Superstition (Robin van Persie/Mathieu Flamini), PG.
Title: Superstition
Pairing: Robin van Persie/Mathieu Flamini, with bits of Robin van Persie/Cesc Fabregas, Aleks Hleb/Tomas Rosicky, Cesc Fabregas/Philippe Senderos.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine and not real except that Mathieu actually has worn his bandages since the beginning of the season and Robin was injured.
A/N: Prompt request for pippopippo. I got the feeling you wanted bandages, darl ;-) but I threw other random bits in. Hope it's as good as you wanted it to be.
Gary refers to Gary Lewin, the Arsenal physio.
"Did you know Aleks and Tomas aren't supposed to be compatible at all?"
You look up to find Cesc poking his head out from behind the seat in front of him. Aleks pops his head up too, looking somewhat distressed.
"'Your love signs are inconjunct, or in signs that are inconjunct to each other.'" Aleks reads, from a book with a pink cover. Mathieu, sitting next to you and listening in, snatches the book off him.
"Blah blah... oh look. 'The chemistry is either present and powerful or not present at all.'" He closes it and inspects the cover. "'A beginners guide to the stars.' Where'd you get this book??"
Cesc points at Aleks accusingly. "It's his."
"I practice my English with it! And you recom-...rec-...you said it was a good book!" Cesc's ears turn faint red.
(You feel a headache coming on).
"But what about you and Aleks?" Mathieu's thinking aloud and flipping through the pages. "Taurus and Taurus." He pauses to read. "You two would get along like a house on fire."
"But I don't even like him! Not like that!" They say simultaneously, and there is an awkward silence. You repress the urge to laugh, and remove the book from Mathieu's hand.
"Aleks, I'm sure you and Tomas will be just fine. Your attraction is - ah, see here - 'magnetic and binding and unreasonable'. And your English is improving so that's all that matters." A slap on the back and Aleks is muttering and nodding to himself distractedly before Cesc asks you to hand the book over.
"Mathieu, you're Pisces, right? You and Robin are... in the same situation as Tomas and Aleks. I shouldn't be worried, right Robin? I mean, me and you have CLASH written in big letters." You lean forward to read the page. 'A very direct and obvious clash of temperaments. Sometimes, the relationship seems impossible.' "Can't you have found a more reliable book for Aleks, Cesc?" you ask, and he beams at you before sitting properly in his seat again.
Mathieu bursts into a fit of giggles. You catch his eye and he arches an eyebrow, grinning. You can't help but grin back and shake your head before turning back to the window.
**
"Robin?"
You turn around and see Mathieu, decked in a clean kit (it'll get dirty soon) and his hair sticking out at odd angles.
He walks over and grins and thrusts his hand in your face.
"What?"
"You - can you fix my bandage?" he asks, grinning mischieviously again whilst he dangles a bandage in front of your face with his other hand.
"Gary -"
"Can't find him! Comeon, we have to get out there soon!"
You snatch the bandage off Mathieu, grabbing his injured wrist and laying the strip of cotton over the base of Mathieu's wrist, a pulse firing rapidly beneath your fingertips. Wrap twice, once around the crook between his thumb and index finger, once around the wrist again. You're surprised when the bandage ends and you look up and see him watching you, a smile on his face wider than one you've ever seen.
"Why'd you get me to do it anyway?"
"Cesc said you were learning to wrap nappies."
"But - I just improvised!"
Mathieu rolls his eyes and drags you by the wrist towards the tunnel.
"Judging from this you make an excellent father."
"Remind me to kill Cesc later."
He just turns around and flashes his grin at you in reply.
**
He finds you again at the start of the next match, grinning sheepishly.
"Where's Gary?"
"Busy."
You wrap his bandages, twice around his wrist, once around the crook between his thumb and index finger, once around the wrist again.
"Thanks" he says, and he's smiling at you and dragging you through the tunnel.
"De-ja-vu much?" you ask him, and he shakes his head. You watch as he lines up behind Cesc and he has some kind of serene, hopeful look on his face.
You forget about it when you beat Sparta 2-0.
**
You refuse to do his bandages the next time he bounds over towards you (he reminds you of a puppy - if he had a tail it'd be wagging).
The pang of guilt hits you almost immediately when he looks at you in surprise, and frowns, furrows forming on his forehead hidden beneath the wet fringe that falls over it as he looks down at you still sitting on the bench, rummaging in your bag for your shinguard.
