#also when they were talking ab going out and phil was like ‘that guy hit on you’ and dan interrupts immediately ‘HE DID NOT HIT ON ME’ | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

icequeenjules26 · 5 years

Text

Flight to Flight

Summary: Dan Howell, aspiring Ski Jumper, meets the handsome stranger Phil at an airport, and they hit it off immediately. But what he didn't know was that Phil was more than he seemed to be…

Word Count: 14,6k

Tags: Ski Jumping AU, Strangers to Lovers, Angst, Fluff, Smut

A/n: This is my fic for the @phandomreversebang! Art is from the amazing @lovelydeps, who even made a different art for me, and a biiiig thank you goes to my beta @indecisive-taco for her nice words and obviously her help! I loved writing this, I hope you guys like it!

Read on AO3

Dan arrived at the airport pretty early. His flight wasn’t for a few more hours, but the weather was horrible and he knew, if he would miss this flight his mom would be pissed.

She would probably be pissed anyway, but what had he been supposed to do?

Technically, she had asked him to be home at least a few days before easter to settle back in with his family and get all discussions out of the way before his extended family would arrive for the actual festivities. He knew that. He had known that. But he simply hadn’t been able to make it.

This was the opportunity of a lifetime. And he never would’ve gotten it had he gone straight home after his last competition.

So, while his Continental Cup team had taken the flight back home from Russia to Germany, he had boarded the flight towards Klagenfurt, Austria, and then the car to Planica, Slovenia for a weekend at the World Cup. Not to compete himself, sadly… At least not yet. But the German national coach had invited him to spend the weekend with the rest of the national team, and they had taken him in with open arms. He knew a few of them already from his youth, but others he hadn’t met before - especially the coach himself. Who had made pretty clear that his chances of competing in the World Cup in the next season were exceptional.

Naturally, Dan was still basking in happiness while waiting for his flight back home, even though the weather was crap. It was the end of March and it was still ridiculously cold outside, including wind and snow and ice.

Inside of the airport hall it was fairly warm, though, and his warm winter coat with the emblem of the German national team had been long since slipped off and stuffed into his hand luggage carelessly. The nice, cozy jumper he was wearing did plenty to keep him warm, even though it was loosely fitted and slipped halfway off his left shoulder whenever he was moving. Which happened too often, to be honest. He was sitting in the waiting hall, playing mindless games on his phone and ignoring his mom’s text to pass the time before his flight would finally be ready for boarding.

It didn’t take him too long to realize something was not right. The plane was supposed to be leaving in about half an hour, and it still hadn’t been called out for boarding, while the weather outside got more ridiculous by the minute. Snow and ice whirled around in a violent storm and it had gotten pretty dark outside even though it was barely 2pm.

He was starting to get restless when a female voice rung through the speakers, saying something undefinable about London-Heathrow and he whipped his head around, searching for the departure board. When he found it he reluctantly got up to get a closer look at it, backpack slung over his left shoulder and a trolley in tow.

It took him a moment to get there and then even longer to find his flight. Klagenfurt was not a big airport, but big enough, and after a big event like a ski jumping World Cup there were more flights leaving than usual. His was listed on the bottom half of the board, a slideshow stating Flug fällt aus - which was German and said his flight was cancelled.

Great.

The exact moment he realized that, he heard a groaning and a “Goddamnit” from somewhere next to him. He looked over as the same word left his lips and found himself eye to eye with blue irises shining so brightly in the rather dim lighting he thought he’d go blind on the spot. His breathing hitched.

Shit, he cursed to himself. Calm down. His eyes are probably the only thing pretty.

But as Dan finally managed to refocus, finally managed to get the whole figure into consideration he had even more reason to hold his breath. It was a man, probably not more than a few years older than Dan, and handsome. Ridiculously so. His black hair was styled into a quiff that looked almost effortless, leaving his pale forehead exposed. The black rimmed glasses perched on his nose only brought out the blue in his eyes even more, and his lips looked so sinful that Dan had to gulp.

And that wasn’t even the worst part: He was clad in black skinny jeans and a bright blue muscle shirt clinging tightly to his body - and what a body that was.

You should tap that, his mind provided unhelpfully and he could feel blood rushing to his cheeks (and a bit more south) as his eyes got as round as saucers. The guy’s abs were clearly outlined in the tight shirt and his chest made Dan lick his lips.

Jesus fucking Christ on a bicycle.

When the guy spoke, Dan was ready to come on the spot. His voice was deep and oozing of sex, and as if that wasn’t bad enough - he had a northern accent mixed in with a bit of Iitalian.

“Your flight got cancelled, too?”, he asked with a pitiful expression and Dan could do nothing else but nod, probably sporting an expression like a deer in the headlights. Is this real life?

“I’m Phil,” the black-haired guy said and stuck out his hand towards Dan. “Dan,” he answered with some effort, voice croaky and high-pitched. He flinched inwardly. Way to make a great first impression, Dan, he said to himself as he took the offered hand and shook it carefully. A feeling not unlike an electric current raced from his hand up his arm and his breathing hitched yet again.

And if he held onto the stranger’s - Phil’s - hand a lot longer than strictly necessary, then that was completely fine, because he probably hadn’t even noticed... Right?

It was Phil’s deep voice that ripped him out of his thoughts. “So… You don’t have anything to do, either?” His eyes were shining with an almost dangerous glint and his lips were curled up in a smirk. Both left no room for interpretation in the most suggestive way and Dan couldn’t be sure what was keeping him upright; all he knew was that it took all his willpower to prevent his knees from buckling under him.

He managed the slightest nod of his head and a somewhat crooked smile in return but didn’t trust his voice. His hands were shaking more than the first time he had been allowed to jump from the large hill or when he got to introduce himself to the German national ski jumping coach. He had balled them into fists and buried deep in his jumper so it wasn’t too apparent, but that didn’t change the facts.

The mischievous facial expression was still firmly in place when Phil asked him to spare the time waiting for further instructions with a coffee, and Dan just simply didn’t have it in him to say no. Nothing more.

It definitely wasn’t like he inwardly rewarded himself with a pat on the shoulder when he managed to blurt out an “absolutely” without his voice breaking even once.

Fifteen minutes later Dan found himself sitting in a tiny cafe in a corner of the airport. They had both ordered a latté, and while waiting for it to appear they made light smalltalk, talking about the weather, where they had wanted to fly to. Phil was nice, funny, and his deep chuckles made Dan think of nights beneath the sheets. When he bent down in his seat to get his phone out of his backpack his shirt as well as a newly added sweater slipped up just the tiniest bit, revealing rippling muscles and the elastic band of obviously tight fitting Calvin Klein pants.

Dan almost choked on his own spit and needed at least a few minutes to recover. When he came back to his senses, their coffees had arrived and Phil was cracking up.

Smooth, Dan. Smooth.

“You okay there, Dan?” Phil asked, grinning, his tongue poking out between his teeth. It looked so cute Dan felt himself blushing profusely.

“Fine,” he croaked out, pointedly ignoring Phil’s smug smirk, instead picking up his latté to take a sip to cover up the redness creeping onto his face. He tried to act like nothing happened, but he knew Phil saw right through him.

Screw him for knowing how fucking hot he is, Jesus fucking Christ.

They drank their coffee accompanied by comfortable smalltalk. Dan learned that Phil was a few years older than him and born Rawtenstall, England. They didn’t talk much about their childhoods overall, which Dan wasn’t too disappointed about considering the mess that was his, and stayed clear of work related topics - that seemed kind of weird to him, like Phil had something to hide, but so had Dan, so he decided to let it slide. Aside from that they covered a lot of topics reaching from hobbies to music to movies, and, surprisingly, Dan found how much he had in common with Phil.

They sat there talking for what felt like hours. By the time he had drank his fourth coffee he was on a serious caffeine-high, which didn’t go past Phil either, and so they both fidgeted and chuckled and blushed a lot. Dan felt like he fit right in with him and that almost overwhelmed him. Phil was a walking god, sex on legs, and Dan couldn’t believe he spent his time talking to him of all people. Also, meeting another British guy at an airport somewhere in the middle of Austria, what were the chances?

Phil’s flirting got more obvious by the second and Dan found himself unable to resist. They had started leaning into each other’s personal space, casually placing a hand on the other’s thigh, and Phil’s eyes noticeably flitted to Dan’s lips at least ten times a minute.

Dan was revelling in it. He loved the attention he got from someone as downright hot as Phil - attention he found himself returning freely. It wasn’t a secret he had the hots for the black-haired man in front of him, not to the increasingly annoyed waitress, nor to the man himself. Phil was aware that Dan fancied him, and Dan found himself not caring the slightest bit. He wanted this man, wanted whatever he was ready to give him, and to get it Phil needed to pick up on this growing crush.

And apparently, that’s what he did. His comments got progressively obvious, up to the point where they were outright scandalous, even for Dan, who was not one to mince matters either. He didn’t mind at all - quite the obvious, actually. It was refreshing to have someone unmitigatedly admitting interest, to not dance around the issue and wonder about the if’s.

Maybe it was formed by the situation they were in, stuck at an airport in the middle of nowhere with no way of knowing if their lives would fit together at all, but not even two hours after meeting it was clear to Dan they would be having sex sooner or later. So when Phil asked the waitress for the bill - and payed for it all without a word to Dan - before taking his hand and dragging him along to an almost completely deserted part of the airport, he wasn’t the slightest bit surprised.

They found a bathroom at the furthest corner, not a soul around, and Phil ushered him inside with an urgency that came almost shocking to Dan. As soon as they were inside, the door closed behind them, Phil had him firmly pressed against it. He would have wondered about the sound of a lock clicking into place, but was lacking at least half of his brain capacity - until Phil’s lips met his and it all went flying out of the window.

There was a ferocity, an intensity in his kiss that Dan never would have thought Phil was capable of.

He liked it.

Maybe a bit too much.

A few minutes of furiously making out later Phil pressed his hips against Dan’s and Dan was done for. He could feel Phil’s hardness grinding against his own and moaned loudly against Phil’s lips.

He could feel the smirk before Phil pulled away, regarding him with an unmistakable look that had Dan’s blood boiling. Phil was so freaking hot Dan wanted nothing more then to get his lips everywhere on Phil’s body - so that, he realized, was what he was going to do.

His hands wandered to the zip of Phil’s jeans out of their own accord - and he found himself actually growling when Phil took a hold of his wrist before he could open it.

“Before we do this,” Phil said pantingly, “I need to get something straight -”

Without thinking, Dan interrupted him. “Honey, nothing about this is straight.”

For a second it was so quiet he would’ve been able to hear a pin drop - then, out of nowhere, they both started laughing, soon clutching to each other to not fall over. Dan’s mind was so clouded by their previous activity, he didn’t even care that it definitely hadn’t been funny enough to justify this level of laughter.

It took them far too long to calm down. Both of them had tears swimming in their eyes and Dan couldn’t help but shake his head disbelievingly. He was truly hilarious when his brain was not properly supplied with blood.

“Okay, that’s true,” Phil conceded, still chuckling quietly, his hands resting on the wall behind Dan, bracketing him, “but let’s be serious for a second, okay?”

Dan narrowed his grin to a slight smile, leaning forward to kiss Phil on the cheek sweetly. In his mind the wildest theories started blossoming - what the fuck was important enough to interrupt their previous activity for?? - but he did his best to not let it show. “Of course. What is it?” His voice wavered slightly and he mentally facepalmed.

Way to go, Dan.

Phil’s eyes caught his in a look, holding them stronger than a vice. “I need you to understand that this,” he gesticulated between them, “is not supposed to be a one time thing, okay? I really like you, Dan.” Sincerity resonated so strongly in his voice Dan found his heart skipping a beat. It felt like happiness was seeping into his skin, making him glow from the inside out.

“Me too, Phil.”

For the single blink of an eye Phil stared at him as if he had seen a ghost, eyes wide opened, worry clouding their vibrant colour.

Then his lips stretched to a wide smile, eyes shining so brightly Dan was sure their shine would blind him - but he didn’t look away.

He didn’t even care.

If that was what it’d cost, if he would have to lose his eyesight to stare at the picture in front of him for just a second longer, then he was more than willing to pay the prize.

“You’re fucking beautiful,” he whispered, gently laying his hands on Phil’s cheeks before he leaned in, kissing him with the force of his feelings raging in his chest.

After that, things naturally progressed to where they had been before the interruption. This time, when Dan made a move to pull down Phil’s jeans along with his pants he didn’t get stopped. Quite the contrary. Phil spurred him on with a sinful moan, and Dan had to bite his lower lip to keep himself from moaning right back.

Instead he dropped to his knees in front of Phil, humming in pleasure when Phil’s cock sprang free, hard and flushed and glorious. He couldn’t wait to get it in his mouth.

He didn’t know what it was exactly, but something spiked his motivation and skills to the notch. It might have been Phil’s sexiness or his charming words minutes earlier or something else entirely - he would probably never know.

Nevertheless, whatever it was, it worked. Phil was panting and moaning and completely losing control mere minutes later, and before Dan knew it, he was coming down his throat.

And even though Dan usually wasn’t one to like come in his mouth, he enjoyed it this time. A lot.

It took Phil only seconds to move. Dan didn’t even have the opportunity to react, he suddenly got pulled to his feet and turned around, back slamming against the door behind him. Phil’s lips were on his faster then he was even able to comprehend the recent proceedings, attacking his own with a ferocity that made Dan moan into the kiss.

He could feel Phil smirking before he pulled away, then there was a hand pressing against the bulge in his jeans while Phil sank to his knees before him and he abruptly lost all ability to function.

The next few minutes were spent in utter bliss. His orgasm came faster than he would have liked it to, but he simply couldn’t push it down any longer, and he felt ridiculously good coming into Phil’s mouth.

Is this what heaven feels like?

It took them a while to recover from the whole ordeal. For some time they just stood there, clutching to each other as if for dear life, Dan’s jeans and pants still down to his ankles. Phil was pushed up against him, forehead resting on his shoulder, and for a second, everything seemed perfect. They had completely forgotten their surroundings, the fact that they had just blown each other in public toilets in the corner of an airport.

Then Phil raised his head, bringing his lips next to Dan’s ears, and Dan almost felt ready for round two in the matter of seconds. “I’m going to fuck you one day.” A shudder ran down his spine and Dan found himself moaning.

“Please,” he whispered back, breathless, voice hoarse.

Then their bubble of hormones and flirting and sex got interrupted rather violently. With a shrill ding the intercom shrivelled to life, calling out the last boarding for Flug 268 nach Manchester, England, and Phil got as white as a sheet. “Shit!” he cursed, abruptly letting go of Dan and scrambling for his bag. “I’ll text you when I land!” he managed to exclaim, then he was gone.

It was only a few hours later that Dan realized they had never exchanged numbers.

______

Dan spent the summer training with the German national team. Originally he had only been planned to join up with them a month before the World Cup was supposed to start, but he had gotten a phone call shortly after Easter, asking him if he'd be up for spending the whole summer with the team, including bonding activities and a weeklong vacation. Obviously he hadn’t been able to say no.

By the time the World Cup started up again it had been over half a year since he met Phil. He knew they didn’t even know each other’s last names or much other vital information, so Phil had no means to contact him, but the absence of any form of communication still made his skin itch and his nostrils flare in silent anger. It was probably just a coping mechanism, but he didn’t care. It was better than the sadness and sense of loss that he had no claim on anyway.

Somewhere below the surface he knew, though. He knew what he felt towards Phil had been more than infatuation, more than a purely physical attraction.

He had liked Phil. And somehow, even six months later, he still did.

It was nothing short of a miracle that the whole ordeal didn’t affect his jumping or sporting ability. He was a bit absent sometimes or had too many thoughts to properly concentrate, but his fellow athletes as well as the coaching staff were understanding and even taught him some techniques to enhance his concentration. Surprisingly they mostly did their job and going into the winter season Dan felt as strong a ski jumper as never before.

Most of his former problems and shortcomings had improved considerably, some had even turned into strengths. He was friends or at least on friendly terms with almost every last person in the Ggerman national team, including the staff as well as other athletes and medical attendees. He was more fit physically as well as mentally, and he understood the structure of a ski-jumping hill well enough to have a general idea of possible take-off points from just looking at it. The biggest improvement were his landings, though. Formerly shy of even landing with his feet properly paralleled, he now managed a nicely executed Telemark in nine out of ten times.

Telemark landing meant that in the moment he’d touch the ground his knees were supposed to be slightly bend, one foot in front of the other in something resembling a step. It was hard to manage with the pressure the landing put on your body, especially your knees and ankles, and landing with your feet parallel was just much easier to handle. He had been slacking off on that for basically the entirety of his career, making the judges give him lower points for the jumps, meaning lower scores in total. The total score included style, distance, the wind factor during the jump as well as the gate factor (the starting gate affects the length of the approach, therefore affecting the speed and, in conclusion, the distance of the jump).

Dan had always had his problems with more than one part of the process involved in ski jumping, but now, with a few months of excessive training and incredible coaches he had to admit he was getting quite… good. Not that he had been bad before, obviously, but he’d rarely had this proper flying feeling before - now it came almost natural.

On the way to Wisla, Poland, he finally had the time to get nervous. The journey there was quite stressful, involving a flight to Katowice and a following car ride that was heavily slowed down by traffic. In total it took over three hours longer than originally planned and by the time they arrived at their hotel Dan was tired of overthinking and overall exhausted.

Thankfully they had decided to head over a day early to give them all a smoother transition back into the strenuous schedule that was the ski jumping World Cup, so they had the luxury of taking the rest of the day off - at least aside from light muscle training to stay in shape. After that Dan fell into bed like a stone and didn’t open his eyes again until the next morning.

The following day was blocked for sightseeing and inspecting the jumping hill for the first time. Since it was tradition for the World Cup to start in Wisla, the rest of Team Germany had been here several times and knew the village, so they decided to stay in a café and drink some coffee, but Dan decided to bow out for the time being, rather doing that sightseeing. He had been here with the Continental Cup Team a few times, but never had had the opportunity to really look around.

There was so much culture he was astounded. With him living in Oberstdorf, Germany, a pretty cultural village itself, it meant a lot that Wisla had even more to offer. He visited churches and castles and old mansions, so completely entranced by everything he saw he forgot to pay attention to the time. He was scheduled to meet back with his teammates to make the drive out to the jumping hill together later that day, but he still had plenty of time.

Or so he had thought.

While visiting an old shooting lodge he took the time to inspect the map of the village a hotel employee had handed him this morning, not watching where he was going until -

Until his head, bowed down to look at the map, bumped into something hard and soft at the same time, making him recoil.

“Goddamnit,” he groaned, at the same time as a voice that sounded somewhat familiar and a sense of dejavu overcame him, like he had heard it before, ringing alongside his own tone.

And he had, he realized as he looked up and came face to face with the most handsome man he had ever met.

Funnily enough the only feeling standing out was relief about the current weather, warm enough to make him take off his Team Germany coat once again. It was stuffed into his backpack instead and out of sight. The rest of the feelings raced through his body unacknowledged, clouding his head, his thoughts and his vision.

“Phil,” he rapped out breathlessly when his head cleared just the tiniest bit, vision now completely captured by blue eyes and a kind smile.

He hadn’t changed one bit. And what that meant was that he was still hot as hell.

“Dan!”

For a second he saw Phil’s eyes lighting up, his smile widening ridiculously, then he was enveloped in strong, long arms, keeping him pressed to the very same chest he had just ran into. “I’m so happy to meet you again,” Phil whispered into his ear softly, voice laced with relief. Dan wasn’t sure what made him shudder, the tone or his breath skimming over the sensitive skin of his earlobe. He pretended that it was the latter, nothing else but a reaction of his body, but deep down he was pretty much aware that there was more behind it.

