#docs barcelona

[pablogavira]

Xavi in LaLiga: All Access (S1, E1)

[liverpool-enjoyer]

HOLY FUCK I JUS REALIZED I NEVER TOLD YALL THIS

so a couple weeks ago when i was sick i had this weird sickness induced dream in which me gavi n pedri were in this like,,, sitcom esque situation where both me n pedri had the hots for gavi like CRAZY n we were like trying to like sabatoge each others plans of getting with him??? like this shit happened on a DAILY BASIS. n poor gavi was completely oblivious the entire time. like some romance anime type shit. as i type it i realize its cringe as hell but when i woke up i found it funny.

[bybdolan]

watched the ard juri knorr ARD doc with my boyfriend yesterday (his idea!) and it kind of is the funniest shit on earth bc every sound bite by his friends, families and colleagues is just "yea he is a sore ass loser and a bitchy winner" like what do you MEAN you had to stop Monopoly sessions because they were getting too intense. what are you SAYING that you got a darts arrow thrown at your head.

[elchaqueno]

"La fuga": un documental que expone los abusos sexuales de sacerdotes jesuitas en España y Bolivia

“La fuga” es un documental que se estrenará el 6 de mayo en el Festival Docs de Barcelona y el 18 de junio en “Sense ficció”, y que revela los delitos de abusos sexuales cometidos por dos sacerdotes jesuitas en España y Bolivia. La cinta busca responder preguntas como: ¿Por qué los sacerdotes fueron enviados a Bolivia después de ser acusados en Barcelona? ¿Por qué la Compañía de Jesús permitió…

[b14augrana]

Strobe Light

The only thing a few drinks fail to make you forget is her face

Alexia Putellas x reader

masterlist

Warnings: mentions of drinking / alcohol, party setting, romantic angst, short one shot

A/N: kind of a shit blurb i wrote ages ago that i wanted to get out of my drafts 👎 i think i was listening to the last minute of tumblr girls on repeat bc i had written that on the doc so … thats the vibe!

Oh, Ibiza.

It’s the most popular party location to the point where it’s hardly anything special anymore, but you still find yourself excited by it. Ending up on the floor of someone’s house who you don’t even know the name of, your first thoughts being the memories of the night before… what a high. You were addicted to that, the aftermath of getting shitfaced and only having enough capacity in your mind to worry about where your phone is, not what Alexia Putellas is doing right now.

You hated the people — watching them grind against each other and retreat to bedrooms if not crash on the sofa and make out right there, it was distasteful and you hated it. You hated alcohol, but you also hated the fact that Alexia wasn’t around to talk you out of having a few drinks, so you drank it out of spite. Among all these hundreds of people, you hated how you felt more alone than ever.

People would make the assumption that you attended these parties to find a girl to take home, but they looked all the same to you, hence your appeal in none of them, because Alexia was unlike anyone you had ever seen with her hazel eyes and lonesome dimple on her right cheek, the one that was barely there. Nobody else had that Alexia-ness that made you mourn her absence every time you went to these parties, and you knew that no matter how much you drank and partied, she’d always be your first thought of comfort the morning after.

You two had dated for a year, give or take a month. You were relentless in your pursuit of fun, whereas she was infatuated with football and refused to put anything above it, which was understandable, because she was good at it. She called it off in her apartment, saying that she couldn’t risk her career for a lifestyle you wanted to live, and you complied with it instead of making an effort to do something to keep you two together — it was your biggest mistake yet, and a decision that never fails to keep you up at night, because maybe if you had tried a little harder, she would’ve been beside you on these restless nights.

You thought you were absolutely hammered when you recognised her face in the sea of bodies, staring at you with narrowed eyes as if she was trying to determine whether it was really you she was spotting. Brushing it off, you considered it another instance of your mind fucking with you, and that made you put down the plastic red cup in your hand, abandoning it on some surface for another drunk to pick up.

Alexia was there, but she couldn’t tell herself why. Why was she in someone’s expansive Ibiza backyard without a reason?

She never liked big parties, such as the ones hosted in Ibiza. Her teammates appreciated them a bit more than her, but she wasn’t her teammates. She rarely ever got drunk unless she was in a Barcelona based nightclub, celebrating another trophy, but even then she never got blackout drunk.

None of that even mattered, because either way she was still standing among sweaty bodies on an island off the coast of Spain, the music sure to give her a headache sooner or later and the strobe lights hurting her eyes that were locked onto one uninterested face.

There was something else to the bored expression you had; almost like you were caught in an epiphany that this wasn’t enough to fill the void you gained when she left. Your face was plagued by disgust, your stare blank and fixated on nothing specific. She noticed all of this.

Alexia knew that you were only here to relive the oddly comforting morning-after sensation. She didn’t know that you craved it so much because ever since she left, she was all you thought about amidst a heavy hangover, and if you pretended hard enough, she was right beside you with her arms wrapped around your frame and her chest pressed to your back. Waking up post-party was almost like travelling back in time to the happiest period of your life — being Alexia’s girlfriend. It was the closest you thought you’d ever get to her again.

You felt like you were ebbing in and out of consciousness, the music fading into nothingness before coming back louder than ever, and your legs were giving in underneath the weight of your entire upper body. Shoulders and knees grazed against your own, nudging you around the crowd, and you could barely remember who’s property you were at, but you looked up and it became apparent to you that the Alexia in front of you wasn’t a hallucination and she was really there, reaching out to you and pulling you out of the crowd.

The reason she was there became apparent to Alexia as she led you to an empty guest room that wasn’t plagued by the smell of sweat and sex (she quickly learned that was rather hard to come across). She locked the door behind you two so there would be no chance of a lustful couple stumbling into the room while she laid you down.

You groaned as you made contact with the mattress, as moving your body at all had become a difficult task. She sat down beside you, turning on the lamp perched atop the bedside table, and she inspected your face; your cheeks bore hints of red and tired eyes squinted to adjust to the light as they settled on her own concerned-looking face. There wasn’t a feeling in the world that could sum up what she felt looking at you.

“Ale,” you mumbled, and she met your gaze. “Lay down. Give me this one night, at least,” you finished, rolling onto your side. Your back faced her, and she didn’t respond for a minute. She didn’t know what to do, what to say, and she was glad you couldn’t see the inconclusive look on her face.

All you felt was shuffling behind you before the mattress dipped and the presence of her body could be sensed behind you. There was a notable distance between you two that she worked hard to maintain throughout the night, because she didn’t want to remember what it felt like to be close to you.

She should’ve been in Barcelona, training and focusing on the matches ahead. After all, that was the entire reason you two had ended things, yet…

She was here.

[pitchsidestories]

familia II Irene Paredes/Barça Femeni x Reader

masterlist I word count: 1991

a/n: based off this lovely request here. Thank you for sending us so many great requests !

You loved training camps with the FC Barcelona. They were always loads of fun. The players seemed happy and the weather was great. But this time, you were also painfully reminded how exhausting camp life could be. As the team doctor, you had to be there for their medical needs at all times and the past few days, the players had kept you quite busy. So busy, in fact, that you barely had time for your girlfriend.

In a quiet moment during your lunch break, your girlfriend snaked her arm around your waist and whispered into your ear: “Let’s do something tonight. Only us two.“

There was something impatient in her eyes as you turned towards her. You were glad to hear that she missed your alone-time as much as you did.

“Yes, that sounds great.“, you smiled.

The two of you did not even have the time for a quick kiss as another stumbled into the treatment room.

Patri stopped right in front of you and heaved an annoyed sigh: “Hey, Doc. We need an ice pack.“

“An ice pack? Patri, tell me quickly what happened.“, you urged her sternly.

As a response, the young midfielder rolled her eyes: “Claudias finger got trapped in the door. Nothing happened but she is pouting.“

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that.“, you promised and took an ice pack out of the freezer.

“Thanks.“, Patri said while leading you and Irene to the injured player.

Claudia stood in front of the dressing room, holding her finger. Her brows were furrowed and for some reason, she reminded you of an oversized toddler.

“Claudia. I heard about the accident with your finger.“, you started and held out your hand so she would show you her finger.

While you examined her hand, she complained: “That was Patris fault.“

The older player took a deep breath in an attempt to protest but one look from Irene made her close her mouth immediately.

Her finger seemed fine but still, you could not stop yourself from hugging her: “Oh, Claudia. Do you need some ice?“

She nodded, her big blue eyes widened: “Yes.“

You handed her the ice pack: “You’re welcome.“

“I told you it wasn’t that bad.“, Patri scoffed, slightly annoyed.

“It’ll be alright.“, you promised them both before the two players disappeared into the dressing room.

Irene should have followed but instead her arms wrapped around your body once again. With a fond smile, she said: “Can’t wait for tonight.“

“Me neither.“, you replied happily but someone else quickly caught your attention.

Mapi was on the pitch and tried to do some tricks with the football. One of her knees was still in a brace after her meniscus injury.

Your heart sank for a moment, watching her rather reckless moves: “Mapi, be careful!“

“I’m fine.“, she answered nonchalantly, keeping her focus on the ball.

“Think of your knee, Maria!“, you yelled back at her.

As you had suspected, this got her attention. She stopped and grimaced at you: “Maria?!“

“So, you know I’m serious about it.”, you crossed your arms in front of your chest.

With a smirk on her face the defender tried to reassure you:” Calm down, I’m fine.”

“Please be careful with your knee, okay? It needs a bit more resting time to properly heal.”, you sighed.

She couldn’t help but to roll her eyes at your protectiveness:” Yeah, mum.”

“Don’t mum me, Maria. We’re only two years apart!”, you reminded her.

“Then stop acting like a mum.”, Mapi countered.

Quickly you corrected the football player: “I’m not, it’s my advice to you as a doctor.”

“Sure, mum.”, Mapi responded in a teasingly tone.

You groaned and demanded from her to stop it.

Grinning Irene who you haven’t noticed while having your talk with the younger player joined the conversation:” But our children would behave better.”

“Lies. They would do the same.”, the heavily tattooed Spaniard disagreed.

“I strongly believe they wouldn’t be as annoying.”, you joked as you exchanged knowingly looks with your girlfriend. You were able to communicate with each other without words which was helpful on and off the pitch.

The peaceful moment between you two was interrupted once again by a player, this time it was Mapi: “Yeah, they would.”

Afterwards she promised to be more careful with her knee. You knew how much you asked of her, as an athlete all they want to do is play with a ball at their feet. Every injury was a reminder that their time as football players was short and could end at any moment.

A bit later the rest of her teammates arrived in their training clothes. Watching Keira, you gasped out loud:” Oh my god, Keira. Have you forgot your sunscreen again?”

“Why? What do you mean?”, Keira frowned at you.

Frustratedly you pointed to the sky, the sun was still intense even in the afternoon:” It’s so sunny outside, you need to protect your skin.”

“Your nose is already getting sunburned.” Lucy stated matter-of-factly.

“You English always underestimate the sun here.”, you chuckled before handing Keira the sunscreen which has been in your bag for emergency cases like this.

The dark-haired defender who was half Portuguese protested smiling:” Hey, leave me out of this.”

“You need that sun protection too, Lucia.”, you remarked.

“Here, take it before you get in trouble.”, Keira whispered.

“Ugh fine.”, the older of the English players mumbled.

Satisfied you turned around only to be face to face to Barcelona’s captain who smirked at you:” Happy madre happy life.”

“Alexia not you too.”

“Just here to steal your girlfriend for the gym session.”, she winked at you.

“Alright, I’ll see you both at dinner. Time for me to look at the injured players.”, you announced.

With a warm smile Irene said:” Have fun.”

“You too.”, you answered. Although fun was a difficult wish to fulfil considering you had to take care of the women who were currently out of the game and they needed  extra care physically as well as mentally.

“Come on, Irene, you need to work on your muscles!“, Alexia teased as they walked side by side to the gym.

Irenes jaw dropped open: “Excuse me?!“

Alexia grinned back at her: “You heard me.“

“Go work on your knee instead.“, Irene laughed and playfully pushed her teammate in the direction of the gym doors.

Alexia rolled her eyes: “You sound like your girlfriend.“

“Someone has to tell you.“, Irene shrugged while starting with her workout plan under the supervision of one of the physios.

Her teammate followed suit: “Yeah, I know.“

The two football players worked in silence for a while until Alexia gave Irene an inquisitive look: “Were you serious about the children earlier?“

Surprised by the question, Irene paused her exercise and laughed: “About actual children? We already have you.“

“And?“, Alexia shrugged.

The defender continued to feign cluelessness: “And what?“

“Just letting you know that we’d be there for you two when you decide to have actual children.“

“Thanks. We appreciate that.“, Irene replied casually.

Alexia just smiled knowingly and focused on her workout again: “You’re welcome.“

Dinner was one of the few regular moments in camp when you and Irene had some time for each other. Her hair was still damp from the shower when she sat down next to you. She had the same satisfied expression her face that she always had after a good workout.

“Hi, how was your gym session?“, you greeted her while filling her glass with water, making sure she was adequately hydrated.

Irene gratefully took a sip before answering: “Good, really. But Ale was weird.“

“Weirder than usual?“

She softly chuckled: “Yes.“

“What did she do?“, you asked curiously.

Irene lowered her voice so the other players on your table would not hear her: “She said something about supporting us if we’d actually wanted to have children one day.“

“Wait, that doesn’t sound like Ale at all.“, you joked.

“No, it doesn’t.“

“Strange.“, you commented. Subconsciously, you looked at Alexia on the neighbouring table. A tablet was propped up in front of her while she ate. You assumed that she once again looked at video footage of games and training sessions. “Ale?“

She looked up in surprise: “Huh?“

“It’s not a match day tomorrow. Take a break, you don’t need to overwork yourself.“, you gently reminded her.

“I’m not.“, she protested, her eyes darting back to the screen.

You raised an eyebrow: “Promise?“

She gave a you a small smile: “Promise.“

“Okay.“, you sighed and turned back to your dinner.

Irenes elbow bumped against yours just as you were about to finish eating. She pointed outside the dining room window: “Y/n, want to go to the beach now? The sun is about to set.“

You carefully put your fork down and again glanced over to Alexia who was still focused on her screen: “Sure.“

“Come on, she’ll be fine.“, Irene smiled comforting at you.

After one last look at the captain, you admitted:” You’re right.”

With that said your girlfriend stood up, holding her hand out for you take it:” Let’s go.”

“Coming.”, you reassured her.

Silently you walked to the beach, enjoying each other’s company after a long workday. The sand was still warm underneath your feet even though the sun was about to set. The sky was pink and purple shaded.

Irene was the first to speak again:” It’s nice here.”

“I agree, also the calmness feels nice after such an eventful day.”, you replied, admiring the scenery in front of you.

The defender smirked at you:” Quite busy with our children, right?”

“Yeah, but I’d not change a thing about it. I love them.”, you confessed smiling fondly while thinking about the players.

“Me too. Mostly.”, she responded.

Amused you lifted an eyebrow:” Mostly?”

“They can be annoying.”, Irene shrugged her shoulders.

Slowly you agreed:” Yes, sometimes.”

“But I’d not swap them for anything else.”, your girlfriend replied in an honest tone.

Thoughtfully you nodded to her remark:” Me neither, they are family.”

“They are.”

As the waves crashed to the shore your lips touched for a heartfelt kiss. Afterwards you two still leaned your foreheads together, eyes closed, enjoying the moment.

“If we ever have real children, we’re well prepared.”, Irene whispered.

Hearing her saying this out loud made you yearn for a family of your own:” Yes, they would welcome them in immediately, I’ve no doubt about that.”

“I’m sure.”, she sounded sincere.

“Are you thinking about starting to try for children?”, you cautiously asked her.

Nervously the defender licked her lips:” I mean it’s a nice thought to have children one day.” For a moment Irene paused before adding, would you want that too?”

“I do, yes.”

Your girlfriends face lit up with giddy excitement:” So we’re trying it?”

“Yeah, we’ll.” Suddenly you were interrupted by her teammates who were running towards you.

“What?”, startled Irene looked at them.

Equally confused you wanted to know from the other women:” Girls, what’s going on?”

“It’s time to celebrate.”, Patri declared grinning.

Curiously you continued: “To celebrate, what?”

“Just to celebrate.”, Alexia waved it off beaming.

Baffled Irene turned to the midfielder who she has been friends with for a very long time:” Ale, were you guys listening to us the whole time?!”

“Maybe.”, she answered with an innocent smile.”

“So, yes. God that’s so embarrassing.”, you groaned.

Empathically Marta padded your shoulders:” We especially loved the family part.”

“Agreed.”, Alexia said.

“It’s simply the truth.”, you told them, your cheeks burning red.

“Guys that was private.”, Irene huffed at her teammates.

This made Mapi roll her eyes:” Oh please, nothing stays private during training camp.”

“Maybe we hate you now.”, you teased her.

“No, you love us.”, Patri shook her head.

With a sigh you gave in:” Yeah, fine, we do.”

Because those women were more to you than just people you worked with, they were family.