Cesc rescues you and calls him over, but the bandaging becomes something of a disaster, haphazardly wound around Mathieu's arm. Tomas sees it - "No, Cesc, you do it like-" flinching back when Cesc slaps at his hand.
Mathieu shrugs and says "No, it's still good, see? It's not falling off, it's fine, thank you." and disappears down the tunnel, whisked away by Gael Clichy and his rapid French.
Cesc walks over and squeezes your shoulder, telling you to hurry up. You find your shinguard beneath your seat, hastily strap it on, and follow Cesc out the door.
Blackburn draws 1-1.
Mathieu finds you afterwards.
"I have a theory."
"Hey, Mathieu, sorry about before."
He shakes his head impatiently.
"Nevermind that. Are you superstitious?"
He is dead serious.
"Um, no not really."
"Robin, you must bandage my wrist or we drop points."
"What?"
"Do you really want to drop points to test it out?"
**
"Hasn't this healed already?" You ask him one day. (Wrapping twice around the wrist, once around the crook between his thumb and index finger, once around the wrist again).
"We're still winning aren't we?" He grins.
"You owe me," you say.
"You know you like it." He fires back.
You don't dignify that with a reply.
Later, Cesc asks you why Mathieu can't stop smirking.
**
(Post international break)
"I don't believe this!"
You shift the phone so it's slightly further away from your ear.
"Look, Cesc just called me about it, I really just want-"
"We're doomed."
"Don't think like that! It's not like it's my fault! I-"
"Three weeks! You're out for three weeks? Who's going to do my bandages?"
(You feel a headache coming on.)
"I'm out for three weeks and you're worried about the bandages around your wrist? The wrist that doesn't even need a bandage anymore?"
"We'll lose! and it's Liverpool and Manchester up next-"
"-you'll do absolutely fine without me."
"But-"
"Gary will do your bandages again okay?"
"But-"
"Trust me."
"Three weeks. I can't wait three weeks."
You imagine him raking fingers through the curls in his unruly hair.
"I'll miss you too."
**
(Post Manchester United, 2-2)
"Well you didn't exactly lose those games."
"Can you come back already? And it's not you, it's we."
**
(Christmas Party, Cesc's place)
The kitchen door is closed and strange noises are coming out of it. You decide you really don't want to know.
You also wonder if you just lost your appetite.
"Obviously their chemistry is magical and binding." Cesc's voice floats over the Christmas jiggles blasting from the CD player.
"That's what I'm saying. The book tells you, 'Oh, they're crap together because their personalities clash' and then it says 'BUT, the clashing personalities would make the relationship so wonderful and exciting,'" Phil tells him.
"Which means the book basically doesn't tell you anything," adds Gael.
"And what about you, Mathieu? Are you and Robin seriously inconjunct?" They all turn to look at him. (You included).
"Yeah, I suppose," Mathieu replies thoughtfully, "we argue all the time."
"What?! No we don't," you say.
"Yes, yes we do."
"No, no we don't!"
"See? We're arguing right now."
You throw your hands up in the air when Gael laughs and excuse yourself to the empty balcony.
"You alright out here?"
It's Mathieu.
"Yeah. I just don't want another headache, you know?"
"Those again? You really need to see a doctor about getting pills or something."
"I know, I know."
"Robin?" Mathieu walks towards you and light falls on his hair, his shoulders.
"What?"
"You're standing under mistletoe."
"Oh. You believe in that too, don't you?"
Mathieu shrugs. "It's more of a custom than superstition."
"You know I care for Cesc, Mathieu."
"Yes, well." He pauses, turning to look back into the room. "I don't think Cesc will mind."
You look inside the room. Cesc and Phil look flushed. Standing under more mistletoe.
"Oh."
"Well?"
You pick up his wrist, tracing the lines where you'd normally wrap his bandages. Twice around his wrist, once in the crook between Mathieu's thumb and index finger, once around his wrist again. He shudders lightly as you kiss it.
"We're not exactly magnetic."
"Well, our relationship is definitely binding," Mathieu jokes lightly and you smile.
"It's unreasonable."
"Can you lighten up? It's just mistletoe."
So you kiss him on the lips and they open beneath the pressure of yours, warm and inviting. His arms curl up around your shoulders and your hands tangle in the curly strands of his hair.
