s a pounding on his door. He answers to a disgruntled and exhausted Sousuke.
“I’m crashing here. I don’t care that it’s technically against your dorm’s policy.” Sousuke pushes past him and flops unceremoniously onto Asahi’s bed.
He knew introducing Oikawa to Sousuke was bound to cause friction, he just didn’t anticipate Sousuke vacating his home. Asahi moves to sit at the foot of his bed, back against the wall. Sousuke spins around to lay his head in Asahi’s lap, humming a pleased little hum as Asahi runs his fingers through Sousuke’s short hair.
“Move in with me,” Sousuke says low, looking straight up at Asahi.
“You have a new roommate already,” Asahi reminds him.
“Yeah, and I’m gonna need you to stop me from killing him.” Asahi snorts a short laugh before contemplating Sousuke’s words.
“Okay. Okay, I’ll move in. If only to save you from a murder charge.” Sousuke’s answering smile sends a rush of heat straight up Asahi’s spine. Sousuke sits up to cup the nape of Asahi’s neck before leaning in for a kiss - a kiss marking the next time in their bright future.
“In all honesty, I didn’t think you’d go through with it, so it’s both of our faults.” - AsaHaru because I simply cannot get enough of them.
have a thing?
Asahi sighs and leans against Haru’s back, shifting on the ground a bit to try to work out some of the numbness in his lower half. Haru pushes back against Asahi with a growl. Clearly someone isn’t pleased by the situation. Asahi sighs again.
“In all honesty,” he states, “I didn’t think you’d go through with it. So, really, it’s both of our faults.”
Haru stiffens and cranes his neck to glare over his shoulder. Not that Asahi can really see him, what with the whole being back to back and all, but he can feel that glare through every tense muscle in Haru’s back and the careful steady breaths he’s taking.
“I am in no way to blame for this Azumane.”
“Oh. Ouch.” Asahi makes a pained noise. “Family name. I guess I really ticked you off huh, little bird?”
“Calling me that is in no way conducive to me not throttling you the moment my hands are free. You realize this, right?”
Asahi shrugs. He figures he’ll take care of that obstacle when he gets to it. Haru’s never stayed mad at him longer than a few days and even if he does hold out for more than that Asahi knows a few ways to weasel his way back into Haru’s good graces; one of which costs him no more than a blush and a grin as he listens to Suga scold him almost playfully for a few minutes. What he’s a little more concerned about right now is the fact that Sousuke still hasn’t come back yet. And that his fingers are going a little numb. But mostly the fact that Sousuke’s not back.
Then the apartment door opens and closes and Sousuke comes back into the living room and Asahi kind of wishes Sousuke had stayed away maybe just a teensy bit longer.
“If I start apologizing now will it help any?” Asahi gives the best sheepish look he can to Sousuke. He even blinks imploringly a couple times.
It doesn’t make Sousuke’s resting bitch face any less bitchy. In fact it seems to turn the severity up a couple of notches. So he drops his gaze and makes a disgruntled face at the floor.
“Will you untie me since I didn’t do anything,” Haru asks petulantly from behind Asahi.
Sousuke raises his brows and leans against the doorway with his arms crossed. It would be menacing if Asahi hadn’t spent last week watching romcoms with Sousuke while he growled and grumbled about his poor choice in romantic partners and Asahi soothingly patted his arm and ran his hand through Sousuke’s hair.
“What part of ‘if you ever break into my apartment again I will tie you up and leave you to starve’ makes you think I’ll untie you?”
“The part where it was Azumane’s idea?” Okay. Wow. He knows he irritated Haru but he didn’t think Haru would throw him under the bus quite that easily. “The part where you don’t want me anywhere in the vicinity of your apartment anymore than I ever generally want to be in the vicinity of your apartment?”
The or near you is unspoken but Asahi still cringes at it, he knows how much the strained relationship Sousuke and Haru have eats at Haru sometimes; especially since this latest partner of Sousuke’s hadn’t exactly been Haru’s biggest fan. Sousuke doesn’t cringe but Asahi can see his jaw tense just before he swallows hard.
And maybe gets the slightest flush on his cheeks?
Nearly a decade and a half of friendship with Suga has Asahi’s mind twirling through possible scenarios and outcomes. Some of which are the reason he starts blushing when Sousuke suddenly narrows his eyes and looks at Asahi contemplatively.
“So despite my warning of what I would do if you tried the whole breaking into my apartment thing again, you still went and did it? What are you up to Azumane?”
“Um.” Asahi gulps and glances away from Sousuke’s eyes. The carpet near his knee is rather fascinating today as he tries not to be super aware of Sousuke walking towards him or the wriggle of Haru’s fingers against his own where their bound hands are pressed together behind their backs.
Sousuke crouches down in front of Asahi and tugs at the rope that’s wrapped around his and Haru’s chests.
