[Football] Bad Boy Batty

"…The time is not right today. I am very sleepy and tired. I am going to sleep, Batty."

"But I want to talk to you now."

"...Can't we wait until tomorrow?"

"Then why can't you wait until tomorrow's practice match to make those two mistakes?"

"……sorry."

"I accept your apology, but I want to talk to you about more than just this game, John. You've been worrying me lately. Now be obedient and move aside from the door. Let me in, and then we can sit down and have a good chat over tea."

“…Oh my god.”

"Hey, don't be so cold to me. Do you think this is what I want? No, I should be having fun at that hot nightclub in the city center with Phil and the others." Batty gave Stones a very fake smile, "Instead of standing at your door with flowers, like a stupid high school student who invited his beloved girl to the dance but was rejected."

The England defender was speechless after being beaten by Batty, but he still did not dodge and wanted to make a final struggle.

Tsk tsk.

It's really tiring to talk to tall people, you have to keep your head up all the time.

Batistuta's last bit of patience disappeared. He rolled his eyes at the ceiling, forced the bouquet of roses in his hand into Stones' arms, pushed him away and walked straight in.

"Hey! You have a great sofa, Johnny boy, I wanted to buy it but had to give up because of the style."

The king walked through the entrance hall and corridor and came to the living room. He supported himself with his hands on the back of the sofa and jumped over, which made him fall right in the middle of the sofa. Then he took out a few pieces of candy from the small box on the coffee table, tore open the package and put them into his mouth, while putting his feet up on the table in front of him.

"That's life, baby."

Stones took a deep breath, lowered his head and muttered a few words, as if he was chanting a spell to drive Batty away, but in the end he had no choice but to resign himself to his fate, closed the door, and walked to the sofa with the flowers in his arms.

"Okay, I admit it." He threw the flowers on the table. "What do you want to talk about?"

Batty did not answer immediately, but slowly chewed the candy in his mouth, then looked up and looked Stones up and down.

"I thought you were busy tonight. Even if you didn't go to the nightclub, you had an appointment." He pointed at the bathrobe on the England defender. "Are you the John I know? Why are you going to bed so early?"

"I'm really tired today."

"What's the matter? Did you feel exhausted just by playing in the second half?" Batty raised the corner of his mouth jokingly, "Or - you had already had an in-depth discussion with something before I came, so you were exhausted."

"What!?" Stones was shocked and angry, and almost jumped up from the sofa, "Where did you get such a ridiculous conclusion!?"

"I don't know, maybe you're going through relationship problems."

"What..." Stones' face was full of doubts, and the sleepiness almost disappeared, "Who told you that I have emotional problems?"

"Kyle." Batty took another piece of candy and ate it. He said vaguely, "He told me that your relationship has been bad in the past few seasons. Before the epidemic, you had a girlfriend and a boyfriend at the same time. As a result, they found out that you were unfaithful and broke up with you. Then you quickly found a new one, but unfortunately this one played a bigger game than you, so you got back together with the previous one, but-"

"Stop, wait a minute." Stones stopped Batty's explanation with a look of shock. "Did Kyle tell you what you just said?"

"Of course." Batty said without hesitation, "So is this why you started to lose interest in the club?"

"No, of course not!" Stones was a little crazy, "...Oh no, that's not right! I didn't do that because of these...it's not like that at all!"

Batty: "What was that like?"

"I did have a relationship before the epidemic, but it was not suitable and we broke up, and I haven't been with anyone since then." Stones was eager to explain to Batistuta, and his body movements were so large that he even swept the flowers that Batistuta brought him on the table.

Batistuta raised an eyebrow and glanced at the words, then returned his gaze to Stones, silently condemning him.

"Sorry," the England defender muttered and picked up the flowers.

"So there's nothing wrong with your relationship, Kyle was lying to me," Batty concluded.

"No, well, not exactly." Stones seemed to have thought of something, and instead of putting the flower back, he held it in his arms. "I am seeing someone, but this is more like, uh, an active attempt."

"Actively seeing the diversity of species?" Batty sneered. "Also, John, I noticed that you didn't specify the gender of your date just now. I assume that she/he is not a sexual minority. In that case, are you questioning your preferences?"

Stones paused as he was stroking the rose, then he plucked off a few petals.

"Are you here today to interrogate me about my love life, Captain?" he asked.

