#‘Elias didn’t you get iced coffee for breakfast’ yes but

[adachimerica]

I realized I hadn’t legally left my house in like 3 days so I went on a silly little walk for my stupid mental health and it was…. Very Nice… hate that for me

I walked down to the queer-owned coffee shop and got a pride cupcake and a lil coffee drink for my honey, but even just walking down the street… there were so many pride flags hanging up everywhere, like. idk it was a nice feeling 🥹🌈

also just in general being able to walk places is!! so nice, even if from here it’s a slight incline upwards to go down the street… my legs are now twitching lmao oh well

my honey is making Japanese curry for dinner and I love her!!!!

[late-to-the-magnus-archives]

Tea - a Magnus Archives one-shot

"You must be Martin. Jon used to go on about you a lot."

In MAG 149, season 4, Georgie recognized Martin the moment she saw him just from Jon's descriptions, but we didn't get to hear that.

Have a glimpse into my mind-palace of how it could have happened.

Notes: none. This is just fluff. Spoilers thrugh season 4.

AO3

------

“And then Martin—would you believe this—let a dog into the Archives! A dog! ”

“A whole-ass dog, eh?” said Georgie, sipping her tea, trying not to sound dubious.

“It took him all day to get that thing back out of my Archives. Ridiculous.”

“So… you didn’t fire him?”

“No, I didn’t fire him! Elias put him there for some reason, and I… well, I thought it might be more suspicious if I got him out of the way. The next spy could be worse.”

Spies. Dogs. Evil bosses. “Are you still not going to tell me whatever happened at your weird cult workplace?” she said.

He glared over his coffee. “No, I am not going to tell you what happened at my weird cult workplace. Just. He also makes good tea. That’s all.”

“Bully for him.” She left to go to work.

#

“And then you wouldn’t believe… Martin insisted on ice cream for his birthday. Like we were all children!”

“Oh, no,” Georgie said, pencil posed over her crossword puzzle. “Whatever did you do?”

“Well, I ordered ice cream, of course. No need to rock the boat,” Jon said, leaning on his Oxford English drawl. 

“No, no need to do that,” said Georgie. “What kind?”

He huffed. “Rum and raisin. It was serviceable.”

She knew him too well. “You talked about emulsions again, didn’t you?”

If Jon had feathers, they would have ruffled. “Yes, I talked about emulsions! They’re an important part of modern food theory!”

Georgie laughed, filled out wiseguy for a seven-letter know-it-all prompt, and called it a day.

#

“Martin insists on tea. Insists on it. If I don’t have a hot cuppa, he just… he…” Jon gestures.

“He what?” said Georgie, who really wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

“Well, he gets all… big-eyed, and sad, as if I somehow did it at him,” Jon mumbled, looking down. “I have drunk more tea in the last two years than in my entire life.”

“With your grandmother? I doubt that,” said Georgie, who had come into the picture early enough to meet her before she passed.

“No, she insisted I make tea. She never truly cared if I drank it,” Jon mumbled into his empty cup. “Martin cared.” And then he stared at the leaves at the bottom as though offended they were all that remained.

“Well, I’m sure my tea-making skills hardly compare,” said Georgie.

“They don’t,” said Jon, who did not mean cruelty by it.

Georgie spoke fluent Jon. She understood he wasn’t saying, You suck. He was saying, I miss Martin’s tea. “Are you sure you can’t reach out to him? Maybe outside of work?”

Jon went deep red. “I can’t do that.”

“You sure? I’m sure he’d love to hear from you.”

“No,” Jon said softly, looking now at the floor. “I can’t talk to anybody. It isn’t safe.”

“Safe?” she said.

He seemed to realize he’d said too much. “I… excuse me.” And he closed himself in the guest bedroom to make another of his weird tape recordings.

#

“I’m telling you, Martin might be sending them!” he said, holding up another batch of suspicious documents.

Georgie was fuming. “How could he be? Did you tell Martin where I live?”

“I… no, I didn’t.”

“Then I doubt he’s sending them.”

“I just thought… no, you’re right. I doubt he misses me at all,” said Jon, hangdog supreme.

Georgie threw her hands in the air. As Jon’s ex, she didn’t really think she had the right to push it further.

#

“Martin made me take his jumper home, and it… well, I never returned it. It’s so very comfortable! I feel oddly safe in it. Isn’t that odd?” A confession, wide-eyed, over breakfast. 

“Martin hates oolong,” said Jon over lunch and oolong. “I’m not sure why. Something to do with his mother, I think.”

“Martin always smiles. It’s suspicious,” Jon declared over dinner.

Georgie began to tune it out.

#

“He was terrible at research,” Jon mumbled late as they both sipped some brandy. “But he always tried so hard. He brought in a jar of worms once, did I tell you that?”

“Uh, no?” said Georgie. “Why would he bring in a jar of worms?”

Jon waved his shot glass. “Reasons,” he said like the grim reaper.

Georgie shook her head and threw back the last of her shot before going to bed.

#

Later, much later, Georgie went to the Magnus Institute, trying to find Melanie. She hated the place; it gave her the creeps, and not only because of what she now knew about Jon. It wasn’t even proper fear. It was just yucky, like something slimy between her toes.

Finding no one, she wandered downstairs, into the Archives, and spotted a man at a desk. He was tall, kind of cuddly-wide; his hair was curly and red, and his freckles were bright. His eyes were, intriguingly, the same color Jon had wistfully described as spring green one very late night.