**
"Mathieu?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't think we're inconjunct."
"Yeah."
Pairing: Robin van Persie/Mathieu Flamini, with bits of Robin van Persie/Cesc Fabregas, Aleks Hleb/Tomas Rosicky, Cesc Fabregas/Philippe Senderos.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine and not real except that Mathieu actually has worn his bandages since the beginning of the season and Robin was injured.
A/N: Prompt request for pippopippo. I got the feeling you wanted bandages, darl ;-) but I threw other random bits in. Hope it's as good as you wanted it to be.
Gary refers to Gary Lewin, the Arsenal physio.
"Did you know Aleks and Tomas aren't supposed to be compatible at all?"
You look up to find Cesc poking his head out from behind the seat in front of him. Aleks pops his head up too, looking somewhat distressed.
"'Your love signs are inconjunct, or in signs that are inconjunct to each other.'" Aleks reads, from a book with a pink cover. Mathieu, sitting next to you and listening in, snatches the book off him.
"Blah blah... oh look. 'The chemistry is either present and powerful or not present at all.'" He closes it and inspects the cover. "'A beginners guide to the stars.' Where'd you get this book??"
Cesc points at Aleks accusingly. "It's his."
"I practice my English with it! And you recom-...rec-...you said it was a good book!" Cesc's ears turn faint red.
(You feel a headache coming on).
"But what about you and Aleks?" Mathieu's thinking aloud and flipping through the pages. "Taurus and Taurus." He pauses to read. "You two would get along like a house on fire."
"But I don't even like him! Not like that!" They say simultaneously, and there is an awkward silence. You repress the urge to laugh, and remove the book from Mathieu's hand.
"Aleks, I'm sure you and Tomas will be just fine. Your attraction is - ah, see here - 'magnetic and binding and unreasonable'. And your English is improving so that's all that matters." A slap on the back and Aleks is muttering and nodding to himself distractedly before Cesc asks you to hand the book over.
"Mathieu, you're Pisces, right? You and Robin are... in the same situation as Tomas and Aleks. I shouldn't be worried, right Robin? I mean, me and you have CLASH written in big letters." You lean forward to read the page. 'A very direct and obvious clash of temperaments. Sometimes, the relationship seems impossible.' "Can't you have found a more reliable book for Aleks, Cesc?" you ask, and he beams at you before sitting properly in his seat again.
Mathieu bursts into a fit of giggles. You catch his eye and he arches an eyebrow, grinning. You can't help but grin back and shake your head before turning back to the window.
**
"Robin?"
You turn around and see Mathieu, decked in a clean kit (it'll get dirty soon) and his hair sticking out at odd angles.
He walks over and grins and thrusts his hand in your face.
"What?"
"You - can you fix my bandage?" he asks, grinning mischieviously again whilst he dangles a bandage in front of your face with his other hand.
"Gary -"
"Can't find him! Comeon, we have to get out there soon!"
You snatch the bandage off Mathieu, grabbing his injured wrist and laying the strip of cotton over the base of Mathieu's wrist, a pulse firing rapidly beneath your fingertips. Wrap twice, once around the crook between his thumb and index finger, once around the wrist again. You're surprised when the bandage ends and you look up and see him watching you, a smile on his face wider than one you've ever seen.
"Why'd you get me to do it anyway?"
"Cesc said you were learning to wrap nappies."
"But - I just improvised!"
Mathieu rolls his eyes and drags you by the wrist towards the tunnel.
"Judging from this you make an excellent father."
"Remind me to kill Cesc later."
He just turns around and flashes his grin at you in reply.
**
He finds you again at the start of the next match, grinning sheepishly.
"Where's Gary?"
"Busy."
You wrap his bandages, twice around his wrist, once around the crook between his thumb and index finger, once around the wrist again.
"Thanks" he says, and he's smiling at you and dragging you through the tunnel.
"De-ja-vu much?" you ask him, and he shakes his head. You watch as he lines up behind Cesc and he has some kind of serene, hopeful look on his face.
You forget about it when you beat Sparta 2-0.
**
You refuse to do his bandages the next time he bounds over towards you (he reminds you of a puppy - if he had a tail it'd be wagging).
The pang of guilt hits you almost immediately when he looks at you in surprise, and frowns, furrows forming on his forehead hidden beneath the wet fringe that falls over it as he looks down at you still sitting on the bench, rummaging in your bag for your shinguard.
