Akaashi and Suga had been planning a surprise visit to the park for a month now, all the house familiars were going to tag along for a fun but hectic time, and the food and drinks had already been packed ahead of time, Suga announced it to everyone in the morning and received several reactions that ranged from pure unadulterated excitement from Hinata to a non-committal shrug from Tsukki. It was great, until Akaashi and Suga quickly realized Kuroo was missing.

Cue Suga chewing him out over the phone for running off last night without telling anyone, that is, until Kuroo explained how he left in order to aid Kenma in dealing with his panic attack. Kenma and Kuroo would be coming back soon, but once Akaashi heard about the panic attack, he began to anxiously gnaw at his lip, Suga wasn't given much detail to relay to Akaashi, so what had happened? What pushed Kenma over the edge like that? There were too many options to choose from, did someone say something to him? What if he saw a demon— or had he been hiding his stress too well and he finally broke? Too many what ifs and not enough details for Akaashi to narrow it down yet. Akaashi had been staring down at the table with furrowed eyebrows completely out of it, he was supposed to be doing a few last-minute chores but instead he was seated, gnawing on the corner of his bottom lip harder now, his calm and put together mask can fool a lot of people, but not Bokuto. Bokuto knows better after six centuries.

He takes a seat next to Akaashi and gently puts his hand over Akaashi's clenched fist. His large calloused hand is rough against Akaashi's softer one, but that reassuring touch of Bokuto's hand snaps Akaashi out of it and he whips his head up at Bo, finally taking a break from worrying his teeth against the sore flesh of his lips. Bokuto’s confidence when it comes to certain things is unshakable, especially when it comes to Akaashi, and that has always given him reassurance when he needs it the most. Bokuto's voice is an octave lower than usual, knowing just what to say, “he’s okay, Keiji, he's with Kuroo.”

A rivulet of crimson glides down Akaashi's lip from the broken skin and he stays silent, preferring to sigh out of his nose instead and finally unclench his fist, closing his eyes for a moment before meeting his beloved’s amber yellow eyes. “You're right,” he exhales, leaning into Bokuto's strong shoulders, his voice reserved as usual.

Bokuto wipes the small streak of blood off of Akaashi with his thumb before pressing a gentle kiss to his swollen lips, “I can't kiss you very well if I'm worried about hurting your lip.”

Akaashi cracks a smile and stops himself from snorting, he touches noses with Bokuto and loosely loops his arms around Bo’s neck, “it didn't hurt, it felt fine.”

“But it has to be better than fine,” he insists, craning his neck down a tad to steal another kiss as Akaashi loosely snakes his arms around Bokuto's neck, “was that one better?”

Akaashi rolls his beryl eyes but indulges Bo regardless with a tiny smile of amusement, “sure.”

“Sure? That's it? That's all you have to say?” He whines.

A small chuckle bubbles from Akaashi's lips, “alright alright, it was wonderful. Is that better?”

Bokuto's lips widen into a toothy grin, “thank you,” he hums, “bet’cha feel better now, right?”

Akaashi sighs with resign, “I must admit, I do feel better.” He pulls back and lets his warm hands fall onto Bokuto's colder ones, “you were right, I'm sure Kenma-san is okay, he's with Kuroo after all.”

“How much longer until they— you know— tell each other about that whole thing?” Wonders Bokuto, thinking Akaashi might be able to tell.

Akaashi releases a breath of laughter, “well Kuroo already dropped everything and ran to help Kenma in the midst of a thunderstorm in the dead of night, so it can't be much longer now. Surely they've both realized it by now— at least, I hope, I don't know how much longer Tsukishima-san will be able to stand them staring at each other if they don't say something soon.”

Bokuto laughs, “Kuroo still hadn't known it yesterday, you think something's changed?”

“Maybe.” Akaashi stands up slowly, “there are still a few things I need to finish up before Kuroo and Kenma get back,” Akaashi bends down and kisses Bokuto's forehead as they part, that owl is too good for him.

