For niloo88
Title: This team's history is going somewhere.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not true
Pairing: Zanetti/Burdisso
.july 30,
summer, venezuela.
He was laughing, it was a beautiful sound.
His hair was totally wet so he was shaking his head making sure he would leave drops everywhere and he'd still be laughing; meanwhile, Javier smiled, knowing. He remembered how it is to be young - in the National Team, in life - he knows how precious this is and could be for all of them, and mostly for Nicolás, who for some time had doubted he was capable of having all of this (Javier never doubted, he always knew - that's what old men do, they know).
Javier didn't envy any of them, he was proud of those boys; he’d already had that, he could enjoy something different now - next to him Heinze was swearing he had never been as childish as them, and Ayala said that he should shut up about that because he was just in his late twenties. Abbondanzieri was on the other side; he tilted his head to one side and gave up on them while passed the mate to Javier.
"You guys are growing older just standing there," Nico commented, walking to them; echoes of the others’ laughs and voices seemed far away from there now though they were as close as before. "Really," he added, and stole the mate from Javier's hand.
"You don't even want it," Javier sighed, but he wasn't actually mad.
"How are you so sure?" Nico smiled, his eyes shining in a juvenile way.
"I just am," Zanetti answered.
"I would like to have one, sometime this tournament," Gabriel said suddenly, and Nico mumbled an apology, sending the mate back to the goalkeeper who was serving it.
The mate was untouched, but no one said anything and Pato pretended to refill it before giving it to Heinze; Nico walked away, Javier didn't say anything.
.december 12,
otoño, italy.
"Come on, pair up!" Mancini said, and as usual no one made him wait.
Javier walked in the direction of where Nicolás was tying his shoes, but before he got there Julio Cruz put a hand on Nico's back and muttered, "¿conmigo?" - Since when do they pair together? And that was Spanish! They aren’t supposed to talk in Spanish during training! Zanetti's mind was racing.
"Come on, captain." Hernán's voice came from the side, and he took him by the arm. "You look awfully lost."
Javier rolled his eyes, pretending not to know what Crespo could mean with that last word, and walked with him to the other side of the field.
"You were coming to me earlier?" Nicolás asked, when they were standing outside with the wind for company and waiting for the others.
"Uh?" Javier asked, his eyes on Nico's. "Sorry, what?"
"Earlier, you were heading over to where I was, when we had to group two-and-two."
"I'm not sure, Nico, I was walking around." Javier smiled and his interest drifted from the man. "I wasn't really paying attention."
Nicolas sighed. "I thought you wanted to work with me again, we're a good team. But we haven't practiced together since the Cup finished."
"Mancini doesn't use the same scheme as Coco, it's not required that we work together," Javier responded plainly.
"Yeah," he nodded, "yeah, whatever you say."
(.november 14,
spring, argentina.
"Pupi!" Nicolas called, before laughing like a kid.
"What’s he's laughing about? And since when does he call you that?" Esteban asked, while putting his bag on his shoulder.
"Andy said that I was too old to still be called that and Nico heard it, and you can see the results," Zanetti explained with a sigh.
Cambiasso gave him a companionable smile and went inside the bus that was taking them away from the mess of people that was Ezeiza.
"Do you at least need something this time?" Javier asked when he was next to him.
"Nope, thank you Pupi."
"Is this going to end, eventually?"
"Uhm, I'll have to talk with the guys back in Italy…"
"You know that everyone knows my nickname and no one will find it amusing, right?" Javier asked, eyeing his friend. "It's old history."
Nico opened his mouth to answer, but Javier was faster and covered it with his hand. "No reply about me being old."
"Spoilsport," Nico breathed out behind Javier's hand.
"Promise?"
Nico gave him a look that clearly said, 'are you kidding me?', but with no words after it; he sighed into the hand and muttered 'promise' a second prior to his lips pressing into the man's palm in the manner of a kiss.
"Everyone better be up and ready!" Coco's voice was heard not very far from them, and they walked apart and into the bus.
.december 21,
winter, italy.
"My car died in the damn drive this morning, getting away from my house and getting here was a living hell man, I'm telling you."
"And I still think you're overreacting, Nicolas." Crespo smiled. "Need a ride or not?"
"You don't even go in the same direction I normally go," Nico said with a smile.
"But I'm a good friend."
"On your way, Hernán," Javier said, "don't worry about him, I'll take him home, it's on my route anyway."
