//countryhuman stories\\

DenEst (another vball au) 3

As they walk down the street path, Esti can't help but smile. It's a small one, almost hidden from sight by the way she ducks her head away from Den's gaze like it would burn her. Unconsciously, her fingers tighten their grip around Den's hand.

It's funny, the way Den was. She had only been meaning to be polite and respectful to Pip but she could definitely pick up on a few points where Den could have possibly been jealous. Even if it's the slightest bit of the emotion, it warms something inside of her chest-- whether it be the comfortable weight residing in her bones or the blossoming feeling in her heart. Somehow it feels nice that Den's jealous.

Even if it's just a little bit.

"I like Pip," she tries to falter the smile on her face as she faces her head forward, "he's kind. Polite."

Den shoots her a look that says something along the lines of 'I'm disappointed in you.' "Hey, I'm kind too. He's just a pushover."

"Pushover?" she raises a brow. "How so? He's a lot kinder than you are, Den."

The scandalized sound Den lets out makes it seem like Esti just offended him in the worst way. "He is not! He's a dirty sock thief, that's what he is. And he bends over backwards for just about anyone, especially Hong Kong, so yeah, I'd say he's a pushover." He huffs a breath, squinting his eyes at a street lamp up ahead. "Also he throws food at me. That's not kind."

As he speaks, Den swings their joined hands back and forth between them like he's a little kid.

"Well," she starts, tilting her head a little as she looks up at the sky. The stars are barely visible with the amount of cloud. "He's really kind to me. I respect him-- and he's able to put up with you and your volleyball demands..." she almost giggles. An amused huff leaves her nose instead. "You should get him to hang out with us more often. He's lovely." She turns her head to look at Den's face.

And she knows she's egging this miniscule bud of jealousy, but she indulges either way. It feels great to be so smug about it.

"We get to see him at practice enough," Den grumbles, eyes now trained on the sidewalk, a few paces ahead of each step he's taking. "I only need one setter anyways."

"Sweden and Pip are both excellent setters," Esti argues, staring at the flecks on Den's face for a moment too long before she rips her gaze to the side, as if she's ashamed of her actions. "Pip is a really good pinch server as well, but Sweden is logical. I don't see how you could pick between them; they're both extremely valuable to the team."

"I'm valuable too, you know." As soon as Esti looks away, Den glances sideways at her, slightly bitter that she's paying so much attention to his teammates.

"You're not a setter." The smile on her face only grows because she thinks he's not looking at her, "Norway's spikes are great, though. He seems to like the ball close to the net. Finland likes them tossed high, further from the net." It's as if she's reading off of a menu, skipping Den purposefully, "I wonder what it would be like tossing to someone like Iceland. He's so tall. I find it hard to believe he's your brother at times." She looks back at Den, catching his glance for only a few seconds. "...then I remember how competitive he is and the doubt's gone."

Den squeezes her hand briefly to remind her that hey, he's there too. "What about me? You can't just go on about my brothers and then not talk about me, that's not fair." He narrows his eyes at her a little. Is she doing this on purpose?

"You like it when I talk about you?" she says it nonchalantly, focused on the landscape in front of them. The smile on her face is gone now. "Or do you just like it when I say your name?" She slows her pace, finally meeting Den's gaze and holding it. "Does it remind you of the things you'd like to do to me?" her tone is dangerously close to being flirtatious.