SATURDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (The World)

[gluttoning]

[FOOTBALL NOISES

aka this for IRL football watching or any communications outside Fragment. Yay football. :)]

Comments

[tinged]

[ a blessing and a curse are two sides of the same coin. maybe… that coin is hani. what if they’re the curse that’s spreading to all the people they care about? nothing bad ever happens to hani. but there’s ganymede, morgan, bear, even going as far as back as - justy. all these people so dear to their heart and all of them touched by this foul thing.

hani doesn’t want to think this way; hani doesn’t want to feel this way.

bad things happen in life, they know that. but this… this is a pattern. and they need to find out why. they will.

but first.

first hani has to walk through this door and smile for bear, some flimsy attempt, the corners heavy. at the very least, they can be here for him, right now. whatever that means, whatever they can offer. it may be nothing, but it’s there. ]

…Good morning, Bear-kun.

[gluttoning]

[He mumbles a response, hand reaching off a little further, tugging the IV mindlessly with the motion to stretch off the side of the bed.

Everything smells of sterile and blood and plaster. Not for him. The world is warm and drifting. A space between dreams. He doesn't understand where he is, but he doesn't mind.]

Tiny. Tiny, tiny. Little Hani.

[His fingers open a bit more, as though beckoning weakly.]

Y'r here.

[tinged]

[ if he could have smiled like this after winning the game with him on the field...

slowly, hani walks up to him, and puts their hand in his with some hesitation. ]

I'm here. Look... [ they try for a bigger smile because he deserves that much from them. ] Like this, I'm on top again.

[ their hand rests on top of his, holding tight. ]

[gluttoning]

[His laugh is gravely and rough, his fingers curling with a grip that doesn't quite hold.]

Y' taller th'n me again.

Makin' me miss tiny Hani...

[tinged]

But if - [ hani stop. swallows. very gently they continue, asking a question that only they can answer. ] - if I’m always tiny, there won’t be enough of me to cover Bear-kun.

[ if something like this happened again. and it will, it will. ]

[gluttoning]

T's okay. My job.

[He weakly pulls their hand, as thought trying to cup it to his chest. He's far too weary to do it, leaving it halfway there, his arm propped up like he's not sure what to do with the appendage.]

Coverin's my job. Not Hani's.

[tinged]

[ they finish for him, pushing when he can’t pull anymore, until their entwined hands lay on his chest. just as a lump drops in theirs, a tear trails down their face. ]

That’s silly, Bear-kun. When it rains, both people need to be covered.

[gluttoning]

Eh-?? Ehhhhh--

[He holds the hand close, comfortable. His eyes see but don't see that they have started to shed tears. It's their face. How happy to see a face.]

Gotta fin' a biiiig umb -bri, um... brella then. Just for you 'n me.

[tinged]

[ drugs making him sweet and comfortable with hani in a way he isn’t often. ]

A bigger one, I think. For the others, too, if they want to join.

[gluttoning]

[He nods emphatically, dragging Hani's touch past his oxygen tube to splat it clumsily against his head.]

No rain. Could just be dry 'n happy.

'N together.

[tinged]

Yes, together…

[ softly, so softly. even the fingers stroking his hair are too careful, as if afraid he’ll break again. ]

We promised, didn’t we? To be friends for a long, long time.

[gluttoning]

You wanna be frien's, Hani...

[His smile widens a bit. Bright, kept captive by the simplicity.]

Could be your frien'. I'd like it.

[tinged]

I… would be really happy if we could.

[ another swallow.

hani brings their hands to where their chest aches. ]

Right here, okay? I’ll keep you right here. [ what comes out next is shaky and wet: ] Why… why don’t you sleep… a little more? There’s a surprise when you wake up.

[gluttoning]

Mn... mn.

[A shallow nod, shifting just barely where he lays. His face tightens in fogged pain, fingers flinching against Hani's chest. But it passes, and he curls the weight of his hand against Hani's top.]

...Wake me up. M'... not ready to go yet...

[He doesn't meant it morbidly. A surprise... nobody wants to miss a surprise. But Hani's heart beats behind his fingers, and it lulls him easily, his fingers slowly going limp in Hani's hands as his breathing steadies.]

[tinged]

I will.

[ hani sits there with him while the world passes them by. there’s no one else in the room to see their shoulders shake for long moments on end. by the time the nurses come to check on bear, they’ve tucked his hands under the blanket and arranged him comfortably and carefully.

now there’s just calls to make and answers to find - and two people they need to see before they go. ]