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holidaywishes · 4 years ago

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It’s Just A Scratch

Summary: Mat gets into a fight at a game and ends up a little worse for wear.

Author’s Note: I hate myself. For writing this. But, at the same time, I don’t. I felt like writing it, so I wrote it. Mat Barzal is not typically who I write for but after seeing him in that GIF, I just couldn’t help it. I hope you enjoy it and I wanna shout out @imbennguintrashbaby for introducing me to the “whumper” world lol.

Warning: Smut, violence/hockey fights, maybe some fluff, a little bit of angst

masterlist

the other masterlist

It seemed like this was a game like any other. Not a playoff game, not a qualifier, just a regular season match against Pittsburgh. But as you sat there, surrounded by angry hockey fans, you realized how different this game felt from others. There was something in the air that you couldn’t ignore and it only became more apparent when Mat began shoving different players; only to be stopped by the whistle.

“This isn’t like him...” you said to your friend, Grace, who was stress-watching the game with you, “do you think they’re saying something to him?”

“Probably just typical game trash talk” Grace said and you shrugged to yourself. It was possible that’s all it was, The Islanders were down three in the final period and it didn’t seem like there was much more they could do with as little time as there was left in the game; a fact you were all too sure Mat was aware of by now as well. That being said, Mat was never the most aggressive player on the team but he seemed to be the one creating a lot of the tension, which made you feel like something was going on to irritate him. Once Mat overreacted to a seemingly routine penalty, you knew there was more going on so, you rushed down to the ice to try to get him to see you, in hopes that he would somehow calm himself down; it didn’t work.

“MAT!” you yelled to him as he yelled at the ref, “MAT!!” When the puck finally came into the corner where you were standing, you thought you’d finally have a chance to get his attention. You were wrong. You understood, because he was focused, but at the same time you just wanted to get him to take a breath so he wouldn’t get hurt. Another whistle blew and you noticed Hörnqvist push Mat after saying something pretty pointed at him, forcing Mat to drop his gloves. You gasped when you saw Mat’s fist collide with Patric’s jaw and the two of them hitting each other as hard as they could as blood flooded the ice. It wasn’t long after that the final buzzer rang and the game was officially over, leaving you to decide whether you wanted to give Mat some space or meat him by the locker room

“He’s probably gonna be pissed,” Grace said and you scoffed, “I’m serious. Let him just have the night. He’s got a giant cut on his lip and his eye is all bruised. I really don’t think he wants to deal with his girlfriend’s concerned face right now.” You scowled at her before biting the inside of your cheek and sent Mat a text

“Wanna Netflix?” was all you could think of to say without getting too annoying

“Maybe.. maybe it’s just better if I’m alone tonight” he replied and your heart sunk

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, (Y/N), I’m sure. That’s why I said it”

“Fine. You don’t have to get all grumpy about it”

“I’ll talk to you later, I have to see the medic”

“Mat... I’m sorry. I love you”

“I love you too.” You could feel his anger through the screen so you let him be for the rest of the night but that didn’t stop you from thinking about the entire game. You found yourself glued to YouTube videos that showed all the blood lost from Mat and Patric and the cameras zoomed in on your boyfriend’s bruised eye and cut up face. ‘Fuck it’ you said to yourself before grabbing your keys and phone and heading to see your boyfriend

“What?” Mat yelled before he answered the door to find you there with worried eyes

“Oh my god, Mat...” you said, reaching out to touch his eye

“It’s nothing,” he sighed, pulling his face away from your touch and walking away from you, “it’s just a scratch”

“A scratch?!” you shouted, closing the door behind you as you followed him in, “Mat, you’re bleeding and your eye is bruised and your lip is cut and--”

“Yeah, (Y/N) I get it. Thanks for the recap” he said snidely

“Why won’t you just talk to me? Let me help you!”

“How are you supposed to help me? The damage is already done!”

“Fine, I can’t help you.” You threw your hands up in exasperation before sitting on the couch

“Babe...” he said quietly, letting out a sigh before coming to sit next to you, “I really am fine”

“I know,” you sighed, head in your hands, before turning to him, “but why won’t you just talk to me?”

“I don’t want to relive what happened during that game”

“What was he saying to you?” you finally asked, “I’ve never seen you that agitated before...”

“He was just chirping me the entire game and I.. I dunno, I just got fed up with it”

“Was it all just typical game chirps? Or was it personal? It seemed personal...”

