Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

On his morning commute Kurogiri had to cross the street, then cross right back over to get to work. Not that the road was closed, rather the corner was always packed. Crossing the street and avoiding the situation altogether solved the apparent issue, even if it meant waiting for an extra light. If it ever was truly annoying, he could always just warp to work and avoid a morning commute all together.

As the days of doing this dragged on, he obtained bits and pieces of knowledge lending to the idea that an illusionist had taken up post. He had picked a good corner to perform at. The corner was always busy, and rather loud, and while Kurogiri could never see the magician himself the stories that flowed off the corner wandered into the bar. He only ever received the sparknotes of the day, in the early hours of his shift. Drunken lips knitting together stories of absurd items appearing out of nowhere, that coupled with an apparently jovial attitude was all the bartender knew.

He was, of course, rather tempted to investigate the performer himself as this had been a reoccurring event for quite some time now. There seemed, however, to never be time for it. The performer was never there when the bar closed, as to be expected. On the other hand, Kurogiri never found the time to walk to work any earlier in hopes of a chance encounter. After all, it was always busy, he would probably have to shove into the mass to even get a good look.

Maybe he could warp into the crowd or perhaps just crane his mist-like body for a better vantage point. Those options were far from common human nature and directly conflicted with his desire to go about life somewhat normally. Hence why he often decided to walk to work instead or take a train. With appearances the way they are he basked in any opportunity to feel like a normal citizen.

Not like he was an uncommon case though, while mist itself was, a multitude of people had horns, wings and the like. A superhuman society really is something to gawk at.

All that aside he was sure he would find the time or rather work up the courage to investigate as it became quite apparent to himself that time was not the real issue here, but it was still a wondrous excuse.

Time was something he had, he thought at least, the performer was doing well on the street corner, why would he leave anytime soon? That thought in mind he figured that even if he was too busy buying groceries today or too busy cleaning his house or too busy doing anything to walk to work earlier there was always tomorrow.

Tomorrow was always, normally always, the same as always. Walking to the bar, working the bar, going home. Such was his life.

On off days, of which there were never enough of, he found himself reading and running errands. Kin to the same old of work days.

Life used to be different, it once revolved around his son. A child of his old boss that he got more attached to than he should have. Given the circumstances he refused the idea of the kid going into foster care. He’s grown now, grown enough at the very least to fly the coop. Off pursuing his own dreams leaving Kurogiri to fill the void with bartending.

The job filled the void more than expected. Excessive socialization was a nice counter to the still air that often lurked in the house, even when he wasn’t home alone. The bossiness of customers was all too familiar and as much as he would hate to admit, he welcomed the sheer familiarity.

Another day peaked around the corner and Kurogiri decided that he might as well take a gander at the corner. He left his house, precisely 13 minutes early, for work. This time, he would not need to cross the street. If it got too out of hand, if people shoved too much, he would simply warp away.

As he approached the corner the usual amount of people were already obstructing the area. Perhaps he should have warped here earlier, then again, he might have run the risk of running into the magician when the show was still being set up. He tried making his way to the front, only to be shoved aside. The idea of stretching his mist body through the crowd popped up but was not acted upon. He should have come earlier, maybe he’d try again tomorrow.

Yes, he would be back tomorrow, he thought.
___________________________________________________________________

Kurogiri found himself back at work, as per usual. Slinging drinks through warp portals for tips. It was fair to assume that he made more money in tips than the minimum wage job provided in paychecks. He often found himself questioning, like now, why he even bothered to work in this bar to begin with.

A suave, yet childishly excited voice derailed his train of thought, “A cup of whisky, if you’d be so kind,” the requests was punctuated with a flick of the wrist.

It was a voice Kurogiri had never heard before, despite the bar housing mostly regulars. The voice seemed young enough to reason an ID, but when he turned around to face the customer he was not greeted with a face.

“Oh -,” Kurogiri started, his yellow eyes flashed wider, “You aren’t allowed to wear masks in here.”

“I can’t wear a mask, and yet you can walk around without a face?” The masked man chuckled to himself, “I suppose that’s fair, public establishment and all,” he mused lifting the mask to reveal a black balaclava.

“Can that be removed too?” Kurogiri asked, tilting his head in a rather confused manner. The man looked like he was going to rob the place in that arguably worse getup.

“Oh, just undress all of me at this rate,” the now unmasked man smiled, learning forward ever so slightly. “Maybe after a drink?”

Kurogiri just kinda stood there, looking at the man in tangible perplexity. Eyes narrowed as if trying to read the situation. “Can I see an ID first?” He managed to ask, turning a blind eye to the balaclava issue.

“Here you are,” the man pipes up with an outstretched hand.

“Your hand is empty,” Kurogiri tilted his head to the side once more.

“Check your hand,” the man smiled, smugly.

Furrowing his brow Kurogiri glanced at the hand polishing the cup. He can feel something that is not the cup underneath the rag now that he thinks about it. Ever so slowly he places the cup on the bar and unfolds the rag. Sure enough, in the center of the rag is an ID for Atsuhiro Sako.

“The age is right there,” Sako noted, reaching over the bar to point with his gloved hand, “You’re taking an awfully long time to read it,” he continued, as if he was trying to insinuate something.

“You wanted whisky?” Kurogiri mumbled mostly to himself as he went about getting a bottle for the newly cleaned glass.

“That wasn’t nearly the reaction I expected,” Sako glanced away when his drink was placed in front of him, “Normally it’s all amazement,” he continued halfheartedly throwing his hands in the air.

“I-“

“Can I get another rum ‘n coke?” A slightly drunk customer looked over at the bartender.

“Right away,” Kurogiri replied getting the ingredients.

“You know what, that sounds like a great idea, send me one over too,” another customer spoke up.

“I’m about due for another margarita, but I would like a blue umbrella with it,” yet another piped up.

More customers started asking for drinks and Kurogiri was brought back to the fact that he worked at a bar. Orders never wandered aimlessly from mouths at a consistent pace, they just came flying all at once. Customers are like sheep, they hear one good idea and all flock to join in. Due to the that he had three rum and cokes, a margarita, a sprite, and two glasses of tequila in his queue.

The bartender went to finish making all the drinks in order to warp them to their requestors all at once. It was a much showier and hassle-free way to deliver, and it certainly gave the drunks something to ponder.

“So, that’s why,” Sako looked up from his glass, wide eyed and glimmering with excitement, a one eighty from his earlier disposition.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I was trying to figure out why you weren’t blown away by my trick. You’re also a performer! Where else do you work? What a breath of fresh air, another speck of magic in this drab world!”

“No, no, I’m just a bartender.”

“How unfortunate! How utterly drab! With your fancy mist, we would make such a great team! What do you say?” Sako proposed, slamming his hands on the bar. It was at that moment Kurogiri decided that any sanity he assumed Sako had when he walked in was gone. Either that or it only took one glass of whisky a surprisingly short time to hit the man, “May I ask your name?”

“Kurogiri.”

“Using our magician names aren’t we, Black Mist,” Sako smiled, “In that case I’m Mr. Compress.”

“Magician names?”

“Oh dear, was your mother really that terrible with names?” Sako’s shoulders bounced as sputtered out a small laugh. “Not that that matters though, what matters is why are you at this bar and not out performing! If you would rather bartend, not my cup of tea, but put more heart into it! Throw cups through your mist! Pour through it! Think of how lavishly you can flaunt your gift! You’re really wasting your talents, don’t you think?” Kurogiri had never really considered it a waste, but the magician was right about the under-utilized potential. Though, given the bar, being any more flamboyant was out of place. “People would be throwing tips at you like you’re a stripper! Think about it! Heck, with the skill why not own the bar! Make yourself the star attraction!” Sako continued, still rambling as Kurogiri zoned in and out of the conversation, the man really liked to hear himself talk.

Kurogiri went about work cleaning up cups and wiping down a section of soiled mahogany as Sako talked to himself in the background. He delivered a few more drinks, gave Sako a few more ‘I’m listening’ nods, collected a few more tips and after a few more hours went to close the bar. Only, Sako hadn’t left.

“Do you need me to call a cab?” Kurogiri inquired as he thought about the number of glasses, he had given the man throughout the night.”

“Oh no, no, I am perfectly fine, I just never got my answer.” Sako shrugged.

“An answer?” He’d been waiting this long for some question I wasn’t paying attention to?

“If you wanted to see another trick?”

“I already got your ID.”

“You really are vanilla,” Sako rolled his eyes, rubbing a glass rim with his finger, “Well, if you ever want to add some sprinkles to that life of yours look in your pocket.” With that he stumbled off his stool and out the door.

___________________________________________________________________

Kurogiri finished locking up and made his way back home at 3am.

When he finally got in the door, he hung his vest over a chair and made his way into the kitchen for a drink. Unbuttoning his shirt, he strolled around the living room before making his way to bed. Upon throwing his shirt in the hamper he heard a sharp clacking noise like a button hitting the floor, but not identical.

Investigating the sound led to his breast pocket, a pocket that had been obstructed by his vest the entire time which begged the question how something got in there in the first place. Sticking a hand into the pocket revealed a little drawstring bag that contained a marble, and a phone number scribbled on a business card.

The first thought that popped into his head was why? and the second thought was how he managed to go about his life not noticing something of this shape and mass in his pocket for who knows how long.

Third and fourth thoughts consisted of, what should I do with this stuff, and I’m tired. The latter thought was answered first as he decided that the bag could wait until he was no longer completely exhausted.

Chapter Text

Kurogiri awoke, groggy, mid-morning.

As blurry, tired, eyes widen attention shifts to the nightstand. Everything is in order, dustless, and uncluttered. Though, one thing pokes out. A tiny bag. Suddenly the memories of last night come back. Once again, he takes the bag in hand and looks at the contents. A business card and a marble. A business card for a magician…and a murky greenish-blue marble.

The card at least looked professional. He wondered where he worked, and if it reasoned the adornments on the card.

Glancing at a clock in the corner he set the card down and got out of bed. Shrugging on a shirt after making the bed, he went into the kitchen. Popping a slice of bread into the toaster and cracking an egg in breakfast preparation. Given the time, more like a brunch.

Egg and toast plated, fork grabbed, jam selected, newspaper located. Mealtime commenced.

Flipping through the paper nothing noteworthy caught his eye. The usual hero interviews. The usual villain arrests. The usual advertisements, featuring heroes. On the back of the paper resides a crossword puzzle and some comic panels. The crossword is filled out in the next thirty or so minutes, and the crossword from yesterday is checked against the answers in today’s issue.

Satisfied and slightly more awake he sets out to wash the dishes before making his way into the bathroom for a shower. Prior to turning the water on his clothes for the day are set out and arranged on his bed. Which consisted of another button up, a vest, dress pants, and a stripe tie carefully selected from the nearly twenty identical ones that decorated his closet.

Post shower dress pants and a rather lackluster undergarment are donned first. The shirt, as always, right arm then left, buttoned bottom to top. Vest on, buttoned the same. Outfit sealed with the tie.

Now work ready the time catches his eye. He was ready much earlier than yesterday. Early enough, perhaps, to see what all the fuss was about.
___________________________________________________________________

He rushed to the street corner, in hopes to catch the magician. Catch him, he does.