He had missed Phil. His voice, his smile, his touch. That his body was keeping it at a shudder was actually pretty fortunate.

It took them ages to let go of each other.

Or, in all honesty, they never did. They weren't hugging anymore, sure, but that didn't mean they weren’t touching - quite the contrary. While making their way to a nearby cafe they had constant physical contact - Phil’s hand on Dan’s lower back, their hands brushing together as if by accident, Phil’s long fingers gently wrapping around his wrist.

When they had ordered their coffee they finally came to talking, and it was like they had never lost contact. Instead of speaking of the issue, exchanging phone numbers to not lose each other again, they stayed completely clear of that subject - Dan honestly didn’t even remember. Their conversations were too enthralling, encapturing.

While drinking their coffee Dan realized Phil was still - or yet again - flirting. A hand casually dropped to his knee, sexual innuendos, eyes resting on his lips for far too long. Yet again, he found himself unable to care and desperate to reciprocate. The guy was like a drug, and Dan was hooked after just one shot.

It came as no surprise to Dan that they locked themselves in the bathroom mere minutes later. Their kisses were desperate, like the other was the first sip of water after running through the desert for the six months they had spent apart. Dan was glad he wasn’t alone in his urgency, could perceive it clearly in the way Phil was clawing at him, in the way his lips started roaming over Dan’s neck in a matter of seconds.

This time they weren’t patient enough for respective blowjobs. By the time they really started touching each other instead of just groping, they were both rock hard and desperate for release. Dan took it upon himself to take them both in his hands, stroking and tugging skillfully until first Phil, then himself jumped over the edge.

They were still slightly out of breath when Dan’s phone rang in the pocket of his jeans. He ignored it, still resting his forehead on Phil’s shoulder, trying to catch up with reality. “That,” Phil rasped out in between breaths, completely ignoring the ringing phone, “Was incredible.”

Dan chuckled in response. “Agreed.”

By the time they had cleaned themselves up and tugged their jeans and underwear back on his phone started ringing again. Dan groaned in displeasure but fished it out of his pocket to take a look at the caller ID.

The name flashing up made his blood freeze in his veins and he checked the time in a panic haste. “Fuck,” he mumbled under his breath, and Phil looked up from buckling up his belt.

“Everything okay?” he asked, clear worry in his voice, and Dan raised his head to look up at him. He could feel his eyes widen out of their own accord when he processed the time. “No!” he practically screamed then. “I really gotta go. Fuck. Can you take care of the tab for me?”

He barely even waited for Phil’s hesitant nod before he picked up his backpack from the ground and hurried out of the bathroom. The urgent “Dan, wait!” faded away unprocessed.

____

It was during his first competition jump the memory finally dawned on him. He had hurried so much to get to the meeting point with his team as soon as possible he hadn’t even begun to process things, and it seemed like only during the jump did the stress of the last few days finally ebb away.

He had had barely scratched the qualification distance, ending the qualifying as 59th with 60 jumpers qualified for the actual competition. But when he finally took off down the hill the day after, when he flew through the air and realized he had met the take-off point almost perfectly this time, it all just crumbled away, all the worries, all the apprehension rolled down the hill and out of sight.

He realized he and Phil had forgotten to change numbers yet again, but surprisingly, he didn’t panic, not in the slightest. Somehow there was this certainty in him that told him he would meet Phil again, sooner or later; a deep tranquillity laid itself over him, made him focus on the jump with everything he had.

It only took the fraction of a second, the realization and coming to peace with it, and afterwards was the first time in days - maybe weeks or even months - his head was completely clear, nothing clouding his judgement. With piercing clarity he felt his right shoulder starting to fold back, to give into the wind instead of holding against it, and did his best to push it back forward, gently to not disturb the airstream that kept him up.

During the last portion of the jump, where usually the support of the air fizzled away and there wasn’t much else to do but to initiate a landing, there was suddenly a stream of air, just a fraction of what had carried him down the hill, but it was something, and he laid himself onto it with everything he had.

It brought him the few meters that made a good jump an amazing jump. And with the second jump being equally great, he managed to finish in the top ten in his first competition with the German World Cup Team.

____

Overall Dan’s performance over the whole weekend was quite good. Werner Schuster, their coach, approached him on sunday shortly before their journey back home and rewarded him with a rare praising speech and a fatherly pat on the shoulder. The team celebrated him like he had won one of the competitions, even though he merely made it into the Top 10 at both of them; but they were so excited he couldn’t help but celebrate with them. The support they all gave him was incredible and his roommate, Karl Geiger, who also lived in Oberstdorf, even invited him round for video games the following week.

The next weekend they spent at the World Cup in Kuusamo, Finnland, where the first team competition would take place. Those were a whole different deal to Dan, changing the dynamics and energy in the team completely, and to his utmost surprise he even got nominated for it, even though it consisted of only four competitors, with a total team quantity of six members.

He was the second to jump. Andreas Wellinger, his teammate and first competitor for the German Team, had scored fairly well and put them into third place right after Norway and Poland, so it was his task to at least uphold that position. And he managed to, without much problem, even creeping closer to Poland, but when he had arrived in the leadersbox - both teams placing before them hadn’t jumped yet - for a second he thought he saw blue eyes and shiny black hair standing out of the crowd of onlookers.

As soon as he turned to take a closer look the figure was gone, but something inside him told him he hadn’t imagined it, and somehow, that made him skittish and excited at the same time.

Germany placed second in the competition, and the team took Saturday night off to celebrate that with a round of cards they all enjoyed, maybe a bit too much.

When he awoke at Sunday morning Karl, and, when he came down into the breakfast hall, the rest of the team wasn’t awake yet. That wasn’t really an oddity as it was still quite early, and ski jumpers tended to be late risers - but what was odd was that Dan was already awake and filled to the brim with motivation. They were only scheduled to get to the hill at around two pm, so he decided to take the time before that for some sightseeing through Kuusamo. He left Karl a note to find when he’d wake up, took a hoodie and a backpack and made his way through the beautiful village.

This time, he didn’t run into him. It wasn’t that fateful, didn’t seem that much like a scene straight out of a movie, but was quite special nonetheless.

When he lazily slendered over the old marketplace, looking around, admiring old architecture, there was a voice calling his name and when he looked around, there he was - Phil, in black skinny jeans, a fitted hoodie and in all his glory. “I knew I’d see you again,” he basically moaned, and before Dan could even react he was being kissed.

This time there was no flirting beforehand, no hesitation, no what do you want exactly?, only their desire for each other. Phil smuggled him into his hotel room, but even though Dan was quite aware what exactly Phil wanted - he himself wanted it, too, without a doubt - he had an important competition in under six hours and hadn’t been stretched for months now, so he remorsefully stopped Phil before he started doing just that.

“No sex today. Okay? And be careful, I haven’t been stretched for months,” he huffed out in between breaths and the smirk on Phil’s face became nothing short of smug. “Have saved yourself for me, have you?” he mumbled into Dan’s ear before gently caressing the sensitive skin there with his tongue and Dan lost all ability to focus.

“Maybe,” he whispered back, as collected as possible, and then everything dissolved into a rush of limbs and clothes and moans. It felt so good Dan completely lost all tethers to reality, lost himself in Phil.

When they were both done and Phil had gently cleaned Dan up - in the cutest way any guy had ever done for him, that was for certain - they were just lying in bed, Dan’s head resting on Phil’s chest while they held each other close. Somewhere in the distance music was running as a background noise and from time to time, they’d say something, briefly discuss a topic, but mostly they were silent, quietly reveling in the intimacy.

They remembered to exchange numbers this time, and Dan made it back to his hotel in time without a problem. The competition went by smoothly, he finished 14th, but Karl won the competition and the team lost all of their cool, celebrating deep into the night. ___ Phil’s first message made Dan dance through his flat for minutes, before he picked up his phone and texted back with a coolness that he in no way possessed. From there onwards it became increasingly natural to text him in almost every situation. They told each other everything - aside from anything relating to their jobs, which was still a topic that they stayed peculiarly clear of. Dan got progressively anxious about it, but couldn’t say anything either - he really didn’t want to tell Phil about his career. He feared rejection, laughter, anger; having a relationship with an athlete was often more work than it was worth, and he was aware of that. Not that they had a relationship - and what Dan wished for them to have was completely beside the point.

When they met in Nizhny Tagil, Russia and Engelberg, Switzerland, it became increasingly hard to ignore the issue, but they did their best. They just avoided bringing it up, asking if the other was in town too by sending them seemingly innocent pics of the town signs. They met up at both places and fooled around. Phil noticed how much easier it was to stretch Dan open, and Dan admitted with burning hot cheeks that he had done it himself the past few weeks to be able to take Phil in the future. Phil assured him that it would come really useful the next time they saw each other, and Dan almost came just from that thought.

The World Cup circus took place two weeks later, after Christmas, in his hometown Oberstdorf. Phil knew he lived here, so he didn’t even send a picture, just asked for the address and was there less than half an hour later. At this point Dan was utterly convinced it wasn’t just a series of coincidences, but found himself unable to do anything about it. He refrained from asking - because it would make the issue real, and because he was afraid of the answer.

Dating, or even having an affair with a member of another team was not an option, even if he only belonged to the medical or technical staff. He was pretty sure he’d have seen Phil before if he’d be a fellow athlete, but couldn’t be certain of that either.

So he kept quiet and continued to live in a blissful state of ignorance. When Phil arrived at his place he had a bottle of wine in the fridge and dinner on the stove, but they barely had the time to eat it before Phil dragged him into the bedroom and disposed of their clothes.

He was gentle, so, so gentle, and didn’t seem to be in a hurry at all while Dan had fallen completely pliant before Phil even asked for the lube. He felt like he was on his way to paradise. Phil’s touches swept like clouds of ecstasy across his skin and Dan was utterly high on endorphins before they even truly began.

When Phil’s first lube-coated finger entered him he couldn’t help but moan. He could feel Phil’s erection pressing into his thigh with the way he hovered over him and couldn’t wait to have it inside of him.

Fortunately for him that also seemed to be Phil’s goal. He took his time, worked Dan open thoroughly, but there was an underlying urgeness that made Dan shiver.

Phil pushed into him after making sure Dan was okay, slowly at first, then faster, and found Dan’s prostate almost instantly. His thrusts were strong and confident but careful and gentle at the same time and Dan was sure he had arrived in paradise. If there was another goal in life than to achieve the utter bliss he was in he was not interested in meeting it - at least not in that moment.

Afterwards they cuddled up together in Dan’s bed, Brooklyn 99 running in the background. Phil had asked for Buffy - apparently it was not available in Italy so he usually spent most of his time abroad watching it - but gasped theatrically when Dan had to inform him that Buffy was not available on Netflix in Germany either, acting utterly affronted by the prospect. Phil’s pout made Dan’s brain short-circuit, offering him nothing but code 500 - error because of cuteness overload.

“I can stay overnight, but I need to get going first thing in the morning. If you want me to?” Phil whispered when it had been silent for a while, and Dan looked up to him from his place on his chest. “I’d love that, Phil,” he assured him and they shared a kiss so sweet Dan was sure he’d be needing insulin.

They still didn’t define their relationship, held back by all the unresolved circumstances, but they both knew it was more than just sex - and that seemed to be enough, if only for this night.

___

By the time Dan woke up the next morning Phil was gone, but he had left him a sweet note on his pillow including a drawn heart and a message on WhatsApp. Dan wore a far-off smile the whole day and got teased endlessly by his teammates.

He finished qualifying as 29th, and it made him utterly proud. The four hills tournament was infamous and prestigious, and in all his former attempts on his home hill he had been eliminated in the qualifying. Jumping at home was a whole different story than jumping anywhere else, and truth be told, he had never been able to handle the pressure. The sole participation of a World Wup was an honour, especially at home.

The home team was allowed to have additional starters, so Dan had competed in the World Cup here before, but this year everything was different. This year, Karl clapped him on the back before he had to get ready for his jump, and Andi Wellinger wolf-whistled jokingly when he zipped his suit back up.

The four hills tournament competitions were different than the others. Instead of the thirty best competitors advancing to the second round the first round was jumped out in duels, and winning your duel sent you to the second round regardless of the other competitors. Additionally, the five best athletes who lost their duel advanced, too - those were called lucky losers. The whole mode gave the competition more tension, making it more attractive for fans as well as for the athletes themselves, and Dan had always loved the concept.

His duel opponent was an Italian athlete called Philip Lester. The Italian team had not achieved much for years now, losing and regaining their privilege to compete in the World Cup over and over again. Lester was a mostly blank page as far as the World Cup results were concerned, often even failing to make it into the actual competition. He made a few World Cup points in Wisla last year, meaning he made it into the top 30, and one top ten spot - in Oberstdorf.

Still, both Dan and the coaches weren’t too worried. He should be able to do it.

He was so focused on competing that the name didn’t even make him perk up - and he would come to regret that.

On the competition day Dan was so nervous he thought he recognized Phil as one of the competitors in the waiting room, but he put it down as nothing but nerves and tried to focus on himself again. Karl gave him a few tips to cope with the pressure of a home World Cup and Dan was surprisingly successful in executing them, making him more focused and relaxed.

Then it was his turn to jump. He had to set a standard for his opponent to meet, what made it even more precarious - he had no idea how far he’d have to go, so he decided to just give his all, no matter the cost.

And how much that was.

While jumping Dan was completely oblivious to the distance he had already passed. Only when he came close to landing he realized how far down hill he was, almost over the kurve of the hill, to the point where the ground got even again and the force to the bones in landing got a lot bigger.

When he initiated the landing he could feel the compression all the way up to his torso, but he forced himself to attempt a telemark landing. His right foot almost slipped, making him slinger, but he managed to keep them together, preventing a fall.

The fans cheered so loudly it was like a wave of support slammed against him, but instead of pushing him under it picked him up and carried him safely to the exit. He detached his skiers from his boots and picked them up, taking his place at one of the marked points next to the exit. For a second the atmosphere got tense as the points from the judges arrived and the computer calculated his end result, but then the arena was back to a loud cheering. The judges had given him points around 18 and with 20 being the maximum, that was a lot. He got a few points subtracted for good wind, but the end result was still great.

While his opponent got ready the whole arena was so quiet Dan would have been able to hear a pin drop, making him even more anxious. He knew that he had great chances of advancing via lucky losers even if Lester beat him, but the wait was still almost too much.

In the stress he completely forgot to pull off his ski glasses and helmet.

Then his opponent landed and the whole arena erupted into cheering. Even without the points from the judges and the wind points it was obvious he’d get a lot less points than Dan, landing quite a few meters in front of the green line indicating his own distance.

So, instead of watching the big screen showing the results, as he normally would have, he focused on his opponent, sliding down to the exit while simultaneously pulling off his glasses -

It hit Dan like a hammer to the chest, knocking all the air out of his lungs.

He knew those eyes. He’d recognize the piercing blue anywhere.

Suddenly he felt sick to his stomach.

“Phil.”

____

They both carried on like nothing had happened. Dan had ripped down his glasses in something close to a trance, and Phil almost fell over before he even came to a complete halt, but they acted like nothing happened. Nothing.

They high-fived, moved to a man hug, clapping each other on the back, then let go to move their separate ways; Dan to the leader box and Phil around the hill to his staff. It left Dan completely numb, somewhat detached from his body, for at least half an hour.

Then Andi Wellinger arrived next to Dan to keep him company and somehow managed to get him back to reality. It wasn’t that he felt completely fine, that he wasn’t bothered anymore, no; it was more that Dan had locked the discovery in a tiny box and buried it somewhere in the back of his mind where he’d never stumble across it without actively searching it out. The emanating feelings he pushed down, down, down, until they were nothing but a faint whisper.

That probably wasn’t the most healthy coping mechanism, but it at least allowed him to function as a reasonably sane human being. He simply didn’t have the time to deal with it - not right now. Not in the middle of a competition that was on its best way to making one of his biggest dreams come true.

Only a few more jumpers and so far no one had come even close to his score. Andi was cheering loudly, but kept him occupied with jokes and funny stories, and Dan was so, so grateful for his presence.

They both rooted for their teammates and celebrated with Karl when he won his duel, ranking on the fourth place.

Then, like it happened completely unforeseen, the first round was over and Dan was still first, even with a pretty huge margin, and he didn’t seem able to cope. The second round started sooner then he’d hoped - he would’ve appreciated some time to calm down and refocus, but it seemed like time was flying, hurtling past so fast he couldn’t keep up.

Even though he barely comprehended it was happening his second jump went great. Not as good as the first one, sure, but enough to keep his position and secure his first win of a World Cup - on his home hill!

The German team celebrated loudly, almost excessively that night. Sure, they had to get to packing, moving over to Garmisch for the next qualifier tomorrow, but Andi, Karl, Stephan Leyhe and him had decided to take the same car, and they had a lot of fun on the two hour drive. When they arrived at their hotel they all got together for a round of cards, including their Coach and two other team members.

Obviously, it was only stress keeping him from checking his phone - or so he tried to make himself believe.

___

He didn’t sleep well that night. At around five am he finally gave into his anxious thoughts and checked his phone for messages, and surely enough, there was one from Phil waiting for him.

I knew it was too good to be true.

Dan’s heart skipped a beat before it started to throb painfully in his chest. Their harmony, the way they were completely in sync with each other, their wordless communication - all of that made him read between the lines, made him realize that Phil had made the decision…

The only decision they had ever been allowed to make.

He texted nothing back but one single word.

Goodbye.

___

The following weeks raced past Dan so fast he was unable to conceive any of it. He did well enough in the other competitions, placing in the top twenty in all of them. During the whole weekend in Val di Fiemme, Italy, he didn’t even seem to be conscious, only recalling the events vaguely afterwards. During the World Cup in Zakopane, Poland as well as their week spent in Sapporo, Japan he started to regain consciousness, but it felt like he wasn’t really there, like he was observing it from somewhere far away.

At the beginning of February the World cup circus returned to Oberstdorf for ski flying. Surprisingly, Werner Schuster had given Dan the go to compete in it, despite the fact that he was young and mostly unexperienced in ski flying, and he needed some time to process that. So on the night before the first competition he decided to step out, take a walk around the beautiful village he called his home.

As he strolled through the quaint, peaceful alleys, over the old market place, the Nebelhorn, the highest mountain directly connected to the village, stood tall and proud in the distance, faint light and blinking indicating the usage of snow groomers on the piste. He came to a halt in front of the large letters spelling out Oberstdorf in the spa park, encaptured by the sight in the distance. All of this meant so much to him, his life, his career, his home - and even though he missed his family back in England from time to time he knew he would never go back there. He had grown up here, in a boarding school for winter athletes, and was grateful his parents had let him make this decision.

Still, sometimes he wished he was nothing but a normal boy - someone who could follow wherever his heart lead him.

He knew, right now it lead to Phil.

Tears started prickling in his eyes, obscuring his vision; white blended with the yellow shine of the lightbulbs and the pitch black of the night sky to an abstruse mashup of colours that started spinning until he couldn’t even distinguish between the ground and the sky. For the first time since this fateful competition he let himself think about it, let himself open the box and stop pushing down the feelings bubbling inside of him.

It hurt. It hurt a whole lot. His heart laid in thousands of fragments in front of him, smashed on the cold, hard ground that was his reality. He didn’t grieve about a lost love, not yet, but about the what could have been. A voice told him this relationship could have developed into something big, and that only hurt more.

When he toppled over, two strong arms engulfed him, and he sunk against a chest, into a smell so familiar he couldn’t stop the tears from falling any longer.

“Phil,” he sobbed into the thick winter coat, holding on to the man in front of him with everything he had, mumbling his name, over and over and over again.

Phil. Phil. Phil.

When he calmed down Phil was still there, gently caressing his hair and placing kisses onto it, all the while mumbling sweet nothings. Dan felt like bursting into tears all over again.