“It’s always a little bit personal...”

“So..” you tried, placing your hand on his knee, “what did he say?”

“Can we not?” he sighed, falling back against the couch and you nodded to yourself, knowing you were starting to annoy him

“Does it hurt?”

“Not so much anymore... I took an Advil before you got here.” You pursed your lips side to side as you tried to think of what to say, lifting your legs up onto the couch to tuck yourself into his side

“I don’t like you fighting” you said and Mat leaned in to give you a quick peck on the lips before smiling at you

“That’s why I don’t do it very often” he laughed

“I have to admit though,” you smirked, “seeing you fight like that? Made me feel... probably some way I shouldn’t have”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” you whispered, wrapping your arms around his neck and tangling your fingers in his hair, “absolutely primal.” You snickered before kissing him and he pulled you into his lap. Your lips attached themselves to his and they moved in tandem with Mat’s as his hands snaked their way down to your hips

“Your lips taste sweet tonight” he smiled and you laughed

“Do they not usually?”

“Just more so today I guess” you giggled at his response before moving your lips to kiss the sensitive skin behind his ear, hearing his moans as your hands began to roam his body. He pushed his fingers under the hem of your shirt, lifting the fabric slowly up your skin as your lips found his again; the feeling of his hands cupping your covered breasts leaving you wanting more of his touch. He seemed to read your mind by the way his hands found the clasp of your bra, unhooking it easily and letting his warm hands cusp your breasts once more while your hands pushed the fabric of his t-shirt quickly over his head so to not lose any time with his lips, caressing his body gently as your fingers traced the curves of his ab muscles. When he flinched suddenly, you stopped what you were doing and pulled away from the kiss

“What’s wrong?” you asked, panting slightly as your eyes bounced across his face

“Nothing, I’m fine” he dismissed his pain, leaning in to try to continue the kiss but you stopped him, pushing him back until you finally noticed the bruise on his ribs

“Oh my gosh...” you cooed, gently placing your fingers on the purple and green mark covering his skin, “why didn’t you say something?”

“It doesn’t hurt...” he lied and you scoffed

“Then why did you flinch?”

“Fine.. it hurts a little but not enough for me to stop this” he smiled as his hands crept across your skin. You looked at him for a second before returning his smile, his eyes following you as you leaned down to lay a soft kiss to his bruise

“That hurt?” you asked and he shook his head so you continued, stepping off of him so you could trace down his body easier, pushing down his shorts when you reached the elastic waistband. You teased him a little before standing up to push your own bottoms off, leaving you in only your underwear and you slowly straddled him once more; Mat’s lips trailing your chest as you lowered yourself onto him. Your tongue danced with his as you took his member in your hand to prepare him for your entrance and, as if your moans were your only language, you pushed him into you. He moaned at the feeling, wrapping his arms around your body and pulling his head to your breasts, nipping at your hardened peaks and you giggled at the sensation, riding his length slowly to make sure you weren’t causing him any pain

“You’re not gonna hurt me you know?” he laughed

“What?” you breathed, continuing to rock slowly up and down

“You can go faster” he whispered

“What? You got plans?” you joked as you stopped moving entirely

“Hey, come on!” he groaned

“What’s your rush, Matty?”

“Nothing... I just like going fast” he smirked before crashing his thrusts up so you would continue riding him

“Fuck, Mat!” you screamed, “slow down!” He leaned in to kiss your neck as your panting overtook the sounds in the room

“Shit babe,” he cursed, “you look so good, fucking me like this.” You wanted to speak, to match his dirty talk, but it was like the wind had been knocked out of you and all you could do was whine.

“Hmm” you hummed pathetically, but it was about all the sound you could muster before you dropped your head to his shoulder as his fingers dug into your hip bones to push himself deeper into your core

“Fuck” he moaned

“Mat...” you breathed, kissing up his neck, your body beginning to shake

“Cum for me,” he growled, “cum on my dick, baby.” His words were quick to make you come undone, biting his shoulder to muffle the sounds slightly and Mat laughed

“Just don’t move for a second” you heaved, your chest rising and falling harshly against his

“I love fucking you on the couch” he said, laughing at the shocked look on your face, “I love fucking you...”