“Oh, fancy seeing you here!” Sako bowed.

“You work this corner?” Kurogiri questioned back, taken aback by the coincidence.

“Work this corner? What am I a hooker?” The magician retorted playfully. “Currently at least, I have actual shows too, but where is the fun in just doing professional shows? It is more fun to baffle the public. I tried being subtle, and well, that ended up not being my style, so I hang out over here.”

“Why this corner and not a park, it seems a rather odd place, no?”

“If you build it, they will come,” Sako shrugged back, “I never came to this spot with the intention of being here forever. More like people started expecting me, and I can’t let the public down now, can I?”

“I suppose.”

“Wait.” The magician paused, “If you didn’t know I was here, why are you here?”

“Why am I here?” Kurogiri paused, rethinking his life, “This corner has been rather wild as of late, so I have been trying to investigate, yet, until today I never got here early enough to see the object of interest.”

“You mean to tell me, that if I just waited another day, you would have come to me?”

“Yes, that is a fair assumption, though, I believe you found interest in my warping which I do not tend to do casually when out in public.”

“The universe truly is mysterious, is she not?”

Kurogiri took a moment to consider the situation before he answered. The pondering, however, was not long lasted as a crowd began to form around the duo. Despite the idea of a magician being rather cliché, he definitely had a presence here.

“Agreed, nice to see you again, it seems some others are awaiting your presence though. I shall take my leave.” The comment spilled out rather broken from his lips. Focus shifting from the magician to work as went to leave.

“See you again soon ~ “The magician waved after him, with not a care directed at the people who flocked to him.
___________________________________________________________________

Arriving at work he began counting the liquor, cups and otherwise making sure everything was in order before the bar opened in another hour. Granted he counted them all last night, but there was always the possibility of sneaky thievery in a world with quirks. A quirk like his own for instance would make stealing liquor a snap.

“You open? Doors unlocked, that don’t always mean ya open.” A customer stumbles in.

“I was just about to flip the sign, so yes, we are open.” Kurogiri replied, as he walked over to flip the sign from closed to open.

“Great, great, a rum ‘n coke.”

“As you wish.”

“Got darts for the board over there?” The customer questioned, after he took a seat by the dartboard, across the room.

“Yes, I will bring them out with your drink.”

“That’d be swell.”

With that Kurogiri warped the drink and darts over to the man, who looked completely baffled at the event of them materializing next to him.

“What were the odds?” Kurogiri muttered to himself. Now back behind bar.

“Odds a what? Mist man?” Another customer prodded.

“Oh, nothing to concern yourself with.” Kurogiri corrected himself, realizing that he may have been a bit too loud and that another customer had wandered in at this early hour.

“Odds ya gunna make me a drink? I could go for some Jack.”

“Right away,” Kurogiri swiftly poured a glass and placed it in front of the man.

“’Well speakin’ of odds though, ya check the lotto? They’re wack. Last week I missed by all the numbers, but barely!” The customer emphasized by sloshing his drink across the bar. “Like num was 5? Got me a 7 that’s in talkin’ range, but not good ‘nough, ya know?”

“Yes?” Kurogiri took the pause as a point to awkwardly add in to the man’s rambling.

“Yeah! Crazy!” The man piped up again before going back to his cup.

“The lotto? Man, I was way off. Used my kids’ birthdays as numbers, ain’t my fault they wasn’t born on the winning days.” Another customer sat down and added.

“Only numbers I care ‘bout right now is proof. Misty ya wanna fill ‘er up?” The customer reached out his glass and Kurogiri fulfilled the request by warping more liquid into the glass while he took note of their tab.

“Ah man, never gets old that trick? Mesmerizin’.” The customer placed a few dollars in the tip jar as compensation.

Meanwhile, Kurogiri took a damp rag and started wiping off the spilt liquor. No matter how grimy, broken or otherwise the rest of the bar was the bar itself took pride in being immaculate.

He poured a few more drinks for a few more customers, ran out of vodka and warped another bottle in from the backroom. His newfound audience roared with enthusiasm about how he was able to magically produce another bottle so effortlessly and quickly.

The audience then decided to drain the new bottle via shots in an attempt to have a second bottle materialize as quickly as possible. They succeeded, naturally, as alcoholics should not be taken lightly.

As the minutes ticked by the slew of patrons lost their senses and proceeded to fall off chairs and mumble angrily at each other. Kurogiri then decided that it was an ample time to cut them off.

Disregarding the shot fray a couple sat down at the bar, requested simple mixed drinks and kept Kurogiri’s attention just long enough so that he did not notice the next customer’s arrival.

“Sooner is better than later, don’t you think?” A familiar voice drifted in.

“Another whiskey?” Kurogiri suggested.

“How about something that takes longer to make?” Sako counter suggested.

“This bar isn’t exactly well stocked for that taste.” He punctuated the point by gesturing to the bottles behind him.

“Surprise me,” he countered.

Looking around the bar Kurogiri caught sight of the coffee maker, nearby which was a plethora of sugar packets. With them, the assumption that the magician enjoys whiskey, and the bitters on the shelf an old-fashioned cocktail was brought to life. A lemon added for good measure and the drink was sent to the requestor.

“Dolled up a whiskey quite nicely.” Sako commented, examining the glass in hand.

“Did it take long enough to make, or would you like something else as well?”

“It took a sufficient amount of time.”

“I’m glad it was up to par,” with nothing else to say to the magician Kurogiri goes to collect dirty cups on the other end of the bar.

“You could just warp them away, no need to walk all the way over there. Though, I suppose you like walking, else you would be in much worse shape.” Sako tried to jest across the bar.

“There is nothing wrong with a little bit of walking.” Kurogiri fed in briefly while he mixed drinks for other customers. One had seen him make Sako’s drink and requested the same ‘secret menu item’.

Sako grumbled to himself as Kurogiri, for the most part, brushed off his attempt at conversation. In the background resided the noises of drunks arguing, clacking pool balls, and falling chairs. Which, for now, was the equivalent of jeopardy music in Sako’s head as he thought up a different thing to say.

“Your aesthetic is too fancy for this place, no?”

“Pardon?” Kurogiri finished pouring a drink to address the man he assumed was talking to him.

“A dapper dresser like yourself in this pit of ruffians? Do you not own more casual clothing?”

“I happen to like dressing as such. Certainly, makes me stand out from the crowd.”

A nearby customer happened to overhear the exchange and felt the need to add in his two cents. “What else he gunna wear? Ain’t like he’s a lil’ miss that’s gotta wear some low cut ‘n see through things fur a tip. ‘N who ya to judge? Walkin’ in with that coat while I got this battered flannel.”

The magician looked down at his outfit, reevaluating his prior comment. He was, also, too fancy for this place.

“You aren’t wrong.” Sako muttered into his cup.

“I know I ain’t wrong. Mist man got a presence here, works well, we love ‘im. Makes drinkin’ nights bit more interesting. That’s why we come here. Gotta be happy he’s spendin’ time with us instead of giving him ideas to leave us.” Satisfied with his point the man polished off his glass.

“A presence that only consists of warping, I thought good bartenders were supposed to interact verbally with their customers.” Sako prodded as an attempt to hear something from the mist man himself.

“Words don’t matter if ya got actions. What is it, a picture says a thousand words? How much is an action then? Worth more than some meaningless drabble probably. Come here for liquor, he gives it with a fun twist. Plus, he will talk if ya got something interesting going on.” The last part was a clear jab that Sako felt in full.

Not paying much mind to the conversation itself, Kurogiri noted enough to refill the man’s glass.

“Another cocktail?” Kurogiri asked as he poured out his neighbor’s usual.

“No, one was enough for today. I think it’s best I take my leave now.” Sako replied solemnly, leaving money on the counter to cover the drink with enough left for a sizable tip.

Half tripped by the stool he was on he recovered gracefully to walk straight out the door without so much as a thought to look back.

Perhaps he was not the charismatic conversationalist he thought he was. Perhaps the bartender was just too oblivious to be worth his time. Perhaps he is just putting too much thought into this.

Chapter Text

Sako awoke in his apartment the next morning. Still a tad miffed at last night.

Lazily he rolled out of bed, headed towards the bathroom. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror he made an attempt to iron out the wrinkles on his nightshirt with a swift hand brushing. Looking closer in the mirror he decided that shaving might also be useful, but that it could wait until after coffee.

Sauntering over to the kitchen he placed some grounds in the machine and waited by the windowsill for the beverage to be ready. Down below was a park, and he took amusement in people watching. Some folks had the craziest mutations, others just had fun dogs. In some cases, the dogs looked more human than their owners and vice versa.

The coffee alarm started shouting, which alerted Sako to the condition of this morning’s brew. He poured it out into a brown ceramic mug, adding nothing else as the coffee grounds themselves were exquisite enough to not need diluting.

After procuring his coffee Sako went back to the windowsill. This time watching an incredible fat pidgeon try to break into his neighbor’s apartment. If you chose to believe that the bird was instead trying to leave an imprint of the window there would be more of a success story taking place.

When he finished with the coffee the cup was placed in the sink, he’d deal with that later. Looking around the kitchen it would probably be wise to have something other than coffee for breakfast, but Sako wasn’t always a wise man.

Back into the bathroom shaving can no longer be procrastinated on, and brushing teeth is of upmost importance.

Headed back to his room the nightshirt is switched out for a tacky dress shirt. Dress pants are slipped on a bolo tie grabbed from atop the dresser. Showering at night certainly saves time in the morning if nothing else.

Balaclava in hand there is no reason to brush hair, granted no real reason to shave either as a mask covers the rest. Though, the mask tends to come off at the bar as the day waned on. Not that the bartender would notice if he shaved or not. Not like he knew if the bartender himself ever shaved.

A mask was selected from his growing wall collection. Shoes slipped on. A hat, coat, cane and gloves grabbed on the way out from the rack by the door.

Door locked, the keys went back to being marbles in his pocket and he went back to the corner.
___________________________________________________________________

Thus, began another day of street performing.

“Any volunteers?” The magician inquired from his post. Placing his hand against his forehead as if shading from the overcast sky he investigated the crowd.

“Oh me!” “Me!” “Can I?” A chorus of onlookers inquired back, all desperate to become part of the act.

“How about a Mao? Any Mao Miura?” Compress questioned, as his victim had already been chosen prior to the question.

A woman in the front row, whose hand was not raised prior, gasped excitedly. “That’s my name!”

“Splendid! Now Miura, can you guess how I know your name?” He gestured back with mirrored excitement.

“Is it magic?”

“Precisely!” The magician twirled around enthusiastically.

“What else do you know?”

To answer Mr. Compress took off his hat and unbeknownst to the patron looked at the pickpocketed drivers license inside. He swirled it dramatically to add to the magical flair despite it rendering the license harder to read.

“That you’re a Virgo”

“Yes!” The patron clapped their hands together in satisfaction.

“Now for my next trick who would like to select a card?”

“I would!” A tiny hand shot up and an elementary school girl presented herself.

“Very well, pick the one that speaks to you, but do not show me what’s on the card”

“I like this one,” she replied satisfied with her selection.

“Now show everybody, except me, what card you got. Hold it up really high!”

The girl followed his instructions. Waving the card, a bit for emphasis.

