volleyballing

[tyrannise]

putting some normies in a Situation

Comments

[jumpie]

Oh— you can do your nails again! Those're the biggest I've ever seen them—

[ shoyo says with a curt gesture to kageyama's fingers— unless he's been chewing on them like shoyo has on occasion out of a need for some kind of outlet. now came the "fun" part which felt more like the anticipation felt when waiting and hoping for a gift: scavenging proper. there are good finds. shoyo leaves his bat against the start of an isle as he splits his backpack open to throw in the goods: some bandages, miniature hand sanitizer, oh—! they may have dinner for a few nights: pre-packaged onigiri still under the expiration date. a few more mundane hygiene items make the cut, but there is one single, stupid little thing that makes shoyo break out a noise.

a rising ahhhh!!! that starts out loud and cuts off after remember he shouldn't be loud, but he can't help it, and the little bounces propelling his sneakers a few feet off the ground in child-like excitement when he finds—

an inflatable volleyball that's probably for babies, holding the tight packaging up at kageyama with silent but completely readable eyes. it doesn't have the same weight, nor the same feel, but desperate times do call for desperate measures. and satisfaction in simplicity. ]

Look look look look—!!

[tyrannise]

[ Hinata isn't wrong; his nails have gotten long because he can't bring himself to break or gnaw them off even though they're already chipped at the edges and tap against everything and it's just another little thing that drives him up a wall, along with the loss of every creature comfort they've ever had.

But it also makes him grateful for any tiny win that they can get. Whether it's a nail file, or the tube of disinfectant he finds under some Salonpas patches, or the instant cream stew mix that he's shoving into his backpack—they all feel like tremendous wins.

Even then—none of them come even close to what Hinata manages to snag. Once Kageyama gets over his initial surprise (where he whips around at the muffled shout, and has a moment of sheer scrambled panic where he reaches for his crowbar and nearly screams when Hinata shoots into the air—man, he can still jump—), he stares at the ridiculous packaging for the silliest little volleyball. A moment of silence passes. And then he's looking right back with the same, completely predictable excitement, his eyes wide and mouth wobbled into an excited, uneven line. ]

No way.

[ He's immediately coming over to get a better look, crowding up next to Hinata to study the package. The inflatable stuff would never be as good as the real thing, with its lines drawn on and a cheap, plastic shell, and a month ago he wouldn't be caught dead using one. But these are desperate times, and his expression is both bright and impatient. ]

What are you waiting for? Blow one up! [ This is a terrible idea, but they've been surviving rather than living for what feels like ages. Even a little bit of fun feels like something worth risking life and limb for. ]

[jumpie]

[ ah!!! oh, he hasn't felt this exuberant in what felt like too long, so naturally . . . it was very, very easy to get swept away like sand rolling under a pulling wave. any adult in their place would clearly cut the play by the bud, but they are boys— still young, simple boys, who would lose it at the sight of something round, tossable and hittable. hinata discards the cardboard box that kept their plastic savior cramped into a squarish mound,and quickly does he pull the collapsed ball apart, look for the stiff lip to pull open an inflate.

he turns absolutely red with how fast he's trying to blow this baby back to life, all while exchanging glances to kageyama— he could barely keep his cheeks from hurting as he both smiled and tried to blow. eventually, sooner rather than later, they have their crude little inflatable volleyball copy, slapped against the floor a few times by shoyo's eager palms before he keeps onto the balls of his feet in ecstatic hops, and asks: ]

Toss it to me!! Toss it to me!!