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It was halftime, and Liverpool were 1-1 with AC Milan in a Hong Kong friendly. Van Dijk, who'd gotten knocked in the cheek shortly before halftime, clutched his cheek and hissed in pain as he retied his laces. Alisson, who'd accidentally knocked into Van Dijk while he was mid-air saving a shot, guiltily watched Van Dijk, his leg anxiously bouncing up and down. Slot took one look at the two on the locker room bench and shook his head.
"No way are you two coming on for the next half. You're already playing with enough on your shoulders."
At the mention of coming off, Van Dijk scoffed, crossing his arms. "I'm fine. It's just a bump."
"Still, colliding with Ali's elbow is nothing to sneeze at. We don't need to risk injuries," Slot insisted. "I planned to take you both out at halftime, anyway. This match is more about rotation and match fitness, and both of you got your forty-five minutes in."
Ten minutes later, Van Dijk and Alisson sat on a bench with the others. As the eleven on the field darted back and forth, Van Dijk watched as Alisson mirrored them, going from the inside rooms to the bench. The only difference was that, instead of a football, Alisson carried medical supplies and miniature cupcakes.
"Stop babying me, Ali," Van Dijk groaned after Alisson reappeared with more things for the seventh time. "I'm fine!"
"But I hit you . I'm supposed to make sure you get better!" Alisson switched off the portable fan and turned his attention to Van Dijk's cheek, which was covered with a blue, flexible ice pack. "Is the icepack melting?"
Van Dijk shook his head, switching the icepack to the other side. "No, it's not, because you gave it to me one minute ago. Now stop freaking out--"
Before Van Dijk could finish, Alisson triumphantly presented something else to him. "Here!"
Van Dijk blinked at the yellow tube, confused. "What?"
"It's arnica cream," Alisson explained, rubbing sanitiser onto his hands and pulling on a pair of purple rubber gloves. "JP told me it should help."
Van Dijk rolled his eyes, realising he had no way out of this. He would rather not have had his teammate nurse his wounds in front of thousands of supporters and a rival team, but it was far from the worst thing.
"Okay, fine. But only to get you to stop worrying."
Alisson opened the tube and squeezed a dot of arnica cream onto his finger. Gently, his finger travelled to Van Dijk's face, but as soon as his finger touched his cheek, Van Dijk hissed in pain.
Alisson pulled his finger away from the spot. "I'm sorry!"
Van Dijk chuckled wryly, fanning the spot. "It's just the bruise, don't worry."
"I'm sorry! Let me get you another icepack." And with that, Alisson ran to the tunnel for the eighth time in fifteen minutes.
Van Dijk smirked as he watched the others on the bench whisper among themselves. He wouldn't dare admit it to anybody, but he quite liked being coddled and fussed over and served miniature caramel cupcakes. Plus, there was something sweet about Alisson getting all worked up over a simple bruise, even though he'd hovered over Van Dijk while he was getting treatment and apologised profusely.
Okay, call him awful. But keeping an eye on three energetic compatriots and their friends was tiring enough to call for pampering.
Speaking of which...
"Hey, Virg."
Van Dijk didn't even look to his right, because he knew exactly what kind of look Gravenberch was giving him now. "Hi, Ryan."
"Ali's gone down the tunnel again."
"Yep."
Gravenberch elbowed Van Dijk, jabbing him in the ribs. "I wonder why."
Van Dijk rolled his eyes, and in the process, he caught Gravenberch grinning--raised eyebrows and all. It was the grin of a younger sibling who'd just got the most exquisite material to pester their older peers about.
"For the last time, Ryan, it's not like that," Van Dijk sighed exasperatedly. He took another bite of his mini cupcake: salty, sweet, and utterly divine. "Ali's just worried about me and is hovering over me as a result."
Gravenberch swiped one of Van Dijk's cupcakes, leaving fifteen in the box of eighteen. "Oh, so he feels guilty."
"Yeah."
"And he's spoiling you."
"Yeah."
"And you're letting him?"
