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The blood roaring in Juliette’s ears was almost as loud as the crowd in the stands around her as she ducked under a plasma pulse and charged down the pitch. Her eyes darted to the side, and she saw Estelle blink into place to send the core screaming in her direction.
She dropped into a slide, launching the core at a wide angle to bounce off the wall and across the scoring line, just out of the goalie’s reach.
A technicolor light show flared as the core slid into the goal, and she heard Ai.Mi let out a string of frustrated curses. Juliette looked up to confirm what she already knew – the scoreboard said 3-2, match point. She let out a breath and relaxed her grip on her gauntlet, letting it fall to the ground next to her.
An excited shout pulled her attention back down to Earth, and she looked behind her to see Estelle running towards her. Slender, blue-tipped fingers grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into an excited hug. Juliette looked up to see a rare, beaming smile had lit up the taller woman’s face. With the adrenaline still running through her veins, Juliette didn’t think. She just leaned forward.
The cheers of the stadium somehow grew even louder as their lips slotted together. For a moment, everything faded into the background except how soft Estelle was. Then, she abruptly stiffened, and Juliette pulled back. Estelle stared down at her, eyes wide, a bright red flush coloring her cheeks. Reality came crashing back down on Juliette’s head.
I just kissed Estelle. I just kissed Estelle, and I didn’t even ask first, and we’re standing in the middle of the arena, and everyone saw.
A chill ran down Juliette’s spine as her exuberance faded and gave way to fear. Estelle stood stock-still, save for her hand which had come up to cover her mouth. Blue eyes darted nervously around the stadium, and she took half a step away from Juliette.
Juliette turned and ran.
“Stupid.” Clang. “Hot headed.” Clang. “Amateur!” Clang.
Juliette groaned in frustration, banged her head against her locker door one last time, and then pushed away from it to fall back onto the bench in the middle of the room. She couldn’t believe she had just done that; she was supposed to be a professional now, not some high schooler with a crush.
Juliette dropped her head into her hands as she tried to sort out what to do next. “Okay, I’m scheduled for the dinner rush at the soondubu shop, so I’ll just give Estelle some space tonight and beg for forgiveness tomorrow. Hopefully I didn’t ruin everything by making it super awkward.”
“...Juliette?” Estelle’s voice sounded from the other side of the locker room door.
“...Which only works if I don’t sit around in the locker room that I know we share.” Juliette groaned again, then jumped to her feet and forced a grin as Estelle pushed her way into the room. “Heeey Estelle! So sorry about that out there, I don’t know what I was thinking…”
“Juliette…”
“...was so unprofessional, and I am so sorry, I just got caught up in the moment, but that’s not an excuse, and…”
“Juliette.”
“...should never have sprung that on you like that, or at all really, and…”
“Juliette!”
Juliette clamped her mouth shut at the uncharacteristically sharp tone. She looked up and saw Estelle watching her with her arms crossed, a single perfect eyebrow arched questioningly. After a moment, she spoke again. “You left your gauntlet on the field.”
“Wh… what?” Juliette stammered.
Estelle held out Juliette’s gauntlet. “You dropped it on the field and ran off. You need to take better care of your gear. Lord knows what might have happened if Rasmus got his hands on it.”
Juliette cautiously reached out and took her gauntlet. “...Thanks?”
“You’re welcome. Training is at 0600 tomorrow, don’t be late,” Estelle said. She walked past Juliette and started removing her own gear. Juliette hastily shoved her gauntlet into her locker and slipped out of the room.
Juliette dropped her grease-covered apron into the employee laundry hamper and blew out a sigh as she went to clock out. It had been a long shift; the match earlier had been televised, which of course meant that everyone had seen, and she had spent the entire night dodging questions and putting up with a bunch of old men (and a few old women) leering at her like she was a piece of meat. At least her newfound Corestrike fame meant that nobody tried to grab at her anymore.
She made her way through the darkened city streets. It was nice to be in her own neighborhood again; downtown Ahten City was brightly lit at all hours of the day, and it was overwhelming at the best of times. Things were quiet down here, though Juliette’s ears still instinctively noticed the telltale sounds of a pickup game a few streets over. She fought the urge to divert her steps. She would need her energy for training in the morning. She couldn’t afford to get hurt pushing herself through the night like she used to.