“Asahi?” Sousuke tilts his head down and Asahi never forgets how Sousuke looks with his bangs falling into his face ever so slightly - he hasn’t had time for a haircut in a couple months - but somehow it always catches him off guard when Sousuke looks up at him through them. He’s not sure what he’s planning on saying when Sousuke glances past him to Haru and he can finally open his mouth and respond but it’s lost when Haru sighs deeply and throws him under the bus. Again.
“He wants to make sure you’re okay. Because Asahi has a giant crush on you,” Haru states calmly and Asahi decides he’s lucky they’re tied up because he is suddenly very tempted to throw Haru off of Sousuke’s third floor apartment balcony. Preferably into the dumpster below it.
“Haru has had a crush on you for three years,” Asahi blurts out when Sousuke’s eyes snap back to him.
Haru stiffens behind him and Asahi won’t be surprised if there is bloodshed when Sousuke finally lets them free.
“Traitor,” Haru hisses.
“You started it,” Asahi bites out in response.
“I’m not the one who needed to force someone into coming over to my crush’s apartment with me so I can try to avoid drooling over him.”
“No. You’re just the one who has been pining for him for three years and too chicken to do anything.”
Asahi does not like doing this. Doesn’t like digging into Haru’s secrets and throwing them out like this. But if he was going to fight dirty then Asahi wasn’t about to let him just get away with it.
They’re still grumbling at each other when Sousuke suddenly stands and drags a hand down his face.
“I’m going to bed. We’ll talk about all this in the morning. If you manage to get out of the ropes you know where the extra blankets are. Or the door. Your choice.” With that he leaves them in the middle of his living room grumbling about stupid friends and stupid crushes and hating when Rin was right about anything.
Asahi and Sousuke love their friends dearly, they really do. But sometimes life would be a little easier if their friends would just let them do things at their own pace. (Their friends, naturally, believe that a snail's pace would be faster than what they're doing now and are of the opinion that they need to be nudged a little.)
for @cattatonically who did the thing where they said a few things and then let me run away with the idea. and I ran with it. for 3700 words.
3700 words, rating T (for some language)
AsaSou with assorted crossover pairings in the background
come trick-or-treat in my inbox requesting ficcies and I’ll either treat you to some fluff or humor or trick you with a horribly twisted sad AU (I’ll use a random generator to pick trick or treat)
TRICK
Sousuke can’t help but stare as Asahi drifts past him on a cloud of contentment - aka as the souls of the twice-damned for those in the know like he is. But not because of the wisps around Asahi’s feet or the feeling of danger in the air. Nope. He’s staring because Asahi’s hair is moving. All on it’s own. Somehow.
Asahi freezes when Sousuke steps on a small branch hidden in the shadows and, yep, his hair is definitely moving on it’s own.
“Who’s there?” Asahi peers into the darkness of the forest, eyes focusing on something a few yards to Sousuke’s left. “Show yourself.” Asahi does a fairly decent job of sounding incredibly intimidating and he certainly carves a frightening figure in the middle of the enchanted clearing with his eyes glowing unnaturally and his hair curling and drifting around without a single breath of a breeze to help.
But Sousuke knows better. He’s heard all the rumors and done a fair share of fact finding about this particular man. Or what was left of him anyway.
He watches for a minute longer until Asahi starts to relax a touch and then slips out of the shadows. He knows the frightening picture he makes when he does it. All oozing darkness and rippling shadows. Which is why he expects Asahi’s yelp of surprise. He doesn’t expect the punch that Asahi throws at him but he manages to just barely dodge it anyway.
“Sousuke,” Asahi breathes out, hand pressing to his chest as if to still the rapid beating of a heart Sousuke isn’t entirely sure he even has anymore. Some of the details of his fact finding were a little fuzzy after all.
Sousuke smiles his sharpest smile. Asahi smiles back in confusion.
“You, uh,” Sousuke gestures to the bun of hair on the top of Asahi’s head, “you have a little something going on up there.”
Asahi reaches up slowly, like he thinks Sousuke is playing some sort of trick on him. When his fingers land on whatever bizarre striped thing is in his hair he doesn’t startle like Sousuke expects him to. Instead his face lights up and he gasps happily.
“Lulu there you are!”
Sousuke watches in awe as a huge snake slowly unravels itself from Asahi’s hair and winds it’s way down to Asahi’s shoulder. He prides himself on the fact he doesn’t take a step back when the snake rears up and stares him down.
“Is it dangerous?” He asks as Asahi runs his fingers along the snake.
“Oh no. Lulu isn’t dangerous at all. Are you sweetie?” He coos at the snake. “It’s Oodle and Noodle you have to be careful of.”
“Oodle and Noodle?” Something rustles in the darkness behind him. He glances over his shoulder into the shadows and can see something moving but can’t seem to pin it down.
“Yeah.” Asahi’s smile has a dangerous edge to it. “They like to play with their food.”
