#it's great. i don't really follow sports but the olympics are fun

[moonchild-in-blue]

Watching the Olympics is hilarious because I be judging these S-tier athletes for slightly wavering or not bending their knees properly. Meanwhile I'm on my couch in sweatpants nursing a week-long back pain because I slept wrong 😗

[stellocchia]

Maybe platonic Undyne & Sans? They have to socialize with each other with Alphys or Papyrus as a buffer.

The rules for the requests are on This Post.

Hell yeah! I basically never see stuff for those two, so I'll gladly write something.

---

Life on the Surface had been great for the most part. The monsters had mostly settled around Mount Ebbott as humanity at large was still suspicious and hostile toward them, but their lives were decidedly better out of the Underground.

Sans had dropped all of his previous jobs in favor of becoming a science teacher in the newly-opened mixed elementary school (both monsters and human students were allowed, but teachers were still predominantly human, so getting a job there hadn't been easy. He'd needed some help from Toriel who was an English teacher there as well as one of the founders).

Papyrus had gotten a job as a line cook at a local fast-food place. Couldn't be happier. Alphys was working with a team of scientists to study the technology of the Core and possibly export it to the surface.

And Undyne was the captain of the monster division of the police force. She'd worked hard for that to get opened up, and had needed to plead with the King for some help with the diplomatic aspects of the whole thing. Her and Alphys had also gotten married.

Overall, the four of them had remained close despite the dramatic shifts in their lives. So much so that they met up every Friday evening after they were all done with their jobs.

Usually, they met at Alphys and Undyne's place. Undyne was always there first, followed by Papyrus, followed by Sans (who always made sure to take a lengthy afternoon nap not to get there too early), and Alphys came in last.

That particular Friday, Sans had forgotten to take his nap so he'd arrived unusually early. Undyne was still preparing some snacks for the evening (some charred black sludge that probably would have been unedible for them had they had taste buds. Alphys sure was glad the food was always finished by the time she arrived). Paps was still nowhere to be seen, he still had an hour or so to the end of his shift.

In Sans' defense, he did try to ask if it was better for him to come back later, but Undyne just rolled her eyes and dragged him in, lifting him up and setting him down on the kitchen table so they could chat as she cooked.

It went just as well as you may imagine...

"Did you watch the Olympics, Sans? Humans sure find bizarre ways to test their physical prowess! I would have won every category!" Undyne boasted.

Sans sheepishly looked down, fidgeting with his hands. "I don't really watch sports" he confessed.

"Oh... right. Well, have you seen any new interesting series? I've been watching a lot of stuff whenever I get the time" Undyne continued, still with just as much passion as she had for any other topic. She was such an energetic person, it was admirable.

"I only really watch TV when we watch anime together".

"Right... well, anything fun at work?" Undyne tried, yet again. This time more hesitant.

"Uhm... the kids are cool. But I'm pretty sure one of the other teachers has been trying to poison my coffee for a couple of weeks now".

Undyne's eyes went wide. "Wha- Sans! You should go to the police for something like that!".

"I don't have any organs and the poison isn't magic. It just falls right through me" he shrugged casually. "No harm in letting the poor guy make a fool of himself a bit more".

"You- right, okay". Silence falls between them for a long moment, before Undyne sighs. "You're a difficult person to talk to".

Sans snorted. "Yeah. That's why I let Paps do all the talking usually. You can't be a scientist without having social anxiety".

"Hm... well, ever thought of seeing a therapist about it? Alphys has been going, and it has been helping her. I've also been doing an anger management course, and that's been neat too. Just saying, you don't gotta struggle forever" she offered him an encouraging smile, and it made Sans actually want to consider the offer.

His and Paps' finances were a bit tight, but perhaps he could figure something out. "Maybe. Thanks 'dyne. You're cool as always".

She grinned. "Of course I am! Who do you think taught Papyrus so well?"

[hertapiastri]

hi emmy!! first of all, so nice to meet you and be mutuals!! i was actually so excited when you followed me back because i've been wanting more indycar mutuals that series is everything to me lately, i'm still living off a high, i miss it!! plus siiiiiiick url, those are both my boys so i love that!! 🫶

some fun get-to-know-you questions for me and your followers!!

what first attracted you to motorsports?? (for indycar and f1!!)

if you could go to any race (indycar and/or f1), which one would it be??

what olympic sport would you LOVE to play (you don't need to be good at it in real life, which one seems the coolest to you)??

such a pleasure being mutuals!! and can't wait to get to know you a bit better :)

OMG!! I was soooo excited when you had followed me so this is amazing!!! And it’s nice to meet you as well!!!

