[ Though it had been a struggle, going from that game to where they are now, it's been a journey. It's been a chance to grow, to become better, to learn. It's only made them stronger, in the end. Abe can't complain about that, for as bitter as he can get about his knee some days. But so long as he has his family, his team, his pitcher, then...
Then it'll be okay. They've got a longer road ahead of them than this, and he's prepared to walk it. Even if he's going to require a little help along the way, at least until he can get his feet under him again.
And, even then. So long as it's Mihashi with him, he's gotten a lot better about accepting aid. About showing weakness. (Although he's absolutely not better about sharing him, he can at least admit that there are other people that he can pitch to. They're just the ultimate battery, all right? So long as there are others out there that appreciate Mihashi Ren, then it's fine - they can be one another's fan club presidents, and kiss on the side.)
Abe watches Mihashi's hands, head leaned back just in case he jerks, and then he makes his move. His own hands move quickly, snagging the flailing ones and pressing them close to his chest so that he can't get away as easily. It sort of shuts off one mode of communication for him, but it's fine, it gets him to listen, too. ]
Don't be stupid. We're a battery. [ And he squeezes, to drive his point home. ] We work together and for each other, okay?
[ mihashi kind of deflates a little, like all of the air goes rushing out of his ears, and he ends up just sort of. melting into the covers like an idiot. this is not the first or the last time he's done this. (at least he's doing it laying down and standing up this time.)
mihashi is a lot of things. he's a pitcher. he's an ace, a title he used to think he didn't deserve that much. he's a student and a person but most of all, mihashi is a member of a battery, two parts of a functioning whole. as they learn to work together better--as abe only scares mihashi like 75% of the time now and mihashi is 75% of the time understandable to abe--they start fitting together more and more. they're going to be strong, the strongest, no matter what happens. and they'll win. they'll keep winning.
it was hard not to want to keep winning, once he'd gotten a taste. a taste of victory with real teammates, with a catcher who gives him signs and, is even learning to trust him. is there anything better than that in the whole world?
he makes a dumb squeaky noise as his hands get grabbed, but. the deflating commences and mihashi blushes a little further, up to his ears. ] R... right...
[ say it with a little more confidence before you piss him off mihashi jeez. ]
[ With the most exasperated noise to ever grace humanity, Abe stares Mihashi down. At least he doesn't immediately start shouting, but he feels that temptation rear its head. It's just his default response to things, because if he shouts loud enough things usually start getting solved before too long. Either because they want him to stop shouting or because it's motivating.
But, right now, he doesn't give into the urge. It helps that it's only a minor one, compared to how it used to be.
Instead, he uses his hold on Mihashi's hands to push him around. Considering Mihashi is basically a beanpole, it's pretty easy to do, and he nudges him onto his back. Careful not to put weight on his knee, he peers down at him, assessing. They're not 100% in sync yet, but they're damn near it, and every day is another day of progress. He still has trouble understanding him some days, and he knows that he still strikes the fear of god into his pitcher, but...
It's better. ]
You're my pitcher, same as I'm your catcher. [ Said firmly, even if he's somehow managing to flush even more. ] And we've got a lot more games to play.
[ the "we've got a lot more games to play" is what gets mihashi to brighten, because the promise of coming back is one he knows abe keeps. he's getting better over time, and the fall tournament is coming on fast, fast enough that they're going to be a battery again soon. mihashi is thrilled about this, because sure, he likes pitching to tajima, but abe is abe, and with him back in the running, they'll win all the time for sure! it's how they're going to end up at koushien, and mihashi just knows it.
(admittedly, it's with everyone else's hard work as well, but. again, captain of the abe takaya fanclub here.)
he moves easily when he's rolled, tipping onto his back and blinking those big, wide, golden eyes up at abe as he leans over him, fidgeting only a tiny bit as if abe's words are the thing that have managed to pin him to place. and then, he nods, clamping his mouth shut because none of the words he wants to say are going to come out of his mouth right. the nod is enthusiastic, though, up and down and up and down, and he's obviously brightened quite a bit at the thought. ]
[ This, of course, is another case of Mihashi practically sparkling at him. Abe doesn't ever know what to do when he looks at him like that, so bright and happy and wide-eyed in a way that doesn't result in him shaking out of his shoes. It makes him want to squirm, makes him the fidgety one. But instead of focusing on that, he looks to the future. Because they have the fall tournament ahead of them.
