The wicked world above your head (Chapter 8)
Title: The wicked world above your head
Pairings: Novak Djokovic/Ernests Gulbis, Andy Murray/Tim Henman
Other character: Fabrice Santoro
Rating: PG
Word count: 3,184
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this is a fiction.
Summary: Novak takes his flying license test while Andy gets to experience more magic.
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 Chapter 7 I should be able to finish this series before next year XD This chapter is unbetaed.
From the previous chapter:
Ernests had ordered pizza with dragon’s fire breath sauce for dinner and had managed to lure Novak into bed. The next morning, Ernests had been late for work and Tim had performed magic on his kiss mark. In the evening, Novak got trained for his flying test and had asked the elf to watch him play at Wimbledon in his box. Meanwhile, Andy had realized that he heard Tim’s voice very clearly and wondered if it meant that he liked the half-witch.
Chapter 8
“Next up, Mr. Novak Djokovic. Get your carpet ready, please.”
Novak got up from the wooden bench and picked up his flying carpet. This was it. A week had passed and it had finally become the time to pass his flying license test. He had worked hard, probably as harder as preparing for Wimbledon, and he wasn’t too worried that he might fail. Every creature that he had talked to while waiting for his turn had assured him that if he had gotten trained by Fabrice, he would do just fine.
“Pray for me, guys!” Novak yelled at the two carpets that were floating above his head.
His flying instructors Ernests and Fabrice were on one carpet, and his friends Andy and Tim were on the other. As his best friend, Novak could tell immediately that the Scot had carefully picked the spot to sit, trying not to sit too close to the half-witch. The two had had meals together and Tim had even watched Andy practice but apparently, they still hadn’t got pass the awkward first phase.
‘I’m so going to tease him later.’ The Serb chuckled while he got his carpet ready to fly.
As he saw a young, female witch come back to the starting line, he knew that it was his turn.
“Mr. Djokovic, good luck.” The test supervisor encouraged the human being and Novak took a deep breath. He was going to show witches that he could fly.
Gulp.
Ernests found himself swallowing hard as his human boyfriend was at the starting line, waiting for the starting signal.
“Aww, don’t worry, sweetheart. He’ll do just fine. We taught him well.” Fabrice gave the elf a gentle pat on the shoulder.
“But maybe I got distracted at times…” Ernests wasn’t sure if he had given his hundred percent in teaching the human.
“Well, whatever you could’ve missed, I must’ve got it covered. So stop worrying and put on a bright face so he won’t get nervous.”
The elf nodded and smiled at the tennis player who had just looked his way. He even sent him a kiss right before Novak’s carpet took off.
Andy watched his best friend smoothly drive the carpet as if it was a car on the road; he seemed to turn on the blinkers at the right time and flew stably through the foggy course, the rainy one, and the windy one without much trouble. There was a safety net near the ground but the Scot couldn’t stop gripping the edge of Tim’s carpet.
“Relax, Andy. He’s doing very well.”
Tim offered a smile as he made sure that his carpet wasn’t too far away from Novak’s. He knew that Andy wanted to see every single step of his friend’s way.
“Oh gosh, they have nasty carpets to disturb him.”
Andy watched nervously as Novak carefully passed a carpet that was zigzagging its way and another one that was dropping all sorts of garbage.
“Watch out!”
A carpet came from behind at a scary speed, heading straight for Novak’s carpet, but the Serb managed to turn right at the very last minute, preventing the two carpets from colliding.
“Phew. I never thought that these tests would be so full of action.”
Andy gulped down some water and hoped that his friend would get through the trickiest stormy course that he had had trouble with while training. He turned his head and caught the expression on Ernests’ and Fabrice’s faces. They looked quite confident, meaning that they believed Novak to pass his test.
‘That works for me.’ The Scot put down the water bottle and sat closer to the half-witch.
