Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Trent was settling in comfortably at AFC Richmond, he spent the majority of his day observing various interactions with the team. From locker room conversations that were nothing like the stereotype made out, to watching the coaching staff interactions in their office where they spent around three-quarters of the time on coaching and the other quarter on idle chat that made Trent smile. His favourite thing to observe was training, there was so much to see, it was the culmination of the time spent in the locker room and with the coaches. Also from where he was standing he often got the chance to ogle Ted's arse.

He had been worried at first that his deafness would hinder his ability to efficiently observe the team; however, just like in the press conferences, Ted would find a way to incorporate sign language into his speeches or discussions. It was a lot less subtle than in the press room and none of the players seemed to bat an eyelid. Trent often found himself biting back a smile in the middle of the locker room, a little overwhelmed at how utterly caring Ted was.

Ted also found himself dropping little extra things that only Trent could understand; a little darling added onto the end of a sentence, or even a gentle love you as he passed to run training. 

They had also started having conversations across rooms. It was something that Trent had only ever done with his ex-wife or friends from uni, no one else in his life had really cared to know sign language.

It had started out innocent enough, Ted checking in with him, asking if he was okay or if he wanted to have lunch together. It was just easier in the crowded and noisy rooms for Ted to sign, most people had gotten used to it, ignoring whatever was being said between the two men. Trent had caught a few people, especially Will, staring a beat too long but had chalked that up to never having seen people sign before. Whenever someone asked Ted just brushed it off as helping Trent with the book.

Slowly it had developed from lunch plans to dinner plans, Ted getting a little bolder with the assumption that it was only each other that could understand what he was saying. He had started asking Trent if he was going to stay the night, or if they should go back to Trent's place after work. While Trent had been worried at the beginning about Ted's ability to not say something about their relationship this seemed like a good compromise.

It, unfortunately, had come to a head as Ted had begun to ramp up his signing, with the proposition of eating something other than dinner. Trent's hands were stiff as he tried desperately not to let on that there was anything out of the ordinary happening. He could feel the heat rise in his face as he was encapsulated by the things Ted was telling him. And god he was going to make that American pay dearly for getting him all wound up at work.

Unfortunately due to the pair being so focused on each other they had yet to notice the kit man who was slowly turning bright red, desperately trying and failing to avoid noticing what was being signed. 

Suddenly a figure stepped into their line of sight breaking the spell. He gave them both a pointed look before beginning.

I'm very happy for you both, but I swear if I have to watch one more description of your plans for this evening I will scream. This is worse than living at home with both of my deaf parents who don't understand I can hear when they are having sex.

Both of the older men looked down and blushed, signing a very awkward sorry.

"Hey Will, I didn't know you knew sign language." All eyes turned to the kit man standing in the middle of the room, whose blush only grew.

"Both my parents are deaf, so I grew up with it."

The whole team looked around each other and nodded before going back to their conversations. Ted and Trent shared a look before walking off in different directions.

It took a few days for Trent to work up the courage to approach Will. The younger man hadn't said anything to Trent or Ted or even treated them any differently than normal. However Trent had felt very guilty for subjecting Will to their flirting, so Trent made it a point to arrive early and catch Will before the team arrived.

Trent ducked into the boot room pleased to see that Will was already there, instead of having to hunt for the man throughout the building.

"Hey Will," Trent started as he entered the room, catching the attention of the kit man, "I just wanted to apologise for what you had to witness the other day."

Will blushed looking up at the other man, it's okay, like I said, it wasn't anything compared to what my parents used to get up to.

Still, that's no excuse, and thank you for not saying anything to the team, we're still finding our way.

Will nodded, Ted had built a wonderful atmosphere but being queer in the sphere of professional football was something not to be taken lightly. 

Will seemed to hesitate slightly before continuing, I know Ted's been helping but if you wanted I wouldn't mind signing with you, so you don't miss anything

Trent was taken aback slightly, he wasn't expecting to be offered more support when he had come to apologise, I couldn't possibly ask you to do that.

You didn't ask, and if I'm being honest, I've missed signing since I moved out. I'm the only hearing person in my family but since I moved out I've missed how simple the communication was.

Trent could tell Will was nervous about revealing this part of himself, he was offering both to help Trent and to help with his homesickness and how could Trent say no to that?

Chapter Text

Coach Beard, was an enigma, wrapped in a mystery and buried under some sunglasses and a cap. Trent hadn’t paid the man much attention when he had covered Richmond for the Independent. He was a solid coach who seemed to know a lot more about the game than Ted but was happy to be an assistant coach instead. At first that confused Trent, he was blinded by the preconception that managers at football clubs should at least know some of what was happening on the pitch. 

