Curveball [BL] COMPLETED

3

School eventually starts three weeks later. The first years comes a week prior, and they're a promising trio, but not promising enough to be put on the first string. With time, maybe, Carmen thinks. He has his eye on the pitcher in particular, watched him enough in the past week to tell he has a lot of potential to be something good- someone good.

Coach is more lenient with pitchers, and for good reason, Carmen thinks. It's easy to take third baseman and put him anywhere in outfield, but it's not so easy to take him and put him in as a pitcher. Pitchers are carefully molded, holding the weight of every game in their palms.

3 up, 3 down - it's what all pitchers strive for every inning. Don't let em get on base, strike them out and claim the momentum of the game before they can. It's not so easily done, though. In high school maybe, where just about anybody could play, but college doesn't give a pity pass to guys like that.

Carmen's only into his first week of the semester and already, he's swarmed with assignments and projects. It's his fault, really. Asking for his assignments in advance is good for the long run, but it's quickly wearing on him. He blames Coach Barrel almost entirely. The old man doesn't know how to hold back, especially since the first years settled in. It's practice, practice, practice - eat, sleep, and breathe baseball.

Carmen's eyelids are heavy, reading over the same passage for the third time. f**k he needs sleep - but he needs to finish this by tonight, then shower time, find something in their mini fridge since he skipped dinner, and finally bed. His muscles ache, sore from the hit training they did earlier today.

He's lost in thought about how old the burrito wrap in their fridge is when a cold, wet can presses into his neck. "Hey." Juda leans over his shoulder, greeting him quietly. He places the bottled iced coffee on the library desk and pushes it over for Carmen. "Drink this, you look like shit."

If he wasn't right, Carmen would've retorted with something snotty. He grumbles a thanks, popping open the cap. "How'd you know I was here?"

Juda sits beside him with a dramatic sigh, immediately man-spreading. "I didn't. Looked everywhere I thought you'd be and ta-dah~ You were in the library, which is pretty impressive. I didn't think you knew libraries existed."

"You're an ass," Carmen snorts despite himself. "Thanks for the coffee, though." It's his favorite, he doesn't say.

Juda watches him for a bit, long enough for Carmen to raise his eyebrows. "Are those Nico's?" He finally asks, reaching over to push Carmen's glasses up. His hand is swatted away, Carmen fixing the lenses back in place.

"I didn't feel like putting my contacts in."

"God," Juda groans. "You and Nico are such nerds. How's it feeling needing to rely on some little circles to see? Hm? How's it feel?"

Carmen's voice is dry as he replies, "You're hilarious."

Juda's head drops in his arms as he continues to watch Carmen. He looks as tired as Carmen feels, gentle hood to his eyes and dimmed expression. He still looks good, though, Carmen thinks. Doesn't know why he thinks it, but brushes it off. Juda's just a good looking person. "Think I might have a thing for glasses," Juda admits after some thought.

A laughs bubbles up Carmen's throat, because what the f**k. "You've got a glasses fetish? Really?"

"What?" he drawls in offense, but Carmen can see the smile pulling at his lips. "They're hot."

"What's so hot about the visually impaired?"

"Don't know, but there's just something, y'know? You don't have something that really just does it for you for no reason?"

Carmen thinks about it. He could say t**s, he's always ready to preach about a nice pair of t**s, but it's too common, not unusual enough. "I'm not sure if this is a 'thing', but I guess I like watching people." His pen taps against his notepad thoughtfully. "In like, the most uncreepy way possible."

Juda's eyebrows raise in surprise, smile widening. "You're a voyeur? I was thinking more, like, maybe hands did it for you or something. f**k - voyeur's kind of bold, Car."

"Not a voyeur," Carmen denies, a hint of bashfulness seeping into his tone. "I just.. can appreciate something nice, visually."

"You like watching people get off~ Fuckin' perve."

He's such a child, Carmen rolls his eyes, leaning back in his chair. It digs into his back, feeling nice against his sore muscles. "Go bother Nico or something." Truthfully, he's surprised they're not together. It's unusual to see the trio all by themselves.

"He's taking a nap," Juda informs, already having tried.

"A nap?" Carmen chuckles. "Isn't that just sleep at this point? It's almost ten o'clock."

Juda shrugs, doesn't know the wonders of Nico's mind, and is only able to relay what he said himself. "That's just what he told me~ He hasn't had dinner yet so he'll probably wake up and eat something before crashing again."

Juda goes on to coax Carmen into wrapping up his assignments. They'll still be here tomorrow, and Carmen knows he's right, but he's still reluctant to. While he can barely understand what he's reading, he just wants it over and done with.

Unlike Nico and Juda who both came into college with the intention to study something related to baseball, Carmen went into business. It definitely wasn't his first choice, but Daddy's say is final - Carmen barely suppresses an eye roll at the thought of him.

