fic: MMOM #28: Grace (sports RPS, Tim Tebow/Thomas Finchum)
Title: Grace
Author: eggblue
Pairing: Tim Tebow/Thomas Finchum (sports RPS)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Fictional slashing of amateur athletes, no real knowledge pertains to this story whatsoever, don’t sue
Word Count: 550
Warnings: Blasphemous to both God and college football.
Notes: Musing on grace and sports slash brewing in my head for a year and written today while getting my car repaired. Go figure. Go Gators!
Video of Thomas Finchum diving if you have no idea what I’m talking about. A religious experience.
Pics of UF quarterback Tim Tebow, 10M platform and men’s synchro diver Thomas Finchum, go:
It was a sports year, an Olympic year. The year Tim Tebow - Superman -- won the National Championship with the Gators.
Next year, David Boudia dives alone at Purdue, scores a record number of points in college diving. He is so far ahead of the pack, no one can catch him. He’s so far ahead, because his partner had pushed him to be. His former partner -- intense, perfectionist, unforgiving.
Tebow spends the summer in the Philippines doing missionary work, then training with his roommate, Riley Cooper, Coach, his teammates. He is their leader. He still has God.
And Thomas Finchum has God.
Finchum was beautiful last summer - Tebow had watched him in the Olympics trials, scoring perfect 10’s and 9.5’s. So beautiful. And when he competed in synchro diving, he had David Boudia, his partner, twisting right beside him.
Tim had his roommate Riley, Coach, his parents, the school. What he does with Riley isn’t real. They are just helping each other avoid too much sexual release, like boxers. They both understand the stress and the pressure. All that counts is what happens Saturdays.
He thinks of Thomas, and grace, only when he’s alone. In those moments of silence, when his body belongs to himself -- maybe God, not Riley or Coach or parents or the University -- he thinks of that kind of grace when he’s by himself, and it brings him closer to God.
He wished there was more grace in football… though there’s more than people think. There’s force, and power, and intimidation. There’s also his brothers, their strength, their brutal ballet.
He heard the rumors last summer -- people talking, about synchro diving, two best friends, men in Speedos doing dangerous ballet in the air. He even watched. Couldn’t people see the grace? The proof of God. The biggest threat to this world. They have to kill it, he knows. This was war. This was trial by fire.
David dives alone now. Tim has a year left at Florida before he moves on to the NFL. He has his doubters. And everyone is calling for his head, his blood. As always. Waiting to take him down.
Because he’s good, and strong, and tough and true.
Christ lived this. Understood it. But not their Christ. Tim loved Coach, he loved Riley, but he knew they didn’t understand the kind of grace you paid for in blood.
The kind of grace that made you jump from the height of a 3-story building, head first, into water. To prove only you could give them what they asked: entertainment, grace, beauty, strength, sacrifice. To prove your life.
God’s glory was grace, the kind of grace people will kill without thought. The kind he watches on tape when he’s alone, over and over again.
Like a knife in the water, body as gentle as a lamb, he dives, alone in his grace. Like St. Sebastian, eyes heavenward.
In Beijing, the crowd of fools calls for his head. He falls under their sword. And Tim can see the steel in his eyes through the television, the sun-lit golden brown of his eyes and his skin, burning like a sacrificial fire. His naked body bravely taunting them in a way he understands, but the crowd never will.
The End
Author: eggblue
Pairing: Tim Tebow/Thomas Finchum (sports RPS)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Fictional slashing of amateur athletes, no real knowledge pertains to this story whatsoever, don’t sue
Word Count: 550
Warnings: Blasphemous to both God and college football.
Notes: Musing on grace and sports slash brewing in my head for a year and written today while getting my car repaired. Go figure. Go Gators!
Video of Thomas Finchum diving if you have no idea what I’m talking about. A religious experience.
Pics of UF quarterback Tim Tebow, 10M platform and men’s synchro diver Thomas Finchum, go:
It was a sports year, an Olympic year. The year Tim Tebow - Superman -- won the National Championship with the Gators.
Next year, David Boudia dives alone at Purdue, scores a record number of points in college diving. He is so far ahead of the pack, no one can catch him. He’s so far ahead, because his partner had pushed him to be. His former partner -- intense, perfectionist, unforgiving.
Tebow spends the summer in the Philippines doing missionary work, then training with his roommate, Riley Cooper, Coach, his teammates. He is their leader. He still has God.
And Thomas Finchum has God.
Finchum was beautiful last summer - Tebow had watched him in the Olympics trials, scoring perfect 10’s and 9.5’s. So beautiful. And when he competed in synchro diving, he had David Boudia, his partner, twisting right beside him.
Tim had his roommate Riley, Coach, his parents, the school. What he does with Riley isn’t real. They are just helping each other avoid too much sexual release, like boxers. They both understand the stress and the pressure. All that counts is what happens Saturdays.
He thinks of Thomas, and grace, only when he’s alone. In those moments of silence, when his body belongs to himself -- maybe God, not Riley or Coach or parents or the University -- he thinks of that kind of grace when he’s by himself, and it brings him closer to God.
He wished there was more grace in football… though there’s more than people think. There’s force, and power, and intimidation. There’s also his brothers, their strength, their brutal ballet.
He heard the rumors last summer -- people talking, about synchro diving, two best friends, men in Speedos doing dangerous ballet in the air. He even watched. Couldn’t people see the grace? The proof of God. The biggest threat to this world. They have to kill it, he knows. This was war. This was trial by fire.
David dives alone now. Tim has a year left at Florida before he moves on to the NFL. He has his doubters. And everyone is calling for his head, his blood. As always. Waiting to take him down.
Because he’s good, and strong, and tough and true.
Christ lived this. Understood it. But not their Christ. Tim loved Coach, he loved Riley, but he knew they didn’t understand the kind of grace you paid for in blood.
The kind of grace that made you jump from the height of a 3-story building, head first, into water. To prove only you could give them what they asked: entertainment, grace, beauty, strength, sacrifice. To prove your life.
God’s glory was grace, the kind of grace people will kill without thought. The kind he watches on tape when he’s alone, over and over again.
Like a knife in the water, body as gentle as a lamb, he dives, alone in his grace. Like St. Sebastian, eyes heavenward.
In Beijing, the crowd of fools calls for his head. He falls under their sword. And Tim can see the steel in his eyes through the television, the sun-lit golden brown of his eyes and his skin, burning like a sacrificial fire. His naked body bravely taunting them in a way he understands, but the crowd never will.
The End