The wicked world above your head (Chapter 7)
Title: The wicked world above your head
Pairings: Novak Djokovic/Ernests Gulbis, Andy Murray/Tim Henman
Other character: Fabrice Santoro
Rating: PG
Word count: 3,358
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this is a fiction.
Summary: Tim finds the band-aid on Ernests’ neck interesting while Andy realizes why Tim’s voice sounds so clear to him.
Author’s note: I’m linking the previous parts in case anyone needs them :)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
From the previous chapter:
Ernests had ordered pizza with dragon’s fire breath sauce for Novak who couldn’t control the burning inside his body because of the sauce. The two creatures had ended up in Novak’s bed and Andy had walked into the flat where clothes were scattered on the floor. His head had felt much better thanks to Tim’s help and he was supposed to go to the store for a follow-up session the next day.
Chapter 7
‘Eek…’
Ernests crept inside Tim’s Carpet Planet and saw his boss behind the counter handle a payment. The lady witch who was wearing a very tall, pointed hat must have paid with a credit card.
“Thank you, Mrs. Roddick. We will have it delivered by tomorrow afternoon.”
Ernests was quick to get the door for the customer and now it was time to face the half-witch.
“Good morning, Tim.” His voice was as small as a mouse’s.
“Good morning, Ernie.” Tim’s voice was full of suppressed laughter as he spotted a band-aid on his employee’s neck.
“I’m sorry for being late. It won’t happen again.”
Ernests couldn’t believe that he hadn’t woken up at a decent hour. He was usually an early bird.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. We only had one customer anyway.”
Tim hadn’t been worried about the elf showing up late for work. Fabrice had called him yesterday evening, letting him know about everything he had witnessed in the woods.
“So how was your night? You slept well?”
Ernests’ fingers subconsciously sneaked up to the band-aid. A second later, the elf realized that Tim was watching him carefully and he hid his hand behind his back.
“Uh… Yes, I obviously slept well since I slept in.”
It was quite unfortunate for Ernests that a yawn came out of his mouth just after his words.
“Aww, I hope he wasn’t too rough. I might need to talk to him if that’s the case.”
Tim couldn’t help it anymore and laughed with crescent eyes as Ernests turned impossibly red.
“How did you know? And he’s not like that. He’s really nice.” The twenty one year old smiled and blushed as the memories of last night filled his mind.
“I know you, Ernie. You’re gloating and I must say that the pretty band-aid helped me.”
Ernests let out a frustrated sound. He knew that a band-aid couldn’t be subtle enough.
“Do you think the customers would think the same?”
It was one thing for Tim to see that he was hiding a kiss mark and quite another thing for the customers to make the connection.
“Let me see if I have anything in the back to cover your neck.”
Tim had already started to walk away when Ernests suggested, “Can’t you just use magic?”
“Ernie, you know that I try not to use magic unless it’s work-related. I don’t like to take stuff for granted.”
Tim was aware of how much Ernests liked magic and how he wished that he could learn it even if he didn’t have any witch blood in him.
“But this is definitely work-related. We can’t let the customers get distracted by my kiss mark. They have to focus on the carpets!”
Ernests loved to see magic. Even someone like Tim who was a rather comical character in his eyes looked brilliant when he wielded his wand. One day, he was going to ask Tim to teach some of the basic technique. He had heard from Fabrice that even non-witches could do simple magic with a very good wand and enough training.
“Fine, fine. Let me get my wand.”
Tim gave in and left the counter while Ernests heard his phone inform him about a new message.
Tim gave you a hard time? I could stop by and talk to him if you want. Miss you =D - Nole
Ernests felt his left ear move as he read the text message once more. His right ear must be very jealous of all the attention the left one was getting these days. He read the last part of the message one last time and texted the Serb back.
I miss you too! Tim’s getting his wand to hide the kiss mark, hehe - Ernie
“Ah, look at you, all smiling. I wish Andy would be that smiley.”
Tim was back with his mighty wand and Ernests tried to picture Andy Murray with a big smile on his face.
“Um… I thought Andy’s attraction was his grumpiness.”