However, as he had started to spend more time around them he realised what a well-oiled machine they were. Beard seemingly had the ability to read Ted’s mind and Ted relied on his closest friend to keep on top of the things that Ted wasn’t able to. Trent had to admire their closeness, he had never really felt that connection with another person, certainly not enough to uproot and move all the way across the world like Beard had done.

That closeness brought its own challenges for the couple however, Trent had insisted that he was fine with Ted telling Beard, Trent’s ex-wife was aware and honestly Trent thought that the two Americans were closer than he and Harriet ever were. But Ted had shaken his head and stated that he wasn’t ready to tell the whole team and didn’t want Beard to have to lie to them. 

Beard had also been one of the lesser welcoming members of AFC Richmond, although Trent couldn’t blame him, he had exposed his friend's mental health issues to the tabloids and no one apart from Ted, Kelley and Trent himself knew the whole story. He much like Roy had steered clear of Trent, refusing to really engage with the reporter-turned-author. He wasn’t openly hostile but enough that it couldn’t just be played off as his usual quiet nature. 

Luckily it hadn’t been too long after Roy had allowed the players to talk around Trent that Beard had begun to open up slightly. It wasn’t especially noticeable at first, but being an ex-reporter Trent picked up on it almost immediately. The way the coach would ensure that he was properly enunciating his words and speaking slightly louder than he had been, or the way that he waited until Ted had finished speaking and signing something before he would start talking, allowing more time for Trent to understand what was happening.  One night as Ted and Trent were sharing dinner at Trent’s flat, Ted commented on the change in Beard’s behaviour, comparing it to that infamous nod from the first day they spent together. Neither man mentioned who had been on the receiving end of the nod.

—

It had been another tough match, AFC Richmond had managed to claw a draw back from the opposing team but despite Ted’s best efforts, the team were still upset with the result, especially as Dixon had sustained a bad sprain in his ankle and was likely to be out for most of the next weeks training and their next match. It was a subdued atmosphere as the players and coaches trickled out, some quiet words were spoken but no plans for celebrations were made. 

Ted and Trent had ended up walking back to Ted’s flat together, gentle conversation soothing them both. Trent could tell Ted was taking both the loss and the team's reaction hard, he felt responsible for those boys and it was hard for him to see them so upset. They had a quiet, intimate dinner before Trent took Ted’s hand and gently guided him into bed. The writer wrapped his arms around the coach, holding him and letting all the tension of the day melt away until they fell asleep wrapped in each other’s warmth.

Trent woke the next morning to the sun peaking through the blinds and some gentle kisses being peppered down his body, he moan appreciatively and stretched as he felt a certain moustache tickle his left thigh. He can feel Ted’s hands massaging down his body until they reach his thighs as well, Trent sleepily tangles on hand in Ted’s hair but before he can do anything he can feel the other man’s whole body tense.

Trent looks down, squinting due to his lack of glasses and sees Ted’s eyes are wide and panicked. He worries for a moment, thinking he’s done something wrong, it’s not like Ted had ever objected to Trent’s hand in his hair before. Suddenly there is movement out of the corner of his eye and Trent swings his head around in time to see Coach Beard burst into the room.

All three men freeze, unsure of what to do, before Beard nods and slowly backs out of the door, closing it on the two naked men.

What the fuck Ted?

I heard him seconds before he opened the door, he was shouting something about his hot water being broken.

Well, I know that now, considering he just saw an eyeful of what had been a very enjoyable wake-up call.  

He’s still here. Ted paused. He’s telling us to put clothes on, he has questions.

Trent sighs and falls back into the bed.

It is an awkward affair to say the least as Ted and Trent finally emerge from the bedroom, Trent having now donned his glasses and hearing aids. Beard was sat at the kitchen table with three mugs of coffee already poured. He barely allowed them a moment to sit down before he began.

"So, the two of you? How long’s that been going for?"

"Eight months," Ted answered, mostly unashamed, adding some extra sugar to Trent's coffee before sliding it over to him.

Beard's impressive brows furrowed as he mentally put the timeline together, "But that would mean…"

"Yes, Ted and I were together when I wrote the article." Trent didn't need to be specific, they all knew which article he meant.

Beard was silent for a few moments and Trent could feel the anxiety rise within him, his partner's best friend had just found them together in bed. Trent knew how much Ted valued his opinion, if he had a negative reaction to it then… Well, Trent didn't want to think where that could leave them.

"I just thought the two of you were going to spend the whole season pining over each other. I'm glad you guys worked it out."

What?

"You knew?" Ted asked, seemingly even more shocked than Trent was at this turn of events.