That's his immediate goal right now. He needs to be up and walking on his own by then. He needs to be able to crouch and hold his weight by then. He needs to be able to run, to slide, to score his team points. To be there for his pitcher.
Tajima is good, as a substitute, but he's meant to be standing at a different base than home plate. That, that's his spot, where he can meet Mihashi's eyes and hold his mitt in anticipation for a reliable pitch.
Nodding a much more subdued nod, satisfied, Abe leans over him that little bit more and presses his lips to his forehead. Good, he thinks, determined. Remember that. ]
[ mihashi's eyes flutter shut immediately at the kiss to his forehead, mouth falling open just a little bit as he wrinkles his nose with it as well, feeling all warm and nice and squirmy inside. mihashi's felt like that around abe a lot more often than he did at first now (he used to be terrified of abe all the time, and now it's only half that, maybe. seventy five percent.) abe trusts him and cares for him--in fact, abe cares for him more than anybody. mihashi knows this, and mihashi definitely cares for and trusts and loves abe more than anybody too.
(though, abe is a good player and a good person and mihashi is mostly his tagalong, being led by the hand into something great; he'll never believe he's great, and so he'll never quite believe that he's the best thing for abe, but. maybe that will come in time.)
it's not quite enough though, he thinks, and mihashi's eyes flicker open for a second, darting across before they settle on abe again, wide and golden and focused like a pitcher.
maybe... if i just...
his small hands come up to cup abe's cheeks, and it's mihashi who lifts himself up a little off the bed to press a small, sweet kiss to his mouth. ]
[ There's something so easy about this, now. Abe has to wonder if all that physical contact before, as just teammates, made it that way. But he likes to touch Mihashi, likes holding his hand for reasons that aren't just support or checking to see if he's okay. He likes to curl up with him in a nest of blankets. He most of all likes kissing him. Forehead, cheek, mouth. He likes it as much as he likes Mihashi, which is saying something. (Again, he went from being not a fan to being the biggest fan, so it's a bit drastic. But here they are, and he loves Mihashi so much that it's overwhelming sometimes.)
Bracing his weight on his arms, so that he doesn't get any weight on his knee, Abe ducks down a little into Mihashi's touch. Because encouraging him is important, when he does something right, when it's good. And this, this is right. This is the greatest good that there is. Abe knows this for a fact, even if Mihashi doesn't believe it himself, and there are two places where this is the most obvious to him - when they mirror each other at the mound and on home plate, and when they're like this.
So he kisses him back, even if he feels the burn of a blush all the way to his ears. Eventually he won't turn red, but this is still so new and delicate that he can't help it. There's plenty of time ahead of them for more baseball, more practice and games, and more of this. More of them. It makes him feel warm all the way down to his core, makes him calm. Which is a surprising thing all of its own, too. ]
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Then it'll be okay. They've got a longer road ahead of them than this, and he's prepared to walk it. Even if he's going to require a little help along the way, at least until he can get his feet under him again.
And, even then. So long as it's Mihashi with him, he's gotten a lot better about accepting aid. About showing weakness. (Although he's absolutely not better about sharing him, he can at least admit that there are other people that he can pitch to. They're just the ultimate battery, all right? So long as there are others out there that appreciate Mihashi Ren, then it's fine - they can be one another's fan club presidents, and kiss on the side.)
Abe watches Mihashi's hands, head leaned back just in case he jerks, and then he makes his move. His own hands move quickly, snagging the flailing ones and pressing them close to his chest so that he can't get away as easily. It sort of shuts off one mode of communication for him, but it's fine, it gets him to listen, too. ]
Don't be stupid. We're a battery. [ And he squeezes, to drive his point home. ] We work together and for each other, okay?