She froze in place. Estelle had said they would be training at 0600 tomorrow, and she was halfway to her grandma’s house, clear across the city. There was no way she would be able to make it to training on time if she spent the night at home and had to catch a train. She’d have to go back to her room near the training fields.
The room she shared with Estelle. Oh no.
Juliette stood in front of the door, room key in hand. This didn’t have to be weird; she slept here more often than not these days. It was late, and Estelle would probably already be asleep. She wouldn’t even have to talk to her. She just had to unlock the door, get ready for bed, and get enough sleep so she wouldn’t be dead on her feet the next day.
She turned on her heel, crossed the hall, and knocked on Dubu’s door instead.
After a moment, a muted thumping on the other side of the door announced her best friend’s approach. The door opened a crack, and he peered out at her.
“Dubu? Dudubu?” Dubu’s normally chipper voice was gravelly with sleep.
“I had a shift at the soondubu shop, and I was halfway back to Grandma’s before I remembered we have training first thing in the morning.”
“Du? Dubu dubudu? Dubu dubu.”
“I know that! That’s, uh… actually why I’m bothering you.” Juliette anxiously ran a hand through her hair. “I was wondering if I could sleep in here tonight?”
“Dubu, dubudub dubu?”
“No, my bed is fine, I just… I mean, you were on the field earlier too, you saw… what happened. I just don’t want to make things any more awkward, y’know?”
“Du, dubuuu. Dubudubu, dubu. Dubu dubu dubuuu.”
“I know that! I just… wanted to give her some space, okay? Please, Dubu? For me? I brought takeout from the shop…”
Dubu gave her a flat stare. “...Dubu. Dubudu. Dubudubuudubu, dubu dubu dubuu.”
Juliette felt her face heat up. “Dubu! I was not pining, and anyway, she was straight. What did you want me to do?”
Dubu chuckled softly, then waved for her to come in. “Dubudubu, Bu. Dubu dubu.”
“...Thanks, Dubu. You’re the best.”
Juliette panted as she finished her twelfth lap. If she hadn’t already been familiar with Estelle’s normal training regimen, she would have thought she was trying to kill her. She was used to it by now, though, and she couldn’t deny it had made a huge difference in her performance on the field. The physical agony was fine; the miserable part was that Estelle still hadn’t said anything.
Did she just want to pretend it hadn’t happened? That stung a little, but Juliette supposed there were worse possible outcomes. She and Dubu still had their place on the team, Estelle didn’t seem to hate her, and they could just go back to how everything was before. But after she’d been hounded by customers all through the night, she doubted that the media was just going to let it go, and she wasn’t nearly as good at managing reporters as Estelle was. She got flustered at the best of times, and she couldn’t avoid them forever. It was a minor miracle that they hadn’t hunted her down at the restaurant yet.
As they switched to a rapid passing drill, Juliette pondered over what to do. She should say something, right? Dubu was right, she couldn’t just let this fester. Even if Estelle was content to forget it had happened, Juliette was pretty sure that she herself couldn’t. She’d never been good at suppressing anything, which was exactly how she got herself into this mess in the first place. It would just get more awkward. She needed to rip the band aid off. She would say something after this practice, clear the air, figure-
Juliette’s thought process was cut short as the core arced in from her left; she was too preoccupied to rotate her gauntlet into its path before everything went black.
“…liette, Juliette, hey! There you are, I’ve got you. See my finger? I need you to follow it, okay? Just with your eyes, keep your head still.”
Juliette blinked spots out of her vision as she swam back into consciousness. Her eyes locked onto the delicate finger that was slowly moving back and forth in front of her. Awareness came back in stages. She was on her back; someone had slid a soft pillow under her head, and Estelle was gazing down at her with concerned blue eyes as she moved her hand back and forth, followed diligently by Juliette’s pupils. She was also upside down. Or maybe Juliette was? Why was she upside down?
…There was no pillow. Estelle was upside down because Juliette’s head was in her lap. Juliette tried to shoot up but was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder.
“Easy, there. You took a nasty hit, move slowly. I need to make sure you’re not concussed,” Estelle said, voice soft and smooth. Juliette gulped, forced herself to take a calming breath, and then carefully pushed herself upright. Estelle’s hand slid from her shoulder to the small of her back to support her as she centered herself.
