football
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“I keep seeing TikToks about your thighs.”
It gets the expected reaction: Jude freezes with his hands in his hair, turning to look at Erling. Erling just shrugs.
“That’s wild, mate,” Jude says lightly, turning back to the mirror. He’s still got the towel wrapped around his waist, though Erling can see the hem of his boxer briefs. “That’s what you’re doing all day on there?”
~~~
In Jude's hotel room the day before the Norway-England game.
Series
- Part 1 of football
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Summary
He showers first. Runs the water cold, until his skin is just short of numb. Showers are supposed to reset you, and maybe they do, maybe a bit, but not enough. Jude thinks about hidden cameras until he’s back in a Real Madrid t-shirt, and then he thinks about the big bright cameras that line the pitch.
He’s fumbling for his phone about as soon as his fingers are dry enough to work the touchscreen. He considers texting first, but that feels more exposed, somehow—leaving a paper trail—so he just presses call, leaving the bathroom door open as he returns to his bed.
Erling picks up after the third ring. Jude closes his eyes as soon as the line connects.
~~~
After a rough day, Jude calls Erling from Madrid.
Series
- Part 2 of football
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Summary
It’s always a fight.
It starts in empty press rooms in the Bernabéu, holding a hoodie up to the window on the door, silent but for the occasionally sharp inhales that make their way through their lips. Then smothered under the covers in hotel rooms after away matches. Eventually they get smarter, more patient, at least enough to make it to Kylian’s property where they won’t be overheard.
There’s an energy after a match. More so after a match at the Bernabéu. The air is alive. Kylian is alive, buzzing, seething, watching every play again in his head. You fight and die out there on the pitch. Win or loss. It consumes you.
Series
- Part 3 of football
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Summary
Djed stays with the boys for a bit, letting them talk while his eyes roam over the rest of the lobby. A few players left for their rooms the moment they got here, but mostly they’re split up into these little groups, whispering, holding each other.
Jude is in the center of it all, head buried in Kane's shoulder. He’s finally lost that baseball cap he was wearing—Morgan’s got it, actually, looped over one finger, rubbing Jude’s back with the other hand.
~~~
Djed & Jude after the loss to Argentina.
Series
- Part 4 of football