the cold never bothers him anyway
Summary: It's snowing all over, but for some reasons, Nico feels even warmer than ever.
Set during West Brom vs Arsenal game, within my supernatural au.
"Okay, first of all, I want you guys to know this isn't my doing," Ainsley states as they step onto the snow-covered pitch.
Perhaps it's saying something that the young midfielder feels the need to say that, Nico thinks. Ainsley is normally a cool, composed player on the pitch, especially when taking pens, and that particular behavior of his translates perfectly into the kind of magic he specializes himself in. His experiments with ice spells has led into more than one accidents at their training ground and caused Hector more headaches than necessary.
But Nico also understands why Ainsley doesn't want to be blamed for that, because it is indeed freezing. Everyone is shivering as they huddle together to start their warm-up routine and Nico wonders how heavy the snowfall should be before the officials agree to postpone the match.
Then Kieran walks onto the pitch and the Ivorian winger can't help staring at him, and he knows he's not the only one.
The Scottish left-back is dressed as if he's going to play at Ibiza in the summer – short-sleeved kit and shorts, no more, no less. Looking at himself, who's tightly wrapped in undershirts, snoods, gloves and woolen hats, Nico suddenly feels very overdressed, though nearly the whole team are wearing the same thing.
Ignoring a few whistles and comments from the other players ("you don't need to act like a tough guy" from Auba and "damn, KT, sure your superpower isn't thermal manipulation?" from Rob), Kieran just calmly takes a spot and starts his own warm-up. As he stretches his leg, Nico notices how the younger's socks are even rolled down. A few inches of his pale, yet muscular calves are painfully visible.
And that sight somehow sends a heatwave rushing to Nico's face.
A sharp elbow pokes his back, and Nico doesn't need to turn around to know that it's Laca. "Stop gawking," the French forward whispers, a certain glee in his voice that tells Nico it's better not to turn around.
If there's a moment in his life Nico regrets more than anything, it's the day he told Auba and Laca about his not-so-little crush towards Kieran. Nevertheless, he still whispers back, "I'm not gawking," though he knows it's no use. Those two will still tease him until the day ends.
Thankfully, at that time Mikel appears and tells his team to change into their match kit and prepare for the game, and Nico's never been more thankful to run to the dressing room so that he can avoid Auba and Laca. Bukayo plays right wing today, so he's dropped to the bench, and while he's a little disappointed, Nico just decides to work harder next time, besides he can watch Kieran better that way.
And Kieran doesn't disappoint. After some of his crosses fail to lead into goals, he takes the matter into his own hands. Nico watches, his heart in his mouth as the Scotsman dribbles past his marker and finally takes a shot with his weaker right foot to the top corner of West Brom's net.
No deafening cheers nor supporters singing Kieran's name, but Nico yells his throat hoarse at that goal alongside the others on the bench, and he swears that the Scotsman, amidst his own celebration with the others on the pitch, glances at him for one-nth second and gives him a small grin.
And again, Nico feels his cheeks heating up.
It's still snowing heavily and the wind's blowing harder than ever, but seeing Kieran's grin, Nico just knows everything will be alright.
