Mapi
The moment she was able to, Kaia FaceTimed Mapi much to the Spaniards relief. She was still at the stadium and by the look of the background, she was in the medical room.
"Are you getting your back checked?" Mapi asks, although her face is ordering it to happen.
Kaia nods and holds her phone up a little to get the mirror behind her is the shot, showing her exposed back to Mapi.
Mapi sighs the second she sees bruising already forming on the right of Kaia's lower back. "What's the pain like?" She asks.
"Uh..." Kaia shrugs gently. "It's tender, but I think it's just from the impact. I'm going to ice it overnight and then they'll take another look in the morning." She explains as she sits down on one of the benches. "Is Patri with you?"
"Why? Is Emilia there?" Mapi asks before popping her head back into the room she'd just left for privacy. "Patri, come here."
Patri leaves the relaxation room without objection and peers at Mapi's phone, aware she was on FaceTime to Kaia. "How bad is it?"
"I'm fine." Emilia's voice comes from Kaia's background. "I look like an idiot though."
Kaia chuckles and makes her way over, shamelessly turning to get Emilia in the shot, the cuts on her cheek padded with white bandages that are tapped throughly over half of her face, and it's naturally swollen.
"Wow, Harpy." Mapi chuckles softly. "You look like you've been in a fight."
Patri elbows Mapi discreetly and takes her phone. "Is your eye ok? It's looks quite dark around the area."
Emilia nods and allows Kaia to sit on the bench at her side to make this conversation easier. "I've got an X-ray scheduled in an hour to make sure my cheekbone isn't fractured or broken, but I can tell it's not too serious."
"Is that Ruiz still hunting you down for strangling her?" Mapi teases her girlfriend.
Kaia pulls a face at the reminder. "Honestly, she wouldn't leave me alone and I didn't even touch her neck. She genuinely just wanted a fight." She huffs before jutting a thumb to Emilia. "As if she hadn't done enough."
"Are there any stitches or is it shallow cuts?" Patri continues to worry for Emilia's sake.
"No stitches, thankfully." Emilia reassures. "It was more the force that took me by surprise."
"And no concussion?" Patri asks.
"Concussion?" Mapi huffs to Patri in disbelief. "She got karate kicked in the head, I'm surprised she didn't get knocked out."
"I have a mild concussion, yeah." Emilia chuckles weakly.
"Let me get your phone so you can call Patri." Kaia mutters to Emilia as she gets up. "I wanna talk to Mapi."
"That's rude." Patri jokingly replies.
Kaia looks to the midfielder on her phone. "Oh feel free to hang around and listen to us flirt." She offers which makes Mapi chuckle.
Patri leaves when her phone begins ringing, and Mapi's face immediately softens. "My anxiety was through the roof for that entire game, I didn't enjoy it one bit." She tries to chuckle.
"No?" Kaia keeps the mood light. "Not even my assists?"
"Your assists were fantastic." Mapi compliments wholeheartedly. "But crashing into boards and getting your legs taken from underneath you wasn't my favourite thing to watch. Nor you having to run even more all game for that missing player."
Kaia smiles gently, aware of how Mapi hates disrespectful players. It's a no brainer to, really. "It's over now, I'm ok and we're through."
"Yeah." Mapi sighs softly, walking away from the door when she hears more people leaving. "Are we going to talk about it?"
"Talk about..." Kaia trails off for an elaboration.
Mapi clenches her jaw and glances down. "We're against France next, and I don't know how to feel." She admits. "I mean, I know exactly how I feel. But I can't feel like this to be or play professional."
"Look, that game is too important to both countries to let personal differences get in the way." Kaia half scolds her protective girlfriend. And she decides to feed into her possessiveness. "If you're feeling angry, or she says something, just remember who I belong to... and who I literally get on my knees for."
Mapi smirks ever so slightly. "Can you call me the night before the game?" She asks.
Kaia nods willingly. "Definitely. Just do what you've done this entire time, and be the better person. Out play her on the pitch and crush her dreams."
Laughing at the ruthless words, Mapi feels a lot more at ease having gotten this off her chest. "I think I crushed her dreams the second you crawled into my bed."
"I didn't crawl into it." Kaia chuckles, amused by the wording she used.
"Do you need me to call you back later?" Mapi deduces by the quick language change. Kaia is still walking the bright halls of the stadium, now with her shirt back on.
"Yeah." Kaia sighs, clearly recalling all the things she's got to do.
"Bebé?" Mapi questions, mildly worried. "Are you ok?"
"Mm." Kaia confirms as she flashes her a smile. "I um, I'm just really drained mentally at the moment and we've probably got America next."
"Norway could win." Mapi points out, but it's a weak argument because they're very much the underdogs with their crap coach and below average tournament so far. "Why don't you go see the kids? Aren't they still in Sydney?" She suggests.