Kuroo and Kenma arrive a little bit later, both of their faces are flushed, Akaashi and Bokuto would've chalked it up to the heat if it weren't for the fact that a pyromancer would never be bothered by some summer heat.

“Suga-san said we were going to the park over the phone, right?” Asks Kenma's slumped figure, cooling his body off on the couch.

Akaashi nods in confirmation and Kenma grimaces, “don't worry, we'll bring plenty of water and some parasols to keep cool.” There's a moment of silence, “what happened last night, Kenma?” Asks Akaashi softly.

“I… I don't… I'm not too sure, honestly. I had another nightmare and I didn't even fully understand it but it just scared me so much and I woke up and I just…” he trails off. Akaashi knew this wasn't the first or last time, Kenma had been plagued with having nightmares that caused panic attacks for years, it's the whole reason he sleeps in the presence of a pyromancer after all, but no one can tell exactly why they're always so horrible for Kenma to experience in comparison to other nightmares. “I’ll go change, it's really hot out there,” says Kenma, heaving himself up.

Akaashi speaks up just before Kenma leaves the room, “ah, Kenma?”

“Yeah?”

“I'm glad you're okay, and I'm relieved that Kuroo was there for you.”

Kenma pauses, his face hidden, “me too.” So maybe Kenma finally did catch on.

Akaashi can tell it's an arduous journey to the park for Kenma, which is attributed to the awful heat, and interestingly enough, Kuroo seems to be walking at just the right pace to keep his shadow falling on Kenma at all times.

Tsukishima leans to the right and mutters to Yamaguchi, “honestly, how much longer until those two discuss the thing with them? The romantic tension between them is bigger than the sun itself.”

Akaashi represses a snort after overhearing him, it seems the only ones oblivious to their feelings for each other are Kenma and Kuroo; even in this sticky heat Kenma is standing closer to Kuroo than any other person would.

Bokuto mutters close to Akaashi’s ear, “Kuroo told me that before he ran to help Kenma last night, he was having a nightmare.” Bo frowns, “didn't say much about it, but… there was a lot of fire, it wasn't the first time he's had that nightmare, and the face he made when he said it…” Bokuto trails off.

“He looked pained, didn't he?” Bokuto nods with a sad grimace. Akaashi knew one thing all too well from being demon familiar, that new found purity within will eat up almost every waking moment with guilt; having a conscious all of a sudden is way too much to bear with all alone. It's never just one thing, it's all the horrible actions from the past piled up on top of each other. Akaashi's saving grace all that time ago had been Bokuto, he'd been foolishly hoping that Kuroo had what it took to deal with the guilt in a healthy manner, but he knows it had been too good to be true. “I'll talk with him when I get the chance.”

Kuroo's a real good faker, or maybe, he just procrastinates confronting his emotions and ignores them constantly, ah who's he fooling, it's probably both isn't it?

Upon reaching the park, almost everyone scatters, heading for the open fields or the swings or just a place to sit under some much needed shade from the sun while Suga, Daichi, Bokuto, Kuroo, and Akaashi stay back to set up their quaint picnic area. Bokuto and Kuroo sword fight with parasols meant to be shade for the picnic blankets while Akaashi, Daichi, and Suga do actual work and set up the picnic.

Predictably, Bokuto's parasol gets knocked from his hand and goes flying in a direction that narrowly misses Daichi’s face, Kuroo and Bokuto look like two wide eyed pets that just broke something on accident, and Akaashi's withering look and twitching eyebrow tells them it's time to put the parasols where they belong.

With everything in place Kuroo immediately leaves to join Kenma in the shade, finally, Akaashi has an opportunity for some nice time with Bokuto that won't be rushed or cut short, so might as well make the most of it. Akaashi loosely interlaces his fingers with a distracted Bokuto, tugging him in the direction of a tall tree.