“If you feel like you’ve shared it enough and you know what it is place the card back randomly in the deck.” The girl obliged.

“This is where the magic comes in, can you tap the cloth?” Mr. Compress inquired as he covers the deck with a red handkerchief. The girl does and when the cloth is removed no cards are underneath and Compress faked a surprised reaction. “I wonder what happened to them!”

“Magic!” A little boy shouted from atop his dad’s shoulders.

“Indeed,” Mr.Compress smiled from behind his mask, “Now I believe there is some magic by you was well.” Reaching over he pulls the three of hearts from the boy’s pocket.

“Is this your card?”

“It is! How did it get all the way over there?” The card selecting guest inquired.

“Magic!” The little boy shouted again.

“I’d have to agree, magic is the only plausible answer.”

The crowd clapped, and Sako bounced around the audience looking for more unsuspecting targets. Not that he was morally questionable exactly, the IDs would be returned. There is just a certain type of person that reacts best to magic. Children generally, but adults were always more fun to baffle. One can only imagine the lackluster result if somebody like a certain bartender was selected.

He worked for another odd hour or so before breaking for lunch. There was a convenient store on the corner, and he probably shouldn’t have gone this long with only black coffee anyway.

Walking in he was struck with a flashback of last night. Too fancy for this store as well, and yet there was nothing wrong with the establishment. Perhaps beauty rested in the contrast instead of the ever-present situational anxiety. Stuffing his feelings down a sushi tray was selected after subconsciously pointing to several in thought.

He considered incorporating a trick into his transaction, high off the morning event, alas last time he attempted the police were called. It is not easy when everybody is so unnerved about casual quirk usage. Especially if your nature is rather flamboyant.

Sushi in hand he relocated himself to a park bench. Munching the tray and watching the park guests, this time from eye level, Sako made mental notes of people. Not the same ones who were out in the morning. It would be crazy to jog twice a day in all fairness. Some more subtle mutations, not visible for the bird’s eye view of the morning. Most interesting was a man with seven eyes to which the magician mused the possibility of a vision increase that may call out the reality of a trick. On the other hand, it was possible that all the eyes together totaled to a perfect 20/20 rendering each eye individually lackluster.

After finishing the meal, he moved to a different location. A different location and the different routine. An odd semi-nomadic sort of circumstantial existence.
___________________________________________________________________

The sun started to set, and Sako reasoned that it was time to retire the magician façade for the day. He compressed his tools and mask, as the bartender did not appreciate it, and headed towards the bar.

Opening the crusty door Sako found himself in the rather pungent bar, and unlike the first time he came here it was not on accident. He reasoned that without his gloves it was entirely possible for the door to give him a splinter before he even officially entered the establishment.

He walked up to the bar, sitting on a classic torn red stool, that while however vintage it may seem was not worth the effort to repair. Kurogiri noticed his presence right away.

“Another whisky or perhaps an old-fashioned cocktail?” Kurogiri asked.

“Ah, you remembered!” Sako replied, honestly a bit touched.

“I try to remember my usuals,” He responded, in a less heartfelt tone.

“You’re so stuffy,” Sako pouted.

“I can’t exactly argue with that.” He commented and Sako would be damned to say he did not see the slightest crinkle of yellow eyes to elude to some emotion other than indifference.

Despite being next to him Kurogiri decided to warp the drink to him. Causing a similar slight smile on the magician’s face.

“It really is a wonderful quirk, “Sako mumbled reaching for the glass.

“You seem to be so enamored with mine, do you not have one?”

“Oh,” Sako paused, dramatically as usual. “You’re actually talking to me, what’s the occasion?”

Kurogiri halfheartedly glanced at the nearly empty bar. It was a night the local sports team was playing, and not being a sports bar most of the usual patrons went elsewhere. A couple chatted a few stools down, but regardless there was nothing else to occupy the bartender at this point in time. Sako mirrored the motion and came to the same conclusion.

“Last resort,” Sako sighed, even more dramatically than his pause, resting his head on his hands. “My quirk now –,” he started. Noticing now that the bartender had turned his attention to a stain on the bar. “My quirk is this.” He reached over to tap the cleaning cloth.

The cloth turned into a green-ish marble and rolled into a groove. Kurogiri, now with his attention caught, looked at the magician.

“Now the name Mr.Compress makes sense. Though, it is unbelievably drab. Very straightforward with nothing to the imagination.” Kurogiri commented, rather smugly, now holding the marble.

Sako reacted by placing his hand on his chest in a mock offended manner. “Playing me at my own game, how dare you.”

“Can you decompress as well or am I going to have to find a new rag?”

“I’m not a simple one trick pony.” Sako reached over, uncompressing the rag.

“So, it seems.” Kurogiri went back to what he was doing.

“My strong point is definitely my hands, it would be a shame if something happened to them. Pretty skilled with them, how else would that pouch have gotten into your pocket?”

“Does that mean the marble is something?”

“But, of course!” Sako announced excitedly and Kurogiri hummed in thought. “Don’t you want to know what it is?”

“Not especially, I’d rather keep the mystery.”

“You’d rather me come and decompress it myself instead of tell you? Very well.”

“That’s not what I meant exactly.”

“How else do you suppose it will escape the marble?”

“If the marble effect does not wear off with time a different answer alludes me, perhaps you’re right. Though, I would be more apt to bring the marble in here for a grand reveal.”

“Under the assumption that I will return here.”

“Under the assumption that you will not, the marble will never be uncovered as in that scenario you would have to have more ease breaking into my home, which is illegal mind you, than casually walking into this bar.”

“Touché,” the magician shrugs, “Not that there is anything wrong with dancing around laws, as long as the mood is right.”

Kurogiri looked at him funny, not exactly understanding what he was implying. Having an inkling, however, that it was related to the laws heroes followed verses their civilian counterparts. “I would prefer if you did not waltz into my house uninvited.”

The conversation seemed to die at an ample time as the couple nearby had just finished their drinks and requested more, tearing Kurogiri’s attention away. Sako did not mind, he was so pleased with the way this conversation went that he did not care that the bartender largely ignored him for the rest of his stay. A grand upgrade from yesterday’s fuss to say the least.
___________________________________________________________________

It was pitch black outside by the time Sako left the bar. If he was anybody else, he would most likely be terrified of the quirks that lurk in the night. Alas he was him and if anybody disturbed his walk home, well there would just be a missing persons case and a marble in an alley. Or if he was smart in this hypothetical situation, he could chuck the marble into a river or whatnot to remove it from the scene. Then some kid would probably find it and have a secretly odd centerpiece in their fish tank.

He made it home without issue, despite considering the possibilities of more drama. Scanning his uncompressed key, an elevator ride later he found himself back home.

Shrugging off his coat, placing it and his hat along with his cane, gloves, and shoes at the doorway he continued further into his home. In the kitchen he grabbed a glass of water, drank it in full, and went into his room. Decompressing his mask it was hung back on the wall. A set of night clothes were selected and Sako made his way into the shower before he collapsed for the day.

Chapter Text

Kurogiri awoke and went about his robotic morning routine. Only at the end of it he didn’t find himself at work. The bar space was rented out today and the host decided to not use a bartender. Meaning, if nothing else, that Kurogiri had the day off. Meaning, that if you looked into it, it was odd and borderline suspicious to rent out a bar to not serve alcohol.

Days like this were not generally used for relaxation, instead they offered themselves up as a time to run errands and do chores. The house needed a good scrubbing after all. A good time for a hole on his pillowcase to be mended as well. Although he still isn’t completely sure how a hole ended up there to begin with. He had his suspicions. Mostly ones consisting of his son. While the boy’s quirk rendered everything into dust and would not stop at a hole the likelihood of him dragging the pillowcase was probable.

With the whole house dusted he considered going over to his son’s home and dusting there as well. After all the cleaning utensils were already in hand. A few moments of internal struggle later he decided against it. As dedicated as he was to making things perfect, he could not have his son rely on him for everything.

His room was probably covered in a healthy layer of dust and chip bags at the moment, and Kurogiri could not help but shiver at the thought. While shiver he might the action of not helping was already decided and unless he was asked politely to come over and help, he should not and will not barge in to tidy the place up. Unannounced at least.

Shaking the thought out of his head laundry was taken from the basket and washer run. As he set to scrub the kitchen the only noise was that of the washer shaking in the background. If Tenko were helping the boy would have opted for headphones to drown out the boredom of cleaning. The faint noise of the wash was good enough for Kurogiri.
___________________________________________________________________

A ping of hunger snapped the man out of his cleaning frenzy. It was about that weekly time to go grocery shopping anyway. The fridge was not bare per say, but it lacked quite a few items. He was down to one egg after all, which all the more invited the notion.

At an egg a morning and judging by the mood another at some point in the day the carton was a rather good telltale of the last and the next time the man was to go shopping. Caught up too much in routine a lack of such a key piece would be detrimental.

The grocery store lay opposite of work. Therefore, the busy corner was no longer an issue. Not that it was exactly an issue for work, but a distraction.

Automatic doors greeted him as the white walls, floor, ceiling all blinded. They were clean at least, very hospital chic. The shopping basket was not as clean, a piece of cilantro lingered.

He had a coupon for a new brand of cleaner making the hygiene isle first on the agenda. Also, first as it was in fact the farthest row on the left side of the store. Examining the shelves, the cleaner came in a few scents. Unscented, lavender, orange creamsicle. Naturally his hand drifted towards the unscented, paused at the lavender and completely disregarded the creamsicle. Lavender could be reasoned as a two in one cleaner and air freshener. Creamsicle, not so much. Though, in the back of his head, Sako’s eyeroll to his mundane nature encouraged him to select the creamsicle instead. It should be similar to a normal orange after all, some cleaning products are lemon scented commonly, lemons and oranges are related, yes, yes it still made sense.

After the coupon fuss no other leg of the trip garnered any trouble. It was no wonder why his son refused to join in shopping endeavors. The trips were always completely silent, with a brief inspection time at each item before they were thrown in the cart. Granted in his younger years the boy would just sit in the cart playing his DS.

It never occurred to him to warp home, instead he rushed so that the food did not spoil. Food away he was hit with the realization that he never bought anything specifically for eating right now. He glanced at freshly scrubbed pots of morning and realized that cooking was not what he wanted to do at the moment. Perhaps it was the lingering impulse from the odd scented cleaner or just a natural bout of laziness, but Kurogiri decided that he might as well go back out for lunch. He had some letters to mail anyway and the guise of errands was a perfect excuse for himself.

Detouring at the post office his impulse eventually led him to an okonomiyaki joint. On the way back he remembered one of the living room lightbulbs had died and took the appropriate detour to reconcile it. It was about time he switched to LED lights anyway whether the decision be made as bulbs burned out or all at once was a separate issue. One resolved with the answer of bulbs come in a four pack so they shall be converted four at a time.

Once home, bulbs replaced, he chose to officially relax with a book in hand.
___________________________________________________________________

Sako managed to lose a few cards off his newest deck. Not that it was a surprising situation, as he enjoyed tossing them in the air. Surprising or not it requested a new deck.

If these were magic cards missing a few wouldn’t matter, it would surely change the probability in his favor. Nonmagical cards were for playing games like solitaire or other card games that catered to lonely players. Games where a full deck was crucial.

