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Kaiser’s fingers lazily glided over the elevator buttons he needed to press in order to get to his penthouse. He pressed the top button signaling for the elevator to come down, readjusting his duffel bag over his shoulder, and clutching his phone. Normally, if it were any other day, he’d have Ness, his lapdog- well, now boyfriend- following the events of the Neo Egoist League phase, carry all his stuff, but said midfielder was already home, since Kaiser had decided to stay behind to get some extra training in.
With a ding, the tiny screen above the elevator door lit up, and the doors opened. Kaiser walked inside, and leaned against the elevator wall. In his clenched hand, he turned on his phone, and was met with a shocking sight. No new texts from Ness? That’s strange, he thought, since usually, anytime they were apart, Ness would constantly spam him, asking where he was and if he needed anything. This did trouble Kaiser a bit at first, but seeing as he was quite literally seconds away from being home, he just ignored it, and hastily shoved his phone into his pocket instead.
When the elevator doors opened, he walked straight until he reached his door, pulled his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door walking in.
“Alexis, I’m home!” he shouted. No response? Now something was definitely up. Instead of being greeted with his puppy like boyfriend, who always sprinted to the door with a ‘Micha! I missed you! Welcome back!”, Kaiser was met with the pure quietness and calm atmosphere of his penthouse.
“What the hell is up with him today?” Kaiser murmured before setting his bag down on their kitchen counter. Alexis would probably scold him for not unpacking and cleaning up after himself, but he couldn’t really find himself to give a damn about that right now. He would clean up later, for now, he just really wanted to see what was going on with Alexis.
His first guess was that Alexis was in no immediate danger and he was simply just taking a nap before Kaiser came home. Hoping that was the case, he started making his way towards their shared bedroom, calling out his name.
“Alexis? Lex?” Still no response. He was genuinely starting to think that Alexis might have left the place, and gone outside, however, Alexis still would’ve texted him about going somewhere, which he had no message of. And if Alexis didn’t want Kaiser to worry his head off, then he definitely would’ve spoken up about his location.
Upon entering their bedroom, in their bed, there was still no sign of Alexis. He wasn’t there. By this point, a slow but certain wave of panic was starting to wash over Kaiser. What the hell? Retrieving his phone, Kaiser was about to try and attempt to get in contact with Alexis, but that’s when he heard it. Sniffing. Hiccuping. The sound of someone crying, coming from the bathroom that was just connected to where their bedroom was. Kaiser basically sprinted like he was on the field to the bathroom (yes, it was only a couple meters away, but he was starting to get anxious by not seeing Alexis’s face the moment he set foot into his place).
The door to the bathroom was locked. Great, just my shitty luck, he thought, biting down his teeth, before aggressively rattling the door handle. He heard someone shifting and moving inside.
“Kaiser? Is that you?” a startled, and raspy voice, weakly said. The voice belonged to none other than Kaiser's lovely midfielder boyfriend.
“Alexis! What the hell are you doing? Why’d you not text me anything? Why’d you not respond to me when I got home?” Kaiser yelled. Then his voice and expression softened. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.” he clarified. “I was just pissed since you really got me worried Lex.”
Kaiser heard giggles and more sniffing. “So you do care about me deeply, huh Micha? Awh, you were worried for me!” Ness said in a teasing tone. Kaiser simply rolled his eyes. He also still noticed how Ness’s voice sounded raspy and weak, but he decided not to mention it just in case that made Ness shrivel away even farther. “Shut up you shithead. You’d be worried too if I disappeared randomly without alerting you” he shot back.
“Of course I would Micha! You really think that I wouldn’t be worried if you disappeared on me?” Ness said with a small laugh, his voice echoing within the bathroom.
“Yeah, yeah. I already know how clingy your ass gets at the smallest of things. Now let me in, why the hell is this damn door still locked?” Kaiser said, rattling the door once again for good measure. Ness suddenly went quiet at that. Kaiser heard shuffling again, but nothing came out of Ness’s vocal cords, physically.
“Alexis? Open the door, please.” Kaiser said, with a hint of unusual calmness to his tone. Ness was still quiet. Kaiser really didn’t want to force open the door and replace the door later on, plus he was starting to try and become better for Ness, so he decided to give him some time to unlock the door and face Kaiser from whatever he was doing in there. It sounded like he was crying, and Kaiser was obviously concerned for his boyfriend if that was the case, but ultimately he still decided to talk to him once this door was out of their way. He slumped down in front of the door and sat down.
After what seemed to be the duration of a full soccer game, with additional time and all, Kaiser finally heard a click, and the rattle of the handle from the other side. The door swung open a tiny bit, making a creaking noise as Kaiser stood up. “Lex, I’m going in ‘kay?”
When the door swung open fully, Kaiser was met with the sight of Ness leaning against the cabinet that was placed against the wall. Ness had his knees up to his face, and his hair was all shriveled. Yeah, so that confirmed his suspensions. But what startled Kaiser was what his boyfriend was wearing. Ness was dressed in a baggy black shirt with the faces of a band plastered on the font. He was also wearing black sweats, and the only thing colorful he had on was the dyed bright magenta tips of hair. This was not at all how his colorful and well, dare he say, a bit feminine dressing boyfriend usually dressed up. Kaiser wasn’t intentionally feeling like there was anything wrong with it, just a sudden change that occurred.