The reason I got into f1 is a bit embarrassing… so I’m a writer and at the start of last year I had wanted to expand my writing genre because I’m normally write fantasy novels but I wanted to explore a bit and one of the genre that I wanted to write in was romance, specifically sports romance. I was having a hard time figuring out which one I was going to pick, like I’m a big NFL fan also I’m a (casual)fan of tennis but one day I was scrolling on TikTok and saw someone had posted a video of Checo reacting to Seb retirement video on DTS and thought that it looked really cool so I watched it and thought it was great and when I saw that the season was about to start, I got a subscription to F1tv and have been in love with the sport since then. And then since I loved f1 so much I decided to give IndyCar a chance and I’m in love with them both🥰 (funny enough I never ended up writing that book 😭)

My dream is to eventually see the triple crown races in real life and not on my couch so I would love to go to the Indy500 and the Monaco Grand Prix but I would also love to go to mid-Ohio because it’s my home race and sliverstone because it’s one of my favorite tracks!

Tennis 100%!!! My mom was a tennis player in high school so we would sometimes play together during the summer time in the evening plus one summer I did a week long tennis camp and it was very fun!!! 

Also thank you for the compliment on my username and a little fun fact I pick Colton as my number one driver when I got into IndyCar not because he was a great driver (which he is) but because I have his dad car! It’s from his CART days and my dad had bought it back in the day and when I told my dad I was going to start watching IndyCar he gave it to me:) it seats next to my racing Barbie!

[inevitablecorgi]

Favourite tennis match? :33

Ask meme (ama, anon is fine!)

Zweig d. Donaldson, Phil's Tire Town Challenger, 2019. j/k, j/k, but also, in your heart you know, Patrick won that match.

This is a great question and I feel sheepish I can't REALLY say anything before June this year because, like a lot of sports, I was basically aware of tennis and its main characters but I haven't sat down and just deliberately watched matches since I was much younger. My faves from that era are all retired now and I have vague memories of specific Slams and their storylines but not specific matches. And I have been watching some classic Fedal matches recently but that's more like LORE, and I feel like I should pick matches I watched when they were happening.

So my picks from Summer 2024 (what a long + short era it's been).

3. Hailey Baptiste d. Arina Rodionova, 2024 Citi Open qualifiers, Washington DC. Because this is the first pro match I saw in real life! And it was so fun -- one young player v. one veteran, well matched, they both seem cool as hell and Hailey won in straight sets but it was close the whole time, and she's from DC so the crowd loved her. Great venue, so much fun.

2. Barbora Krejcikova d, Jasmine Paolini, 2024 Wimbledon final. I could have picked one of the matches Jasmine won, but I think I missed the best ones due to work, just had to follow on my computer! If I go back and watch Jas v. Vekic or Navarro I might change my mind. But for the Final, I drove to my parents' to watch on their big TV, both women played so well and I was so proud of Jasmine for her whole tournament, I still get weepy just talking about it.

Novak Djokovic d. Carlos Alcaraz, 2024 Olympics finals. I was rooting for Carlos, Carlos is my favorite men's player, I don't like Carlos to be sad BUT this was just a brilliant match to watch, Nole's narrative for these games was just So Good, it was such a phenomenal turnaround from the same matchup a few weeks earlier at Wimbledon (basically "all of Carlos's matches at 2024 Wimbledon" could be honorable mention, esp. the Tiafoe one) -- as somebody who was AWARE of the Big Three era without having paid close attention to it, this was a great showcase of What Made Novak So Good, and it was super satisfying to see in real time. Plus, it was at Roland Garros and I just love the aesthetic of Roland Garros -- French Open tennis was the first tennis I watched as a kid and deep in my heart I think every tennis court should Look Like That.

