#ouch !!!!

at, like, professional matches, they often play the fighter’s national anthem

im trying to imagine how nik would feel about this. on the one hand, he’s a patriot, proud of his country, his heritage

on the other, he fucking hates what it stands for.

if he looks distantly at the ground during it, fingers pressing into the padding of his gloves, that’s his business

as is the way he panics before weigh-ins. it’s a struggle for price to get him to even drink water. the layers of bravado he puts on as he walks up to the scale fall away the very second he slumps into their car, half exhausted, half dehydrated, half starving. he reaches for the water kept in their car 24/7, and downs half the bottle in one go. properly exhausted, he collapses into their other man’s arms as they go inside.

price carries him in, tries desperately to get him to eat, but he’s too bloody tired. just squeezes his hand and gives him a cold, light soup that he can drink throughout the night. what else could he do?

update i got it to work again i missed THREE ROUNDS just watching it buffer

Always love your thoughts anon, hope the match was good despite the buffering !!

"if he looks distantly at the ground during it, fingers pressing into the padding of his gloves, that’s his business" Loved that one anon. Price knows, everyone close to him knows. They don't mention it ever, though.

Also the weight-in thing broke my heart a little. Nikolai who struggles with his confidence when it comes to his weight always gets me. And the way he shows his weaknesses around it so easily to Price when they're in a safe space of theirs, it's both sad and sweet.

to voice something;

You have a talent for conveying what others struggle to. Whether it be through actions or words, communication is undeniably your strong suit. You are considered incredibly thoughtful by those around you. Perhaps you have been called eloquent, profound, or insightful. People probably often ask your thoughts, because you have a unique knack for making sense of things. You make the abstract tangible, the esoteric intelligible, the nebulous understandable. You bring into reach what many otherwise couldn't grasp. People seek you out when they seek to understand what's beyond them. You have the unique ability to give a voice and a presence to sentiments others are unable to express. This is incredibly precious.

“That’s not true.” Zeira finally snapped, turning to the younger woman with sparkling tears welling in hazel eyes. Her lash line was moments away from spilling, and all she could muster out was, “That’s exactly what you were trying to do… because you can’t stand to see someone happy. Even yourself.”