Hernán shrugged. "Cool then, see you guys tomorrow," he said, and walked out.
"I thought you didn't-"
"Walk to the car, Nico," Javier just said, and started to head outside without checking if the younger man was following.
Or course, he was.
(.november 20,
late spring, argentina.
"Are you totally out of your mind?!"
"You don't need to scream, I can hear perfectly fine, thank you," Nicolás said, his eyes on the roof.
"Well you can hear fine, but clearly not think fine."
"You're blowing this out of proportion," Nicolas started, "and stop treating me like if I was twenty and in the National Team for the first time."
"Then stop acting like it!" Zanetti snapped. "You know what Basile said about it, and I can't-"
"Treat you different because this isn't Inter and someone would notice?"
"What?!"
"Open your eyes, Zanetti, I'm not alone in this." Nicolas said, before walking away.
.christmas, somewhere.
"I can't believe you ate the whole thing," he said, his tone completely amused, just as he felt. "I knew I should have never talked with you to clear things up."
"I was hungry and I'm hurt!" the other answered, "and it wasn't that big anyway, it was just a little Christmas cake, by the way who does cakes on Christmas?"
"Little, Nicolás?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow and ignoring the question. "Little with three levels and full of different flavours?"
"Well, Javier, obviously we have different concepts of little," he said, very solemnly.
"We certainly have." The other man nodded, finally sitting on the couch next to Nicolas with a chocolate bar.
"Uhuh, chocolate! Can I have some?"
"You came to my house, ate my cake and now you want my chocolate?"
"I also want your company and a kiss at midnight like we'd do if we were at home," Nicolas explained.
Javier sighed, and gave the half of the chocolate to the other. "I'm so easy."
"Nah, you just love me." Nicolas smiled and moved closer, so he was curled against Javier's body.
~*~
author notes from the end:
'Mate' is an infusion made with 'yerba mate' very common in Argentina and always present between the players.
'Andy' is Andy Kustnezoff a journalist from Argentina and he in fact laughed with Zanetti about his nickname when they arrived to Ezeiza (Argentina's airport) this year on November.
And '¿conmigo?' means "with me?" but I think that's pretty obvious
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not true
Pairing: Zanetti/Burdisso
.july 30,
summer, venezuela.
He was laughing, it was a beautiful sound.
His hair was totally wet so he was shaking his head making sure he would leave drops everywhere and he'd still be laughing; meanwhile, Javier smiled, knowing. He remembered how it is to be young - in the National Team, in life - he knows how precious this is and could be for all of them, and mostly for Nicolás, who for some time had doubted he was capable of having all of this (Javier never doubted, he always knew - that's what old men do, they know).
Javier didn't envy any of them, he was proud of those boys; he’d already had that, he could enjoy something different now - next to him Heinze was swearing he had never been as childish as them, and Ayala said that he should shut up about that because he was just in his late twenties. Abbondanzieri was on the other side; he tilted his head to one side and gave up on them while passed the mate to Javier.
"You guys are growing older just standing there," Nico commented, walking to them; echoes of the others’ laughs and voices seemed far away from there now though they were as close as before. "Really," he added, and stole the mate from Javier's hand.
"You don't even want it," Javier sighed, but he wasn't actually mad.
"How are you so sure?" Nico smiled, his eyes shining in a juvenile way.
"I just am," Zanetti answered.
"I would like to have one, sometime this tournament," Gabriel said suddenly, and Nico mumbled an apology, sending the mate back to the goalkeeper who was serving it.
The mate was untouched, but no one said anything and Pato pretended to refill it before giving it to Heinze; Nico walked away, Javier didn't say anything.
.december 12,
otoño, italy.
"Come on, pair up!" Mancini said, and as usual no one made him wait.
Javier walked in the direction of where Nicolás was tying his shoes, but before he got there Julio Cruz put a hand on Nico's back and muttered, "¿conmigo?" - Since when do they pair together? And that was Spanish! They aren’t supposed to talk in Spanish during training! Zanetti's mind was racing.
"Come on, captain." Hernán's voice came from the side, and he took him by the arm. "You look awfully lost."
Javier rolled his eyes, pretending not to know what Crespo could mean with that last word, and walked with him to the other side of the field.
"You were coming to me earlier?" Nicolás asked, when they were standing outside with the wind for company and waiting for the others.