“Dan, can we talk?” he asked when it had been quiet for a while, nothing but Dan’s still ragged breath and the odd calling of a bird interrupting the silence. Maybe he should have, but Dan simply didn’t have it in him to say no.

___

Their talking turned into having sex as soon as they set foot into Dan’s flat and he wasn’t even surprised about it. He knew about the pull Phil had on him, mentally and physically, and he had pushed it down for so long he was proud he hadn’t bulged sooner.

They ravished, revelled in each other - quite literally, on Phil’s side - without a sense of guilt or remorse. They were both completely aware of the situation, making conscious decisions - they could’ve stopped. Probably.

Truth was, Dan didn’t want to.

Truth was, Dan had spent the last few weeks barely even existing, subconsciously often so focussed on avoiding Phil that everything else seemed to smaller in comparison. He wanted more than that. More than existing - more than a tiny piece of his energy focussed on his sports. He loved being a ski jumper. And if keeping Phil was what he needed for that - so be it. It was a win-win situation, really.

They did talk afterwards, in hushed whispers and mumbled assurances, but they talked, with a clarity and certainty that surprised them both. They agreed to keep seeing each other, casually, but seriously enough to make them promise to not see anyone else at the side.

For Dan it was the boost of confidence and consciousness he needed. Sure, Werner Schuster hadn’t said much about his slacking performance and dropping results but the relief on his face when Dan managed to place second in the ski flying World Cup the next day spoke volumes.

Overall, the following weeks Dan walked as if on clouds. There was a spring in his steps and a constant smile on his face and his teammates wouldn't let him hear the end of it. Even the quiet and shy Stephan Leyhe gave suggestive remarks that had Dan blushing crimson every time.

Through the whole rest of the season, everything was more than amazing. Dan managed to get into the top ten in the overall World Cup and the German team was more than proud of him, celebrating him even days afterwards, even though there were others that managed to do the same. It was because he was a new addition, they kept telling him, and he couldn’t help but to grin widely about it. He was a part of the team now. He belonged there. It seemed more like a dream than reality - and yet it was.

He was sure he had never felt as happy as this off-season. He spent the summer between training with the rest of his team, his friends, and Phil, basically travelling back and forth between Val di Fiemme, where Phil lived, and his home. He went on vacation / trainingscamp to the south sea with his team and made a journey home to see his parents and his little brother, and they finally stopped judging him for being an athlete - no, they almost seemed proud.

Overall, he was thriving.

The fall back to hard, unforgiving reality couldn’t have been harsher.

He had to admit it was some case of hybris, of megalomania. They had been so save for months now that the beginning of the world cup made them reckless. Phil would sneak into Dan’s cabin for a quickie, or they’d hide behind them for a makeout-session. Later, Dan would question if it had been worth it for a bit of sex and a few stolen kisses, but he wouldn’t be able to estimate the worth of the time he had shared with Phil.

It was invaluable.

It wasn’t that one, single discovery, not someone running in on them having sex or catching them kissing, like it happened in movies or TV-shows.

No, it all started with simple rumors.

They were vague and innocent at the beginning; two athletes were said to hook up regularly, identities unknown. Andi, or Welli, as they called him, filled Dan in with low whispers and a hushed tone and Dan didn’t even think much about it. Affairs between jumpers weren’t common, sure, but not unheard of either, so he just assumed it was about someone from the widely varying austrian team.

Then it got more specific. A German and an Italian, Andi told him a week later as they waited for their training to pick back up after a weather-inconvenience, and added a few suggestive questions just for good measure. Dan’s blood ran cold for just a second, then he was back to himself, shot a few equally suggestive remarks back and thought that was the end of it. He texted Phil that they should be a bit more careful but forgot about it just a few hours later.

He never would have thought it would get through to the coaches.

The next friday after the qualifying Werner Schuster got the whole team and his Co-trainer together at a table. It was the last World Cup station before christmas, the third one in the running season, so things had started to get back to normal after the commonly slack first two World Cups, so Dan didn’t even think to be worried. They had those team-meetings almost every week. Sure, the urgency in his trainer’s tone had caught him of guard, but it was probably just about the dropping performances this week. Surely. Certainly.

“Glaubt nicht, dass ich das hier gern mache, Jungs,” he started and Dan raised an eyebrow to a perfect half circle, exchanging a quick look with Karl, who had come to be his best friend. He was shy and reserved, but he had warmed up to Dan, and them living in the same village had pushed them together quite quickly. They were able to talk about everything with each other, always shared a room and laughed about the same inside jokes, and Dan appreciated him a lot.

Don’t think I enjoy doing this, guys.

“Es ist mir zu Ohren gekommen, dass einer von euch,” he focused directly on each and every one of them; Dan did his best to stay cool when his coach’s eyes came to a halt on his face, but he knew he’s a bad actor, “eine Affäre mit einem Springer hat. Aus einem anderen Land.” Dan had to gulp. He tried to keep it hidden, but Karl shot him a worried look and Dan started to become anxious. He crossed his arms in front of his chest to keep his hands from shaking. Karl still didn’t seem convinced, though, he knew him too well for that.

It has come to my attention that one of you has an affair with a jumper. From another country.

“Es ist mir grundsätzlich egal, was ihr mit eurer Freizeit anstellt, Jungs. Aber ich muss euch dran erinnern, dass eine Affäre mit einem Konkurrenten gegen die Regeln ist.” For a while it was silent after this. They all looked up, avoided their Coach’s eyes while fervently searching for those of the others, all flitting through the room, trying to figure out who it was - and how to help them. Only Karl’s eyes stayed firmly on Dan’s face. He could feel them boring into him, and if it would have been anyone else’s they would have felt like daggers. Not Karl’s, though. Karl’s felt like honey on his skin, smooth and sweet. He was properly worried now, Dan was sure.

I generally don’t care what you’re doing with your free time, guys. But I have to remind you of the fact that an affair with an opponent is against the rules.

“Ich will gar nicht wissen, wer’s war. Es interessiert mich nicht mal wirklich. Ich hab euch drüber informiert dass ich das leider nicht dulden kann, und damit ist die Sache für mich durch. Aber ihr wisst, dass Regelverstoß einen Ausstoß aus dem Team nach sich ziehen kann, so leid es mir tut. Gute nacht, Jungs.” With that, he got up and left, his Co-Trainer trailing behind him. Dan knew it wasn’t meant as harsh as it had sounded. Werner Schuster was a nice guy and a really good coach. But he also didn’t like slagging. Usually it was just pranks and jokes - they were a tight knit pack who liked laughing - but this - this was huge.

I don’t wanna know who it was. I don’t even really care. I’ve now informed you that I can’t tolerate such behaviour, and the thing’s done and over with in my book. But you know that a violation of our rules can entail expulsion from the Team, as sad as that would make me. Good night guys.

After a while of silent conversation the others got up and left. Dan trailed behind them, feeling numb all over and completely not in control of the situation. His hand flitted to the phone in his jeans, but he didn’t pick it up, didn’t know what to say - didn’t even know what he wanted to say. This was his job, his career, and sure, a job wasn’t everything, but this was more than that. This was his life. He had finally made it, finally started to get somewhere, to have success - he didn’t want to, no, he couldn’t risk it all for a man he fooled around with.

He’s more than someone you fool around with, and you know that. You love him.

Dan pushed the voice away but deep down he knew it was right. He loved Phil.

What a cruel time to have that realization, Dan mused quietly, and watched almost indifferently as his heart shattered into a thousand pieces all over again.

We have to stop. For good., he typed into his phone. Coach caught wind of something fishy. I love you. Goodbye.

_____

Karl found him half an hour later, sitting in his bed in a curled up position and staring into the darkness of the room. He had just come out of the bathroom, already in his piyama, and sighed worriedly when he took note of Dan’s current state. He sat down next to him and slided over till he was positioned similarly to Dan, back pressed into the wall.

“Also warst du’s,” he whispered quietly. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement, but Dan still nodded slowly. “Und Phil Lester?”

So it was you. And Phil Lester?

His head shot up on his own accord and he could feel his eyes widen. For a moment he was frozen in shock, then he turned his head to stare at his best friend next to him. “Wie…?” His voice was completely hoarse, more a breath than a word, but Karl still managed to pick up on it.

How…?

“Keine Sorge, es war nicht offensichtlich. Ich kenne Phil bloß schon eine Weile und er war nie so… Glücklich wie er gewesen ist seitdem du dabei bist. Ihr wart beide komplett durcheinander nach eurem Duell bei der Vierschanzentournee, und das schien ein zu großer Zufall zu sein.”

Don’t worry, it wasn’t obvious. I’ve just known Phil for a long time, and he has never been as… Happy as he’s been since you’re here. Then you were both completely out of it after the Duel at the four hills tournament, and it seemed too much for a coincidence.

Dan calmed down considerably, laid his head back onto his knees, but refrained from saying anything. What was there to say, really?

“Ich vermute du wusstest nicht, dass er auch ein Springer ist?”

I’m guessing you didn’t know he’s a jumper too?

Dan just nodded, silently marvelling in the perceiving skills of his best friend. How freakishly observant was he, exactly, to puzzle that together all on his own?

“Und als du’s realisiert hast war’s zu spät.”

And by the time you realized it was too late.

Again, Dan just nodded. Even though he was still numb tears started to come into his eyes, but he couldn’t be bothered to move. Still, Karl noticed.

“Wir schaffen das, Dan,” he said gently, moving closer to Dan and wrapping an arm around him. “Du bist nicht allein.”

We’ll get through this, Dan. You’re not alone.

For the longest time they just sat there in the darkness, and Dan had never been more grateful for the silent, unconditional support Karl tended to offer than in this single moment.

____

Seeing Phil after this was torture. Unfortunately for him, Dan’s consciousness had not decided to clink itself out again, so he was there and coherent when he ran by Phil on his way to the World Cup the next morning. They didn’t say anything, but their eyes met for just a second and the broken, defeated nod Phil gave him almost smashed him to pieces. Karl was there to keep him upright, keep him stable, to refrain him from snapping in half, but Dan knew it weighed heavy on his shoulders. Karl was a unbelievably compassionate man and seeing his friend this hurt didn’t go easy on him.

It didn’t get considerably better after this. It was kind of the same, day in and day out he missed Phil with every fibre of his being. Anything reminded him about their time together and anything had the power to make him break down all over again. Karl was like a tower of strength right beside him all along the way, supporting him in a way that no one else could.

Dan decided to stay home over Christmas. He was still grieving, nursing on his broken heart. The situation with Phil had broken it once already, but he had been able to mend it back together. Broken twice, though… It would take a long time to get over that, and a confrontation with his family would definitely not be helpful along the way.

After Christmas came the Four Hills tournament, and Dan did terribly. It wasn’t that he wasn’t concentrated, wasn’t focused; it felt more like there was just no resistance in the air when he jumped, or at least not as much as he needed. Like the air was parting for him. Karl assured him it was only temporary, that he’d get better again as the season progressed, but Dan wasn’t so sure about that. Phil’s absence from his life weight heavily on him, dragging him down; like a rock had replaced his shattered heart and there was no way to shake it off.

Werner Schuster didn’t ask any questions. They did their meetings, sure, analyzing Dan’s jump from all angles, but there was nothing they could do for him - technically, his jumps were completely fine. He held the skis in the right angle, the knees completely straight, his shoulders were pushed forward the slightest bit, just like they were supposed to, and his neck strained just the right amount. Even his take-off points were fine on most hills - he gave his coaches a mystery they had no idea how to solve.

His emotions were the problem, his consciousness - his confidence. It was like Phil had taken it all away with him when he left, taken it away with no intentions to return it. The place usually occupied by his confidence felt empty, hollow in his chest and Dan just couldn’t deal with it. Phil had taken even more than just his heart, leaving him with a feeling so foreign he wasn’t able to decipher it.

The worst part was that they both still cared. It wasn’t like in a usual breakup, where Dan could just trash talk his ex under alcoholic influence until they were nothing but a laughingstock. Phil hadn’t been shit to him or betrayed him or been emotionally horrid - there was nothing but environmental influences keeping them apart and that hurt even more than any other possible reason for a break up.

Whenever he would meet Phil’s eye, when they sat together in the waiting room, when they passed each other between the technician’s cabines, there were still so many feelings shining in them Dan felt ready to break down and wail in agony right then and there. Karl was usually able to keep him sane, collected; he also kept him from doing stupid, reckless things.

Competitive sportsmen where not really supposed to drink a lot of alcohol, but they were germans - drinking beer was practically a requirement to get into the team, meaning they were all able to hold their liquor quite well. But sometimes, when they felt really spent or restricted they'd open a bottle of some strong kind of alcoholic beverages and started drinking, for the sole purpose of loosing up, of getting drunk. During those time, he was most tempted to text or call or simply visit Phil, and it fell to Karl to keep him from that.

“Es wär alles gut,” he slurred one night, “Wenn ich hät Tschüss sagen können, weißt du? Wenn ich’s gewusst hät. Wenn ich seinen Schwanz mehr hätte schätzen können. Ihn mir einprägen können.” That froze Karl in a state of mild confusion - he had obviously no idea how to deal with that statement; like he wasn’t sure if he should be embarrassed about it or just sad.

Everything would be okay if I could’ve said goodbye ya know? If i would’ve known. Could’ve appreciated his cock more. Memorized it.

They both knew it was a lie, too. They both knew that one single night would not be able to fix this, to get his feelings back in order. They also both knew that this was about so much more than just Phil’s cock.

Dan had been in too deep for that.

As the time progressed Dan’s performance stagnated at a bad level, but for Phil, it was like he was thriving. He brought in continuous top ten results and during his home World Cup in Val di Fiemme he even managed to snatch the second place. Dan was happy for him, obviously, but he was also devastated, not sure what to make of it. He knew Phil had been in for more than the sex. He knew Phil missed him - or at least he suspected it, with the longing looks they shared sometimes that made Dan lose reality. So why was he not more affected by it? Why did it seem to get Phil’s spirits up instead of down?

Karl offered to get him the questions answered. He had forbidden Dan from seeking out direct contact, but he himself was a whole different story. He had always been friendly with Phil, he explained, and if he asked like a onlooker instead of someone who knew the story, he’d get the answers Dan needed - craved.

“Er sagt er ist wütend,” Karl informed him just a week later while they were waiting for their sushi. The World Cup took place in Sapporo, Japan that weekend, and Dan had always loved sushi, so they had decided to go out for Dinner - just because they could. “Das… macht irgendwie Sinn,” Dan answered, eyes trained on the food in front of him, intently avoiding Karl’s gaze. “Wut auf das System.” He could see Karl nodding opposite to him, then a sharp intake of breath. “Das System...” he breathed, now the one avoiding the other’s eyes. Dan didn’t really follow, so he kept quiet. It was probably nothing anyway.

He says he’s angry.

That… kinda makes sense. Anger about the system.

The system...

___

It happened once again the night before the ski flying World Cup at his home. Dan was wandering through the streets absentmindedly, trying to clear his head, when the thoughts overwhelmed him - the sadness, the loss. It danced in front of his eyes in the form of broad, black circles, obscuring his vision, stealing his consciousness. When he toppled over, Phil was there once again, catching him just in the fall.

“Dan,” he whispered, breathlessly, wrapping his arms around him as if he never wanted to let go again. Dan reciprocated the hug weakly, choking back a sob.

It only felt natural to pull back, to lean in for a kiss. It was overwhelming, incredibly amazing, and Dan just couldn’t comprehend how something so wrong could feel so bloody right.

“We can’t do this,” he said quietly as he pulled back, letting his forehead sink against Phil’s. There were tears swimming in the man’s eyes and Dan just wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole. He couldn’t stand being in this situation, couldn’t stand being responsible for this.

“I know,” was Phil’s broken answer, and Dan had to squeeze his eyes shut.

“I’ll never forget you,” Phil whispered, pressing a tender kiss onto Dan’s forehead, and then he was gone.

___

“Ich kann das nicht mehr.”

I can’t do this anymore.

Dan’s sobbing made it almost impossible to speak, but he knew Karl would be able to tell - to understand.

He ushered him into his flat in less than the blink of an eye. He took Dan’s coat and sat him down on the sofa, a steaming cup of tea in his hands mere minutes later. He listened to Dan’s ramble, his incoherent explanation; he wordlessly took the cup away when Dan started crying again, and then he held him, wordlessly, as he broke down all over again.

“Dan, Ich… Ich hab da eine Idee. Um alles besser zu machen. Gib mir noch ein bisschen Zeit, okay?”

Dan, I… I had an idea. An idea to make it all better. Just give me a bit more time, okay?

Dan was sure the quiet murmur he’d registered in a state halfway between sleep and wake had been nothing more than a dream.

___

The next World Cup in Lahti, Finland was unsurprisingly hard for him. He had never particularly liked the hill, even before he’d lost his ski jumping abilities - or that was what it felt like anyway - and after the scene he’d had with Phil it was kind of obvious from the very beginning that concentrating on jumping was impossible.

But it seemed like he wasn’t the only one distracted. Karl seemed oddly out of it, absentminded; he talked a lot with the rest of the team and was often in private conversations with the others. Dan’s consciousness, glad to concentrate on anything else then his broken heart, flung onto that so fast he was getting whiplashes. He just didn’t know what to make out of that. Karl had never been a secretive person, never had kept many secrets from Dan since they’d become friends. He had half a mind to ask someone about it, but he realized the only one that knew Karl well and wasn’t his Teammate was Phil, so that plan went down the drain instantly.

After Lahti they went back home to Germany. The World Cup took place in Willingen that week, and even though it wasn’t the hill in his home village it was still nice to be back on familiar ground. It coated him in a sense of security, took his problems and his pain and wrapped them into a blanket of familiarity, kept them away. It was snowing, too, which made it even nicer; it abraded the sharp edges, made them round and harmless.

When Dan arrived in Willingen Thursday afternoon the rest of his team was already there. Karl had been visiting Stephan Leyhe, who lived in the area, and therefore hadn’t taken the car with Dan, but it seemed suspicious. Something about Karl was still off, even if Dan still wasn’t able to pinpoint it exactly.

He settled into the room he still shared with Karl, put down his luggage and changed into comfortable clothes. The others were downstairs in a hobby room that held equipment for table tennis, darts and billiard, but he needed a moment.

That was when it knocked on the door. “Ja?” he shouted, confused about the intrusion and completely in the dark about who it might be. He feared it was his coach, wanting to talk to him about the bad performances, but the knock had been careful, restricted, barely audible, and that didn’t fit Werner Schuster at all.

He hadn’t expected Stephan Leyhe to open the door. “Dan, können wir reden?” he asked gently, almost shy, his mouth caved upwards in the tiniest of smiles, but it seemed genuine.

Dan, can we talk?

“Sicher,” he answered, almost breathlessly, and watched as Stephan stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

Sure.

He took a seat on Karl’s bed, opposite to Dan, and seemed to need a moment to organize his thoughts, so Dan stayed silent, holding his breath.

“Was dir passiert ist nicht fair, Dan,” he said than, voice low, almost raspy, his eyes trained on Dan’s duvet. “Es hält dich davon ab Leistung zu bringen, glücklich zu sein. Es hat niemandem geschadet, und ich finde nicht dass irgendjemand das Recht hat, dir das wegzunehmen.”

What’s happening to you isn’t fair, Dan. It keeps you from performing as well as you could, from being happy. It’s not harming anyone and I don’t think anyone has the right to take that away from you.

Dan’s breathing hitched, his heart hammering in his chest. He was frozen into place, unable to move a muscle, so he had to watch helplessly as Stephan looked up and into his eyes. “Karl hat mit uns allen gesprochen. Dem ganzen Team. Uns ist allen aufgefallen, dass etwas mit dir nicht stimmt und wir wollen dass du glücklich bist. Der Trainer ist normalerweise nicht bestechlich, aber wir sind alle auf deiner Seite.”