Ernests soon regretted his words. It wasn’t a good day to say something about your boss’ favorite tennis player - or love interest - when you had been late for work.
“True. He was cute when he was pouting about his headache.” Tim hung a smile on his lips.
“Is he coming in today too?”
“Yeah. It must be all the pressure coming from Wimbledon. People won’t leave him alone. I had to put him in several layers of safety bubbles so the paparazzi wouldn’t follow him around.”
“I thought you didn’t like to use magic outside work.” Ernests giggled, enjoying the sight of his boss rolling his eyes, trying to come up with an excuse.
“Just give me a nice scarf or put some magic make-up on my neck, Tim.” The elf took off the band-aid and Tim held up his wand.
“Nom nom, omelet. I should write a book about omelets, don’t you think?”
Novak was busy eating delicious omelets made by his own hands at the breakfast table.
“Yeah.”
“Andy, I thought your head got better.” He asked his best friend who seemed to be a little quieter than usual.
“Uh, yeah. I feel much better.”
“Then what’s stopping you from enjoying my omelet?” Novak even put his fork down to get an answer.
“You mean, other than what you and the elf did behind locked doors last night?”
It wasn’t the first time that Andy had seen or heard Novak spend the night with someone. They used to have connected hotel rooms or adjacent ones and he was neither blind nor deaf. But something felt different this time.
“You saw us?” Novak picked up his fork again.
“No, but I heard you.”
“Ooh, kinky.” The Serb chuckled, picturing his friend putting his ear on the door and freaking out.
“Did it feel different?” Andy toyed with the fork. He was worried.
“You mean, was it different because it was Ernie? Yeah, it surely was.”
Novak looked at his friend and felt his heart warm up as he saw concern in the Scot’s eyes.
“I love him and I think he loves me back. What’s there for you to worry about?”
“You think he loves you back?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that great?”
Andy’s mouth dropped. His friend was grinning like a kid and he clearly wasn’t following.
“Well, does he know that you love him, at least?”
Novak pondered on the question while he finished his first piece of omelet. “We spent an incredible night together and he left this morning with a happy smile so I’m thinking the answer is yes.”
“But did you say the words? Perhaps you’re the only one who felt differently.” Andy felt the urge to make things clear.
The Serb picked up his glass of juice and drank half of it. “Technically, I didn’t.”
“What do you mean, technically?” Andy put his fork down and crossed his arms.
“Well… I whispered it in his ears while he was still asleep this morning.” Novak wasn’t aware of the fact that Ernests had heard it right before opening his eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell him when he was awake?” The Scot hoped that Novak wouldn’t feel like being interrogated. He was just a concerned friend.
“Hmm, good question. You know, I was going to. I was planning to talk to him after the flying lesson but then the guest witch wouldn’t leave us alone and I wanted to wait till we ate but then I had fire sauce in my mouth and I started to feel like I was burning then I…”
“Okay, okay. I get it.”
Andy had always had a problem when Novak poured out hundred words in two seconds. Perhaps that was why the Bryan Brothers were thinking of putting him on their record as a rapper.
“Meh…” All of a sudden, Novak had a face of a kicked puppy and had stopped eating.
“What’s wrong now?”
Andy feared that his headache might come back any time soon. Usually, he was the one who had issues with relationships and he wasn’t comfortable with being on this side of the conversation.
“I can’t remember the last time I told someone that I loved him. I hope I can still say the words.”
Despite his dating experience, Novak found this feeling inside him quite new. Ernests was special. He was like the brightest star in the galaxy that just kept getting shinier every time he looked at it.
“You can tell Ernie tonight, can’t you? Speaking of tonight, how is your flying test preparation going?”
Andy wondered if the Serb had time to actually get some flying practice rather than drooling over his instructor.
“Mm, that witch is good at changing the weather and yum, I nailed the rainy course yesterday. I should work more on the foggy one though.”
Apparently, not talking about the whole ‘did you say I love you’ thing had brought Novak’s appetite back.
“When is the test, you said?”
Andy took a bite from his plate as well. He didn’t want to go to tennis practice with an empty stomach and if Novak could make anything good, it was omelets.
