[ Kuroo is a couple houses away, but he crows it like a rowdy teenager, no longer bothering to ask questions like how could I have heard Kenma's quiet mumbling from this far away when the answer is and always will be: magic shenanigans. There's a lot of new unexplained qualities to their relationship, but Kuroo has always been curious about the magical world and so they really don't bother him. It helps him keep an eye on Kenma, too, so it's not that bad.
He fidgets as he approaches, something he's never really done before, but now he has a thin crescent scar down the palm of his hand that seems to reign him back in when he gets too caught up in thinking this is cool or fun or whatever.
That night was scary and difficult, but things have been creeping toward getting better every time, and now Kenma is on his feet again and looking much improved than he had two weeks ago even if he's not entirely fixed yet. This is good, and now maybe Kuroo can assess the result of his stupidity and apologize to Kenma's face instead of whispering it across whatever magic is bonding them together in the tentative moments when Kenma is almost asleep, and Kuroo is curled up half on his chest, massive paw flung across his chest to keep his promise and keep him safe.
Kuroo's family haven't clocked on, or if they have they haven't said anything. Kuroo thought his mother might have seen the seal burned into his stomach when Kuroo got careless with not wearing a shirt when he came downstairs, but she just smiled at him and asked what he wanted for breakfast. The seal is getting lighter and lighter every day now, Kuroo wondered at first if that meant it was getting weaker.. but when he starts to get sleepy in his own bed he can feel claws creeping around the wall he's built between himself and the monster living inside him. That's when he lets the change happen, and clambers out of the window, down onto the pantry roof, and down the street to do the same in reverse and let himself into Kenma's room.
He comes to Kenma's side, and smiles just like he always does, like there's nothing wrong and this is just another normal day. ]
You're out of bed! I honestly thought I was going to have to come inside and drag you out by your ankles. Full of energy today, then?
[Kenma refrains from saying 'better not' in reply because socially avoidant doesn't equate to socially stupid; he watches people and most of all Kuroo, and knows how that kind of a comment would sting. Instead he squints up at him through a rather mild expression and says, ] I want to go back to bed.
[ It's true even if it's totally out of the question. Unplanned but on point, he yawns and it's the kind of yawn that makes you wince because you can hear something crack. After the night of Kuroo's change, he's had quite enough of bones cracking or making any sound at all. It makes him queasy. Making a mumbled 'ugh' more or less, he raises his hands to his face to rub the heels of his palms into his closed eyes.
Calm down, he tells himself, and unconsciously his magic reaches out not to do anything but towards Kuroo and, when it comes up against the magic in him or the magic of what's been done to him, it settles a little. Something about Kuroo's presence is stabilizing for him, and while that's been true forever it's different feeling now in a way he can't articulate. And he's never been as grateful as he was that night for his magic, for being able to take away some of Kuroo's pain even if he couldn't actually 'save' him. Akaashi had told him not to worry -- that even trained magic users probably couldn't have contended with it at that stage, and while Kenma knows enough about Akaashi to know he isn't a person of lip-service, well, it still didn't make him feel better.
Hands still over his face, he sighs, then eyeballs Kuroo through his splayed fingers. ]
Are...are you feeling okay?
[ It bears asking, honestly, given everything that's happened and how they have so much they have to deal with still, but his voice is normal -- soft toned and mild. Calm. ]
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[ Kuroo is a couple houses away, but he crows it like a rowdy teenager, no longer bothering to ask questions like how could I have heard Kenma's quiet mumbling from this far away when the answer is and always will be: magic shenanigans. There's a lot of new unexplained qualities to their relationship, but Kuroo has always been curious about the magical world and so they really don't bother him. It helps him keep an eye on Kenma, too, so it's not that bad.
He fidgets as he approaches, something he's never really done before, but now he has a thin crescent scar down the palm of his hand that seems to reign him back in when he gets too caught up in thinking this is cool or fun or whatever.
That night was scary and difficult, but things have been creeping toward getting better every time, and now Kenma is on his feet again and looking much improved than he had two weeks ago even if he's not entirely fixed yet. This is good, and now maybe Kuroo can assess the result of his stupidity and apologize to Kenma's face instead of whispering it across whatever magic is bonding them together in the tentative moments when Kenma is almost asleep, and Kuroo is curled up half on his chest, massive paw flung across his chest to keep his promise and keep him safe.
Kuroo's family haven't clocked on, or if they have they haven't said anything. Kuroo thought his mother might have seen the seal burned into his stomach when Kuroo got careless with not wearing a shirt when he came downstairs, but she just smiled at him and asked what he wanted for breakfast. The seal is getting lighter and lighter every day now, Kuroo wondered at first if that meant it was getting weaker.. but when he starts to get sleepy in his own bed he can feel claws creeping around the wall he's built between himself and the monster living inside him. That's when he lets the change happen, and clambers out of the window, down onto the pantry roof, and down the street to do the same in reverse and let himself into Kenma's room.
He comes to Kenma's side, and smiles just like he always does, like there's nothing wrong and this is just another normal day. ]
You're out of bed! I honestly thought I was going to have to come inside and drag you out by your ankles. Full of energy today, then?
no subject
[ It's true even if it's totally out of the question. Unplanned but on point, he yawns and it's the kind of yawn that makes you wince because you can hear something crack. After the night of Kuroo's change, he's had quite enough of bones cracking or making any sound at all. It makes him queasy. Making a mumbled 'ugh' more or less, he raises his hands to his face to rub the heels of his palms into his closed eyes.
Calm down, he tells himself, and unconsciously his magic reaches out not to do anything but towards Kuroo and, when it comes up against the magic in him or the magic of what's been done to him, it settles a little. Something about Kuroo's presence is stabilizing for him, and while that's been true forever it's different feeling now in a way he can't articulate. And he's never been as grateful as he was that night for his magic, for being able to take away some of Kuroo's pain even if he couldn't actually 'save' him. Akaashi had told him not to worry -- that even trained magic users probably couldn't have contended with it at that stage, and while Kenma knows enough about Akaashi to know he isn't a person of lip-service, well, it still didn't make him feel better.
Hands still over his face, he sighs, then eyeballs Kuroo through his splayed fingers. ]
Are...are you feeling okay?
[ It bears asking, honestly, given everything that's happened and how they have so much they have to deal with still, but his voice is normal -- soft toned and mild. Calm. ]