[strong-with-the-sarcasm]

part 16 - but I know where to start

“Feeling my way through the darkness, guided by a beating heart. I can’t tell where the journey will end, but I know where to start.” -Wake Me Up by Avicii

Regent Masterlist Part 15

Was it a cop-out to summon Jazz back to the Far Frozen? Yes. Did Danny particularly care? Nope! 

Jason was comfortable, propped up with a book Ghostwriter who had popped by to personally deliver. How the ghost had known about Jason Phantom wasn’t going to question, but he suspected GW kept an eye on the bookworms that passed through the Realms- or at least those close to the “Royal family”. Phantom wasn’t much for reading, not unless it was space-related, but he enjoyed listening to the Liminal man reading out loud. He had a brash voice, accented with a cadence like those from Crime Alley, but it only underscored the passion he held for reading. Phantom didn’t interrupt him once, not even when the halfa pulled out his ecto-phone and texted Ellie. 

(His little sister was in Kansas, spending time with another clone she’d literally run into.) 

Almost another full day's cycle passed before Phantom realized Jason had fallen back asleep, a book resting open on his broad chest and soft snores coming from the man. 

Yeah, he could see how he and Jazz fit together so well. 

There was just something about the Once-Revenant, a part of what made him Jason, that resonated with the Phantom. It’s what made him talk to the man as Red Hood, feel comfortable enough to stay in his company for so long, trust him with his older sister- the person who raised him. 

(Spent her birthday money to get him those cheap plastic glow-in-the-dark stars.) 

(Taught him how to read.) 

(Held him as the nightmares of his death shook him to his core.) 

(Did not fear him.) 

(Not as Phantom, Danny, or Dan.)

(Loves him.) 

(Mourns him.) 

(He would never tell her, but he understood how Dan could succumb to grief.)

(Jazz was his.) 

(His first friend, his true mother, his rock.) 

(She wouldn’t have claimed Regency without that tie.) 

Remix & Original chat 

Remix: Lol hows weenie Original:   jasons x3 ur size pipsqeak                    Remix:  ur point?  Original:  lol hes ok                                 frosty says he got hurt wth shrpnel                        new healed core + shrapnel = bad time Remix:  sucks 2 b him  Original:               so tru        Whre r u? Remix: omw 2 spain barcelona Original: ooh send pics if u need me call Remix: pics or nay gotcha txt u l8r luv u  Original: love u 2

Safely back in the living Realm and tucked away in Jason’s apartment, Jazz and Danny tried to investigate the bomb- unfortunately there was nothing for them to do but wait. 

On the upside, the Justice League was about to hit the UN full force with all the subtlety of a tsunami and who had front row seats to the drama? 

Yep, the Regent.  Jazz wasn’t exactly thrilled that her presence was requested, even though it was on the path to the desired outcome the Nightingale siblings had fought for, but both her soulmate boyfriend and little brother would be by her side as support. 

The Birds and the Bats Group Chat

Zombie: I lived bitch Spoiler-Alert: Jason!  Fly-Like-A-Dick: Little Wing!  Blood_Heir: Todd. Zombie: don’t sound too excited there demon brat.  Blood_Heir: Never.  Sleep_When_Im_Dead: Where have you been? Zombie: Stayed overnight at my Docs for observation.  Fly-Like-A-Dick: For three days? Blood_Heir: Fail to find that humorous Todd.  Zombie: wasn’t meant to be a joke brat.  I was actually at my Docs.  Zombie: Got a shovel talk from my girlfriends little brother too.                                     Spoiler-Alert:  Whoa GIRLFRIEND!!!! 😱 Jason!  Why is this the first were hearing this??? Fly-Like-A-Dick: Little Wing!!!!!! Quiet_Dancer: 🤗  Zombie:  At least Cass and Dickiebird are happy for me                                    Spoiler-Alert:  Ecstatic! But details! Now.                                                      Zombie: No.                                              Fly-Like-A-Dick: Is she a redhead??? Sleep_When_Im_Dead:  Jasmine Nightingale.                                                      Zombie: Babs.                                               Oracle_of_Gotham:  On it.  [member Sleep_When_Im_Dead has been blocked from the group.]  Spoiler-Alert:  too late!!!!!! Cass  with me! Quiet_Dancer: 🫡 Oracle_of_Gotham: DENIED Batdad:  Welcome back Jaylad.                                                        Zombie:                                           Old man       You and I need to have a talk with words                                              Fly-Like-A-Dick: battle stations everyone!!!

Council of Uncaged Birds

Queen_Regent: Ellie, I want you to meet Jason.  Officially meet him.  WanderingPrincess: eh??? temp said wasnt srs Queen_Regent: Danny No InfiniteStarPrince: Danny YES Frosty said they are  soulmates!!!!!! WanderingPrincess: 🤯😱 wha th fuck!!!1 Queen_Regent: language!  WanderingPrincess: ENGLISH imma get a shovel gotta undead weenie 2 bury.

Template. [user InfiniteStarPrince has left the chat]  WanderingPrincess: coward Queen_Regent: I have many regrets.  WanderingPrincess: u luv us 👻

Lady & Knight chat Lady: Jay remember when I told you I wanted you to meet Ellie?  Knight: She’s bringing a shovel isn’t she.  Lady: I love how brilliant you are.  Knight: I aim to please. 

Lady & Knight chat Knight: you patrolling tonight? Lady: wasnt planning on it Knight: wanna meet me? Lady: same time same place? Knight: you know it

The abolishment of the Anti-Ecto Acts officially happened at three pm on a dreary Gotham Tuesday. Jazz was cuddled with Jason on his couch, dozing off to his heartbeat as he read Pride and Prejudice for the thousandth time. The comfortable silence they had wrapped themselves in only occasionally broken by Jason turning a page was completely shattered when Jazz’s phone rang with the Ghostbusters theme song. 

“Danny?” Jazz answered surprised, “School isn’t out yet, what’s wrong?” She was greeted by Danny’s heaving cries as he replied. 

“Batman, he- he did it!” Danny sobbed, “He saved us.” 

It clicked then. The Dark Knight had completed the task he was entrusted with by a Spirit of Protection, the Once and Future Star King, and unknowingly kept the promise a ghost made to a young Jasmine Fenton. 

One day my son will stop this. All of this. You only need to be strong. Take care of yourself and your brother. I promise. 

She had waited years for the promise to be fulfilled, the sworn promise of the dead to a living child. Jasmine was a patient soul, but she had still been a child that night in Gotham. 

(The Drs. Fenton believing the stories about a ghostly vigilante patrolling the streets, a never aging child by their side.) (Dragging their children with them. ) (Hungry and cold.) (A dead man who swore his son would end their torment one day.)

(She should’ve known it wouldn’t come fast enough to save Danny.) 

How was she to know the ghost was speaking of the Realms inhabitants, not the abused and neglected children of Ghost Hunters? How was she to know that the hope such a promise kindled wasn’t hers to keep?  Jason wrapped his arms around her, the book set aside and her phone gently taken from her grasp to be put on speaker so they could both talk to her little brother. Danny had dissolved from heaving sobs to muffled hiccups, seemingly now that he’d shared the news with his sister. 

“He really did,” she muttered. “He really did it.” 

(The furry fucker actually did it.) (She’d known that he was going to try, but humans are stubborn creatures.)

A/N: Hi! Welcome to an update for the Regent. Just to be fully transparent with each of my readers - The Regent is still on Hiatus.

I have deleted so much of my writing because I don't like the flow/dialogue/pacing. Original ending thrown out and rewritten twice- still don't care for it. Who knew something other than Angst would be so difficult.

(Not me!)

Having said that, this entry is of course beta'd by the wonderful @meditating-cat who has put up with my random messages.

(You are amazing!)

(In all honesty, I wish I could just skip right to the ending because at least I know 100% I can get it just right....eventually.)

Thanks for reading and happy easter!

[pablitogavii]

Heyy can u do something about gavi's ear because of the match ? like the reader takes care of him something like that please 💗

Quiet times together

When you saw the video of Pablo's bleeding ear on the overhead TV, you really freaked out getting off the chair in the box and peeking through the window to see the doctor cleaning up hi wound.

"I can't believe that wasn't a red card!" your friend said but you could really care less about any of that praying that Pablo isn't seriously hurt.

When the game was over, you couldn't wait to see him very nervous to look at his new injury. When he finished his interviews, he came to the family room and you rushed to give him a quick hug.

"No..no..don't cry princesa! We won and I'm gonna be okay!" he said holding your face and drying your tears but your eyes were glued on his stapled ear and dried blood around it.

"I got really scared Pablo!" you say and he smiled pulling you closer and kissing the top of your head lovingly.

When you pulled away and he took you to grab his clothes together, team doctor called you to say about possible sensitivity Pablo might feel for a couple of days after the pain medication he took stops working.

"Avoid any loud places for at least a week. You might feel a little dizzy if you push against your sensitivity" man explained and you took in every word promising yourself that Pablo will take it easy no matter what he says.

"Thanks doc! Ready for our date princesa??" Pablo said after grabbing his bag and you remembered the restaurant date you planned before the game this morning.

"There will be live music there Pablo, and I don't think we should do it..we can have takeout at home instead?" you suggest which of course made him whine and say how he wanted to treat you.

"And you will treat me..we are going to get comfortable and order our favorite Chinese food and watch some goofy movie together?" you say placing your hand on his face careful not to touch his wound and he smiled nodding his head while kissing your lips lovingly.

"And cuddles???" he asks adorably which made his friends tease him as they passed us but he didn't care at all. I pointed kissing his lips once more time while nodding my head.

"All the cuddles you can take mi valiente ganador!" you say and he giggled nodding his head while taking your hand walking towards the cars where you left with your friend and he took the bus with his teammates.

"Please make sure he wears these on silent mode while at the bus if it gets loud?" you said to Balde who promised on his life to take care of your boy all the way back home to Barcelona.

"There is nothing to worry about princesita mia" Pablo kissed your lips one more time before you two went separate ways but no matter what you will always worry about his health.

When you arrived home, the pain medication definitely stopped working since even your little louder greeting made his face cringe in pain. You puled him closer whispering a soft apology while kissing the side of his temple.

"I ordered the food amor. And made sure TV is on the lowest volume for the move..you want to shower?" you say and he nods clearly in a lot of pain and your heart hurt to see him like that.

When he got comfortable sitting on the sofa with your, the loud ring-bell made you both jump and him cover both of his ears in pain.

"Mierda! I got it amor! I'm so sorry!" you say but he whispers that it's alright as you went and grabbed the food from the delivery guy.

"I'm sorry we didn't go on our date amor.." Pablo was whispering while eating some rice and chicken and you smiled moving closer and kissing his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it..I would much rather be here with you anyway and I love taking care of you" you say and he blushed a little yawning and even a slight pull on the stitches made his wound sour.

"Could I lay on your chest tonight?" he asks and you smile widely nodding your head before taking his hand and walking to the bedroom seeing that he was done with his food anyways.

You both laid down and he laid his head on your chest while you placed your hand on his face caressing it gently while kissing the side of his sour temple. He smiled closing his eyes feeling so good that he didn't care about the pain coming from his ear. He nuzzled his head into your neck and completely relaxed. (gif).

"It's buzzing amooor.." Pablo whined and you told him to focus on the sound of your heartbeat instead and to try to get some well deserved rest tonight.

"Talk to me...I like listening to your voice princesa" he says and you blush a little thinking of things to say to the sleepy boy.

"I was so proud of you today Pablito..you wouldn't give up no matter what..you went back into the game and you played till the end. You're the strongest man I've ever met..my strongest man" you whisper and he listened carefully blushing at the compliment and holding onto your tightly while slowly becoming more sleepy.

"And I love you..su much cariño. Whenever I see you get hurt my heart hurts..and I just want to hold you in my arms and protect you from everything..because..you..are..my..life" you say feeling yourself getting emotional and Pablo looked up kissing your lips softly before laying back down on your chest.

"I love you too preciosa..more than I've ever loved anybody..mi vida" he spoke sleepily before finally slipping into unconsciousness and you smiled kissing the top of his head continuing to play with his hair until you also grew tired and fell asleep holding him in your arms.

y.n.bebe

Barcelona, Spain

I'm not letting anybody hurt you mi bebé ❤️ tagged: pablogavi

comentarios:

pablogavi: gracias por todo amore mio ❤️❤️

y.n.bebe: siempre amorcito❤️❤️

gaviraafanzz: omg! she's so cute! take good care of him girl!!

barcafanclubs: clown for not giving that guy a red card!

fcbarcelona: our warrior.❤️

pablogavi: ❤️

pedri: come back stronger hermanito mio!

pablogavi: si hermano!

mikkykiemeney: so cute! 🥰

y.n.bebe: 😊

aurorapaezg: ❤️

y.n.bebe:❤️❤️

He is a true warrior! What STRENGHT, LOVE and DEDICATION for the club! That's our GAVI! ❤️❤️❤️

[eleni-cherie]

a thief's origin✨ || bts • kth - chapter 1.2

"you're afraid I won't wait." "I'm afraid you will."

a criminal and a doctor should be as different as the sun and the moon - but unexpected things happened every day. like him finding his safe haven in her.

© 2024 | eleni_cherie

»»»

masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, sexual tensiON, slowburn, mutual pining, strangers to friends to lovers s2f2l

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)

»»»

14th September

Barcelona, Spain

"Do you mind that I'm not calling you any pet name?"

His tired eyes met the ceiling first before gazing down at Cassandra in his arms as she was absendmindedly drawing patterns on his bare skin and contemplating the degree of silliness of her question.

It was late, minds heavy with sleep at this point. They'd spend all evening just laying on the fluffy carpet of her living room, listening to their joint playlist. Until 'Wicked Game' by Chris Isaak started playing and an unserious quarrel had broken out over which one of them has added it there.

But only for a short moment. Because the last thing Taehyung could remember then were her tender lips on his neck and his hands on her hips.

"What do you mean?" he eventually asked.

She turned her head and propped her chin on his chest to look at him better. The tousled waves messily sticking out in all direction along with his unsteady gaze and lazy smile made him look too cozy not to snuggle back in.

Her fingers gently tucked at the small golden tiger pendant that had slid off his neck then, before grazing Taehyung's jaw.

"I mean, I know we both don't really do the typical corny names, but you do call me in charming ways occasionally.. while I.. I don't."

She didn't call him baby, babe, honey, darling, mi amor or whatever else there was. She only called him 'cool guy'. Sure, he always claimed he preferred that over anything else. Yet, she wondered if maybe he wanted something more endearing. Not that he was using any of the forementioned either, it simply was neither one's style. It didn't feel like them, like Cassandra and Taehyung. But sometimes, out of a whim, he did call her 'angel' or even 'my girl' along with the good old 'Doc',  which always made her heart flutter.

Humming, he brushed off an unruly curl from her vision. Beginning to understand. And a mischievous smirk tucked onto his lips. "But just ten minutes ago you call-"

Her eyes shot open, cutting him off with flushed cheeks. "That's not what I meant, you idiot!" she whined embarrassed, wiggling in his embrace. And he bursted out laughing, his warm chest vibrating hard underneath her.

"I wonder if 'idiot' counts as one then," he faked musing, chuckling again when seeing her pout.

He gently flicked his finger on her forehead then, a soft smile resting on his lips instead. "Told you, I love you calling me 'cool guy'. Gets me every time."

"Hm, but you are a cool guy. So it's just facts and not really a pet name," she argued with puffed out cheeks. And he poked into them amused. Feeling more awake by now.

It indeed got him when she called him that. He wasn't exaggarrating.

"And it's facts when I call you 'angel' or 'my girl'. So I don't really see the issue here," he retorted with furrowed brows.

Flustered, she bit back a coy smile. "Oh, okay then."

Her head returned to its previous spot, nuzzling into his shoulder and he smiled sleepily.

She always made fun of him being clingy in his sleep but in reality, she could be just as much. Not that he'd ever mind. She could cuddle into him as much as she wanted, it was more like that fire rained down from the sky than him never minding the feeling of her so close to him.

His eyelids fell heavy as his arms wrapped around her smaller frame. Cradling her against himself as he drifted off to sleep to her breath warming his skin.

Tiredness overtook Cassandra's mind as well, the sound of his quiet breathing lulling her.

There in Taehyung's arms, she felt safe. It was the only place on earth that made her truly feel at ease, like everything was alright. Like everything was going to be fine.

And that thought comforted her as she fell asleep.

It hadn't been even five hours. The leaves outside rustling in the strong wind when Taehyung woke up from his phone screen illuminating the darkness of the room.

With a light grimace, he reached over and blinked his eyes a few times to adjust to the sudden brightness.

rich kid (4:39am): meeting place C

rich kid (4:39am): see you in 2 days

It was from Jimin, informing him which hideout they'd meet at their designated location.

With a sigh, his gaze wandered to the woman sleeping silently beside him. Having slid off of him in their sleep.

The screen's light got reflected on her pale skin and he noticed the curled hands in front of it. Fists balled towards herself. He knew by now what that meant from all the cold nights he'd spent with her. So he pulled the cover over her shoulders and tucked it right under her chin.