“Gee, thanks” you rolled your eyes before finally climbing off him and grabbing the blanket he’d had strewn across the back of the couch to wrap yourself up

“I love you” he finally said, a honey smoothness to his words, before kissing the crown of your head

“I love you, too,” you smiled to yourself before you decided to tease him a little, “but I like fucking you more”

“Oh so you can say it but I can’t?”

“You’re a good fuck, Barzal, what can I say?” He poked your sides and you jerked your body straight, laughing uncontrollably until Mat was hovering over you. You found yourself staring up at him, pressing gently at his bruised eye before he kissed you gently, “I really did hate seeing you in that fight. I hated opening the door and seeing you like this...”

“I know, baby” he whispered, pressing a kiss to your temple as your hands settled on his chest

“The sex was great though...”

“Maybe I should get into fist fights more often?” he joked but you could only scowl at him

“Please, don’t.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t,” he smiled, “but I can’t promise I won’t end up with any more bruises.”

“Fine. Just.. try not to okay?”

“I’ll do my best.”

#Mat Barzal #Mat Barzal fic #Mat Barzal imagine #Mat Barzal one shot #masterlist #the other masterlist #hockey #nhl #new york islanders #nyi #whumper?#i think i'm more of a caretaker #like i don't like causing pain #but seeing someone in pain after a fight makes me want to help them

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seiin-translations · 4 years ago

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2.43 S1 Chapter 1.8 - Young Yunichika

8. CONTINUE GAME?

Translation Notes

1. This is just for clarification but Yuni’s just calling this old man “grandpa” as an endearment

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“My my, I see, Itoko-chan…Okay, take care. Ah, Yuni? It’s already time to go? Make sure you don’t forget anything. Today—”

While his mother was on the phone with someone, he run out of the house without saying goodbye and straddled his bike with a force almost like that of a fugitive.

What was she going to say after ‘today’? “Today, do your best as well?” “Today, I’ll go cheer you on as well?” I don’t want to hear either of those sentences.

July 27. Today was the second day of the tournament where four matches, consisting of two semifinals, the playoffs for third place and the finals, would be taking place. The first semifinal match started at nine-thirty. They planned to gather at Monshiro Station and go to Suzumu City together by train to arrive at the venue.

He stood on his bike as he pedaled on the road to the station. However, the further he got away from home, the more his pedaling speed slowed, and he started to wobble left and right before finally zigzagging uselessly across the full width of the road.

A horn sounded. When he looked back, he saw a small tractor approaching from behind.

“Oh, if it isn’t Bon. Be careful!”

An old man wearing a straw hat over the scarf that covered his head stared closely at him with sullen eyes from the driver’s seat and said in a slow, hoarse voice.

“Sorry, grandpa!” (1)

He brought his bike close to the guardrail and the tractor overtook him at a sluggish speed. The paint on the guardrail had mostly peeled off and some spots were obviously bent, as the elderly scraped against them in their agricultural vehicles. It made one nervous about whether or not they were starting to lose their driving skills.

The road that continued straight ahead was surrounded by, as far as the eye could see, paddy fields, paddy fields, paddy fields. The verdant sea of rice swayed in the summer breeze.

How about I ride my bike straight into a paddy and twist my ankle? An injury or something where I can’t walk today because it hurts too bad but it’s completely healed tomorrow, where it’s just the right amount and not exaggerated…He was in such a negative mood that thoughts like those passed through his mind. He quite honestly wished that he could be barred from the game for some unavoidable reason rather than possibly showing such unsightly behavior like yesterday.

Because…if we have Haijima, then we can probably win anyways even if you stand scarecrows in the other positions.

He didn’t speak a word to Haijima after the match yesterday. Other than the advisor, none of the team members attempted to approach Haijima, only glancing at him like they were looking at a grotesque thing disguised as a person. He could see a clear gulf emerging between Haijima and themselves. The differences in their experience and ability as well as their language existed from the beginning, but usually they were hidden like gutters buried in the snow. As soon as they got on top of one by some momentum and put their weight on it, they lost balance and were reminded of its existence along with the pain.

I don’t feel like I can be in a match with him today. I don’t wanna go…That was all he could think about as he meandered around on his bike again. He even felt a slight stomach ache. I haven’t had something I wanted to avoid so badly it made my stomach hurt since early elementary school. Better yet, if I end up having appendicitis, then it’ll be that “unavoidable reason” thing…

Seeing a motorcycle approach from ahead, he let out a “Hmm?” and stopped zigzagging around. The motorcycle seemed to have noticed him as well, and it decelerated to a stop. Kuroba also stopped his bike and put his foot on the ground.

“Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve seen your face.”

It was Yorimichi, looking like a textbook example of a summertime delinquent with his helmet with worn-out paint, Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. In the summer of his third-year of high school, he had completely developed the presence that came with age and experience. With his tanned face, perhaps from going to the sea, and stubble, he didn’t look like a high schooler no matter how you look at it.

“Yori-chan…”

Not knowing what attitude to take, he had a hopelessly half-hearted look on his face. They barely talked since March, and it had been about a month since he saw his face.

“You’re not tanned at all, eh. Ain’t it summer vacation?”

“Ah, yeah, all I’ve been doing is practicing in the gym, so I’ve got no time to tan.”

“Volleyball’s a pasty sport, eh. Oh, I thought you had a game today. Mm? Didn’t they say it was yesterday?”

“The game was, uh, yesterday, but…Anyways, why are you coming from the station?” The fact that he came from the opposite direction of his house was questionable, but it was also unusual for Yorimichi to be active this early in the morning.

“I’ve been staying at a friend’s place, but I got called back in the morning. They said Itoko got hurt yesterday?”

“Huh…I didn’t hear anything about that? You’re kidding, right? She came to cheer us on yesterday too…”

Come to think of it, didn’t his mother mention Itoko’s name on the phone earlier? He didn’t pay attention to it at the time because he wanted to get out of the house before anyone said anything, but was that a call with Itoko’s mother?

“How did she get hurt? Is it bad?”

“Didn’t hear the details, but apparently they didn’t call the ambulance, so it probably wasn’t a big deal. You can come over if you’re worried? Oh, don’t you have practice now?”

“Huh? Aah…”

Making a vague reply, he looked at the enamel bag on his back. He could have said, “We won yesterday, so we have another game today,” but he was at a loss for an answer for some reason.

“What’s wrong? If you’re coming, it’s faster to leave your bike and ride on this.”

Yorimichi gestured to the tandem seat of Komashi-gou with his chin.

He promised to Haijima before spring break that he would refrain from hanging out with Yorimichi.

Riding tandem on a motorcycle would be out of the question for him. It’ll be a problem for the team if we got into an accident—

The bubbles of antagonism floated up from the bog that had accumulated in the bottom of his heart.

In the end, he’s playing volleyball for himself alone. Why do I need to faithfully keep a promise with someone like that?

��﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Yesterday morning, when she was riding her bike to the station, triumphantly holding up that “Spread your wings! Kuroba UNIVERSE!” flag that she had spent all night completing, the flag got caught in the wind and she lost her balance. Of course it would be dangerous to pedal your bike with something like that fluttering around. There was a fool who had already fell yesterday just when Kuroba was thinking “I wanna get stuck in a rice paddy and twist my ankle.” At night, the swelling had gotten worse, and his aunt panicked so much that she called Yorimichi home, but as it turned out, it was just a sprain.

There were literal twists and turns before they heard that whole story. Because when they went to Yorimichi’s house, they found a note that said, “I’m going to the clinic,” so they immediately rode there on the motorcycle, and when they got to the clinic, they were told that she must be at the orthopedic clinic because she hadn’t come there, and when they went to the orthopedic clinic, they were told that she had just left, so they ended up going back home again and was able to meet up with Itoko and the others. They had pointlessly gone around town.

Itoko was sitting on the tatami chair in the first floor living room, stretching out her bandaged right foot out on the tatami. In the alcove behind her, the “Spread your wings! Kuroba UNIVERSE!” was displayed like a scroll of appreciation. Kuroba’s face stiffened, and he started to take down the flag.

“Ah, what are you doing to my hard work!”

“Are you dumb? If you hadn’t spent your time on this and came to the first round, you wouldn’t have fell, and the game would have been more fun.”

“You’re talking like the second round wasn’t fun.”

“Well, that’s, you know…”

He trailed off weakly and averted his gaze. The phone in the hallway started ringing. “Onii-chan, get the phone!” His aunt’s voice came from the kitchen. A door on the second floor slammed open, and then Yorimichi’s rough footsteps descended. “Don’t push me around, old hag. Going crazy and calling me back just for an ankle sprain.” “It’s your fault for wandering around right after summer vacation and not coming home at all.” In this house, the mother who called the oldest son “Onii-chan” and the little sister called him “Yorimichi” without any honorifics.