Like Jon, he had a tape recorder going. She was really beginning to hate those things.

He did a double-take. “Oh, you can’t be here. It’s not allowed.”

“Sorry, Melanie told me to wait for her here,” Georgie said.

“You’re here for Melanie?” the man clarified, standing (good lord, he was tall).

“Yeah. I’m Georgie.”

And out came the smile (which Jon had described) and the awkward aw-shucks body language with one hand behind his head (which Jon had also described). “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t realize! I’m sure she’s around here somewhere.”

She knew. He could’ve been conjured from Jon’s imagination for how perfect he was for that man. “You must be Martin.”

He blinked. “Has Melanie been talking about me?”

“No, um. Jon used to go on about you a lot.”

Martin brightened like the sun shining, and then Georgie had to go on for minutes about why she wouldn’t help Jon anymore.

Which Martin insisted she should.

Hell. Jon had no chance. They both had it so bad.

She still didn’t like this place. She still had issues with Jon and everything Jon was doing; but this… she could see this.

Martin and Jon, Jon and Martin. It worked in her head. They fit. 

She hoped it worked out. 

She hoped Jon didn’t drag Martin with him to the grave.

[flameoutfics]

We’re Only Young and Naive Still Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Nora was scratched against Detroit which wasn’t a surprise. She hadn’t had a stellar debut and she hadn’t curried favor with Sutter, but the press had taken her first game and run with it. Everyone had told her to stay off of the internet and to not read articles about herself, but it was hard to ignore the things that popped up on her Twitter feed. There were already some reporters who asked to interview her and there were even a few names that she recognized and wouldn’t mind interviewing with. She had listened to Steve Dangle’s podcast on her morning commute to college occasionally and thought he’d been fair in his assessments. She didn’t think that he’d take cheap shots at her or try to make her uncomfortable. 

She also knew though that the publicity that was being offered to her was something that some athletes worked their entire lives for. Maybe if it was different, if she was naturally talented in the way that Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid were, the attention would be warranted, but she was just a novelty. So for the moment, Nora politely declined the interviews with the canned rejection that she wanted to focus on contributing to the team and that she would consider at a later time. 

She was on the practice squad for the scrimmage before the game clad in a white jersey with some of the other two-way players skating on the ice against the permanent Flames and halfway through practice, she was already exhausted and soaked in sweat. “Tired, Hallisay?” 

“I’m fine,” Nora said and skated back to the ice with renewed resolve. 

“Take the face off,” Sutter yelled and Nora paired off against Matthew Tkachuk. Off ice he was just aloof but on ice, he was ferocious. He was the type of player that teams hated playing against and everyone wanted on their team. He glared at her from across the face-off circle, his cold, blue eyes almost wild as their coach approached them with the puck. Nora reacted just a split second faster to pass the puck over to Jusso for the break-away. The play was called off and everyone reset with new players at the face-off.

“Lucky,” Matthew said.

“Had nothing to do with luck,” Nora replied. 

“It won’t happen again,” Matthew said, but there was a lightness in his voice. 

“We’ll see,” Nora said, knowing that the odds of her squaring off against Matthew would be few and far in between. She was a fourth-liner at best; he was on the first line. As practice wrapped up, Nora skated to the bench and grabbed some Gatorade. Some of the guys headed straight to the locker room, but Nora lingered rink side. 

“You coming?” one of the trainers asked.

“I’m going to stick around here a little longer,” Nora said, “I want to get in a little more practice.”

“They won’t let you stay too long,” the trainer warned.

“I’ll take what I can get,” Nora said. She skated back on the ice and worked on puck-handling drills. She wished she had the hands of Pavel Datsyuk, but she didn’t. It was never her strong suit on the ice. 

“Move your top hand more, it’ll give you better control” a voice called behind the bench. 

Nora stopped for a moment and glanced over to where the voice was coming from. A small group of players, already showered and changed, watched. 

“Move your hand more,” Matthew repeated, gesturing with his own hand.

Nora shifted her hands to match his, “Like this?”

“Yeah, that’s what they teach you when you’re eight,” Matthew said. 

Nora saw red. Matthew could fuck off. “Well, we don’t all have dads who can get us on the best junior teams.”

A couple of the guys chuckled, but Matthew’s jaw clenched and his face turned red. Nora felt her stomach sink as the barb landed exactly where she anticipated. If things were different, Nora would have been contrite and even as it was, she didn’t like to be the type of person that made other people feel bad, but she wasn’t just going to roll over and take it either. She knew she didn’t have the same hockey knowledge that the other players did. They had had some of the best coaches, had had the time to play for hours after school, and had had opportunities that she couldn’t have dreamed of. So yeah, they didn’t have the same background, but she had worked her way to where she was, and she deserved to be there no matter what anyone else said. 

After they left, she redid the drill following Matthew’s advice. It was better; he was right. Nora gritted her teeth and did it again and again, adjusting her grip when she noticed herself slipping into her old routine. “Fuck,” Nora murmured. 

“You have to go,” the zamboni driver said as he waited for her to get off the ice.  

“Sorry,” Nora said sheepishly and skated towards the locker room. Everyone was already gone by the time she was ready to leave the rink. 

She pulled out her phone and followed the map back to the hotel. A few blocks away from the hotel, a text message popped up on her phone. 

From Liam: Congrats on your debut. 