"Honestly, I just want to cuddle with you and let my mind shut off." Kaia chuckles weakly. "I'm barely getting seven hours a night and even my dreams are full of tactics and how to outplay our next opponent."
Mapi wants to say: why don't you ask for a break? But Kaia's the captain, she's the talisman of the team, and they've got a quarterfinal next that needs their best players on the pitch. "Get a back and neck massage from one of your physios, listen to Harry Potter on audible, and cuddle your koala that smells like me."
Kaia didn't mean for this conversation to get all emotional, but she feels her eyes watering at Mapi's words. She's desperate for her girlfriends arms around her, her breath fanning on her neck, her smell filling her senses, mumbled Spanish words in the middle of the night. She just wants her.
"The final is in two weeks, so no matter what happens; I'll be with you by then." Mapi carries on talking when she sees the tears, tears that make her own eyes water. "And then we'll be in Italy, together, and then back to Barcelona, back home with the boys."
Kaia wipes her tear in a bit of frustration, annoyed at herself for this blip. "God, I need to get a grip."
"No, you need to get it out." Mapi encourages. "Two more weeks, beautiful." She speaks in Italian when she hears a few players pass by where she's sat.
After finishing her call with Kaia, Mapi made sure to text Lucy and told her to look out for Kaia. She didn't out Kaia's emotions or how she was struggle to sleep, just asked if Lucy would make sure she was ok. Because they both knew how good Kaia was at hiding her negative emotions.
𑁍
Kaia
After a morning of therapy on her back and the rest of the day doing recovery training, Kaia felt relieved to sit down in a beanbag and have her whole body relax. She did as Mapi suggested, listening to Harry Potter and also having a cup of British tea, it also helped a lot that Lucy let her silently cry into her shoulder, and that just about put her to sleep.
She had less media duties today, and that helped her mind get focused again on what really matters: football. And they were all waiting to find out their quarterfinal opponents.
Hege Riise was one of the worst coaches still in the competition, the other one was USA's. So tonight was two shit coaches against each other, probably terrible tactics and not the strongest eleven for either side.
Kaia felt bad for both Ingrid and Caro, because they were two quality players who have been told to play either out of position, or in a way that didn't compliment their strengths.
Although USA were having a terrible tournament, Norway were having a worse one. And when the game kicked off it was clear USA would have the majority of possession and attacking chances.
However the game was still testy, and USA weren't putting their chances away which evened out the tie a lot more.
Many of the players were paying attention to the TV, despite a few trying to keep their air hockey game going in the background, chatting about certain plays and tactics they can see and already analysing deeply.
But the mood was chilled, and Kaia stayed in her beanbag the entire time, head on a pillow and a blanket over hers and Alessia's lap. They were also scrolling through Twitter and TikTok, looking at memes and videos to do with them and other lionesses.
Emilia had her X-ray and an assessment this morning, the good news was there wasn't any brain damage nor any damage to the bones, which meant she just had to wait for the cuts to heal.
She already looked dramatically better with the swelling reduced and that awful bandage gone, now she just had an adhesive plaster over her cheekbone to keep the cuts covered and her eye bruised nicely overnight.
Everyone was worried for her when it happened, but to see her still smiling and laughing with Georgia was a nice sight. It did mean she'd 100% miss their next game though because she couldn't recover in time.
At halftime in the game onscreen, it's still 0-0 and both teams are frustrated. USA still didn't have the cutting edge they used to have at this competition, nor the ruthlessness to get goals on top of goals.
Kaia got a text from Mapi at half-time, it was simply the 😑 emoji to show how bored she was of the game, it was definitely sent to cheer Kaia up and lessen her worries. And it was appreciated.
The second half started the same, with few sparks in the final third, although the skill on show from both sides made it a thriller no one could really take their eyes away from, just incase something happened.
And what happened was a penalty, to USA. An accidentally handball from Mjelde which didn't even go to VAR because it was obvious.
Alex Morgan steps up, and she scores the goal that gets the most cheers of the night, while Norway are shaking their heads in annoyance, because they were holding the champions well up until this point.
The threat of Caro and Guro was still a lot for USA to deal with, and Caro literally sat a few defenders down on the ground when she went on one of her powerful runs. But nothing was going in.
Players came off, and others came on. Including Ada Hegerberg, their best goal scorer. Even she couldn't find a way through, and it was clear luck wasn't on their teams side.
The full time whistle blows and USA get through only just, but they're still taking the win with massive smiles and it's a moral boost for them, showing they have the determination to grind for a win.
And they immediately know England are their next game, so they can already get ready for that clash in four days time.
Kaia waits for Lucy before they head up to bed, both dragging their bodies through the late evening halls and joking about random stuff, mainly Lucy falling over earlier in the day and hurting her backside.
Lucy was already aware of Kaia's mood change, she was lost in her mind more and didn't joke around or laugh at much as usual, and the text from Mapi just reaffirmed what she was noticing.
So she made it her mission to bring Kaia's spark back naturally, without sitting her down and making her talk about her feelings or what's wrong.
