24

Winston puts his arms on the fence and stares down onto the basketball court, only about a meter above it. Like this, he's taller than Jason and he has a perfect view down Jason's shirt- Not that he's looking, of course. That'd be disrespectful. And sleazy. Maybe even creepy?

Right. He's definitely not looking.

"You're sure your fine waiting around until practice ends?" Jason asks, breathing still labored from the exercise he just finished. A couple of the other guys---as well as some people from the girl basketball team who shares practice with them---are lying straight down on the floor, their wheezing echoing in the large arena. Winston eyes some of them over Jason's shoulder, spotting Clyde after a moment. The man in question is sitting hunched over one of the exhausted teammates, poking him on the cheek. The teammate doesn't even have the strength to push it away, and Clyde is giggling over him.

Jason glances over his shoulder, following Winston's gaze. "Ah," he says when he too spots Clyde's mischief.

Winston clears his throat and answers the question before he forgets it; "I'm perfectly fine up here." Then he smiles, "The view is pretty great."

"If you say so," Jason nods, looking up over the bleachers. "Gary's not with you today?"

"He's tutoring."

"Ah," Jason sucks his bottom lip---plush and pink---in between his teeth and worries it gently, eyebrows softly furrowed. "But if you're here alone, won't this just be boring?"

Winston leans further over the fence until his chest is what's resting on his arms, and he shakes his head, "It's not boring. I like watching you do things you enjoy, and it's fun watching Clyde mess with people." As if on cue, Clyde his started tickling his victim who is desperately trying to crawl away and failing utterly.

Jason looks back at it for a second, then says, "Yeah, I should probably stop that."

"Probably," Winston agrees but neither of them actually move. They watch for a second more, and another teammate finally steps up to assist his fallen comrade, tackling Clyde out of the way and rolling them around on the floor until he sits on Clyde, raising his arms and roaring in victory.

Jason laughs, then clears his throat and shakes his head. "Anyway, you're fine here?" he asks again.

"I'm having fun, don't worry," Winston insists, laughing softly. He looks down at Jason---the bright lights from the ceiling hitting his blond hair [is Jason blond?!!], lighting him up from above. The hair glitters like gold, and his eyes when he looks up at Winston are soft and gentle and just... Jason stinks, honestly. He's been training for over an hour now, and that's already after a good deal of stretching.

But he shines. And it's not just the sweat, it's everything. When Jason is playing basketball, whether he's just standing still and tossing a ball into a hoop, or whether he's playing a mini-practice game with his team, or playing for the championship with everything on the line... regardless, it's always clear, without a doubt, that he utterly loves it. Every part of it. And he shines, glitters, love just fucking emanating from him.

Winston could watch him for days without getting bored, has spent hours out of his days watching him---this isn't his first time visiting during their training. It's not even the longest he's been up here.

Jason glows, and Winston is weak, weak, weak.

How could he not fall when Jason smiles at him and says, "After we're done, we can get ice cream. I keep some in my dorm," and he flushes a little, rubbing his nose and scuffing his foot on the floor. As if he's nervous, as if Jason is the one who worries.

Winston says, "I love ice cream," and Jason grins at him, bright as ever, and Winston's heart gallops in his chest. He's weak, and he's never felt his knees be so easily bent, never felt his stomach flutter quite so much. Not even when Jason had no idea who he was and their eyes accidentally crossed during class and Jason smiled at him.

Winston is weak, and he's never felt so glad of it.

"What were we talking about?" he asks after a moment, having utterly lost contact with the conversation.

Jason laughs, the sound light and airy and hitting Winston right in the heart. "We're getting ice cream," he nevertheless good-naturely reminds Winston, not saying a word about the lapse in thought. Jason adds, "I've got a movie lined up with my roommate, but he won't mind you joining."

"You're roommate isn't Clyde, right?" Winston asks, as Clyde gives somebody a noogie while sitting on a new victim.

Jason. who followed Winston's line of sight again, sighs and says, "No, my roommate is Tristan. He's not a member of the basketball team so we don't really see each other except late at night. We do movies sometimes, though. Sometimes his girlfriend joins us, so I'm sure he won't mind."

"Mn," Winston hums, nodding. More and more teammates are rising from the grave, starting to shuffle around on the court, and Winston's eyes trip to the clock on the wall. "Yeah, it'll be fun," he says, and his eyes are back on Jason. Jason swallows heavily, his throat bobbing with the motion, and Winston's eyes can't help but stare.

Jason, Winston is starting to think, is entirely an attack on his sanity.

Gulping, Winston clears his throat and asks, "Is your family coming to the big game?" The big game in question is... well, actually, Winston has no idea. He's aware that there are championships, tournaments, mini-tournaments, training matches and so on. He doesn't have any idea what happens when, but in his limited experience, there is always a big game happening. At some point.

Jason grins, scratching his neck and ducking his head, satisfaction wafting off him. "Yeah," he says, sounding undeniably happy, "My older brother is coming. My parents are... away, but I'm seeing Jared for the first time since summer." Jason jumps on his toes, beaming, "I've really missed him."

"That's awesome, then," says Winston.

Jason laughs, "Yeah. He doesn't live in this city, so I've just... really missed him."

Winston smiles, his cheeks almost starting to hurt. One of Jason's teammates are approaching behind Jason, jogging and Clyde is chasing him in turn from behind, going substantially faster. The dude does reach Jason before he gets caught, though, and he calls out, "Break's over!"

Jason looks over his shoulder. "Alright," he says, then looks up at Winston again. "I've gotta go," he says, frowning a little. Winston just keep smiling, even as the stranger reaches them properly.

"Yo, you Jason's boyfriend?" he asks, and Winston chokes on thin air, couching.

Jason reaches up and pats his hand on the railing. "You okay?" he asks, eyes wide and worried.

Winston wheezes out something incoherent between his coughing, finally managing to make a confirmatory noise when it subsides enough, He looks up, and gives Jason a thumb ups, and Jason breathes out gently. He smiles up at Winston, getting pulled away soon enough by his teammates, and Winston is content to stay watching.

Jason gets dragged back to his team, and Winston returns to his seat. The training starts up again without issue, Clyde once more serious and sharp, and every now and then Jason looks up to the bleachers and waves. When Winston waves back, Jason will duck his head and if somebody is close enough to say something, he'll punch them softly on the shoulder and run away until the coach calls him back.

Winston spends more time watching Jason practice than he does on homework but fuck, Jason is adorable.

So worth it.