Snippet from a Kylian x Michael WIP
Their game against Senegal began and Kylian felt the weight of an entire nation bore down on him. He ran prematurely and lost the ball. He got tackled easily. He couldn’t complete passes. He wasn’t at the level he needed to be, the level his team and country needed him to be. He was someone who usually didn’t let the pressure get to him easily but today it did.
Senegal played well. Their interceptions were consistent, defending more than they were attacking or doing anything else. The game was mostly played in France’s half of the pitch but the attackers were locked down. At least, that was how it went for the first half. Back in the locker room during the break, Kylian gave a rousing speech. It was passionate and to the point. The message couldn’t have been clear:
Michael had been watching him throughout and now he approached him where he sat on the bench. Michael didn’t shy from sitting flush against him even though they were both shirtless. The skin contact jolted Kylian but it didn’t show on his face.
“Are you good?” Michael asked. He was towelling the sweat off his face. The heat was like nothing else.
Kylian drank from his bottle for a while, stalling. “I’m fine. I just need us to win.”
“We will,” Michael assured him. “You just...remember who you’re out there, yeah? And trust that I’ll find you.”
Kylian stared at him. He couldn’t say that he was shocked by the words, but they awakened something. He knew he was staring and Michael held his gaze, staring right back. There was something so incredibly steady about him. Kylian relaxed finally.
“Thank you,” Kylian said.
He bumped their shoulders together. It was becoming a thing of theirs. They would find each other during training. Kylian would bring over a bottle of water for Michael. The younger man would blink in surprise, and then he would give Kylian one of his rare smiles before bumping their shoulders and drinking.
Michael would say something that would sound like an insult but wasn’t and Kylian would be helpless against the laughter that bubbled out of him. Michael would look at him as though his mission was accomplished, smug as hell. Kylian has realised the mission was to always make him smile and the knowledge settled somewhere between his ribs. He paid it no mind even though it was a part of him.
“I’ve got you,” Michael said now. “Just breathe and let go.”
Michael was no liar, not at all. He’s a magician, a beast, a ball whisperer. He made everything easy. The runs he made when he dribbled past defenders to find his fellow attackers, the way he dropped back to connect with the midfielders and helped with defending. He made it look so fucking easy, his play style was as nonchalant as the man himself.
Kylian loosened up and positioned himself where he needed to be. Michael found him just as he promised he would. The ball didn’t spend unnecessary time on his foot before Kylian launched it into the net. It wasn’t one of his prettier strikes but it got the job done. They had the lead and Kylian’s confidence was back.
His second goal of the day was the stuff football high light dreams were made of. He saw Michael’s pass and he made the run. It was perfect, like the stars aligned. He could not help but think whether this partnership was fated.
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