For a moment, he simply observed her breathing quietly. A heavy feeling lying on his heart. Not only because yet again he had to leave her, but also an overall anxiety that kept nagging in the back of his mind.

First that car chase and shoot-out she'd accidentally partaken, then the embassy heist she'd been compelled to participate in and to top it off, interpol interrogating her. A dragged out sigh left his nostrils out of frustration. About the situation, about himself.

At least he knew her save by interpol observing her. It was a blessing in disguise really. Of course he had noticed the obvious car with an agent inside near her entrance door and at work. He had anticipating them doing something like this after the interrogation since they couldn't pin anything on her and she couldn't provide them any useful information. Surely, it complicated things a little bit for him since he could only come and go with disguise (his preferable one being the old neighbour) but it was a price he was willing to pay with ease if it meant there was someone watching after her when he couldn't. He actually appreciated it and who knew, maybe one of Seokjin's intentions had been that and not only spy on her in case Taehyung showed up.

So far, he hadn't told her about the car with the agents though. It shouldn't look like she knew and he also didn't want to worry her. Telling her the disguise when going or leaving the apartment and him not picking her up at work anymore would just be a precaution. Just like them always going to different places to hang out at in the city. He didn't like leaving her in the dark but it wasn't a complete lie either.

Perhaps a white lie more than anything.

With a sigh he slid away from Cassandra's side.

End of summer was approaching fast, announcing itself with strong coastal winds picking up in the first light of dawn. He could clearly hear it outside, behind the blinds as he got up.

A quiet whine left her lips then as her sleeping body wiggled under the covers, making him tense up for a moment before exhaling in relief. It seemed he hadn't woken her up after all.

He knelt down in front of her adorably scrunched up face and pushed away some coppery curls to press a tender kiss onto her temple. It was her first free weekend in weeks, she deserved to sleep in. 

He slowly rose again, contently making his way to gather the rest of his clothes and his gun - only to stumble over something in the sparsely lit room. His shin hit against the leg of her makeup mirror with a thud and he winced in pain, quickly covering his mouth to muffle the sound.

Had her clumsiness rubbed off onto him?

It was already too late, however, because as the light sleeper she was, Cassandra stirred up. Dishevelled curls sticking out of her ponytail as she blinked her eyes, trying recognising the source in her still draws state.  

"Tae?" she yawned, rubbing her eyes. Falling back into the pillow then. "What time is it?"

"Sorry, angel," he whispered, "Remember? I gotta leave early to catch the train." He picked up his shirt from the floor after groping for it in the dark and slid it over.

A disatisfied hum was heard behind him followed by the rustling of the bed sheets. And suddenly the room was bathed in the warm light of the cloud-shaped lamp on the nightstand. His gaze wandered over his shoulder, seeing Cassandra having sat up again, resting against the bedrest. She did her best rubbing the sleep out of her face. And the thief exhaled softly. "Go back to sleep, Cas."

However, she only shook her head. Refusing and simply sitting there, watching him as he continued getting dressed with a gaze full of wistfulness. Like every time he had to leave her. She tried masking it, but nothing could be hidden in those big doe eyes. And it always pained him.

Pausing from buttoning his shirt, he met her eyes. Her brows arching curiously as she watched him walking up to her and taking a seat next to her. The matress dipping under his weight. But before she could question it, his hands had already gone behind his neck, unclasping the necklace with the tiger pedant. Placing it around her neck instead.

"Wh-" She scrunched her nose in confusion and the corners of his lips curled up when seeing her adorably puzzled face.

"Keep it save for me, yeah?"

She swallowed, her features softening as her fingers touched the golden pedant which had joined the heart locket on her collarbone. Feeling the symbolic weight heavier than its physical one. She knew how much it meant to him after all.

"What if I lose it?"

He shook his head lightly. Placing a light kiss on her forehead with certainty in his smile.

"I know you won't."

»»»

15th November

With a fond smile Cassandra discovered a new postcard for the collection on her wall in the mail box. This time depicting a painting of Hongkong's skyline by night.

She flipped it while walking up the stairs to her apartment, eagerly reading the new set of films she either had already watched or planned to add to her watchlist.

Taehyung's charmingly messy handwriting making her giggle. It was quite ironic, as a doctor she was supposed to be the one with an infamous bad handwriting after all.

"some heist and spy films shot/set here:

johnny english 2, tomb raider 2, gambit (the one from 1966), revenge of the pink panther, die another day, vengeance

Wished you were here, you'd have liked it.

Love, T"

»»»

13th January

"Look, who am I?" 

Cassandra's head perked up at Taehyung's random question and she almost spit out the hot tea she was sipping on. Her boyfriend was wearing his signature black sunglasses, a lollipop stick hanging loosely from between his lips and he was pointing a finger-gun at her. Causing her to burst out laughing, spilling a few drops of the beverage onto her woolen coat after all.

Of course she immediately caught the film reference but didn't want to give into his - once again - teasing of her guilty pleasure, which frankly was his, too. So instead she pursed her lips and redirected her eyes onto the vast sight of the city in front of them. Non-chalantly sipping on her tea again.

"I don't know, am I supposed to recognise that?"

Taehyung gasped at that, the half-finished lollipop almost slipping from his lips. "Mh, I'm pretty sure you do," he smirked then, glancing over his sunglasses after sliding them down the bridge of his nose. "You laughed, so you do."

She swallowed, the warmth soothing her body from the low temperature as they were sitting on the roof of Casa Batlló - thanks to the museum being closed for another renovation.

Winter wasn't particularly her favourite season. Bald trees, cold humidity and shorter days. She didn't like freezing contrary to Taehyung who enjoyed the cold over the heat of the summer. However, there was also a serenity to it. It wasn't her favourite season, but through Taehyung she started to appreciate it more.

Winter was his season while hers was spring.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. 

His hair was shorter, choppy bangs gracing his forehead making him look a lot younger. Reminding her of the night she'd first met him, his hair similar back then. Now looking back at that memory, it felt like an eternity ago.

His face had definitely changed since that night. It got a lot rounder, fuller with soft edges. Perhaps more mature. But the thing that would never change were his eyes. The same sparkling deep-brown almost black irises with the childlike curiosity she had falled in love with seven years ago.

Except in this moment. A sulky expression set on them due to her pretending she wouldn't recognise the film character he was portraying. A cute pout burried behind the evergreen scarf she had gifted him for his birthday. An unusual sight. Taehyung and a scarf.

She remebered knitting it within a month, working on it while watching a show or during tranquil nights at the hospital. And she was quite proud how it'd turned out, after all she'd put a lot of effort into it and even asked her grandmother for advice on how to do braid-patterns during her last visit.

Coming up with a present for someone like him was certainly not easy at all and she could also not bare seeing him walking around in the cold with an exposed neck every winter anymore. Acting like he couldn't sense anything and everytime dismissing her stern: "You'll get sick, wear a scarf!" with a sarcastical grin and a "Is that a doctor's order?" So she figured a scarf would be an ideal gift.

"The scarf.." she began but cut herself off, shaking her head before mumbling, "Nevermind," into her own scarf. Sure, she wondered whether the only reason he constantly wore it was because it was a handmade gift and he'd feel guilty if he didn't, or if he genuinely liked it. Nut at the end, it didn't matter. It served its purpose of keeping him from getting a laryngitis, since he wasn't sharing her 'onion'-style and that was the most important thinf.

His thick brows rose and Taehyung took the lollipop out with a plop before shooting her an inquiring look. "What about the scarf?"

"Nothing," she smiled nonchalantly but he could tell it wasn't nothing. Folding his lips, he only hummed. Already guessing what it was.

Her doubts were redudant. He genuinely liked the scarf and he didn't only wear it out of guilt. Besides that it was in his favourite shade of green and unbelievable soft, just the mere thought of her making him something herself despite her busy shifts, warmed him more than the scarf itself could ever do.

"Can I expect a pullover next time?" he grinned then, watching her her eyes widening. 

"A pullover?"

"Yeah, since you turned out to also be a knitting-pro on top of everything else," he shrugged to which she only laughed out. She was far from being a 'knitting-pro', the only things she'd ever knitted in her life being that scarf which anyone who took a closer look on it, could tell. So she knew what he was attempting to do there and it flattered her.

"Sure, I can try," she played along, "But can't promise it'll fit."

He laughed under his breath. "How am I supposed to wear it then?"

She giggled, facing him with a smirk. "I don't know. But surely you'll firgure it out."

Taehyung only rolled his eyes, nudging her arm with his. 

"Oh, by the way!" Cassandra suddenly exclaimed then when another thought surfaced and she set her cup aside, her hands reaching under her scarf and behind her neck then. He arched a curious brow when catching her fumbling with something and sturggling due to her hair. A golden chain flashing in the light then and he realised she was trying unlocking one of the necklacec around it. "I still got- ah, dammit. I just had it," she muttered frustrated when sending Taehyung's grip on her elbows. His hands gently urging her to lower her arms.

"Keep it."

Cassandra blinked. Taken aback. "I thought.." She paused, frowning. "But it's yours."

He only shook his head though. Plopping the lollipop back between his lips. "Keep it. As a promise."

Her eyes narrowed with an uncertain smirk. Intrigued at his words. "A promise? For what?"

He simply smiled, not meeting her curious glare. "For trading it with something better some day."

"Huh, like what? A platin necklace?" she joked to which he only shrugged. The candy's stick stuck between his teeth as he grinned mischieviously. "You gotta be patient, I fear."

He could hear Cassandra huffing before leaning back as well, nudging his side. And Taehyung chuckled lightly, peeking at her before taking in the afternoon sky.

Those thoughts and worries he had of the past and present still laid heavy on his mind, but when he looked at Cassandra, all he could see was the future. His future.

With her paintings and his postcards decorating their home.

"Cas?"

His girlfriend hummed in aknowledgment. Neither one taking their eyes from the beginning dusk and the glistening lights of the city. White, red, blue, yellow.

"I mean it. Some day. I can't tell you when. I can only promise you that one day, when I can leave this life behind, I wouldn't want anyone but you by my side."

He wanted to believe that one day they could make it real. He'd make sure to replace that necklace with a sapphire or ruby, his opinion not having changed after all: a diamond would be too ordinary for her.

Cassandra's lips parted. Hoping she wasn't misunderstanding his words. But when facing him and meeting his gentle eyes, she knew she didn't. And there, in the afternoon gleam she could swear he'd never looked more entchanting than in that moment.

He was such a dork. But she was quick to realize the one good thing that happened: he was her dork.

Eventually, a smile spread on her features and her hand found his, lacing their fingers together.

"I'll wait for that day then."

»»»

next chapter: 1.3 here

Don't forget to like, comment & leave feedback!♡ It motivates me to keep writing :)

taglist: @lilanyxta @naoolammao345 @memna234 @tetehion @myblacklilame

[the-great-tiger-of-mumbai]

//Other things you can headcanon around your favorite boxers besides their favorite cereals, video games, shoe sizes, trans and gender, ships, Pokemon, etc:

Their favorite places to go within their birth cities.

Their favorite locally made movies (as in made in their country).

Their favorite local celebrities (from their own countries).

Their favorite local dishes (from their own countries).

The foreign country they want to go and why.

What other languages they can speak (that is not English or the featured language in the game).

Yes, there is a pattern here.

Part of why I absolutely love Punch-Out!! as a game series is how the boxers are internationally represented, even through national stereotypes. But national stereotypes can be fun and even embraced--as a Californian, I embrace Super Macho Man with all my heart. And you can indulge in stereotypes WITHOUT being racist.

I love Great Tiger in particular of all the Punch-Out!! boxers is because his stats and character themes suggest a very interesting background--no Hindu or Vedic imagery, even WITH clones (no multi-heads or arms imagery; the closest you get is Tiger connecting with nature and space), the building he was floating out of appears to be a gurdwara, the composer of his music is Punjabi, and though he comes from Mumbai, he speaks Hindi (when he could have spoken Marathi or Punjabi instead). Not to mention in the NES, Doc Louis has told Little Mac that Tiger's father was a magician. So there is SO much material to work with beyond just his clones.

I know folks are not willing to go the extra mile to do their research, or that research bores them to tears, but I still recommend going that extra mile on your headcanons of your favorite boxers. Glass Joe is not a 15 year old American high schooler, he's a 38 year old Frenchman. Von Kaiser is 42 and from Berlin. Soda is 35 and from Moscow. The headcanons are there, waiting, open for the filling.

It's an invitation to explore, not to avoid. It may feel like much, but trust me on this. Consider this your excuse to visit Madrid with Don Flamenco, who'll be more than happy to take you to other parts of Spain like Zaragoza, Sevilla, Pamplona, and Barcelona. Let Glass Joe talk your ears off on the beautiful fields of Province. Take in the sobering experiences of Von Kaiser living in post-WWII/Cold War Berlin.

If this doesn't help you fall more in love with your favorite boxers, then.... I don't know. You do you. You make your own fun. I'm just sad and lonely in my old people corner, lmao.

[blucassiopeia]

Contrast

"A prelude spin-off for an upcoming fic"

warnings: afab!reader, reader being 5 years older, 8.6k LONG

A Sakusa Kiyoomi x reader oneshot

a/n: solid clue on this; sorry for the delayyy, a lengthy one to compromiseee

"What do you want? I still haveー"

"C'mon, Kiyo. You just got back here from Osaka."

"Then, speak. Stop hitting around the bush. You know I don't like hospitals."

"She's gonna be here any moment. Just be patient, son."

Kiyoomi grunted as he sat back on his dad's office couch. The office was rather modern, his dad desperately riding Kiyoomi's generation. Though, it has their big family portrait just right off his humungous desk that he remembered was from Barcelona. His desktop was coated with orange fluffy cloth siders, probably a gift of Sara's, Kiyoomi's 4-yr-old nieceーand it was paired with a keyboard and mouse of the same shade. It practically throws off the white and classy vibe of the place. He smiled at the thought.. but this is all till in a hospital's vicinity. Kiyoomi's stomach started stirring.

"So, how's your team? Are you fitting nicely?" His father asked as Kiyoomi fiddled with his phone, huffing through his black mask, very anxious to leave.

"Sort of. We have the leagues next three months."

"Oh fuck off. The chief resident asked you, not me."

"Please."

The door flung open and revealed you in your scrub suit and gown, tongue mockingly out to someone behind the door. You, then, slid inside the office and closing the door, your eyes fell on Kiyoomi first, and then to his father. Kiyoomi has to inch the distance more from the smell his nose registered. Where would she had been? Germs. Germs. Germs.

"You called for me, Sirーah, Doc?"

Kiyoomi didn't spare you a glance, still fiddling at his phone, maybe trying to give his volleyball team captain a text or two of any nonsense to keep him visually busy. He just wants to get out of that place. His system is screaming already. He might want an alcohol bath, uh, that's too much. How does his family doing it likeー

"That's my youngest right there, Kiyoomi." The chairman of the hospital gestured to the curly black-haired man sitting dejectively on the couch, trying his hardest to ignore your presence. You perked a brow.

You leaned to the chairman, in the attempt to whisper. "And? I don't babysit teenagers, Doc. Too busy in becoming the medical director that I promised you."

Kiyoomi happened to glance at your direction when his father laughed lightly at whatever you whispered to him. He noticed your pout as you straightened your back, your gown's fabric crinkling at the movement. What were you even whispering to an old, married man? His nose scrunched up behind his mask, returning his attention to his phone.

"Take him to dinner, Y/n."

Both of your heads snapped at Sakusa Takashi that's already beaming at you, clearly pleased at what he said.

"Whー" Kiyoomi started to retort but you raced him to it first.

"I'm still comfortable in third-wheeling with Dai or with Katana-nee, Doc. Are they whining over me already?" Your feet stomp at your every word, whining like a child.

Kiyoomi wondered how did you even know his brother, or his cousin. Are you acquainted with the rest of his family? He doesn't recognize you from the numerous family occasions, or in any business functions where you could possibly be but remained unnoticed to him. Ugh. He knows where this is going. This also happened to his sister, that she somehow liked after years. He shivered at the thought.

He can't take the atmosphere of the office anymore so he stood up and said, "I'm going home."

"And he's this rude, Doc?" You smirked at Kiyoomi's direction, the ChairmanーKiyoomi's fatherーmirroring you, teasing his youngest son.

Huh. Is this a challenge?, Kiyoomi thought as he stared straight at his dad, black eyes hardly pass your figure. He scoffed at his father that mouthed 'Just once.' And he bored his eyes on yours and sighed.

You clasped your hands together, easing the tension Kiyoomi was giving you. "So, gimme an hour or two and I'd be ready, Kiyo. Orrrー" You faced the chairman and winked at him, knowing fully well that he knew what you're going to do with his beloved son. "ーbe with me in my rounds."

When you turned back to face Kiyoomi, you were greeted by his twitching eyes behind those round and delicate thin rimmed glasses. You returned them with a sly grin.

Kiyoomi found himself trudging after you to wherever. He actively convinces himself that this is better than waiting on that area where various people flocksーthe germ and virus infested waiting area at the lobby. This is better than staying on his dad's office where he'll just not hear the end of a discussion he doesn't want to associate with. Being with you is better. Yes, being with you is better.