Nora smiled and pocketed her phone away to respond to him later. She made a mental note to text him back later. 

“A few of us are playing FIFA later, if you want to join?” Mikael said as he caught her coming out of the elevator.

Nora smiled slightly, grateful for the invitation, “Whose room?” 

“Don’t know yet, but it’ll be in the group chat.”

“I’ll be there,” Nora promised. She headed to her room, sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled up the text that Liam had sent her. Thanks, you watched?

Liam’s response was almost immediate: I saw the highlights. How are things with the team? 

Nora wanted to tell him everything, she wanted to say how hard it was, how Sutter didn’t want her there, and the team didn’t want her there, and how all she wanted to do was go home. But she didn’t. Instead she typed out, I kind of fucked up with a teammate today. 

Liam wrote back, You’ll make the right decision, you always do.

Nora sighed. 

As promised, the open invitation in the group chat said they were planning on playing FIFA in Rasmus’s room in fifteen minutes and Nora showed up just a few minutes afterwards. 

“Are you any good?” Milan asked.

“I’m horrible at video games,” Nora said. 

“You’re on their team, then,” Milan said as he nodded over to the other half of the room.

Nora glanced over at Matthew who had been leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, still looking as pissed off as he had at the rink. 

“I think I’m gonna leave,” Matthew said, despite protests from their teammates. Nora couldn’t help but feel as though it was a reaction to her joining, a remnant from their fight at the rink. 

She remembered what Liam had sent her, “You’ll make the right decision, you always do,” and she knew what she’d have to do.  

After a few rounds of watching them play FIFA, Nora stood up to leave. 

“You know where Matthew’s room is?” she asked Elias as a new game was getting set up.

“I think he’s 219,” Elias replied. 

“Thanks.”

Nora talked herself into going over to Matthew’s room. She sighed and knocked on the door, hoping that he would already be asleep or in the shower. Instead, though, Matthew opened the door and glared at her. 

“Can we talk?” Nora asked. Matthew didn’t answer, but instead pushed the door open and made way for her to come in. 

“I’m sorry, for what I said at the rink. That wasn’t fair and it wasn’t true. You worked hard to be here and it wasn’t right for me to imply that it was because of who your father is or who your family is, so I’m sorry about it. And...you were right,” Nora said, “About my hands, it’s better your way.”

There was a long pause, “This is where you would usually apologize, too.”

“Why should I? I was just trying to help,” Matthew said. 

“No, you weren’t,” Nora said, “You were trying to humiliate me.”

“What’s your problem?” Matthew said, “Why do you think we’re all out to get you or something?”

Nora paused for a moment, “I know you don’t want me here. I know most of the guys don’t want me here, and that’s fine, but it’s hard not to think that way when you know otherwise.”

“What do you mean we don’t want you here?” Matthew asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion, “Did someone say something?” 

Nora pulled out her phone and scrolled through the group chat to the incriminating messages, “You did.” She held out the phone for Matthew to read the messages. 

His eyes widened in recognition and he went to apologize, but Nora held out her hand, “Don’t. It is what it is, but I know, so don’t play dumb. And I don’t expect us to be friends or even like each other, I don’t care about that, but I deserved better than that and I don’t deserve the type of comments that you made at practice either.”

Matthew didn’t say anything and to be honest, Nora wasn’t sure if there was anything left to clear the air, “See you tomorrow then.”

She headed back to her room and saw another message from Liam, Do you need to talk?

No, I’m good, but thanks, good night Li.

Nora had woken up before they were scheduled for breakfast and she looked on her phone for a local coffee shop to try before they were set to leave Detroit. She headed to a small, locally owned one just a few blocks from the hotel that they had passed in transit and ordered a vanilla latte. She grabbed a table towards the back and pulled up some of the NHL highlights 

“Can I join you?” A familiar voice asked and Nora glanced up to find Matthew Tkachuk awkwardly standing in front of her with a cup of coffee. 

“Were you following me?” Nora asked. 

“No, yes, but I was hoping we could talk,” Matthew said. 

“I don’t think there’s anything more to say,” Nora said, “I said everything I wanted to last night.”

“I didn’t,” Matthew said, “Can I?” he gestured to the empty chair across from her and Nora shrugged. 

“Is this a conversation that we should have here?” Nora asked.

“There aren’t too many people here and it’s better here than in the hotel, I guess,” Matthew said. 

“Okay,” Nora said. 

“I’m sorry for what I said at the rink yesterday and, more importantly, for what you saw in the group chat,” Matthew said, “You were right, you didn’t deserve that and we should have made more of an effort to make you feel welcome and to treat you like one of the guys.”

“I’m not one of ‘the guys’, though, and I’m not trying to be,” Nora said, “Things are different with me and I can’t help that.”

“I know, I didn’t mean it like that,” Matthew said. 

“I know how you meant it,” Nora said, “And I appreciate your apology.”

Matthew outstretched his hand, “Let’s start over?” 

Nora eyed up his hand, but shook it, “Sure. We better start heading back to the hotel anyways.” 

“What are you drinking by the way?” Matthew asked.

“A vanilla latte,” Nora said, “Why?” 

“In case I need to know for future apologies,” Matthew said. 

“Let’s hope not,” Nora said with a small smile.

