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“Oops, you dropped your coat!”
Bokuto probably wouldn’t have even noticed the coat on the floor in the first place if he hadn’t almost tripped over the edge of the sleeves, silky gray fur exactly the same color as the coffee shop floor. He had been sent in by his roommate to retrieve their ritual of post work out caffeinated treats and almost immediately slipped on it.
He missed the sharp intake of breath as he picked it up and placed it on the back of its owner's chair, careful to make sure it wouldn’t slip back onto the ground. The fur was so soft against his hands the thought of if it was real or not ran through his head.
Do people even still wear real fur anymore? It felt soft enough that it could have been real. Probably not, although the pattern tugged at a far off memory of an animal he couldn’t place exactly. A question appeared right on the tip of his tongue but dissolved the second his eyes met the owner of the coat.
The beautiful face, sparkling with something Bokuto couldn’t quite place his finger on, kicked his heart. The stranger’s eyes wide with shock, steely blue that looked like they were made to reflect the clouds outside threatening to open with rain, mouth open a little bit as he held the corner of his newly returned jacket made Bokuto’s face start to heat up.
Oh god he was so pretty now that he was looking at him properly. Bokuto felt like a magnet was pulling him in the longer he started into his face, all he could hear was his heart beating in his ears. He’d never felt so nervous speaking before, words that usually tumbled out of his mouth with the ease of a waterfall careaning over the edge of a mountain suddenly stuck in his throat.
“Thank you, I really appreciated it.” Akaashi says so softly Bokuto can’t almost hear it. Attempting to ignore the tug in his chest of his heart connecting with this human man in a way he couldn’t ever fully explain. The second the stranger’s hand had touched his fallen coat it felt like electricity had shot up his spine and down his limbs.
“It’s no problem! I wouldn’t want such a pretty coat to get dirty!” Bokuto misses the flush that spreads up Akaashi’s neck all the way to his ears at the compliment.
Bokuto’s name is called to retrieve his order, he gives a wave and gentle smile to Akaashi on the way out.
Those gold eyes that felt like the sun had been packaged and put into a person haunt Akaashi for the rest of the day. Cultural anthropology essay forgotten in search of the brightest star he had ever seen. Researching how human courting customs work seemed like something that would be important to his studies later on he told himself while trying to calm the racing of his heart and tingling in his fingertips.
How was he going to find his mate again, he had proposed marriage and just left? Returned his coat with such gentle hands then just leaves while Keiji is stunned into silence.
The little tugs on his chest throughout the day told him he had nothing to worry about. He could feel small bursts of joy, feel small tugs of joy, then feel the softness of his mate drifting to sleep. It wasn’t loud, just like a soft whisper in the back of his head that gave him almost an intuition.
An instinct bred into him over millennia, the same thing that made him crave the need for seafood every other day. The thing that drew him to the coast as if looking into the sea itself recharged him internally, able to smell the salt water before he caught sight of water. That night Akaashi fell asleep petting the back of, face hidden into the wool lining while he thought of the shining star that entered his life and left a crater in his heart.
The soft black hair and gray eyes that looked at him with such fervor seep into his dreams that night. Kisses that taste like sea water, hands wandering from soft black hair to the velvety texture of a light gray speckled coat.
He can’t tell when he opened his eyes but suddenly was met with that same face he had seen while getting coffee that morning, this time with an earth shattering smile. Water? They must be underwater with the way his paramour’s face is dappled with shifting rays of light, black tresses flowy freely behind him before Bokuto was met with those same salty lips again.
Wait, how was he breathing underwater?
That was enough to rip Bokuto out of his dream and back into the soft blue glow of his best friend’s apartment.
“Bro you missed it, this leopard seal just Jurassic Park style ate that poor little penguin.” Kuroo pipes up from beside him, trying and failing to throw popcorn into the air and catch it in his mouth.
Bokuto’s eyes shift to the tv, watching the seal glide through the water while the soothing voice of the narrator drones on. Originally they had picked this for the penguin with funny eyebrows and much less terrifying baby weddell seal on the cover.
“I saw someone with a coat like that this morning!!” Bokuto sat up a little straighter, trying to pull in the details from his dream into the real world
“Oya? Is that who I saw you flirting with through the window? You were cheesing so hard I could hear it.”
“That’s not true, I was just being nice cause he dropped something. He just so happened to be very easy on the eyes. I won’t stand for false accusations.” He huffed, but when he licked his lips he swore he could still feel the salt on them
Kuroo’s grin grew and Bokuto swore it matched the sharp toothed smile of the seal on the tv, teasing and predatory.
“So that's who you were making kissy faces in your sleep. Get his number or something, I swear that I see him in there all the time.
We had a biology class together last year, I think his name is Akaishi? He’s only a year below us or something like that.” Kuroo scrunches his face and looks at the ceiling as he speaks, trying to pull a memory through the haze of late night cramming for microbiology tests that made his brain want to melt out of his ears.
“Oh god he’s smart too?! I have no chance at all! I’ve seen you do homework and make those stupid flash cards, it’s practically hieroglyphics.” Bokuto groaned and ran his hands down his face, trying to ignore the feeling of his ears rapidly heating up.
“You’re being dramatic bro. Buy him a coffee tomorrow, you’ll be fine.”
The rest of the weekend for Akaashi had him in shambles, looking over rings until his eyes burned and longing for the sea. His mother had warned him about letting others touch his pelt as if the first person to lay eyes on it would snatch it out from under him.
It’s what had happened to her, kept under lock and key for the entirety of her marriage. But Akaashi’s own had been returned to him with such care and with gentle hands, so blissfully unaware of the imprint he had created. Even the thought of someone laying hands on the fur used to make his heart pound out of his chest with anxiety but now it had left him besotted.