"I'm here to find out why you've been absent from training frequently recently and keep making low-level mistakes on the court." This time, Batistuta did not hide his purpose. He put down his feet, sat up straight, supported his hands on his knees, crossed his fingers, and looked at Stones seriously.

"Tell me, John, what made you stop focusing on football."

"Bati, you..."

"I'm your captain, answer me now." There seemed to be a vortex in Batistuta's blue eyes, and Stones felt dizzy. "Is it because of what we just said (feelings)?"

"No," Stones answered firmly, "It's not because of this," he added.

Batty looked at him for half a minute without saying anything, as if he was trying to determine whether what he said was true or not. Then he put away his aggressive attitude and leaned back on the soft sofa.

If it is true as Walker said, that Stones cannot concentrate because of emotional problems off the court, then Batistuta is really an expert and can think of many ways to help him.

but--

It's not an emotional thing.

The Manchester City king smacked his lips in a bit of confusion. If this were the case, things seemed to be a bit difficult.

"Then tell me, why?" Batty asked, spreading his hands.

Stones pursed his lips, then lowered his head to play with the petals. "Do you remember the season after Vini (Kompany) retired? There was a recovery training before the start. At that time, few people from the club came back, and there were only two of us on the field."

"Of course I remember," Batty said.

"Yeah." Stones didn't even look at Batistuta. He was playing with the flower petals in his hand. He smiled as if he thought of something, and then the smile disappeared in an instant. "You will definitely remember it, because that was your first season as captain, and you performed well. We all admired you, but I, you said you hoped I could take on the responsibility of defense, I-"

Barty frowned.

He knew what Stones was talking about. In the summer of 19, he had just returned from the America's Cup to check his injury at the club, and they happened to meet at the training ground.

At that time, Baby John was in a slump. He made low-level mistakes in both the club and the national team and was criticized. He just wanted to establish his own image when the old captain left, so he took the initiative to find him.

What did they say?

"Can I trust you, John?" he remembered asking.

How did Stones respond?
"I said I would fill the vacancy left by Kompany, I said I would be a defensive leader you trust, I said I would not give up easily, but I didn't do any of them." Stones became more and more depressed and his voice became smaller and smaller.

Ahaha, case solved.

Falling into self-doubt because of failing to fulfill commitments...and so on.

Batistuta suddenly thought that Stones' performance seemed to have nodes. Since Dias and Ake joined last season, he seemed to have started the "road to depression". I remember that he and Chelsea were also rumored to have been transferred for a while in the winter window. At that time, most fans thought that they could give up on him based on his performance.

"So John, is it Reuben who makes you feel crisis and self-loathing?" Batty asked.

"No." Stones answered again firmly, "It's not because of this."

"As you British people say, only official denials are trustworthy." Batty chuckled and crossed his legs, swinging them back and forth frivolously. "You've denied it twice."

"I'm serious, it's not because of those." Stones plucked a whole flower. "I, uh, I was always injured during that time. When I stood on the court again, I always felt something was wrong. I felt that the healed wound was aching slightly, but no matter how they checked, the final result told me that there was no problem." Batistuta was stunned. He seemed to have heard of this condition.

"That is--"

"Well, pseudo-pain," Stones said. "It means the body has healed but the brain is still injured. It's a psychological problem."

Wtf?

"Do you have a fucking mental problem?" Batty stood up from the sofa, his eyes wide open, "Have you talked to anyone about this? There is a professional psychologist in the team."

"We talked about it." Stones smiled and looked up at Batistuta. "It's fine now," he said. "I didn't expect you to have such a big reaction, Batistuta, thank you for caring about me."

"Care about you, tsk," Batty said with a look of disgust. He enjoyed the feeling of looking down at the tall man, but he hated the current atmosphere. "Fuck, mate, you are simply--"

Combined with their conversation just now, Stones' problem is caused by a combination of multiple reasons.

Does he have relationship problems?
Have.

Does he feel a sense of crisis and frustration because of Reuben?
Have.

Did he feel upset for a long time because he was injured and useless at the critical moment?
Have.

"You've been through a lot recently, haven't you?" Batty walked over, took the flowers from Stones' hand, and patted him gently on the head.

The England defender's curly hair is softer than Lucas's and feels closer to cotton.

Batty: "Thank you for your hard work, John."

"Uh--" Stones was at a loss. He had never been so close to Batistuta, except when celebrating goals and in the locker room, of course, but the atmosphere between them was normal and very football-like at those times, and now, he didn't even know where to put his hands.