He sat in seiza on the edge of the tatami, crammed the flag behind his butt, and clenched his fists on top of his lap.

“…Was it fun? Watching it.”

This was the first time he was asking someone about their thoughts on yesterday’s game. He didn’t want to be talked about at home, so he avoided as much contact with his family as possible last night and this morning.

“You want to talk about Haijima, don’t you, Yuni. I don’t know anything about volleyball, but that kid looked really out of place yesterday. I was having a little trouble cheering you guys on.”

“Right? There’s something wrong with that guy, don’t you think? Volleyball’s something you play with a team. I know he’s super good, but he’s fatally bad at reading the room.”

Feeling as though he got what he wanted, Kuroba subconsciously gathered strength and put his weight on his knees. However, Itoko, with a somewhat indifferent look on her face, tilted her head to the side.

“Read the room, huh… How did you want him to read it? Did you want him to cut corners to suit you guys’ level, then lose the game and laugh like idiots together about what a shame it was?”

“It’s, it’s not like that…”

The Haijima who cut corners to match the level of others as well as the Haijima who laughed like an idiot when they lost were both creatures who he found creepy and didn’t want approaching him in their own right. That’s not what I meant, but there are probably other ways to do it…What other ways? Did I think it was natural for Haijima to come up with something I couldn’t think of? Honestly, was there anything else Haijima, who only has talent in volleyball, could have done in that situation…?

“That’s a girl thing.”

“What?”

He darted her eyes about and asked back. Maybe her foot was aching or something, because Itoko bent forward and languidly rubbed her ankle.

“Girls usually do things like matching to everyone’s pace so they won’t stand out, or being modest by saying they have no confidence in themselves for things they actually are confident in. I do it too. But boys don’t play those kinds of superficial games, it’s just, like, instinct I guess? …I thought you could understand each other, but I guess that was just my own ideals... Yuni, when you’re doing club activities, you look like you’re having so much fun, and I was admiring you guys by myself and getting so excited, thinking that boys are so incredible, and I was so enthusiastic that I even made that flag, but now I’m so embarrassed I wanna die… Thank goodness it’s summer vacation… I wouldn’t be able to go to school…”

Her face, which was turned downwards like she wanted to sink into her knees, was bright red.

If only he had done a good enough job at yesterday’s second round that would let Itoko proudly fly her flag and freely cheer them on, she would not be so embarrassed like she was now. He felt sorry and had no words words to say to her. It wasn’t Haijima’s fault that the atmosphere of the match went off the rails. He was painfully aware that it was his own pathetic predicament that caused Haijima to play like that.

“Hmm? Why do you guys look so down? Something happen?”

Yorimichi’s large frame appeared at the entrance to the living room. If he wasn’t careful, he’d scrape his head against the lintel, so he bent down slightly while holding up the phone handset.

“It’s getting pretty funny. All our relatives cleaning out the ditch right now. Our family phone tree is working pretty well.”

“Cleaning out the ditch? Did something fall in?”

“Yeah, apparently the Bon of the head house fell in,” he said while grinning like a brat who had just thought of a prank. Itoko cheekily pointed at a stunned Kuroba and said, “You’ve been sleep talking since morning. If you want the head house’s Bon, he’s right here.” She was thoroughly cruel to Yorimichi, a complete change from her meek and gentle attitude.

“You abandoned your bike at the paddy fields.”

“I left it…but I didn’t let it fall into the fields. How old do you think I am?” It was a path that only acquaintances took anyways, so there was no chance of a bike thief. And so he left his bike on the roadside where he met Yorimichi, thinking he could go and get it later.

“Your club advisor called you at home. You have a match today? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“…Ah.”

The stories finally connected. Even though he had left home a long time ago, he didn’t show up at the meeting place, his bike was abandoned on the way there, the only witness was his senile but worried relative, and there was nothing but rice paddies around… Though because he wasn’t a kindergartener by any count, they must have thought it was weird for a third year middle school boy to get caught in them.

Looking at the clock on the wall, it was past nine-twenty-five. The match started at—nine-thirty.

“Yuni…”

Itoko’s voice lowered. Her anger-filled gaze stung the side of his face.

“I can’t believe this, but are you skipping your match? No wonder you’re so relaxed…I can’t believe this. You’re the worst.”