Karl talked to us. To the whole team. We all realized something’s wrong with you and we want you to be happy. The coach usually isn’t bribable, but we’re all on your side.

Dan stared at Stephan completely dumbfounded, no idea what to say. He was blinking rapidly, trying to make sense of the situation, but it was like his brain couldn’t keep up with reality, unable to comprehend the situation at hand.

Stephan smiled kindly at him, completely open now, shyness gone and replaced with a benevolence so genuine it only confused Dan more. “Vertraust du uns?” he asked with complete seriousness and Dan couldn’t help but nod wordlessly. “Dann kriegen wir das hin.”

Do you trust us? In that case we’ll make it happen.

___

Dan had never been more proud to be part of this team than he was that night. The whole team got together at dinner and opened their case to Werner Schuster. They explained that they knew Dan long and especially well enough by now to be sure of his motives. He wasn’t spying on them to purposely get information to other teams, and he wouldn’t blabber them out carelessly either. Schuster seemed confused at first about why they thought that would be an issue, until it finally dawned on him. As he had promised he didn’t particularly care that it was Dan specifically, more that it had happened at all.

For at least half an hour the team listed reasons why it wouldn’t be a problem, the thing that Dan and Phil had, whatever it was specifically, with limited success. Werner Schuster seemed to remain quite sceptical, until Welli spoke up. “Komm schon, Trainer. Wir wissen alle, dass es keine Nachteile gäbe. Dan’s Leistungen während dieser... Sache waren deutlich besser, oder nicht? Das ist doch auch für das Team gut!”

Come on, coach. We all know there’d be no downside. Dan’s performances were better during that… Thing were considerably better, were they not? That’s even good for the team, too!

For a short moment it was quiet. Then Karl, who had kept quite closed up for the discussion despite being the driving force behind it, looked Werner Schuster deadly in the eye and stated: “Er ist mein bester Freund, Trainer. Er liebt Phil. Er macht ihn glücklich. Ich kann nicht mit ansehen, wie du ihm das wegnimmst.” The indication behind his words were clear. And if that wouldn’t have been quite drastic enough, the whole rest of the team agreed loudly and wholeheartedly.

He’s my best friend, coach. He loves Phil. He makes him happy. I can’t stand by and watch you take that away from him.

Silence settled over the group. The other jumpers all looked their coach dead in the eye, staring him down, while Dan had an internal breakdown. How was it possible that all of them were so bloody nice to him - that they all liked him enough to do this for him?

“Also… Was ihr damit sagen wollt ist ihr tretet alle zurück wenn ich nicht zustimme?” the coach asked, flat and serious. The group just nodded, once and in total synchronicity.

So… What you’re saying is you’re all quitting if I don’t say yes?

Out of nowhere there was a smile tugging on the corner of his lips and he looked Dan straight in the eye. “Sieht so aus als hätte ich gar keine andere Möglichkeit, was?” Suddenly it was loud in the room. There were arms wrapping around Dan until he was the center of a group hug, but all he could do was sit still and blink, still trying to process what his team was willing to do for him.

Looks like I don’t have a choice here, doesn’t it?

“Ich hab dir doch gesagt wir kriegen das hin,” Karl whispered into his ears, and that’s when the realisation settled into his brain. Seconds later he was crying his eyes out, but that was okay. He had his team to dry them.

I told you we could do it.

_____

Afterwards, he needed a minute alone, so he put on his team jacket, overly proud to be able to wear it, donned his head and stepped outside into the still falling snow.

In the dark the snow only got more beautiful. The old lamp posts shed yellow-tinted light, and as Dan walked along fields of snow and further away from civilization he mused about what to do now. There was a chance Phil didn’t even want to have… anything with him anymore. It had been quite some time and theoretically speaking, they had never been a couple; maybe he had moved on or had enough of Dan’s problems - or maybe his own coach would have a problem with it. What if it had all been in vain?

He fiddled with his phone for a second as he walked through the snow, but he pocketed it again. In all honesty, he was scared. Right now, his relationship with Phil was Schrödinger’s cat, alive and dead at the same time. What if he wrote that message, made that call, and it was entirely dead?

As he looked around, deep in his thoughts, he noticed a figure walking in the opposite direction. It was hard to make them out through the falling snow, but as he got closer, he could make out black hair, covered in white specks that would prove to be snowflakes, clad in a blue jacket with a tiny flag on the left side - an Italian flag.

They met directly under the glow of a yellow light. The outside world was dark, obscured, almost invisible to him as he gazed into light blue eyes. There was pain shining in them and Dan wanted nothing else but to make it go away. It did answer a few of his questions though.

It was obvious Phil was not any more over it than Dan was.

“Dan,” he breathed out, his voice raspy and hurt, and Dan couldn’t help but took a step closer.

“What is your coach’s view on it, Phil?” he asked, almost breathless. He could hear the urgency tainting his own voice, could feel it deep down in his bones.

“Does it matter, Dan?” He looked utterly defeated, but Dan couldn’t help with that. Not until he had an answer.

Apparently his urging eyes were enough to make Phil go on.

“He doesn’t care, but -”

That was the part were Dan cut him of. Where he stormed forward and kissed Phil, with all of the passion and love still stored in the deepest corner of his heart. He didn’t simply open the box, he smashed it open, spilling all its content out, filling him to the brim with a deep warmth that should be unexpected in the freezing temperature and falling snow, but felt like the exact opposite.

“What -” Phil tried to ask when they finally broke apart, but Dan cut him off yet again, a grin on his face so wide his cheeks started to hurt. “It’s okay. My team, they - they’re so great Phil, bloody hell - they made my coach see reason. They convinced him. He’s fine with it!”

Through the tangled, incoherent explanation that was all that Dan was able to offer Phil’s eyes got wide, disbelieving. Then Dan fell quiet, his heart so full it hurt, and Phil finally seemed to understand.

“Oh my god,” he breathed out, then his lips were on Dan’s and for the next few minutes, no words came from either of them.

When they came up for air, cheeks flushed, Phil took Dan’s face between his hands, his blue eyes shining so vibrantly Dan thought he might faint. There were golden flecks swimming in th, truly standing out through the yellow glow, and for a second Dan was mesmerized by them. Then Phil’s voice brought him back to reality.

“I love you, Dan. Oh god, I love you so much. Will you be my boyfriend?”

How is this guy even real?

He didn't hesitate for even a nanosecond. “Of course Phil, of course. I love you too!”

Phil brought his hand up to gently tug the beanie from his head, then he laid their foreheads together, gazing into Dan’s eyes. “Is this what happiness feels like?” Dan asked faintly, almost unaware of his own words. Phil just smiled, and then they kissed again under the yellow glow of an old lamppost, snow still falling, covering them both in white flecks.

___

The day after Dan’s performance was suddenly back, and full force. He basically annihilated the competitors during the first jump and didn’t ease off much in the second.

When the computer was done calculating after his second jump, showing a big, glowing 1 behind his name, and he was suddenly engulfed in a warm hug from his boyfriend, Karl and the rest of his team not too far behind, Phil’s voice rung in his ears, filling him with warmth all over again. “Yes, Dan. This is what happiness feels like.”

#phan #phanfiction #phanfic au #phan fluff #my writing

39 notes · View notes

userlando · 7 years

Text

Mr & Mrs Dolan (Ethan x Reader Smut)

Summary: I was watching Modern Family S01E15 and got inspired with the whole roleplaying going on between Claire and Phil. Word Count: 2,424 Warnings: Roleplaying, unprotected sex, dirty talk. A/N: No one is ever gonna look at me the same again, HAH. First time writing smut, so be gentle please! Also, leave feedback pretty please so I know you guys don’t hate me for this hahaha. Probably gonna delete this. xxx

You swirled your pick around in your Martini glass, teeth tucked into your lower lip as you rocked your leg back and forth where it was crossed over your other one as you sat on the high barstool. The hotel restaurant was prestigious, swanky, way out of your comfort zone but tonight it was the perfect setting.

It didn’t take you long before a tall, toned man approached you. You raised your eyes to meet his hazel ones, lips pulling into a soft smile.

“Is this seat taken?” He asked, voice low enough for only you to hear.

You glanced at the barstool beside you, quickly bringing your eyes back to his. His eyes were averted downward and you quickly realized that he was sweeping his eyes over your long legs that were exposed, stopping on the black Louboutin heels that you’d gotten gifted to you on last year’s Valentine’s Day. They fit you perfectly and they went well with the black dress that you were wearing.

“It is now,” you drawled, watching his eyes light up a tad bit as he moved to pull back the barstool so he could squeeze in, rough large hands smoothing over his suit, sitting down with a huff. “So what brings you here?”

“I’m a business man,” He answered curtly and you made a sound of interest as you continued stirring your Martini. “I buy bankrupt companies, build them up and sell them for a higher price.”

You turned your body to him, making sure that your legs were on display as you locked eyes with him.

“So basically you just take advantage of these poor people?” You asked, eyebrow cocked in disbelief.

The man smiled easily, “If that’s how you want to put it.”

You hummed, unimpressed with his cockiness as you wrapped your delicate fingers around your Martini glass, bringing them up to your lips. You drank what was left of it, feeling the liquid slide down your throat as you held your gaze with the man beside you. He was watching you with darkened eyes, back straightening up and head raised. You were glad that you had gone with a manicure the day before, painting them bright red so they matched your red lips.

“Another one?” He asked, amusement lacing his hoarse voice and you nodded.

He held up two rough fingers to the bartender and your breath hitched at the sight of them. Fingers that would surely bring you a lot of pleasure tonight if you played your cards right.

“You’re married, then?” The man asked and you glanced down at your big, bright diamond on your finger at the same time he did.

“I am, yes.” You answered, leveling your voice as you brought your hand forward to yourself, twirling your ring around your finger. “Will that be a problem for you?”

The man smiled easily, cheeks dimpling attractively and eyes squinting. He held out his own hand, showing off his wedding band.

“Not at all,” He answered. “What’s your husband like, then?”

You refrained from raising your eyebrows at his question, wondering why he was asking that question out of all the questions in the bag. The bartender placed two glasses of Martini’s in front of you and you made a pleased noise, welcoming the distraction as you found the pick in the glass. You impaled one olive, fishing it out of the liquid as you glanced at the brunette man beside you, who was watching you carefully.

“He’s kind, sweet, sexy. My husband pleases me in every way a man possibly could,” You paused. “Almost.”

The smirk that had etched onto the man’s face dropped as you made a show of wrapping your lips around the olive, sliding it into your mouth. You refrained from smirking when you heard the hitch in his breath, letting the pick drop back in the glass.

“Almost, huh?” He shifted in his seat, voice rough. “That’s why you’re here talking to me, then?”

You took a small sip of your drink, setting it down on the counter and sliding it further away. The man watched as you stood up, pulling your dress down slightly when it rode up. You surpressed the smirk that was threatening to make an appearance, opting for being cool and mysterious.

“Excuse me, have to use the powder room.” You said, turning around to collect your bag and coat, knowing fully well that he was eyeing your behind.

You walked away without looking back at him, trying to locate the restrooms. It didn’t take you long to find them and you sighed in relief when you walked in, realizing you were alone. You went into a stall, locking it behind you as you began stripping out of your dress. After a lot of huffs and puffs, you had managed to take off your dress and your undergarments, leaving you shivering in your heels. You quickly pulled on your coat, tying the belt around your middle and gathering your dress in your arms and the underwear shoved into the pockets of the black coat.

After a quick check of the make-up, you walked out, trying to saunter sexily toward the bar where the man was still sitting. You watched him from afar, admiring the wild curls, the fancy dress shoes and his suit that seemed to fit him so well. It made your heart soar, and it only got worse when he turned and caught sight of you.

“You’re back,” he smiled, pausing with a frown. “With your coat?”

“Only the coat.” You said, biting into your lip to stop from smiling uncontrollably. You dropped your dress in his lap, watching his confused expression.

It didn’t take long before realization dawned on his face, dark eyes meeting yours as his cheeks grew hot.

“Oh! And...” You paused, cramming your hand into your pocket to bring out your bra, dropping that in his lap aswell. “My bra.”

His jaw dropped, hands going to pick them up with wonder in his eyes. You couldn’t stop your giggle as you did the same with his panties, this time letting them fall to his open palms. His eyes went wide and he squeezed the garment, eyes finding yours.

“So, what do you say? Want to do things to me that my husband won’t do?” You asked, voice in a whisper so only he could hear.

“I would be a fool to say no to you.” He whispered back, standing up so your chests were pressed together. He tucked your underwear into your pocket, holding your dress in his hand as he took your dainty hand with his other.

You smiled as you squeezed his hand, pacing your steps to match his as he walked out of the hotel restaurant, going straight for the elevators. To your disappointment, there was an old couple walking in with you and you smiled politely at them. The hand in yours squeezed it, and you looked up to lock eyes with hazel ones.

The ride up to your floor was quiet and you both stepped off. His eyes sweeped down the hall before wrapping his arms around your middle, lifting you up easily to sling you over his shoulder. You squealed in delight, laughing loudly as he trudged down the hallway, holding onto the back his suit so you wouldn’t tip off and fall on your head.

You felt him stop, fish for his keycard and heard the beeping as he swiped his keycard. He pushed the door open and slammed it shut, walking over to the kingsized bed to put you down. You shrieked out a laugh as you bounced, hands gripping the sheets to regain balance.

You watched him as he loosened his tie, teeth biting into his lower lip as he toed off his shoes. You scrambled up on your knees, still on the bed, fingers working to unbutton the coat you were still wearing. Rough hands stopped you though and you looked up, eyes wide as he closed the distance between you two. He let go of your wrists and you wrapped your arms around his neck to pull him closer. You were so far gone in the kiss that you gasped in surprise when you felt cool air hit the front of you body, realizing that his hands had made quick work to unbutton your coat without you even noticing. You pulled him to you, rubbing yourself against him and he groaned, making you smirk. Your hands went to caress along his broad shoulders before moving down to his chest and you carefully started undoing the buttons of his shirt.

“Good girl.” He mumbled against your lips as he tugged off his suit, and you reaching to push the undone dress shirt off his shoulder, letting it fall to the floor. You stroked along his chest and abs, marveling in how it was all yours.

His lips attacked yours again with renewed vigor. He pushed the coat off of your body and you quickly pulled away, tugging it off and discarding it behind you. His lips attached to your neck and you gasped and moaned as he bit you, one of his hands cupping your breast, the other stroking up your back before pulling off to stare at your half naked form. You would usually have felt embarrassed at being so blatantly stared at but at the moment it made you feel empowered. You arched your back towards him as a moan escaped your lips and he took that as an invitation, lowering his pink, smirking lips to your other breast that he wasn’t cupping, taking your nipple into your mouth. You moaned out loudly at the sensation of his warm mouth, tongue flicking against your bud.

He breathed heavily against your skin, lips letting go of your nipple to lower himself over you as you laid down on the bed. His hand started to stroke up and down your thigh and you felt your breath hitch, staring into his eyes as his hand found its way in-between your legs. His fingers stroked along your soaked walls, hearing you sigh in pleasure, and he dipped them inside of you with a practiced movement. You couldn’t back the moan that escaped, knowing that this was it. You were so in love with this man.

His rough fingers pumped inside you while his thumb repeated strokes against your bundle of nerves. With on hand you grabbed hold of his unruly hair, tugging it harshly every time you felt your pleasure spike. You pulled him against you, moaning out his name. He moaned back, mouth going back to attach itself to your nipple, tongue flicking wildly against the abused bud.

“Ethan...”

You moaned even louder as he switched to your other nipple, rhythm picking up into a faster pace as his fingers pumped inside. Your breath started coming out in short, laboured pants and you felt the pleasure build within you. And just when you thought your insides were going to burst, he pulled away. You whined at the loss and tried to pull him closer to you but he tutted at you.

“Don’t be selfish, baby.” Ethan said with a teasing edge to his voiceand you huffed, pushing him off of you.

He went easily, standing up on shaky legs in front of you. It was the perfect height to undo his pants, leaning forward to suck kisses onto his chiseled chest as he stepped out of them, trying to catch your breath as your hands wrapped around his thick length. You heard him gasp above you as his hands went to your hair, gripping the strands with enough roughness to make you moan and you grinned in satisfaction.

“Dirty girl,” he chuckled, breath hitching as you leaned down to take him deeply into your mouth, eyes closing as you tasted him on your tongue. “Fuck, Y/N...”

You took pride in his moans, feeling like you wanted to do better as you pulled back to swirl your tongue around his tip. His legs shook as he leaned toward you, struggling to stand straight. You repeated your actions, humming in pleasure as his fingers scratched your scalp, giving you the occasional tug. It took you by surprise when he suddenly pushed you back and you glanced up at him in annoyance for having pushed you away and for denying you the taste of him. You leapt up into his arms and he caught you easily, letting you both fall onto the large bed with him on top of you.

He entered you then and you gasped, your nails digging into his naked back as you went to wrap your legs around his shivering body. You surpressed a giggle when you realized that you were still wearing your heels. Ethan always had a special thing for those heels, it turned him into a sex crazed mad man.

You cried out in pleasure as he continued to fuck you at a slow pace, picking it up to the point where it turned into rough, almost brutal. You dug your nails harder into his back, knowing that he’d whine about the marks in the morning, but at the moment you couldn’t care less. Ethan growled in response and bit down on your neck, causing you to cry out in a mixture of pain and pleasure. You felt your release built up inside and you could tell that Ethan was close as well when his thrusts became even more frantic.

You screamed out as your climax washed over in waves, you felt so high that you could barely notice that Ethan came inside you moments later.

Both of you remained silent for a while, your hands in his sweat drenched hair, scratching his scalp as he breathed heavily into the crook of your neck, shivering against your body, arms holding your naked body close to his.

He withdrew from you, making you whine at the soreness but it quickly disappeared when he lifted his head enough to take a good look at you. His lips were slightly stained with your lipstick, his hair was sticking up in every direction and his cheeks were flushed, smile satisfied.

“You never cease to amaze me, Mrs. Dolan.” He grinned, bringing a lazy hand to brush your hair away that had stuck to your cheek. “I am so deeply in love with you.”

You answered his happy grin with one of your own, bringing him down for a quick peck.

“Right back at you, Mr. Dolan.”

374 notes · View notes

rockin-llama · 7 years

Text

92 (I think it was 92???)

tagged by @fxvixen ayyyyye pretty ladayyy

rules: fuck the rules (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

LAST…

[1] drink: water

[2] phone call: this solicitor that won’t leave me alone. Really, I need to get on a do-not-call list

[3] text message: “xo”from my Mom

[4] song you listened to: “Waving Through a Window”

[5] time you cried: ummm, maybe a few nights ago while reading? I don’t really keep track, I get emotional over books.

HAVE YOU EVER…

[6] dated someone twice: as in, date the same person twice (no) or date two or more people (yes)?

[7] been cheated on: yes

[8] kissed someone and regretted it: not really. There was this really drunk kiss with my half-aunts husbands nephew. Which even though that’s far enough away from being incest it still weirded me out when I sobered up. Plus I can’t remember his name for the life of me.

[9] lost someone special: yeee

[10] been depressed: ah, haha, hahaha

[11] gotten drunk and thrown up: gotten drunk, yes. Never to the point of throwing up though. I’ve felt pretty sick the next day though.

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS:

[12] Blue. Like, a deep blue. Not so dark that it looks black, but, like, deeeep.

[13] I’ve always liked dark greens, but they don’t really look too good on me.

[14] Rolanberry Red

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU…

[15] made new friends: yep

[16] fallen out of love: not really

[17] laughed until you cried: oh yeah

[18] found out someone was talking about you? Bitch, who wouldn’t talk about me.