[dripkingpetey]

give me a chance-j.virtanen

a/n:this took me way longer than it should’ve but I've just had no motivation for writing lol (watch me not post another fic for the longest time-)

1910 words

“Y/n, I bet you’re the only girl that’s ever turned Jake down.” Brock said to you over the loud sounds of people talking in the background of the bar and he wasn’t wrong, any girl who Jake has every approached or even talked to would be falling in love with him right away but not you. You always used the excuses like “I’ve known him for too long, it would be weird.” Or “I just don’t want anything with anyone right now,” But all of that just made Jake want you more.

“He’s not wrong.” The young swede sitting to the left of you chimed in. “I’ve never seen anyone turn Jake down, you must have some anti Jake gene in you or something.” The three of you bursted laughing at Elias’ words before you took a sip of your drink. “I don’t know, I want something serious and I know Jake can’t give me that.” You said quietly but Brock and Elias definitely heard you as they exchanged a look to each other.

Jake came back to the area that all of you were seated and nuzzled his face into your shoulder, clearly very drunk. “Hey,” He grinned while slowly closing his eyes as he couldn’t help but drift off to sleep.

“Are you sure you guys don’t have something going on? Secretly fucking or friends with benefits?” Brock joked quietly, looking at you rubbing Jakes back and comforting him. “Seems like you and petey are the ones that are secretly fucking.” You commented at Brocks words and his face immediately turned red. 

By the next morning you had completely forgotten what you had said last night, the only thing occupying your head was the pounding headache from your hangover. “Hey,” Jake grinned while taking a sip of water in his kitchen and that was when you realized you had fallen asleep on his couch last night. “You’re creepy, were you watching me sleep?” You joked and threw a pillow at him. “For your information, I was not. I actually need to get ready for practice.”

“Do you mind taking care of Bruce and Donny today? I forgot they had to go to the groomers.” Jake asked nicely knowing you would say yes. “Yes, but only if you hangout with me tonight.” You smiled at him as he nodded. “Count me in, okay I really gotta go get ready.” Jake pulled you in for a hug and a light kiss on the head before he rushed to get ready, you waited till Jake left to get ready for the day. You had clothes there from spending time over there so much so you grabbed a pair of leggings and your favourite hoodie of Jakes before you hopped in the shower.

You ran some errands before you had to pick the dogs up from the groomer, you sat them in the backseat before taking a photo of you and the dogs to show Jake you had picked them up.

i got the boys :) 

*image attachment*

Is that my sweater?

maybeee

I’ll be home soon, should I pick up dinner?

nope, i already planned what we’re doing for dinner

You started putting away the groceries and grabbed the ingredients you needed for dinner, you decided to make burgers and salad for dinner since you knew it was Jakes favourite meal and he was dying to try out the new grill he purchased the other day. 

“Hey.” Jake whispered right by your ear which made you jump while preparing the salad. “I already knew you were here,” “Yeah but you still got scared.” Jake chuckled at you and sat on the stool for the kitchen island. “What’s for dinner?” Jake raised an eyebrow at you before you pulled out the hamburger patties. “Burgers, you get to use the grill that you’ve been dying to use.” You smiled as Jakes eyes immediately lit up. “Oh god, you are a literal man-child.” You sighed with a chuckle.

-

Since Jake was gone on a road trip, you went over to his house to take care of his dogs and the house, it was the second game of their road trip when Jake got his injury.

You couldn’t help but sigh as you saw Jake get hit, he was against Dallas when Jamie Oleksiak collided with Jake. But the sigh quickly turned into fear when Jake was struggling to get up. “Oh shit.” You mumbled to yourself as the refs whistled and the trainer went on to help him. Jake slipped a little but got off the ice quickly with the help of Bo and Brock.

You watched the replays of the hit that they were showing on tv before you texted Jake.

i watched the game, call me when you can please.

You were half asleep when Jake called you, you quickly woke up from the call and answered.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Your voice was sleepy and Jake could tell. “Hey, I’m okay. Sorry did I wake you up?” Hearing Jakes voice made you calm down. “No, no its okay.” You mumbled, half asleep which made Jake chuckle. “I’ll be home tomorrow.” Jake quickly realized you weren’t listening when he heard your light little snores. “I love you” He whispered before hanging up to fall asleep as well.

You woke up early next morning and cleaned up around the house and  waited for him to come home. “Oh god I look like a mess.” You mumbled as you saw a glimpse of yourself in the window.  You quickly tried to fix your hair and outfit but quickly gave up and changed into a set of Jakes clothes along with a messy bun.

“Hey.” Jake said cheekily as he flopped himself on top on you, wincing a little from his injury. “Hey,” You mumbled quietly, now realizing you were asleep. “You’re home.” You grinned. “Would be better if it was our home though,” Jake winked as he whispered into your ear. “Jake,” You sighed as he kissed your cheek. “Y/n, just kiddinggg.” Jake said as he dragged on the ‘g’ and sat up on the couch.

“How was your trip? Well other than the injury.” You asked but quickly realized it wasn’t a good question to ask him. “The trip was pretty fun, but did you know the doctor actually said that cuddling will help out my concussion and my injuries?” Jake smirked as you looked up at him. “Oh really?” You teased, moving your body onto Jakes and burying your face in his chest while you traced the tattoos on his arm with your fingers. “Yeah, just like that.” Jake chuckled and rested his face into the top of your head.

-

Jake didn’t want anything super special for his birthday this year, just a little party at his place with close friends, which was surprising since Jake was a party guy.

“Morning, birthday boy.” You grinned over FaceTime to a half asleep Jake. “Hey.” Jake mumbled, pulling his blanket up to his head. “What do you want?”