Kuroba could only groan. He didn’t fall into a rice paddy or had appendicitis, but luckily, if he didn’t feel like he had an “unavoidable reason,” now he did.

“Please go immediately.”

“You, you say that, but it’s not like I’ll make it in time since it’s in five minutes, and since Haijima’s there…”

Itoko stood up indignantly, startling both him and Yorimichi. “O-oi, your foot.” Without even trying to protect her sprained ankle, she grabbed Kuroba’s bag and lifted it over her head with the look of a demon.

“Men are always making all kinds of excuses…”

“Oi?”

Yorimichi ducked just in time as a bag flew over his head into the hallway.

***

When he approached the spot where he left his bike, he saw minitrucks parked parallel to the shoulder of the road. His relatives, with rakes and sticks in their hands, were standing in the rice paddies, scratching around in the mud with desperate looks on their faces. The mood there was like they had decided that the Bon of the head house was going to rise up as a drowned body. In the shadow of Yorimichi’s back, Kuroba pulled his helmet low over his eyes and shrank his body.

Thanks to the group of trucks forming a shield, they could pass by without being noticed. Right when he breathed a sigh of relief, the Komashi-gou slowed down and his nose bumped into Yorimichi’s back.

“Yo-Yori-chan?”

With Kuroba clinging to his back, Yorimichi turned around and, unbelievably, shouted loudly.

“Everyone, I’m taking Bon’s bike back to the main house!”

“Eh…oh, Bon! You’re okay!”

“What!?”

Their relatives all raised their faces in astonishment. Yorimichi laughed at them mockingly and started taking off at full throttle. Kuroba, who almost got thrown off, clung to Yorimichi’s torso, but didn’t feel like he was alive anyhow.

“W-w-what will we do if they get mad at us!? W-what will happen to me if I go home today…?”

I’m not in a position to complain because I brought it all onto myself with my actions, but…I wanna leave home and escape somewhere…

The Komashi-gou could bring him all the way to the competition venue, but he was just about to catch the train to the city, so he decided to get dropped off at the station. He wasn’t sure if he could make it to the venue at ten-thirty. It had been one hour since the start time for the semifinals��if it got carried over into a third set, then he might be able to make it just in time, but they probably wouldn’t let him get out there without warming up. If they won, they would be in the finals, and even if they lost, there was still a chance he could play in the third-place deciders. I’ll probably have to kneel down on the ground at least. Apologizing to Sensei, and everyone on the team, and Haijima…is aggravating, but…

“…Hey, Yori-chan…do you remember talking about how the guys from Haijima’s old school were bashing him online?”

He asked as his face got hit by Yorimichi’s Hawaiian shirt that was filling with the wind.

“Hmm? Yeah.”

He could hear the indifferent response from between the noisy clattering and thumping sounds that hit his ears. Even Yorimichi himself, who had used that information to rile up Haijima, scorned it as a petty way to do things. Would I be hated if I confessed…? But the feeling of a foreign object being stuck in his throat was agonizing, and he couldn’t help but spit it out.

“I did the same thing last night…”

Last night, he had phone conversations with several of his teammates. Some calls came from them and some came from himself. “That definitely puts me off.” “It feels like you’re playing the match alone when he does that.” There was something comforting about complaining to each other in that way. He felt comforted in being able to confirm that it wasn’t that he was the only one who was intolerant or narrow-minded, and that everyone felt the same. Perhaps the same group psychology that was at work in the people who posted bad things about Haijima online was at the root of it. When everyone shared their frustrations, it made them feel a little better.

It would make Itoko disappointed, but—the invigorating community of men who could “understand each other like it was natural instinct” that she admired only existed in sports manga or battle manga.

The wind was so loud that he didn’t know if Yorimichi responded or not. Maybe he was trying to make himself feel better by thinking that he had repented by telling Yorimichi. That made him feel even more cowardly, and Kuroba couldn’t say it a second time.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

When Kuroba came running at ten-twenty-five, the semifinals were over a long time ago. He couldn’t believe it when he heard that they lost the match in straight sets in less than forty minutes of match time.

“But we have Haijima! Like yesterday…”

“Are you an idiot?” His advisor flatly brushed him aside. “It’s true that we’re a team based around Haijima, but it’s not like we can win with him alone. There’s a rule in volleyball that one person can’t touch the ball twice in a row, right? Don’t you know that? Want me to lend you the rulebook?”

