a/n: we're back bitches!!! check the new cover ;)) Also, this ^^^ is how Akaashi's hair looks, just a bit wavier. 

Scintilla
(n.) a tiny, brilliant flash or spark; a small thing; a barely-visible trace

Oh Bondage! Up Yours - X-Ray Spex

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    Stumbling into the after party room, Akaashi shamelessly upended his bottle. He spun on his toe as he chugged to face Hinata, Yamaguchi, Kiyoko, and Yachi. Having already been drugged up and essentially tossed around by the crashing crowd, he really needed a few more shots to the face. The searing liquor splashed down his throat, the bitter taste washing over his mouth and throat and lingered after. He felt it hit his stomach, and the warmth already spreading to his toes. In order to resist gagging, he physically shook himself like a dog and exclaimed, "Fucking hell, that's strong."

    "Onodera would be pleased that you're enjoying yourself." Kiyoko smiled softly, and Yachi's jaw dropped. Was she being sarcastic??

    "I think we're all pleased you're enjoying yourself, Akaashi. Quite different from back in the day." Bokuto laughed, nudging Akaashi's shoulder. The nudge, with Bokuto's unchecked strength and Akaashi's complete drunkenness, turned into a shove. Silver patron splattered onto the floor and Akaashi believed he would cry. His fall was brief, and actually terrifying, before Bokuto reached out and yanked him back by his shoulder and pulled him into a giant bear hug. Akaashi balanced himself on one leg as he frantically gestured to Hinata to take the bottle from him before he spilled anymore of his precious liquid love. Rubbing his knuckles against Akaashi's head for a second, Bokuto eventually released Akaashi from essentially a choke-hold and noogie attack due to his gagged out, "Please stop, Bokuto-san."

    "When will the band be in here?" Yams asked, acting as if that hadn't happened at all. He put his drink on the table and fell back into the couch lazily. Laying his head back, Yams yawned and meagerly pawed at the air because his drink was out of reach. Bokuto handed him the bottle of beer, shaking his head as he dropped into a recliner.

    The door slammed open, smacking the wall and the sounds of hysterical girls poured into the room as Oikawa posed. The rest of the band, Matsun, and Makki shook their heads. "The King is here, bitches!" Oikawa flung the door open, throwing his arm up into the air.

     "Shut up, Elvis," Tsukki said, karate chopping the top of his head.

    The rest of them filed in passed him, blatantly ignoring him. Everyone was used to Oikawa's antics by now. Oikawa pouted after no one responded, sulking into the room further. The door shut before there was an avalanche of fangirls, muffling the screaming and the crying completely save for a few solid bangs against the door. "Those girls fight tooth and nail, man, let me tell you," Kuroo gasped, catching his breath. His hands were on his knees and he gestured back to the door with one hand. "They took out the giant teddy-bear."

    "Swallowed him whole. Aone-chan will be missed," Oikawa nodded, his face in a fake grimace as he solemnly crossed himself. "Anywho, the gang is back! Let's skip any potential awkwardness and get right to drinking." He chimed, winking at Akaashi. His eyes shot away.

    "Hear, hear," Akaashi mumbled sarcastically, collapsing on the couch next to Hinata. He withheld a burp, and reached for his bottle. He avoided chancing a glance at Kuroo. He felt his eyes on him. "Lemme get a drink, Sho-chan."

    Hinata shook his head, his vibrant curls whipping around. "Nuh," He turned up his nose, turning his head over his shoulder and shielded it with his body. "You're cut off."

    "Shoyo, gimme my b-bottle." Akaashi hiccuped, becoming indignant as he tugged at Hinata's sleeve.

    "I said no." Hinata kept his stubborn little pose and corked the bottle.

    "Hinata Shouyo, give me my bottle—!" Akaashi grumbled and wrestled with Hinata for a moment. His fingers slipped around the small neck and he yanked it from Hinata's clutches, before pinning him down on the couch over Yamaguchi's lap, who sat and laughed hysterically, gripping his stomach as tears rolled down his cheeks. Akaashi straddled Hinata and pinned one of his hands against Yam's thigh to keep him from fighting back and finished his drink.