[ And you're still here, even when I'm broken. ]
no subject
mihashi is a lot of things. he's a pitcher. he's an ace, a title he used to think he didn't deserve that much. he's a student and a person but most of all, mihashi is a member of a battery, two parts of a functioning whole. as they learn to work together better--as abe only scares mihashi like 75% of the time now and mihashi is 75% of the time understandable to abe--they start fitting together more and more. they're going to be strong, the strongest, no matter what happens. and they'll win. they'll keep winning.
it was hard not to want to keep winning, once he'd gotten a taste. a taste of victory with real teammates, with a catcher who gives him signs and, is even learning to trust him. is there anything better than that in the whole world?
he makes a dumb squeaky noise as his hands get grabbed, but. the deflating commences and mihashi blushes a little further, up to his ears. ] R... right...
[ say it with a little more confidence before you piss him off mihashi jeez. ]
no subject
But, right now, he doesn't give into the urge. It helps that it's only a minor one, compared to how it used to be.
Instead, he uses his hold on Mihashi's hands to push him around. Considering Mihashi is basically a beanpole, it's pretty easy to do, and he nudges him onto his back. Careful not to put weight on his knee, he peers down at him, assessing. They're not 100% in sync yet, but they're damn near it, and every day is another day of progress. He still has trouble understanding him some days, and he knows that he still strikes the fear of god into his pitcher, but...
It's better. ]
You're my pitcher, same as I'm your catcher. [ Said firmly, even if he's somehow managing to flush even more. ] And we've got a lot more games to play.
no subject
(admittedly, it's with everyone else's hard work as well, but. again, captain of the abe takaya fanclub here.)
he moves easily when he's rolled, tipping onto his back and blinking those big, wide, golden eyes up at abe as he leans over him, fidgeting only a tiny bit as if abe's words are the thing that have managed to pin him to place. and then, he nods, clamping his mouth shut because none of the words he wants to say are going to come out of his mouth right. the nod is enthusiastic, though, up and down and up and down, and he's obviously brightened quite a bit at the thought. ]
no subject
That's his immediate goal right now. He needs to be up and walking on his own by then. He needs to be able to crouch and hold his weight by then. He needs to be able to run, to slide, to score his team points. To be there for his pitcher.
Tajima is good, as a substitute, but he's meant to be standing at a different base than home plate. That, that's his spot, where he can meet Mihashi's eyes and hold his mitt in anticipation for a reliable pitch.
Nodding a much more subdued nod, satisfied, Abe leans over him that little bit more and presses his lips to his forehead. Good, he thinks, determined. Remember that. ]
no subject
(though, abe is a good player and a good person and mihashi is mostly his tagalong, being led by the hand into something great; he'll never believe he's great, and so he'll never quite believe that he's the best thing for abe, but. maybe that will come in time.)
it's not quite enough though, he thinks, and mihashi's eyes flicker open for a second, darting across before they settle on abe again, wide and golden and focused like a pitcher.
maybe... if i just...
his small hands come up to cup abe's cheeks, and it's mihashi who lifts himself up a little off the bed to press a small, sweet kiss to his mouth. ]
no subject
Bracing his weight on his arms, so that he doesn't get any weight on his knee, Abe ducks down a little into Mihashi's touch. Because encouraging him is important, when he does something right, when it's good. And this, this is right. This is the greatest good that there is. Abe knows this for a fact, even if Mihashi doesn't believe it himself, and there are two places where this is the most obvious to him - when they mirror each other at the mound and on home plate, and when they're like this.
So he kisses him back, even if he feels the burn of a blush all the way to his ears. Eventually he won't turn red, but this is still so new and delicate that he can't help it. There's plenty of time ahead of them for more baseball, more practice and games, and more of this. More of them. It makes him feel warm all the way down to his core, makes him calm. Which is a surprising thing all of its own, too. ]