Kuroba sullenly hung his head. It was Haijima who did that off-putting play that could have overturned the base premise of volleyball yesterday…

“Didn’t you talk to Haijima yesterday, good grief…Haijima said that yesterday’s high-handed way of doing things was like a surprise attack, and that he knew what he was doing. He said that no matter how you look at it, it won’t work today. He said that as long you could recover, we could win…”

“Haijima did…?”

“A guy like that acts calm and composed, even if you weren’t here, but…it looks like that happened in the middle of the first set. I had a feeling something was wrong, but his face never changed even once…Oh, oh, Haijima, you ready to go?”

He tensed up at the advisor’s voice, a conditioned reflex.

Haijima appeared slowly from the back of the dim hallway. He was dressed in the Monshiro Middle School jersey pants and a white T-shirt, his enamel bag was slung over his shoulder, and he must have just washed his hair, since his bangs were wet. The middle finger of his left hand was lightly pressed against his side with his ring finger supporting it, and there was tape winded around it.

It seemed that he had dislocated his left hand’s middle finger.

Because Monshiro, which had an injured player in the semifinals, didn’t have enough reserve members, they withdrew from the third-place deciders. In spite of getting fourth place in the prefecturals, an outstanding achievement that would be carved into the history of Monshiro Middle School’s athletic clubs, it ended in a way they couldn’t be proud of at all. At the same time Kuroba arrived, the advisor had dismissed the club members on site and was about to accompany Haijima to the hospital.

They could have just waited for Kuroba to arrive until just before the start of the third-place deciders. However, the advisor decided to withdraw from the game as soon as possible, because he concluded that even if Kuroba was able to make it and the team had enough members, they wouldn’t be able to play a game worthy of the third-place deciders with Haijima in a non-functioning state. They could do the semifinals without Kuroba, but the team was fundamentally unsustainable without Haijima.

Haijima raised his gaze that was tending slightly downwards. As soon as he recognized Kuroba, his narrow eyes widened a little. His lips opened thinly as he was about to assemble some words. Kuroba clenched his teeth, wondering if he was going to punch him.

However, Haijima only gave a small sigh, like he was exhausted, and then cast down his eyes again. …His eyes are red? Don’t tell me he was crying?

“…What. So you’re alive…”

He spat out in a low voice. He sounded a bit nasal. Dislocations were an integral part of volleyball, something Kuroba had yet to experience, but he had heard that the pain was enough to make one cry. Or was he frustrated that he lost? He wondered if he had ever cried in frustration before. He didn’t think so. …He felt somewhat guilty that he couldn’t understand a single thing about Haijima’s pain.

“When did I die?”

Even though he should have first apologized for skipping the game, but he couldn’t get the word “Sorry” out. He responded jokingly in spite of himself, but got no reaction. Haijima silently walked past the advisor and ignored his confused voice calling out to his back with “Haijima, that’s not the way to the taxi.” He passed Kuroba without making eye contact with him.

Their shoulders brushed. It was Haijima, not Kuroba, who staggered.

The March incident suddenly flashed across his mind. It vividly reminded him of when Haijima became like a lifeless doll that had its important circuits fried after he was knocked down by Yorimichi—

Oh…

The signs matched up in his head, and he was aghast at himself for making such a stupid joke. For Haijima, the life or death of his teammate wasn’t something he could joke about. It must have been engraved into him as a trauma. He didn’t know the details, but apparently someone on his team attempted suicide because of Haijima.

Don’t tell me he was seriously afraid of that while I was reluctantly tossing around reasons to skip…

“Hai…”

When he suddenly turned back at Haijima’s leaving back, he heard his voice.

“I know what your ‘judgement’ of me is. It’s enough…”

Haijima’s voice was hoarse, so difficult to hear that it was hard to believe it came from him.

He couldn’t come up with anything to say right away. He should have run after him, took his arm and said “You’re wrong,” but his feet were stuck to the ground and he couldn’t move.

Even if he tried to deny it, he actually did them. The mean and cowardly act of calling around and badmouthing him behind his back. The childish act of skipping because he didn’t want to be in a match with him. While coolly declaring that “I’ll make up my own judgement about you,” he ended up making Haijima feel the same way he had in his previous school.

Even though he wasn’t wearing headphones like when he first transferred, there was a hard shell being put around his back, and he couldn’t find a gap to call out to him through. Ah…why am I even recalling this now? Haijima hasn’t brought that bag with his old school’s emblem on it since who-knows-when.