You wanna play baseball? Great, you're still going to college. Carmen could hardly refute, remembers immediately shutting his mouth when his dad reminded him that he was paying for his tuition.

Carmen's got his whole life planned out for him, and has since he was little. His parents didn't expect him to have such a strong passion for baseball, but even so, they somehow fit it into their future image of him. They don't hesitate to remind him about how generous they are to let him play- constantly holds it over his head and reminds him that when his dad retires from their family business that he needs to take over.

It's your job as the oldest. Carmen thinks it's a bunch of bullshit, but he agrees with a mere wave of his hand, deciding to deal with all his family baggage when it's finally time. He's hopefully got thirty or so more years, he'll just deal with it then.

The library doors are pushed open, the cool night breeze welcoming them outside. It's the perfect weather to Carmen. He loves the stillness of everything, the subtle breeze, barley noticeable besides the gentle sway of his hair, and the unmoving stars, bright and uncountable in the sky.

Nobody's in sight as the two of them walk down the steps, bidding the library goodbye. "I just wanna get as much done as I can before we start playing games again." Carmen brushes his hair back. The smell of grass is strong, freshly wet from the sprinklers. It's a smell he's grown accustomed to over the years, finds himself liking it. He doesn't like the itchiness grass brings him, but to see it healthy and such a bright green is worth it.

"There's always gonna be some work to do." Juda points out. His arm slings around Carmen's shoulder, casual as he pats his chest. "Just take it easy. You're pretty fuckin' smart, surprisingly. And if you need help- I don't know s**t about business- but I'm sure I could bullshit my way through. Nico, too, he's got at least a few braincells up there."

Carmen finds himself smiling, suddenly not as tired as he originally thought. "You're an asshole like, 90% of the time, but you have your moments, huh?"

"Few and far between, but yes, I do, don't I?" Juda preens. Carmen holds off an eye roll, letting him have his moment.

There's a convenience store only a three minute walk away, one they frequent quite often, mostly when they miss dinner or are in dire need of coffee. The automatic doors slide open, welcoming them with a quiet chime. The cashier perks when she sees them, offering a tired smile. "You guys are out late tonight. Another midnight practice?"

"Not tonight," Juda mumbles, squinting thoughtfully at the ramen section. Carmen's unsure why he's suddenly acting so picky, he gets the same thing every time they're here- and sure enough, Juda picks up the spicy chicken flavored ramen. "We all skipped dinner." He picks one up for Nico too.

"'All'?" Carmen repeats. "You had dinner earlier."

Like the nerd he is, "I've had one, yes, but what about second dinner?" He goes on to recite more of Lord of The Rings, and Carmen won't admit it but- it's kind of impressive. He only docks off imaginary points that it's dinner instead of the original breakfast.

Carmen grabs his usual as well, shrimp flavored ramen and another iced coffee for the morning, and just because he's had a hard day and deserves it, he throws in some m&ms. He thinks about sharing them with Nico. "Warm these up and I'll pay," Carmen mumbles, passing his ramen off to Juda, who drawls a quiet okay~.

If Carmen's not wrong, the cashier Sadie is a second year, just one grade below them. He can't say for sure, though- doesn't pay attention to much besides baseball, Nico and Juda being the only exception. "The usual?" She smiles, punching in the ramen Juda's currently heating up.

"Mhm, these too." He places the m&ms on the counter, and for the f**k of it, throws in some gum. It's watermelon he realizes too late, but doesn't take it back, deciding Nico will probably like it. Oh well, he thinks, fishing his wallet from his pocket.

"I saw you guys out on the field on my way here." Her eyes flick up, creasing with a small smile. "I can't imagine how exhausting it is with all this heat, hopefully it'll start cooling down soon."

He agrees with a quiet noise. It reminds him to pick up sunscreen from the store, doesn't see any here. His hopes weren't set high anyways, usually only pictures this place as somewhere college students come to get their fix of coffee, ramen, and chips.

While Juda's finishing up with the microwave, Carmen's handed his receipt. "I'll come to your guys games!" She abruptly blurts out. It has Carmen pausing and Juda's head turning, surprised from her sudden enthusiasm. "Um," She flushes, "I mean- whenever your next game is, I'll try and go. I'm a big baseball fan."

Just the mention of baseball has his lips pulling up, pleasantly surprised. "Really? Our games don't start for a couple months, but if you do decide to come let me know."

Her expression brightens. "Yeah, sure thing," she promises, sliding his bag over. He offers her a wave on his way out, meeting Juda by the door as he somehow balances three cups of ramen. Steam rises from the cups, wafting the scent of broth, and just the mere smell has Carmen hungrier by the second.