    "Keiji, you ass!" Hinata hissed. "You yell at me when I let you get too drunk but it's not exactly like I can stop you."

    "Yeah, yeah."

    Tsukishima raised his eyebrows. "This is quite a promiscuous scene to go on between you two."

    "Does this happen often? I want tickets. Maybe I could get a VIP discount and some extra on the side..." Oikawa giggled, licking his lips drunkenly, and Kuroo only frowned, leaning against the table with his eyes half-lidded and sultry as he tossed the rest of his whiskey to the back of his throat. Such a jealous neko-fucker.

    "Not to mention one of your boyfriends is right here," Kenma muttered, quirking an eyebrow as well. He didn't look as annoyed as he looked curious, amused, maybe a bit interested? Oikawa blinked in surprise before he opened another bottle and handed it to Kuroo. He took a big gulp.

    Akaashi tilted his head, drunkenly rolling his eyes, but keeping himself turned just so he could see Kuroo in his periphery. "One, this most definitely doesn't count, and two Teru is not my boyfriend yet."

    Kuroo spat, and a string of coughing erupted between Oikawa and him as they simultaneously inhaled their drinks. Bokuto rushed over patting their backs as they teared up from the burning sensation of accidentally breathing in whiskey, but Oikawa recovered quickly once he realized he got the dark liquor on his favorite shirt. Matsun and Maki were cracking up, tears streaking their cheeks. Akaashi pressed his lips together, grimacing and wishing he hadn't said that.

    "My shirt!" Oikawa cried.

    "Yet?" Kuroo all but snarled.

    "Terushima Yuuji?" Bokuto said, his face contorted with disbelief. 

    "You're fucking joking! You have a thing with Terushima?" Matsukawa finally gasped out, clutching his stomach.

     "And you have a pet name for him?" Maki practically sobbed.

    Akaashi slid off the top of Hinata, shrugging a little bit as he pulled down his black crop top. He tried to act and sound casual, but wiping emotions away when you're filled to the rim with depressants like alcohol can make it hard (luckily not impossible though). "More or less, I mean, we went on like one date. He's surprisingly together." He wobbled a bit but decided to make his way to greet everyone properly. "I expected him to be a total coke head and bouncing off walls but he has an office job and a house already." He walked to his old friends, reached up to hug Matsun, and then turned to Maki. "He still parties, but not a coke head."

    "How does the tongue ring feel?" Oikawa asked, snorting a little bit. Akaashi's head whipped around, with his eyes wide and cheeks on fire. He stuttered a moment, but still managed to not look at Kuroo or completely lose his shit. He recovered from his embarrassment and shrugged again, his face returning to mildly amused but otherwise poker-ready.

    "If anything, I gotta say it feels pretty damn nice." He slurred before winking at Maki and hugging him. Yachi's jaw dropped again, in complete disbelief over the fact he readily admitted to that in front of everyone. It took her four days to get him to tell her whether or not Terushima had been a good kisser, let alone say some shit like that out loud in front of Kuroo.

    "What the fuck did you guys give him?" she whispered to Hinata and Yamaguchi.

    "Ecstasy, but he smoked and drank too on top of it, so really it's not surprising he's a bit of a mess." Yamaguchi shrugged, standing from his place on the couch. He moved to Tsukki's side and clung to his arm. "I'm also sure he took his anxiety meds so that's always fun."

    Bokuto shook his head from the table in front of the couch. "A Molotov cocktail waiting to happen."

    "You're one to talk..." Akaashi muttered under his breath.

    Kenma dragged Hinata off the couch. "More like a Molotov cocktail already happening, honestly."

    "What's a molotov cocktail?" Hinata asked as he leaned into Kenma.

    "A Molotov cocktail is a bomb made by putting a rag in a bottle of gasoline or alcohol. It's mostly something used in movies." Akaashi said, his voice level without a slur.