“Next Friday. Right before Wimbledon. I only got a week left. Hey, how are you holding up with all the hyper journalists?”
Andy wasn’t the only one who was worried about a friend. Novak knew how it felt to have a huge burden on his shoulders, given the pressure from his own country.
“Tim thinks that’s why my head’s been hurting.”
“I can’t agree more.” Novak poured more apple juice for the Scot.
“My people always had high hopes of me since I was a junior. It’s just that they aimed a bit higher this time. I’ve never won a slam before but they somehow think that I have the ability to win one on grass. Not even on a hard court, Nole, but on grass.”
Andy shook his head. He didn’t think that even his own mother, Judy, would expect him to win the prestigious tournament.
“Just try to take it easy, okay? You play tennis for your own happiness, not for your country. You’ll be fine.”
Novak patted his best friend on the arm and asked cheerfully, “You want another omelet?”
Ding.
Tim’s head snapped towards the entrance as the bell announced that they had a customer in the store.
“Andy!”
Ernests giggled at his boss’ voice. He sounded like a child with balloons in his hand.
“Hey, Tim. Is this a bad time?” Andy couldn’t see any customers on the first floor but he thought that it was polite to ask.
“Of course not. Come in. Ernie, can we get some tea upstairs, please?”
“Sure. Good afternoon, Andy.”
“Hello, Ernie.”
Andy bit his lips not to laugh at the red hearted tattoo that was on Ernests’ neck.
“You can see something on my neck?” Ernests asked, having second thoughts about Tim’s level of magic.
He somehow couldn’t find his hand mirror under the counter so he had just assumed that the half-witch had covered his kiss mark but now that he thought about it, several customers had looked at him with a strange smile on their faces.
“Tim!!”
“Nole would love to see that heart.” Andy laughed as the elf ran after his boss.
‘Perhaps this is one of his methods to cure me. Very entertaining.’
The Scot grabbed a seat and enjoyed the cat and mouse show. Tim said, ‘You were the one who said you liked magic so much’ and Ernests said something back. Then, Tim said…
‘Wait. Does Tim have a louder voice? How come I’m catching only his words?’
Andy still couldn’t figure out what was with him and Tim’s voice. Just listening to it seemed to make him relax.
‘Do all witches have such voices?’
I think I liked Ernie right from the beginning. The minute he picked up the phone, I could hear his voice so… clearly.
Novak’s voice rang in his head. That’s what he had said while they were catching a break from their tennis practice earlier today. Apparently, Stan and Viktor had figured that they would be better off practicing with each other so Andy had to hit some balls with Novak.
‘Does that mean I like Tim?’
Andy didn’t have more time to think about the question. Tim was waving his hand to get his attention and it was time to get his head treated.
“So how are we feeling today?”
Tim made Andy lie down on one of the healing carpets and put a handkerchief, on the Scot’s forehead, which he had put a spell on.
“Much better, thanks.”
“You’ll be good as new when you walk out of here.”
The half-witch’s hand rested on Andy’s cheek as he took a peek at the muscles under the short sleeve of the T-shirt.
“Nice biceps.” He couldn’t help but notice.
“Thanks. I’ve been working on them.” Then Andy added, before regretting, “on the legs too.”
“Oh, I see.” It was only polite for Tim to take a good look at the tennis player’s legs.
“Uh, I have a birthmark on the right one.”
Andy had no idea why he was telling Tim about it but he found himself rolled over to the left so that the store owner could take a good look at it.
“It’s cute.”
“It is?”
Andy couldn’t remember anyone that had such a description for his birthmark. In his younger days, kids thought that he had missed a spot while taking a shower and his brother Jamie used to tease him that he had pooped on his leg as a baby but mom forgot to wash him.
“I wanted to have it removed when I was little, you know.”
“Really? It looks quite lovely to me.”
Tim’s hand caressed the brown mark on the back of the calf and Andy closed his eyes. It felt good.
“Tea’s here!”
Ernests came upstairs with a tray and Tim quickly looked up at the ceiling and smoothed his hair.
“Did I interrupt something?”
The elf beamed at the thought of teasing Tim. His boss was going to pay for what he had done with his neck.