You rounded to a hallway and he lifted his eyes from your back when he heard a familiar voice in the nearby nurse stationーto which you're heading to.

"The patient in 302 has to have his rehabilitations in 3 hours. Is the facility ready?"

"Yes, Doc."

"Dai, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

You heard Kiyoomi groaned at your back as Daisuke and Katana spotted you approaching with their Kiyoomi. Their eyes are on him, round with bewilderment and surprise. You snorted. They are the culprits, the nerve of them. But eitherway, it's turning out well. Hopefully.

"Kiyoomi?"

"Is that their volleyball player?"

"Doc Takashi's youngest! Sakusa Kiyoomi!"

"He's so tall!"

"So hot lookーI mean, good looking!"

"He looks like a rougher version of Doc Dai."

Daisuke was the first one to approach his brother. Kiyoomi took a few steps back from him to which he chuckled. He glared at his brother through his glasses, daring him to approach further. Daisuke's tied black curls swayed as he moves his head to face you, hands in either sides of his waist, his gown pushed back revealing his branded slacks and dress shirt. Yeah, Kiyoomi's a rougher version alright.

"Ah, thanks Y/n, but how did you do this?"

His soft and genuinely amused laughs filled the hallways, followed by Katana's. The other fellows, nurses and residents nearby turned to the sound. You mentally noted that if Kiyoomi hasn't been wearing his mask, you'll see how red his cheeks were. Daisuke and Katana are sure to know how to tease him. You pursed your lips, not knowing whether to laugh with them or sympathize with his agony.

"Rounds." It was dangerously low that it had stuttered Daisuke's laughs. Kiyoomi's head was facing you, dark eyes demanding.

"Rounds, Y/n? With Kiyo?" Katana asked with pure curiosity as she motioned herself closer to you, her eyes on Kiyoomi.

"Who's with Sara right now?"

"Toya."

"Yeah, we have to have dinner by 6:30pm so he can go home early." Both of your fellow doctors turned wide-eyed to you from what you have just said. You rolled your eyes at them. "You whined at Sir Kashi about me third-wheeling on your respective dates. Can't believe you."

The two are still dumbstruck when you turned to Kiyoomi who's getting grumpier by the second. "Let's go?" You, next, called out to the interns at the back of the nurse station. "Those who wants to come with me for reports, let's go."

Katana rushed to the nurse station and opened a drawer hastily and went back in a matter of seconds, handing something to Kiyoomi. You peered at her extended hand and found two cute plastic vials of sanitizers, to which he gladly accepted. You heard stories of Kiyoomi from his siblings and cousins and how he hates crowds so much, anti-social.. and a germaphobe. You were even surprised he followed you to your rounds.

"Take care of my brother, Y/n." You didn't miss the dazed and stuttering tone of Daisuke as he patted your shoulder. He also placed a hand on Kiyoomi's shoulder as the latter carefully lather some of the sanitizer in his hands and sniffed it. Daisuke gave a squeeze at his shoulder before patting it twice. "Kiyo."

The interns and a nurse came filing up behind you, ready for the rounds. You took the walk to the ward when Katana called out, "Kiyo, be kind, okay?" Kiyoomi grumbled at your side to which you giggled. He shot a glance at you and furrowed his brows. You playfully turned your eyes away from him and stuffed your hands on your gown's pockets.

"Dai? Dinner? Seriously?"

"Dad. It's Dad."

Kiyoomi felt like running when he first stepped into the first ward you picked to do your rounds. He overheard your conversation with the one girl intern that you have two patients here. He took a deep breath and followed you inside.

"Mommyy~ how's the stitches? Is it still painful and itchy? How are you feeling?"

"Jii-saaaan~ how is the therapy? Are your movements doing fine? No reactions?"

"Baby~" He heard you cooed at that one kid on the second ward you lot went in. You sat in his bed and carefully patted his head. "Why are you crying? Does it still hurt?"

Kiyoomi has to turn his eyes away from your figure and unintentionally coughed. He mumbled a low sorry, thankfully of which you didn't hear.

"Tall curly man." His eyes turned back to the crying kid. The kid's eyes were on Kiyoomi as you looked with him with soft eyes. Kiyoomi thought he might be 6 or 7 years old. So young to be in a hospital. His eyes steeled and cold as he remembered something of which he shouldn't.

"I'm gonna wait outside."

You looked at Kiyoomi with concern and nodded. "One more room upstairs and we're off." Kiyoomi nodded as he took the exit of the ward. He can still hear the kid's cries from here so he distanced himself more, enough that he can see you walk out of the room anytime.

The ride was silent. Very uncharacteristic of you. Kiyoomi was silent, well he always is. You wanna ask about that cough and walking out a while ago but you thought that he maybe just be too grossed out at the patients. You suddenly felt guilty of making him accompany you in your rounds. You bit your lip as your hand knuckled up on the stirring wheel.

You badly want to break silence so, "Where should we eat?"

"Wherever you wish."

You glanced at him and found him staring at the view of bustling nightlife of Tokyo. You sighed and drove to your med friends' go-to fine dining. Well, you're assuming Kiyoomi would like it considering he's from a well-off family.

He waited for you to round up to him from the driver's side, you fixing your blouse as you approach him. Kiyoomi never got a good look of you in the hospital but now, amidst the glowing dim light of the restaurant and the parking lot's lamp post nearby, he sees you clearly and radiantly. It took him over a minute to stop his intrusive thoughts while you were still fixing your blouse and hair, unaware of his eyes, and so he motioned to the entrance of the restaurant.

"You're not allergic to anything?" He shook his head in response as he opened the door for you, to which your brows perked for a millisecond.

You ordered directly after being seated. The modern Japanese style fine-dining restaurant that you're in has a romantic ambience. Candles are lit and it's a bit dark, with just a low and very dimly-lit chandelier on each section of the space. Your friends would often take you here when they have to have a relaxing dinner after a toxic shift. And it is relaxing. You wonder if Kiyoomi's feeling the same.

He's exuding a laid back expression with a glint of disapproval to the whole situation you're both in. You're not dumb as to not know what the Chairman wants to happen with the both of you. You sighed. Just try, huh. Okay.

"So, Kiyo" You started, and his eyes darted to you from his phone, the candle giving it an unfathomable impression. You gulped. "When's the start of the season?"

He sighed and his gaze fell back to his phone. "In three months."

"MSBY, right? Of Osaka?" He nodded, eyes still on his phone. You chewed your cheek as your lashes kept fluttering on his direction, brows visibly furrowed at his loss of interest.

"How's Inunaki?"

Kiyoomi's brows were the first to react. It shot up, dragging his eyes with it, and then his head till you have his full attention, phone already discarded at the table.

He obscurely coughed, "You know him?"

You nodded, remembering the days when you dated the sweet libero. He was cute, but then you broke up with him to focus on your profession. It was a clean break though. No more strings attached. You were just reminded by him because the gentleman right in front of you is on the same team as your ex-boyfriend.

Kiyoomi was running his tongue on the backs of his teeth as he studied your face. You knew their team's libero. And your facial expression now was just like when he saw you talking with Daisuke earlier.

"He's fine. He's staying with our captain in their house just off Kita District. He might be off to Osaka next week with him." You hummed softly and it sent shivers on him, it made his thighs pop anxiously underneath the table.

He knows what's happening. Fuck, he knows what's happening. Can't believe it's actually happening at this certain point in his life. He remembered those incessant talks with his friends on his volleyball batch, especially talks with Atsumu and Kenji. He tilted his head as he stares at the spot on the table directly in front of you, not daring to look you in the eye.

"Howー" He was cutted off when the food arrived at your table. Thankfully. He didn't know what's gotten into him that he was about to ask something he shouldn't. He bit his lip behind his mask as he watched the food getting arranged in the table.

You're still dazed at how Kiyoomi suddenly poured you a bit of his attention by just mentioning Shion when suddenly, he got rid of his mask so casually you didn't have time to brace yourself. You found yourself staring at his features as a whole. His nose perfectly fitted his handsome face, thin-lipped, smooth cheeks and sharp jawline. You found your eyes trailing to every nook of his face and found his eyes in the process, staring back at you.

"Wow. You're handsomer without the mask, Kiyo."

Kiyoomi raised a brow as he placed a plate full of sushi and sashimi in front of you. "And you're saying that so casually, thanks." You didn't miss the little quiver of his bottom lip as he spoke, red ears still evident within the orange light from the candles.

You smiled while prepping your chopsticks. "Well, we're already grown-ups so no need to shy away about saying those kind of things." You trailed your eyes at his face, now focused on what dish to try first. But no, Kiyoomi's attention is on your voice. He's desperately trying to act normal, and yes, controlling himself and his tongue.

"Try the sashimi first, they taste good. Or do the Gyoza." You suggested and he picked the sashimi first, nodding as the dish reached his tongue. You have to distract yourself with eating your own food served in front of you.

The dinner was fine, casual queries and talks were exchanged but you concluded that someone not daring enough can't get any info out of Kiyoomi. And you're not daring enough. All queries were just public info, you-can-know stuffs.

You stared at the mirror of the restroom after you briefly excused yourself after taking two glasses of wine just to get out of that situation. You're questioning yourself, and can't believe you're feeling insecure with how you look. You fixed your hair, your lip tint. Are you that old for Kiyoomi? Are you not pretty for him?

You groaned as you repeatedly muttered, "Just try. If it doesn't work, then okay. It's okay." You exited that restroom with a newfound determination.

"Shall we go? Dai-nii said you both have to prepare for a surgery 6 hours prior." You stuttered as it was the first sentence Kiyoomi gave you after you sat back from the restroom. You whisked your wrist for your watch and rolled your eyes. It's still 7:30pm, the surgery is 5am. Seriously, Daisuke?

Grumpiness sat in you as you drove back to the hospital, still basking on Kiyoomi's silence. Or which you thought.

"Can we go to your favorite alley of yakitori?" Your wide-eyed gaze found his popping thighs and you didn't dare to look further to his face. But he noticed your surprised expression to which he turned away with a steeled expression and a click out of his tongue.

Why is he frustrated? He can't be that frustrated. He doesn't care about you. He closed his eyes for the rest of the ride.

"Kiyo, what are we doing here?"

He just hummed as he collect himself out of your car and out to the alley, clearly looking for a certain stall, his mask already back on his face, sanitized hands on his pockets. You scampered after him to which he sighed and turned back to you. He saw you still taking a few steps closer to him as you fixed your hair and glistening eyes locking to a stall farther back. He can't miss the brief parting of your lips and a bob on your throat. He followed your gaze and briskly walked to that direction.

"Hey! Wait!"

Where are you dining? She likes the yakitori on her favorite streetfood alley.

Kiyoomi, she has to prepare for our surgery 6 hours prior. Take her back to the hospital right after dinner.

Where are you now? Are you on your way back? Don't reply if you're driving. Be careful.

Daisuke's texts kept ringing on his ears as he heaves two trays full of yakitori, with you following him in bewilderment. You both were walking to the previous nurse station Kiyoomi saw his brother. And he's really there now and waiting. Kiyoomi furrowed his brows as he saw his brother perked up on your sight.

Kiyoomi was silent as he placed the trays on the station and informing them that it's on the house. He quickly took the paperbag with some yakitoris too and handed it to you, ignoring the stares of Daisuke on his side.

"Kiー"

"You shouldn't be considerate with others when we say Wherever you want. It was supposed to be your choice." You were startled when he said that to your face, the others hearing it. "Anyways, thanks for driving and for the dinner."

Your jaw dropped, cheeks burning, as your eyes followed his hovering figure walking away from you. Kiyoomi was clearly annoyed with whatever and you had no idea why that is. You turned to face Daisuke who was already staring at you, and he huffed, big strides following Kiyoomi.

"Doc Dai was already frustrated with something, Doc Y/n."

You turned to the nurse who spoke, gesturing her to go on with what's she's saying. "Maybe something about his dad?"

Hm. Maybe because of the run-down of the department's allowance., you thought as you ran your fingers through the paperbag with five yakitoris. You smiled at the thought of Kiyoomi. Well, he can be sweet while being grumpy and mean.

"Kiyo!"

Kiyoomi rolled his eyes as he detestfully punched in the buttons of the elevator. He quickly pulled out the sanitizer Katana gave her and lather some on his hands. Daisuke found his space on his brother's side, huffing whileーKiyoomi doesn't knowーlooking so annoyed with something? He smirked.

"You didn't go eat at her favorite stall?" Daisuke asked as the elevator dinged and opened for the both of the men. Thankfully, it's empty so they piled in.

"We're already eating when you texted." Kiyoomi deadpanned, just staring at the elevator door while his brother's body is on his direction, eyes somewhat blazing with whatever. Kiyoomi's not dumb, and he's mad at it.

"And you bought her yakitori after the dinner? What's with the trays?"

"For you, guys. Trying to be friendly, considering Katana-nee-san asked me to be kind."

He walked out of the elevator as soon as it reached the basement parking lot of the hospital building, Daisuke following behind with more questions he's not gonna answer due to an impending blow on his part that he's afraid to burst.

"It just took a few hours for you huh."

Kiyoomi faced his brother, full height and pride seeping through his veins, face scrunched up with his now discarded mask tucked on his chin.

"Dai. Nii. Chan. Why are you dating someone else when you're clearly in love with her?" There goes the blow.

When Daisuke didn't answer because of utter shock, Kiyoomi dragged his feet to his car far out left of the parking lot leaving his brother behind and frozen.

But he didn't know why he found himself on the same hospital again a week after that fateful one-time dinner. His fingers are tapping on his steering wheel as he was parking. His niece mused as how she's going to see Daisuke and Katana, Motoya cradling her in the passenger seat. No one knew of the conversation he had with Daisuke, and Daisuke hadn't been talking to him the past week, clearly left unguarded with Kiyoomi's blow. Irritating. As irritating as how you got stuck in his mind since that dinner night.

"Yoomi!" Sara leaned to Kiyoomi as they got out of the car. Kiyoomi carried her in one arm and eyed Motoya for her orange mask.

"Matchy." Motoya snickered as he hooked Sara's mask on her ears and quickly got his phone to take a picture of his grumpy cousin and Sara, both wearing orange kiddie masks. Motoya was surprised when Kiyoomi kissed Sara's head through his mask, completely ready for the shot. And he might've sent it to their GC, or maybe even posted online that you'll be seeing a few hours later and keel about.

Sara is loved by many nurses and doctors in the hospital for her talkativeness and cuteness, their future cutie doctor. But you gravely prayed she'll never be like her uncle Kiyoomi that yes, a kind gentleman but also and absolutely yes to being rude and grumpy.

Your irises immediately dilated when you saw her in Kiyoomi's arm, and how cute of Sara to make Kiyoomi wear her signature orange stuffs. You chuckled at the thought as you approached them.

"Ah, Y/n-san!" You ruffled Motoya's hair as you saw him bounding past Kiyoomi with Sara's orange bag.

"Y/n-chaan~" Sara mused as she leaned for you to carry her. But Kiyoomi held her away from you.

"She still has germs, Sara." Eventhough it was a mumble, you can't help but to hear it considering the distance between you. "Later, okay?" Kiyoomi kissed Sara's cheek still with mask on.

Sara lovingly put her hand on Kiyoomi's cheek, nudging the bottom of his glasses up, "But I like her, Yoomi. Won't care if she has germs or none. You shouldn't too. You like her, right?"

Motoya snorted at your back, while you and Kiyoomi unmistakenly blushed at Sara's words.

"Baby, Iー" Kiyoomi glanced at you, your hand on your mouth and face still burning, eyes still wide on him from shock. "I don't.. like.. her."

Kiyoomi's words rang in your ears and it has been an hour since then. You're in the middle of your rounds, clearly distracted that she had to let the interns take notes of what she said and had to read them afterwards for double checking. You tilted your head to let the thought die, and ran your fingers through your hair.

You jumped at a low cough on your side, and your head turned to face Kiyoomi, head low and fiddling fingers together, eyes unfocused. "Yes, Kiyoomi?"

His eyes shot at you on his name, uncomfortable without the nickname you once gave him. And you didn't know why, searching on your depths why didn't you used that. He'll probably worry about that, but very unlikely. He doesn't like you.

"Sara wants you to be with us out for dinner."

"Okay." You nodded in a heartbeat still wondering why doesn't he like you.

And Kiyoomi is uncomfortable with the looks you're giving him as you walk with him, Sara still in his arms refusing to walk because of her uncle's big paces. She is still talking with you and you converse with her, your eyes still burning on Kiyoomi from time to time. And Kiyoomi doesn't like how out-of-place is he with the little girl talk.

You rode passenger in his car, Sara on your lap after Kiyoomi told you it's now okay. But on what grounds are you okay? You can't understand that side of him, and you want to ask him to understand. You want to understand him. You want to understand whyー

You shifted on your seat, arms wrapping on Sara's little waist as she sings songs from Kiyoomi's nursery rhymes, and you sang with her too through the familiar lyrics. And it was proper music for Kiyoomi and he scoffed inaudibly, so amused with the scene he wished he can record it.

