"Oi, Hinata." There was a dangerous undertone to Kageyama's voice, one that made her pause mid-chew and turn to face him ever-so-slowly.

"What's up?" she tried to ask, but the words came out garbled around her mouthful of rice. His scowl turned to a look of disgust.

"You're getting food everywhere," he scoffed, eyeing the table disdainfully. "Close your mouth when you eat, dumbass."

Hinata followed his gaze and cringed. She snapped her mouth closed, chewing furiously to swallow the food so she could reply. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. In her defence, she usually had better table manners but her excitement about being at the training camp had not combined well with her usual habits of inhaling her meals, resulting in a mess on the table in front of her.

In contrast, Kageyama was sitting serenely beside her, his area immaculate despite the fact that he was eating just as much as her, and just as fast. Hinata scowled, trying to discreetly clean up the scraps littered everywhere before she turned back to her food.

"You missed a spot."

"What? Where?" she demanded, glancing down at the table.

"On your face, dumbass," Kageyama said unhelpfully before he resumed eating.

Hinata swiped roughly around her mouth with a napkin. "Did I get it?"

"No," he said flatly.

"Huh?" she whined, patting her face frantically.

Kageyama could only watch incredulously. "No," he repeated. "You missed it again. Not there—no—just above—no—!"

With an exasperated growl, he grabbed her face, one hand on the top of her head and the other grasping her jaw firmly. Hinata flailed, trying to tug his hands away, but his grip was firm, holding her in place despite her protests. "What are you—"

"Hold still," he ordered. Hinata squirmed in her seat, glaring even as she relaxed her grip around his wrists. The pressure on her crown and her chin was growing uncomfortable but she could break his hold if she really needed to. But she trusted Kageyama, knew he would never hurt her – her discomfort was more embarrassment than anything.

She froze as his face loomed over hers, hardly breathing as she stared up at him with wide eyes. With his face so close to hers, she could see all the little details of his appearance that she had never noticed before – and how could she, when they were both always in motion, always trying to move forwards and grow and improve, when even a moment of stillness was to be left behind – but this was different. With both of them suspended in time like this, Hinata could truly appreciate how unique his eyes were, that deep ocean-blue colour that she had never seen on anyone else; the way his dark lashes contrasted against his pale skin as he focused his gaze on her, so long and thick that she was nearly envious; the way his brows naturally angled down to give him that perpetually angry look; even just the shape of his face, the curve of his cheekbones beneath the last hint of baby fat, the tiny pores and imperfections of his skin. She had always known that Kageyama was…well, handsome; a classical beauty, like Shimizu. But where her looks and quiet demeanour lent her an air of mystery that drew people in, Kageyama's features tended to settle into a scowl, making him appear cold and unapproachable. It was no wonder that Hinata was fidgeting under the weight of his gaze when he was peering at her so intently that his brow was furrowed into a dark scowl – not to mention the fact that he was, essentially, cradling her face (albeit with a little more force than necessary). It was an oddly intimate gesture, and almost reminded her of a parent trying to hold their wriggling child in place, but of course it was different, because it was Kageyama and–

And then his thumb was skimming across the space above the corner of her lips, warm and gentle despite the roughness of his callouses. The light touch was such a contrast to the firm grip on her head that she nearly didn't notice it, but she did see his brow relax, saw the way the corner of his lips curled up into a tiny, self-satisfied smile. It wasn't quite as smug as some of the taunting looks he gave her in training – no, it was more of a pleased look, the same kind of expression he made when he made a good play. It faded as he dropped his hands, shaking off her now-loose grip to turn back to his food quickly. "Dumbass," he said gruffly, picking up his chopsticks again.

Hinata stared blankly at him, the top of her head strangely cold now that he'd taken his hands away. She didn't even realise she was lifting her hand to the same place he had touched until she felt her own fingertips on her face, and finally processed what happened. "H-Hey!" she spluttered, feeling her cheeks burn. To her relief, no one outside their table seemed to have noticed. Only Kenma, sitting on her other side, was looking at them curiously, his expression unreadable. "What was that?"

"There was something on your face," Kageyama said defensively after a slight pause to chew his food. "You would have had it there all day."

She bristled, not able to deny it. "That doesn't mean you have to do it like that," she said finally, rubbing her face accusingly.

"What, and leave you to look like a mess?" he snorted, though as Hinata glared at him she saw that his ears were bright red.

"You could have just pointed it out!" she retorted. "How would you like it if I did to you, huh?"

To her surprise, Kageyama flushed even more. "S-Shut up!" he hissed, turning pointedly back to his food to hide his face.

"Weirdo," she said under her breath, shovelling rice into her mouth.

"Dumbass," he grumbled, though there was no ire behind it – in fact, Hinata knew the use of the familiar insult meant whatever weirdness had just happened between them was forgotten, the memory of his thumb nearly brushing her lips fading, as they finished their breakfast.

this fic was an exercise in describing resting b*tch face without using those words LOL but in other news, I start my new job tomorrow which is both exciting and stressful haha but I think it'll be ok once I get used to everything. thank you to everyone for your kind words and also for the support you have shown for this fic!