Ups and downs - Schlierenzauer / Morgenstern
Title: Ups and downs
Pairing: Gregor Schlierenzauer / Thomas Morgenstern
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 1425
Disclaimer: This is just fiction.
A/N: For jasmina22 =) Just like that. And it's written after the first competition in the World Championship in Oslo. Gregor had a bad day, left the hill wordlessly and with tears in his eyes because he was only eighth. Thomas is World Champion.
Gregor left for the hotel immediately after the competition. Sure, he had watched the flower ceremony, but just because Austria had won. Thomas and Andi stayed some more for interviews. Alex Pointner, the Austrian chief coach, followed Gregor to talk to him, because he knew that the athlete needed someone to encourage him now, but he also knew that it wasn’t easy. Gregor had become a more difficult person, maybe because he was older, but maybe also because he had already won so much at that young age. Or maybe because he had realized that it wasn’t possible to be first all the time.
Alex entered the hotel, glad to catch Gregor before he disappeared into his room. The young Austrian was angry, and he had tears in his eyes. Alex already knew that reaction. But he hadn’t found a way to deal with it yet. Sometimes it worked to just say something nice and funny, but he was sure that it wouldn’t help today. And the World Championship had just started.
“Gregor, wait,” Alex said and he was ready for running after Gregor, because sometimes the Austrian didn’t listen and just walked away, but this time he stopped, even if he was really annoyed.
“It was okay what you did, there was just the last necessary thing missing, and I think you know that yourself,” Alex started, but Gregor shook his head.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Gregor insisted. Alex took a deep breath. Gregor sometimes really was difficult to handle.
“Let’s stop discussing about that, okay? You know yourself what was the fault. You know I’m there if you want to talk. Just try to stop making yourself that pressure. Nobody expects being perfect from you,” the chief coach tried to calm the athlete.
“But today it was shit! The approach length was too short, the wind was shit,” Gregor ranted. This time Alex shook his head.
“No, Gregor, it isn’t always the wind or the approach length, your effort just wasn’t enough today, and I am sure that you know it yourself. I’ll talk to you later, together with the whole team, about the team competition,” Alex said, and decided to leave it, because he knew that Gregor would just protest and at some point leave and slam the door. Gregor didn’t reply anything to that and just left. Alex was honestly worried about Gregor, because he seemed to have lost his easygoingness and his relaxedness. Also he seemed to have lost the fun a little, considering that the season hadn’t exactly been a good one. It was always problematic if you were famous at such a young age already. As a coach you always had to try to keep such young athletes down-to-earth, which wasn’t exactly easy in Gregor’s case.
So Alex returned to Thomas and Andi, who came over to the hotel, too. Thomas saw that Alex looked worried and somehow he knew immediately why he was looking like that.
“Gregor?” Thomas asked. Thomas was Gregor’s roommate and only their best friends and Alex knew that they were more than just best friends. Alex nodded.
“I tried to talk to him but he is crying and angry and he blames the approach length and the wind and everything else,” he explained, but he didn’t have to say more because both, Andi and Thomas, knew Gregor exactly when he was acting like that.
“I’ll go and talk to him. The worst thing you can do is leaving him alone now,” Thomas explained. He knew that Gregor was difficult to handle, but he loved this man, and so he dealt with it. In fact Gregor just was really sensitive. And he was still very young.
“But you just won a gold medal, you should go and celebrate. Not deal with him right now,” Alex suggested, but Thomas shook his head.
“I can celebrate later, he needs me now and he has always been there when I needed him, so I will do the same, and I think I’m the only one who can deal with him right now,” he insisted, and so Alex didn’t protest. In fact he knew that Thomas was right.
Thomas nodded at Andi and Alex and went to their hotel room. When he opened the door he already could hear the shower running. Thomas changed his clothes and turned on the TV; he still couldn’t believe that he had just won a gold medal and was World Champion. But he also felt sorry for Gregor, because he knew that the young Austrian had hoped to win a medal. He also knew that Gregor had a lot of pressure because he was considered as bad when he was eighth.
When Gregor came out of the bathroom, his hair was wet and he was wearing a pair of jogging trousers. His eyes were reddened and swollen from all the crying; those who knew Gregor better also knew that he cried quite often. He really looked miserable. Thomas got up from the bed on which he had been sitting and hugged Gregor, who took the hug, thankfully.
“Come here,” Thomas just said, stroking over Gregor’s back, and Gregor rested his head into the curve of Thomas’ neck.
“I know I was bad today. The pressure… it’s just too much, I…” Gregor explained under tears, but Thomas just hugged him a bit tighter.
“Shush, I know,” he responded. Gregor looked at him, sniffling, and Thomas stroked over his lover’s cheek.
“I didn’t even congratulate you yet,” he stated, feeling really bad for that.