"What about the big stinkin' crush you got on Trent? Of course Ted, I've known you for years. And Trent, you are not at all subtle with where your eyes are when we are at practice."

"So." Trent clears his throat. "You're okay with this?"

"As long as I can go and take a shower and I never have to see whatever the fuck that was again, sure. You both seem good for each other."

As Beard left to finally go and shower, Ted turned around and raised his eyebrow at Trent.

"What did he mean? Where are you looking during practice, Daniel Radcliffe?"

Trent groaned before pulling out his hearing aids and laying his head down on the table. He felt a kiss being placed on the top of his head as Ted began to make breakfast, hopefully forgetting all about this conversation.

Chapter Text

One of the strangest things to come out of his time at AFC Richmond was a budding friendship with Roy Kent, despite their rocky start. Sharing an office seemed to bring the men slightly closer together, whenever either man went for a coffee run there was an unspoken rule that they grabbed the other man some as well. Trent wasn’t entirely sure how it started but he was incredibly grateful when he lost himself writing a chapter and picked up his mug to find it full of hot coffee.

The man was also starting to become on par with Ted for ensuring Trent could understand him. It had been a very amusing conversation when Trent found out about Roy’s grunting as a means of communication. Trent had observed the little head movement that seemed to accompany the grunting but had just assumed it was done in silence until Ted had commented on it when Roy had been out of his line of vision. It has taken a few moments of back and forth to realise that the former captain's primary form of non-verbal communication was almost completely imperceptible to the writer. Roy, not wanting to make the other man feel excluded, had taken to tapping twice on his throat with two fingers as well as the head movement, it wasn’t an official sign but it still made Trent’s eyes burn with the implication of acceptance that it gave.

That wasn’t the only sign that Roy had picked up and begun to use. He mostly stuck to swear words, which in any other context might have pissed Trent off but he realised that this was another way for Roy to accept Trent as part of the team. Roy had also started to use the sign for whistle as well as shouting it across the training grounds. 

All of the coaches were very considerate and Trent enjoyed the time he spend with them, observing the dynamics. He could and would be filling an entire chapter just on the complex inner workings of the three coaches, how it should never work, with each man being very different in their own way but that makes it perfect. They each complement each other in ways that are seemingly imperceptible, there is no power struggle, and each man is happy with the role they played.

It’s the day after another incredible win for Richmond, the players all have the day off and the coaches have their regular after-match de-brief. A chance to pick apart what went well and what needed to be adjusted, the mood was always better after a win but they still took their job’s seriously. It was also a running tradition for one of the coaches to bring coffee for the group, working on a rotating schedule. This week was Ted’s turn, however, he was running late, and so was Trent.

The two men had both managed to sleep through their alarms, having had their own private celebration in Ted’s flat. So now they were rushing to get dressed, pulling on the first clothes they could find. It was certainly a more casual affair than a usual day, but Trent still pulled his blazer on over whatever t-shirt he had picked up. Throwing on his glasses and hearing aids he rushed out the door a few minutes after Ted who had run down to the local coffee shop to grab the group's coffee.

Ted had allowed himself to be bundled into Trent’s car, both men realising they didn’t have the time to walk despite how much Ted enjoyed it. They arrived at the club only a few minutes late, not evening considering the fact it may look strange for both men to show up at the same time. They made it into the coach's office where both Roy and Beard were sat, the former with his feet up on the desk.

"Sorry 'bout that fellas, slept through my alarm." 

Ted placed the four cups of coffee on the desk before taking his seat. Roy grunted in response, picking up his coffee and a quick swig. Both men were too busy getting themselves situated in front of the screen to see the questioning look Roy sent Beard and the shrug that passed back. 

It wasn't until around two hours later when Trent got up and pulled his blazer off, that he noticed Roy looking at him, one eyebrow almost in his hairline.

The awkward silence that followed was enough to pull the attention of the two Americans, one of who immediately blushed upon looking at the t-shirt Trent was wearing. In their rush to get dressed, the writer had grabbed the first t-shirt he could find, which had in fact been a Whikita State t-shirt, from the college that Ted had coached at last year.

“Holy fuck, are you too sleeping together?” Roy pierced the silence with his probing question making the two men in question blush even harder. 

It was Trent who found his voice first, "among other things, yes."

Roy grunted.

"I hope this isn't gonna be a problem for you, Roy," Ted spoke up, trying to put on an unworried face that fooled absolutely none of the men.

"As long as this prick is being a prick to you, it's really none of my fucking business." Roy punctuated his sentence by signing the word prick.

Trent was happy to see Roy stand up for Ted in his own way. Proving that the moustachioed American could get through the sharpest of defences. There was a general nod that ran through the room.

"Now that's out the way, can we get back to the game?"