    Tsukishima looked surprised. "Do you like, just flip a switch and suddenly you're fine?"

    "No," Akaashi said carefully choosing his words. "I am the mom friend even blacked out, so sometimes when I have to gather the little idiotic chicklets, I have to be together."

    "That was a little bit better than together, it sounded intelligent." Tsukishima seemed quite amazed. "What kind of drugs and shit do you usually do?"

    Akaashi giggled. "Ah, I've done much, much worse. You would think the starving artists would have a little less time and money to spend on such things but they have some...well...different kinds of fun. This stuff makes me giggly but I haven't mixed so many different things at once in some time now."

    Bokuto moved to the couch, and Oikawa and Kuroo fat at either of his sides. 

    "Kowaii, Akaashi, kowaii," Bokuto muttered, and Oikawa laughed a bit. Matsun and Maki found chairs and pulled them up on the other side of the table facing the couch, Tsukki and Yams planted themselves in a love seat, and Hinata and Kozume disappeared. Yachi and Shimizu talked quietly by the private bar. Akaashi kept his eyes directed down.

    "Where exactly did Shrimpy and Kozume go?" Kuroo mumbled, looking around.

    "I heard Kenma mumbling something about his tights, so I would say they're porking in the bathroom," Makki laughed.

    "Chibi-chan and Ken-chan are constantly slipping away." Oikawa pouted.

    "You can put the boy in the social, but you can't put the social in the boy," Mutsun hummed.

    Akaashi sighed at his lack of a seat and moved to the bar where the girls whispered.

    Not that there was anything wrong, really, with looking at Kuroo. In fact, it sparked something in his heart. Something undeniable in substance and unbelievably strong, and in his state at the moment he was vulnerable. Susceptible to the tidal wave Kuroo was. He draws away and builds up at a distance until all he is crashes into you again, decimating all your walls sweeping them away with the ruins of your mind. He went behind the counter, and searched around the bottles, clanking them together sloppily. He decided on rosé, a modest choice. He returned to his thoughts as he tried to figure out how the fuck to open the bottle. Normally, such a thing wouldn't turn Akaashi away so easily. He was used to the sudden drowning emotion that accompanies him, but he wasn't used to his newfound alcoholism. If the last time he loved Kuroo freely nearly destroyed him, he couldn't imagine the catastrophe that would be their relationship now. But maybe, just maybe, something salvageable could be found and he could at least help.

    No, no, I should stay away because I am aware of how weak I am. I will fall pathetically and—

     Kiyoko tapped his shoulder.

    "Do you want me to help you out?" She smiled knowingly, a wine opener in hand.

    "Shimizu, if I weren't so damnably gay, I would marry you right now." 

     Yachi chuckled at Akaashi's candidness.

    "Would we have rosé at that wedding too? I would like that." Yachi added on.

    "God, that'd be heaven. We could live in some shitty hovel afterward trying to pay our debts from all the alcohol we consume at the wedding's open bar," Akaashi smiled happily as Kiyoko maneuvered the bottle to him opened.

    "You aren't wrong, I think Kuroo could consume a good three bottles on his own." She muttered.

    Yachi grabbed three glasses from the overhead. "Pour us some of that before you leave us would you?"

    Akaashi nodded and filled all of them.

    They took a sip and sighed. "Oishi~"

    For a few moments of silence, they sipped rosé until Yachi up ended hers and placed her glass on the table. "Look, Akaashi. We talked to Oikawa a little while ago and Kuroo is fucking in love with you. Since you're actually trashed and will not remember this tomorrow, Shimizu and I have finagled a plan for you."

    He narrowed his eyes a bit, sipped his drink, and said, "I'm listening."

    They grinned. "So the plan is you're going to go over there and sit in his lap. That's all. Just talk to him." Kiyoko said. "Looking like you do right now will make this the easiest thing you'll ever do."

    "Wait, is Oikawa in on this?"