Tim noticed the small movement and tried not to smile too widely. He was planning to tell Andy about his feelings before the tennis player would have to leave the country for another tournament. He wished upon the stars that everything would go all right.
‘Nole passing this test will put him in a better mood.’
Tim cheered for his second favorite player more enthusiastically. He could use all the help he could get.
“Wahaha…”
Andy, Novak and Ernests all laughed at Tim’s childhood story about how he had transformed his own legs into those of a cheetah so that he wouldn’t be late for witch school. Apart from Fabrice who had claimed that he had a date with a gorgeous female witch, the rest of the group was at Witch’s Table for dinner, celebrating the fact that Novak had passed his test.
“So when are those talking potatoes coming?”
Andy asked, ready with the magical sauce in his hand. As soon as the waitress would put down his plate, he was going to make the potatoes shut up. Of course, nobody had been kind enough to tell him that there was a non-speaking version of that particular dish.
“We’re right behind you, super star.”
The Scot flinched as he heard a weird inhumane voice from behind.
“Aww, don’t worry. They won’t bite you.” Tim laughed.
“Yeah. You’re going to bite them.” Novak made the situation clear for his nervous friend.
“Do they even taste good?” Andy whispered at Tim who was sitting next to him.
“Hey, we have ears all right.”
“We can hear you!”
“And, that just hurts!”
“Of course, we taste good.”
“Much better than good, actually. We’re awesome.”
“Yeah, once you get a taste of us, you’re never going to forget us. Mwahaha!”
Andy shivered at the potato-talk and Tim felt a little bad for him while Novak was thoroughly enjoying the look on his best friend.
“What they say is true though. I don’t eat potatoes anywhere else ever since I’ve had some here.” Ernests confessed and Andy shuddered at the sight of the potatoes nodding with a smirk on their faces.
“Okay. I guess that’s enough for a first potato experience.” Tim took the sauce from Andy’s grip and sprayed it on the potatoes that waved goodbye.
“You can eat now.” The half-witch even gently pushed a fork into the now loosened grip and gave the human a peck on the cheek.
“My, my. They’re about to kiss here.” Novak teased and Ernests giggled.
Andy finally got back a grasp of reality and carefully approached one of the potatoes with his fork.
“Andy, they’re gone. No eyes, no mouths, no talk.” The Serb reassured his friend but Andy had to think about the possibility of Novak being wrong. After all, he was only human just like himself.
“What if they start talking again when I’ve already put them in my mouth?”
“That’s not magically possible.” Ernests sent him a comforting smile.
“But aren’t there always exceptions? Or could it be possible for them to wake up in my stomach?”
As cute as he thought Andy was, Tim had to admit that the Scot was heading too far. “Just try one and if anything happens, I’ll pull it out of your system. How does that sound? See? I’ll even put my wand right here, next to my fork, so I can grab it immediately.”
“Okay…”
Andy looked reluctant to eat anything at this point, but he was aware that he was slowing the dinner and preventing his friends from enjoying their meal.
“Okay. This is me trying.” Andy took one last deep breath and picked up a potato.
“Ahhh-” Tim urged the Scot to open his mouth and after quite a struggle between Andy’s fork and Tim’s hand, the potato found its place inside Andy’s mouth.
“Oh god. I can hear it speaking again!” Ernests joked and Andy bumped his knee at the edge of the table.
“Ahaha, that was a good one.” Novak kissed his boyfriend, only to meet with Andy’s fiery eyes.
“Tell us that it tastes good. They really have the best potatoes in town here.” Tim asked while he patted the tennis player on the arm.
“It tastes all right.”
Andy didn’t want to give his companions the pleasure of gloating in his face. He had just swallowed a piece of potato that knew how to speak English and he wasn’t sure if he was going to be physically and mentally all right.
“Uh, Nole. It’s this way.”
Andy pointed behind him when he saw Novak walk away from him. He somehow managed to finish his meal without causing too much nuisance and they were out at the parking lot, ready to go home.
