#893

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 look—

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.

“What are you doing?” Your breath hitting his ear makes his heart almost stop. “I ... don’t know.” 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.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” 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. “Well, aren't you afraid of thunderstorms?”

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. “Not thunderstorms in general, but when they strike close to where I am it gets a bit scary.”

“There. I'm protecting you.” Kuroo’s 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, “Well, thank you. It feels nice.” 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. “Did it strike 3 km away from here?”

“I would say 1 km to the west.” 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.

“How are you gonna determine the direction just from the sound?” 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.

“Hey, don't question my methods.” 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.