Cesc rescues you and calls him over, but the bandaging becomes something of a disaster, haphazardly wound around Mathieu's arm. Tomas sees it - "No, Cesc, you do it like-" flinching back when Cesc slaps at his hand.
Mathieu shrugs and says "No, it's still good, see? It's not falling off, it's fine, thank you." and disappears down the tunnel, whisked away by Gael Clichy and his rapid French.
Cesc walks over and squeezes your shoulder, telling you to hurry up. You find your shinguard beneath your seat, hastily strap it on, and follow Cesc out the door.
Blackburn draws 1-1.
Mathieu finds you afterwards.
"I have a theory."
"Hey, Mathieu, sorry about before."
He shakes his head impatiently.
"Nevermind that. Are you superstitious?"
He is dead serious.
"Um, no not really."
"Robin, you must bandage my wrist or we drop points."
"What?"
"Do you really want to drop points to test it out?"
**
"Hasn't this healed already?" You ask him one day. (Wrapping twice around the wrist, once around the crook between his thumb and index finger, once around the wrist again).
"We're still winning aren't we?" He grins.
"You owe me," you say.
"You know you like it." He fires back.
You don't dignify that with a reply.
Later, Cesc asks you why Mathieu can't stop smirking.
**
(Post international break)
"I don't believe this!"
You shift the phone so it's slightly further away from your ear.
"Look, Cesc just called me about it, I really just want-"
"We're doomed."
"Don't think like that! It's not like it's my fault! I-"
"Three weeks! You're out for three weeks? Who's going to do my bandages?"
(You feel a headache coming on.)
"I'm out for three weeks and you're worried about the bandages around your wrist? The wrist that doesn't even need a bandage anymore?"
"We'll lose! and it's Liverpool and Manchester up next-"
"-you'll do absolutely fine without me."
"But-"
"Gary will do your bandages again okay?"
"But-"
"Trust me."
"Three weeks. I can't wait three weeks."
You imagine him raking fingers through the curls in his unruly hair.
"I'll miss you too."
**
(Post Manchester United, 2-2)
"Well you didn't exactly lose those games."
"Can you come back already? And it's not you, it's we."
**
(Christmas Party, Cesc's place)
The kitchen door is closed and strange noises are coming out of it. You decide you really don't want to know.
You also wonder if you just lost your appetite.
"Obviously their chemistry is magical and binding." Cesc's voice floats over the Christmas jiggles blasting from the CD player.
"That's what I'm saying. The book tells you, 'Oh, they're crap together because their personalities clash' and then it says 'BUT, the clashing personalities would make the relationship so wonderful and exciting,'" Phil tells him.
"Which means the book basically doesn't tell you anything," adds Gael.
"And what about you, Mathieu? Are you and Robin seriously inconjunct?" They all turn to look at him. (You included).
"Yeah, I suppose," Mathieu replies thoughtfully, "we argue all the time."
"What?! No we don't," you say.
"Yes, yes we do."
"No, no we don't!"
"See? We're arguing right now."
You throw your hands up in the air when Gael laughs and excuse yourself to the empty balcony.
"You alright out here?"
It's Mathieu.
"Yeah. I just don't want another headache, you know?"
"Those again? You really need to see a doctor about getting pills or something."
"I know, I know."
"Robin?" Mathieu walks towards you and light falls on his hair, his shoulders.
"What?"
"You're standing under mistletoe."
"Oh. You believe in that too, don't you?"
Mathieu shrugs. "It's more of a custom than superstition."
"You know I care for Cesc, Mathieu."
"Yes, well." He pauses, turning to look back into the room. "I don't think Cesc will mind."
You look inside the room. Cesc and Phil look flushed. Standing under more mistletoe.
"Oh."
"Well?"
You pick up his wrist, tracing the lines where you'd normally wrap his bandages. Twice around his wrist, once in the crook between Mathieu's thumb and index finger, once around his wrist again. He shudders lightly as you kiss it.
"We're not exactly magnetic."
"Well, our relationship is definitely binding," Mathieu jokes lightly and you smile.
"It's unreasonable."
"Can you lighten up? It's just mistletoe."
So you kiss him on the lips and they open beneath the pressure of yours, warm and inviting. His arms curl up around your shoulders and your hands tangle in the curly strands of his hair.
**
"Mathieu?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't think we're inconjunct."
"Yeah."