“I’m okay! I’m okay, I’m so sorry, I was distracted, I swear it won’t happen again, I- “
“Juliette, breathe. Slow and steady,” Estelle interrupted. “Do you know where you are? Do you know what day it is?”
Juliette forced her nerves down as she obediently oriented herself. “I- yeah, yeah. I’m good. I’m on the training fields. It’s… Monday. Mid morning. We were doing… passing drills? Yeah, passing drills. I got sloppy, I’m really sorry,” she finished sheepishly.
Estelle smirked. “It happens. You seem okay, but I’m going to take you to the medic, just to be safe.”
“Yeah, I know. No more pushing through possible injuries, I remember. I don’t want to mess up your training though, I’m sure I can make it on my own,” Juliette said. She rose to her feet, and mentally cursed her legs for wobbling slightly as she did so.
Estelle looked at her skeptically. “You’ll do no such thing. I’m walking you there. We don’t mess around with this, Juliette.”
“It’s fine, really! Or, hey, Dubu can take me! No worries, we’re used to it.” Juliette forced a laugh as she spoke.
“Dubu is still running laps. I can be done for the day; my priority is to make sure my other forward is okay. Come on.” Estelle looped an arm around Juliette’s waist and tugged her in the direction of the medical building. Juliette reluctantly let her weight slump into Estelle’s grip and followed along.
The medic gave her a clean bill of health without too much fuss. She’d just been stunned, no real damage. They told her to take it easy for the rest of the day and pushed their way out of the room.
Estelle sat in a nearby chair, flipping idly through a magazine that had been sitting on the side table. Silence hung heavily in the air. Juliette sighed; she clearly couldn’t afford to put this off any longer.
“Hey, so… Estelle? We should… probably talk. About what happened yesterday,” she tried.
Estelle hummed noncommittally but closed the magazine and set it aside. She looked at Juliette expectantly.
“…Okay, so first I want to say I am so sorry for just… dropping that on you all of a sudden. It was super over-the-line, and getting hyped up on the win is no excuse,” Juliette said.
Estelle gave a small nod of acknowledgement, but her face remained impassive. She motioned for Juliette to continue.
“Second, I know that I’m doing this super backwards, but I’ve sort of… developed feelings for you? It’s just… the way you give your all to every match, how patient you always are with me and Dubu, and also uh… you’re, like, really beautiful? I mean, you know that, you were a model, but I figured I should… y’know, say it. Um. I’m babbling. Anyway, I swear I can keep it under wraps, I should’ve said something sooner instead of trying to bottle it up,” she finished. She glanced up nervously at Estelle, who looked like she was trying to puzzle something out.
After a long moment, Estelle finally spoke. “Do you know that you talk in your sleep?” she asked.
Juliette blinked. “Uh… no? I… what does that have to do with anything?”
Estelle smiled gently at her. “This isn’t as much of a surprise to me as you might imagine. The other night you seemed unusually restless, and I was about to wake you when you mumbled something about wanting to… what was it, ‘climb me like a tree’?” Juliette blanched and started to stammer out another apology, but Estelle continued to speak over her. “In any case, I’m sure you’re aware that I am exceptionally busy with training throughout the week, but I am free this Saturday, as, I believe, are you.”
Juliette’s brain screeched to a halt. “…What?”
“I think dinner would be most appropriate. I know a lovely restaurant by the river in downtown Ahten, if you would be so kind as to join me there,” Estelle continued.
“Join you there? What do you-“ Juliette’s words were cut off as Estelle shushed her with her index finger.
“I am unfamiliar with practices in the lower city, but around here courtship is customarily initiated by a series of dates before any profusions of intense physical affection,” Estelle said matter-of-factly.
“Intense physical- wait, dates? What?!” Juliette gaped at Estelle as her brain desperately tried to catch up.
“Hmm, that blow to the head does seem to have made things difficult for you to process. Perhaps this will help,” Estelle said. Then she leaned forward and kissed her.
The sparks of a Corestrike goal had nothing on the experience of being kissed by Estelle. Juliette felt herself sigh and relax forward to meet her; after a long moment, Estelle gently pulled away.
“I expect to be picked up at 1900 on Saturday. Don’t be late. ” She conjured a rose of ice, tucked it into a vase by the bed, gave Juliette a roguish wink, and strutted out of the room.
…Huh. Well, that went a lot better than expected. Juliette stared at the ceiling. Dubu’s gloating was going to be insufferable.