[corrodedbisexual]

I blame @kenmoos for the Free!AU fanart (which is fucking amazing by the way go check it out) and @notasimp4joey for morphing that into a swimmer!Steve/rockstar!Eddie, and when I say blame I mean I am kissing you guys on both cheeks for the inspo and hope you are having a great Valentine's day, or just a good fucking 14th day of February 2023 if you're not celebrating (like me). 😘😘

Summary:

Gold Olympic medalist Steve Harrington decides to retire at 25 years old and become a newbie swim coach.

Eddie Munson, frontman of the well-known rockband Corroded Coffin, is also 25 when he realizes it's getting too embarrassing to be an adult who never learned to swim.

Technically, they are strangers. But not really. Not with the way they have secretly followed each other's careers over the years.

AO3 link

Steve's POV

To the great surprise and devastation of his coaching team, his parents and the general public who follow swimming, gold Olympic medalist Steve Harrington decides to retire at 25 years old. Officially, it's due to a shoulder injury; in reality, he's completely exhausted and sick of all the pressures and bullshit of pro sports, of waking up every day at 5am to train, of never getting to eat what he likes, of not remembering when was the last time he actually enjoyed swimming. Sick of feeling like if he lets himself relax for even a moment, his performance will slip and he'll disappoint everyone. Might as well just get the disappointment part over with, on his own terms. No more expectations, no more worrying about that every single minute he's in the water.

After pondering his further career options for a while, and turning down several prestigious pro coaching positions (after which, his father just stops calling), Steve settles for a job as a coach for newbies at a swim school. The school principal, Nancy Wheeler, makes him an offer without even pointing out that he's massively overqualified for the job. Later, as they talk over lunch, she explains that she knows what it's like, needing to make a drastic change in your life. Steve doesn't pry further, but he did catch a glance of a cute young woman's photo in Nancy's wallet as she paid for her coffee, and he thinks he understands. 

Steve absolutely adores his job. For the first time in forever, he's excited to wake up in the mornings again. Most newbies are kids, and he loves that he can teach them the joys of swimming without being the asshole who drills a child to swim 50 laps at 6 in the morning and scold them for so much as making an unnecessary splash, like his coach used to (god forbid pro swimmers have any fun during training). He also loves helping the occasional adult students who don't believe in themselves at first, like maybe if you don't learn swimming as a kid you never will, and seeing the excitement and glee on their faces when they can finally complete a lap on their own, without a kickboard keeping them afloat.

***

Steve's getting ready for a private lesson, putting away all the buoys and kickboards the kids he was teaching left floating around the pool despite him yelling after them to tidy up after themselves; in vain, because they no longer pay attention to him, babbling excitedly about some game they're going to play together as they head for the doors. He's not really mad at them, never could be. It's great that their group has become such tight friends over the past few months. Plus, it's actually kind of fun to swim around the pool, chasing the floating objects and throwing them towards the edge; no pressure, no timing, no roaring crowds. 

He wonders about his new student, another adult - Edmund Mason, apparently, is the name; must be some truly loaded guy, paid to have the whole pool to himself for all his lessons. Steve's just gotten out of the pool when he hears the locker room door open, and speak of the devil, the guy comes in. Black swim shorts, multiple tattoos on his broad chest and muscular arms, long curly hair up in a messy bun, a kind of deer-in-the-headlights look in his huge brown eyes - oh. Oh.

That was definitely not the real name he signed up under, and it makes sense why he'd book the whole pool. That, or Steve is having a very vivid hallucination, because no way did Eddie frigging Munson, of all people, sign up for Steve's swim classes. 

Steve was never really a Corroded Coffin groupie; couldn't afford to, with his lifestyle, between the training and trying to attend evening classes at college. He's never been to a concert, but he's followed their music from the start, buying all the albums and singles on both cassette and vinyl and then CDs as they started coming in, and never missing a magazine with an article about them. 

Because in addition to loving CC music, Steve used to have a massive, massively embarrassing crush on their frontman. The guy who not only wrote mindblowing tunes and lyrics, whose slightly growly voice sent shivers down Steve's spine, but who was also so unfairly hot. And cute, in a way you wouldn't expect of a rockstar. Steve's seen him giggle and give the dorkiest answers during interviews, goof around with his band onstage between songs, get down on one knee in front of screaming fangirls reaching for him and kiss their hands and call them "my ladies". There were rumors that he was queer, which he never bothered to deny, merely smirking at the interviewer and replying with his signature phrase, "I don't kiss and tell, sweetheart."