"Uh?" Javier asked, his eyes on Nico's. "Sorry, what?"
"Earlier, you were heading over to where I was, when we had to group two-and-two."
"I'm not sure, Nico, I was walking around." Javier smiled and his interest drifted from the man. "I wasn't really paying attention."
Nicolas sighed. "I thought you wanted to work with me again, we're a good team. But we haven't practiced together since the Cup finished."
"Mancini doesn't use the same scheme as Coco, it's not required that we work together," Javier responded plainly.
"Yeah," he nodded, "yeah, whatever you say."
(.november 14,
spring, argentina.
"Pupi!" Nicolas called, before laughing like a kid.
"What’s he's laughing about? And since when does he call you that?" Esteban asked, while putting his bag on his shoulder.
"Andy said that I was too old to still be called that and Nico heard it, and you can see the results," Zanetti explained with a sigh.
Cambiasso gave him a companionable smile and went inside the bus that was taking them away from the mess of people that was Ezeiza.
"Do you at least need something this time?" Javier asked when he was next to him.
"Nope, thank you Pupi."
"Is this going to end, eventually?"
"Uhm, I'll have to talk with the guys back in Italy…"
"You know that everyone knows my nickname and no one will find it amusing, right?" Javier asked, eyeing his friend. "It's old history."
Nico opened his mouth to answer, but Javier was faster and covered it with his hand. "No reply about me being old."
"Spoilsport," Nico breathed out behind Javier's hand.
"Promise?"
Nico gave him a look that clearly said, 'are you kidding me?', but with no words after it; he sighed into the hand and muttered 'promise' a second prior to his lips pressing into the man's palm in the manner of a kiss.
"Everyone better be up and ready!" Coco's voice was heard not very far from them, and they walked apart and into the bus.
.december 21,
winter, italy.
"My car died in the damn drive this morning, getting away from my house and getting here was a living hell man, I'm telling you."
"And I still think you're overreacting, Nicolas." Crespo smiled. "Need a ride or not?"
"You don't even go in the same direction I normally go," Nico said with a smile.
"But I'm a good friend."
"On your way, Hernán," Javier said, "don't worry about him, I'll take him home, it's on my route anyway."
Hernán shrugged. "Cool then, see you guys tomorrow," he said, and walked out.
"I thought you didn't-"
"Walk to the car, Nico," Javier just said, and started to head outside without checking if the younger man was following.
Or course, he was.
(.november 20,
late spring, argentina.
"Are you totally out of your mind?!"
"You don't need to scream, I can hear perfectly fine, thank you," Nicolás said, his eyes on the roof.
"Well you can hear fine, but clearly not think fine."
"You're blowing this out of proportion," Nicolas started, "and stop treating me like if I was twenty and in the National Team for the first time."
"Then stop acting like it!" Zanetti snapped. "You know what Basile said about it, and I can't-"
"Treat you different because this isn't Inter and someone would notice?"
"What?!"
"Open your eyes, Zanetti, I'm not alone in this." Nicolas said, before walking away.
.christmas, somewhere.
"I can't believe you ate the whole thing," he said, his tone completely amused, just as he felt. "I knew I should have never talked with you to clear things up."
"I was hungry and I'm hurt!" the other answered, "and it wasn't that big anyway, it was just a little Christmas cake, by the way who does cakes on Christmas?"
"Little, Nicolás?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow and ignoring the question. "Little with three levels and full of different flavours?"
"Well, Javier, obviously we have different concepts of little," he said, very solemnly.
"We certainly have." The other man nodded, finally sitting on the couch next to Nicolas with a chocolate bar.
"Uhuh, chocolate! Can I have some?"
"You came to my house, ate my cake and now you want my chocolate?"
"I also want your company and a kiss at midnight like we'd do if we were at home," Nicolas explained.
Javier sighed, and gave the half of the chocolate to the other. "I'm so easy."
"Nah, you just love me." Nicolas smiled and moved closer, so he was curled against Javier's body.
~*~
author notes from the end:
'Mate' is an infusion made with 'yerba mate' very common in Argentina and always present between the players.
'Andy' is Andy Kustnezoff a journalist from Argentina and he in fact laughed with Zanetti about his nickname when they arrived to Ezeiza (Argentina's airport) this year on November.
And '¿conmigo?' means "with me?" but I think that's pretty obvious