With a flourishing puff of colored smoke Akaashi and Bo fly up to the top of the tree in their familiar owl forms. Later, Lev and Yaku meet up with Kenma after receiving a text from Kenma complaining about the heat. Hinata’s small dog form chases Nishinoya’s speedy woodpecker form, he's one of the smallest woodpeckers anyone will ever see with a yellow streak of feathers on his head, Hinata lets out short barks as he runs after him while Yachi’s tiny and cute bat familiar form chirps worriedly behind them. Kuroo lounges lazily in Kenma’s lap in his fuzzy black cat form, stretching and exposing the wild fur on his underbelly, light but long and jagged scars barely visible, while Kenma talks with Lev and Yaku under the same tree he's been sitting at since he arrived.

Akaashi overlooks the expanse of the park, his round and beryl eyes catching everything. White feathers with flecks of gray and black that are not his own press against his body, it’s Bokuto, sitting next to him. The great horned owl is much larger than him, but he still looks adorable in Akaashi’s eyes despite his intimidating stature.

Suga’s endearing laugh can be heard from afar as Dachi shows an amiable display of affection by setting a flower in his hair. It seems Nishinoya— not flapping his tiny woodpecker wings for once— sits on top of an unusually large capybara’s head, Asahi. Akaashi’s malachite colored eyes now see Hinata rough housing with Tanaka as a komodo dragon which looks pretty funny to Bokuto. Akaashi doesn't know how he does it, that orange haired familiar truly does have boundless amounts of energy.

The brightness of the day almost hurts Akaashi and Bokuto's owl eyes, but they can take it, there's a slight breeze up there around the top of the tree, down on the ground, Akaashi can see the others beginning  to head over to the picnic area. Akaashi lightly elbows Bokuto with his wing, signaling Bokuto to look down, and as soon as the sight of food being magically warmed up is spotted by the taller owl’s eye he's speeding towards the ground, desperate to get there before anyone else while Akaashi makes his decent at a much slower pace. The only thing that even comes close to Bokuto's love for Akaashi is probably his love for food, which is quite apparent right now as he’s already on the ground and stacking item after item of food onto his plate.

“Look, I love food, but that…” Kuroo trails off as he leans against a tree next to Akaashi in his humanoid form and watches Bokuto totally pig out.

Akaashi chuckles, “is too much, I know. No one I've met in my 600 years of living has ever matched up to Bokuto's colossal appetite. He manages to contain himself during regular meals, but when it's a free for all like this, well, you can see the result.”

“Well I should probably go get some more for later before Bo inhales it all,” laughs Kuroo, pushing himself off of the tree he'd been leaning on.

“Ah, before you go, are you sure you're okay?”

“Kuroo furrows his eyebrows in slight confusion, “what do you mean?”

“Well, I heard you weren't having the best sleep last night before you rushed to Yaku-san's house.”

Kuroo tries to mask the realization dawning on his face, “o-oh. Yeah I'm fine, it's nothing to worry about.” He gives Akaashi the most convincing grin he can muster and Akaashi grimaces, not truly buying it, “seriously, I'm okay,” Kuroo repeats.

That's a lie, there's too much guilt hiding behind Kuroo's smile, but Akaashi knows now is not the moment to press on, “alright,” he says with reluctance, “but remember I've stood where you stand now, and I'm here to help, we all are.”

Kuroo's smile this time is a small but real one, “thanks.”

Kuroo's a good actor, but not a perfect one. However, Kuroo sitting cross-legged under the trees, nagging at Tsukki for not eating enough and desperately trying to be nonchalant about how he's leaning into Kenma's smaller hunched over body is real, and for these small snapshots of time, Kuroo can forget his troubles in favor and something better, if only for just a moment. They're not gone, Kuroo knows that, and Akaashi knows that, it's the moments when he's alone are when his thoughts will bleed him dry… but, he'll push that deep down to the pit of his stomach so he can feel okay for Kenma.

Akaashi knows, he remembers feeling it, and it worries him. Worrying won't fix anything, only action will, so he'll act and do all he can. A long conversation awaits them, maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but Kuroo can't out run it forever. But for this short moment, Akaashi will let Kuroo pretend he's fine, and Kuroo will pretend he's fine because being anything less would make him an even greater burden, and Kuroo can't stand that.