“No problem, really. We will celebrate after tomorrow’s team competition,” Thomas decided, smiling. Gregor wiped his eyes.
“I need to apologize to Alex. I… really wasn’t nice to him,” Gregor admitted. Just at that moment someone knocked at the door and while Thomas went to open the door Gregor put on a t-shirt. It was Alex.
“Hey you two. I just wanted to tell you that you will be starting in the team competition tomorrow. And I wanted to ask you how you are, Gregor,” Alex said, looking at the young Austrian who was sitting on the bed, tears still running down his cheeks. Gregor shrugged.
“Feeling empty. It’s like I don’t feel myself when jumping. Something’s wrong, but I don’t know what. It went so well in Vikersund and now I was only eighth, which is just… The jumps weren’t good at all, although I jumped 110 meters before on that hill. I just don’t get it, I…” Gregor began explaining, and there were more tears in his eyes again. He really was desperate.
“There’s so much pressure on me, I think I can’t handle it,” the young ski jumper admitted, “I’m sorry, Alex, for what I said before.” Alex shook his head.
“No, it’s okay. If you don’t want to jump tomorrow then I’ll accept that,” the chief coach said, but Gregor shook his head.
“I want to jump,” the young Austrian responded. Alex nodded.
“Okay, I’ll leave you two alone again. I’ll see you at the victory ceremony later, Thomas,” the chief coach replied and left the room again. Thomas had to get ready for the victory ceremony but he promised Gregor to be back soon after it again, even if Gregor told him to celebrate as long as he wanted.
When Thomas came back after the ceremony and some celebrating with his gold medal around his neck Gregor was already sleeping peacefully. The World Champion was careful not to wake Gregor up when he fetched the things he needed for the bathroom and then, after he had placed the gold medal on the bedside table, he went showering. When he came back from the bathroom Gregor wasn’t sleeping anymore, but he was still lying in bed and looking at Thomas. His eyes were still swollen but he wasn’t crying anymore.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” Thomas asked, but Gregor shook his head, shifting a little.
“No, I couldn’t really sleep. I just slept for about half an hour,” the young ski jumper explained. Thomas turned off the bathroom light and lay down next to Gregor, pulling the cover over them.
“Come here,” Thomas said, letting Gregor lean against the curve of his body, where he felt warmth and where he felt accepted and loved, no matter how he had jumped. Thomas waited until Gregor was asleep, steadily stroking through his lover’s hair, and then he allowed himself to go to sleep, too, his arm around Gregor, as if he was protecting him from all the pressure.
Pairing: Gregor Schlierenzauer / Thomas Morgenstern
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 1425
Disclaimer: This is just fiction.
A/N: For jasmina22 =) Just like that. And it's written after the first competition in the World Championship in Oslo. Gregor had a bad day, left the hill wordlessly and with tears in his eyes because he was only eighth. Thomas is World Champion.
Gregor left for the hotel immediately after the competition. Sure, he had watched the flower ceremony, but just because Austria had won. Thomas and Andi stayed some more for interviews. Alex Pointner, the Austrian chief coach, followed Gregor to talk to him, because he knew that the athlete needed someone to encourage him now, but he also knew that it wasn’t easy. Gregor had become a more difficult person, maybe because he was older, but maybe also because he had already won so much at that young age. Or maybe because he had realized that it wasn’t possible to be first all the time.
Alex entered the hotel, glad to catch Gregor before he disappeared into his room. The young Austrian was angry, and he had tears in his eyes. Alex already knew that reaction. But he hadn’t found a way to deal with it yet. Sometimes it worked to just say something nice and funny, but he was sure that it wouldn’t help today. And the World Championship had just started.
“Gregor, wait,” Alex said and he was ready for running after Gregor, because sometimes the Austrian didn’t listen and just walked away, but this time he stopped, even if he was really annoyed.
“It was okay what you did, there was just the last necessary thing missing, and I think you know that yourself,” Alex started, but Gregor shook his head.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Gregor insisted. Alex took a deep breath. Gregor sometimes really was difficult to handle.
“Let’s stop discussing about that, okay? You know yourself what was the fault. You know I’m there if you want to talk. Just try to stop making yourself that pressure. Nobody expects being perfect from you,” the chief coach tried to calm the athlete.
“But today it was shit! The approach length was too short, the wind was shit,” Gregor ranted. This time Alex shook his head.
“No, Gregor, it isn’t always the wind or the approach length, your effort just wasn’t enough today, and I am sure that you know it yourself. I’ll talk to you later, together with the whole team, about the team competition,” Alex said, and decided to leave it, because he knew that Gregor would just protest and at some point leave and slam the door. Gregor didn’t reply anything to that and just left. Alex was honestly worried about Gregor, because he seemed to have lost his easygoingness and his relaxedness. Also he seemed to have lost the fun a little, considering that the season hadn’t exactly been a good one. It was always problematic if you were famous at such a young age already. As a coach you always had to try to keep such young athletes down-to-earth, which wasn’t exactly easy in Gregor’s case.
