Work Text:
“Is the water okay?”
Jamie tentatively dipped a hand into the bath water for the umpteenth time, worried it was either too warm or too cool for Dani.
“Sí, hermano, gracias,” Dani answered, gently circling a hand around Jamie’s wrist to still his nervous movements.
Jamie nodded as Dani released his hand and scooped a cup into the tub, pouring the water over Dani’s hair as he tilted his head back. Jamie squirted the shampoo into his hands before rubbing them together slightly and massaging his suds-covered fingers into his friend’s scalp and hair. Dani vibrated under his touch like a particularly pleased cat.
It took longer than Jamie thought to clear the shampoo from his friend's hair, but Jamie made sure he got it all out, with cup after cup of water, before adding the conditioner to the ends.
“You know,amigo,” Dani said, catching his friend's eye as Jamie concentrated. “I could do this myself. My knee is injured, not my arms.”
Jamie’s face must have betrayed his concern that he was being overbearing, because Dani quickly continued, “not that I am not enjoying it.”
It was a familiar refrain from his father, that Jamie was too much.
“Yeah, I know, but I wanted to. This way, you could relax,” Jamie shrugged as he picked the cup up again, rinsing the conditioner from Dani’s hair with the water and his other hand.
“You would do the same for me,” Jamie said, peering up at Dani’s face in anticipation of his response.
Brown eyes met grey and a smile spread across Dani’s lips, “of course I would Jamie Tartt.”
Dani would likely do the same for anyone, though Jamie didn’t say that.
When Jamie first came back to Richmond, the reintegration was rocky and Jamie spent a lot of time feeling like an outsider. Things improved slightly after the Dubai Air protest but at times after it felt like two steps forward one step back. But Dani warmed back to him quickly, like that first day of training right before Jamie’s loan ended. The loneliness after Zava joined the team hurt in a way Jamie didn’t think was possible during his first season with Richmond, but since the striker’s retirement, Jamie’s slowly regained his footing with the team, with Dani seemingly going out of his way to make Jamie feel loved like he used to.
So Jamie didn’t feel like he had to help care for Dani while he was injured; more Dani made him want to do it.
Taking his time, Jamie worked the conditioner out of Dani’s hair, ensuring there wasn’t any left before placing the cup on the tub’s edge.
“Now get in, and I will wash your hair,” Dani offered and motioned with his hand for Jamie to join him in the bath.
“Oh, um, no thanks,” Jamie said, sitting back on his heels. “I mean, that’s okay. I don’t want to hurt your knee or nothing.”
“I think this tub is big enough for both of us. ¡Vamos!”
When Jamie couldn’t think of any further objection, he slowly stripped down, and followed Dani’s instructions to sat with his back to the older man, careful to avoid jostling Dani’s injured knee. Jamie leaned back, resting his head on Dani’s shoulder while he wet Jamie’s hair before he massaged the shampoo into Jamie’s scalp as he had done earlier for Dani.
“I always loved this part,” Jamie whispered as he felt his body go boneless.
“I will have to give you a scalp massage more often, then,” Dani said, and Jamie could feel the smile on his friend’s face without even looking.
Once Jamie’s hair was washed and conditioned, they lay in the tub together, Jamie’s head on Dani’s chest, and he scratched idly at Jamie’s scalp and wet hair with one hand and wrapped the other around Jamie’s waist. Jamie traced lazy circles into the bubbles floating on the water, trying to think of the last time he had felt this safe and loved and cared for.
When the water began to cool, Jamie sat up, turning his boyd to face Dani in the tub, careful of his teammate’s sprained knee. He took in his friend’s tired smile, etched with pain but not dimmed in the slightest. Even after Zava’s retirement, Jamie was unsure there was much that could dim Dani’s light, at least to him.
“I was supposed to be the one taking care of you,” Jamie said, a hint of guilt cooling his skin even more than the water.
“My abuela always said that when you love someone, you take care of each other.”
Jamie nodded, warmth spread through his chest into his limbs. His throat was thick with emotion and he cleared his throat, unused to the feeling as he struggled to find the right thing to say in return.
Any words Jamie could think of saying in reply felt suddenly inadequate. There aren’t enough words in the English or the Spanish language to properly convey the love he feels for Dani Rojas, the love he feels when Dani looks at him. So Jamie did the only thing he could think of: he kissed him, slow and longing, hoping his lips and body could convey everything his words could never.
Jamie pulled away, the uncertainty of his actions causing his heart to beat violently in his chest. But when Dani kissed him back, urgent and wanting, Jamie knew Dani felt the same way. They might have different native languages, but their bodies didn't need interpreters. Their bodies knew precisely what the other needed, what the other felt.
They remained in the tub long after the water ran cold, letting their touches, their hands and their lips be their only communication.
And for every bus ride during the rest of their time as teammates, Dani spent it with his hands scratching and massaging Jamie’s head while Jamie dozed happily in his lap. And every post-match recovery was spent entwined together, no words necessary.