Perhaps if he was a tad bit craftier the cards would end up somewhere other than his junk drawer. Alas he was not DIY savvy and off they went to collect dust in a drawer instead of as a lampshade or fashionable accessory. Perhaps if he was a tad bit more concerned with salvaging cards, he would be able to patch together a deck with what already called the drawer home.

As he was none of the above, he left in search of a card shop. He knew where the shop was, but he wasn’t always the best with directions.

The store itself had a wide array of playing cards. Holographic, glitter, gold, you name it. Sako was extremely tempted by a silver glittery set. But the rational side of his brain, the drab side, the side that reminded him of a stuffy bartender denied the request. Glitter would most likely flake off an get absolutely everywhere. Considering as well that if it flakes the cards themselves are just going to look worse in time. On the other hand, worn classic card have a certain charm.

Ah well, whatever, he sauntered to a new location to continue spreading magic until night fell and he was allowed to go home and open the new card pack.

Nothing disallowed him from going home as he did not have a job with usual hours. The only real preventative measure was the social aspect of the bar, and Kurogiri had informed him the night prior that the bar would not be open tonight. Which truly was tragic. He did not specify why exactly, but the magician doubted it was some sort of ploy to get rid of him and instead referred to Kurogiri’s nature of not questioning why himself.

Home did not have the social aspect; it had the other one though. Against his better judgement of becoming an alcoholic a wine bottle was opened. What could he say, it helped him unwind. Wine glass in hand, a rather mediocre round of solitaire commenced. Then another and another till he eventually got bored of it.

Glass rendered empty and not fond of the idea to refill it; it was cleaned immediately as it was a more favored piece of glassware. Sponge already out he figured he might as well wash what had currently been calling the sink home.

When finished he sat down surveying his apartment. It was decent. Maybe he should get a cat. That would liven things up. He had a fish a few months ago, but accidentally knocked it out the window when trying to air out the apartment…because he was cooking fish which in the end was rather ironic.

Not that the fish really livened anything up, but it was nice not being the only life form in the room. He considered a rabbit, he also considered how stereotypical it would be for a magician to have a rabbit. Pulling a cat out of a hat, while not exactly original, was less cliché.

What was even less cliché was pulling an exotic animal out, not a cliché exotic like a tiger, maybe a kangaroo. He couldn’t fit a big animal in his apartment, yet that was not the idealistic plan. Instead he wondered if Kurogiri would ever team up with him. Imagine what could be pulled from a hat when the hat housed a warp gate. The object still would require a hat big enough to come through so perhaps the object couldn’t be that odd.

He continued to muse while fiddling with the hat in question. He did not know the circumference of his head and therefore the hat, nor did he have a tape measure on hand to answer the question. Nor did he have the circumference of anything he mused about to see if it would even fit through the hat, so in the end it didn’t matter.

Eventually he put his hat back on the rack. Polished a mask back to white shine. Brushed his teeth and went to bed.

Chapter Text

The mundane nature of their days coincided once again at the bar.

“W – ,“ the magician tried again for an attempted conversation only to be shut down by a feeling of panic.

A fight had broken out by the pool table. It wasn’t uncommon for a fight to occur, so nobody batted an eye, except for Kurogiri. He managed to block any bloodshed by warping knives and limbs to various safe locations. Though one limb in particular caught his eye this time around.

“Tenko,” he sighed, “You mustn’t try and fight the patrons.”

“What gave it away?” The boy rolled his eyes as he removed his hand from the warp.

“The seething aura of a moody young adult?” Sako suggested. Earning himself an unfriendly glace, and a slight sign of amusement.

Now at the bar the boy proceeded to sit down and Kurogiri placed a ginger ale almost immediately.

“Thanks dad,” the boy mumbled, not making eye contact as he goes to pick up the glass with only four fingers.

“Oh! You have a son?” Sako piped up surprised, and a bit unnerved. “Never struck me as a family man, no ring on what seems to be your hands either, Mr.Shimura.”

“Mr. Shimura?” Kurogiri parroted back, furrowing his brow. After a moment the gears clicked. “He is not my son by blood, we do not share a last name.”

“And here I thought I discovered something.” The magician continued, twirling Tenko’s student ID in his hand.

Tenko, meanwhile, watched the display in utter disgust. Trying to recall how the man took his ID out of his wallet to no avail.

“Who’s this clown?” Tenko glared.

“I’m not a clown I’m a magician, crucial difference.” Sako replied, flipping his hand to the boy in an attempt to return the ID.

“Point still stands.” He scoffed, taking the ID and placing it back inside his wallet.

“I’m Mr.Compress, and I have a show coming up if you would like more magical proof than just petty thievery.”

“An official performance, not at a street corner?” Kurogiri inquired.

“I told you I don’t work a corner indefinitely. Finally interested now that the venue is presumably fancier? Dear, you are so boujee.” Tenko snorted at the last bit. Sako pulled out an invitation to the show and handed it over to prove the point.

“I suppose I owe it to you to see at least one of your performances, what do you say Tenko,” Kurogiri caved under the façade of some father son bonding.

Tenko did not respond, instead gave a look that worked as a sufficient answer. A look that implied he would not be caught dead at some sort of magical performance. Magicians are for kids anyway, well, kids and old men.

“Splendid!” Sako clapped his hands together in satisfaction, not giving Kurogiri a chance to revoke the acceptance.

“I didn’t really think you had friends, and even if I did, I wouldn’t assume a guy like this.” Tenko wondered out loud, switching the subject of interest.

“As much as I would like to say something in the same vein, I’m not rather surprised that you’re his son given that you are both rather blunt,” Compress countered, unenthusiastically.

“If you’d like me to not talk to you instead that can be arranged.” The boy shifted his focus to a gaming system he pulled out of his pocket. Kurogiri voiced mild annoyance, but ultimately settled with the fact that this was as much socialization as the boy was going to put up with.

He finished his ginger ale and requested another without looking up from the device.

“Isn’t there that new video game lounge a few streets over? If you didn’t come to talk to you dad you might find more interest over there,” Sako suggested in efforts to break the silence.

“You don’t need to talk to me like I’m a child. I am aware that the location exists, and I currently have no interest in going there.” Again, the boy did not look up from his device.

“If you insist just pout over here then,” Sako haphazardly threw his hands up, “I might need more alcohol myself to put up with your presence, if you would top me off,” Sako directed his attention to Kurogiri.

“What a diva,” Tenko scoffed, meanwhile Kurogiri fulfilled the request.

“He’s just trying to be friendly” Kurogiri stated. “Maybe if you loosened up a bit, he wouldn’t be terrible company. Talk as if you are talking to me, he might know something I do not.” Kurogiri encouraged as his latent fatherly instincts appeared.

“I did not come to a bar to get a therapy lesson from a clown.” Sako laughed at the remark, though Tenko paid no mind to it.

“Then why did you come here? If not to pick a fight over pool?” Kurogiri inquired.

“Not to get lectured by two old men,” Tenko got off his stool. “One’s enough.”

“Would you like me to take you home?”

“No.” Tenko replied, but Kurogiri knew it was just some pent-up rage talking and opened a portal anyway. In hope, at the very least, he doesn’t start another fight on his way home.

With Tenko gone, the men found themselves back in their usual lull of bar conversation.

“Single parent?” Compress inquired. Kurogiri nodded. “He seems kind of distant, have you been neglecting him to hang out at a bar? That IS simply terrible parenting.” He joked.

“I’m not the one who neglected him,” the mist man sighed.

“Oh no, no, now is not a time to be dreary.” Sako wined, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He did say one is enough, you are, at the very least, tolerated. As he pointed out I am unfamiliar with your circumstances, and therefore cannot aid you in a very useful manner. Though he did call me a clown therapist so if you ever need anybody to talk to, I am generally here at night.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you. Do you have any children yourself?”

“Me?” Sako’s eyes widen only to be brought back down into a laugh, “Not at all, It’s just me. I have absolutely no child knowledge to lend you. I do not consider myself to be a fatherly figure, more of an odd uncle if you will? Not that I have any nieces or nephews, purely theoretical.”

Kurogiri hummed in acknowledgement and went about wiping down a glass.

“He’s already grown, its too late to go looking for a support group, don’t you think?” Sako pressed on.

“I agree fully, sometimes I forget he’s an adult, given his childish disposition,” Kurogiri mused. “Regardless of how old he is I will not stop worrying about him, especially when he comes to me, and that I will not change. Though often I do not know why he comes to me.”

“You have no reason to change it. Perhaps you can try a nonintrusive text message to figure out why. He can brush that off rather easily if it is too much. Though that is about all I can offer from my position in this support group.”Kurogiri grabbed his phone following the magician’s suggestion. Sending a simple message to his son.

“At least he isn’t giving you grey mist.” Sako continued. “You don’t even give off the vibe of a struggling dad.”

“I do not think my mist can change colors besides the usual black to purple depending on the light. If it turns out I can go grey, I’ll need to face the tragedy of becoming a dusty fog cloud.”

“We simply cannot have that happen, I’ll loan you a mask and hat in the event of it.”

“Is that why you cover yourself up?”

“Yes,” Sako deadpanned. “No, of course not, I dress this way for flair! I’m rather eye-catching, no? It is a performer’s life! This is my signature.”

“You’re not gray?” Kurogiri pressed as he looked over a liquor label for a customer who requested a gluten free beverage. “I only ever see you in that criminal mask.”

Glarring at Kurogiri’s back he folded. “Fine, you win.” The balaclava was removed giving light to a messy head of nongray hair. “But you can’t keep forcing me to undress while you’re hidden as well.”

“I don’t see why not; you’re still undressing regardless.” Kurogiri continued, picking up another bottle to read.

“Can I at least touch your hand?” Sako sighed, head rested on hand propped up by table.

“My hand?”

“I want to know if there is anything under the mist, you can clearly hold things so you must have some sort of density. Only fair now that my identity is out in the open.”

Thinking of his options Kurogiri decided to comply. He reached out and grabbed the other man’s hand. The one resting on the counter, not the one propping his head up. The sensation itself was like any other hand Sako had held. The mist enveloped the entire hand, taking no visible form, and yet he felt the hand. He felt it in, the shape and strength of a normal human hand hidden under the mist it emitted which was less exhilarating than he was expecting. If Sako was blind, relying only on touch, he might have perceived Kurogiri as a normal person if the name black mist didn’t give him away first. Though in all fairness blindness would ruin a lot of racial injustices between quirks.

“Oh, you do have a hand.” Sako paused, still squeezing the other’s hand.

“It would be awfully hard to work without hands.” Kurogiri shrugged, “It is also hard to work with only one.”

“Warps aren’t as useful as they appear then. Not enough to make up for whatever semblance of a hand you possess?” Sako prodded, as he lessened his grip.

“Not always.” Hand back Kurogiri continued serving customers.

Shortly after Kurogiri’s phone vibrated alerting the man of a text message.

“Ah, is that Tenko?” Sako piped up.

“Indeed,” Kurogiri glanced at the phone, “He just says he is fine and not to inquire any further.”

“Maybe he just wants to spend time with you, not at a magic show.”