[19] met someone who changed you: maybe??

[20] found out who your true friends are: What constitutes as a “true friend”? I’ve always been perplexed by that notion. A friend is a friend. I just talk about different things with different people.

[21] kissed someone on your facebook list: Bet y’all’d like to know who ;) (that was me channeling inner middle-school Marina)

GENERAL…

[22] how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life: Now, this is something that I have to pick over. “in real life”. Like, if I have you on facebook I’m considering you as a part of my life (does that make sense??) And a lot of my facebook friends I have met through playing online games. So, no, I haven’t met them in real life (yet, someday I will take a massive road trip) but I consider us friends outside of playing games. So my answer is yes, all of my facebook friends I know in real life.

[23] do you have any pets: Jellicle (Jelli for short) is my kitty cat at my parents house. Unfortunately I can’t have free-roaming pets in the house I’m renting so I only have a beta fish, Hemingay, a bonsai tree (Groot 2.0, the first one was stolen off my porch), and a philodendron named Phil.

[24] do you want to change your name: Nada

[25] what did you do for your last birthday: uh, pretty sure I was playing video-games

[26] what time did you wake up: 10ish

[27] what were you doing at midnight last night: reading

[28] name something you cannot wait for: to move to the mountains and have a horde of huskies

[29] when was the last time you saw your mother: about 4 days ago

[30] what is one thing you wish you could change about your life: I wish i had a little more motivation??

[31] what are you listening to right now: my fan running in the background

[32] have you ever talked to a person named tom: yes, I know a lot of toms. What the fuck is up with this question?

[33] something that is getting on your nerves: people who don’t hit “reply all” in a group email. For real peeps, we’re all seniors in college. You should know this by now.

[34] most visited website: uhhhh, I’m honestly not sure. Tumblr is definitely up there, but even though I hardly ever post stuff I open facebook out of habit.

[35] elementary: what about elementary? Are you asking what school I attended? Who my teachers were? If I ever pulled the fire alarm? WEll, I didn’t pull the fire alarm, but I did like to flood the bathroom sinks and report to the teacher that “someone clogged the sinks again”. I was a weird child.

[37] college: comme ci, comme ca. I’m pretty much only taking online classes this semester.

[38] hair colour: so up until I was around 12 my hair was white blonde. When i hit puberty though it slowly started changing color. I now have light brown hair, but in the summer it has blonde highlights.

[39] long or short hair: shoooooooort. I have an undercut that leads to one side being shaved.

[40] do you have a crush on someone: ehh. I’m attracted to a lot of people but i’m not interested in starting a relationship at this point in my life.

[41] what do you like about yourself? So it’s very cliche, but I fucking love my eyes. They range from green to gray to blue. And I have abnormally large pupils so they really accent them. People in high school just assumed I was high all the time.

[42] piercings: dude, guys, peeps, I love piercings. And I am majorly attracted to people with piercings. I have my double lobes done and an industrial bar on my left ear. If I didn’t bite my lips so much I would consider getting a lip ring because I fucking love them.

[43] blood type: AB- , yeah, I’m one of those people

[44] nickname: Mina/ Mina Bina, Rina, MooMoo (thanks Final Fantasy)

[45] relationship status: pining for dogs

[46] zodiac sign: virgo

[47] pronouns: she/her

[48] fav tv show: hmmmm, D. Gray-Man (does that count as a tv show? I don’t watch tv)

[49] tattoos: I have so many tattoo plans. I want the fuckign white tree of Gondor on my back.

[50] right or left handed: right, but I eat properly with my fork in my left hand.

FIRST…

[51] surgery: I had seven stitches in my chin when I was seven years old. Buuuuuut, I’m having major surgery this summer to reduce the size of my boobs. It’s gonna be a grand ol’ time. (hellooooo pretty bras)

[52] piercing: first lobes when I was 7

[53] best friend: I mean, I always call Staci my best friend. And we’ve known each other for our entire lives.

[54] sport: Technically I played soccer in kindergarten, but I wasn’t good at it.

[55] vacation: there’s pictures of toddler-me running naked towards the ocean in Florida with my mom chasing after me with my swimsuit.

[56] pair of trainers: oh fuck if i know, they were most likely blue and from JCpenney’s

RIGHT NOW…

[57] eating: cough drops

[58] drinking: coffee (I know, it’s a disgusting mix with cough drops)

[59] i’m about to: pretend the college didn’t just call me to pay my bill, lol too bad my voicemail inbox is full ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[60] listening to: “Wildfire” - Keston Cobblers Club (it’s incredibly catchy, I strongly recommend)

[61] waiting for: the day I live in the mountains with dogs.

[62] want: for me to decide what I want for dinner

[63] get married: I guess I’d like to be married someday. But I often like to disappear and just be by myself, so, someone very understanding and able to give space would be needed.

[64] career: right now I work full-time as a Kitchen and Transportation Manager at a daycare. It’s amazing. So, I’m basically a fancy lunch-lady. But i’m also a full-time student. One day I will be a famous author and able to support myself through writing (hah_)

WHICH IS BETTER…

[65] hugs or kisses: So I really love hugs. Probably because you don’t get judged by hugging people platonically. And i’m always cold, so body contact is a major thumbsup imo. Buuuuut, I do also like kissing. But kissing kind of involves a hug (at least, most of the time?) In short, hugs are better just because they’re involved in both.

[66] lips or eyes: eyes

[67] shorter or taller: I like my fruity drinks tall, but since I am also a fan of a Manhattan I’m used to short cups as well.

[68] older or younger: I like how many of these questions aren’t even questions, they’re just assuming you know what they’re asking. And I’m a little peeved that I know exactly what the assumption is. idc

[70] nice arms or nice stomach: I like necks. Like, damn, especially since chokers are back in fashion now allllll of my attention is drawn to the neck.

[71] sensitive or loud: are you insinuating that loud people can’t be sensitive?

[72] hook up or relationship: neither here nor there

[73] troublemaker or hesitant: ???

HAVE YOU EVER…

[74] kissed a stranger? kinda

[75] drank hard liquor? yeeeeees (see earlier comment about Manhattans)

[76] lost glasses/contact lenses? kinda? I misplace my glasses all the time when I’m cooking

[77] turned someone down: yes

[78] sex on first date? ehh, there’s a lot of “depends” that can go into this

[79] broken someone’s heart? *shrugs*

[80] had your own heart broken? *shrugs* you’re assuming I have a heart to begin with

[81] been arrested? ;) ... no

[82] cried when someone died? yes

[83] fallen for a friend: muahahaha

DO YOU BELIEVE IN…

[84] yourself? yeah, most of the time

[85] miracles? I’m not a firm believer in praying your worries away, so if that’s the type of miracle you’re asking my answer is “no”. However there have been some major moments of coincidence. I’m putting my money on aliens getting bored.

[86] love at first sight? Does my cat count? I saw her and knew immediately that I wanted to adopt her.

[87] santa claus? only if I can live in the North Pole

[88] kiss on the first date? yeeeee, most likely

[89] angels? Coming from a scientific point of view, I know for certain that the probability of humans being the only advanced race out there is practically nil. Therefore, I have no right to say whether or not angels exist somewhere. I know my late-grandma always did, she prayed to them every morning.

OTHER…

[90] current best friend’s name: Staci! I said it earlier, probably, but I’ve been working on this for a few days and don’t feel like scrolling all the way up.

[91] eye color: I thiiiink I also said this. But blue, gray, greenish

[92] favorite movie: Princess Mononoke

i’m tagging No one! Ha!

#i've literally had this open for most of this week #woops #enjoy my intentionally sarcastic and ambiguous comments #shutupmumu

0 notes

diarynz · 5 years

Text

Rugby: World reacts to Wallabies win over All Blacks in record Bledisloe boilover

New Post has been published on https://diary.nz/rugby-world-reacts-to-wallabies-win-over-all-blacks-in-record-bledisloe-boilover/

Rugby: World reacts to Wallabies win over All Blacks in record Bledisloe boilover

The Wallabies claimed a famous Test victory over the All Blacks in the 100th match between the two countries as the men in gold ran riot in Perth.

It was a record night for the Aussies who sounded a World Cup warning by defeating their fiercest rivals 47-26. It’s the most points Australia has ever scored in one game against New Zealand and equalled the record for the biggest winning margin over the Kiwis.

But the Wallabies’ path to Bledisloe Cup glory is a difficult one with the All Blacks’ insane Eden Park record a huge stumbling block as the teams prepare to square off at the iconic Auckland venue next weekend.

Here are the talking points from the first Bledisloe Cup match.

‘HANSEN HAS EGG ON HIS FACE’ Tom Decent, of the Sydney Morning Herald said: “In the space of 80 inspirational minutes, Australia have transformed themselves from World Cup no-hopers to contenders in Japan later this year after a 47-26 victory in a Bledisloe Cup opener in which Michael Hooper’s men scored more points against the All Blacks than any team in Test history. Let that sink in for a second. Yes, the All Blacks were reduced to 14 men for the second half but that is a scoreline that will invoke nostalgia in the most disillusioned Wallabies fan.

“It turns out All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has egg dripping all over his face after his comment that Mickey Mouse was coaching Australia.”

Julian Linden, of the Daily Telegraph said:

“The Wallabies’ long suffering fans can start believing again that the Bledisloe Cup — and maybe even the World Cup — could soon be coming home after a record breaking performance last night.

“In defiance of all the gloomy pre-match predictions, Michael Cheika’s Australians hammered New Zealand 47-26 in a front of a massive crowd of 61,241 at Optus Stadium to offer fresh hope that better times are ahead after 12 months of misery, littered with embarrassing losses and the division over Israel Folau’s exit from the game.”

WORLD REACTS TO WALLABIES BOILOVER

Plenty of fans were excited by what they saw with some even predicting a charge all the way to World Cup glory on the back of the performance.

Haven’t seen the Wallabies play like this for a v long time. Just awesome. Nick White outstanding, reminded me of Nick Farr-Jones. Long road to #RWC2019 but tonight we just showed that we have the squad to be respected in Japan. https://t.co/zQUtgzhh1t

— Tim Ayliffe (@TimJAyliffe) August 10, 2019

The Wallabies are going to win the World Cup, you love to see it

— Nick Campton (@campo37) August 10, 2019

Hands up if you picked the Wallabies to outscore GWS, Essendon and North Melbourne this week…

— Shayne Hope 📰 (@shayne_hope) August 10, 2019

Guess what? The Wallabies BULLIED the All Blacks, imposed their game plan on the Kiwis and outworked them in key areas. This was the best team the ABs could put out. Seriously good signs for Australia 2 games out from #RWC2019 #AUSvNZ

— Jamie Pandaram (@JamiePandaram) August 10, 2019

Huge win for the Wallabies. Been a tumultuous 12 months for all concerned – very pleased for some very fine people in and around the team.

— Ian McCullough (@IanMac08) August 10, 2019

A really entertaining game. Great performance by the Wallabies. Lots of impressive individual performances as well. Congratulations to Michael Cheika and his coaching team. As @nickmcardlefox says… Plenty to like about that! 👊🏼

— Louise Ransome (@LouRansomeFOX) August 10, 2019

Post match, a subdued Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said “all we did was book a ticket to Auckland”.

“It’s a great atmosphere and great for the players to get the win but in the bigger scheme of things that’s what we’ve got ourselves – a ticket to go there and take the opportunity that we’re going to get given there.”

Cheika said the fact that they faced an undermanned All Blacks didn’t take any gloss off the win.

Kieran Read talks in the huddle. Photo / Getty

“Not a chance,” he said. “When they’ve got 15 on the field it feels like 20 so when they’ve got 14 it still feels like 17 or 18 as they have so many threats. It’s not like they weren’t scoring tries.”

WALLABIES FACE 33-YEAR GRAVEYARD

The Wallabies’ new style shone in its biggest test as they roared to a record-setting points tally.

While it’s just the second win for the Wallabies over the All Blacks in their past 11 matches, the result is massive for the Aussies as they hunt their first Bledisloe Cup victory in 17 years.

But claiming the trophy at Eden Park will be no small feat.

It’s been 18 games dating back to 1986 since Australia last won at Eden Park, while the All Blacks’ last loss at the ground came against France in 1994.

Another performance like the one on Saturday night in Perth will be required if Australia wants to win back the Bledisloe Cup in enemy territory.

The victory in Perth equals the Wallabies’ biggest winning margin over the All Blacks, with the 21-point tally matching a 28-7 win in Sydney in 1999.

Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper had a massive performance and praised his side for the famous win.

“I’m very proud of the build up, I’m very proud of the building we’ve been talking about and it has turned into a good result tonight,” Hooper said. “It’s a little confidence and momentum (boost) for us tonight.”

All Blacks skipper Kieran Read said the All Blacks’ discipline let the world champions down.

“They were very good tonight and we knew that was going to be the case,” he said. “We’ve got one chance, it’s a do or die game and both teams are going to be up for it. We’ll get back to Auckland and look forward to that one.”

While it was a strong match for the Wallabies, the All Blacks faithful were quick to remind Australia of its record across the ditch.

So the All Blacks may have lost to Australia, but remember we are the country who once might have had this as our flag. So we’re all good. And next week at Eden Park will be MIGHTY. #backblack pic.twitter.com/ujazJnKnt5

— Melanie Homer (@melhomer) August 10, 2019

Alright, congratulations Wallabies. See you next week.

— Sarah Maunder (@s_maunder) August 10, 2019

Eden Park is going to be juuuuuuuuuicy.

— Scotty Stevenson (@sumostevenson) August 10, 2019

Wallabies in with a huge chance next week at Eden Park if we can play against 14 All Blacks again #Bledsoecup

— Rod McGuinness (@rod3000) August 10, 2019

REFEREE’S ‘MASSIVE CALL’

All Blacks star Scott Barrett was sent off just on halftime for a shoulder charge on Hooper.

French referee Jerome Garces decided Barrett made contact with Hooper’s head and neck and the All Blacks were forced to play the entire second half with 14 men.

In the new rugby regulations, contact with the head and neck is an automatic red card.

It was just the second red card in Australia-New Zealand rugby history, and the fourth in All Blacks history.

Scott Barrett is shown the red card. Photo / Getty

Garces was the referee who sent the last All Blacks player off when Sonny Bill Williams was punted in 2017. He’s also set to referee the All Blacks’ first World Cup match against South Africa.

“Teams know that any contact to the head is a direct red card,” Gordon Bray said on Channel 10.

“That’s a massive call,” former Wallaby Rod Kafer said on Fox Sports. “It changes the game. Yes penalty, yes yellow card but the referees have come down hard in a World Cup year.”

Ex-Aussie hooker Phil Kearns added: “It’s not often I have sympathy for an All Black and yeah I know the rules but is that really a send-off offence?”

Kafer said it was a “no-brainer”.

“Under the law, the way it gets refereed, it is a red card. He’s not that kind of player but in the heat of battle, I can tell you, when you want to put a shot on, you want to hit a bloke,” he said.

Christian Lealiifano kicked the resulting penalty goal to make it 16-12 and the Wallabies went on with the win in the second half.

The world was split on the call. The New Zealand Herald’s Patrick McKendry said the game will “live long in the memory for probably the wrong reasons” on the back of the red card.

Can’t agree. All those words but no look at circumstance. Action was at knee height. Feel for Scott Barrett there #AUSvNZ

— Jim Tucker (@HulaBulaJim) August 10, 2019

The love-hate relationship between the All Blacks and French refs continues, and there will be three of them in Japan…

— Derek Alberts (@derekalberts1) August 10, 2019

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen didn’t want to blame the red card for his side’s loss, saying it simply wasn’t good enough as it missed too many tackles, particularly in the first half.

“It’s not the team you want to play 14 against,” Hansen said. “They play a similar style of footy to us. At the end of the day, both teams were absolutely knackered out on their feet. All credit to Australia, I’m still proud of the way our guys played with 14 men.

“Lots can change in seven days, we’ve just got to get our game going and playing with more confidence.”

LOMU-ESQUE AUSSIE LEADS CHARGE

Australia’s Marika Koroibete channelled one of the All Blacks’ most identifiable players with a rollicking run to set up the victory.

Koroibete rampaged just inside the touchline, looking like Jonah Lomu as he bumped off Aaron Smith and Beauden Barrett before passing to halfback Nic White to score the Wallabies’ third try.

It was a stunning sight to see and another positive sign for the Wallabies.

With the returning James O’Connor setting up tries in his first starting appearance for the Wallabies in six years, it was a mighty impressive performance from the centres.

Ardie Savea fends off Tom Banks of the Wallabies. Photo / Getty

It was a brilliant night for O’Connor, setting up the first try with a perfectly timed pass to put Reece Hodge through a gap for the first try.

The 29-year-old was awe-struck post match, soaking up the incredible atmosphere.

“What a special moment, for me to do it where it first started in Perth, where I was at my most powerful, 60,000 people, the whole town was behind us,” he said.

“I want to play that second link, we’ve got so many exciting outside backs and even our loose forwards can carry and beat guys one-on-one so my game is just connecting those guys and letting them do what they do.

“Tonight for me was me and the rugby, no other distractions, just enjoying the game.”

REPORTS OF RUGBY’S DEATH EXAGGERATED

It was the first match between the Wallabies and All Blacks at Optus Stadium and Perth’s fans were out in force.

In an indication of the appetite for rugby between the great rivals, the crowd was pumping. The 61,241 spectators is a record for Perth’s new stadium.

Perth has become a happy hunting ground for the Wallabies with six wins and a draw in their last seven matches in the city.

Source link

0 notes

flauntpage · 5 years

Text

Maikel Franco’s Walk-Off Blast Saves Phillies From Potentially Devastating Sweep

Maikel Franco is a human rollercoaster, and he’s headed back up.

Franco saved the Phillies from what would have been a brutal three-game sweep by the Washington Nationals when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and delivered this shot:

Maikel Franco. Boom.

This NL postseason chase is going to be nuts.

(MLB x @Supercuts) pic.twitter.com/J73vaUVXcn

— MLB (@MLB) July 14, 2019

The blast was an exclamation point on a series in which Franco finished 6 for 10 with two homers.

Despite a scorching start to the season, Franco bottomed out with a .204 batting average back on June 23. He has since used a red-hot stretch in which he entered today hitting .393 with a 1.164 OPS over his last 15 games to revive his season. Franco’s walk-off homer came the day after he committed a critical late-inning error that cost the Phillies an important run in an eventual 4-3 loss on Saturday night.

After the game, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler credited Franco’s resiliency, while also channeling his inner Rocky Balboa.

“Oftentimes, I think it’s not whether you’re going to get punched, you’re going to fall down, you’re going to hit the mat, but it’s how quickly you can get back up and how hard you hit back,” he said. “And, you know, Maikey had an error that hurt us yesterday, but he bounced back today and had a walk-off homer, really showed the resiliency that we talk about, the toughness we talk about, that makes up our club and the character.”

Is that Maikey, Maiky, Mikey? I’ll go with Maikey.

Anyway, it appeared he was on the verge of permanently losing his everyday role about a month ago, but plans have since changed.

“When he’s swinging the bat well, when he’s the best version of Maikey, he can’t come out of the lineup, and you never take him out of the lineup because he’s just that good,” Kapler said. “He makes us that much better and deeper, and, obviously, a guy who’s a big threat to hit a walk-off home run like he did at the very bottom of the lineup. And that makes our lineup deep and dangerous, so when he’s the best version of himself, we legitimately cannot take him out of the lineup—he’s that important to us.”

Arrieta Impressive Despite Injury

I wasn’t very impressed with Jake Arrieta’s tough guy act after his poor outing against the Mets last weekend, but I was impressed with his tough guy act today. Arrieta, who is pitching with bone spurs in his right elbow, held the Nationals to only one run over five innings, setting the tone in a game that his team absolutely had to have. After the game, Kapler credited Arrieta’s ability to fight – not fistfight – through the pain.