His mind was unintentionally wandering far off the future, where you could be with your own little girl in your lap, still with him in the driver's seat, both of you all dressed up according to the little girl's wishes. And it will be blissful and peaceful and no Daiー

He felt himself knuckled up at his steering wheel and you took notice, stammering mid-singing, thinking he doesn't want you singing, thinking how bad your voice is. You gulped hard, eyes straight to the dash and onto the highway he's cruising through.

"Don't you want me here, Kiyoomi?" You tilted your head, chin resting on your palms as Kiyoomi's eyes were on his niece playing on the makeshift playground of the kiddie fastfood chain. Kids on her age are there too. Ugh germs. He might want Sara to take a bath when they get home later.

It's Kiyo for you, Y/n. It's Kiyo. He wanted to say that he caught himself. He doesn't want to be misunderstood, though he himself doesn't understand himself either.

"Motoya's with Dad on a business meeting about his share. And I'm sorry if I can't stop Sara from whining for you to go with us." You hummed and his thigh started popping anxiously at instinct to the sound.

"Kiyoomi. Look at me for a second." Why do you want him to look at you? Why are you even asking him to look at you? His thoughts were battling inside his head and he willfully silenced it just for a moment, and without a thought, looked at you straight to your dilated orbs. He never found such beautiful eyes like yours, beautiful orbs beyond those long lashes. He blinked.

"Why?"

"Oh, nothing." You smiled and you found what you were looking for. A deductive confirmation, an incomplete assessment to whatever situation you have with him. You suddenly wanna go back to the hospital, or just anywhere away from his scalding gaze also searching.

The food was already served when Sara got back from the indoor playground, already holding her mask out of her face like Kiyoomi now. Kiyoomi turned her little figure around and got her scrunchie to tie her long big-curled black hair. And you reveled at the sight.

"D'you want me to feed you or you wanna be a big girl for today?"

"With Y/n-chan, Yoomi."

You felt like your heart skipped a beat when Sara lipped on your direction. Oh how cute is she, a bead of sweat still trickles down her temple and forehead. You reached for her hand and sat her on your lap to which she happily obliged, swaying her legs against yours as she smiles to her uncle across the table.

"Her towel, Yoomi." You deadpanned at Kiyoomi, trying hard not to smile when you imitated Sara's nickname for him, trying hard not to smile when you saw him blush upon hearing it slip out of your lips. And he tried too hard not to dwell on it. Try harder, Kiyoomi.

"Baby, you have to feed yourself because she also has to eat, okay?"

"But I want to be fed by Y/n-chan, Yoomi." Sara's pouts were Kiyoomi's weakness. He closed his eyes in exasperation, keeping in mind that he is the adult here and with the authority.

"Yeah, Yoomi, I can feed her while eating just fine. Let's eat."

And you tried your hardest too, to make it sound so natural and not veiled with awkwardness. And Kiyoomi regretted finding that Kiyo on you earlier that day. This is way worst than it, this will drive him to his grave. He bit his lip in annoyance to his giddiness.

The dinner with Sara went fine with you feeding her. Kiyoomi helped through the process, feeding her alternately while you eat, too. And maybe a bit too awkward, because some eyes inside the food chain were on you three, murmuring about how good-looking of a family you are with Kiyoomi and Sara. You should put some blush-on next time when you're with him, just to hide the natural blush you had been wearing throughout the time.

"Thank you for your time, Y/n."

"Anytime." You winked at him and debated with yourself between saying more, or just go straight to anywhere away from him. That was enough indulgence for today for Kiyoomi doesn't like you. You have to remind yourself.

But you softly patted the head of the sleeping figure in Kiyoomi's arms, and Kiyoomi stiffened on the closeness. He can smell your fragrance and something else. He nibbled his cheek and turned his eyes straight, to where he found Daisuke staring at them, smiling. Kiyoomi was confused for a moment.

"Take her home now. Drive safely, Yoomi." You patted his wide and bulky shoulder softly, trying not to wake Sara up. Kiyoomi hummed as he stared back on his brother, clearly pertrubed over something in his mind he dare not say. And you were oblivious of the tension. He's so glad you were.

You waved Kiyoomi bye and went to Daisuke, slithering your body towards him before grasping both his cheeks with one hand. All the while, Daisuke was still smiling to Kiyoomi before he dropped his eyes on you and messed your hair. Kiyoomi had to quickly turn away and go straight home, also oblivious that the following morning will change the course of the situation.

You were pacing back and forth outside the halls for the doctors' offices, a hard flush on your cheeks visible. Kiyoomi had asked you out of nowhere for a lunch date of sorts.

These past two months was too confusing for you. Because the Kiyoomi that doesn't like you keep poking out of nowhere, taking a portion of your time of day. May it be another dinner with Sara, or just with him, or being with you on your rounds, recently and suprisingly mask down and talking with your patients. He may have even memorized your sched like the back of his hand for the untimely timing of his visits.

These past two months was like a typhoon for you. Kiyoomi was the typhoon. And you can't brace yourself enough. Maybe because you were used to him being rude and grumpy, well, he still is, but something changed in him.

"Good luck, Y/n. HAHAHA!"

Motoya replied once when you asked him about why Kiyoomi was doing things he usually won't do. What's the good luck for? The toothpaste in the tube had bursted out and grimed on your fingers in annoyance to Motoya's reply.

"No comment LOL!"

And Daisuke, too. He's becoming normal for youーin a sense that he won't joke about his feelings for you anymore, or he isn't as clingy as before, and less time with you. You remembered pouting when you read his reply after you asked him too about Kiyoomi's actions, and that you threw your phone across your bed in frustration.

But now, you were smiling calmly in the back of your mind, reminding yourself that Kiyoomi doesn't like you. Yeah, he doesn't like you.

"Okay. Pick me up? Text me if you're here already."

"Can we take pictures Y/n?"

Like hell. You tried not to notice him taking stolen pictures of you when you're not looking. But never with him. You nodded and took his phone and snapped a pic with himーor maybe four with wacky poses. A nurse also took one with you on your scrub suit and gown, his hand surprisingly ghosting on your waist to which you nearly flinched.

"What's with the pictures?" You asked him during your lunch with him in your favorite yakitori stall.

"I'm going back to Osaka this weekend. Leagues are in a month and we still have to condition ourselves." You poked on your katsudon as you pouted on his answer.

"Had to show how you are doing to Inunaki-san. You're friends, right?"

He placed a slice of meat on your bowl that you acknowledged by placing a yakitori on his plate. You hummed at his statement, to which his thighs popped and you placed a hand on it to relax him and grinned, a habit you have when you hummed and he'll grow anxious by it. You tapped his thigh once before continuing on your meal.

"You're going back to Osaka. Can I come see your games some time if I'm free?" You're pushing your luck, no way he'll agree toー

"Sure. Any vacant time. Just be sure it'll not disrupt your shifts. I'll text you the time and venues of every game we'll have 3 days prior."

You smiled through kneading with your food with your chopsticks. "Glad to hear." And maybe you should know sometime soon, that even if moments like these are to be captured, it won't do any justice to Kiyoomi.

"Can I go see you off this weekend then?"

Both of you are already back from the lunch date when you asked him. He's still sipping from his milktea, one hand on the plastic with 2 large trays of yakitori, biceps flexing against his fitted black shirt, his jacket discarded on his car. You're also carrying two batch containers of milktea, all for the residents and nurses in the station.

"No. I might not be present in the games if you do see me off."

It is still the Kiyoomi that doesn't like you.

"See you soon." And your heart skipped a beatーokay, maybe twoー when he leaned in to kiss your forehead swiftly as he can to put his mask back on to conceal his reddening cheeks.

You tried to stay calm as you smiled at him. "Take care, Yoomi."

He hummed and patted your head. "I'll come see you soon."

And before you even realized it, he's walking away from you, and it might hurt just one bit of this figure of him being away. You pursed your lips as your mind registered what had happened. But you rolled your eyes as you were not the first one to reactーmore like, squeal.

"Stop it, Katana-nee!" You can't help but giggle as more of the nurses joined Katana's teasing and squealing. "Yoomi doesn't like me."

Katana scoffed mid-giggling. "What nonsense is that? He clearly likes you, Y/n!"

"He said so himself." You shrugged, still smiling as you took a sip of the milktea you and Kiyoomi bought.

"And you?" Your eyes darted to her, Katana's scrutinizing gaze boring at you. "How are you feeling about this?"

You stared at her, fumbling with your thoughts in your mind on how to answer that that it won't be misunderstood. Though, one phrase stood out. You bit your lip and hang your head low, fiddled with the straw of your milktea.

"I don't want to fall in love alone, Nee-san."

"Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Nov 24, 5:30pm. Let me know if you could come so I can reserve you a seat near the court."

You smiled, staring at his text from 3 days ago. You have replied then, even videocalled him after that, and the day after, like the ones you had a few weeks ago whenever he was free, or when you are free. It has been barely two months and the leagues has already started last month. You had watched his matches that you can't see live on your phone, or on Youtube. And you call each other at the end of each game, just talking about anything like how was the day going for both of you, or how was the game,or how did you enjoy watching him play. You smiled at how he wants you to be involved in his field of interest. But Y/n, he doesn't like you.

"Y/n, Chairman called for you in his office."

You turned to face Doc Akaashi and his hoarse voice. Your brows furrowed at it. "You okay, Doc?"

"I'm okay. Just stressed with my son."

"Oooh, Keiji?"

He nodded, running a hand on the back of his neck. "Yeah, but he's okay now, thanks to his friendsーyour Yoomi included." He snorted at his tease. You pouted as he patted your shoulder and walked away after gesturing you to the Chairman's office.

You checked the timeーstill 9:30amーwhile walking through the long hallway to the Chairman's office. You still have to pick up Sara by 3pm because she has literally begged you yesterday to take her to her Jii-chan Yoomi's games. And it will be a secret, she said. You chuckled at the thought of her. That kid really adores Kiyoomi.

You knocked before going into the office. You were entranced by a golden haired young man with glasses and a dark-grayish green haired young man on the couch, sitting and looking at you walking in the room.

"ーCoz Doc, I can't."

You turned to the Chairman's direction and you saw a golden-haired young lady sitting in front of the Chairman and rambling about something. Is she a patient?

"Sit first, Y/n." You heard the chairman as he paused to look at you, with the golden-haired lady's eyes on you too. She smiled at you briefly and turned again to the Chairman. You sat down across the men, well as you look closely they might still be in highschool. They're just tall-lookingーor really maybe tall.

"I am okay, really."

The golden haired boy snorted. "Doc, she slapped someone real hard hardly two hours ago. Twice."

The girl turned to the direction of the boy who spoke. "Shut up, Kei! She needs it! Who would wake her up other than her bestest girl-friend she'll ever have, huh?"

"You hate her." It was the other boy now that had spoken, and you were out of place already, trying to understand the situation.

She pouted, "I don't, and she knows it."

"Okay. Okay, Ran. Just do the oximeter for now. Will that calm you three?"

The Chairman took the pulse oximeter and latched it on Ran(?)'s pointer finger. And you had no idea why you're here. You leaned back on the couch while waiting for anything.

"I told you to just stay at Fukurodani while we send them off! Now Aki-nii knew about this!"

"And who texted him huh? Was itー"

And the unspeakable happen. The door of the office bursted open and you might've been excited for this for months now, but no. He stormed to Ran and pulled her up to stand.

"I told you not to go here to see my dad!"

It was Kiyoomi, already in his jersey under his MSBY track jacket, his black eyes furious and mask disregarded somewhere in his pockets. It stirred something in you, of which you thought you won't feel towards him. It scared you.

"Omi-san!" Ran yelped at Kiyoomi's grip. And you felt concerned for her as you jumped up from the couch. You can see his grip digging on her flesh.

"Kiyoomi!" The Chairman had also risen up from his seat, trying to get in between the two.

"I told you, Ran, did I? I told you to go find another doctor to take you! I told you why!"

"Kiyoomi-san!"

"Ran!"

"Omi-san, it hurts!"

"Kiyoomi!"

And you saw it in his eyes that's not leaving Ran's, a flicker of concern as he saw tears trickling down from hers. "Leave. Now."

The amber-eyed boy collected Ran that's now glaring at Kiyoomi, still with tears in her eyes. "Hope you fall in your butt, Kiyoomi!" And she was dragged by her waist out of the office.

Kiyoomi snapped a look at the dazed face of the Chairman, and he groaned. "How could you do that to her?" The chairman whispered in his strangled breaths.

"This is exactly why!"

"She did nothing to us! To you! To me!"

"SHE DID! She has her mother's face that you can't even forget after all these years!"

"It's..not her fault Kiyoomi.."

"Assign her to another doctor Dad, or I'll take the matters to my own hands."

"You know I can't."

Kiyoomi dialed in his phone and took a look at you, he sighed, just registering that you had witnessed something you shouldn't and he mouthed Sorry, to which you nodded, hesitant and still wide-eyed at the course of events happened in a matter of minutes.

"Daisuke. Where are you?ーCan you come up here at Dad's?ーYes, right now. ASAP."

It was achingly quiet for a few minutes when Daisuke barged in, breathless, still in his gown and a steth dangling around his neck. "Saw Ran-chan outside as I'm running up here. What happened?"

But Kiyoomi ignored him and turned to you. "Come with me, Y/n?" His voice is hoarse from yelling, but calmer now.

You followed his hurried paces and he was searching the halls of the hospital and you know who's he searching for. And you are, too. If Ran's a patient, then she should be in aー

Kiyoomi suddenly rushed to a nearby bench just off the indoor café of the hospital. There you saw three figures seating, the same people that are just in the office moments ago. Kiyoomi squatted in front of Ran and peeked on her face. She was doubled over on her knees, the two not daring to touch her. You decide to observe at a distance on earshot, but Kiyoomi looked back at you, wanting you near him, and you stood closer, a few steps away from the golden haired boy who bowed to acknowledge your presence.

"I'm sorry." Kiyoomi was about to touch Ran's head when the amber eyed boy on the other side of the bench cleared his throat.

"Don't touch her yet, Kiyoomi-san."

You saw Kiyoomi sheepishly smile at Ran when there's a slight movement of her head, and you heard Ran groan.

"Don't peekーDon't peek on me like that." A few struggled breaths from her and you hear an exasperated sigh from the golden haired boy beside you. "Up, Omi-san."

The golden-haired boy looked up at you. "Is she the one you're talking about Kiyoomi-san?" Kiyoomi hummed, now on his feet looking down at Ran's position. Are they talking about you? No way.

"Do you have a pulse oximeter? Chairman's was dropped in the office." The question disrupted your impending thoughts of how these boys knew about you. You have to ask Kiyoomi later.

You patted your pockets and thankfully, you have one. It was the hospital's protocol though, for doctors and nurses to bring an oximeter everywhere within the vicinity.

"She's still in high-sensitivity. Hold it first, Kei."

There was silence after, except for Ran's groans and whimpers from time to time. You stared at Kiyoomi that was statue-like, staring at Ran's figure on the bench. A few wild assumptions came to mind at his actions, and how this day showed you another side, well two, of Kiyoomi. You tilted your head as he huffed and looked at you, a silent apology on his eyes. You smiled at him, reassuring him anything you can offer to him eventhough you're unsure of yourself too.

"Told you I can't pick another doctor other than your Dad, Omi-san. I warned you." Ran's eyes were full of fury you can't help but to turn away and flash a grin on the wall.

Kiyoomi rolled his eyes upon hearing her words. "Told you you have to do plastic surgery or something. I hate your face."

"I know I'm pretty." And Ran happened to glance at you and almost immediately, wide-eyed and rounded her lips in surprise, much to your confusion. "And she's prettier up close, Omi-san!"

"Thank you?" You raised a brow at Kiyoomi while you feel your cheeks burn on the compliment, to which he groaned, pulling his phone from his pocket. "Umー"

"I'm Tadashi. This is Ran and Kei. Nice to finally meet you, Y/n-san." Your eyes flew from Kiyoomi to the amber eyed boy that's now standing and bowing briefly to you, flickering a teasing gaze on Kiyoomi. Your confusion grew more, it's achingly pressed to your bones.

"Stop it, Tadashi." Kiyoomi snapped at Tadashi who just grinned and took back his seat.

Ran groaned. "Please don't make me laugh." And to which Tadashi and Kei laughed.

You saw Kiyoomi rolled his eyes, cheeks were also beet red as he turned to you, and you giddily smiled back at him. "Are you still watching the game later?"

"I still can't move. Please, Omi-san, go flirt with her somewhere else, far enough that I can't hear."

"I really want to throw you off the grid, Ran." Kiyoomi deadpanned and you wanna laugh hard at it. Kiyoomi's gonna flirt with who now?

"Thankful that you love me." Ran paused and winked at you. "As a friend, Y/n-san. This irritating guy is all yours."

"You shouldn't tease Kiyoomi-san like that, Ran."

"Whyyy? That's called revenge!"