“He does often sit around without making much noise.”

“You don’t make much noise either without being prodded in all fairness. Like father like son. Your house must be dreadfully quiet.”

“Tenko lives with friends right now, a lively roommate situation, on the other hand yes, my house is quiet. Non necessarily dreadful I prefer to describe it as serene if you will.”

“Then he might have wanted a break, some familiar peace and quiet that I utterly destroyed.” Sako sounded a bit regretfully as he messed with a straw wrapper.

“In that instance harassing him for a real answer is counterproductive.”

Sako nodded, taking another sip from his glass. “Invite him over to your apparently deathly quiet home. One on one family time, over Parcheesi or Mario cart or something.” It was weird playing detective.

Kurogiri agreed to pursue the issue at a later date sending the message via text.
___________________________________________________________________

Tuesday morning rolled around, the earliest date at which Tenko did not have school and Kurogiri was not working. A Sako suggested they meet at Kurogiri’s place. Due to the timing Kurogiri had prepared omelets and toast. A mix up to the normal egg an toast yet still a rather predictable choice.

“Is school going alright?” Kurogiri attempted to crack the silence that regularly consumed the room.

“School is fine, my roommates are just loud.” Tenko admitted, propping his feet up on the table.

“Sako predicted that much.”

“Who?”

“The man who tried to talk to you the other day.”

“The clown? You got parenting advice from a clown.”

“He prefers to be called a magician, but yes.”

Tenko took a deep breath, fixing his face into a half-lidded rather tired expression. “You don’t need to consult a counselor; you can just talk to me.”

“That is what he suggested, hence the breakfast plan. I just want you to know that you are free to drop by whenever you need a clear mind. The bar currently houses a magician you despise, my house is free of such things at the moment.” Sinking lower in the sofa Tenko sighed, unimpressed by the lack of parental expertise that man had. “Though, if you have no interest in hearing advice from him my own advice is to settle for their company.”

“Is that what you’ve been doing at the bar?”

“He isn’t that bad of a guy, with no family of his own he just wanted someone to talk to.”

“So, the plan is talk to them until I lower my standards enough to enjoy talking with them?”

“If that’s how you chose to interpret it then yes.”

“Fine.”

Perhaps Tenko was going to have to settle with two old men.

Chapter Text

“Are you all set for your grand performance?” Kurogiri questioned the local magician.

“I’m ready to go right now, if you would like a taste.” The magician replied.

“I’d rather not spoil the endeavor.”

“Oh, so you are definitely coming? I assumed you would make an excuse of work, as the hours do conflict.”

“No, you are right at times, perhaps I need to take a break from this bar.”

“Is your son coming? Did he sway you into this?”

“He wants nothing to do with the show. I can convince him to settle with his own friends and he can convince me the same, but our borders apparently do not cross.”

“We’re friends now?” The magician’s voice gained an ever so slight tint of enthusiasm.

“Unless that was a wrong assumption?” Kurogiri’s brow furrowed.

“No, no that’s splendid! It means this situation is improving!” Compress’s arms fidgeted as he resisted the urge to fling them up.

“I agree, it is nice. Tenko can’t heckle me for being lonely or being hypocritical.”

“That’s…. that’s, the only reason?” Compress’s shoulder’s slumped.

“Does that negate your ‘improved’ assumption?” Kurogiri looked at him wryly. “There is still the implication that I’m trying.”

“I am trying as well, far more than you, mind you.”

“Admitting you’re lonely as well?”

“Is being lonely the only reason two grown men can chat at the bar? In that case, yes. I am so dreadfully lonely.”

Kurogiri took the assumption in stride and did not bother pressing further. Instead turning his full attention back to the bar.

“Perhaps it is more than just loneliness that invites you to my show though.” Compress mumbled as he looked away from the bar.
___________________________________________________________________

The show was not for another two days. Sako was busy preparing in the upcoming days, Kurogiri had requested the night of the show off. It was the only matter he prepared.

Normally Kurogiri bartended every night and single handedly. That said the bar owner had quite a collection of bars and swapped a worker from a different bar for the night. He was lucky that a backup was so readily available and that he was a good enough worker to warrant a requested day off.

Kurogiri spent the next night bartending some more, with no sign of the magician. He must be busy after all. The next morning was spent with the usual drab routine. As evening rolled around, he was tempted to put on a nicer shirt, but previously Sako had suggested a more casual situation which voided the thought.

Sako, meanwhile, collected bins upon bins of last-minute garbage for the show. Not to say that he was underprepared, but rather he wanted to be overprepared. In the event that perhaps a trick goes haywire or a last-minute judgment renders the trick disastrous either physically or emotionally. Luckily for Sako there was no need to rent a truck to carry the supplies, a big enough pocket was room enough.
___________________________________________________________________

Finally, it was the day of the show. Kurogiri tried one more time to convince Tenko to come with, but the effort was fruitless and granted Kurogiri an empty seat to his left. Not that he was fully against a buffer seat.

As expected Kurogiri arrived early and waited a good thirty or so minutes for something to happen. Eventually, theater lights dimmed, music hummed, and spotlights circled. Curtain cast aside Mr. Compress stood, poised for his craft.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen!” Compress announced, as he took his hat off and twirled it. The crowd cheered. “You all probably know who I am if you’re here, so why waste precious time on introductions! To the magic we go!” He finished, flung his hat into the air, and caught it. The crowd cheered louder.

“For starters I don’t know if purple is really my color, this handkerchief seems out of place.” Compress tugged lightly at his breast pocket square to reveal another handkerchief. This time blue. The children in the audience giggled. He tugged again and a green one appeared, a red next. The children had turned from giggling to being mesmerized.

“Now, can my lovely stagehand assist me? It seems far too excessive for a single person.” With that a young lady in a sparkling red dress scampered on stage. “Dear can you take this scrap of fabric to the end of the auditorium? I think it is fit for a banner.”

No word muttered, a smile sufficed, she grabbed the edge of the handkerchief and descended the stage stairs. She kept going, to the back of the auditorium, around the walkways between aisles, to the back again, effectively looping around the entire auditorium and the trick kept going. The audience loved it looking around, trying to figure out how the man had so much fabric in his breast pocket.

Kurogiri, being less fun, figured he has tied a plethora of them together and compressed them into marbles, tying the compressed sections together with fishing line instead of having one very big marble. A pearl necklace of handkerchiefs if you will. Though, he couldn’t help but be baffled at the sheer number of handkerchiefs in the man’s possession, he was rather extra.

Eventually she made her way back onto the stage, which brought about more laughter from their expressions giving the idea that neither of them had a clue what was going on. Shrugging it off Mr. Compress dramatically sighed. “Perhaps I should have just settled with purple.” Swiftly he pulled the rest of them out of his pocket rendering the pocket apparently empty. “Who needs a handkerchief in this century anyway.”

The stagehand took the end off of the floor and tied it to the bannister. The banner swayed in the air conditioning and adorned it for the rest of the night.

“As a thank you for assisting me, here, a rose as beautiful as you.” Mr. Compress gestured to his stagehand. She walked over and made an attempt to take the rose. Instead, she vanished. The crowd went crazy, there was no smoke or any other form of typical concealment. “Oh dear, where could she have gone? Oh well, looks like we must continue the show without her!”

Mr. Compress went to start prepping for his next trick as the audience started to chant to bring her back.

“Finicky crowd, aren’t we?” Mr. Compress chuckled. “Very well, we can bring her back before I continue, does anybody know how?”

The crowd muttered amongst themselves, failing to come up with any sort of answer for the most part. The exception being a little boy who shouted at the magician from the audience. “Throw paint!”

“Throw paint?” Compress repeated. “What for?”

“She’s invisible! You can see her if you throw paint!”

“Invisible, is she? Unfortunately, despite trying to be prepared for every contingency I lack paint.”

“Then throw other things!”

“I appreciate your enthusiasm, how about you come up here and…throw birdseed?” Mr. Compress suggested, grabbing a bag off the side.

“YES!” The kid shouted and ran to the stage. He ran around a bit more with birdseed in hand. Slowly his enthusiasm faded. “She’s…she’s for real gone??”

“I take it you failed to pelt her with birdseed. On the other hand, perhaps, you will succeed with something else.”

“Like what?”

“Attracting a bird.”

“There aren’t any birds here!” The boy looked around.

“What about in here?” Compress suggested, holding out his hat.

“No.” The boy concluded after sticking his hand inside the hat.

“I thought, for sure, there were birds in here!” Compress stated, tilting the hat in a perplexed manner. As the hat fell upside-down a flood of doves spilled out. The audience cheered and the birds ate.

“Thank you for your help! Would you like a rose as well?” The boy’s eyes widened as he bolted for the stairs. “I supposed they ARE a bit cursed.”

“At this point we should actually bring her back.” Compress mused. He tossed his cane back and forth between his hands, compressing it and decompressing it. Except one time his cane didn’t come back alone, the stagehand stumbled out of the tossing motion with cane in hand. The audience cheered some more.

“There we go! Welcome back dear, where have you been? You missed a wonderful trick.”

“I’m not quite sure.” The stagehand replied, “Somewhere magical, though!”

___________________________________________________________________

Mr. Compress did a few more tricks and as the performance wrapped up the vibe was positive and even Kurogiri enjoyed himself. Perhaps he would have enjoyed himself more if he stopped overthinking tricks. As he got up to leave a familiar voice called out to him.

“I’m surprised you actually came to see my performance, I worried you would come up with a last-minute excuse,” The magician jested.

“Sometimes it’s good to be impulsive, the performance was quite interesting,” Kurogiri mused.

“Is this your weekly allotment of impulse then? Have you been saving it up? All for this, my, all for my performance? I wonder if there is any left.” He prodded playfully as he went about packing up.

“Do you need any help with that,” Kurogiri stepped forward, brushing off the majority of what the man had said.

“Huh, oh, not really. With my quirk putting things away is not exactly difficult, “he poked a full box for emphasis and watched it, well, compress into a tiny emerald orb that rolled across the wooden floor. Picking up the orb he placed it inside a velvet pouch, with ease. “Though, there is one thing that your quirk would be useful for.”

“Transportation?”

“Bingo~ What do you need in order to warp?”

“A specified location, longitude and latitude.”

“Ah, that sounds difficult, any other methods?”

“If I have been there before I can warp there.”

“Well then, looks like we will just have to see how close you have unknowingly been near my home.” With a flick of his wrist he turned back around, packing the remaining objects. “Those apartments by the park, off the east side. Have you been to them?”

“I have been to the park.”

“Good enough, now kind sir if you would allow me the pleasure of being walked home by you.” He bowed in a goofy manner, Kurogiri had to swallow a small laugh.

“If you live that close to the park, why not perform there?” Kurogiri inquired as he opened the warp.

“Can’t have everybody knowing where I live, can I?”

Satisfied with the answer they both walk through the gate into the predetermined park. Dimly lit the park was mostly vacant, save for a few teenager smoking in the background. They were not overly loud and remarkably did not clash with the peaceful aesthetic. Sako had started to walk down the sidewalk, and Kurogiri followed like an obedient dog. Soon after they stopped at a tall white brick building. Sako scanned his key card and waltzed in, again Kurogiri followed. In the elevator and Kurogiri still trailed. Then keys in the door, and he paused.