“I think there was a lot that was said leading up to today about Jake and his ability to take down this start, and what did 85 percent of Jake look like for us,” Kapler said. “That’s it, right? It’s a guy who can fight through some discomfort, a guy who can fight through not being at his best but can still give us a chance to win. Really impressive, gutsy, also resilient effort by Jake.”

It wasn’t a dominant performance, but it was pretty damn good.

Despite generating only three swings and misses on his 88 pitches, Arrieta relied on a light mix of curveballs, changeups and an effective sinker – which he threw 55 times – to generate nine groundball outs. His velocity stayed fairly consistent until the fifth inning as he averaged 92.4 mph on his sinker. Here’s the breakdown by inning:

1st inning: 93.2 mph 2nd inning: 93.3 mph 3rd inning: 91.3 mph 4th inning : 92.9 mph 5th inning: 91.0 mph

Noticeably absent again from Arrieta’s arsenal was his cutter. He told reporters after the game that he’s gotten away from throwing the pitch because it causes discomfort, and he’s unable to consistently get the movement he wants.

It’s fair to debate the merit of removing an effective starter after only 88 pitches, particularly with a bullpen that entered the day with a 6.07 ERA since June 1. After the game, I asked Kapler if he would’ve stuck with Arrieta had the Phillies not threatened offensively in the bottom of the fifth inning.

“No, that was enough for him. He was reaching that 90-pitch mark through five innings,” he said. “That’s a lot of work for anybody, particularly for a guy who’s not fully healthy.”

In addition to limiting his banged up starter’s workload, the splits also suggest it was the right move. Arrieta came into today with a 6.82 ERA this season when going through an opponent’s batting order for the third time. Opponents were hitting .311 with a .948 OPS. Pair that with his fifth inning drop in velo, and I’ve got no gripe with Kapler’s decision to remove Arrieta at that point.

Pinch-Hitting Woes Continue

With the game tied, 1-1, and runners at first and second with nobody out in the bottom of the fifth, Kapler elected to pinch-hit for Arrieta with Brad Miller. Given the Phillies’ limited bench options, I was a bit surprised that Kapler didn’t have Arrieta just bunt the runners over that early in the game to save himself a bench bat. Actually, I’m not surprised – but I would have done it. Miller instead struck out, continuing the Phillies’ pronounced pinch-hitting woes this season. Phils pinch-hitters are now 24 for 145 (.166), which represents the National League’s lowest pinch-hitting batting average.

The Phillies signed Logan Morrison on Saturday to a minor league contract. It’s hard to imagine that Morrison, who had 15 homers and a .999 OPS in 152 ABs at Triple-A with the Yankees organization, won’t soon join the big club. I mean, why not? The bench production can’t get much worse.

Harper’s Power Outage

It might be hittin’ season, but the month of July hasn’t brought a surge in Bryce Harper’s power numbers. In 35 at-bats this month, Harper has only one homer and two total extra-base hits. The Phillies desperately could use an uptick in Harper’s .371 July slugging-percentage over the second half of this month.

The post Maikel Franco’s Walk-Off Blast Saves Phillies From Potentially Devastating Sweep appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Maikel Franco’s Walk-Off Blast Saves Phillies From Potentially Devastating Sweep published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

0 notes

topbeautifulwomens · 5 years

Text

#Danielle #Brent #Biography #Photos #Wallpapers #anime #beauty #body #chanel #foodgasm #makeupbyme #malemodel #modelingagency #sexy #sky

Dannielle Mereyse Brent was born on September 19, 1979, in Rush Green, Essex in England. She is the oldest of her parents, Mark and Valerie’s, three girls. Her sisters, Courtnie and Tiana are the two most important people in Dannielle’s life. She says that she misses them so much when she is away that she is constantly phoning them to talk. Always eager to be with her little sisters, she took her youngest sister Tiana to the premiere of, Rugrats The Movie, in early 1999.

While she was growing up in Dagenham, Essex – Dannielle wanted to pursue a career in performing. She auditioned for and was accepted into the prestigious Italia Contia Academy of Theatre Arts in the heart of London. Unfortunately for Dannielle many of the girls who lived near her thought she had become very posh by going to school out in London and jumped Dannielle as she got off the bus from her first day of school. Dannielle says it was very tough being bullied and sometimes ended up with bald spots in her hair and cuts and bruises but was always able to sort herself out and was never afraid.

Back at school Dannielle was first looking toward a career in musical perfomance. She was a backing vocarecord for Roger Wittacker for a short while, appeared in many musical plays including Whistle Down the Wind when she was 15, and even got to perform for HRH Queen Elizabeth II in The Children’s Royal Variety Show. Dannielle’s musical dreams fell spectacularly to pieces when she headed to the back of an Irish pub to sing Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn one night. You can imagine her surprise when Aqua’s Turn back time, played instead and not knowing any of the words Dannielle was trapped on stage. From that moment on Dannielle ruled out a career in music and turned toward a career in acting.

The Bill It wasnt long before Dannielle started to get some acting jobs. Her first television appearance was on The Bill in episode True to Life Player. She played Kelly Sumner an undgerage girl accusing a famous football player of having raped her. Dannielle appeared in only one episode but she says it was an wonderful expierence to be there on the set and working with people she watched on TV.

Gina Patrick – Hollyoaks In 1997, Dannielle went on an audition for a new teen soap called Hollyoaks. Having impressed the casting directors, Dannielle was temporarily offered a role. She was to play, Gina Patrick, a strompy, anti-conformital youth who first appeared as a witness testifying to a stabbing. The character was originally supposed to be on the show for a short while, but the directors liked Dannielle so much they made Gina a premanent character on the show, which Dannielle starred in from October 1997- May 2001. Â» More about Gina Patrick and Hollyoaks Here

Dannielle and Abs Breen During her time on Hollyoaks, Dannielle was very well known for her well documented and publisized relationship with ex-5ive heartthrob and singer, Abs Breen. The two had begun dating after being seated next to each other in some classes at the Italia Conti Academy. It was actually Dannielle who sent Abs on his fated audition for the band. She helped teach him his dance routines and they went shopping for his outfit out in Canabary Wharf. The two dated on and off for five years but eventually called it a day in October 2001. Dannielle says they care deeply for each other to this day but do not have a very close friendship any longer. Abs is very close with Dannielle’s two younger sisters and her mother Valerie, and Dannielle considers him to be part of her family. Â» More about Dannielle and Abs’ relationship Here

Celebrity True Life Apart from her love life, Dannielle finally started getting some recognition when she did photo spreads for mens magazines including FHM, Maxim, and SKY. She was the girl directly under the cearlier mentioned flap on both of her Maxim appearances and was the only Hollyoaks girl to have her own page in SKY. The pictorials grabbed lots of attention and gained Dannielle spots in other magazines including Bliss, Sugar, Tops of the Pops, Smash Hits, All About Soap, Looks, BIG! and many others. During this time Dannielle also did numerous appearances, tv promotions, and charity events. She was featured in the 2000 documentary Celebrity True Life, appeared at two Soccer Six Tournaments, lent her voice to the animated short film Big Feet! and appeared in Brookside – Double Take! – a spoof on Phil Redman’s soap, where she played Ted’s PA. It was just a very bit part and Dannielle is only on screen for about 10 seconds. Â» View a entire list of Dannielle’s appearances here

Dannielle and Gary Lucy Having split with Abs in May 2000, The Sun newspaper was quick to report that Dannielle had been dating her Hollyoaks co-star Gary Lucy since October. They reported that Dannielle and Gary had been seen smootching at a string of high profile parties and were very happy together but trying to keep their relationship a secret. The couple managed to do just that for awhile but the two later confirmered their brief romance in many interviews to follow in the coming months. After they broke up, Gary told Now magazine that the closest he was to ever being in love was with Dannielle and cared very much for her. Â» More about Dannielle and Gary’s relationship here

Dannielle and Kelly Brook After leaving Hollyoaks, Dannielle jet setted back and forth to Los Angeles, California with best friend Kelly Brook. She stayed for nine months total staying for three month stints. While out there she sat pool side and filmed a guest spot on the BBC show LA Pool Party. She told them all about checking out the hot American guys and what she was planning on doing in the future. After a short trip to Saint Tropaz Dannielle and Abs reunited for a brief while and celebrated Dannielle’s 21st birthday at Chinawhite’s nightclub in London.

At this point, Dannielle was sort of in a bit of a career rut and was failing many auditions that she went on, including an audition for Chardonnay Lane Pascoe on Footballer’s Wives. Dannielle said she was becoming increasingly depressed and was thrilled when she landed an American tv pilot, unfortunately her visa fell through and the part was given to someone else. Discouraged Dannielle went to see a palm reader on a whim and the woman told her that she essential to get straight back to London because her dream job was waiting for her.

Jennifer Taylor – Dream Team Returning to London Dannielle successfully audtioned for a role on the Sky football drama Dream Team. Dannielle had finally made her long awaited return to TV with her new role as Jennifer Taylor. Dannielle said she enjoyed this role because she got to dress up and be glam for once. After spending 4 years on Hollyoaks wearing combat trousers and jumpers. Jennifer Taylor was in love with her boss Alan Rothman, but his feelings were unrequited. Jennifer had a small fling with Marcel in the series and much more was to come in the Series 7 but Dannielle decided not to return to Dream Team as she had an even larger role awaiting her. Â» More about Jennifer Taylor and Dream Team here

During her hiatus from Dream Team, Dannielle filmed her first movie roll as Danielle in Lee Pavey’s hit film, One Man and His Dog. The movie also stars Dannielle’s very close friend ex-roommate and ex-hollyoaks star, Paul Danan. The film is a dark comedy and Dannielle plays Danielle a girl in love with Wayne, played by Paul. Â» More about One Man and His Dog here

Dannielle and Ben Fairman While on Dream Team, Dannielle had begun dating a friend of her named Ben Fairman who was a London club owner. The two dated for around two years but split in December of 2003. Dannielle says it was depressing to be dumped at Christmas but she used the money she was going to buy his Christmas presents with to buy herself a nice pair of designer shoes as a bit of a decide on me up. The two are still close friends to this day. Â» More about Dannielle and Ben’s relationship here

On September 19th, 2003 – Dannielle’s 24th birthday she got the call that she was to play the role of Natalie Buxton in ITV’s hit drama Bad Girls. Dannielle was so excited to phoned her mother up to tell her the amazing news. Her ex, Ben threw Dannielle a surprise party that night and they celebrated her birthday and new role.

Natalie Buxton – Bad GirlsDannielle started filming Bad Girls a week later and has become a fan favorite amongst Bad Girls fans. Natalie is the closest thing to pure evil on G-wing and walks around manipulating everyone she can. She has had lesbian kisses, affairs with officers, had substantial fights with most of the girls on the wing, stabbed someone in the eye with a pin, and even tried to escape after spraying a guard with mace. Dannielle says Natalie is her dream role and loves playing her because she can vent all her anger through her. Dannielle has currently starred in two series of the show and is set to start in her third in 2006. Â» More about Natalie Buxton and Bad Girls here

Dannielle and Eran Creevy 2004 brought many new things for Dannielle, a new permanent role on a highly rated tv show, a new boyfriend, and even an appearance in a music video! Not her own though. Dannielle has close friends in a band called, The Baytown Crew and while on vacation in Barbados, May 2004 – Dannielle made a guest appearance in their video, Homeland. While on the set, Dannielle fell in love with none other than the music videos director, Eran Creevy. The two have been dating for a little over a year and a half (November 2005) and have been photographed on numerous holidays out in the Caribbean. Dannielle says she is very in love with him and would like to get married one day in the future.

Dannielle October 2005Dannielle is currently setting up her own production company – there is no official word yet on what type of things Dannielle would like to produce but she has mentioned that she has written a few plays with her boyfriend Eran – who is also setting up a production company. I wish her all the success in the world with that.

Name Danielle Brent Height 5' 3″ Naionality British Date of Birth 19 September 1979 Place of Birth Rush Green, Essex in England Famous for

The post Danielle Brent Biography Photos Wallpapers appeared first on Beautiful Women.

source http://topbeautifulwomen.com/danielle-brent-biography-photos-wallpapers/

0 notes

miniaturetalesweets-blog1 · 6 years

Text

American Idol Betting Odds: when will you American Idol fans start listening?

Everyone snickered a month ago when there were still 8 singers in contention for your coveted American Idol crown and also at 18-1, I must have been the only person on earth that suggested you plunk down so difficult earned cash Elliot Yamin. Yesterday highly touted publications were predicting the demise of my main man. What i'm saying is even one among my own employer’s followed up my so called perceived ridiculous statement, with a rebuttal from another writer. Hey, to every one his very own and it’s like I will be bang lets start on each one of my predictions. Let’s turn the clock returning to April 14, 2006: AT 18-1 ELLIOT YANIN WILL SHOCK The planet! Okay The truth is We've hit low much like me going to write articles on American Idol, but on the other hand, you must admit, this show has power! I have with this competition sat on my own couch with my partner who loves the show along with this type of competition have witnessed the contestants twice. The very first time I saw Elliot Yamin sing he was conducting a Stevie Wonder tune called ‘If You actually Love Me” and that i said then where there the competition was over. Mike geary blew the competition out of your water as well as Simon was required to admit the man has the chops. Earlier this week I watched competition and yes it was the show using the “Queen “theme and this is not an easy group to mimic. I became stunned they did the voting and that he was placed in the lower three which meant there was clearly the opportunity although get eliminated. BS I cried in the market to my wife, but it call struck me as being a a lot of open bricks, the man is brief and ugly and also the superficial callers, cannot work through this matter. I can not be the sole one to recognize that Elliott Yamin has the worst teeth on The actual. But tend to his dental dilemma be because of diabetes and not poor hygiene? But Elliott's teeth aren't the one unusual feature around the 27 year-old contestant from Richmond, Virginia. His Abe Lincoln-style sideburns lead him to appear to be a mixture of an Amish farmer and street gangster. And frequently he even looks like a leprechaun cautiously coveting his pot of gold. But seriously, Elliott may use his weirdo/outsider/creepy look for his advantage. Consider it - if his confidence continues to grow (and yes it should if Simon keeps stroking Elliott's ego), he could be the unlikely long-shot this is the next The actual. The american idol show sells the sizzle that one can win this competition and just what better way then to choose a Diabetes sufferer from your poverty stricken family to be the next winner. Remember that folks The actual will by the show Extreme Makeover and send Yamin there anf the husband arrive out looking by Mr brad pitt. I gave the particular White Sox, I gave you Mickleson and you come with an 18-1 longshot! Now I don’t wish to come across as some pompous do you know what, however whole The actual isn't any different them betting on pro sports. The Phoenix Suns were buried through the public after game 5 with their series against Lakers everyone was discussing the great Kobe and Phil Jackson for coach of the year. After game 7 it absolutely was all Steve Nash and the posse. The Suns then took apart the Clippers in game one and everybody was talking about each of the unsung heroes on the Phoenix team. I warned you how the spread of Suns -4 Ѕ was too low, nevertheless the guys with the cash in Vegas, knew that betting is 90% public perception. The Clippers mauled solar last night! Americanidol attracts countless viewers and wishes to continue that trend. They offer the American Dream that anything can be done, plus they want controversy with the water cooler the following day! Elliott Yamin could be the Steve Nash of American Idol that suggests that it must be alright to “Dare to Dream”! To get more information about online casinos net page: learn here.

0 notes

opepin · 7 years

Text

nov: week one

06: i was not feeling motivated to work out this morning. my back ached and i was still sore from the massage and maybe a bit of whatever i did yesterday. kevin woke up early for work and i left to work out when he woke up. i did 30 minutes of cardio abs and kevin stopped by the yoga studio to say goodbye. (: then i got back, did a bit of work, showered, and made myself a smoothie for breakfast. we bought some sour patch kids + watermelon because it was 50% off at roche bros and now i want to eat them all the time but i feel like crap after i eat them lol. the sour and sweet makes my stomach feel real acidic. anyway, i snacked a bit and then snacked on edamame before eating lunch. i microwaved the leftover seafood pasta and finished off my shakshuka. i worked on creating training stuff today and then comcast had an outage lol. the website was real slow so i worked with it as best as possible. i could watch youtube videos just fine though o__o’ it got fixed after stand up ended and i finished up my training stuff and created a to-do list for tomorrow. i felt sluggish all day and wanted to nap.

i hopped into bed and ended up watching youtube videos until 5 pm and then i went to the yoga studio and did abs and a bit of cardio. i took a nice long shower when i got back and then made myself a smoothie. this peanut butter powder is nice and all because there’s less fat, but i don’t feel full after drinking my smoothie anymore. i might opt for real peanut butter in the morning and then powder after my evening workouts? hmm. anyway, after i drank my smoothie, i microwaved pulled chicken leftovers and made a english muffin with pulled chicken and leftover slaw for dinner. i still felt hungry but i made myself wait it out to see if i was actually hungry lol. i did eat a small square of chocolate though. then i spent the rest of the night watching anime :3 i watched 9 episodes (srs LOL) of season 2 of ‘kimi no todoke.’ i watched that much because i did not want to stop when the couple was still having misunderstandings. omg, i was so frustrated LOL. kevin got back at around 10:30 pm from his dinner with haoqi. he brought back leftover pulled pork and also got me banana pudding <333

i brushed and then hopped in bed with him while we just talked about our days and kind of future plans. i was pretty tired and he wanted to shower and eat dragon fruit lol. so i went to sleep. i woke up at some point to pee because i drank a lot of water before sleeping lol. i kind of scared kevin apparently ;P

07: man, i always wake up before my alarm rings nowadays. it’s not even consistent! i wake up at 7:15 am sometimes or 8 am sometimes, but i always wake up before it rings. -__-” sigh. well, i was wide awake before my alarm rang at 7;15 am today but i fell asleep and got up at 7:40 am. then i did some cardio hip hop because why not exercise the way you want to even if it’s not super intense? i’m backtracking on this whole doing hiit and weight lifting thing. it’s making me feel terrible. lol. i showered and then made myself a smoothie for breakfast. kevin was awake so i talked to him for a bit before heading out. no one was in the office on the product team side today. lol at least i’m in the office, right? the day went by fast then super slow. i wasn’t super busy during the day but i was pretty productive. i also managed to multitask and finish watching ‘kimi no todoke’ while working :DD this anime makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. i stopped by cole and john’s office and we talked about staying up late because of gaming / anime LOL. then i went back to work.

everyone left at around 4 pm or before 5 pm. i was the last one in the office because i had a client call from 4 pm to 5 pm. it got so dark outside so quickly x__x; the call ended right at 5 pm so i packed up and then headed out. i met with kevin at the train station and then ‘moderate delays’ hit. so many people were lined up to get on the train... we waited about 30-40 minutes to finally get on a train and it was hella packed. our commute home took more than an hour @_@; when we got back, we received our food52 zwilling ceramic skillet! ahhh, it’s so nice! we chilled for a bit before both of us cooked dinner. then we watched two episodes of yakitate! japan and then ate delicious beef stroganoff while watching! the sour cream in the stroganoff is probably what made me gassy later on in the evening lol. anyway, i talked to my mom for a bit and then kevin played a game of dota with jon. i stretched while watching the latest episode of ‘jane the virgin’ and then i just assumed i wouldn’t be gaming with kevin because he was playing dota for a long time lmao.

oh, i also enrolled into my employer benefits and then chilled on the couch for the rest of the night. i got really tired for some reason? i went to bed pretty early at 11:30 pm. i think i watched a bit of youtube in bed before ko’ing at around 11:50 pm. oh, i was actually looking at instagram and getting negative thoughts and feelings about it so i stopped and just went to sleep. haha.