On the short walk back to their dorms, Juda eyes him from the corner of his eye. "So.." he drawls.

Carmen's head tilts towards him. "So..?"

"So are you ever gonna pick up on the fact that she's totally into you or..?"

"Sadie?" Carmen blinks in shock, the thought never having crossed his mind. He's never even stared at her t**s before, reserves that right just for Gia. "I think you're making it into something it's not, I barely talk to her."

"I'll come to your guys' next game'," he mimics Sadie, making his voice higher pitched. It sounds nothing like her, so Carmen hardly takes him serious. "She's totally into you, dude. She doesn't know anything about baseball. I went there once with my catchers gear and she thought I was in wrestling."

"Maybe she's a recent fan of it, and that's something easy to mistake."

Juda barely suppresses a groan. "How are you willing to f**k anything that moves but when someone's actually interested in you, you're as dense as a brick?"

Carmen shrugs, then goes to tell him he's just not interested but halts when they cross the baseball field. It's not the field he's focusing on, but the batting cages instead. Squinting his eyes suspiciously, he's sure he's seeing things, almost positive he's imagining it as he says, "Is that Nico?"

Juda follows his line of vision, looking just as surprised. "I swear he told me he was gonna take a nap," he defends.

"Nico!" Carmen calls. It goes left unheard. "Yo, Nico!" He tries again, successfully this time. In the distance, he sees Nico pause, barely dodging the ball that comes flying out of the pitching machine. "Oops."

Juda snickers and follows Carmen as they near the cages. "What happened to your nap?" Juda asks, pushing the wire door open.

Nico's breathless as he turns the machine off, chest rising and falling erratically as soft pants fall from his lips. "I took one." He scoops his water bottle off the ground, instantly chugging it. After wiping his lips, "Then I felt energized and wanted to bat a little."

Carmen looks around at all the balls on the ground. He wouldn't consider this 'a little'.

"We brought you ramen." Juda shows him the steaming cups, and Nico instantly brightens.

"Oh thank f**k, I was starving."

"You shouldn't skip dinner, idiot." Carmen chastises.

"You skipped dinner." Juda points out.

"For my studies, that's different."

They all take a seat on the ground, not bothering to find a proper bench to sit on. It's a nice night out, so nice that Carmen doesn't mind not having a proper table nor utensils to eat with. Luckily, Juda grabbed some plastic spoons so they use those, even if he was meaning to save them.

They're too busy scarfing down the noodles to talk at first, cursing from how hot it as and moaning from the taste, but eventually, "Y'know Sadie? The girl who works at the convenience store," Juda asks Nico.

"The one who likes Carmen?"

Juda immediately turns to him, eyebrows raised and expression saying it all, see? I told you. "She doesn't like me," Carmen assures. He rips open his package of m&ms and offers some out to both of them. Juda declines, Nico greedily accepts.

"I'm pretty sure she'd suck your d**k if you asked." Nico drops a few m&ms in his mouth. "I could just be imagining it, though. I'm romance deprived, all the dramas I watch aren't enough."

Juda's gaze shifts, surprised. "You watch romance dramas?" And Carmen isn't sure how he didn't know. It's basically all Nico does in his spare time when he's not doing homework or complaining about wanting to pitch.

"Of course. I'm a romantic at heart, Juda~." Nico finishes off his handful of m&ms and goes back to slurping his noodles. "I feel like I'm qualified enough to say she's got the hots for you- or at least wants to f**k you."

Carmen thinks about it and eventually comes to the conclusion that he wouldn't mind f*****g her. He's a lot less sure about the romance part, not interested in a relationship whatsoever. He'd marry baseball if he could. "She's pretty cute but not really my type. Now Gia, Gia's my type."

And then his eyes stray towards Nico and Juda. Cause maybe they're his type too.

Juda laughs. "You got a mommy kink or something?" They've got a few managers but their head manager's been Gia for the last three years, going on four. She doesn't look it, but she's a student just like them, studying her fourth year in sports medicine.

"For Gia? Any day."

"She'd spit on you if she heard you say that."

Somewhere in his sick little head, Carmen thinks he could get off to Gia spitting on him. "I'm not interested in her, but she's just so.. Gia, y'know?"

Nico throws an m&m at him, one that fell on the ground. "She's better than you anyways. Gia belongs with someone nice and semi normal, not a pervert."

True, Carmen thinks, nodding.

The rest of their ramen is quickly finished and set aside to throw away later. There's no wind to knock it over and Carmen's grateful, doesn't feel like chasing down some circular styrofoam.

They should head back inside and sleep, Carmen knows, but it feels nice out and for the first time today, he doesn't feel tired. He can't feel how heavy his bones are nor the ache in his shoulders, and it almost makes him sigh in bliss. "Isn't it weird?" Nico blurts out, laying on his back.