“Woah, woah. I’m just trying to be nice and wish you a happy birthday,” You defended yourself as Jake laughed. “I’m just kidding, thank you y/n.”

You ended the call shortly after to go get ready for the day since Jake kept on whining about wanting to go back to sleep. 

You snuck into Jakes house with your spare key, setting down the breakfast you had picked up from his favourite cafe. You tippy toed quietly up the stairs to Jakes room, trying not to wake him up yet. Sneaking into Jakes bed and cuddling up behind him. “Hey.” You mumbled against Jakes neck before giving him a kiss there. “Y/n?” Jake mumbled, chuckling a little. “How did you get in?” 

“I have your key dummy.” You laughed, starting to play with Jakes hair and you knew he loved it. “I brought you your favourite breakfast.” You smiled as you saw the smile grow on Jakes face as well. “You did?” “Yep its in the kitchen,” Jake jumped up out go bed and headed downstairs as you sighed and laid in his bed for awhile.

Before you knew it, you had dozed off to sleep. Groaning as you woke up to the loud music playing downstairs combined with the sound of people talking. Making sure you looked presentable and awake before going downstairs.

“Hey, you’re up!” Jake exclaimed as you walked downstairs and greeted everyone, realizing that Jake was already very drunk. “The drinks are in the kitchen if you want one.” Jake grinned with his visible rosy cheeks. “Thank you.” You smiled at Jake and made your way to the kitchen, grabbing a red bull and taking a big sip so you can pour way too much vodka in the can than needed. 

Completely tipsy and almost drunk, you found yourself sitting on top of Jakes lap with your face inches away from his. Jake softly but his hand on your cheek and you leaned in as well, realizing what you were doing and pulled away.

“Why won’t you give me a chance?” Jake whined at you pulling your face away from his. “Jake.” You mumbled quietly. “No, don’t give me that ‘Jake’ bullshit. Give me a reason.” “Its not that I don’t feel the same way about you, I do, but I don’t know what you want out of this and I want something serious, not one of your casual Friday night hookups, I want an actual relationship but I don’t think you want that.” You finally let it all out, the things you’ve been whining about to Brock and Elias, he finally knew. 

It took Jake a moment to process what you said especially under the influence, but he tried to sober up before he could say anything else. “Just give me a chance y/n, I promise I can be the serious relationship you want.” You sighed at his words, knowing you needed another sip of alcohol before you could do anything else. “Tell me that in the morning Jake, when you’re sober.” You stood up and left the living room so you didn’t have to see the disappointed look on Jakes face, finding yourself in his bedroom and changing into Jakes clothes so you could drift off to sleep. 

You woke up to Jake wanting to talk about last night immediately but you somehow successfully persuaded him to let you wake up and have a cup of coffee.“I know I haven’t had the best reputation with long-term relationships but I wanna try, with you. So just please, can we work this out?” Jake said quietly, he’s never had to do stuff like this before and you could tell he was taking it seriously. “You know how this is gonna end if it doesn’t go well right? I need you and I can’t lose you.” You said quietly, afraid to make any eye contact with him because you were tearing up at the thought of losing him.

“Then I won’t let it go bad.” Jake sat closer to you and tucked the loose strands of your hair behind your ear and he noticed the tears. 

“You promise?” You mumbled, looking up at him. “I promise y/n.” Jake said while smiling lightly at you before you pressed your lips onto his and you could’ve sworn the kiss was out of a movie, it was perfect.

[ahockeywrites]

A Very Merry Christmas

As the snow began to fall in Vancouver, Elias looked over to see that you had already got out of bed before him. This never surprised him as you were always awake when he had morning skate and usually had him a coffee prepared. But this was Christmas morning, he thought you might have stayed in bed for a bit longer but the smell of bacon coming from the kitchen made him realise why you had ventured out of bed.

He slipped out of bed and found some tracksuit pants to put on and joined you in the kitchen. The sight of you in one of his shirts, cooking breakfast for the two of you was so domestic and he wished that he could spend every morning like this. His arms wrapped around your waist and he rested his chin on your shoulder. “Morning älskling,” he whispered in your ear, voice still full of sleep. You could never grow tired of his morning voice, it strengthened his accent which you loved.

“Morning baby,” you replied softly. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” he said as he turned you around and pulled you in for a brief kiss followed by a hug. “What’s all the food for,” Elias asked, pointing at the spread on the counter.

“I just thought, you’ve done so much for me this year, I wanted to do something for you,” you explained. He had been there through your job struggles and never left your side when you were feeling down. “Plus, we can’t open presents on an empty stomach.” Elias let out a hearty laugh, agreeing with you. He asked if he could do anything to help and you suggested setting the table

The movements the two of you made in the kitchen looked as though they could have been rehearsed. It came from knowing each other so well, no words needed to be spoken. Everyone on the Canucks knew that you and Elias could communicate with so much as a look or eyebrow raise. Nothing else was needed and you would know what the other wanted.

Breakfast was a simple affair, even if you had prepared something fancier than the usual toast or cereal. The two of you shared Christmas memories and the stories became funnier and funnier until you needed to stop the tears from rolling down your faces. You reminded Elias that you would be spending the afternoon at your parents house which was about an hour away from the flat you shared with him and he went to your room to decide what he should wear. “Elias, jeans and a smart shirt will be fine, just don’t show up like you’re trying to walk the catwalk like you did for my mom’s birthday,” you laughed. “Black jeans, that blue shirt you like, and a Santa hat. You’ll fit in perfectly.”