08: i tried doing a 1 hour leg work out again. i also included some glute activation moves before i even used weights. by the time i was done with my workout, i was exhausted D: i don’t know if i like this... we’ll see. i got back and then kevin left for work. then i cooled off with a smoothie and then i showered. i felt very unmotivated in the morning but eventually got to working on recreating the pdfs for training. then i ate lunch while watching ‘gamers.’ :D it’s an odd anime so far... then i got on stand up and phil gave me an urgent task. i worked on that for the rest of the work day. kevin came back early after he ate lunch and got his flu shot. he brought me back some bark thins <333 then he went to get a haircut. the day went by super quickly. i got my new cushioned bombas in the mail and i hope they don’t rip T__T we’ll seee... kevin and i continued working until the end of the day and then i watched ‘GAMERS!’ while doing some personal errands. i don’t think i like this anime... everything is a big misunderstanding @_@;

kevin went for a run and then showered. i made rice... or i thought i did. we realized i didn’t hit ‘cook’ when kevin was almost done cooking the curry. lol. i got hungry before we even made dinner so i chugged my protein powder with water. the cocoa flavor is better than the vanilla but still kinda grody to drink with just water. anyway, while kevin showered, i cut the carrots, potatoes, and onions. then he cooked and i continued relaxing and whatever. then we ate dunner while watching an episode of yakitate! japan and finally, we got to game with ryan and terence! we played gauntlet together after they troubleshooted their black screen :33 i got mad midway because everyone kept taking all the gold while i was killing things T^T i just continued killing things for the rest of the night lol. kevin comforted me and then we figured out that i did have a sort of dash but i wasn’t aware of it... i wouldn’t have gotten so angry if i knew i also could “dash” towards the gold. lmao, i’m so emotional when it comes to games and “unfairness.” shout out to my boyfriend for being so caring and understanding of my odd emotional ways when it comes to gaming <3 i super super super appreciate him so much T__T <3 after gaming, i went to sleep... well, i went on my phone and then went to sleep at 12:30 am. oops.

09: i decided to do my complete arm / back workout after work today. so i got up, drank my breakfast smoothie, changed, and then left for work. joe was in the office today and i guess that dave was still in new york. it was a pretty chill day. i had a few meetings but nothing stressful. i did some testing in the morning and then had lunch while watching an episode of ‘GAMERS!’ and then hopped into my calls for the rest of the day. i met up with cole at around 3 pm to get starbucks with him. i don’t usually get starbucks but i wanted to get something other than boba today. we walked over to the closest one and then ordered. he got an iced chai latte and i got the praline chestnut chai tea latte... or so i thought. they actually got my order wrong and gave me the coffee latte version, but it was too late to to tell them because cole got a text about PAX badges and we ran like crazy back to the office so he could get to his computer lmao. i was running with coffee in my hands x__x; we got back to his office and then he got into the queue on his computer. he was already in on his phone. he then realized that the PAX twitter notified everyone a few minutes earlier than the text so he knew he wasn’t going to get the 4-day badge. he frantically messaged his friends. cole kept saying this was the first time he was away from the computer when they announced badge sales. T___T i apologized profusely.

he ended up buying single day passes for each day :( but he calmed down after. with a bit of cole’s persuasion, i also bought PAX badges for saturday for me and kevin. it’ll be my first convention and i’m so excited! i’m ready for you, april! :P while cole was calming down, i took our new t7 member, edwin, to the 8th floor to get his badge. noelle didn’t put his name in the system yet so i picked up a package and then headed back down with him. he seems like a really cool and chill guy! he has a switch and wasn’t afraid to charge it in the room and he talked with us about conventions and stuff. :D ahh, i love the nerds in t7 ahah. i went back to the office to do a final check on imports and then i packed up. i was supposed to leave at 4 pm but then i felt like i needed to work on that before. i still ended up leaving at 4:30 pm with cole and edwin. the train wasn’t packed and i got home fairly quickly. i picked up my ae packages and then tried everything on. i think the hoodie is a bit too long but kevin helped me decide to keep it. i want the dark blue version as well so i’ll get that in a smaller size.

after trying on stuff, i got myself into the yoga studio and did an hour of arms and back. i could tell it wasn’t going to be my best performance. my chest presses always feel wrong lol and doing a good amount of them for an hour didn’t help my form. i ended my workout doing some lower back exercises and called it a day. i got back and showered and prepped the rice cakes for dinner and drank my protein smoothie. when kevin came back from climbing, i boiled the soup with the rice cakes, made each of us fried eggs with the new ceramic pan <3, and plated everything for dinner. we started watching game of thrones because we will be going to iceland in february and we kind of wanted to appreciate the location and its ties with the series? LOL. well, i watched the first season already so it was mainly kevin watching. he was half watching tbh. after dinner, we might have played a bit more gauntlet to grind for more $$ to get more upgrades and gear... and/or i watched ‘GAMERS!’ i finished the series and i was not impressed. i think i’m going to take a break from anime right now. i’ll continue watching my series though haha. i got sleepy pretty quickly so i hit the bed at like 12:30 am. zzz.

10: hello, fourth day of pto at home! i enjoyed sleeping in today, but it got to the point where i just felt really crappy about myself. i’ve been feeling mentally tired about exercising. i think it’s because i’m not feeling any better and not seeing much of a difference after adding in free weights to my workout. i just laid in bed with very indecisive thoughts. it doesn’t help that for a while now, i wake up bloated af and/or with stomach pain. i feel like i have a cleaner diet now but i don’t know :/ i just feel like the choices that i’ve made haven’t really been what i want or need right now. i’m not entirely sure. i managed to get my butt out of bed and stop thinking about these things for now and pick up the new kobenstyle casserole post we bought from food52. it’s very sleek and the right size for what we need. :)

to get myself out of the whole exercising pinch, i’ve decided to work out less so it doesn’t become a stressor in my life. it’s been stressing me out even though i wouldn’t put it that way if you had asked me in person. i do schedule my life around working out right now and i think my sleep has suffered because of that and not knowing what i want to do with my spare time. so i’m just going to work out when i feel like it and for less than an hour each day. i’ve been trying to hit an hour or more each day and with the stress i’m feeling, it’s not going to work out. it’s a bit frustrating talking to other people about this because i don’t think they think i work out hard enough and/or think i’m wimping out and/or i’m not doing it right. well, at least that’s what i think. i may not be overtraining but i’m definitely doing something wrong if i’m feeling this way about exercising right now. anyway, i did some hip hop cardio and i realized that i love dancing as my cardio. doing hiit workouts is fun too but in moderation.

i felt better afterward. i showered and then drank my protein smoothie. i may have watched some anime and then kevin came home. i made rice and then i started reading ‘the rules of magic’, my book of the month, while waiting for the rice to cook. we microwaved leftover curry and ate that for dinner before hopping on steam and gaming with ryan and later on, terence! we played gauntlet and finally got past the level where we kept dying haha. we played until 11 pmish and then kevin washed dishes while i got ready for bed. kevin stayed up gaming and i think i went to sleep.

11: we woke up pretty late. i keep waking up at around 8 or 9 am and then falling back asleep because of pto or it’s the weekend. :P we ate scallion pancakes with egg for brunch while watching the new try guys’ video on baking bread without a recipe. the ending of that video is ridiculous. then we meal planned and went grocery shopping! we stopped by bj’s and got kevin’s parents ugly christmas sweaters and ofc groceries. then we went to kam man and i got some new pocky flavors! they both taste pretty good! then we stopped by roche to get a few more things like hot cheetos (kevin we craving them and then i was too T__T), burger buns, and i’m still looking for the dairy-free halo top but no dice. we got a lot of snacks for some reason... kevin was in a munchy mood. hmmm. our pantry is stocked for winter though haha. we got back home and put everything away. i ate some leftover pulled chicken and one of the buns for lunch. kevin went to game with friends so i continued reading ‘the rules of magic.’ after a bit, kevin came to game with me and we played some battleblock theater. we played only for a little bit because the levels are so hard now D: we also needed to prep for dinner.

kevin started making the stock and then we both headed over to the fitness center :) i did some hiit cardio w/ abs and he ran on the treadmill. it was nice working out together. we didn’t do the same things, but it was nice being with him while i worked out. we stretched together and then headed back and showered. right after, we finished cooking the korean rice cake soup, plated it, and watched the rest of episode 1 of game of thrones. kevin doesn’t really like it. it’s really slow he says. lol i agree. i made it through season 1 but rq’d right at the beginning of season 2. he didn’t even want to watch the next episode and we watched the greek olympiad try guys video instead hahaha. we cleaned up and then i think kevin went back to gaming while i continued reading my book until 1 or 2 am? then i hopped into bed and ko’d.

12: we got up at 12 pm and then started our very chill day. we ate the cinnamon raisin thomas english muffins we got from bj’s wholesale for breakfast. we did some morning reading together and i took some pictures of us, which turned out to be cute failures ahha. then kevin went to game while i finished reading ‘the rules of magic.’ it was a very nice book! :) i love alice hoffman’s writing. i took short breaks to get more water and to snack a bit. then kevin played something else on the tv via steam while i watched him. he started playing ‘don’t starve’ and it was lulz. i started cleaning while he played and then we cleaned the kitchen together and i vacuumed our bedroom before he took over vacuuming and swiffering the rest of the apartment. kevin started cooking dinner after while i watched some youtube videos while walking. i was sitting for a while today so i felt like i needed to do some walking. we ate dinner while watching a stream of ‘don’t starve’ and then we played some battleblock theater together. omg, level 6 is so hard, but we made it through! after digesting our food, kevin went to run and took the ipad with him so i stayed in the apartment and did some cardio dancing. i didn’t particularly like the video that i was doing... so it’ll be in my queue but i probably won’t do it again for a while.

i also did some cardio hip hop and focusing on keeping my core tight the whole time. i did a set of ab exercises and then called it a night. kevin was taking a pretty long time so after drinking my protein with cashew milk, i went outside and saw him walking back. he said he decided to do a longer run :P then we showered and i tried calling it a night except that i was on my phone until 1:40 am / when kevin went to bed. o___o” i really should not be on my phone when i get into bed. i need to build better habits nowadays. :/ i spent some time looking online for a gratitude journal. i might just take a break from tumblr and write in that instead. i feel like it’s become a task just documenting my days here. i need a little bit of a new perspective.

1 note · View note

flauntpage · 5 years

Text

Maikel Franco’s Walk-Off Blast Saves Phillies From Potentially Devastating Sweep

Maikel Franco is a human rollercoaster, and he’s headed back up.

Franco saved the Phillies from what would have been a brutal three-game sweep by the Washington Nationals when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and delivered this shot:

Maikel Franco. Boom.

This NL postseason chase is going to be nuts.

(MLB x @Supercuts) pic.twitter.com/J73vaUVXcn

— MLB (@MLB) July 14, 2019

The blast was an exclamation point on a series in which Franco finished 6 for 10 with two homers.

After the game, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler credited Franco’s resiliency, while also channeling his inner Rocky Balboa.

“Oftentimes, I think it’s not whether you’re going to get punched, you’re going to fall down, you’re going to hit the mat, but it’s how quickly you can get back up and how hard you hit back,” he said. “And, you know, Mikey had an error that hurt us yesterday, but he bounced back today and had a walk-off homer, really showed the resiliency that we talk about, the toughness we talk about, that makes up our club and the character.”

Is that Maikey, Maiky, Mikey? I’ll go with Mikey.

Anyway, it appeared he was on the verge of permanently losing his everyday role about a month ago, but plans have since changed.

“When he’s swinging the bat well, when he’s the best version of Mikey, he can’t come out of the lineup and you never take him out of the lineup because he’s just that good,” Kapler said. “He makes us that much better and deeper, and, obviously, a guy who’s a big threat to hit a hit a walk-off home run like he did at the very bottom of the lineup. And that makes our lineup deep and dangerous, so when he’s the best version of himself we legitimately cannot take him out of the lineup—he’s that important to us.”

Arrieta Impressive Despite Injury

“I think there was a lot that was said leading up to today about Jake and his ability to take down this start and what did 85 percent of Jake look like for us,” Kapler said. “That’s it, right? It’s a guy who can fight through some discomfort, a guy who can fight through not being at his best but can still give us a chance to win. Really impressive, gutsy, also resilient effort by Jake.”

It wasn’t a dominant performance, but it was pretty damn good.

1st inning: 93.2 mph 2nd inning: 93.3 mph 3rd inning: 91.3 mph 4th inning : 92.9 mph 5th inning: 91.0 mph

“No, that was enough for him. He was reaching that 90-pitch mark through five innings,” he said. “That’s a lot of work for anybody, particularly for a guy who’s not fully healthy.”

In addition to limiting his banged up starter’s workload, the splits suggest it was the right move, too. Arrieta came into today with a 6.82 ERA this season when going through an opponent’s batting order for the third time. Opponents were hitting .311 with a .948 OPS. Pair that with his fifth inning drop in velo, and I’ve got no gripe with Kapler’s decision to remove Arrieta at that point.

Pinch-Hitting Woes Continue

Harper’s Power Outage

It might be hittin’ season, but the month of July hasn’t brought a surge in Bryce Harper’s power numbers. In 35 ABs this month, Harper has only one homer and two total extra-base hits. The Phillies desperately could use an uptick in Harper’s .371 July slugging-percentage over the second half of this month.

The post Maikel Franco’s Walk-Off Blast Saves Phillies From Potentially Devastating Sweep appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Maikel Franco’s Walk-Off Blast Saves Phillies From Potentially Devastating Sweep published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

0 notes

opepin · 7 years

Text

october: week three

16: i woke up pretty refreshed and glad because i was having another one of my action-packed, nightmarish dreams. lol. i got up at around 8:15 am and then headed over to the fitness center to do some leg workouts. i squatted and deadlifted 45 lbs (i went up by 5) for 4 sets of 12! i almost died near the end but it was great. then i did 12.5 lbs for my bulgarian split lunges, jump lunges, rdls, and weighted lunges. i went down to 10 lbs for my fire hydrants and leg lifts and hip thrust. i was sweating so much. i got back, stretched and cooled off, showered, made myself my breakfast smoothie, and then got to work. kevin took a sick day and he also had to drive his dad to the airport so i think it was a good idea. i worked on a video tutorial one pager in the morning and then went into a customer call. for the rest of the day, i worked on practicing for tomorrow’s training session and prepping the materials. i was on stand up when poppa chen had to leave and fly back home. i said bye to him and kevin drove him to the airport. lol kevin got stuck in traffic for like 40 minutes and i would have gone with him but my stand up lasted wayy longer than expected. after stand up, i talked with phil about tomorrow and then made the last changes to the training itinerary.

kevin gamed when he got back so i went to finish up leg day. i did a ton of squats and deadlifts. my quads were literally shaking. then i did a weight-less hip workout to see if i could fill in my hip dips (over time ofc). kevin cooked while i showered. then we ate while watching yakitate! japan. then we played trine 2 before kevin needed to shower. after his shower, we played some more and then he gamed with the guys after. i watched youtube videos and then just ended up sleeping at like 12:30 am... maybe later? idk, i think i was on my phone ahah. wfh makes me want to sleep and wake up later.

17: andddd i was sore waking up! lol, i woke up at 8:30 anyway because kevin kept waking me up last night from his tossing and turning. i had another bad dream lol. i broke up with kevin in my dream LOOOL and he was really sad. i told kevin that these past two days i’ve been having bad dreams and i think it is because he keeps disturbing my sleep -__-’ anyway, i did 30 minutes of hip hop cardio and then showered and washed my hair. i am going to wash my hair more often now. it’s growing outward and kinda longer and i sweat a ton during my workouts so i feel like it gets oily real quick now. i’m going to grow out my hair and then splurge sometime in the future on a great haircut. i hate my hair right now tbh. after my shower, i made myself my bfast smoothie and i looked up some weight lifting information. i’ve gained about 3-5 lbs and my body fat is a tiny bit higher than it was before (it’s my first time weighing myself since i started lifting free weights). i was wondering if my weight gain is normal or what. i conclude that i need to stop eating as much as i have (especially fats) lol. i think i’ve treated myself a good amount this past month and half :) i’m going to focus on trying to eat more protein (how do people eat so much?!) and definitely lower fatty foods and i guess the same amt of carbs. i’ve been hitting my carb goal. so i’m doing a bit of a mini cut? but not really lol. my clothes are a bit tighter but it’s all in my legs so idk if it’s muscle or just more fat. my love handles have kinda grown a bit too.

anyway, i drank my smoothie and then went into a training session from 11 am to 1 pm and then a quick debrief and talk with phil afterward for 30 minutes before a 30 minute or so stand up. i ate lunch and then i took a break and played trine 2 with kevin. phil never pinged me back and i couldn’t record my video tutorials because it was pretty noisy at home. the day was over before i knew it and then i did some internet errands. kevin and i took an hour nap after i finished up with work. he said he was feeling tired and i felt a bit jdsfndjkf from working too. after our nap, kevin cooked dinner while we watched some yakitate! japan together. we ate and watched another episode and then kevin went to game while i read. i started reading ‘sleeping beauties’ and i also finished the experience mapping book, finally! i finished reading right around 11 pm and then stretched. kevin actually hopped into bed at 11:30 pm and then i finished stretching, brushed, and went to bed before 12 am. zzzz.

18: kevin woke me up at 7:20 am lol but then i went back to sleep until 8 am and then went for my kickboxing session shortly after. i showered and then made kevin congee with my mom’s leftover soup in the rice cooker. then i made myself my breakfast protein smoothie and went straight into recording videos. i managed to record two before i stopped to take a break, watch the newest episode of shokugeki and then ate lunch with kevin while watching yakitate! japan. :) i had to hop on a call with phil after and kevin went to play hots. he took advil and felt a lot better after he took it haha. i did some more work and then hopped on a very long stand up -__-” i finished up some video work and then played trine 2 with kevin. when it got to around 5:45 pm, kevin went back to gaming on his computer so i could pop some chicken thighs in the oven and hit the gym for my second session of the day. i’ve gained some fat in my waist area and i want to tighten it a bit so i went back to some of my weighted oblique workouts. my obliques were on fire. i used a 8 lb weight for 30 minutes of moves like the wood chopper, standing oblique crunches, etc.

i came back, took out the chicken, made myself a second protein smoothie without peanut butter and cocoa but with cinnamon (it was aiight), and then took a quick shower before microwaving / steaming frozen veggies and plating dinner for kevin and me. :) we had a very healthy dinner LOL. we ate and watched yakitate! japan and then kevin went to sleep at like 8 pm. i cuddled in bed with him until 9 pm and then went off to wash dishes and clean the oven. lol the last time i made apple pie, i didn’t put a tray underneath it so some of the juices spilled to the bottom of the oven :( it created a sugar film on the bottom of the oven so i used a dull pizza cutter and paper towels to scrap it off. after the kitchen was cleaned, i watched the newest episode of jane the virgin and some of youtube videos. i got real sleepy near 12 am. kevin went to shower and then i slept at like 12:20 am with kevin. zzz. it was a quiet night with myself, which i didn’t mind. i was going to read but i wanted to watch something instead ahah.