“Is this the limit of your impulse?” Sako smiled from the doorway as he removed his mask and hat. Placing them on a hat rack.

“This is as far as I need to go. I considered leaving when we arrived at the building, then I considered the possibility of bad weather. Now that we are inside there is no reason for me to go any further.”

“What if I forget my keys? You already followed me inside under that false connotation that you were worried about the weather. Perhaps you are worried, but not about that.” Sako teased, shrugging off his jacket for the coat rack.

“One step inside, in case you forget your keys and then goodnight.” With that Sako moved aside and true to his word Kurogiri took one step and turned right back around.

“Goodnight.”

“You are oh, so bland my dear.” Sako sighed rolling his eyes. “Until next time.”

A small wave and a door click behind him a warped opening carried him home.

Chapter Text

A cutting board rested on the counter with various scraps of plant matter. Several eggshells called the trashcan home. The stove sizzled. The toaster…toasted.

Kurogiri had invited Tenko over for breakfast again. Working a night job breakfast was the only meal that worked schedule wise after all. Regardless, no matter what time of day, there was no harm in trying to mend a relationship before it became too distant.

“Have you been up to anything lately? Or are you still a hermit.” Kurogiri inquired, as an egg slid onto his plate.

“Nothing has happened. Don’t really want to go anywhere.”

“It isn’t good to stay boarded up in your room all day playing video games.”

“Yeah mom, I know, but you’re hypocritical. You rarely go anywhere.”

“While that may be true, I did attend the magic show that you declined multiple times. Going outside won’t kill you.”

“How did the performance go; did he bomb it?”

“It went quite well; I was surprised how well he managed to appeal to both children and adults.” Kurogiri replied, as he grabbed toast out of the toaster. “If you were curious why didn’t you come.”

“Magic shows aren’t really my thing. You know that.”

“Do I? You seemed quite engrossed in the concept as a child.”

“Your quirk is just cool and useful; you don’t count anyway you’re my dad it’s almost an obligation to like what you do.”

“You don’t need to feel obligated towards anything, except befriending your roommates, that is one point I will force on you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve been playing some video games with them.” Tenko replied swirling his straw. “They aren’t terrible.”

“Are they also gamers? Or have you forced them into your own hobbies? Trying things that your friends like might not turn out negatively, you might enjoy it. For instance, I do not
watch magic shows in my free time, and yet I went to see one.”

“Oh, great, so you’re trying to push your self-awakening on me, huh?”

“Tenko, I am simply saying that I was not a great role model for socializing, you were right in calling me hypocritical. That said, I do not regret this sudden change of pace and wish you the best in your own life.”

“Well, whatever, I’m just happy you have somebody to talk to. I don’t know why you never tried to make friends with any of my old friend’s parents or hell even go on a date. You could have totally played the lonely father card and gotten a divorced mom.”

“It just was not something that interested me.” Kurogiri chuckled, “Though, I do appreciate the concern.”

“You’re weird.” Tenko scoffed.

“If you wish to prod me, is there somebody that you are interested in?”

“No.”

“If you say that without diverting your eyes, I may be more convinced.”

“It’s nothing, I don’t even know them that well.”

“I can try an assist, if you would like it, but I fear that I am not the most experienced person on that topic.”

“Alright.” Tenko shrugged, taking the last bite of his omelet.

“If you’re salty that you have nobody to talk to in reference of romance, perhaps you should ask your roommates. The only person I have to offer is perhaps the magician, but I am not knowledgeable on his life. So, it seems best that you try to handle it on your own.”

“I bet, if anything, the guy would be a funny flirt.” Tenko mused.

“Pardon?”

“It would be unbelievably cheesy. Like look in your hand, it’s my number. All that sleight of hand nonsense.”

Kurogiri furrowed his brow. Thinking of a rather similar situation that occurred the first time they met.

“What?” Tenko asked.

“Are you not supposed to give your acquaintances your number? I came home the day after our first meeting to find his business card in my breast pocket.”

“Did you call it?”

“No, it’s on my dresser, I haven’t touched it since I received it.”

“Do you not want to talk to him?”

“We do not talk outside of the bar. Last night, at his performance, was an outlier, and then I walked him home. Not that I was opposed to talking to him outside the bar. He talks an awful lot, far more than I do generally. Even at the end of my shift, and often calls me bland for not aiding in stretching our conversations after hours.”

Tenko deadpanned and rubbed his temples. “If I see him, I’m going to apologize on your behalf.”

“Apologize, what for?”

“You are, unbelievably dense.”

“In what regards?”

Tenko was focusing very hard on not doing anything rash. Taking a deep breath, he rejoined the conversation. “Dad, I love you, he loves you, but you have chronic dumb bitch disease.”

“Sorry, I am not as used to advances from others as you are.”

“You know what? Who cares, none of my business, if you like him back go do something with him, put his number in your phone, flirt back. That’s all I have to say.”

“Just because somebody talks to you, doesn’t mean they necessarily like you.”

“Believe whatever you want. I’m just telling you what I think is happening.”

Kurogiri hummed in response. Thinking back on his previous encounters with the magician and if he could truly see him in that light. Thinking also that his son should not be the one to inform him of such things.

“I have to get going now though,” Tenko stated as he glanced at the clock on the wall, “Or else I’ll be late for that tournament. I’ll text you.”

“Have fun.” Kurogiri looked up as Tenko walked out the door.
___________________________________________________________________

Tenko strolled down the street, still baffled by his father’s aloof nature.

He glanced down the street and took note that a crowd was located a few streets down. Most likely the location of a certain magician. It would be out of his way, but he knew his dad would not make the first move over text. He would, however, respond.

Taking a detour, he scribbled his dad’s number and an apology of sorts for his brick of a father figure. Sleight of hand not being his strong point Tenko squeezed his way to the front and deposited the note card into the makeshift tip jar.

The magician wasn’t an awful person. His dad seemed to enjoy his company, and at the very least this action was something beneficial Tenko could do after babying his father at home. It was also beneficial to Tenko in that, if his father had somebody else to talk to, he would not harass him as much.

Being an accomplice in the quest to give himself two dads gave him a funny feeling. A nicer one than the usual gaming competition spite and salt. Which was, on the contrary, an arguably worse emotion, as spite granted an edge on competition. He also found himself lacking the pending anger he used the competitions to alleviate. Maybe this event was not one for him to win.
___________________________________________________________________

With Tenko long gone and all the dishes from the venture cleaned Kurogiri went back to being perplexed. Sure, him and the magician talked, but that didn’t mean anything. They poked fun at each other, but could such a guy really be looking for love? What is the line between love and friends anyway? Do people his age even search for friends. Is that a questioned to be asked or to be answered?

If Kurogiri was more open in his youth instead of stressing over work and Tenko he would have stumbled on a similar situation much sooner. Alas that was not the case. Or perhaps it was, and he was shielded by oblivious tendencies. Attraction is a weird thing to discover. A weirder one when the dating pool is smaller and social groups dissipate. The real question of whether it is lonely desperation or true feeling and ultimately what the difference is. Luckily, Tenko didn’t have the same problem. Though, if he did, nobody would have noticed that there was an issue, regardless of the severity.

He trusted his son’s judgment as he tended to be more meticulous than himself. Better traveled as well. Though this was not the sort of thing he encouraged bringing up. With any luck this event will prove beneficial for all parties, with no luck this entire situation will sour casting Kurogiri back into his peaceful single life.

It was all very stressful, and in the end, he regretted mentioning even a smidge of it to his son.

_______________________________________________________________

As the light of the day dwindled Sako decided to call it quits and wrapped up his act. Compressing all his belongings the corner was cleaned, and he headed home.

Decompressing his belongings, they were put away inside his home. By the door for easy access. Then came the tip jar. Unorganized as he was the contents was commonly dumped into an even bigger jar. Bank accounts are for losers. Although this time around he wasn’t going to wait till he got low enough to examine an oddity in the collection.

Curiosity got the best of him, and while he could wait hours until his shift was over, he could not wait any longer to figure out what was on the piece of paper Tenko slipped into his jar. And so, he reached into the jar, picking out a simple white square.

The square read, “Sorry, he isn’t going to text you first,” and was accompanied by a phone number.

Chapter Text

Gifted with the arcane knowledge of Kurogiri’s phone number, Sako pondered on what he should send, if anything. There was also the question of what, if anything, the man would respond to.

Being forward hadn’t gotten him anywhere, but a simple hello was far too bland for consideration. Bland enough to be something he expected to receive.

Sako continued to mull over the issue as he rolled out of bed and got ready for the day. He couldn’t be angry about the phone number. Tenko had to have given it to him for a reason. Reason perhaps being the thought was reciprocated. You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Sitting on the windowsill he considered sending a picture a very fat pigeon that had landed there. He decided against it as he assumed, they had different senses of humor. Or maybe that was just the thing! He reneged his decision, took a picture of the pigeon and with fancy phone magic gave the pigeon a top hat and cane. He sent it with the caption, ‘your favorite magician~.”

- Who is this? – Kurogiri replied moments later.
Oh RIP
- Do you know any other magicians?
- Sako? How did you get my number?
- Well you certainly weren’t going to text me, so I had to improvise.
- That isn’t entirely true. I, Did Tenko give you this number?
- Perhaps ~
- He really should not meddle with my life like this.
- Are you upset that he has? I can refrain from texting.
- No. Well, I am upset that he did this without permission, but it needed to be done. I tend to drag my feet too much.
- I’ll drink to that
- Speaking of drinks, will I see you at the bar tonight?
- As always ~

The conversation died, and it wasn’t worth rekindling at this point in time. It didn’t go terribly, but it also wasn’t ideal. Kurogiri did respond, so really it was more than was expected.

Sako didn’t really feel like performing today, which was only partially due to the mediocre conversation he started. What a shot in the gut.

As he mused on the topic of what to do today his free hand traced grooves in the sill. Looking at the dust on his finger, his next course of action as decided at the very least.

If he ever succeeded in getting the mist man here, he would be turned off, by the disorderly nature. Sako preferred to refer to it as organized chaos, but that’s just semantics.

Somehow, he still had an almost full bottle of cleaner under the sink. Which is a testament to either how forgetful he was in terms of when things were purchased, how often he cleans, or both. The bottle already had a rag wrapped around the top, saving any extra effort from finding one.

He sprayed down the window and sill, wiping them clean. Only to discover how dirty his side table looked in contrast to the cleansed sill. Then how dirty a flowerpot looked, then the coffee table, until the entire living room was spotless. Mostly spotless, he had spilled wine on his carpet months ago, and resolved to ignore the stain.

Kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, were all other chapters. The bathroom was clean, that was one thing he kept an eye on daily, mostly because a mold outbreak resided when he moved in, as well as some other things, but the intricacies of the matter are ignorable. Kitchen counters were clean. Cabinets not so much, but outwardly the kitchen was well put together.

On second thought, the bedroom might be an entirely different book. At first glance it looked nice, a cohesive theme and dim lights. Closer inspection was concerning. The bed was made, but not entirely straight, wrinkles dotted the sheets. The headboard was dusty, but who really looks there anyway. He never did organize his bolo tie collection, that was all spread out atop his dresser, collecting dust along with more ties. There was a pair of socks sticking out from under the bed. Who knows what else was under there. Begrudgingly Sako figured he might as well clean his bedroom.