“For you, yes, it’s that way. I’m going home in the morning, Andy. Ernie kindly invited me over.”
“Oh.”
Andy closed his mouth and nodded. Wimbledon was about to start in a couple of days but he trusted Novak to take care of his schedule all right.
“Since I won’t be home, you can take Tim home, if you like.”
The Scot blushed as his friend came back to whisper in his ear. He was getting more and more comfortable around Tim but he didn’t think that he could do something more than kissing the half-witch on the cheek.
“Come on. Can’t you see those longing eyes? Ask him to show you some magic tricks or something. You can even overdose him with your beloved tea.” Novak threw in a few suggestions and giggled his way back to Ernests.
“See you tomorrow, boss! Goodnight!” The elf waved his hand at Tim and jumped on his carpet with Novak by his side.
“Uh… I guess it’s just you and me left.” Tim muttered, unsure of what his next move should be.
“I suppose so.”
Andy watched as Ernests’ carpet became smaller and smaller. He had no idea what he should do with Tim.
“Would you like me to give you a ride home on a carpet too? It seems like Nole’s enjoying it.” Tim offered and Andy tried not to feel like a girl that a guy would walk home after a date.
“What about my car? Since Nole didn’t take it, I’ll have to take it back with me.”
“Ah, this is where magic comes in handy. I can transform it into a miniature version while we’re on our way.”
“No offense, Tim, but we rented it. We’ll have to pay lots of money if something goes wrong.” Andy didn’t want to underestimate Tim’s skills but he was worried.
“Don’t worry. It’s a simple trick. It’s very useful when you pack for a trip. You just turn everything into miniatures and let it grow back when you get there. You can even take your bed or your favorite couch.”
Before Andy could protest more, Tim had already pulled out his wand and the next thing he knew, he had a small car on his palm.
“Eek!”
Andy managed not to drop the car but couldn’t stop his heart from racing. It took only a second for a car to become a tiny object in his hand. Magic was more awesome than he thought and so was Tim.
“So are you ready to go home now?”
Andy nodded and felt his heart beat even faster as he sat next to the shop owner.
‘What are we going to do anyway? Is he expecting something more than tea? But we haven’t even kissed yet. Perhaps tonight’s the night to kiss, right? I mean, how much longer are we going to wait? It’s undeniable that I feel something for him, right? I don’t know what I see in him but I do feel something, right?’
All sorts of questions bombed Andy’s mind. He couldn’t think straight.
“Are you okay, Andy? I have water in the back if you need some.”
The Scot turned his head and saw Tim’s face glow under the moonlight. He looked serenely composed and the sight helped his heart slow down to its normal pace. Tim had a soothing effect on him.
“I haven’t been this fine in a long time.” He answered dreamily, hoping that he would get to kiss the half-witch before the night was over.
Inside the flat that Andy and Novak had rented, Tim was sitting at the coffee table in the living room, watching Andy boil water for tea. He had offered to help but the Scot had told him that he had everything under control.
‘Ah, I wish I could use magic so that the teapot would make tea on its own. Andy and I could use this valuable time doing anything else other than making tea.’
Tim realized that he felt less reluctant to use magic when he was with his favorite tennis player. Andy didn’t even seem to appreciate his magical skills other than having said thanks for the help with his headache and he was a human being who hadn’t seen anyone else perform magic, but something inside him told him that it was okay to be comfortable using magic around the Scot.
‘Hmm, I wonder why… He’s not exactly magic-friendly.’
“What are you thinking about?” Andy asked as he put two teacups and a sugar can on the coffee table.
“Nothing special. I was just thinking about how I like the flat. It’s cozy and the dogs are adorable.”
Tim made up a story and looked over at Pierre and Maggie. Unfortunately, they weren’t exactly adorable at the moment; Pierre was peeing on Andy’s sweatshirt while Maggie was biting off the end of one of Novak’s racquets.