"But Kiyoomi-san's less grumpy around her, don't you think Kei?"

"Stop it. Don't make me laugh."

All your senses came back when you heard Kiyoomi unintelligently mumbled in his breaths, still in the moment where he's dragging you away from the teasing trio. You finally became aware that every pair of eyes across the lobby, and that those eyes were staring at both of you. You nibbled at your lip as you also became aware of his strong hands gentle but tugging at your wrist to somewhere. You can't help but smile as you fixed your eyes on his curly black hair, swaying as he bounds to the direction of the ER, not surprised that Kiyoomi knows where you have your shift in this time of this specific day of the week.

"You'll flirt with me in the ER, Yoomーah!" You bumped into his shoulder as he halted suddenly, a hall away from the doors of the ER. He turned to you, surprisingly still blushing. "Geez, Yoomi." You half-heartedly took back your tease as you brushed your hand on the spot where his shoulder made contact on your head.

"Yーyou're still coming to the game later, right?" His eyes were unfocused, darting anywhere but in your direction and you find it too cute and amusing.

You hummed, placed both your hands on his shoulders as you tiptoed to kiss his red cheek. "Won't miss it this time. See you later okay?"

You slid a hand on his chest to tap it twice against his MSBY jersey and went off to the ER, grinning at your action and to Kiyoomi's reaction. Flirting with a Kiyoomi that doesn't like you feels like you were shot to as far as Jupiter, far past the clouds.

But you thought you knew what you did to Kiyoomi. You have no idea. As he watches your gown getting winded up as you walked to the doors of the ER after you kissed his burning cheek, he stopped breathing for a moment, replaying the moment in his mind numerous times for a short while. He leaned back on the wall as he catch his breath, licking his dry lips.

"Want a check-up, lovestruck man?" He turned to his smug brother smirking in front of him.

"You already diagnosed me two months ago. Don't need a check-up." Daisuke laughed as he remembered what he said to Kiyoomi months ago.

"Kiyo, okay, listen."

"No."

"Listen, please."

Kiyoomi paused halfway the stairs to their rooms. He sighed and waited for Daisuke to speak up.

"I loved her. Before. Yes. But it doesn't matter now, is it?"

"I don't wanna date someone you loved, Daisuke."

"But you're already falling for her." That surprised Kiyo to the bone. How could Daisuke say things like that so casually? And no, he's not in love with you.

"Don't deny it. I hereby diagnose you as that. And please, don't be considerate of me. Go move on her if you want to. I will support you."

"Y/n-chaan~ Yoomi?" You looked down at Sara that's tightly gripping your hand, afraid to get lost in the crowd of Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. She's wearing Kiyoomi's merch jersey as you were wearing his jersey too, but not from the merch store. You blushed again behind your orange mask at the thought.

"Want me to carry you, Sara-chan?" She nodded, her curls bobbing with her head as she goes. You picked her up and realized she's not that heavy as you gripped her up around her orange shorts. "Yoomi's somewhere inside. Let's go find him."

But you didn't find him, instead you found someone else.

"Oh. So it's true." You turned to face Inunaki Shion and you smiled at him. "Sakusa Kiyoomi, huh?" You felt Sara squirmed in your arms to face the stranger in front of you.

"I'm Sakusa Sara, nice to meet you sir."

"You already have a kid with him?" Huh?

"What business do you have with my mommy, sir?"

"IーHuh?"

Shion was also as wide eyed and stuttering as you, him, clearly assuming something, and you, clearly confused and surprised with Sara's words. You were about to clear things with him when Shion's eyes fell somewhere far on your back.

You turned to that direction and there, you saw Kiyoomi taking big paces towards you. Sara squealed but your attention was on Kiyoomi and his intense gaze on you.

"Yoomi."

"Sara, close your eyes."

"Haiii~"

You didn't notice the way Sara grinned while closing her eyes, to the way the crowd turned their attention on the three of you, and to how the voices muffled, making it seem like it was buried away deep below.

One thing that you were sure was happening was this: Kiyoomi's hands cupping your cheeks and leaning his face towards yours, staring at your dilated orbs and smiled before tilting his head and closing the gap of his lips and yours.

You had to close your eyes because of the intense feeling he's giving you, kissing him back with equal fervor, too frustrated you can't wrap your arms around his neck so you tightly cradled Sara's waist instead, and still too dumbstruck of why Kiyoomi is kissing you right now.

He leaned his forehead on yours, giving you both chances to catch your breaths. You smiled at him, about to ask him the question when, "Can you be my girlfriend, Y/n?"

And you chuckled at the question that confirmed your past deduction.

"But, Yoomi, Dai said you have to ask first before kissing." And you can't help but laugh at how Sara responded for you, you kissed her cheek in adoration.

"What she said, Yoomi."

"Is it always like that?" He pouted as you turned around to Shion, giving Sara to him to which the little girl understood and even gave you a thumbs-up.

Kiyoomi was baffled at how Shion carried Sara and was about to retort when you pulled him into you and kissed him again, this time wrapping your arms in his neck, him hugging you close by your waist and kissing you back.

And yeah, maybe it's true that Kiyoomi doesn't like you.

Because he was already truly, madly, and deeply in love with you.

"You don't have a girlfriend, sir."

"I will have soon, you know. Behave before I put you down and leave you."

"Should we stop them? The warm-ups will start at 5 minutes."

"Oh, don't be an ass, Meian."

"Someone take a picture of them."

"I feel so single."

Semi Eita | Sugawara Koushi | Kuroo Tetsurou | Akaashi Keiji | Kageyama Tobio | Oikawa Tooru | Miya Osamu

@rudecopper on twt for the icon

Reblogs and interactions are appreciated. Theories will be entertained. Cassie 2023.

[bambi-kinos]

loved ur recent post on paul whump !! besides the linked one(which I've never read so thanks!) do you have👀👀 any recommendations👀👀👀👀

tl;dr - it's slim pickins out there.

First let's bring back an old differentiation: there's physical whump and then emotional whump, and that was an important distinction back in the day. I have looked for both and while there are some good emotional whump pieces, there is no readable physical whump besides the su!c!d3 fic. Physical whump is more of an action movie thing and in general Beatles fandom is not terribly interested in action and adventure so they don't write it. And the thing is, that's fine, that's a valid choice that anyone can make and we should write about the things we enjoy and not what we think others expect. But it also means that Paul whump fics basically don't exist in modern fandom as we know it. There are probably some on LJ or in the Google Docs McLennon archive since Stargate and Smallville were so big on LJ at the time and there was more x-fandom pollination but I don't want to Snipe hunt right now.

(For the record, I do have something in the works to fix this hole but it won't come out until next year if we're lucky.)

Emotional whump is more plentiful and there's well written stuff out there for sure. Most of the emotional whump I've enjoyed is centered around John's suffering and while Paul's misery is apparent it's not the focus of those pieces. So this took some digging into my bookmarks and memory. What I like in a good Paul whump fic is how his own arrogance and narcissist tendencies come back to bite him OR he's having to put up with John's shit when John is being horrible.

In that spirit, here are my recommendations for decent emotional whump focused on Paul:

Barcelona - Selena. I enjoy this one because Selena let's Paul be a whole person here. It's not just John and Brian bothering him, it's the fact that he's trapped with someone who reminds him of what he's lacking and how this hurts him, both now and in the past. Parallels to the Barcelona situation are subtle and well drawn so you get all of the agony without being hit over the head with it. John is opaque to Paul who doesn't understand why he's acting like this which is a nice change from what we often see in fanfic where John just blurts out what he's feeling. Here we see how much Paul suffers when John is trying too hard to be clever.

A Hole in the World - RosalindBeatrice. Linda bears witness to the aftermath of John's murder in Paul. Easily the absolute best fanfiction on this list.

Birthday - Selene. Love this one because Selene writes Paul as an actual character instead of the heteronormative girly thing he often gets slapped with. Paul is once again bitter, angry and unhappy because the boy he fell in love with has already disappeared. He is forced to be the adult in a room full of manchildren and he hates it...but he also sucks it up and does it anyway. Because he is Paul McCartney and being the foundation of The Beatles and cleaning up John's messes is exactly what he signed up for and he will do it because no one else can. I think of this one all the time. It lives rent free in my head.

Red Sky - thinkpink20. What I appreciate about thinkpink20 is that she is brave enough to let John be absolutely awful but she also humanizes him so you can see his inner pain and confusion driving that horribleness. This is a nice one where John is no where near to figuring himself out but Paul is, and then when Stuart's living shadow gets into the mix, no one is happy.

From Barcelona To Santa Cruz - thinkpink20. Another post-Spain fic but this time John articulates his defense well which of course humiliates and angers Paul even further because John proves he is human and capable of empathy, which Paul didn't want to write into the equation.

the crane wife - mynamesbetty. Betty was showing me the first drafts of this one and all I could say was: "Paul is a horrible person. He's a fucking homewrecker. He deserves this." That's what I like best about this story. Paul is a selfish asshole and he hurts everyone and himself by being self centered, petulant, and cowardly. Every single awful thing that happens to him is strictly the result of his own actions. He manages to make himself the Coyote in a Looney Tunes cartoon including the bit where he runs straight off the cliff, doesn't realize it, and then looks down just as he starts falling before he shoots the viewer a look asking for help. And then the ACME anvil falls on him.

So those are my recommendations on Paul whump. It ended up being a longer list than I expected so that's something. Hope you enjoy the recommendations and please check out the other fanfics by these authors, they're all great.

[footygirl114]

23 with Mapi?

You had spent your whole life looking out for yourself, you had been able to come out of the foster system and put your self through both undergrad and your masters. You worked your ass off to become one of the best physio therapists in the city and when you were asked to help out with the Barcelona woman’s team you jumped at the chance. 

Little did you know that working with them would change how you view life, your single solo and never asking for help attitude went out the window when you met this team. They took you in and became the family you never had. You never told any of them your background but you had a feeling they knew you needed people. 

Although the team treated you like family you knew that the care Mapi had for you went deeper then the others. From her always seeing you out for treatment she doesn’t need or could let you assistant therapist to handle. Or the coffees she would bring you on the rainy mornings, claiming she was stopping anyway. You knew she cared about you more than the rest. 

Coming from your background you really did not know how to handle it, having someone actually care for you. You were so used to dealing with everything alone, and when you took the phone call you never thought you would ever have to you were prepared to do it alone. 

Coming in to training you knew you were late and you knew that it was going to be a bad day, so when you walked into your office the last thing you expected was Mapi to be sitting on your training table in her training gear with a coffee in hand and a worried look on her face. “Doc thank god I was so worried” she immediately says and stands up. 

“What’s wrong Mapi?” you ask her. 

Shaking her head she places the coffee down and says “you are late, and you are never late. I was worried that something bad happened to you.” 

Confused you ask “Why?” 

“Because I care about you Y/N” she immediately says to you. 

Looking at her still wit a confused expression you say “but why?” 

She steps towards you and places a hand on your cheek as she says “because you are amazing, and I care about you, how your feeling, how your doing. I want to know everything about you Y/N.” you stand there staring at her not believing this when she asks “why is that so hard for you to believe Y/N? have I not shown you this?” 

Standing there silently you break eye contact and look down as you say “Its hard to get used to” 

“what is?” 

“being someone that someone actually cares for” you tell her with a shrug. 

She uses the hand that is still on your cheek and moves it under your chin to lift your face to meet her eyes when she says “well I do Y/N, and I am not going anywhere” she finishes by pressing her lips to yours in a soft kiss. 

When she pulls back you pull her back in by the hips and connect your lips with hers again. Pulling back but staying close you tell her “I think I can get used to you caring if thats what I get to do all the time” 

[cant-get-no-worse]

'Let's all take a moment to remember the somptuous ref manipulation/acting performance given by Luis Suarez on March 2017. This guy practically gave us the Remontada as much as Neymar 🙏'

Ciene you can't just drop this and not elaborate

Took me about a month but oh but anon, I will. A year ago, I watched a short documentary of a former French ref who analyzed the Remontada (heavily criticized for its refereeing decisions, dubious penalties given or not given, etc) and the external factors that made it happen. Absolutely fascinating stuff. I'll give you a bullet point resume of the doc here, since it's exclusively in French.

So here's why La Remontada isn't only the consequence 22 players' mentality and in-game performances for 90 minutes but rather a product of a boiling setting, wrong UEFA predictions, inexperienced referees, weak communication, experienced players' social manipulation on top of 22 minds in radical different headspaces.

Practical context.

February 14th, 2017. Paris Saint-Germain beats FC Barcelona 4-0 at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of the UCL's round of 16.

March 8th, 2017. FC Barcelona receives Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of the UCL's round of 16.

2. Emotional context.

After the absolute "desastre" (Mundo Deportivo's front page) that was February, 14th, everyone, save a few Barça players and part of the culés, consider the second leg to be already done and over with. No team has ever broken a four goal difference in a UCL knockout stage and the sheer beating taken by Barça at the Parc stands fresh in everyone's minds as a chapter closed. PSG has secured its ticket into quarter-finals. Barça has fallen deeper and deeper since their 2015 treble.

March 6, 2017. Four PSG players do an at-the-time chill, but after the facts bit of a surreal interview where they talk about the up coming game and their feelings about it. One Marco Verratti notably jokingly asks the three others if, hypothetically speaking, they'd be happy if they lost the game 5 - 1 but still scrapped by to the Quarter Finals. 2 of them say they'd be fine with it. The 2 others, Verratti included, say they'd be disgusted having conceided that many goals; "You let 5 go in, people are gonna laugh at you."

3. UEFA's wrong predicitions and choices of referees.

Refereeing a knockout UCL game is the stuff of what the UEFA calls "elite" referees, the best of the best in Europe.

Following the 4 - 0 of the first leg, the UEFA, deeming like 80% of football world the encounter to be over, decides to appoint a up-and-coming referee in what is talked about as an "easy game" within the Federation. It's still a knockout round game, so there are still the bright stage lights, but the stakes are deemed to be nul because of the 4 - 0: the perfect stage to give a referee a safe space to grow experience and for the UEFA to test him in stress-free conditions.

4. The refereeing squad of March 8th, 2017.

Deniz Aytekin is the main referee of the game. He's got a solid reputation as the 2nd best German referee at the time and destined to replace the old first one.

This is his first ever UCL knockout round to referee.

The whole refereeing team consists of 5 guys. Four of them are FIFA referees, meaning they've already referee international games. One of them, which we'll call Double B., is however only a Bundesliga referee. He's never refereed a European game in his life, never been under such bright spotlights. He's there as an Additional assistant referee (AAR), meaning he's behind the goal line to observe if any incident occurs near the penalty area.

He's the weak link of this whole refereeing team.

5. A boiling setting.

Despite the heavy 4 - 0 slapping received by the home side in the first leg, the attendance on March 8th is 96,290. The stands are jam-packed, heated by Luis Enrique's words of the previous night in press conference:

But the audience must be a cauldron, before and during. There will be no need for a break. I don't ask them anything. But we will need a Camp Nou like a volcano.

The setting in which everything happens plays a key part in how the night's going to go. The chants, jeers, shouts, whistles and protests of almost a hundred thousand people are directed at the opposite players, but also and more importantly at this team of referees thrown onto the pitch. One of which has never refereed a European game, and another one who's experimenting his first UCL's knockout round.

This isn't me waxing some poetics by the way, but a factor to take into account when analyzing this match. New Zealand's famous haka, the ceremonial dance executed by the All Blacks at the beginning of each of their rugby match, has been critized for being a tool for the team to take psychological ascend over their opponents. This debate has taken place around a one minute ceremonial dance performed by fifteen players. Now picture ninety minutes of ceaseless jeering produced by a hundred thousand people all around you, constantly, added to the twenty-two players, their coaches, their staffs and substitutes on the pitch pressing you at every decision.

That's why UCL games require "elite referees", and that's why it was the mistake of UEFA to call up inadequately prepared referees to this game that changed everything.

6. First shake (3')

Luis Suarez (Barça, n°9) scores with his head. The 4 -0 is reduced to 3 - 0 (aggreg.) not even three minutes into the match. In the referee's head this match, which should've gone rather peacefully and without surprises, is already shaping up to be something else than a mere testing game.

More importantly, as players celebrate wildly, you can see Double B., the referee in charge of checking the ball has crossed the line and can indeed count as a goal, looking at an assistant referee rather than taking the decision himself. First tip of something wrong: you got a referee who's not assured enough in his own judgment to make a call.

At such a stage, a weakness in decision-making is unforgivable. It will prove true later.

7. Key fault (23')

That's Edinson Cavani (PSG, n°9) in white. That's Gerard Piqué, local angry catalan man (Barça, n°3) in blue.

Piqué just made an uncontrolled tackle from behind. Piqué, known for protesting at every corner, walks away without saying anything when Aytekin pulls a yellow card.

That's because he knows in any other circomstance and game, this action should've been a straight red.

This will prove key in the game's unfolding, acting as a pressure point on the referee's future decisions and players' behaviour.

