I-

reblogging to savee

Your friends often ask how you get your job done, being surrounded by the tall, good-looking men that make up Japan’s volleyball team.

While, yeah, one wink from Atsumu could turn someone to soup and a rare smile from Sakusa could make someone weak in the knees, they weren’t the real distraction.

To you, at least.

No, the real problem was team Japan’s athletic trainer.

Dressed in simple black slacks and a dark polo, Iwaizumi Hajime puts these world class athletes to shame. He’s got this…air about him. Something powerful and commanding, which you suppose is necessary in training Olympians.

(Not to mention he’s got muscles so perfectly toned, they might as well have been sculpted from clay.)

You’ve known Iwaizumi for a little over a year now, your careers in sports medicine often overlapping. He goes to you when his athletes are feeling less than 100%, and you fix them. You, in turn, send healthy or recovered athletes to him so they stay that way.

You’ve corresponded frequently over email and the phone, sure, but now you’re both official staff members for team Japan’s men’s volleyball team. The athletic trainer and the physiotherapist. Now you see him at least four times a week - in person - as the Olympics steadily approach.

In fact, he’d driven you to practice today, picking you up from the clinic and walking into the gymnasium carrying both your bags of equipment.

Because Iwaizumi Hajime isn’t just hotter than a seatbelt buckle on a summer’s day, he’s also nice.

To you, at least.

While he won’t hesitate to bark at men like Ojiro or Ushijima, cut sharp glares at troublemakers like Hoshiumi or Miya, or boss around stubborn types like Kageyama or Sakusa, he’s not like that with you.

When a ball flies anywhere in your general vicinity, he’s there, swatting it away with his clipboard or catching it, whipping it back at whoever’s responsible. When you’re having trouble stuffing your equipment into your bag, he’s holding it shut so you can yank the zipper up. When your water bottle looks like it needs refilling, he’s holding up his empty one (though you swore it was at half a few seconds ago) volunteering to take yours to the fountain.

Worst of all, when it’s loud, he leans closer when you talk to him. Close enough that you can catch a whiff of his cologne, close enough that you can see the flecks of colour in his pretty eyes. He winds a strong arm around you, placing a gentle - respectful - hand on the small of your back to pull you just a little closer.

The warmth of his hand there, the proximity of his face to yours…it never fails to make your heart flutter a little in your chest.

Sure, you’ve currently got your hands all over Bokuto, smoothing kt tape over his thick traps, but you can’t help when your eyes wander to where Iwaizumi is seated, absorbed in the notes on his clipboard.

He just looks so good, the muscles in his arms flexing slightly whenever he moves his pen across the paper, lips pressed into a tight line. He only does that when he’s contemplating something, and you make a note to ask him about it after—

“Why’re you always starin’ at our trainer like that?” Bokuto questions, looking over his shoulder at you. Your face heats up slightly at being called out— you really hadn’t thought you were that obvious. “Do you…like him or something?”

Your hands fall from the athlete’s shoulders as he turns his entire body to look at you now. He doesn’t look or sound like he’s teasing, seeming genuinely curious with his question.

Atsumu, seeming to smell gossip, saunters over with a lopsided grin on his face. “We talkin’ about your obvious crush on Biceps over there?”

“I do not have a crush, Miya,” you lie, absolutely not staring at Iwaizumi’s biceps or admiring the way they strain slightly against his shirt sleeves. “We’re friends. Hajime is my friend.”

Atsumu’s brows raise up behind his bangs as you hand Bokuto his shirt. “Oh, so he’s Hajime, but the two of you are ‘just friends?’”

“Why did you put that in air quotes? It’s true!”

“You still call me Miya, but you’ve touched me more places than any other woman ever! Are you saying Hajime’s touched you in even more places?”

“No! O-of course not!” You sputter, shaking your head. “I don’t like him like that. He’s just too—” You gesture vaguely towards your friend, a frustrated noise slipping past your lips. He’s the definition of tall, dark, and handsome, but like hell you’re going to say that to Miya.

“Too what?” Atsumu prods, grinning widely.

“Too— too tall,” you reason stupidly.

Bokuto just pats your shoulder sympathetically as Atsumu throws his head back, laughing much too loudly. “Too tall? Well, everyone’s the same height in bed.”

“Stop!” You groan, hiding your face behind your hands.

“Miya! Bokuto!” Iwaizumi snaps, a grimace marring those pretty lips of his. “Get your asses over here, water break is over.”

Bokuto and Atsumu exchange a look that says ‘yikes,’ the latter muttering, “Maybe if he gets laid, he’ll go a little easier on us.”

Atsumu flashes you a grin, and you swear your heart stops beating. “Don’t say anything. Atsumu.” You try to plead, but the setter’s already walking away, shooting you a thumbs up. “Atsumu!”

You have the overwhelming urge to melt into the floor. If you weren’t getting paid to take care of them—

You’re forced to look on in horror as Atsumu grips his trainer on the shoulder. You can’t hear what they’re saying, but your stomach drops when he nods his head back towards you.