Juda entertains him, "What's weird?"

"I'm 21 but have never been in a relationship. That's so weird. Have you seen me? I'm hot."

"You are pretty hot," Juda agrees nonchalantly. "But I don't think it's weird. A lot of people don't get in relationships until they're older."

"Okay but I'm hot, Juda. Hot people deserve boyfriends. I deserve a boyfriend."

"Your ego is so impressive," Carmen comments. It's the pitcher in him, he thinks.

"But I also," Nico continues on, ignoring him, "can't even imagine myself in a relationship. I don't think I'd want one. It seems kind of draining, and with how much we focus on baseball, it seems somewhat impossible."

"I've never dated anyone," Juda says, "So I can't really confirm."

Carmen's and Nico's heads tilt simultaneously, attention zeroing in on Juda. He looks surprised from their surprise. "You've never been in a relationship? Seriously?" Carmen asks.

"Nope, never."

"You?" Nico drawls, also in disbelief. "But you're, like.. you. Any mom would be happy if her kid brought someone like you home. I hear the girls in my class talk about you all the time. Bailey's catcher is so hot, omg did you see what he was wearing today, let's go watch his practice."

Juda laughs at his exaggeration. "They don't say that."

"They do," Nico insists, nodding quickly. "All fuckin' class, I can't stand them."

"I'm with Nico on this one," Carmen says. "There's no way you haven't been in one. You have fan girls, fan girls," he repeats, making sure to get the significance through Juda's head.

"Don't know if you've heard or not, but I don't exactly like girls." Juda rolls his eyes, but there's a smile on his lips, amused from their shock.

When Carmen also admits that he's never been in a relationship, the shock is maneuvered to him. He expects it a little, especially for how much he preaches about t**s. "I've still f****d around with people, just never been in a relationship," he explains, settling their shared outbursts that immediately accused him of lying.

There's a few beats of silence. "..So we're all losers, huh," Nico mumbles. "Great."

"You just said you don't wanna be in a relationship," Juda reminds him.

"Okay?" His cheeks puff out. "The thought of one is still nice sometimes, I just don't think I'll ever have the time for it." With their schedules already jam packed and as hectic as they are, Carmen understands, even agrees with him. "And sometimes I don't just wanna jerk off by myself."

"You wanna jerk off with someone? That's real pervey, Nico."

"You know that's not what I meant, asshole."

Carmen thumbs at his empty bag of m&ms, almost thoughtfully. He's not sure why he says it, but, "I heard from Bear that Jax's got some s*x partner, or friends with benefits, whatever you wanna call it."

"Really?" Nico sits up, immediately interested in gossip. "Do you know who?"

"Nope~ Probably just some girl he knows."

Juda's silent, recalling a specific scenario that happened before summer break. "I don't know if it's a girl.." He mumbles, squinting in thought. "I didn't think anything of it at the time but I saw him and Rio in the same shower stall once when I went to piss. I'm not sure if they were doing anything but it was, like, 1am and they were the only ones in there."

Nico eats up the new information, gasping scandalously. "They were so f*****g. Why else would they be in the same stall when there's so many others?"

Juda points at him, nodding earnestly. "You're making some pretty valid points."

"I'd bet my right nut they're still f*****g to this day. Hell- I'll bet both of them."

"Keep your balls in your pants, but you're probably right."

Carmen can't describe the sudden interest he feels. He wants to know more about the situation, how did it happen, are they just f*****g or keeping their relationship a secret, why haven't they told anyone. "Isn't that kind of messy?" He asks. "To sleep with one of your teammates?"

"It's not messy if you don't make it messy," Juda unhelpfully supplies.

"Nobody wants it messy," Carmen deadpans.

"I don't know.." Nico trails off. "They seem close, I can't imagine something ruining their friendship easily."

Is that all it takes, Carmen wonders, a good relationship to make friends with benefits work? What happens when you wanna stop? Doesn't that make things awkward? And what if you don't wanna stop? He doesn't voice his concerns, because he doesn't think it really matters.

"Just think of it as team bonding," Juda says.

Carmen laughs despite himself. "Team bonding?"

"They're getting real close, aren't they? Quality bonding time if you ask me."

Nico kicks his foot out and nudges Juda's thigh. "Wanna try some team bonding?"

"I've seen enough of your d**k to last me a life time."

"I'm not hearing a no~" Nico sing-songs, waggling his foot. "I'm ready anytime." He shoots some finger guns at Carmen. "You too, we can all have some roomie bonding time." If Carmen didn't know Nico as well as he did, he would almost take the i***t serious. He's joking, Carmen knows, but his thoughts wander into some not so amusing images.

Huh, he thinks, head tilting towards the stars, the thought's not as gross as I thought it'd be.