Hinata and Kageyama both fall out of the tree Kuroo, Kenma, Tsukki, and Yamaguchi sit under with loud thumps, and Kuroo snorts, successfully preventing that train of thought to go any further at the moment, “9/10 splash from chibi-chan, what do you think, Megane-kun?”

“If we’re lucky then maybe they've hit their heads hard enough to forget how to speak,” sinkers Tsukki, with Yamaguchi quickly following along. That remark quickly makes Hinata jump from his spot on the floor so he and Kageyama can butt heads with Tsukishima as per usual.

Akaashi and Bokuto share a look between them and agree to walk the park’s forest trail together, Bokuto reluctantly parts with the table of food and walks together with Akaashi towards the trail.

Bokuto squeezes Akaashi's delicate hand, after all this time that lopsided grin that Bokuto gets on his face still makes Akaashi melt. Walking down the trail, they're finally sheltered by the green canopy, not that the heat was bothering Akaashi, Bokuto didn't complain either, but the beads of sweat trailing his body gave it away to Akaashi. “Do you remember that time shortly after we first met?” Questions Akaashi, “navigating that dense forest had been impossible for me,” he chuckles, “and me being the stubborn demon that I was, refused to let you help, even though I knew it was the only way either of us would get out of there.” It was a long time ago that Akaashi had first met Bokuto, Akaashi had been a cruel, cold eyed demon that had committed many atrocities without a thought, and then he found himself in a situation where he was no longer a demon; he struggled to stay demonic, but his resolve ultimately crumpled under the wholesomeness and purity of Bokuto’s personality.

Bokuto laughs, “you came around and let me help eventually.”

Akaashi snorts, “only after an entire sleepless night, though. It's ridiculous how prideful I was then.”

The air is dry and hot but the shade of the trail’s green canopy provides gracious aid to Bokuto. His sweaty palm holds Akaashi's ever warm ones as their shoulders lightly bump into each other's, having sweaty hands might've been embarrassing once upon a time, but neither of them care about that now, “you were willing to change though, even if you refused to admit it at first,” hums Bokuto.

“Reminds me of someone we know now, don't you think?” Akaashi raises an eyebrow.

Bokuto nods, “Kuroo.”

“In the very beginning, he was using us, I'm sure. Somehow though, you have a talent for spotting demon familiars with the potential to become pure,” Akaashi cracks a smile and Bokuto places a peck on his cheek.

“It's just a natural talent,” Bokuto grins.

Akaashi leaned into the touch but his smile slipped off of his face rather quickly, “I worry that Kuroo's ignoring all the guilt… it doesn't go away with ease, and pushing it back down only makes it that much more worse,” he murmurs, “he can't and won't allow his heart to forgive himself; he won't be able to for a very long time.”

Bokuto frowns at the clear memories of how broken Akaashi had felt back then and there's a small stretch of silence. Bokuto squeezes Akaashi's hand with his own, “but that's why we're here, right?” Asks Bokuto, hoping to pick up the mood, “we'll be there when he needs us to be, we'll listen when he needs us to listen and speak when he needs us to give advice, he's strong, we'll get him through with Kenma-kun’s help.”

“Generally people think I'm supposed to be the wise one, Kou, you're getting it all wrong.”

A smile crawls onto Bokuto's lips once more, “oops, my bad.”

“You're so cute,” mutters Akaashi, looking to the side.

“Yeah but you're beautiful,” says Bokuto looking at Akaashi, nothing but love in his golden eyes.

It's burning hot outside, but the heat that radiates from their fingertips feels wonderful, and invisible to the the eyes of most unless you look for them, two anima tinted different shades of gold lean on each other, there's one that's a more a pure gold to match Bokuto's eyes, and the other, that carries a hint of copper in its hue, is Akaashi's. It leaves a pleasant feeling that wells up in both their throats, neither of them could ever get tired of the feeling, because it feels like home.