8. Tense situations. Luis Suarez, local Karen. (23' - 45')

The next twenty minutes are a swarm of potential-penalties situations and complaints. Neymar falls in the penalty box but isn't given a penalty. Around the 30', Cavani takes a yellow for referee contesting: knowing Piqué's first tackle deserved a red, Cavani is outraged at the lack of yellow showed by Aytekin the second time Piqué fouls him, and reclaims one is showed. He's the one that takes the card instead, sending him furious.

Most notably, at around 35', Suarez almost goes to head-to-head challenge with Meunier over some action at a corner. He then proceeds to get up Aytekin's face, protesting over what seemingly is nothing.

It is nothing, but what Suarez is doing isn't innocent. Protesting and contesting every call the ref does is a behaviour he's known for, has got the referees wary of players like him, and not only because it's annoying: because over the length of 90 minutes and within such setting, a player constantly contesting and protesting calls can get in the head of lesser-accustomed referees.

The devil works hard, but Luis Suarez, appointed contester in chief, works harder. That too will prove true later, at the tipping point of the match.

9. Half time (45')

At half-time, the socre is 2 - 0, five yellow cards and four potential-penalty situations the ref has had to deal with. Players and referee squad go back to their locker rooms to a feverish stadium. At that point, a referee is redoing the first half of the game in his head: what Aytekin, and the players & staff, are seeing, are all the accumulation of non-given cards, given cards, tense non-penalty calls and contests. This piles up in everyone's mindset and creates a serie of pressure points in the unconscious - or conscious, in case of players like Luis Suarez, used to play on such chord - of everyone on that pitch.

This is very much not what the UEFA had planned for this team of referees.

9. Turning point. (50')

At the 50', Neymar (Barça, n°11) in blue is tripped by Meunier (PSG, n°12) in white inside the penalty area.

Aytekin doesn't give the penalty. Players protest. Aytekin consults the sidelines referee. A few seconds later, he gives the penalty for Barcelona.

This precise moment is where Aytekin loses the match and what explain the Remontada.

See, when this action happens, Aytekin is there (bottom, in yellow glow):

About 14m from the action: the most well-placed to judge what happened and make a call.

Up there (top of the screen, circled in red), you got Double B., the Bundesliga ref, who's the furthest from the action, the less experimented of the referee squad, who shouldn't referee at this level. As Aytekin says nothing, players start protesting, and start swarming up Double B. :

That's Luis Suarez at the left, by the way. I know, color me surprised. Local referee's-face-lurking man, just short of hand-written protest signs but not of hand movements to express his sheer outrage at the call, how could you not call this, there is foul, see, see, there's penalty, call it, how can you not see this.

So Suarez is once again complaining - with Rafinha (Barça, n°12) - but this time not to Aytekin: he's complaining to the very much non experienced Double B. And as Aytekin hasn't announced a penalty, what's Suarez doing? What he always does, what he's been doing since minute 0, probably been contesting nurses' opinion since he was out of his mother's womb. Provokes, simulates, criticizes, contests. There, he's pointing at the penalty area. Now what's Double B. doing? Not staying in his place, that's for sure: he walks on the pitch and towards Aytekin, forcing the latter to acknowledge the opinion of his AAR by going to him. Thing is, it's not like Double B.'s opinion was 100% his: he's inexperienced, far from the action, litteraly swarmed by Barça players telling him there's foul and penalty, and under the pressure of 90 thousand people currently yelling him the same thing.

So, instead of acting like as a proper AAR - an assistant referee - and letting the main ref make the right call from where Aytekin was the most well-placed to, or staying where he was and letting Ayteking know his opinion in the privacy of their headset, Double B. publicly backs Aytekin to a wall.

Seconds later, Aytekin points to the penalty spot and, amending his previous decision, gives the penalty. Messi (Barça, n°10) transforms it.

3 - 0.

Aytekin's just lost control of his referee team, and he's just lost control of the game.

10. Getting control back. (50' - 67')

So at that point, you have on your hands a match that has completely changed, a boiling situation escalated into prime Balkans 1912, a stadium on fire, players thinking they can do about anything, and a referee squad who starts taking decisions in your place.

Aytekin isn't an idiot. He's a ref with experience, no matter how little in the UCL. He knows he has to take back the upper hand in this game, or it's going to be hell. When a ref has to tell others something, he does this through his headset: this is what Aytekin must have done after the 50' minute, following the previous incindent. He most certainly has send a message to his assistant refs and linesmen, reminding them of how it worked: they have authority in the designed zones they're astrained to, but he remains the main ref and the one to make a call elsewhere.

This reminder of hierarchy is not without incidence on the follow up.

In the following minutes, Aytekin refuses to give penalty to Neymar when he falls in the box.

At 62', Cavani scores, bringing hope to everyone on PSG's side, but also allowing the referees to breathe: this game might finally fall back on its feet. At 67', Aytekin immediately calls Suarez's bluff when he dives into the penalty box and gives him a yellow. You can visibly see Aytekin regaining confidence in his own judgments and taking back the prevalence in calls. Everything is finally resolving itself.

Is it, though?

Two issues.

we're at the 67' minute. This is the eight yellow card showed by Aytekin. Amongst referee, there's a sort of implicit accord that beyond five yellow cards, you should start putting reds, to take back control of the game. A red makes all your over-excited players stand still.

minutes pass, and soon enough we're entering the 80th. This match is a high-intensity one, both mentality as we've detailed extensively, but also physically. It's back and forth all the time for Aytekin, who's the only referee constantly running all around the pitch with the players.

Eventually, Aytekin pays this physical intensity, and this reestablishment of hierarchy within the referee squad.

11. Fucking up. (85')

Di Maria (PSG, n°11) goes back for a speedy counter-attack towards Barcelona's goals; he's fouled inside the penalty area by Mascherano (Barça, n°14).

Highlighted in yellow, the other assistant referee.

Highlighted absolutely nowhere to be seen, Aytekin.

Aytekin is too far away, he's been running around for almost ninety minutes, he's worn out. So for once, the most well-placed referee to make the call for this action is the Assistant Referee.

Slight issue there: this assistant referee is part of the squad that's been put back into place some twenty minutes ago by Aytekin over an almost point-by-point similar situation happening on the other side of the pitch. He's heard his colleagues and himself get told that in such cases, it's Aytekin who gets the final call. Problem is, it should indeed be Aytekin to make the final call, but only if Aytekin is in a position to call anything: this isn't the case here. The Assistant is utterly alone and the closest to the action. He's the one who has now a legitimate say to whether or not what he saw counts as a penalty.

He doesn't say anything. Aytekin doesn't call the action. No penalty given to PSG. This could've been the goal that would have turned the history of the match.

It doesn't. The score remains 3 - 1 on the pitch, 5 - 3 on aggreg.

12. Luis Suarez. Yes. (91')

After Neymar reduces the 5 - 3 to 5 - 4 at the 88' in a free kick that's enough to make a grown man tear up each time he recalls it, there comes this.

These images make me howl with laughter. I genuinely cannot help but laugh out loud each time I see the face of this man, giving Camp Nou an acting lesson worthy of being hidden behind a MasterClass paywall. Because spoiler alert: this bitch has not been tripped by Marquinhos (PSG, n°5).

There is a contact, but this isn't a penalty contact. There's an amplification on Suarez's behalf - no one who's been tripped falls with their hands in the hair, your first instinct dictates you to put them in front of you to soften the fall - and borderlining on simulation.

Aytekin gives a penalty and a yellow card to Marquinhos. At shis tage of the match, with these stakes, at the point where the action happened, if you're gonna call penalty and thus validate the fact that you think Marquinhos willingly fouled Suarez as he was going to the goal, this shouldn't have been yellow. This should've been straight red.

Giving a yellow highlight Aytekin's incoherence in his decision making. Confusion furthermore highlighted by what happens next.

Do you know what's the rule for penalty taking? As soon as 2 players, one of each team, have intruded the surface as the taker is taking it, the penalty has to be redone.

Do you know how many players are in the penalty area? Seven.

Aytekin doesn't make the call.

Barcelona gets its fifth goal at the 91' minute. 5 - 5 (aggreg.)

13. Match ended. (91' - 95')

Over the course of the next few minutes, Suarez manages to avoid a card once again, having trapped Aytekin in a mental game where Aytekin can't give him a yellow without giving him red, Verratti gets a yellow, the stadium cries at every opportunity. It's the tenth yellow card Aytekin has given in this match.

This is Argentina - Netherlands 2022. At this point, so many yellow cards don't mean a single thing other than the referee has well and truly lost control of the game.

At this point, Aytekin knows he's fucked up, massively so. His only redeeming grace would be for Barcelona not to pass to the Quarters. He'd go under the radar for a bit, until the UEFA use him again for another game, and his career would get out of this mess mostly fine.

Tough luck.

So the Remontada is the result of a crash fall from 4 - 0 heights, a profession of faith by a 25 old, unwavering hope of a thousands, failure of UEFA to consider UCL football as an ever-changing tide where the beaten team isn't condemned to defeat, failure of the winning team to conserve a cool head, inexperience of a referee, lack of proper communication, wrong calls, non calls, too much calls, peer pressure and one very, very decided Urugayan.

In short: I understand where the feeling is coming from (ie: obvious failures of refereeing) but I don't believe the Remontada to be rigged. I believe it is merely a splendid display of the impossible rendered possible by humans being humans, at their strength as in their complete failings, and a serie of unfortunat/fortunate events (depending on which side you're standing on) resulting from each action, decision and mindset of the involved actors. UEFA business men are humans. So are players. So are referees. It was unfair. If I was a PSG supporter, I believe I too would be calling it rigged for lack of better words. I just so happen to have been on the lucky side. It's the referee's fault, it's everyone's fault. It was avoidable. Or perhaps it wasn't. Beautiful football for some, nightmarish evening for other, at the end of the day, it just was, and that's about it.

[opelman]

Kawasaki ZX-10RR / Tom Sykes / GBR / Kawasaki Puccetti Racing by Artes Max Via Flickr: Prosecco DOC Catalunya WorldSBK 2023 / Circuit de Barcelona

[eleni-cherie]

a thief's origin✨ || bts • kth - chapter 0.9

"you're afraid I won't wait." "I'm afraid you will."

a criminal and a doctor should be as different as the sun and the moon - but unexpected things happened every day. like him finding his safe haven in her.

© 2024 | eleni_cherie

»»»

masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, sexual tensiON, slowburn, mutual pining, strangers to friends to lovers s2f2l

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)

»»»

age 27 // 3rd year - assistant physician

17th July

Barcelona, Spain

The buzzing of the phone in the middle of the night startled Cassandra. Not that she was sleeping. It was way too warm, despite the open window, but an ominous feeling took over her nevertheless as a late-night call rarely meant something good.

Sitting up straight in the dark bedroom, she rubbed her eyes and reached for it. Her heart picking up in pace only more when reading 'cool guy' on the display, though, worry getting replaced by excitement instead.

She swiped to answer, hushed but eager. "Tae?"

There was a beat of silence, then she heard his breath. "Hey, angel."

With just one simple, soft word she felt all the tension she'd been holding inside her body the past days dispel. She'd missed his smooth voice and closed her eyes, letting it soak through her.

Sometimes he'd still use the old nickname and call her 'Doc', but his new one surely was her favourite.

"Thought you might be out."

He heard something of a laugh leave his girlfriend. It was quiet, but it was still there. He was joking, of course and she knew that. It was easy with him after all, always had been. Even if they hadn't seen each other in a month.

"What, at 2 in the morning? No way."

Taehyung chuckled along and her eyes fluttered open at the sound of his deep chuckles, the room suddenly feeling lighter. She'd missed the sound of his laugh.

"Then, sorry for calling so late."

"It's fine, I couldn't sleep anyway," she told him honestly, feeling almost coy and suddenly very aware of her breathing. Her chest falling and raising steadily.

"Me neither."

Silence followed, and she felt a small twinge of panic. Did anything happen? Did he realise he had nothing to say? Please don't hang up, she thought desperately, holding as still as she could underneath the thin sheets.

"I bet I have you beat," he finally said, sounding somewhat amused. And she relaxed. "We were back by eleven. Yoongi was in a terrible mood."

"Oh, how so?" she smiled quietly, adding, "Sorry I'm whispering. I recently discovered I can sometimes hear the neighbours' talking from my bed so I assume they can hear mine as well."

"It's okay. I like it," he whispered back with a smirk, only to still when another question crossed his mind. "Wait, does that mean they heard us when.."

Her lips folded, stifling a giggle as she'd wondered the same thing when discovering that fact. "They might have."

"Oh." His embarrassed chuckle made her smile widen. Taehyung hummed on the other line then, musing for a moment. "Guess we have to be careful next time."

"Mhm. But anyway, why was Yoongi in a terrible mood?"

"He was trying to play it cool, you know?" Taehyung said then, groaning slightly. "Almost blew his cover."

Cassandra snorted softly. Yoongi wasn't exactly discreet when it came to hating their disguises, according to Taehyung. Him and Jimin arguing about it sometimes. It was quite funny to her, two grown men bickering like school kids.  

However, she held herself back from asking what disguise it was and why, knowing it'd be pointless to do so. 

"Hope he and Jimin didn't argue."

"They did, but already made up. They can never stay mad at each other for too long," Taehyung reassured.

She hummed. Realising him reaching out so soon again after their last call had to be a good sign as well.

"Mhm, I assume the job was successful despite that then?"

He huffed in mock-offence only for a boisterous smirk to settle on his lips. "Of course!"

Cassandra smiled to herself, pressing one side of her face further into the pillow.

It always felt nice to talk to him like this. It felt normal, as if they were never apart. As if he lived just across the city. After years of knowing him it was normal to her anyway. The only thing that had changed was the fact it was even more annoying now that they were in an actual relationship. When they were only friends it'd been a pity not hanging out as much, surely, but now it was simply insufferable.

"So.. it's safe to say you didn't really have fun tonight," she concluded then as a joke. Earning an agreeing hum from him.

"No," he simply stated then, "I was forced out and promised a good time, but instead I was surrounded by bickering and debauchery."

A dry laugh left her lips – loudly, unable to help it really. Forgetting about her neighbours possibly hearing her in the middle of the quiet night.

"I guess the latter is referring to Jimin."

"Of course. He made flirting with two hostesses at the same time look easy." Both burst out laughing before Taehyung's tone softened again."Should have been with you instead.."

She had to ignore that, she just had to, otherwise she'd end up doing something foolish like asking him to drop everything and fly over to her. She'd never do that, her pride never allowing that anyway. But she couldn't trust herself a lot after 1am so who knew, she might become weak if she cave into it.

"Pity," she replied instead with a much calmer voice, more appropriate to the late hour, "Did you force him to stop?"

"Had to, otherwise we couldn't have proceeded with the plan," Taehyung huffed out a laugh, "He probably would've had the time of his life right now if it wasn't for me."

A lie, they both knew. Taehyung had told Cassandra everything about his friend being head over heels in love with some other thief who crossed their paths sometimes. Cassandra always found the stories involving Arabella exciting and entertaining, much to her boyfriend's despise really. Of course, she understood his reasons hence why she'd try keeping her amusement over them at bay.

"He didn't think to share with you?" she teased as she stared up to the pitch-black ceiling.

"Me?" he asked, surprised, and for a second she worried she'd gone too far when he continued, "No, he knows I'm not interested in anyone but you."

There was the beat of a silence before both attempted to say the other's name.

"Tae -"

"Cas -" He rushed forward as she held back. "I've missed you." He breathed. "Saying that out loud just makes me miss you more."

Cassandra's heart felt like expanding, drumming against her ribcage. He kept his promise of being vocal about his feelings from now on and it meant everything to her.

She heard him laugh at himself then. Feeling silly. "Do I sound pathetic?"

"No," she insisted, eager for him to know. "No, Tae. I miss you, too." She wanted to tell him everything that had been on her mind, but over the phone like this felt insufficient.

"I called you because I wanted to hear your voice. I thought of you tonight and just wanted to -" He cut himself off with a sigh. "I wanted to pretend everything was normal."

"Everything is normal, what do you mean?"

"I mean actual normal. Like.. like we're a normal couple and I can just see and call you whenever I like."

Without realising, tears had welled up in the corners of her eyes when allowing his words to sink in.

Yeah, that would be nice but it is what it is, she thought. After all, she knew what she got herself into when allowing him into her life. And it wasn't like her own job would've allowed anything 'normal' anyway, with its irregular schedules or being on standby.

One single hot tear slipped away from her eyes then, getting absorbed into her pillow. She blamed the late hour for his voice and words making her so easily over-emotional.

And without realising it, a quiet sob croaked its way past her throat.

"Cas?" His voice laced with concern. "Are you crying?"

She sniffed and wiped her face. "Sorry. It's the late hour."

"No, don't be. I'm the sorry one. I wasn't trying to make you cry."

She took a moment to compose herself, annoyed at herself. Taehyung waited patiently, and when he heard her laugh weakly down the line, he added another, although seemingly unrelated, sorry.

"What for?" He had nothing to be sorry for.

However, Taehyung let out a low whistle. "A lot." A deep exhale followed. "It's hard."