Ness still had his face buried in his knees, hugging himself. “Lex, what’s wrong? I heard you crying, and not to be direct, but what’s with the sudden outfit change?” Kaiser asked, moving to sit beside Ness. He gently pried the other boy’s arms which revealed red puffy eyes and dried tears that were glistening on his cheeks. "Oh Lex,” Kaiser whispered. “Do you wanna talk about it?” Kaiser offered.
Ness moved one of his arms back up to wipe more tears that were beginning to form. “When you were at your extra practice earlier, on the walk back, I ran into one of the trainees from the Bastard Munich training academy.”
Kaiser tensed. And what business did this trainee have with Ness? “How’d you know he was a trainee?” “I saw him around a couple weeks back, when I offered to help in the academy” Ness responded. He still sounded raspy. “Before you say anything, let me continue.”
“I ran into him, and he looked at me. He said to me, ‘Oh, your Alexis Ness right? Kaiser’s puppy dog I’ve heard.” I paused, ‘cause I didn’t really know what to say, and I didn’t like being called that. But before I tell him that he goes, ‘Man, if I didn’t already know you for your reputation, I would’ve thought that you were a girl. You're basically a girl, how does Kaiser even put up with you? Dress more like a man, then maybe he’ll upgrade you from a lapdog’”
Kaiser’s expression sharpened, and he felt rage boiling up in him. He desperately wanted to kick that trainee in the face, with the same force and motion he used to execute his Kaiser Impact. “Lex, you’re okay the way you are right now, you know that right?” Kaiser said.
Ness avoided looking in Kaiser’s general direction once he heard that. A pause in the air lingered over them, before Ness spoke up again. “Uh, so, well, that got me thinking, would Micha really like me better if I dressed up more masculine. I usually wear more pastel colors and stuff, so I was just considering. I dug up these clothes way deep in my closet from when I was younger.” Ness explained, wiping more tears away.
Kaiser stared at his boyfriend before moving once again, to give him a side hug. “Lex, I don’t mind you wearing that stuff around me. I know you Lex, you don’t really feel comfortable in whatever you're wearing right now.” Kaiser said. He felt Ness stiffen under his touch. “Tell me the truth Alexis: Do you actually like and feel good in whatever you're wearing right now?”
To that question, Ness shook his head fast in a clear no. “Okay then. I think we have our answer. You look great in whatever you choose to wear in front of me Alexis. I don’t mind. Now, how about you change into someone of your genuine preference, and then you can join me in bed?”
“Cuddles?” Ness asked, with that glimmering, joyful, sparkle returning into his eyes. Kaiser laughed. “Sure sure, whatever you want Lex.”
Kaiser helped Ness onto his feet, then led him outside of the bathroom. Ness walked in the direction of his closet (they were in possession of two walk-in closets), and Kaiser went his own way to their bedroom. He settled down into their comfy cotton sheets, thinking about which possible shitty trainee could have said that to Ness. Didn’t they know how wonderful his boyfriend already was? “Dress more like a man, then maybe he’ll upgrade you from a lapdog?” Kaiser scoffed. Like he wasn’t already more than a lapdog.
Ness walked back in at that time, wearing clothes that Kaiser was far more used to seeing him in. Light pink baggier sweats, and a customized pink and gold Bastard Munchen jersey, which Kaiser knew that had his name on the back. “There you go Lex. That’s still pretty, you know. You're pretty,” Kaiser said, looking at his boyfriend. Ness flushed under his gaze, letting out a small “Thank you Micha,” before he settled under the sheets with Kaiser.
Kaiser, like his body was in automatic pilot mode, tugged Ness towards him, and buried his face in Ness’s neck. Ness giggled softly, before putting his hand in Kaiser’s hair, running through it.
“Thank you Micha. That made me feel so much better.” Ness said, smiling.
“Shut up, all I did was talk to you about what was wrong,” Kaiser replied, fighting the own warmth that was starting to creep onto his face as well. Ness, all too well knowing, pressed a kiss on the top of Kaiser’s head.
“Still, thank you Micha,” he said. That only made Kaiser grip on Ness’ waist stronger.
For the next time being, they lazily swapped kisses back and forth, with Kaiser at some point flipping Ness around just to admire his name and number on the back of that jersey. (“Who else’s name would I have on a Jersey if it wasn’t my own name?”) Hearing that, Kaiser peppered even more kisses onto Ness’ face, with a few going on his neck, making nNess Laugh, before he initiated a kiss to Kaiser on his lips.
“Mine,” Kaiser said. “Yeah, all yours,” Ness replied back softly.
Before long, Ness had grown sleepy, so before he fell asleep, surrounded by Kaiser’s warmth, he murmured a quiet “I love you Micha,” which was reciprocated with a “Love you too Lex. So much,” before both of them fell asleep, entangled within each other’s arms.
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If that same trainee got his contract from Bastard revoked a few days later, then that was no one else’s business except for Kaiser’s.