After getting distracted by a long-lost bolo tie, that had taken residence behind a laundry basket, the bedroom became rather tidy.

The house was deemed clean enough altogether. Clean enough for guests, which he rarely had, despite his entertainer nature. Years ago, he was much more of a socialite, and could expect an onslaught of guests at any given time. Times have changed to say the least.

If times hadn’t changed a death of excess awaited him. Every weekend he threw parties, Great Gatsby esq monstrosities. The limelight was his place, his name on everyone’s tongue, his facade in their dreams. They laughed off his consistent statements that he simply was a magician and imagined him a business owner or another high paying concept. They imagined the image he presented.

Truly a magician’s salary was not enough to cover such a lavish life. It offered him a cover, entertaining guests, entertaining his own interests by petty thievery. Tame tricks included changing large bills into smaller bills, and to the patrons, it wasn't worth their time or image to ask for the full amount back.

Parties at other’s homes granted him access to unfathomable amounts of wealth. They wouldn't notice a missing bottle from their wine cellar, or several. They wouldn’t notice a missing necklace from a dusty drawer. They wouldn’t notice a missing candelabra. They might have noticed a missing chair, but nobody complained.

It got to a point, though, that it was too much. Work was not worth the reward. Tiring him immensely. Folks were starting to get suspicious as well, but suspicion was thwarted easily with distractions. In the end he just moved towns, without a single goodbye or anyone relatively close.

He did still possess objects like decanters and trays, so if his mind ever changed, he could easily remembrance society without re-obtaining his collection of wares.
Nothing else left to occupy him, he went back to the sill. Turned on some light background music. Grabbed a book off the side table.
___________________________________________________________________

Dusk was settling in and Sako considered it as a sign he should start on his walk to the bar. Since he wasn’t performing today the mask and balaclava didn’t even cross his mind. He also opted to forgo his coat, as, in reality, it was a tad too hot to warrant a coat. Not that he minded usually, suffering for fashion was a commonplace practice.

Given the previous dressing decisions, Kurogiri did not immediately recognize him at the bar. After a double take and a few squints Sako received his usual.

“You look quite dapper today, what’s the occasion?” Kurogiri noted.

“I had no occasion, except coming here.” Sako answered, fiddling with the left cuff of his dress shirt.

“Normally people dress down on their day off.”

“Oh, but I have. I’m missing quite a few articles.”

“Again, with the undressing lacking equivalent exchange.”

Sako tried to come up with a comeback, but he was right. So instead he smiled into his glass. “I don’t suppose you take any days off?”

“I took the day of your performance off.”

“That hardly counts, you were dressed extremely well.”

“Not to disagree, but I am only wearing the basics. A button up, tie, slacks. There isn’t much to be removed, except the tie. Or my belt.”

Sako hummed, rubbing his fingers across the rim of his glass. “Did you enjoy my pigeon?”

“Text message pigeon?”

“A different pigeon, no dear, that pigeon, the only pigeon that I have sent to you. “

“The idea of a messenger pigeon was quite an odd way to start a conversation. Though it had a place and was fun.”

“The pigeon was fun? You liked him?” Sako almost choked on his drink. “Never would I have expected you to call something fun.”

“I can like things and look stuffy, Sako.” A hint of a slight smile lingered in his illuminated eyes.

“And to think that I thought the Venn diagram of stuffy and likable was a two seperate circles.”

“Do you like pigeons?” Kurogiri pressed, as there wasn’t much he knew about the man.

“I do, I enjoy birds in general, but in the city? Pigeons decorate everything. Despite being a mundane creature, their feathers and personalities are wonderful. Quite the accidental entertainers.”

“An optimistic view, most refer to them simply as street rats.”

“Is that what you regard them as?”

“Not exactly, I never paid them mind, in honesty. Never paid mind to most,” He corrected himself, “There is a nest of pigeons outside my window.”

“Oh! So, you don’t live under a rock. Here I thought you crawled out of some dark hole, trudging to the bar and back. I bet you would blend in quite well to that lifestyle.”

“My quirk may have granted me the ability to blend into the night, however, I still embrace the invention of electricity.”

“The pigeons though! What do they look like?” Sako questioned, backing up the conversation.

“Not a cliché street rat. Lahore pigeons, most likely, and currently two adults with a chick have taken up residence.”

“Marvelous, I would love to see them, I bet they look stunning. Rather presumptuous of me to assume I’ll even see them though.”

“Do you wish to see them?”

“Are you inviting me over to your living space? Or perhaps your blandness will sent me a photograph.”

“Not at the moment, it is too dark.”

“To which question does that response belong?” Sako questioned casually, despite the anxiety welling up inside.

“To either,” Kurogiri continued, cleaning a glass adorned with very annoying soap marks. “Although, I am not entirely sure why you would want to enter my home. Nothing interesting resides there, nothing worth stealing either,” pausing for a moment he finished, “except the pigeons.”

“How rude!” Sako mocked, clutching his chest, “I would never steal from you! Get those nasty thoughts out of your head. I mean from anybody.” Perplexed by himself he zoned out for a moment, “Maybe I would steal from some people. For the show, of course, IDs, wallets, your tie, but I return them most times.”

“My tie?” Kurogiri glanced down to reveal that his tie was in fact gone. “Is this one of most times or do you intend to steal it?”

“Depends, would it look good on me?” Sako proceeded to decompress it for his own neck.

“A bit long, not much I can say when my taste is the one in question. I can get you a tie if you would like.” Kurogiri offered.

“Risk having my entire wardrobe converted to monochrome? No, thanks.” Sako undid the tie, handing it back. Kurogiri took the tie back but did not retie it. “If I bought you a tie, would you wear it?”

“How gaudy would it be?”

“Oh, perfectly gaudy, dear, the worst thing you will have ever laid eyes on.”

“Is that a selling point?”

“Only if you buy it.”

“I’m intrigued.” Kurogiri humored him, if he would regret that decision or not was something only the future knew.

Too excited with the idea at hand Sako and his short attention span bolted from the bar without so much as a word. Leaving Kurogiri rather confused.
___________________________________________________________________

Most stores were already closed. Online shopping would take too long. Nobody walking down the street owned a tie.

Streetlamps flickered and huge moths congregated to them. Sako continued walking. The shopping district was long and treacherous. The real threats being the amount of money spent. The second threat being potential thugs. Neither of which were a concern.

Then the most magnificent tie caught his eye from a thrift store window. An orange and maroon patterned tie adorned with pigeons.
___________________________________________________________________

He thought about rushing back to the bar. Gift in hand. He feared the establishment had already closed; he never really did inquire to the hours of the place. The days he stayed till closing; he never checked the time.

Instead he opted to text. Questioning how text savvy the other man was. Alas, he was working and did not respond within the five-minute Sako deemed enough to decide which direction he should walk in. So, he walked home.

The last thing he did was send a simple goodnight text with a tie emoji.

Chapter Text

Kurogiri wasn’t exactly opposed to cryptic messages. Tenko had sent him enough memes, emojis and odd quotes to prepare him for any circumstance. None of them, however, informed him how to text a non-teenager. Sending an emoji back seemed tasteless, but Sako didn’t exactly have great taste.

Since he had missed the ‘Goodnight tie” text. A Good morning tie text.

Sako, on the other side of the phone line looked at his messages in quiet confusion.

- Dear, do you know why I sent a tie?
- Tired?

He snorted in response. Kurogiri might be good at those picture games, the ones where you decipher phrases and words using emojis, but not real life.

- I said I was going to buy you a tie.
- My apologies, Tenko texts in tongues

Blaming his son, is he? Rationally he did expect Tenko to be the one to introduce him to technology. Betting that Kurogiri would still use a typewritter if available.

- Next time I see you I shall give it to you ~
- I await to see how awful it will be

He couldn’t wait to baffle him with how awful it was either. Awful, being a subjective term. He had to wait, at least, for nightfall. There was potential in finding him in the city earlier and harassing him, distasteful, but a thought.

Getting ready for the day he compressed the tie and placed in in his pocket so he would have it later that night. Some playing card, small trinkets, joined the pocket.

Coming up with new material everyday was exhausting. He enjoyed it, liked the mental challenge, embraced the exhaustion. Kids were easy to please, they watched rerun cartoons still laughing at punchlines. Adults were nihilistic.

After a kid decided to eat a playing card, the queen of hearts, Mr.Compress decided that he had enough magic for the day.
What are you even supposed to do when your volunteer crams an entire card in his mouth?
___________________________________________________________________

Wrapping up the magic display as quickly as possible the magician waltzed into the bar. Earlier than usual, not by much.

“As promised,” Sako reached out, depositing the tie into Kurogiri’s makeshift hand.

“This tie, is by far, worse than I imagined.” Kurogiri sighed, looking at the neon orange speckles across a maroon base, decorated with green, yellow and purple pigeons, “The colors don’t go together in the slightest.”

“I take my word very seriously. Now are you going to humor me by putting it on? Or will I have to envision that myself? Not that I mind, but I did go through an awful amount of trouble to find one that perfect.”

“For tonight, I will humor you.” Kurogiri begrudgingly undid his own tie, “But do not get the impression that I will wear this monstrosity daily.” His monochromatic attire was no more.

“It looks lovely on you!” Sako clasped his hands together. Kurogiri looked rather concerned.

“It would appear that we have different definitions of lovely.”

“What, pray tell, is your definition then?”

“Simplistic, for myself, not to get me mistaken, I do not despise your gaudy aesthetic, but it belongs to you, not me.”

“No hope for a merger?”

“Pardon?”

“Add some sprinkles to your life? Some pizzazz?” Sako had started gesturing wilding with his hands. “I can’t imagine how drab your home is. White walls? White carpet? Black trim Black counter? The same drab colors as you exude. Family pictures, black and white filtered?”

“My carpet’s beige.” Kurogiri muttered, not liking how called out he was feeling.

“Beige, beige.” Sako stressed, as he leaned his face against his hand. “That’s your pop of color.”

“At least, I presume, my furniture matches.”

“You say that like it’s a good thing. If I ever come over, I will personally steal your couch. Add it to my collection of mismatched objects.”

“I recall you stating you would not steal my things.”

“I lied. Loosen up, will you? It isn’t much fun joking towards somebody who takes things personally.” Sako punctuated the remark by sliding his empty cup into Kurogiri’s torso.

“Are you open to me buying you a shot?”

“Whether I am completely open or not, my job allows it.”

“Dodging the question?”

“Not entirely,” Kurogiri warped a bottle into his hand, pouring two shots.

“A mystery beverage? Oh dear.” Drumming his fingers against the counter Sako counted down intent on drinking at the same time. “Three ~, Two ~, One!”

Immediately after taking the shot Sako recoiled. Kurogiri didn’t so much as flinch.

“What was that!? I thought this place only served the basics.” Sako continued, shaking he head as if that would rid himself of the taste.

“Was assuming you liked surprises the wrong assumption?” Kurogiri warped a glass of water over, for good measure.

The magician took the glass graciously. “I do love surprises, just not that one. Can you tell me what it was so that I may avoid it or are you intent on taking my mystery role?”