“What are you wearing?” he asked, as you had been trying to hide it from his prying eyes. You pulled out a dress from behind your back and his jaw dropped. It was a black, A-line dress with small candy canes printed on it. It was modest, as it went down past your knees and covered your arms entirely, but the bodice was tight fitting, you didn’t even need to put it on for him to notice that.

Suddenly, you were pulled into Elias’ arms, your back flush against his chest. “You’re not actually going to wear that are you?” he almost growled into your ear. This was the response you wanted to have after seeing your family, not before, but you couldn’t help yourself as you rolled your hips into his. “Älskling, if you keep doing that, we’ll be late to your parent’s place and we don’t want them to see the bruises I can leave on you.”

Letting out a small gasp, you stepped away from him. “Elias Pettersson, you would not,” you replied with pretend shock. This wouldn’t be the first time you had arrived late together, not looking perfectly put together, but it was always arriving at a team event, never a family event.

He pulled you back into his grasp, “you know that’s a lie, and if you don’t stop being a brat, I’m gonna fuck you right here,” he groaned. You pulled out of his arms and skipped away to have a shower, letting Elias know he could go in after you. If this is how today was going to go, he wanted to skip to the good bit.

You adjusted the temperature of the shower and allowed yourself to get lost under the stream of water. As it was Christmas, you had a small collection of Lush shower gels forming and you picked your favourite and applied it to a small wash cloth. You lathered up the gel and enjoyed the music you had put on to relax. This was the first Christmas that Elias was spending with your family and you really wanted it to go well, but it didn’t help that your dad had been sharing the news to all of your family members that you were dating the Canucks’ star forward. They were all shocked but very happy for the two of you, as everyone in your family was a fan of the Canucks. It did make every family gathering slightly awkward for the first half an hour or so before they remembered that Elias was a normal person like everyone else.

Elias knew he shouldn’t join you in the shower, because you would get too caught up in the shower doing things that your parents would not need to know about. Instead, he checked he had hidden the most important present for you behind the tree well enough so you wouldn’t find it first. “Elias!” he heard, “your turn.”

He quickly made his way to the bedroom to collect a pair of boxers and saw you waltzing out of the bathroom in a pair of red lingerie. “Please tell me that you’re not going to be wearing that under the dress to your parents,” he sighed.

“If I am, it is not your problem until we get home from my parents,” you remarked. Elias rolled his eyes, but you couldn’t help but notice the bulge forming in his pants. Shoving him towards the bathroom, you put on a small amount of makeup and the dress that fit you so well.

The living room of the flat which you and Elias lived in was adorned with Christmas decorations. Lights hung along the crown moulding, a bunch of mistletoe hanging above the entrance to the kitchen and a perfectly decorated tree in the corner of the lounge. The two of you wanted to get a real tree, but you knew that cleaning it up regularly would annoy both of you so settled on a large fake one and covered it in many decorations. Lights, tinsel, baubles, beads, if you could buy it, it graced the tree.

You allowed yourself to take in the freshly fallen snow as you made your second coffee of the morning. It wasn’t uncommon for you to have multiple coffees to keep your energy high, and today was no exception. You were pretty sure that you had woken up earlier than usual and would be going to bed later because you would want to catch up with your family.

Elias watched you from a distance, admiring the person he had fallen in love with. Loving someone was never easy. But with you, it was just right. The way you laughed when Brock fell over on the ice at family skate, it made him think about how you could be doing the same thing in five years, but with a baby in your arms. The way you looked at Quinn when he was having troubles with his girlfriend, it made him think about how you could be doing that to your children in the future. The way you took pride in everything you did, it made him see not just a person, like some others might. He saw someone who was perfectly crafted to be the missing puzzle piece in his life.

He wanted to use the word soulmates, that’s what Brock called the two of you, but to him that was to cliche. The only thing that worked, in his mind, was that you were his true love. He never wanted to go another day without calling you his, officially. Yes, the two of you were official in the sense of being with each other exclusively, all your friends and family knew about you being together, even the fans thought he had found a special someone. But that wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to be able to post photos of you together on Instagram, he wanted to buy a nice house for the two of you to start a family together, he wanted you to share his last name.

He smiled as he thought about the final present he was going to give you. Asking your parents for their blessing was awkward, but he tried his best to explain his reasons why he wanted to ask you to marry him. It wasn’t that your parents didn’t like Elias, they just saw him as the hockey player and found it difficult to separate the stereotypes that they had attached to them. But they understood he had good intentions and wanted the best for the two of you. He left your parents house, filled with coffee, cake and the knowledge that they were excited to hear if their child was getting married.

As you were fluffing the cushions on the couch to make it more comfortable, you looked around at the place you called home. Cosy, that was the word you always used to describe it to anyone who asked. Yes, the view over the city was beautiful. Yes, the apartment came with amazing facilities. But, so did all the other apartments in this block. What made yours stand out was how you made it feel like a home, the photos from your’s and Elias’ childhood that adorned the mantlepiece, the candles which sat on the coffee table. It was all you could have asked for and with the man you loved, you wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“I’m gonna make tea,” Elias called from the kitchen. You hadn’t even realised that he had finished in the shower, your daydream must have overtaken all of your senses. “Want a cup?”

