Chapter Text
'Nice hat.',
Bastian jumped. he turned around, the expression softened the moment he saw it was Lukas.
Lukas tried to appear stern. 'do you know I could report you for vandalism?'
Basti grinned, he closed the distance and wrapped Lukas in a hug. he then lift Lukas in mid-air, to which the younger man obliged, surprisingly no clever comment about it.
'c'mon Luki, the bunny-ear made the fit, don't you think?'
Lukas made a show of pretend-contemplation. 'no offence, Basti, but I don't take fashion advice from someone who only knew one way to wear scarves.'
Basti's mouth formed a comical 'o'.
'bastard! hit me where it hurts, would you...', he pouted.
Lukas shook his head as he fondly reached for Basti's (scarved) neck. 'I didn't say I mind, did I-', he swept an invisible lint from Basti's scarf. his hands was cold. the complete opposite from Basti, whose face warmed up. he hoped Lukas doesn't notice.
'uhh, so- do you need me for anything?'
Lukas shook his head, hands removed from Basti's vicinity. Basti already bemoaned the lost of contact.
'so, what do you think?', Lukas grinned, gesturing to the store interior.
'it's nice. although- I'm kind of offended that you missed something..'
Lukas eyed him curiously.
Basti slid off his suit jacket, revealing red Stassenkicker hoodie he was wearing underneath.
Lukas positively glowed. 'Basti! knowing you, I thought it was an official Bayern merchandise... turn around, Basti, let me see-'
Bastian dutifully turned in place. he immediately noticed most of the store workers had their eyes on him and Lukas.
'look at you- finally you managed to dress up this morning with the lights on!'
Basti ignored the jab. 'I also wore some Strassenkicker socks-', Basti pulled up his pants slightly to show Lukas, balancing on his shoulder as he did so.
'you should've held store openings in the summer, that way we could show off these bad boys properly-'
Lukas beamed. 'I'll take a note of that. speaking of- do you do modelling gigs, Basti?? maybe we'll release some Strassenkicker boxers next.'
Basti scoffed. before he replied, there was a commotion of people rounding up the stairs.
'I bet you would like that, won't you...', the gangly grinning face of Thomas Muller and several Bayern boys appeared.
Lukas made a show of acknowledgement to the visitors.
'Poldi, my man! great job on the store-', Muller already had a handful of Strassenkicker swag on his hands.
Basti pointed at the socks, hat, and hanger in Thomas' hands. 'Uhh, not sure you could-',
Lukas hushed Basti. 'Nah, it's fine. so nice you guys made it!'. Poldi greeted each one of the guests. Basti did a quick headcount, he immediately noticed a notable absence. 'Guys, did you leave Mario somewhere?'
Thomas winked with both eyes. 'Oh, he's coming.'
Basti sensed deception in Muller's tone, he did not like that...
'Wh-'
'no fuss, Basti. the door officially opens in about half an hour, anyway...'
for once, Muller and Neuer blushed. 'yeah about that- we sort of lied to your security',
Basti frowned, he distinctly remembered the security downstairs just let him in.
Lukas laughed. he politely invited the boys for a tour of the store.
Basti thought about it, but curiosity got the best of him. he grabbed Muller by the arm. 'what was that about, Thomas?'
Muller shrugged. 'we told Mario to bring the largest bouquet flower known to man, named in your honor, for Poldi.'
Basti felt struck, his mouth open, agape. 'what the fuck, Thomas??'
'what? did we not agree on the flowers- in the group chat?'
Basti stared at Muller in a new light. he could not comprehend how come someone as sensible as Lisa could be married to the guy. 'no we didn't! I think I would recall if I did!'
'oh. then- do you want us to call it off? we all cashed in and all that-'
Basti massaged in-between his brows. 'no. you know what, it's alright, we could just say it's from all of us-'
Muller rolled his eyes. 'geez, Basti, do I need to spell it out? for someone with a 96 rating for passing on FIFA, you sure have a trouble seeing.'
Basti could not figure what Thomas was on. the guy chose today to talk in riddles.
'fine, i'll take the bait. see what, exactly?'
'... that someday you and Poldi would thank us for this assist.'
Basti felt his whole body blush. 'not this again, Thomas. me and Poldi are just best friends-'
Muller actually laughed in Basti's face. 'Uh huh. and Mario and Marco are just national teammates.'
Bastian was not daft to the sarcastic tone. not to mention Thomas basically confirmed his suspicion when he hacked into Mario's phone days ago.
Muller clocked Bastian's empty expression. 'you actually didn't know? shit, i didn't mean to Out him like that-', he looked genuinely horrified.
'no, you didn't Out Mario, I- I already suspected...', Basti decided on a white-lie.
Muller visibly relaxed. 'phew, you scared me there, Basti...'
'and you think- me and Lukas-'
'well, yeah... we all do...'
great, everyone on the team thought him and Lukas had been tangled in a secret affair. they probably theorized he was the third person in Lukas' breakup. it did not help that Sarah, his ex- broke up with him shortly after the world cup. holy shit. did she also thought-
'weren't you guys on the verge of kissing on the lips during our World Cup win celebration?', Thomas interrupted his stupor.
yeah? Basti would be a liar if he said he was not tip-toeing around the kiss. Basti was afraid his heart would jump out of his chest, the way it was powered by adrenaline, serotonin, alcohol, and who knows what else. his logic caught up in the end, he did not end up closing the distance, and neither did Poldi.
Basti would be a liar if he said he didn't give the almost-kiss any more thought. sometimes, his imagination ran wild... he would close the distance, and Lukas would melt in his arms, and his mouth would taste like the mint bubblegum Lukas likes. and- holy shit. he, Bastian, has a crush on Lukas Podolski.
'am I right, or am I right?', Thomas wiggled his eyebrows. correctly reading the war in Basti's mind.
'fuck off, Thomas,', is the only response Basti managed. Thomas knew he did not mean it.
Basti initially waited until Lukas got the team off his back, which was never. from their national teammates, Lukas' Arsenal teammates, to former Koln players; Lukas' seemed to have a forever-beeline going for him. he ended up asking Lukas to join him on the red carpet.
he definitely noticed the difference of photographers' camera flash to capture them.
'by the way-', Lukas said from the corner of his mouth. 'thank you for the flowers. people have been complimenting me, they thought it was a part of the decor...'
Basti blushed. Mario made a scene delivering the flowers; he arrived with a truck, alongside 3 movers, who strung 2 flower store employees, and a Marco.
'sure thing!', Basti's tone unwillingly went several octaves high.
Lukas stole a glance towards him. Basti was sure Lukas would laugh in his face, but he sported a look of concern. 'you ok, mein hase?'
the pet name was too much.
Basti cleared his throat. his logic decided against this, however-
'do you have someplace private we can talk?'