You pretend to busy yourself, picking up whatever’s closest to you and gagging when it happens to be Bokuto’s forgotten knee pads.

When you look up again, eyes a little watery, your eyes meet Iwaizumi’s.

Hajime’s.

Your hot, very nice friend Hajime. Who carries your bags and smells like expensive cologne. Whose face seems stuck in a permanent grimace, though it always softens into a smile when he picks you up in the afternoon for practice.

Your hot, very nice friend Hajime who smirks a little as Atsumu walks away. Who keeps eye contact with you as he lifts the hem of his shirt to swipe at the sweat on his bottom lip, granting you a peek at the defined ridges of his abs—

Your very hot, very nice friend Hajime who is walking over to you now, holy shit.

“Hey.”

You toss the kneepads away, swiping your hands across your pants and trying your best to fix your hair. “Hi.”

He shifts his weight a little, gaze flickering over your face. Your brows, the slope of your nose, your lips, as if he’s studying you. “You free later today?”

You blink a few times. “I—”

“Great, I’ll pick you up at seven. For dinner.”

You nod and relax a little (barely). Dinner is okay. Dinner is easy. You’ve had dinner with your very hot, very nice friend Hajime before. Maybe you’ll stop by a few street vendors or grab some indulgent fast food.

He nods once, gently touching your arm. “So it’s a date. Wear something nice.”

Wait—

What?

def doing this with my sax

I just found out that I HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY AS DEKU

bury me with a couple extra bones to mess with archaeologists

putting it in my will that i want a “poison swamp-themed funeral” and letting my surviving family sort out what the fuck that means

hey stop messing with the shield

*bisexually waves*

Guys, is this how bisexuals wave

so it’s just toph with the gaang

The Princess has been kidnapped by Bandits. The Royal Family can only imagine what Horrors she must go through. Meanwhile in the Bandit Camp they started teaching her lockpicking.

how did you find ALL of my favorite hamilton moments?? I love you

Hamilton: A very serious musical

just a typical day murdering my brother yeaaa

honestly cain and abel aren’t even special like that’s just what having a brother is like

nostalgia

is this what the kids are listening to these days?

girl how many times did you meet her

things shannon told me at the legacy tour stop

“i’ve planned to kill sandor in every single book since he’s been introduced”

“keefe will wake up”

“silveny was almost biana’s pet”

“i always wonder if this is the year they’ll start bringing rotten fruits and vegetables to throw at me” "i promise the last book will not end on a cliffhanger. if i did that, i’d have to change my name and flee to mexico” “i haven’t started writing book 9 yet” “legacy was such a labour of love…” “while writing my books i’m always like, ‘'i’m gonna do all the things!’ and by the end it’s ‘i did a fourth of the things…’” “i feel like i’m cultivating an army of little Shannons.” (for writers) “don’t rush and overlook how amazing the writing stage is. this is the space where it’s just you and your story. publishing will always be there.” "get to know your side characters if you get stuck.” “sophie was originally 8 years old.” (sarcastically, after getting asked if she made her characters based from real people) “oh yes, i totally based keefe and fitz off of real people. they’re here, they’re backstage, and they’re single!” (more writing advice) “the way to flesh out a character is to ask ‘what is this character hiding from me?’ and once i know that, i own them. i know how to hurt them. they come alive once i know their secrets.” “there are characters who have secrets that have not come into the series yet.” “as the books are getting thicker we’re getting into murder weapon territory. be careful where you throw them. if your friends are nearby while you are reading, make sure they have helmets.” “my favourite scene is the e. l. fudges and the countdown scene. i was cracking myself up as i wrote the elf cookies scene. i was like, ‘if i’m having this reaction, imagine keefe!” “i did not plan for the series to have a love triangle. i hate love triangles.” “i live in fear of the day i have to solve the triangle” “i feel like the keefe fans are naturally louder…” "maybe sophie won’t choose someone by the end of the series and will just be like, 'i’m sick of you all’.” “book 9 will focus on the cliffhanger and other unanswered questions from legacy.” “my favourite iggy colour is the purple poof” “we can lie with our thoughts, but we can’t lie with our feelings” “iggy was originally described in the first drafts as a tiny kangaroo” “for a brief amount of time, sophie’s name was alexandra foster.” “silveny was originally introduced in keeper, and not exile. she was biana’s pet, and would have been used as more amo for the sophie/biana feud i had going in keeper. y’know, because silveny would have liked sophie more because of the special way they could communicate, and biana would get jealous…” "the first draft of keeper was rejected at least 17 times. i say at least 17 because once i reached that number, i stopped counting.” “keeper was mostly rejected because people said they were 'not sure a girl hero could compete against the boy heroes.’ thank you for proving them wrong!” "my job as an author is to put sophie’s life in danger.” “i did not want to give sophie five bodyguards. that’s just 5 more headaches i have to deal with. i won’t promise that there won’t be a bodyguard bloodbath anytime soon. i might need to get rid of a few.”

“oh, it’s you! i remember you from last year! you made me that beautiful art.”