“Oh, not again. What is my sweatshirt doing on the floor in the first place? You dragged it down, Pierre? Bad dog. Bad dog!”
Andy made a face and started to clean up the mess while Tim pulled his wand out of his jacket. He didn’t want Andy’s hands to get dirty, at least not for this kind of reason.
“Hey, Tim, can you wield your wand and make them behave?”
“Haha, I could, but I’m afraid that it will affect their health. I can make you speak their language if you let me try.”
Andy laughed. “Are you serious?”
Soon enough, he got to find out how serious Tim had been. The following words that came out of his mouth weren’t English any more. He was barking at the two dogs that looked visibly shocked at the sudden ease of communication.
Tim watched with amusement as Andy supposedly told the dogs what they were allowed to do and what they weren’t. He wasn’t freaking out as he had done in the restaurant; he was dealing better with magic.
But just when the half-witch was about to walk into the kitchen to prepare tea by himself, Andy jumped up from the floor and yelled, fire of anger shooting out of his ears.
“What’s wrong?” Tim wielded his wand to make Andy speak English again.
“She’s pregnant!! Maggie’s pregnant! They were supposed to be friends! Like me and Nole!”
It was only then that Andy remembered about a particular night when the two had accidentally been more than friends.
“Urgh, can you erase a memory of mine? I’d be better off without this one. What about making Maggie not pregnant like before? Cause I really can’t afford a pregnant dog right now. That’s the last thing I want to worry about. Or could you chase the press out of my face for me? I don’t think I can stand them any longer. What if I ask you to help me win Wimbledon? Or what about…”
“Hey, hey, slow down, Andy. Look at me.”
Tim held the Scot’s arms and shook him lightly. The human being was under too much stress. Tim could see the tired, frightened boy underneath the shell of a confident tennis player who pretended to be disinterested in whatever was happening around him.
“Andy, look at me, please.”
Andy’s eyes finally focused on Tim’s and Tim whispered an ancient spell that was known to comfort an aching heart.
“I’m tired. I just want to… go somewhere quiet.”
Andy was surprised to hear his own words. He wasn’t aware of how close he was to having a nervous breakdown. He thought that he was doing fine but apparently, he was wrong. The headache that had almost left him was coming back and Andy didn’t think that he could deal with it again. Not on his own, at least.
“Hold me.”
The voice was so weak that Tim had to grit his teeth not to moan in pain. He was feeling so much of Andy’s emotions and he couldn’t tell if the spell was working. Perhaps he wasn’t concentrating enough. He wasn’t supposed to be this close to the subject that was being put under the spell.
“Hold me…?” Andy asked once more and Tim narrowed the gap between their bodies, putting his arms around the wounded soul.
Andy could hear the clock on the wall ticking, the dogs making little sounds as they tried to open the refrigerator, and his own heartbeat racing for an unidentifiable reason.
“It’s not enough.” He spoke in a stronger voice than before. He was sure that something was missing.
Tim thought about what else he could do for the boy in his arms. There was tea waiting for them in the kitchen. He tried to lift Andy up with him but the twenty-two year old refused to get up.
“No. It’s not enough, I’m telling you.”
Tim sat back on the floor and looked into Andy’s eyes. “What can I do for you then?”
Before an answer was delivered, Tim realized what he had to do. It was finally the right time, the right moment. This was what he had been waiting for.
Andy closed his eyes as he felt Tim’s lips on his. He hadn’t known the correct answer to the question but he didn’t mind the choice of Tim’s cure. He felt like running on a quiet beach with seagulls looking out for him, listening to the small waves humming while tickling his feet. He could feel his lungs get filled with fresh air and it was peaceful, ever so peaceful. Andy pulled his healer closer and secured his arms tightly around his neck. He needed Tim to be in place and thankfully, it seemed like Tim wasn’t planning to go anywhere soon.