"First, I would like you tell me all about yourself. Absolutely everything!" Oikawa demanded.

"Everything?" Iwaizumi said doubtfully.

"Well, how am I supposed to change your life without knowing every single aspect of it first?" Oikawa said, very self-righteously. Iwaizumi laughed a little. 

"Okay then. I grew up in a small town near the coast. My favorite thing to do as a child was to go out to the beach and make sandcastles, decorated with shells and everything. I would do this everyday during the summer, until one day, I stepped on a crab and it pinched me hard. I was afraid to go the beach for the rest of that summer. Once I got older and started actually having friends, we would go out to the beach and play volleyball. That was probably when I was around 11 or 12." Iwaizumi smiled, thinking back on the memories. Those were the good old days, when his only worry was how early the sun set. "I ended up playing volleyball all throughout middle school, high school, and college. In college, I was just on the intramural team, but still. My main focus in high school was getting into a good college. I wanted to have a job that would help a lot of people. I guess I'm still working towards that part." Iwaizumi took a breath and looked at Oikawa. Oikawa was leaning on his hand and looking wistfully at Iwaizumi. He nodded his head, just slightly. 

"Right now I'm saving up to try to go back to school. I want to be able to work in environmental engineering, but I don't have enough money to enroll in school again yet. I think I've been too caught up in that goal to really pay attention to anything else that's been happening in my life. The only thing I really do is go the gym in the morning and volunteer at the animal shelter on weekends. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever really get around to doing what I really to," Iwaizumi finished, drifting off at the end of his sentence. 

"I think one of the most valuable things in life is wanting to help people. Like, what's really the point if you're not helping someone else?" Oikawa responded.

"That's always what I've thought, too, but I've never been very good at following through on that."

"Everyone is at least a little bit selfish. I don't think you can blame yourself for that," Oikawa said. "Okay, I figure you at least deserve to know a little bit about me as well. I grew up in the city. I rode the bus and the metro starting as a young child, always wanted to explore wherever I could. Every time I went on an adventure, I tried to find somewhere new. I wanted to explore every corner of the city. But, inevitably, when I got older and busier that stopped for the most part. I didn't have time to just ride around on the bus and get off at some place that looked interesting. I also played volleyball, but I was never very good. I have bad hand-eye coordination." Oikawa laughs a little bit. "I still don't know where I want to go with my life, but I would like to help people. What greater cause could you devote yourself to, you know?"

"Yeah. Sometimes I just feel as if I'm wasting away my potential. Like I could always be doing more," Iwaizumi admitted. 

"We could all be doing more. But tonight, we're not going to think about that, and instead you're going to come have fun with me."

-

"Where are we going?" Iwaizumi asks. They had been cutting through back alleys and climbing up stairs for the past 15 minutes or so in silence, Oikawa concentrating on where he was going. It was really dark, but he seemed to know where he was going. Or at least Iwaizumi hoped he did. He was hopelessly lost.

"We'll be there in a minute, I promise." Iwaizumi is pretty sure they're out of town by this point. They get onto a small path going through a patch of trees going at a slightly incline. The cool night air is refreshing after all this walking. "Okay, I think this is it."

Oikawa pushes some vines aside to reveal an expasion of open space. Iwaizumi steps through the almost mythical waterfall of vines out into a small area that ends with a dropoff about 50 feet or so away from him. 

For a second he can't speak it's so beautiful. Mountains are laid out before them, a few scattered lights of houses and towns. Stars twinkle above them, shining clearer than anywhere in the city. 

"Breathtaking, isn't it?" Iwaizumi just nodded. Oikawa walks over to a pile of rocks and takes a seat on one of the smaller ones. "When I first came here for the job interview, I was determined to find a place like this before I decided on moving here. I've found that to really be able to enjoy my life, I need to be near nature and it's beauties, even if I'm living in a city. A park isn't good enough. I need somewhere to think. Somewhere that reminds of the beauty that can exist, even when things don't seem all that beautiful." 

"I've never really taken the time to look for something like this," Iwaizumi says quietly, taking a seat next to Oikawa. "Why did you take me here?"

"It seemed like something you needed." 

They sit in silence. This is the most comfortable Iwaizumi has felt around someone in a long time. He glances over at Oikawa to see the other man looking towards the sky, his head lazily falling back and his eyes scanning the stars. 

Iwaizumi thought about the past few months of his life. The monotony, the predictability, the routine. 

He had never felt so unloved in his life. And he had been okay with that. 

"I think... I think I need something to change." 

Oikawa looked over at him. The other man was staring intently at him. 

"I guess I did promise to help you with that." Oikawa shifted so he was facing Iwaizumi. He took Iwaizumi's hand and put his other hand on the other man's opposite shoulder. Then he leaned in and kissed Iwaizumi, slowly and softly. 

Iwaizumi's heart lit up. He found himself kissing the Oikawa back and when the other man pulled away, let out a small breath of disappointment. 

"Did that help?" Oikawa said, still close enough so that Iwaizumi could feel him on his lips. 

Iwaizumi responded by wrapping his arms around Oikawa and pulling him back against him. 

-

Iwaizumi and Oikawa stayed like that for a long time. Eventually they both grew tired and decided they should probably head back before they were too tired to remember how to get back home. 

"I'm glad I decided to come meet you at the bar today," Iwaizumi said, walking down the path, hand in hand with Oikawa. 

"I'm glad you did, too."

They talked the whole way home, leaning on each other for support. Once they got back to their apartment building, the finally had to part ways.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Oikawa said hopefully.

"Of course." Iwaizumi kissed him, and watched him walk into his apartment.

Finally, a change he wanted.

- 

jesus FUCK im lonely

my favorite hobby is switching from present to past tense at any given time in the story

i want ice cream