“Of course not. I was just asking Andy here if he was feeling any better.” Tim’s voice wasn’t entirely innocent.
“Yeah. And he gave me this wet handkerchief.” Andy helped but it only amused Ernests more.
“Really? My eyes may have tricked me then. I thought I saw Tim feeling up your legs.”
Ernests ran downstairs before Tim or Andy could say a word. He was glad that Tim got to spend some time with his favorite tennis player. Perhaps Andy was the one who could make the half-witch happy after his divorce with his ex-wife. She was an elf who liked magic, maybe a little too much as Tim used to say, and who had passed away from a broom accident shortly after the divorce. Ernests knew that it was why Tim had started selling safe flying carpets and also why he was reluctant to use magic for any other purpose.
‘I hope he’ll get to find pleasure in dating a hot athlete.’
His thoughts drifted off to Novak as he sat behind the counter. He couldn’t wait for the evening flying lesson.
“Novak, you’re going too fast!” Fabrice yelled at the blue carpet that had just passed the stormy area that he had set up.
“It wasn’t my fault. The wind blew from the back!” Novak opened the protective film and shouted.
“You only have a week left till the test. Focus!” The witch yelled again and saw Novak move on to the next practice course.
Meanwhile, Ernests was watching the lesson from his own magic carpet. Fabrice was being tough on his pupil but it was understandable. It was critical to train properly in order to be safe out in the skies alone. Tim’s carpets had all sorts of safety measures but it didn’t mean that the flyer’s safety could be guaranteed.
‘Geez, I’m so tired.’ Novak thought as he made another left turn.
Wimbledon was just around the corner so his coach had made him practice longer today and he had worked really hard on his game these days because he wanted to do his best during the upcoming two weeks. Despite the fact that grass was his weakest surface, Wimbledon was the tournament that he liked the most.
Besides, the flying test preparation was preventing him from getting enough rest during the evening. Luckily for him, he was a good car driver who knew how to deal with the wheel and he had a lovely instructor to keep him going.
“You looked tired, my dear. You should go get some rest. That should do for today.”
Fabrice said goodnight to Ernests as well and left the forest. He wasn’t going to stay around and tease the lovebirds tonight. He was going to stop by Tim’s place and tease the half-witch, based on what he had heard from Ernests in the afternoon.
“Great job. You’re improving really fast. I don’t think you’ll have much trouble passing the test.” Ernests jumped off his carpet and got on Novak’s.
“Thanks. I can’t wait to fly long distance on this.”
The word ‘long distance’ made Ernests realize that Novak wouldn’t be in the same country as him for long.
“Right. I keep forgetting that you travel a lot.”
Novak noticed the bitter tone and put an arm around the elf. “I’ll still be around. These carpets can fly really fast, right? And we also have cell phones and webcams.”
“I know.” Ernests tried his best to smile. Wimbledon hadn’t even started yet. It wasn’t the right time to be sad.
“Hey, we’ll figure something out. Don’t worry about it.”
Novak pressed his lips against the pretty curls and popped the question that he had been thinking about all day.
“How would you feel if you get to see me play in Wimbledon? Would you like to come see me? If Tim can give you a day off, I mean.”
Ernests looked at Novak in the eyes. Was he serious?
“You mean, in the stands?”
“I meant, in my box. It would mean so much to me if you could make it.”
“Your box?”
The elf couldn’t resist smiling but he wanted to make sure that Novak knew what kind of risk he was taking.
“You are aware that I could draw unnecessary attention from the press and fans if I sit in your box, right?”
Novak nodded and laughed lightly. “I wouldn’t call it ‘unnecessary’ attention. So what do you say?”
He kissed Ernests’ lips, hoping that it would make the elf lean more towards ‘yes’. It wasn’t like he had asked for Ernests’ hand. It was just asking him to watch a match in his box but for some reason, his heart was beating so fast.
“I would absolutely love to.”
The beating was mutual and Ernests leaned in for a longer kiss. He needed to get an appointment with the best hair salon in town first thing in the morning. He had just been invited to Wimbledon and his hair was about to be broadcast throughout the world.