The atmosphere gradually became strange.

Just when Stones made up his mind to reach out and hug Batistuta (at this height he might directly touch Batistuta's buttocks).

"Thank you for your honesty today, but - why didn't you remember to come find me, you idiot?"

'Snapped! '

Batistuta's hand changed from a gentle pat to a direct slap on Stones' head, causing his sight to shift at a small angle.

The ambiguity in the air disappeared in an instant.

"I'm your captain, I should help you solve all the troubles that may affect your condition. You should have come to me in the first place."

After slapping him, Batty firmly clamped Stones' jaw and made him look up and look at him.

"Nothing I can solve is a big deal," he said. "In terms of relationships, I can help you analyze your date. If you think he/she is a good match, then I can help you get him/her. If not, I can help you break up with him/her completely."

"There is also competition for positions. If you want to be on Pep's starting roster, then go and train. I'm a striker, the number one enemy of all Premier League defenders. Can you find a better sparring partner than me?" Batistuta continued. "That's technically. If you feel you can't beat him physically, then go and practice more. Ruben arrives at the training ground 40 minutes earlier every day, so you go one hour earlier. He does four extra sets of training, so you do more, such as six sets."

"Talent is important, but I never think that hard work is in vain. Look at Hazard. In the past few seasons, before he went to Real Madrid, he stole my Player of the Week award several times. At that time, we were the model of talent in the Premier League. But now, look at him and then look at me. Do you see the difference?"

"As for injuries-" Batty paused and continued, "That is beyond our control. Leave it to God and the team doctor. Just like me, those newspapers reported wildly that I love junk food, but when I was trying to gain weight and muscle and find a balance, they didn't report a word. John, you are a professional player, and I shouldn't tell you these things."

Stones looked up at his captain motionlessly, as if he was under a petrifying spell. Seeing that he didn't respond, Batty let go of his jaw and patted his cheek.

"Hey, hey! Are you still here?"

"Ah--yeah." Stones' eyes gradually focused, and he gave Batistuta a few complicated smiles, "Thank you, captain, but--"

"Don't give me a but." Batty interrupted him and patted his forehead at the same time, "Be honest, dear, be honest! Come to me when you encounter any troubles. I am your captain, I need to know everything! (I need to know everything!)"

Stones looked at Batty.
Batty also looked at Stones.

"Everything?" he asked.

"Yeah, everything." Batty answered seriously.

"Okay, then, uh--" Stones pushed Batty away and sat back. At this moment he had something very important to confess. He knew it might be a little inappropriate, but he had to do it.

"Emmm, Barty?"

"how?"

"I have to tell you something."

"You're trying to be honest, good, that's good." Batty nodded encouragingly to Stones, "What is it."

"You, uh, do you remember 17, the 17 Champions League final, we played Real Madrid, at the Cardiff Millennium Stadium in Wales." Stones said slowly.

"I remember." Batty nodded. He found that Stones liked to use this questioning sentence.

For a moment, Batistuta thought Stones was going to talk about the time he stumbled upon him crying in the shower after a match, but he was wrong.

He heard Stones say: "Oh, we were coming back from Wales that day, at the airport, the flight was delayed, in the bathroom, you and Kevin, uh, I know you, uh, um."

To be honest, Batty's brain stopped working for at least 5 seconds.

He spent 3 seconds recalling his first time with Kevin in the cubicle, and the remaining 2 seconds, he was surprised that Stones had known about his relationship with Kevin for a long time and had never revealed it.

"I'm sorry," Stones swallowed and said, "I was at the back. I didn't say anything when you two came in because I thought everyone was in a bad mood after losing the game. Then I heard, uh, I'm so sorry, I wanted to use the headphones, but I left them in the terminal."

Barty closed his eyes to relieve himself.

The air is in a semi-solid state.

After a long while, Batty spoke again: "It's been four years. You're a very secretive guy."

Stones smiled awkwardly.

Sudden.
Batty realized something remarkable from this news.

According to the development of time, Stones first discovered him and Kevin, and then kept it secret. Later, he had relationship problems and Kyle said that he was dating a boy.

and so--

"It's like we've come full circle." Batty loosened his collar, then put one leg on the sofa and approached Stones. "I have a question, John."

"Uh, you ask."

Blue eyes met brown.

"Do you like me?"

Now it's Stones' turn to have his brain shut down.

(End of this chapter)