19: i was pretty awake when i got up at 8 am. phil sent me over things that i needed to get to work on before exercising in the morning. so i did that, changed, and then did arms in the morning. my shoulders were actually sore from yesterday’s weighted ab/oblique workout so my workout was pretty hard to get through. then i came back, shipped off an aerie sports bra for a return, and showered. i made my smoothie after and then hung out with kevin for a bit before hopping on my computer and editing my video tutorials. that went straight into another 2 hour training session. phil kindly took the lead on this one because i’m kinda losing my voice and i’m just tired from all these back to back sessions with such a large group. after that session, we went straight on to stand up, which lasted longer than usual again. then phil asked me to stay on with dave and by that time, i was hangry. kevin had heated up our food already but i was stuck on a call that wasn’t even scheduled... and i hadn’t eaten since 9 am. -__-” i had to ask to leave because they got to a topic that i wasn’t involved in. so then i happily got off and ate lunch with kevin. kevin steamed some soup dumplings for us because i mentioned that i wanted some in the morning <3

the rest of the day went by pretty quickly with no meetings. i worked on my video tutorials and got them all recorded and edited. they are ready for uploading and updating! then i think i took a break and kevin took a nap. i just remember doing back exercises in the apartment (no jumping but just mat stuff) while the lights were dim and i don’t think kevin was gaming. after my workout, i showered and heated up our leftovers for dinner. kevin mentioned that he felt better. :) we watched some yakitate! japan and maybe gamed a bit? this evening is fuzzy. i know i went to sleep while kevin stayed up a bit to game.

20: wooo, today was the first day out of my six days of unused pto that i used lol. does that even make sense? well, i took a day off from work today. i woke up at like 8:30 am (still around the same time i get up) and then took my time heading over to the yoga studio. i did my hiit workout for the day and then went back showered, and made my protein shake. then i spent the day running errands. i made a dentist appointment for when i come back to chicago during thanksgiving, cleaned the dish washer, and tidied up some things. kevin and i headed to chinatown to submit his paper work for a visa to go to china and then we also ordered from gourmet dumpling house and got beef scallion pancake rolls, soup dumplings, and pork and leek dumplings. we experienced some traffic on the way back but had our food so we weren’t that bothered haha. we stopped by oh my tea and got ourselves some hot tea boba dranks. we watched some yakitate! japan while we ate and then kevin went back to work.

i hopped into bed to watch some videos and then talked to my mom for a while on the phone. then kevin got off work and we ordered dinner. i could have made noodles but i wasn’t feeling like cooking today. we ordered from hakata ramen. i got unagi don and kevin got ramen. while we waited for the food to come, we played trine 2. then we got our food and finished the level before watching some yakitate! japan. i think we spent the rest of the night just binging the anime LOL. kevin didn’t want to end on such big cliffhangers lmao. we watched until late at night and then i went to do my stretches before going to sleep. zzzz. what a good day! i’m going to love the next pto days that i scheduled for myself. :)

21: kevin and i woke up pretty early! kevin made us bacon breakfast sandwiches and we watched yakitate! japan. then we meal planned and went grocery shopping pretty early at 12 pm :O we never go that early! we spent more time shopping though because we were trying to find things we usually don’t get. because we were at kam man early, we got to buy a ton of bakery buns that are usually sold out by the time we get there at like 3-4 pm lol. we also got a lunch box to go for our makeshift lunch. we also got bomb af smaples from bj’s lol. we had a waffle with bananas and whipped cream, i got to eat a protein bar, and some chicken noodle soup! after our grocery trip, we got back, put away the food, and i got to snack on the hot cheetos i got. omg i forgot how delicious they are. T__T <3 i did my workout of the day, which was a full body strength workout. then i got back and showered. i started laundry and then made myself some edamame! well, i just steamed them with the microwave. i nommed on that with some of the bakery bread. mmm.

kevin gamed until we needed to get ready to leave for the zelda concert! i changed and got ready. then we ate leftovers of the lunch box from lunch and took the train to the wang theater. there were so many people out and about. there were also a ton of people going the same way as us. we got off downtown crossing and walked to the theater. then we used the washroom and headed up. i got irritated at kevin because when we got out together, he’s a bit of an airhead and just goes off by himself without waiting for me @_@; he’s really air-headed for some reason... we got to our seats and i think a guy accidentally spilled some of his alcohol on me because we needed to pass him in order to get in our seats and my pants were a bit wet when i sat down... there was no liquid on the seat sigh. it was a rocky start.

the concert overall was ok. i think final fantasy: distant worlds did a better job of playing music from all of their games. this concert was super focused on the more recent releases, which i have not played and it was meh. i mean, live concert music is wonderful but the connection to the songs were entirely there. kevin enjoyed the live music as well and was in the same boat as me except that i think he enjoyed it more lol. i was jkdfnsjkdf by the crowd leaving. omg, so many people and construction going on -__-” i felt less grumpy after we separated from the crowd and went back home. i was still a bit grumpy though because when we got back, my stomach was cramping like crazy but i had to fold laundry before going to sleep. so i did that and i told kevin i was stressed about cleaning (more specifically, cleaning tomorrow). he didn’t do much in terms of helping so i went to sleep pretty bothered. we did talk about it for a bit after he showered. sigh.

22: i woke up kinda still akjfnsdjkf about last night and all of the stuff i had to do today so i just went to the yoga studio and did a hiit workout. i talked to hillary on the phone afterward while i ate breakfast and started cleaning the apartment. i told hillary about my stress when it comes to cleaning every week and it actually made me feel better to talk about it to someone other than kevin lol. then i continued cleaning and kevin joined in by vacuuming. after i finished cleaning the bathtub, i put our sheets in the wash and then i took a nice break. i watched some videos, made myself some roasted chickpeas, and then laid on the sofa. before doing abs, i ate the roasted chickpeas and they’re pretty good! i felt bad using oil so next time i’m going to roast them without oil and for a bit longer to see how it is. they got soft after resting for a bit. poop. i did abs and then kevin started cooking. we talked about my cleaning stress lol and i think he gets it more now. then i showered and drank my second protein shake of the day. i pulled up crunchyroll and started watching a ton of anime .__. LMAO. i started watching too many to name... i really like ‘blend-s’ though and i left off watching ‘no game no life’, which was recommended by victoria a lonng time ago ahha.

we ate dinner while watching yakitate! japan. i forgot to mention that i came out of the shower only to find kevin eating a ton of hot cheetos. lol i don’t think we’ll buy any more after this time... it’s too addictive. anyway, we watched two episodes and then kevin went to shower. i continued watching anime until bed time. we made the bed together and then i hit the hay right before 12 am but then daniel messaged me and i ended up sleeping at like 12:20 am lol. cleaning today wasn’t too bad because i was talking to hillary on the phone while doing it and after i got off the phone, i put on some youtube videos while i was cleaning the bathroom. so i’m going to try to be more productive by saving up youtube videos so i can watch them while i clean. this will also help me with not laying around and watching a ton of videos when i have free time lol.

0 notes

opepin · 7 years

Text

october: week one

02: i woke up real awake but still sore... i went to the fitness center and did my butt workout anyway. i had to quit before finishing all of the exercises because i think i wasn’t at 100% and i also tried squatting and deadlifting 5 lbs heavier and i wore myself out. i’m debating whether i should rest or do my other 30 minute session later today. :/ i also had a lot of work to do before 2 pm today and i needed to be on my computer early so i had to leave right at around 30 minutes. i felt a bit nauseous and weak (maybe side effects from throwing up yesterday) and made breakfast asap. i showered and then made smoothies for breakfast. i hopped on a call with phil right as kevin left for work and then i just had laser focus on work for the rest of the day until 4 pm. i was pretty dead after. x__X tomorrow is also the first day of me leading training. i hope i don’t go too fast. i waited for kevin to come home and then i went to do a second leg session with a portion of the first session’s superset i didn’t finish. i felt okay. i used lighter weights and whatnot. near the end of my workout, i felt like i did good today LOL.

i got back, took out the ingredients for apple pie, showered, and went straight to baking. we bought the crust for the pie so all i had to do was cut the apples and make the sauce / filling. i used only northern spy apples for this pie because one of the workers at the orchard raved about them and when i looked online, i found out that they are popular pie apples. i tasted them while i was cooking and boy, these apples are delicious! so i sliced the apples, made the sauce, and then put the top crust on terribly LOL and popped it into the oven. kevin’s braised pork with apple was going to take a long time to cook so i popped in some chicken nuggets as well. we realized that it’d be too late to eat the pork for today’s dinner so i made rice and steamed some veggies and we’d eat leftover braised beef from the rice cake soup. kevin went to run and i just chilled out until he came back to eat dinner. oh, the apple pie baked in an hour and it is delicious! i think it’s a bit too sweet for my taste but kevin loves it :) we ate dinner ate like 10 pm while watching an episode of westworld and my stomach just kinda died. idk, i was cramping or something... i felt terrible when i went to sleep.

03: i am super exhausted and tired for some reason and my stomach still hurts. i’m definitely gonna take it easy today. i slept in this morning but got up in time to prepare myself for the first day of leading training. i made breakfast for myself after kevin left and then hopped on the 2 hour training session. it went pretty well! phil said my pace was great and i did amazing (: he also said that i made him feel relaxed, which made me feel better about my performance haha. by the time we finished, i felt even more exhausted. i hopped on stand up and then after, ate my lunch at 2 pm. i watched some youtube videos while eating and then took off my glasses and rested my eyes for a bit. maybe i went too hard yesterday? my entire back hurts and my legs are sore. i feel like a limp doll. i hope stretching today helps. i’m thinking of just taking a short walk on a treadmill while kevin works out (if he doesn’t go climbing today). then i got myself to do some prep work for thursday, which is a CRAZY day because i have a meeting at 9 until 11 am then 11 am straight to 1 pm again. i believe i am leading the second meeting as well. x__x;

i got myself to purchase the uniqlo mom jeans i’ve been eyeing, the umbra jewelry holder for the top of our chest, and pure food protein powder so i can stop killing my stomach with whey and sugar alcohols in the protein bars i bought last week or so. mmm. then i went back to work and hopped on a quick call with phil to start going over material for thursday’s session. after work, i just laid on the sofa and rested my eyes. i felt pretty nauseous. i got myself to stretch for 40 minutes or so while watching / listening to an episode of ‘beat shazam.’ i felt a lot better after stretching. kevin came back home from a climbing event with wings. the garlic parmesan ones he brought back tasted too much like artificial cheese :( we showered and then microwaved leftovers for dinner. i opted for rice and just my mom’s black chicken soup because i felt like poop. we watched an episode of westworld and then kevin went to game while i walked around to try to get some low level physical activity in. lol. i received our target package in the mail today and i tried on the denim jacket and the kitten heels i got. the denim jacket is cute but too big. :( so i ordered a small online and will return the other one. the kitten heels are perfect and i will use them for formal occasions now :) i walked around trying to break them in a bit.

i hopped into bed and used my yoga toe stretchers because my feet were feeling a bit sensitive after walking. then i brushed and got ready for bed. i went to sleep before 12 am and that is a great feat for me these days. woot! i was feeling a good amount better but i wasn’t sure how i will feel in the morning.

04: i could have woken up at 7:15 am but i didn’t feel like it. plus, my stomach was hurting again. i felt a lot better though. i got up at 8 am and then did cardio kickboxing. then i showered and washed my hair :D and made myself a smoothie -- that caused my stomach to hurt a bit more so maybe i should have stuck to my rice and soup combo. then kevin left for work and i hopped on the computer and started responding to emails and what not. i found out that ‘shokugeki no soma’ season 3 is out and darien suggested watching ‘restaurant to another world’ so i’m excited to start binging shows again! also, digimon adventure tri series’ last part is out and i can’t wait to watch that too. ahhh! i got on a call with phil and dave to go over the material for tomorrow and then phil had a call so that’s when i took my lunch. i watched some youtube videos while eating and then watched the newest episode of ‘shokugeki no soma.’ i think phil took a longer lunch so did some tweaking to our training stuff and went over the training in my head.

when phil got back, we hopped on a call, double checked that everything worked, and then i fixed some things, uploaded the training material, and called it a day. then i started watching ‘restaurant from another world’ until kevin came back home. we had a bit of an argument about doing something with the dishes, but it was about something bigger in the end. i watched some more episodes of the anime and then i went to the yoga studio to do another ab workout. the person spinning in the room left the lights off? so i did the workout in the dark...LOL. kevin came in and told me that an owner let their dog leave a trail of poop down our hallway... he showed me and told me he submitted a complaint / ticket. then i went back to the apartment and cooled off. i waited for kevin to come back and then we had a conversation and it kinda made our argument worse? well, i said my piece and told him that i never meant for whatever we were talking about to turn into a “whose right” kind of argument :/ he said mean things to me though. so we showered and then kevin went to eat and i went in the room to watch anime.

kevin came in later to tell me to eat because it was 9 pm. i was about to eat anyway so i went and microwaved rice with my mom’s soup. then i washed the dishes and made myself an english muffin with pb and banana. i watched more ‘restaurant to another world’ on the sofa and then kevin came and apologized for being mean LOL. we forgave each other (i guess sometimes i come off as stand offish too) and then he went back to gaming and i continued watching my anime. we goofed around before i hit the hay and i went to sleep at 12 am. zzzz. i was tired.

05: i woke up at 7:40 am and then slept in until 8 am. i brushed and then hit the yoga studio to do some arm and shoulder workouts. then i showered and hopped on my 9 am call for the day. i made breakfast while on mute because they were doing a presentation and then i started my day. my day wasn’t as stressful as i thought it would be :O dave just needed me for support on his presentation and then i hopped onto the second training session. we had another technical difficulty but then got through the session nicely. i presented for about an hour and then handed it off to phil for the rest. then we debriefed a bit and i ate lunch until it was stand up. our meeting at 1 pm got moved to next week so my day wasn’t as hectic. after stand up, phil told me to do whatever i want! it was also only around 3 pm so i watched the rest of ‘restaurant to another world’ and then i took a nap after opening my amazon package that contained my umbra jewelry tray (it’s beautiful) and my pure foods protein powder. i felt nauseous again so i napped and kevin got home pretty early!

kevin booked our christmas tickets and we ordered from hakata ramen! after watching ‘restaurant from another world’, i was craving katsu soo badly. i ordered katsu curry, karaage, and “ebi shrimp” and then went to work out. kevin gave my contact info because he might have been busy when the delivery guy got there. well, halfway during my arm workout, kevin came in and checked my phone LOL. he said the guy called me 6x times and angrily walked over to our door to deliver it. my phone didn’t have signal x_X so i didn’t get anything. oh well. we know next time! i also didn’t care as much as i should have in the moment because i was lifting and in the zone LOL. kevin left and i continued my workout. afterward, i got back to the apartment and asked kevin to elaborate. lol. then i ate more than half of the food we got LOL. the katsu and karaage were so delicious. the “ebi shrimp” was fried shumai -__-” that was not what i wanted. then i showered and kevin cooked pork chop with apples for himself for dinner ahha. after he ate, we played castle crashers with ryan and terence! it was pretty fun (((: they rq’d at around 11 pm our time and then kevin and i cleaned up and i got ready for bed and went to sleep before 12 am. i was pooped.

06: i woke up later than usual but then did my hiit workout in the morning anyway. i showered while kevin made us egg bacon breakfast sandwiches. they were delicious!! then i microwaved myself the last slice of pie and then started to get to work. i thought i was going to do some recordings but other stuff came in with higher priority. i watched 15 minutes of the new digimon tri series movie section and then worked all day. i also tried my pure foods protein powder with my panyong tea and it was delicious... except for when the powder settled when i didn’t drink my tea all at once. lol but the rest of the day, my cup had a hint of vanilla <3 when i took breaks, i got the chance to pick up my book of the month package :D i got two books for free this month! hehe. then i worked until 5:30 pm or so and started compliance training for genpact... it is pretty long... kevin got back home and waited for me to finish the first segment so that we could go game. we played castle crashers and then we started playing this new game kevin got called, ‘trine 2.′ the graphics are beautiful and the characters are cool but the steam controller isn’t 100% compatible.

we ate fried rice made with leftovers for dinner. i believe today was the day we finished watching westworld! lol it was an interesting ending and very climatic. we might watch season 2 when it comes out. i think we will actually. for the rest of the day, i think we continued to game together or i just chilled while kevin went running and then i went to sleep zzzz. what a great way to start the weekend :D

07: we were going to get our monthly massage today! i was pumped and i wanted to get the most out of it so i woke up and went straight to the yoga studio to do a full body strength workout haha. then i rushed back home, showered, and made kevin and i smoothies before driving over to the massage place. omg, this lady gave me the best neck/head massage and she really did focus on my legs too. i would say this is one of the best massages i’ve ever had. she was great. after our super great massage, we walked over to oh my tea and i got the honey oolong boba and kevin got a passionfruit smoothie with boba. we split an egg puff -- it was delicious. we drove to target from there so i could exchange / pick up my jean jacket in a small. the small fits me way better so i returned the medium. while i was picking up my jacket, kevin found these adorable polar bear salt and pepper shakers so we bought them. then we drove home and i watched the newest chunk of digimon adventure tri and finished compliance training. we didn’t really have a lunch so i baked chicken nuggets and then we meal planned and headed out to get groceries. before we left, we scheduled delivery for dinner. guess what? i ordered tonkatsuuuu <3 kevin got tempura ramen and we also ordered the real ebi shrimp LOL.

we spent a good amount of time looking for the large kikkoman soy sauce but they were sold out apparently. then we decided to get the cheaper snowy mooncakes because all of the small mei xin ones were sold out and the larger ones were still $36-48!! then we drove over to bj’s and used coupons and loaded up on toilet paper and other kitchen ingredients. we got a pretty good shock when the car wouldn’t start up. we could put the key into the ignition and turn it but the brake wouldn’t depress -- it was rock solid. kevin tried checking the front, i tried looking at the manual, and in the end, i called daniel because he knows cars and he has a gti, which is similar to my golf. he told us to try pushing the key in with more force and that did it! :D thank you SOOO much daniel!!! you da best. <3 we drove home, unloaded the car, and then kevin said after he parked, the car’s brake stiffened up again. why, bb, why?! we got all the groceries into our apartment and then i made a service appointment. i had to get an oil change anyway.

after all of that, we got our delivery on time and then we ate while watching ‘yakitate! japan.’ i got kevin to watch this anime with me because it is one of my all-time favorite food anime and i knew he’d like the type of humor. after the first two episodes, he said he liked it :D as for dinner, i got real full real quick. some kind soul left some pastries in the lobby for people to take so i got all the different ones and snacked on them too. mm. then we played castle crashers until i got tired. we gamed until late at night and then i stretched before sleeping at like 2 am or something.

08: it was a gloomy af day. i woke up and it was dark and rainy outside. i went to the yoga studio and did a hiit workout that included some 5 lb weights and it killed me LOL. i was sweating so much and sweat was dripping. then i came back and showered only to find kevin still in bed playing pokemon again haha. then i made my breakfast smoothie and i think kevin went for a run so i put on some youtube videos on the roku and started cleaning the kitchen. kevin oiled the cutting board and it left a pool of oil on the island x__x it’s a good thing he came back and helped me wipe that off so i could clean it thoroughly after. i ate leftover tonkatsu for lunch and then we put up all of our artwork, finally! we put some paintings in weird spots but we’ll deal with it. we still have a lot of white left on the walls so if we find anything we like, we’ll probably fill the space in with that. it took longer than we expected to put everything up and kevin went straight to gaming. i chilled out a bit before making apple pie. my sugar mixture / caramel kind of separated (i think i boiled it for too long on accident) so i topped the pie with some cinnamon sugar mixture to get a crunchier top. there was also no dough on top because i wanted to try and bake an “open face” pie haha. it turned out better than i expected but kevin does prefer the normal / traditional pie haha.

after baking, i did an ab workout in the yoga studio. my hips were killing me a bit so i tried to not do moves that required my hips, but i think that failed ahha. i came back and showered before running to the katsu curry kevin made for dinner. yassss, katsu for 3 days straight; i’m in heaven. we ate while watching more ‘yakitate! japan’ and then cleaned up and played some more castle crashers on our steam box. apparently, we finished the game?? the game is pretty short tbh haha. i was pretty tired by the time we finished but we snuck in a game of gang beast and it was LOL. i brushed up and went to bed at like 12:30 am or something of the sort. i didn’t want this weekend to end :(

0 notes