So Alex returned to Thomas and Andi, who came over to the hotel, too. Thomas saw that Alex looked worried and somehow he knew immediately why he was looking like that.
“Gregor?” Thomas asked. Thomas was Gregor’s roommate and only their best friends and Alex knew that they were more than just best friends. Alex nodded.
“I tried to talk to him but he is crying and angry and he blames the approach length and the wind and everything else,” he explained, but he didn’t have to say more because both, Andi and Thomas, knew Gregor exactly when he was acting like that.
“I’ll go and talk to him. The worst thing you can do is leaving him alone now,” Thomas explained. He knew that Gregor was difficult to handle, but he loved this man, and so he dealt with it. In fact Gregor just was really sensitive. And he was still very young.
“But you just won a gold medal, you should go and celebrate. Not deal with him right now,” Alex suggested, but Thomas shook his head.
“I can celebrate later, he needs me now and he has always been there when I needed him, so I will do the same, and I think I’m the only one who can deal with him right now,” he insisted, and so Alex didn’t protest. In fact he knew that Thomas was right.
Thomas nodded at Andi and Alex and went to their hotel room. When he opened the door he already could hear the shower running. Thomas changed his clothes and turned on the TV; he still couldn’t believe that he had just won a gold medal and was World Champion. But he also felt sorry for Gregor, because he knew that the young Austrian had hoped to win a medal. He also knew that Gregor had a lot of pressure because he was considered as bad when he was eighth.
When Gregor came out of the bathroom, his hair was wet and he was wearing a pair of jogging trousers. His eyes were reddened and swollen from all the crying; those who knew Gregor better also knew that he cried quite often. He really looked miserable. Thomas got up from the bed on which he had been sitting and hugged Gregor, who took the hug, thankfully.
“Come here,” Thomas just said, stroking over Gregor’s back, and Gregor rested his head into the curve of Thomas’ neck.
“I know I was bad today. The pressure… it’s just too much, I…” Gregor explained under tears, but Thomas just hugged him a bit tighter.
“Shush, I know,” he responded. Gregor looked at him, sniffling, and Thomas stroked over his lover’s cheek.
“I didn’t even congratulate you yet,” he stated, feeling really bad for that.
“No problem, really. We will celebrate after tomorrow’s team competition,” Thomas decided, smiling. Gregor wiped his eyes.
“I need to apologize to Alex. I… really wasn’t nice to him,” Gregor admitted. Just at that moment someone knocked at the door and while Thomas went to open the door Gregor put on a t-shirt. It was Alex.
“Hey you two. I just wanted to tell you that you will be starting in the team competition tomorrow. And I wanted to ask you how you are, Gregor,” Alex said, looking at the young Austrian who was sitting on the bed, tears still running down his cheeks. Gregor shrugged.
“Feeling empty. It’s like I don’t feel myself when jumping. Something’s wrong, but I don’t know what. It went so well in Vikersund and now I was only eighth, which is just… The jumps weren’t good at all, although I jumped 110 meters before on that hill. I just don’t get it, I…” Gregor began explaining, and there were more tears in his eyes again. He really was desperate.
“There’s so much pressure on me, I think I can’t handle it,” the young ski jumper admitted, “I’m sorry, Alex, for what I said before.” Alex shook his head.
“No, it’s okay. If you don’t want to jump tomorrow then I’ll accept that,” the chief coach said, but Gregor shook his head.
“I want to jump,” the young Austrian responded. Alex nodded.
“Okay, I’ll leave you two alone again. I’ll see you at the victory ceremony later, Thomas,” the chief coach replied and left the room again. Thomas had to get ready for the victory ceremony but he promised Gregor to be back soon after it again, even if Gregor told him to celebrate as long as he wanted.
When Thomas came back after the ceremony and some celebrating with his gold medal around his neck Gregor was already sleeping peacefully. The World Champion was careful not to wake Gregor up when he fetched the things he needed for the bathroom and then, after he had placed the gold medal on the bedside table, he went showering. When he came back from the bathroom Gregor wasn’t sleeping anymore, but he was still lying in bed and looking at Thomas. His eyes were still swollen but he wasn’t crying anymore.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” Thomas asked, but Gregor shook his head, shifting a little.
“No, I couldn’t really sleep. I just slept for about half an hour,” the young ski jumper explained. Thomas turned off the bathroom light and lay down next to Gregor, pulling the cover over them.
“Come here,” Thomas said, letting Gregor lean against the curve of his body, where he felt warmth and where he felt accepted and loved, no matter how he had jumped. Thomas waited until Gregor was asleep, steadily stroking through his lover’s hair, and then he allowed himself to go to sleep, too, his arm around Gregor, as if he was protecting him from all the pressure.