potosi | so drop that thing like a fumble

hi sorry I live below you and I hear your dog running around and barking all the time and— no no it’s fine I was just hoping maybe I could pet it?

[ haruichi kominato has had a no good, terrible, horrible, very bad day.

it's hard work, being a student. it might be a little easier if he wasn't an honor student athlete, but haruichi has never settled for anything less than perfection in every avenue and his schoolwork is no different than those. sure, chances are he might get drafted out of university at any time, but there's no way he's not going to finish his schoolwork, no matter how hard organic chemistry it is.

organic chemistry is in fact scarier than any player haruichi has ever played. no matter how hard he studies, it feels like the tests are rigged, and receiving another low mark (it's a C, haruichi) has left him in a pretty bad mood. combine that with getting caught outside in blizzard snow conditions when he'd left his small off campus apartment with a light jacket, and haruichi's downright grumpy, pushing his bangs out of his face as he makes his way not to his own apartment, but upstairs, to the apartment marked "maezono".

haruichi's lived underneath maezono kenta for two months now, and he knows for a fact that maezono kenta has a very, very cute dog. he's really big and fluffy and loves kisses and haruichi needs that right now, some cuddles and kisses from a dog.

(or some cuddles and kisses from maezono, but he's kept those feelings secret since the first day he'd seen him lifting his boxes into his apartment.)

so, it's probably a little weird, a stranger in a middle of a blizzard, but haruichi knows they've at least made eye contact in the staircase and he really needs some tlc, so he gives up on any of his shyness and knocks on his door.

hopefully maezono is at least there. ]

[Kenta's counting himself lucky that he only had an early class today, because watching out the window he can see the way the snow is starting to pile up. It's a bit of a freak storm with weather just warm enough that the flakes are huge and fluffy but they're also falling fast. It's days like this Kenta truly appreciates apartment life: he doesn't have to shovel that.

He does, however, have to deal with it getting into Kouta's fur, so their trip out was short. He didn't want to be out there any more than Kenta did and now they're curled up inside. Or rather, Kenta is, deep in his intro to mathematic computing textbook. Kouta is on the floor with his rope chew toy, completely in bliss, right up until he's not. Kenta looks up when he hears the skitter of claws on the laminate.

He got a dog that looks menacing with the idea that it'd keep people from messing with his apartment and instead ended up with a dog that wants to be friends with the entire building. He seems to have a particular soft spot for their downstairs neighbor, though, and Kenta can't really blame him. Kominato's quiet, tolerant of Kouta's tendency to lose his mind over squirrels, and his smile when he sees Kouta is a thing to behold.

Kenta follows Kouta, intending to tug him back from the door, but as soon as he gets there he hears a knock. His ears go warm when he looks through the peephole; telepathy is movie stuff but he's never hoped so quite as much as he does right now. He doesn't hesitate to open the door, though. Kominato looks cold and wet and even if he didn't think he was kind of cute, Kenta wouldn't be able to turn him away.

He does get a leg in front of Kouta before he opens the door, though.]

Kominato, are you all--KOUTA!

[The leg is fruitless because when Kouta sees his very favorite person other than the one who feeds him, he wiggles underneath Kenta's leg and starts bumping against Kominato's.]

Ah, I'm sorry about him. Kouta. Sit.

[Nope.]

[ there's a brief moment when haruichi reconsiders his idea--is just randomly showing up on zono's doorstep really okay? are they good enough friends that he can just show up to spend time with him (and his dog)? but, he's a kominato through and through, and there's no way he's going to back out now, especially when he hears the clatter of claws on the floor.

the door opens and haruichi feels a twist of warmth in his chest, even with his frozen fingers and his hair dusty pink and damp from the snow, flakes sticking to his face and too cold cheeks. he can't help but break into a smile at the sight of him, a little one that dimples his cheek, but then kouta breaks out from behind zono and haruichi bursts out into a full out grin.

almost immediately, he drops down to his knees and greets him with a hi, Kouta, burying his cold fingers in his fur. any regrets he might have had about knocking disappear in an instant as he ruffles his fingers up to his face and picks it up to give him a kiss on the nose. once he's gotten the prerequisite dog cuddling in, he looks up, eyes still shining a little, and then flushes at the reminder that he did drop in sort of unexpectedly. ] Um, hi, Zono-san. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything...

[ he gives kouta another ruffle from where he's squatting down, to keep him from hopefully knocking him over on his back into the snow. ] Are you busy?

[ hopefully not; haruichi's day started getting better the moment zono opened the door. ]

[Aaaaand there's the smile. Kenta can't help but wish the bigger one were for him but really, they're neighbors and hell, he smiles like that at Kouta too so it's not like he doesn't get it. He hovers while Kominato greets Kouta; even though his dog's not overly pushy, Kominato is a little on the small side and if Kouta really put his mind to it, they could both be out the door without much trouble. (At least, Kenta thinks that might happen. Sometimes, he sees the way Kominato moves and thinks he might be wrong about that. There's a quickness to him that... Kenta's better off not thinking about.)

He's brought back to the current situation by Kominato's voice and he's quick to stammer out a reaction.] Ah, no, not at all, just homework. Well, studying, not an assignment, so it's not urgent.

[He realizes he's running on and takes a breath. At least try to sound credible here, Kenta.] It can wait. You should come in, you've got to be freezing.

[ kouta is the kind of dog who can fix literally any bad day in the world, and zono-san is the kind of person who tends to brighten haruichi's day. they don't really have any classes in common, and zono's a year older than him, but their schedules are similar enough that he sees him around the building, and it's...nice. he's a sweet guy, deceptively cute for his big stature.