"You mean us?"

"No," he was quick to response. Needing to dissolve any insecurities before they even arose in her mind, "It sucks that we can't see each other as much.. but no, Cas, being with you isn't hard."

Her cheeks were burning by now and it wasn't due to the 23°C and the stuffy air in her bedroom. She couldn't help but grin like an idiot, feeling all jittery for a moment before recalling his sullen tone before.

"What is it then? Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really.. I mean, I do. Just not right now." She hummed, relating to that statement. Hearing his mattress move on the other line.

"Is that okay?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Of course."

"Right now I just want to feel close to you," he admitted bashfully, "And hear your voice."

"I want that, too," she said and the corners of her lips tugged into a gentle smile, pretending the warmth of her bed was him. They didn't even need to talk, hearing his breathing was enough. Just like when he was lying next to her.

"I've really missed you, like, a lot." He chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry. It's late, I'm all over the place."

"No, it's cute! Don't worry," her tired smile grew at the thought of his flustered expression, "We'll see each other soon. We'll be okay."

"We will."

His confirmation meant the world to her. For the first time in a while, she felt excited. She opened her mouth, her heart ready to combast, when she stopped herself instead. Something told her he already knew what she so desperately wanted to tell him; why else would he be on the phone with her right after a coup?

Instead, she fell into a comforting silence again with her eyes starting to grow heavy. Sleep began washing over her, until a noise and Taehyung's cursing made her jolt awake. And he laughed faintly.

"Crap. I just hit my head."

The bed moved again, and she imagined that she was there with him.

"Were you falling asleep?"

"Yeah, I think I was."

"Should we hang up?" She felt bad for keeping him up, not even knowing in what timezone he was, but she also didn't want the call to be over yet.

"Let's talk tomorrow."

His assuring tone caught her off guard as she knew how risky it was for them to talk too often or too long.

"You sure?" she grinned lazily.

"Yeah. We need to talk more. I can't take this any longer."

She was suddenly wide awake now. "Okay. I'm free tomorrow. Call whenever you want."

"I'll make sure it's early in the morning then."

She could hear the teasing grin on his face. Picture it, too. "Meanie. As if you'd be up early."

"Just joking."

She giggled faintly, feeling both, excited and relaxed. "I can't wait."

"Me neither."

She could almost feel his breath, wanting him close. Tomorrow, she reminded herself.

"I should go now. You need to sleep."

"So do you," she added with a light scoff.

"So, I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

She knew he was smiling, she could hear it all the miles apart.

"Yeah," she smiled back. "You will."

The phone call ended and she was about to put it away when a text appeared on her display.

cool guy (2.46am): btw goodnight :)

angel (2.46am): goodnight ♡

»»»

3rd October

Cassandra wasn't sure what time it was, nor was she sure if her mind hadn't imagined things in her sleep. Still in a half-daze, she tossed her blankets away, hearing the persistent ringing again which had torn her away from a deep slumber.

The doorbell, she concluded so far. Brown eyes frowning when she took off her sleeping mask and trotted to the door in the dark.

Had she forgotten about an upcoming delivery?

It didn't even cross her mind that it wasn't daytime yet despite the darkness of her apartment. That was how she preferred to sleep after all, blinds all the way down. Besides, the days became shorter and it was raining endlessly, so naturally it was rather dark outside even in the morning.

Only when she unlocked the door and swung it open, she realised how off her assumptions were when in front of her was standing none other than Taehyung. 

Clothes entirely drenched, soaking wet from the pouring rain with pools forming around his feet.

Any sleep that had remained in her system was abruptly blown away, replaced by pure excitement followed by confusion and irritation at his slumped posture. Her lips eventually parted, causing him to flinch.

He was ready to hear her expelling him for showing up there in the middle of the night, when instead she grabbed him by his arm, pulling him firmly inside and closing the door behind him.

"Tae, what happened?"

Her words faded when she noticed his sulked expression underneath the hood. Almost hidden away by long streaks of dark hair sticking onto his forehead. 

It wasn't so much the question itself that completely unarmed him. He had expected it considering the randomness and time of this encounter and his abject state.

No, it was rather the concern in her eyes and the whisper of her voice that made him completely lose any remaining energy to deny it and instead made him tear up. And he almost knocked her off when wrapping his arms around her.

She smelled of almonds and flowers. Just like he remembered.

Startled, the young woman tensed for a moment when her hands instinctively engulfed her boyfriend's torso in a tight hug. Putting her all into squeezing him as much as she could. It was her way of showing him that she was there, whatever it was that he was struggling with. Not even caring the slightest how his soaked clothes were wetting her pyjamas.

She understood not to ask further. He'd tell her eventually, she knew. He always did.

Stepping back, she clasped his arms to take a better look on him. He swallowed, avoiding her worried glance. By now he somewhat regretted coming there in an impulsive moment, acting out the only clear thought in his chaotic mind.

He'd felt so miserably and pathetic, he couldn't even bare himself, let alone fleeing to Panama with Jimin and Yoongi - the next place where an object of interest was located at - after what had happened. Even if they had tried persuading him and ensuring him it hadn't been as bad as he had made it out to be. He was so upset with his own self, however, that he couldn't simply stand being alone either.  

And out of pure selfishness and immaturity he'd spent six hours driving from Marseille to Barcelona, to the only person he wanted to see.

Perhaps it was because Cassandra wasn't one of them but an outsider. Perhaps it was her sweet and campassionate nature. Or how she tried to see all sides and wasn't set on black & white views - and he needed someone like this in that moment. Someone else who'd essentially verify what his friends had been trying to convince him of.

But when he had rung the doorbell, two sudden realisations had hit him.

It was 3am. And she was a physician.

Now it was too late though. She was already standing in front of him with big questioning bambi eyes. The fact she hadn't flipped him off or cussed at him already would've been a miracle, if she was such a person. She wasn't, however, he knew that. And yet, he felt terrible.

Was he using her to make his pity self feel better? To calm his guilty conscious?

When she felt his arms growing tired and loosening around her, she placed a hand on his cold cheek. Carefully inspecting his face with a serious glare.

"Are you hurt?"

He only responded with a small shake of his head to assure he wasn't. It was enough for her. Her hands dropped and she helped him slip off his jacket while he stepped out of his shoes.

She grabbed his hand then and he silently waddled behim her to the bedroom.  

Only when she switched on the small cloud-shaped lamp on the nightstand did she see what time it was.

She had barely slept three hours and had planned to wake up in another six - enough time to properly rest and get prepared for her shift at 2pm - but now it seemed like she had to abandon that plan.

It was alright though, first she had to take care of her favourite patient after all.

"Wait here," she quietly instructed him and Taehyung willingly did as he was told. That was the least he could do in that moment anyway, and he watched her disappear into the hallway. Eyes wandering around her room. It was the same as he remembered it, only with a few more of his postcards on the wall. And he smiled, realising she had kept them all. Along with photos of him between her friends and family.

His heart clenched. The tiny voice in the depths of his conscience telling him yet again he didn't deserve Cassandra. And it only got louder after tonight.

He heard steps then, seeing her reappearing with two mugs and a towel. She rested the mugs onto the nightstand first, the hot steam prominent while rising from the tea she'd made them. He smiled.

She pointed at him then with a scowl. "You should take off your wet clothes."

He couldn't help but chuckle quietly at the suddenly demanding tone. "Is that a doctor's order?"

It was the first time he spoke tonight. Evident in his hoarse voice. And yet, Cassandra only huffed out a laugh at the fact it was a teasing remark out of all things. Of course.

"Not this time. This time it's your girlfriend's order."

His thick eyebrow arched at this. Liking the sound of the word whenever she was referred to as his girlfriend. "Is that so?"

"Yep. I don't want you to wet my bedsheets," she grinned, "If you wet my bedsheets I'll kick you out."

"You didn't mind your clothes though," he retorted, to which she shrugged unimpressed.

"I can always change those. But I don't feel like changing bedsheets in the middle of the night. And besides, it feels disgusting being in wet clothes. Doesn't it?"

He hummed, unable to counter something to her logic like so often. She was definitely not wrong about the disgusting feeling, although it wasn't only physically.

Quietly, he began pulling his hoodie over his head, remaining with a plain shirt and she stepped closer, placing the towel over his head. She held the edges together, framing his face with it. The adorable sight making her lips curl into a smile. She almost cooed but knew to suppress it, so instead her fingers began rubbing his hair dry. Her arms were completely stretched out to properly reach him, although he was already stooping to assist her.

Soon his brown irises disappeared behind his eyelids, the stern expression on his features softening. He hummed at the soothing sensation, lulling him more and more until he couldn't feel the motion anymore.

When she deemed it dry enough, she let the towel slide from his head. Revealing his tousled waves.

"How do you still look so cute even with messy hair?" she jokingly pouted. Earning a lazy smile from him. It was so easy for her to make him smile and he tucked at one of the curls falling from her loose bun then.

"You look cuter."

She puffed her blushing cheeks, dismissing his words as always. And he still found it both, endearing and annoying, how she didn't know how to properly react to his compliments.

"Drink the tea, it should've steeped by now," she mumbled then. Quickly making her way under the covers and choosing one of the mugs to try the tea herself. By the look of her face, however, he could tell that it was still too hot and he stifled a laugh at her grimace when putting it back down. "Okay, maybe wait for a little long."

He only hummed and attempted taking off the equally damp trousers when he unintentionally shuddered at the cold metal of his magnum brushing against his skin. Shoving the gun underneath his clothes as if he tried hiding it and Cassandra noticed, but chose not to comment on it. Already holding the sheets up beside her for him. 

"What about your pj's?" he asked worried.

"It's fine they didn't get wet. Just a tiny bit dampish. It'll dry off quickly."

"Oh, so I'm the only one doing a striptease here, huh?" he smirked before sliding under the warm bedsheets. Only earning an innocent pout from Cassandra as she rested her head on his shoulder. Her arm finding its way around his waist when his draped around hers.

"Aw, poor baby," her tone teasing as she lightly poked his flushed cheek, "But you were the one running around in the rain, not me."

Sitting now next to each other in her cramped bed, they grew quiet. Partially due to their tiredness, partially due to the elephant in the room.

Taehyung didn't mind her twin-sized bed, it made it easier for him to cling onto her like a koala, even if she always complained not being able to sleep that way. Secretely she liked it, it gave her some kind of security. Unless it was the middle of summer, then she indeed hated it.

Cassandra propped her chin onto his shoulder then, glancing at him expectedly. She noticed him licking his dry lips, eyes focusing on something invisible as he held her close. His fingers curling around her hip more as he was seemingly lost in thoughts, staring into space absentmindedly.

It didn't seem like he was ready to talk yet.

With a sigh, she lifted her head and turned to grab her tea and retry. This time the sip was in a much more drinkable temperature and she took another sip. Taking the other mug and handing it over to him.

"Be careful not to spill," she quietly said and he gladly accepted it. Despite feeling warm on the outside by now, there was still an internal coldness that made him shiver.

The tea managed warming him up, but the heaviness in his chest remained. And Taehyung sunk further into the sheets after drinking the last bit of it.

His throbbing head burying itself into the crook of her neck ans she stilled for a moment when he inhaled deeply. His warm breath tingling her skin. He sensed Cassandra's lips on his temple then when a delicate hand of hers reached to his still damp hair. Her fingers beginning combing the soft dark waves.

He smelled of falling rain.

It was a soothing sensation that clouded his mind and his eyes fluttered closed. Getting lost in the anew relaxing movement of her hand. It was steady, despite sleepiness slowly taking over her as well. And his body began feeling numb, falling asleep before his mind could. Taehyung was sinking more and more into his seat. His head slipping from Cassandra's neck and sliding to her chest and to her stomach. Settling there just between.

Cassandra was his save heaven.

With her he was in a bubble. She shielded him from his chaotic and dangerous life, providing him with something he had never believed he'd receive or even deserved. Something that also terrified him though.

She was his weak spot after all, his Achilles' heel. And his profession a threat to her normal life.

It was silent in the small bedroom except for the clock on the nightstand and the pit-a-pat of the falling rain against the window glass. Occasionally, a lonely car would pass by and the sound of splashing water was heard. Their breaths and her heartbeat underneath his ear soothing him even more.

"What if I injured someone innocent?"

The sudden whisper of his voice made her perk up and she began to understand.

"Is that what happened?" she quietly asked. Her fingers not stopping from gliding through his hair. "Did you injure an innocent passerby?"

He swallowed down the lump in his throat, turning his face towards the soft fabric of her pyjamas for a moment.

"Yes."

Cassandra hummed only, peeking down at him. She knew he'd open up on his own and she knew there had been a reason, but only now she grasped why he had been in such an awful state.

She had always been curious about his 'job'. Always wanting to hear heist stories and how they pulled them off. It was an odd fascination, the whole technical part. Whether it was illegal or not what they did, it was still a form of art to her - if done correctly.

However, as he always refused to give too much into her interest and instead kept stories as superficial as possible, for him now to tell her about a job on his own felt like an apology. A depreciation.

And perhaps it was just that. Perhaps that was the reason he had driven all the way there, because she was the only person who could grant him some kind of absolution.

Her knuckles brushed over the side of his agitated face then.

"How did it happen?"

Taking a deep breath, he collected his thoughts before continuing. He didn't want to speak it out, but he had to. He couldn't bare it anymore. "It happened so fast, but.. I should've foreseen it. It was my fault."

Cassandra remained silent. He wasn't sure if it was a good sign but she hadn't pulled away her hands yet.

"Why's it your fault?"

"It just is."

"Why do you th-"

"Because I'm the best shooter in the damn world!" His voice rose with frustration when recalling the incident and he abruptly heaved his head from her warmth. Cassandra tensing at this, startled. "I can aim and hit a target in my sleep, I should've - I should've -" He began stuttering, screwing his eyes shut. A deep crease forming between his prominent brows. Cassandra's face mirroring his pained expression, the corners of her lips pulling downwards. "I should've noticed that goon creeping up behind me and pushing me. I-I shouldn't have missed my target -" He choked up at this point, cutting himself off.

Her hand glided from his hair to his cheek, cupping it as she stared into his afflicted eyes and he swallowed.

"Cassandra, I.. I swear it was an accident - it was the first time - I'd never - Please, believe me."

He needed this. Needed to hear it from her. Needed to hear that she believed him, that she knew he wasn't a common criminal shooting at innocent people without a care. Needed her to confirm he wasn't a monster. Needed her to ensure him she wouldn't despise him, despite her own profession of saving lives. Needed her to forgive him.

Cassandra gave him a look of commiseration and trapped his flushed cheeks between her palms.

His guilty conscious had been visible from the moment she'd opened the door. She knew he felt terrible, she could feel how sincere he was. How much he regretted it. And she knew she was in no way entitled to judge people in situations she'd never gone through herself and went beyond her experience. Hence why it was flattering that Taehyung not only felt the need to tell her but was also concerned for her opinion on the matter. After all those years of knowing each other, she was truly his confidant. And the realisation warmed her heart.

"I've told you time over time you're not a bad guy. This was an accident, you didn't want it to happen," she softly spoke. Her thumb caressing his cheek in an attempt to calm him down. And it seemed to work, his guilt-ridden expression mitigating. His jaw unclenching.

"You truly believe that?" he asked quietly.

She nodded confidently. "I know it."

"It won't happen again," he confirmed. He planned to learn from his mistakes. Perhaps he should try mediating like Yoongi who sensed any threat from miles away.

"I know," she smiled. Her gaze falling then. "What happened to the person you accidentally shot though?"

He frowned. "We fled instantly, so I'm not sure. But I heard sirens of an ambulance in the distance, so I hope.." His index finger went to his hip. "I got him here, it's not a vital part, right?"

Cassandra knew that a hip injury by a gunshot was likely to cause complex peritrochanteric fracture. But orthopaedic procedures had an overall union rate for primary fixation of over sixty percent - which was pretty good. There was, of course as it was the case with all medical procedures, always a remaining chance for complications, however, she chose not to disclose the last part. Not wanting to make him feel worse. Instead she kept it positively vague, just like with patients and their families.

"He should be fine," she nodded, her smile widening, "It's not a life-threatening injury."

With the heavy burden being lifted from his chest, he slowly sank back down to her chest. Closing his eyes as soon as he heard her heartbeat and felt her fingers returning to his chocolate waves.

Cassandra had managed to calm him down like no one else ever could.

He wasn't used to this. To feeling so at ease. There in her warm embrace, with her fingers running through his hair, her chest rising and falling underneath him, her scent in his nose and her steady pulse in his ear, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Realising the reason she was the only person he wanted to see that night, the only person he wanted to ever talk about his heavy heart with and the only person whose words mattered the most to him, was as simpel as the answer to why he always kept coming back to her, despite the risk of getting caught by interpol.

Because he loved her.

»»»

next chapter: 1.0 here

Don't forget to like, comment & leave feedback!♡ It motivates me to keep writing :)

- btw any detco fans here who caught the shinran reference? 👀 hehe

taglist: @lilanyxta @naoolammao345 @memna234 @tetehion @myblacklilame