He was determined to return in some way, something that meant as much to the human as his pelt meant to him. So he had landed on rings, those golden eyes had left him feel like he was looking at the sun so a token to match had been his only logical option. Akaashi’s studies had at least given him information but still left his brain swimming.
But the pawn shop, oh that had been much more helpful than anything. Stuffed to the brim with every shiny human bobble he could think of, the older woman who reminded him of his sweet grandmother that he got to see once a year during his childhood, was more than happy to show him the different tokens of affection in the store.
The bejeweled ones were so pretty but the golden bands reminded him of the sun, and by proxy those golden eyes that felt like looking up into the moon they were so big and bright.
“That one. I want that one, it’s perfect.” He said softly, rummaging through his bag with a new heat that ran through his veins. Yen traded for a small velvet box in a heartbeat, tucked into one of the safe inner pockets of his coat while trying to ignore the heat creeping up the back of his neck.
Finding the person on the other end of the string tugging on his heart was harder than he thought it would be. Even if outlandish hair should be easier, he couldn’t find that white shock of hair anywhere in between the seas of people on campus.
Eventually Akaashi gave up, dragging himself and his consolation prize of coffee back to his bus stop so he could at least lick his wounds over his unfinished essay at home. At least that was his plans until he saw the white hair from down the block, sitting down in front of the bus stop.
It felt like everything shifted into place as he picked up his pace, his free hand scrambling for his inside pockets while the other held onto his messenger back. Akaashi could swore he felt a thruming under his skin- like a fucking swarm of bees.
“Come on bro you have to remember! I hit that amazing cross shot in the last set? We totally kicked your ass! It was all like BAM!!” Bokuto laughed, nudging Kuroo hard enough to almost completely knock him off the bus bench.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah- We kicked your ass the next year so don't get so cocky about it. Besides once it- Holy shit, I think that’s the dude you’ve been trying to ask out. Right?” Kuroo leans back just enough to glance at whoever was speed walking there way in such loud shoes.
“Hm? Oh fuck!” Bokuto scrambled to his feet as quickly as possible, attempting to straighten out his clothing while he went. He had worked out his whole plan before, figuring out how to say ‘I know I picked up your coat, but I can’t stop thinking about- I’m dreaming about kissing you.’ In the least creepy way possible, but now his head felt blank.
“Hi! I’ve- Um- ”
“You never told me your name.” Akaashi quickly cuts up, staring up at him with an intensity that makes Bokuto’s brain short circuit.
“P-pardon?” Bokuto manages to squawk out as those cool hands wrapped around his warm ones.
“You returned my coat the other day but you left before telling me your name. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” He repeats, head tilting to the side.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Words, his name- God what was his own name again?
“Bokuto Koutarou?” Kuroo pipes up from behind them with a raised eyebrow after about 30 seconds of watching his friend flounder like a fish on dry land.
“Yes! That! That’s my name.” He just nods dumbly as a small blue velvet box is slowly pressed into his hands.
“I… Isn’t this… An engagement ring?” Bokuto says quietly as he opens it once he’s able to sort his brain in order.
“Well… We… We should get married by human customs as well.” Is all Akaashi supplies back as if Bokuto is being the weird one in this situation.
“… What? ”
A First Kiss Bonus as a Treat
“Would you be okay if I kissed you?” Bokuto asked, chewing on his lip. He had been staring at Akaashi for the majority of their movie date. Kuroo having been shoo’d out of the apartment for the night so Bokuto could show his new boyfriend what could only describe as “cinema classics”
“Hm? Oh, thats sounds nice.” Akaashi’s head tilted to meet the shining golden eyes. “I’ve never kissed anyone before, I don’t know if I’d be any good at it. But it’s just like in movie we’re watching right? We press our lips together?” Before he could even finishing speaking he watched Bokuto’s jaw drop.
“‘Kaashi! You haven’t told me that before! No one’s ever kissed you before? Never ever? You’re far too pretty for that to be true.” Bokuto couldn’t help but whine out soft, his face and ears already turning bright red even at the thought of being the first one to actually kiss Akaashi. Even if it was just his human form of it.
Akaashi’s melodic laugh fills the room, drowning out the characters on tv. “No, selkie’s dont really do that. We rub our noses together, I think that’s the closest thing for us. I would love to try kissing though, especially if it’s you.” As he speaks he moves his body to face Bokuto fully this time.
Bokuto’s heart pounded in his ears, nodding enthusiastically while mirroring Akaashi position. He normally didn’t consider himself possessive at all but the thought of being able to claim Akaashi’s first kiss lit a fire in his belly.
“I’ll teach you baby, just close your eyes and I’ll lead you. It’s just like dancing, I promise.” He whispered softly, bring his hands up to cup Akaashi’s face as gently as possible with shaky hands.
Akaashi nodded letting his eyes slip close obediently, following as Bokuto tilted his head to the side just enough to slot together their lips. He didn’t know what he was expecting to begin with but it was so much better, every mental note he has gathered from their movie night thrown out the window in favor of following Bokuto’s movements like they were a current.
It didn’t last very long before Bokuto tried to pull away, only to immediately have Akaashi’s lips chasing his own for another short kiss. A chuckle slipped out of him despite his best efforts, using his grip on the selkie’s jaw to hold him back once a gentle nip on that plump bottom lip left his beauty breathless.
“I take it that you liked it?” Bokuto whispered softly against the plush lips, smiling at how breathless Akaashi seemed.
“ Yes. I understand the appeal now, it’s very nice.” Akaashi’s hands went from Bokuto’s shoulder to tangle in the two toned locks, happily running his hair with little complaint. “I’d like for you to teach me more.”
“Oh love, I’m happy to teach you everything I know.”