"We're going to Greece." Lucy drops when she sees Kaia renter the room from the bathroom, now in an Adidas Gucci jersey which actually looks quite nice.
"Who?" Kaia asks while still focusing on her bag she's retrieving her iPad from.
Lucy rolls her eyes even before she says it, knowing the reaction she'll get. "Me and Ona."
Kaia's head whips up so fast she might've given herself whiplash. "Really? Just to recharge before the season or is it more? Greece is a very romantic country, it's where Mapi and I are going to honeymoon."
Lucy laughs and raises an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware you were recently married." She teases with a knowing twinkle in her eye.
Kaia shrugs coyly. "Eventually." She smirks slightly. "Anyway, answer me."
Grinning and sitting up, Lucy's pleased to get this playful and engaged reaction. It was her intention. "Well we'll use it to recharge before camp in Italy begins, but we definitely picked the country on purpose."
Kaia sits on her bed with an almost dopey smile. "I won't lie, I really like Ona for you." She admits. "I love Keira, I always will, but..."
"Yeah." Lucy agrees with a gentle and slightly sad smile. "Ona just has such a refreshing and positive outlook on life, she makes me feel alive again."
"Well you are getting old." Kaia mutters, her smile widening when a pillow is hurdled her way. "In all seriousness, I'm very, very happy for you."
"Thanks." Lucy says. She isn't one to expose her feelings like this, but with Kaia it's always been different and free of nerves.
"So does this mean you're dating then?" Kaia asks after a beat of silence. "If so, I owe Aitana twenty euros."
"Aitana?" Lucy huffs with a bemused smile. "You two made a bet?"
Kaia nods shamelessly. "She said before the World Cup ended, I said you'd wait until afterwards. Mapi and Patri already think you're together."
"Oh my god." Lucy groans as she gets off her bed and heads to the bathroom. "Stop betting on my love life."
"But it's fun." Kaia calls after her before chuckling and falling back onto her bed.
𑁍
Mapi
It's the night before their game against France. Their training was intense and heavily concentrated on their tactical play for the game, and every player was ready.
But Mapi did sneak away from the relaxation room and went up to her room, connecting her headphones to her phone before FaceTiming her girlfriend for that last minute reassurance.
It was slightly risky and maybe a few camp rules were being broken by both of them, but Mapi made sure her phone wasn't facing the door or Leila's bed.
And she spent the next hour getting her ego stroked and eyes blessed by what her girlfriend was showing her from the bathroom of her own hotel room.
The trust they have in each other is literally airtight, so these kinds of filterless calls when they're apart are part of their routine, and part of their coping mechanisms for missing each other.
There was no actual touching from Kaia, just showing certain things and mainly them flirting back and forth, giving into Mapi's shameless requests which are mainly to see her abs, hands, breasts and a single vein that runs up the front of her left hip that drives the Spaniard wild.
She'll worship Kaia's body until her last breath, drink it all in with her eyes and examine and love every inch of her. She seen her fully exposed hundreds of times, but it still takes her breath away and has her awed every time. In her eyes, Kaia was a goddess and the definition of perfection, even the things Kaia was slightly insecure about were things Mapi loved.
The call wasn't even a sexual one, it was a vulnerable and honest. They spend most of their time talking through parts of Kaia's body, mainly the tattoos which Mapi will forever be obsessed with.
Kaia was showing areas on her body she was thinking about getting more ink, and when she placed a hand under her breasts and tensed her stomach to make it taunt, Mapi just about lost it.
"God, do that again." Mapi breaths out with he eyes still glued to Kaia's stomach.
So with a chuckle, Kaia removes her hand before doing again, pulling her stomach up slightly and tensing her muscles to reveal her fully flexed six pack and obliques. "Baby, are you listening?"
"No." Mapi admits honestly.
Kaia rolls her eyes lovingly and uses her other hand to trace her finger from one hip to the other. "Something here maybe, on the front of my hips."
"Hips?" Mapi picks out as she finally gets the strength to lift her eyes back to Kaia's face. "Both of them?"
Kaia nods and glances down to her hips. "Maybe something that's mirrored on both sides, and leave the middle here bare." She explains while still using her hand to show the areas she's thinking. "Not massive pieces obviously, I'm not too sure. You might have to play around with some stencils."
One of the best things about Mapi being a tattoo enthusiast is not only getting perfect homemade tattoos, but she can also draw and then place tattoo stencils on Kaia to see how she likes them, without the anxiety of going to a shop and making an appointment.
"When we get home, I'll figure something out." Mapi promises with a gentle nod. "It can't be too low because it might overlap with your perfection tattoo, so something along the top of both hipbones might look best with a bikini and everything." She advises.
"It's going to hurt like a bitch." Kaia chuckles as she pokes her hipbone and imagines the pain.
"You can take it, bebe." Mapi assures with a twitch of an eyebrow.
🌟⤵️