(haruichi may be nursing a bit of a crush on him. it's fine.)

his affectionate smile remains as he looks up from the giant ball of fluff practically circling his legs, his fingers still dug into the fur behind his ears, and the affection there might be for the dog, but it's as much for zono's answer. ] Are you sure? I don't want to trouble you.

[ ...but he's also very cold and zono (oh, and his apartment) seems so warm and inviting and so not involved in the snow right now. this is all probably a little bold, but haruichi's a kominato! they never do things in halves.

still, he's the epitome of polite, so he bows his head a little as he stands up properly again. ] Thank you, Zono-san, I'd really appreciate it.

[It wasn't like Kenta didn't want to make the offer but if he didn't, he was pretty sure Kouta would've followed Kominato back out into the snow and then nobody wins. This way Kouta is happy, Kenta himself is very happy, and Kominato seems happy, so it works out well. He shakes his head when Kominato suggests it might be trouble.]

It's no trouble. The only person I'd have to ask is my roommate and he's already made up his mind.

[As if on cue, that 'roommate' backs up and wiggles expectantly, giving Kominato room to come further in through the door. Kenta does the same, smiling when Kominato bows and hoping that smile can hide his admittedly disproportionate happiness that even while bowing, Kominato's addressing him with a nickname. The bow is unnecessary, really, but he appreciates the respectfulness of the gesture just the same. Kominato's proper that way.]

Of course. I'm not just gonna kick you back out into the cold. Can I take your stuff? I'll hang your coat by the heater.

Edited (icon cheat in the wrong spot) 2016-09-20 17:51 (UTC)

[ even just the little bit of warmth from the entrance of the apartment is inviting, and haruichi exhales a last puff of cold-steam dragon breath, his ice cold fingers moving up to undo the buttons on his coat. he's just down to the third button as zono lets him in, and he gives him a sweet smile as he pulls it off. ]

That'd be great. [ seriously, how sweet... the idea of a warm coat is almost as enticing as the warmth of the apartment itself. haruichi folds the coat over his arm, careful not to get water on zono's nice floors, and passes it off, turning his attention back to kouta. from where he's leaning down to scratch at the dog's ears, he gets a good look at kenta's apartment--similar layout to his, but it seems to suit him somehow. kouta's presence is everywhere, too, and he spots a rawhide bone somewhere under the table.

it's nice. it's a nice space to occupy with someone he likes quite a bit, and he ruffles kouta's ears and asks-- ] What were you studying for? Maybe I can help. It's the least I could do..

It's no problem.

[ The warmth of that smile banishes any lingering chill from having the door open. It takes zero effort to hang Kominato's coat, after all, and in fact it works out better. Once he's inside, the narrow kitchen is a little crowded with all three of them in it, so Kenta steps out into the living room and takes his own coat from the hook above the heater, putting Kominato's there in its place. He darts into his bedroom to chuck the coat onto the bed then shuts the door because it's... not the neatest part of the apartment to be sure.

Kominato's petting Kouta when he gets back and it's a sweet scene, really, one he's hesitant to break up with his own conversation. Luckily, Kominato does it for him. ]

Oh, uh, it was for computational math. We're working on game theory stuff and if it sounds complicated when I say it then that's a tiny glimpse of how it feels trying to read it.

[ Kenta knows he's not stupid but he also knows he's never been the smartest guy. He likes math, likes the clarity of the paths it takes, but some of those paths are like knots of thread. Sure, the ends are easy to see, but the getting there...

Then he realizes how his complaining probably sounds and freezes. Kenta, you idiot. ]

Not that I'm turning you down! It's just probably going to be really boring.

[ as haruichi settles in to truly lavish kouta with all of his attention, he ends up flushing a little at the school subject in question. in truth, he was hoping he might be able to actually help--a vision of them leaning just a little too close over a textbook flashed embarrassingly through his head--but game theory?

he can hear ryousuke in his head. should have studied your math more, haruichi.

...well. at any rate, haruichi will give it his best shot. his father is an accountant and his brother is going to end up some kind of math professor at this rate. surely, haruichi can figure it out. his own stubbornness will lead him to the answer, or at least some approximation of it--

though he pauses when zono corrects himself and ends up flushing, waving his hands in front of his own face as he tries to wave it off. ] No, no! It's alright. I have my own homework too. I could try and take a look at yours--oh, though I don't know that much about it.

[ a pause, and then he smiles a little sheepishly, still residually red, his hand stalling in kouta's fur. ] Collaboration? Maybe two heads might be better than one.

[ Kenta spends a disproportionate amount of time thinking how great life might be if he and Kouta could switch places once in a while and he could spend the day sleeping while his dog went to class, but right now it's both overwhelming and incredibly awkward. Kenta doesn't even have hair so the idea of Kominato ruffling his like he's doing with Kouta's fur is ridiculous. Not that that makes it any easier to dismiss.

He's in so much trouble.

He's relieved when Kominato offers up his own work instead, and it shows in the way his shoulders and brows relax. ]

Or we could have a look at yours? I don't know how much help I'd be, but I could use a break from what I'm working on and it'll still be there later. Or... we could play the odds that class is cancelled tomorrow because of the weather, blow everything off and play video games. Just another option.

so drop that thing like a fumble

the littlest pink

hello :3c i hope college au works...

literally always; also jenn's were cute but i love this face

THIS GIANT FLUFF

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the star of the snail race: sisi

slow and steady wins the race!

o/

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