"I watch over you, Cody, and Jeremie every day, not to mention the others. A man needs his self-care."
"You're being taken care of . There's a difference, y'know?"
"Ryan, if you want the cupcakes, just have another. I'm not stopping you."
"I'm serious."
Van Dijk raised an eyebrow, mainly because Gravenberch barely knew what seriousness was. "You guys are always telling me to let others take care of me when I need it. Here I am, following your advice, and suddenly you're giving me odd looks."
"True." Gravenberch took another cupcake and licked the frosting off. "But you said it yourself--it's just a bruise. Aren't you kind of taking advantage of him?"
"I tried to tell him! He just kept going!"
"Ali's caring and anxious! You're injured and a caramel lover! You're both gay! Of course he's going to keep going!"
"You're right. I'll apologise--" Van Dijk stiffened as he mentally replayed what he'd just heard. "What do you mean by that?! I'm bi, idioot!"
"Oh, my mistake, dear brother," Gravenberch smirked and passed a cupcake to a cackling Wirtz.
Wirtz licked all the frosting off at once, took another cupcake, and sandwiched it on top of the first once. He took a satisfied bite and grinned impishly, pointing towards the tunnel. "Ooh, look, your boy's coming back."
" My WHAT--"
"Virg! I have another icepack!" Alisson came back with his hands full again, handing Van Dijk an orange icepack. "Here, give me the other one. I have to disinfect it to make sure nothing gets in."
Van Dijk facepalmed so hard that he nearly bruised his forehead. " The skin's not broken!"
"JP said they can!" Alisson took the icepack and stroked Van Dijk's other cheek. "I'm sorry, Virg. I didn't mean to bump into you."
"Jeremie, you've got to see this!" Wirtz shouted, gesturing for Frimpong to see. Thankfully, the referee had stopped play just before. "Ali's stroking Virg's cheek! You try telling me that's straight!"
Frimpong smirked, crossing his arms. "You try telling me you didn't do the same with Jamal during the summer internationals."
Wirtz turned bright red and bristled like a vexed cat. "Shut up!"
Van Dijk shook his head and turned to Alisson with a wry grin. "I already told you, it's okay. You were in mid-air, we were both doing our jobs--"
Gravenberch scoffed. "I didn't see you doing your job."
"Shut it, Ryan. We were both doing our jobs, you caught the ball and collided with me. You hovered over me, you apologised, and I've got an icepack on the bruise, so we're all good." Van Dijk moved the mounting pile of icepacks from the seat on his left and pulled Alisson into it. "Now sit down, have a cupcake, and enjoy the match."
Alisson shot an unamused glare at Van Dijk, gesturing towards the scoreboard. "Right, I'm going to sit down and enjoy us losing 3-1 to the team we beat by the same scoreline last year."
Robertson, who'd miraculously watched the whole exchange in silence, glared at Alisson with all the seriousness he could muster. "Stop worrying about Virgil and eat the flipping cupcake."
"And bring more!" Wirtz and Gravenberch chimed in.
Alisson shook his head. Outnumbered, he sat on the bench and stowed the four icepacks in an empty cooler. He glanced at Van Dijk's cheek, where a purple bruise was already forming.
"Should I get something to reduce the colouration? I don't know if arnica cream will work, but maybe JP--"
"Relax!" half the bench exclaimed simultaneously, prompting chuckles from some of the coaching staff and even a referee.
"They're right," Van Dijk agreed, taking the cupcake box back. Somehow, there was still a cupcake left. "Look, it's sweet that you're so worried about me, but there's no sense making a mountain out of a molehill. You can practice being a paramedic-slash-nurse-slash-cupcake provider later, but for now, relax. Okay?"
Alisson hesitated. He looked at Van Dijk again, holding his icepack and smiling encouragingly, and took the proffered cupcake from the box. "Okay. But promise me that you'll tell one of the medics if you feel worse, and that we'll share this cupcake."
Van Dijk sighed in relief, grinning at his long-time teammate. "Okay."
"Rain- booooow!"
"SHUT IT, YOU TWO!"