Eddie seemed to live his life completely uncaring about image and expectations and all that bullshit; Steve admired that and was, admittedly, always a bit jealous. Eddie was the real deal. And never in a million years did Steve expect to meet the real deal. And even if he did, he never expected Eddie Munson to look so fucking… nervous?

After a moment of just silently staring at each other, Steve silently scolds himself. The guy is just like any other adult who's come to his class. Maybe worried about getting in the water, maybe embarrassed that he has to take a class that's essentially, for the most part, designed for children. He really doesn't need Steve gawking at him like an idiot. So Steve lets his face slip into the most reassuring and welcoming smile he can muster, and he grabs a towel to dry his hair with one hand, steps forward to offer his other hand to shake.

"Hi. I'm Steve".

Eddie's POV

Eddie Munson, frontman of the well-known rockband Corroded Coffin, is 25 when he realizes it's getting too embarrassing to be an adult, living in LA of all places, who never learned to swim. Because of course he never did; a perpetually horny queer teen from small town Indiana, going into a locker room full of hot naked guys? A wet dream, in theory. In reality, a fucking nightmare. So it's not like it's his fault that now he cannot even approach a pool during parties, because people keep pushing each other into it as a joke and he might actually fucking drown from that. 

At least these days he's loaded with cash enough now to amend this unfortunate predicament while sparing himself the embarrassment of prying eyes. Making up his mind, Eddie finds a swim school closest to home and enrolls for private lessons under a fake ID he sometimes uses for anonymity. He really doesn't need a crowd of fans waiting for him outside the lockers every day. 

***

In hindsight, Eddie really, really should have asked for the coach's name in advance. He's heard the rumors, of course, that Steve Harrington had retired to become a regular swim coach at some school in LA. But he'd never imagined that fate would be so cruel as he exits the locker room (with private cabins, thank fuck) into the pool area, and sees the guy getting out of the water.

For a moment, Eddie seriously considers just turning around and quietly leaving and never coming back. But in that moment, the guy lifts his head, and well, Eddie's completely and utterly fucked. No way can he just act normal around Steve fucking Harrington.

It's not that Steve's famous; Eddie's been around a fair share of famous people. It's just that this is the dude whose magazine pics he stared at for longer than he'd ever admit, even back when Eddie was 16 and Steve was still in the junior league. His best friend at the time, Chrissy, used to buy them for him, because it was possible for a girl to buy magazines about swimmer boys and not get as much as a raised eyebrow. (It was a very mutual arrangement, since Eddie used to get her magazines that were acceptable for guys to buy.)

Those magazines were very much part of the reason for Eddie coming to terms with the fact that he did not want to kiss girls. And to be totally honest, that swimwear ad Steve did two years later, all dripping wet, running his hand through his gorgeous hair and grinning at the camera, was no longer just for looking at. 

Eddie's had a fair share of experiences after his music career unexpectedly took off, both with girls (which he wasn't particularly into, but he was 20 and touch starved as fuck, sue him) and later, as he gained confidence and learned to navigate the scene, guys (and he was really, really into that). But seeing the man he's had multiple wet dreams about, all hard muscles, dripping wet and gorgeous just like in that swimwear ad, nearly turns him back into an 18-year-old blushing virgin.

Steve's already noticed him, but maybe he should run anyway. But in the end, he doesn't, because Steve suddenly smiles and walks towards him, and Eddie's dragged forward by his feet like a moth to the flame, unable to resist; and Jesus H Christ, now he's standing in front of a shirtless and wet Steve Harrington - so much fucking chest hair, he must have shaved it all the time back when he was pro - who's casually introducing himself. Like he's a totally normal stranger. Like Eddie doesn't have his name burned into his brain along with the exact shape of his abs and pecs and everything that fit into that tiny swimsuit he used to perform in by some kind of miracle. 

The one functional braincell he's got left makes him grasp Steve's hand and shake it.

"Hey," he manages to somehow match Steve's casual tone. "Eddie. Nice meeting you."

__________________

I don't know if there will be a continuation. No promises. I WANNA TRY, but I am good with one-shots, terrible with multichapter WIPs bc inspiration strikes me once every few weeks and runs away the next day.