    "No." They said simultaneously.

    "Is Kuroo?"

    "Nope."

    Akaashi shuddered. "That's really creepy, you know I hate when you two do that."

    "Well we've been together so long it's just automatic." Kiyoko reasoned.

    "It's weird to think, we'd probably be best friends and do the same thing. Like twin sisters." Yachi beamed.

    Akaashi frowned. "Gross. Don't forget I fucking hate the Lannister's." He shook his head and faced the boys, and downed his glass. "Let this liquid courage help me with this, and pray I can still walk that far." He strolled over quietly, tripping a bit as he went. He could hear the girls giggling hysterically.

    Apparently, they quite enjoyed it when he was like this.

    "So, Oikawa, speaking of old habits and such—..." Kuroo's voice rang out. Akaashi could feel the hair on the back of his neck rise and his fingers fumble just from the sound of it.

    He wondered if his hair was just as smooth as the look in his eyes.

    "Are you still saving yourself for Iwaizumi?" Bokuto finished, and Akaashi could almost hear the devilish gleam in the two moron's eyes.

    Oikawa stuttered furiously. "Tsk, how rude of you to imply that I would do such a lame thing. I'll have you know, me and Ushijima are quite fine at the moment." He paused a moment. An irritated huff. "Besides, he's completely and positively smitten with that stupid American strumpet." Now a small, audible sigh. "He's as straight as a line."

"Well, that's a damn shame," Akaashi grumbled, pouring a glass as he pretended to appreciate the couch and wondered how he would do this so he would not fall over. "I really loved those barra-arms of his."

    Bokuto cried out. "What about me? AHGKAASHI!!"

    "Ah, yes, yes, you big gorilla, we all love your fantastic arms." He shook his head with a small smile, rustling Bokuto's hair--who leaned into it like a happy puppy--then sipped on his glass. "Anyways, who is volunteering to have me in their lap?"

    Silence.

    Oikawa stared daggers into the side of Kuroo's head, who avoided any eye contact with him at all costs by pointedly turning his head and staring at the bar. Bokuto just blinked up happily. Akaashi felt like promptly leaping headfirst off a building, due to the fact everyone was quiet and no one was volunteering. Before Akaashi decided to just plop into Bokuto's lap to avoid making the silence overly long and awkward, Kuroo shrugged almost nonchalantly.

    "I guess you could sit in mine, gorgeous," He adjusted his jeans and held his arms open wide, an expectant look on his face. All eyes were on them, Akaashi's back straightened a bit as he gulped. The probability of this actually occurring had not quite process when he planned, and he thought he was game so there was no contingency and now he really, really wished there was. Either sit in Kuroo's lap or run like his life depended on it. Those were his options.

    He wanted to run. So, so bad.

    But, smiling tentatively, he eased himself into Kuroo's lap. His heart throbbed in his chest, but he knew Kuroo would sense it instantly. Like a predatory cat, Kuroo could practically smell anxiety, and Akaashi has always radiated it in tangible waves. He turned a bit and made sure he was angled so his butt wasn't digging into Kuroo's muscular, delicious—Don't do that to yourself, Akaashi thought—thighs and they both could still be part of the conversation. After a few seconds of them awkwardly fidgeting and moving, they melded together easily. Akaashi felt warm and calming nostalgia. It reminded him of high school and whenever they'd squeeze everybody into one car. Akaashi was always in someone's lap because they were convinced he couldn't be heavy at all when in reality it's the opposite (That little buggar can eat, but he doesn't look it). Kuroo always insisted that he'd "bear the honor of guarding the incredibly dense hunk o' angel who looked like he wouldn't weigh 150lbs. wet."

    The conversation soon dwindled as they became far too drunk to either think intelligently or communicate it properly, and the girls split the drunken fools into separate cars to bus them back to their hotel and most likely used luggage carts to haul the completely belligerent to their rooms.

    Kuroo insisted on Akaashi staying in his lap, and his arms stayed wrapped protectively around his waist during the ride.