“I’m playing by your rules.” Kurogiri mused, looking at the distaste still lingering.

“You’re playing dirty.”

“As I said, playing by your rules.”

“If they are my rules, what are my motives?” Sako pressed, wondering if the man had caught onto anything.

“To loosen up.” He stated blankly, clearly not embracing the same thing the magician used those words to allude to.

“Close enough.” Shrugging, it was the closest he’s gotten.

“I suppose one shot failed to accomplish it?”

“As tempted as I am to get you hammered, I refuse to put that liquid anywhere near my mouth again. The fact that you won’t tell me what it is makes it all the worse.”

“The goal was to get me inebriated. You must have quite a tolerance if you think you can outlast me.”

“Then consider and alternate possibility that I’m a lightweight who likes to make themselves other people’s problems.”

“Believable.” Kurogiri gave Sako a once over. “If you succeed at that I can warp you home.”

“How gentlemanly. Can you warp me home before I black out or only after I become a nuisance?”

“I can warp you right now if you’d like.” Kurogiri offered and the magician accepted. Thus he opened a warp.

“I love it, it’s simply wonderful.” He touched the warp for the first time. “Same as your misty hand.” He concluded and disappeared, but not before he shouted a slightly frantic last-minute goodbye as the warp closed.

With him gone Kurogiri fought the urge to swap ties. Sure, it was awful, but it had grown on him, at least a tiny bit. It also resided out of his line of vision for the most part, adding to the palatability.
___________________________________________________________________

Back home Sako thought about a missed opportunity. He was too enamored with the warp to do anything functional at that moment. Hindsight is twenty twenty, giving him a grand idea of what to do next.

Chapter Text

Sako had woken up in the mood to scheme. Remembering what had happened last night he set about making plans for tonight. He was losing patience after all.

Thinking back again, he didn’t exactly know why he was enamored with the warp enough to go through it immediately last night. He had already used it once before, granted last time he was with Kurogiri. Perhaps talking with the man blinded him of the fantastic teleportation around him. Perhaps that meant he was more intrigued with the mist man himself than the quirk that enamored him in the first place.

Rolling out of bed he searched for a pen and paper to scribble out schematics, then he realized the entire idea of planning the endeavour would ruin it. Wouldn’t want to risk being too stuffy and by the book. Even if planning to some extent was not a terrible idea, it was one that he may do inside his head. Not to mention if a certain man found this piece of paper he would be doomed. Sako was a spontaneous man at heart anyway.

Giving up on that he went looking for his phone. Finding it on the side table in the living room. No texts from Kurogiri, unsurprising, an email from some sort of scammer, suspicious, and a notification that one of his apps had updated without consent last night, rude.

Again, he didn’t much feel like entertaining people. The acts were getting dull, and he was afraid he was losing interest. Being a traveling magician would be so much easier. Who cared if he did the same act every day? There would be different people to idolize him.

Not that he actually thought of leaving, but he was in a rut. Nothing was exactly going his way and his interests currently fell more on entertaining himself rather than the masses.
He had already cleaned his apartment, so he didn’t have any real excuses to not go out and earn some extra cash. Plus, it would be a time killer if nothing else.

Scratch that. It only killed an hour.

Mulling around some more after throwing his performing stuff in his apartment he started a new quest of time wasting. Wine shopping.

He had, a lot of wine, a whole rack on the counter. If he could reason having a bigger, perhaps non apartment house he would obtain a wine cellar. For purely aesthetic reasons, he didn’t much need the cellar for space. His quirk allowed him to shirk the bottles so he had a bucket of alcoholic marbles. A bucket that required him to fish through if he ever wanted a specific bottle.

Leaving his home, he ventured into some liquor stores. Buying things he didn’t need, as per usual. He always asked the employees if they had stocked any new brands, but alas all the new brands were local beers. Nobody around here makes wine, which Sako considered to be a real tragedy.

Wine making could be fun, maybe. Not that he knew anything about it. Though with a few hours killed shopping for wine he didn’t see the need in fulfilling a side quest of creating wine. The sun was already starting so set, so instead he made the choice to walk back to his apartment.

Once home he went to put the wine away. His rack was already full, and he considered finishing his open bottle to make room. A consideration he did not subscribe to as the extra bottles were just shoved in the cabinet below.

Again, he found himself with nothing to do and the clock moving too slowly. Turning on the TV a few more hours raced by.

And now it was a reasonable time to head to the bar. A little later than usual, well, a lot later. Though it was more than reasonable for the somewhat regretful thing he had planned.
________________________________________________________________

“Another,” the illusionist shook an empty class in his hand.

“Sako, I am going to have to cut you off.” Kurogiri sighed.

“I’ve only had two thus far, and I have yet to start slurring.”

“It has been an entire seven minutes since you have entered this establishment. In addition to that we close in roughly thirty minutes which means alcohol gets cut off.”

“You close up soon, so how much damage can I possibly do in that time?”

“I suppose there is not anybody to fight, and at most you would only compress some knick knacks or a stool,” Kurogiri muttered. Noting that nobody else was at the bar besides the two of them at that point. The other patrons were used to closing time and were kind enough to not harass a simple working man who just wanted to clean and lock up at a reasonable time.

There weren’t any other patrons, Kurogiri rethought. Not that it was unusual, but last time Sako stayed until closing there were others around. The man did come in later than usual this time as well and seemed a tad off. In fact, he came at an exceptionally rude time; customers have no business lounging around so close to closing. Yet Kurogiri just ignored any annoyances he currently faced and kept an eye on his one patron.

He did begrudging end up giving the man a third drink. Figuring it would hold him over as he cut liquor off, which admittedly he should have done a little but ago. Nonetheless he began counting bottles and making notes of what he would need to place orders in for.

“I’m going to start locking up now, you best get going,” Kurogiri glanced over at him. This time standing on the customer side of the bar, sweeping under the stools.

“Fine,” He replied in a rather pouty manner. Getting off his stool he immediate stumbled grabbing the bar for support. “Sitting the whole time gave me a false sense, huh?”

“If you do not think that you can walk home in your current state, would you like me to warp you there?”

“That would be lovely.” Sako smiled and Kurogiri opened the warp.

“Just walk through it,” Kurogiri stated as he walked closer to examine the apprehension, “Or is one step too much, I could open it on the floor if –, “He was swiftly cut off.

“No, I just needed something,” Grabbing Kurogiri’s tie the pair fell into the portal. On the opposite end Kurogiri had fallen on top of Sako in his doorway. “You just wouldn’t come in last time, so I had to think of something. You’re pretty naïve.”

________________________________________________________________

Kurogiri righted himself almost instantly. Getting up without so much of stumble Sako mirrored him. “Normally people act drunk to get somebody to take advantage of them, not the other way around.” Kurogiri noted.

“You’re too sure of yourself to do that. On the contrary, you care about others, you are a good man. So, it was necessary to exploit that side of you. Now that we are here though, can I get you something to drink or are you going to try and leave again?”

“Sako,” Kurogiri sighed. “I need to lock up the bar.”

“Still a lil’ cup of vanilla ice cream, aren’t we?” He taunted.

“Would it make you happy if I came right back once I locked up?”

“Extremely.”

True to his words the bar went through the nightly routine and Kurogiri found himself back in Sako’s apartment.

“Can I offer you a drink now?” Sako questioned from the windowsill.

“No, well, you can offer me one, but I decline.” Kurogiri hesitated, and he walked over.

“You can sit down.” Sako chuckled as he noticed the bartender awkwardly standing. “I’m not going to do anything. You’re acting as though I’m holding you hostage.”

“This is a bit of a hostage situation.”

“I’ll admit it was at first, but the second time you came willingly.”

Kurogiri kicked himself for that but still sat on the sill.

“Any show requests?” Sako inquired, remote in hand, “If you were a more, go with the flow, we wouldn’t care what was on TV, but alas this is my grave.”

“I don’t watch much television.”

“Next time I do this I really must get you sloshed.” Sako sighed, as he rubbed his temples.

“My apologies, for this inquiry, but what do you want from me?”

“I’d rather I didn’t have to tell you in all honesty.”

“Is that an I'm not going to tell you, or I’m going to tell you begrudgingly.”

“You were tense walking in here, am I giving you less credit than you deserve?” Sako mumbled, his hand went from rubbing his temples to pushing up an eyebrow.

There was a brief silence before Kurogiri spoke and even that was muted by uncertainty. “Do you like me?” Second to the muting of uncertainty was a pillow tossed at his face.

“We are adults stop sounding like a sheepish schoolboy.”

“Then stop looking like one.” Kurogiri jested back at the now, slightly uncomfortable looking magician.

“This was such a mistake; it was planned so much better in my head.”

“Reality is often disappointing.”

“Don’t get all philosophical on me, you’re the one making it disappointing.”

“I’m truly sorry you fell for me,” Kurogiri laughed. “I’m not nearly as spirited as you, although I am aware of the concept that opposites attract.”

“I’m truly sorry you fell on me,” Sako muttered back. “More than a little rusty at this, I thought it was a suave idea.”

“That I can give credit for, perhaps if the mood was better. Not that I am in any position to critique.”

“Mood? Let me know when you’re desperate enough then.”

“Desperation isn’t what I would cite. I just need to loosen up. If that would happen, I might need to steal your idea.”

“Nothing is preventing you from loosening up. Nothing except yourself. You have to stop caring what other people think and go for things you deem out of reach.”

Nodding in agreement Kurogiri gazed out the window. In the reflection he could tell Sako wasn’t looking at him. Sako, on the other hand, couldn’t tell where Kurogiri was looking even if he was staring. The lack of pupils made it difficult.

“You have a wonderful view,” Kurogiri stated, changing the subject.

“It’s a lot nicer when the sun is up,” Sako replied, walking from his windowsill to Kurogiri’s.

“I imagine. After all it is quite hard to see much at this hour.”

“Especially considering I use it for people and pigeon watching.”

“Pigeons are most likely asleep anyway, even if the visibility was higher I doubt they would be around.”

“I can dream.”

“Though, certain people, like than man are distinguishable at night.” Kurogiri gestured to a figure with neon lit shoes.

“Exclusions the every assumption,” Sako mused. “I wonder if I would be able to notice you if you happened to walk down there.”

“During the day I assume I am quite easy to pick out. At night you may see my eyes, but I regret to inform you that I do not tend to walk facing the sky.”

“Do you think you would be able to notice me if I walked past your home?”

“Maybe, if I dedicated half as much time as you do to looking out of the window.”

“Understandable,” Sako whispered, nervously interlacing his hands, “That aside, was that an acceptation of my advances I heard earlier?”

Silence consumed the duo once again. Whether it was in thought or regret was a different matter. Then slowly, Kurogiri moved closer. Planting a soft, wispy kiss on his cheek. “I do like talking to you outside of the bar, even though we are both incompetent.”

“Perhaps you’re not entirely a cup of vanilla ice cream,” Sako smiled lightly relishing the fact that his affections had not been entirely ignored.

“In that case I must be going now though, before you get too ahead of yourself,” Kurogiri decided. It was already late, and it gave him something to think about for the night.

“I think that decision is for the best, until tomorrow.”