Fickle Flame | OT7

Down and Dirty

"Get fucked, Namjoon!"

"Your money is mine, fucker!"

"Don't forget your promise to let me spank you if the Damned lose!"

Shayne jolts awake, flinching hard as more jeers fill the room. She blinks her eyes open. The first thing she notices is the expanse of black material before her and the second is Hoseok parading around the room with both of his middle fingers raised in the air. "Asshole," Namjoon murmurs as he pulls Shayne closer. She's not sure how long she's been asleep but somehow during that time she seemingly turned over and is now straddling Namjoon's thighs with her cheek pressed against his chest. She can hear the faint pump of his heart over the cacophony of cheers reverberating around the room as something happens on the large screen. "Well, fuck," Namjoon swears softly, his words rumbling through his chest, as more cheers sound a second later.

"Umm, sorry," Shayne murmurs, trying to disengage from Namjoon. She doesn't get far, only managing to put a few inches between their bodies before his arms band around her, pressing her back against his chest.

"Stay. This might be the only good thing I get out of this night, it seems." His words are soft but also filled with something else Shayne can't quite place. "Can you see the screen okay, though?"

The slightest shift, moving her cheek to the other side of his chest, lets her see the giant TV screen completely. "Yeah. What's happening?" She asks, despite knowing she'll probably not understand his response anyway, but still curious what all the noise is about.

"Do you see the large guy in the center of the field with the zero on the back of his red shirt?" Namjoon rubs small circles against her back as he nods toward the screen.

There are a lot of large guys on the screen, and to her surprise, a few females, too. Though, probably larger than all the rest is the guy Namjoon is asking about. He towers half a head over everyone else on the field. As the view pans in closer to the man, Shayne can clearly see the streaks of blood and dirt caking his hands and arms. His red shirt is darker in some areas, the black zero on the back of his shirt matches the tight shorts on his lower half. This close, as the view pans away from him and across some of the other people on the field, Shayne can also see that all of them are barefoot. There are a few on the field dressed similar to Zero, while others wear a similar cut of clothes just with green shirts and purple shorts.

Shayne nods. "Yeah."

"That's Pathek. He's the wingback for the Damned, the guys in red and black. The wingback is kind of like the leader, the enforcer. It's his responsibility to make sure his team can score by any means necessary." His explanation is emphasized by a brutal scene. The man, Pathek, charges across the field, dirt flying up behind his bare heels, and barrels into one of the green-shirted men, sending him flying back several feet.

"What are the sticks for?" Shayne asks, seeing a short white stick go flying from the green-shirted man's hand as he flies backward. Pathek sends a bare foot at the stick, making it rocket nearly to the other side of the field opposite from the man now climbing back to his feet with a snarl on his face.

Namjoon lifts a hand and gestures vaguely toward the screen. "Those are defender batons. They're used in submission moves and to defend the goals when the opposing team tries to score. There are four defenders on each team, they're the only players allowed to have the batons, but they're also the only players not allowed to score or touch the ball while it's in play. Play ends if one of them handles the ball and a point could be forfeit. Rage, the other wingback, he's also wearing a zero on his jersey. He plays opposite to Pathek," Shayne can hear the eye roll in Namjoon's voice as he continues, "he's good, but he's also a rookie. If Pathek was at full capacity, he'd not stand a chance. As it is, the drivers, the three players on each team that have those fingerless gloves on, are the only ones that can score team points, so we have that going for us."