“I’m good, E,” you replied, “still got my coffee.” He poked his head around the doorframe and shot you a nod of understanding. Elias saw you covered in blankets keeping warm and smiled to himself. It was how the two of you worked, it was perfect.

Elias wandered into the living room with his tea and sat down next to you. “Present time?” you asked, eyes wide. Your boyfriend nodded and reached to get some of the ones he had bought for you. “If any of these are Pettersson jerseys, I will be giving them to family members later,” you laughed. He reassured you that none of them were and allowed you to open the gifts he had selected.

The first one made you cry with laughter, it was a photo from Halloween where you and Elias had dressed up as each other and he was in a tight dress, heels and you had done his makeup as you would on a night out. It was a photo that would be living in a prominent place in the apartment whether he liked it or not. The second one made you smile, it was the start of a scrapbook of all the memories you and Elias had together, it was beautiful to see how much effort he had put into it and the empty pages were just waiting to be filled. The third made you gasp, it was a beautiful silver, hockey skate pendant with the number 40 engraved on the back.

“Elias, it’s beautiful,” you exclaimed.

“Only the best for you, my love,” he replied lovingly. “I have one more gift for you,” he started as he reached towards the back of the tree for a small, velvet box. As soon as you saw it, you let out a small gasp. It couldn’t be, you thought. “Now, I really hoped that I would get to open mine first, because then this would be the last one. But, I couldn’t help myself.”

Elias shifted his weight so he was resting on one knee, “I could probably say one million things here, but none of them come to mind,” he laughed. “I want to spend the rest of my life by your side, I want you to be the one I come home to after every road trip, I want you to be the mother of my children. So, Y/N, will you make me the happiest man this Christmas, will you marry me?”

It was difficult for you to form words, but you frantically nodded and pulled him into a hug. “Of course I will Elias,” you whispered into his ear. You hadn’t even noticed the ring that he had selected to begin with, as you were just looking into his eyes, but when you looked at it, you saw the most delicately cut diamond on a simple rose gold band. It was elegant and classy, exactly like Elias. He slid the ring onto your finger and placed a series of kisses on your knuckles. “I don’t know how my presents will live up to this, but I guess I can try,” you giggled, high on the joy that being freshly engaged gave.

“I am sure, whatever you have got me, I will love, just as much as I love you,” he explained. The way he looked at you with all the love in his eyes made you believe what he said. The two of you sat back down by the tree and you passed him the ones you had wrapped for him.

You smiled at him as he unwrapped the first one, it was a collection of Swedish inspired coffees because you knew how much he missed the coffee from his home country and anything you could do to make him feel more comfortable in Canada, you would do. The second one was a set of plans for a get away out of Vancouver during a long break they had. As much as you enjoyed living in the city, you both enjoyed getting out into nature and spending some time away from the bustling city with each other. The third, the third was something you knew he had always wanted but he never bought. It was a silver Rolex watch with his initials engraved in the back. “Y/N, you didn’t,” he gave you a shocked look.

“Try it on,” you began, “I got one that will go with the majority of your suits.” You sent him a soft smile, hoping it was the right size. The light reflected off the silver that now adorned his wrist and he lifted that hand to rest on your left hand. The new pieces of jewellery fit so perfectly and you leaned in to press a kiss on Elias’ lips.

“We need to think about heading to your parents,” Elias said, kissing your forehead gently. “As you said earlier, don’t want to be late to our first family event as an engaged couple.” You let out a big laugh and quickly ran around the house collecting the gifts for different members of the family. You also picked up the dessert you had prepared the day before and made sure there were enough Santa hats for you, Elias and anyone who forgot one.

The drive to your parents place was peaceful and you made sure that the Christmas tunes were blasting. When you arrived outside the house, you noticed that you weren’t the first to arrive. “Baby, how are we gonna tell everyone?” you asked, not wanting to have differing ideas on this.

“How about we just wait until someone notices?” he suggested. “That way, we don’t have to tell anyone who doesn’t say something to us first.” You nodded in agreement and went to knock on the front door of your childhood home. It was always strange returning home and not using your own key to open the door, but still, you stood in the cold Vancouver air waiting for one of your parents to answer.

“Y/N! Elias! You’ve made it! Come in out of the cold,” your mother ushered you two in. “Coats in the usual place, and I’ll take that from you,” she spoke as she took the apple pie you had made from your hands. “Everyone is in the living room, so just head through.”

You walked through to the living room and started greeting family members but you didn’t realise that Elias had been pulled into the kitchen to talk with your parents. They started with small talk based on the season and how the apartment was, but the three of them knew what the real reason why he was pulled aside was. “So, did you ask her?” your mum asked excitedly.

All Elias responded with was, “check her left hand, and see for yourself.” He let out a cheeky smile after saying this and your parents were glad you had picked a man with a sense of humour and would be ready to welcome him, officially, to the family when you were ready.

[puckinghell]

01. we just had a one-night stand but a massive storm hit so now we’re snowed in, hello awkward w elias lindholm

we just had a one-night stand but a massive storm hit so now we’re snowed in, hello awkward

--

“Stay,” Elias had mumbled, his arms wrapped around your waist and his nose pressed into your neck. You felt warm, content, and so, so tired, so you’d agreed.

Now you’re really doubting that decision.

It’s just, you don’t really do one-night stands: never have, always been more of a relationship girl and you prefer to get to know someone before having sex with them.

But...

You met Elias in the late afternoon, when he walked into the bar you work at with his teammates and shot you a lopsided grin as he ordered 12 beers and 12 shots of tequila.

“It’s his birthday,” he pointed to one of his teammates. “Prepare for a late night.” 

It was Saturday, so you were already prepared for a late night, but there was something about the way he said it that had your palms go a little sweaty. 

Or maybe it was his face. He has a nice face. And the accent? Karma must’ve owed you a good one. 

Anyway, Elias had basically orbited around you all night. He was the one getting the drinks for his teammates - although he was surprisingly the only one not pissed drunk when evening hit - and he kept wandering over to chat with you between customers. 

It was busy in the bar, but perhaps you had given him a little more attention than everyone else. Whatever. You’re only human. 

At the end of the night, when Elias’ teammates left, he didn’t. He stayed at the bar with you until everyone was gone, talking about everything and anything. He had you laughing so hard your stomach hurt, he had chills running up your spine just by looking at you, he was... 

Everything you were looking for, basically. 

So when he asked you if he could stay while you closed up, and if you maybe wanted to have a drink at his apartment, you knew where it would lead - and you said yes. 

And that was everything you were looking for, too: he made sure you were okay with it when he kissed you first, took all his time in the world until your toes were curling and were basically begging for it, and then made sure it was as good for you as it was for him. 

So there really was no reason not to stay. Except...

Except this meant nothing to him, probably. He asked you to stay in some orgasm-induced haze, and tomorrow morning he’ll be too polite to ask you what the fuck you’re still doing here. He’ll probably make you breakfast because he feels like he has to, and count down the seconds until he can make up some excuse and get you to leave.

He’s Elias Lindholm, for the love of God. He can get any girl he wants. Why would he want you to still be here when he wakes up?

And so you slowly slide out of his arms; it’s harder than you thought it would be, because he’s got good grip and you really don’t wanna wake him up - that would be an awkward conversation - but you manage.

You manage, as well, to slip on your clothes, and tiptoe out of the room without waking him. He stirs when the bedroom door creaks, but he doesn’t wake up, and you quietly close it.

“Shh,” you whisper to Stitch, who excitedly tipples behind you as you make your way through the house. Just before you reach for your coat, you glance out the window.

Fuck. 

Snow. 

And, like, not a little bit of snow: you would be able to deal with a little bit of snow. Hell, you’ve lived in Calgary your whole life, you can drive with more than a little bit of snow.

But you’ve got enough experience with snow to know when it’s not safe to drive, and a massive snow storm would be one of those times. 

“What am I gonna do?” you murmur to the dog: you realize Stitch is not going to give you an answer but he excitedly wiggles his butt and you scratch his ears.

So, you could risk your life to drive. Probably not a good idea. You could try to sneak into bed, but if Elias wakes up, how are you gonna explain that? So probably not that one either. 

Or you could stay here and stare out the window until it stops snowing. Hopefully that’ll be sooner than Elias waking up, but you know his schedule - late nights and late mornings - so you’re not too worried about that.

Tugging your knees to your chest, you curl up on his couch, letting Stitch jump up with you. You’re just about to reach for your phone when there’s a noise upstairs. 

Oh no. 

Your brain frantically searches for things to say while you hear heavy footsteps upstairs, and then coming down the stairs. But it is still completely empty when Stitch runs towards the hallway and then, a silhouette appears in the living room.

“Y/N?” Elias asks, his voice scratchy with sleep and his eyes squinty against the light coming in from outside. “What are you doing?” 

“Uhm,” you bring out, because you’re eloquent like that. 

“Are you leaving?” Elias looks outside, notices the snow, and then returns his gaze to you. A wave of understanding washes over his face, his features softening. “Ah,” he says. “You’re stuck because of the snow.” 

You’re pretty sure you’re so red you’re the exact same color as the uniform Elias wears on the ice. 

“I, uhm, I just figured, I should probably leave.” 

Elias shrugs, sends you a small smile. It doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “If you want,” he says. “Of course I’m not gonna force you to stay if you want, but it’s probably dangerous to drive right now. If you’d rather not be with me, you can just stay here with Stitch until it calms down? Or you can have the bed and I stay here, if you want some more sleep. Or we could like, stay up and talk? I have good coffee. Or...” 

He’s rambling, and it’s really cute, and you suddenly feel really, really bad for trying to sneak out without even saying bye, so...

“I don’t wanna leave,” you blurt out, “I just thought you would probably want me to.” 

Elias frowns. “When did I give that impression? I asked you to stay because I want you to stay.” He sighs. “I’m not... I don’t do this often, you know. I don’t sleep around. I felt like there was something between us, and I really like you.” 

Well, did you talk yourself into a mental breakdown for nothing. 

“I really like you too,” you say softly. “Sorry I kinda freaked out on you. I don’t do one-night stands, usually.” 

“Good thing this does not have to be a one-night stand, then.” Elias holds out his hand and you let him pull you to your feet. “I would like to take you out on a proper date soon. I have a game tomorrow, but maybe Monday.” He grins. “And I make a pretty mean scrambled egg, if you want breakfast tomorrow.” 

“Today,” you correct him. “It’s 4am.” 

Elias rolls his eyes and pulls you closer, pressing his lips against yours quickly before grumbling: “We’re going to sleep.” 

And as you’re curled up in bed against, Elias’ chest pressed against your back, you don’t think you’ll mind if the snow storm lasts a little bit longer.