We’re going backwards.

…No way, it’s over? That’s it? It was only then that he realized that there would be no more opportunities to recover. Why hadn’t I thought of that until now? The third-year middle school summer tournament only comes once. It’s our first and last tournament. Why didn’t I value each minute and second and engrave them into my heart? We’re just going to end this with this letdown of an ending where we withdrew from the third-place deciders—.

He felt like time was suddenly zipping by at a dizzying speed, and he stepped on the ground with both feet to keep from falling.

I don’t want it to end here.

I still—still want to play volleyball with Haijima.

Previous || Index || Next

#2.43: Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu #2.43 book 1 #2.43 translation

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himbeaux-on-ice · 4 years ago

Note

Lehner and Flower are both great goalies, and I'm glad they want to try to use them as a tandem rather than a Starter v Backup. However I will say I only pay attention to VGK due to Flower and like I think he deserves the world but like so does any and every goalie imo. So like I don't know whats going in the VGK fanbase but like treat them nicely guys both of them 💜💜💜

(this turned into a whole-ass essay bc I got on a roll with getting this take off my chest lmao, thank you for your ask and I’m so sorry lol)

It just is so completely bizarre to me that every time Flower is not in net for one (1) game, there is a certain set of Vegas fandom that views this as some kind of conspiracy/egregious slight against him. Like. Guys. He cannot play every game! As somebody who was pretty much ready to cry tears of relief when Montreal finally got Carey Price a solid dependable backup this year, believe me, you do not want him to play every game! It’s not sustainable.

The man had maybe 2-3 games off over a six week stretch because Lehner was injured, and yet there were people who were upset that he was on the bench on Friday. They viewed it as if DeBoer was unfairly “punishing” Fleury for letting in a few more goals than usual in Wednesday’s game against San José (which they WON)... rather than, uh, letting the 36-year-old league vet who just played two solid months of Vezina-worthy back-to-back-to-back hockey get some rest now that your other NHL-caliber goalie is back?? It was just so bizarre. And the venom on some of the comments, it totally threw me!

Like. Vegas fans. Listen. I am Montreal fan whose favourite player in the WHOLE LEAGUE is Carey Price, the magic superstar goalie who the current iteration of that team was built around instead of a star forward or a star defenceman. I understand your goalie being the face of the franchise, I understand wanting to turn on any game and get to see him play, and being a little disappointed when he doesn’t. I know exactly where you are coming from.

What I don’t understand, and what totally baffles me, is this bizarre alternate universe that has been concocted in some fans’ minds where this franchise is supposedly out to sabotage and bully their incredibly popular, and right now incredibly successful, star goalie, just because he’s not given 82 (or in this case 56) starts in a season.

(Rest of my thoughts under the cut to be merciful to the dashboard lol)

I dunno, it feels like maybe too many people took that ridiculous sword painting stunt last year at face value? I came into caring about this team just a few games before that happened, and maybe that is why my perspective on all of this is so different from fans who came into this franchise at the beginning when Flower was the crown jewel of it or who followed him here from Pittsburgh. When I showed up, Lehner was starting playoff games and Fleury was seemingly sulking about it. It actually took me a while to come around to Flower as a player because of it, because that was not a flattering first impression!

Listen, I’ve never believed that an agent would do that without having the client’s blessing, and I’ve never thought it was anything other than poorly thought-out and more than a bit immature. I also believe you can be a nice, good person, and still do asshat things sometimes, which is what I think allowing his agent to do that was. I understand why he was mad to not be starting, but I also understand that in the playoffs you don’t have time to hand out starts just to be nice, and at that time, Lehner was giving the performance they needed to get wins. Nothing personal, just business. But people have taken it very personally, and bought the narrative from that painting completely.

This year, circumstance has handed Fleury an unexpected chance to take the spotlight as a full-time starter, and he has had an incredible, spectacular bounce-back season which has put him in the Vezina conversation in what, his sixteenth, seventeenth season in the league? Hooray! You love to see a story like that and I am genuinely pulling for him to win that damn trophy, dammit! Buuut I’ve also been worrying with all these starts, how long before he burns out and can’t keep pace with standing on his head and working miracles for 60 minutes every second night? Is it good for a young developing goalie in Oskar Dansk to be thrown into all of this every time Flower needs a night off? What happens to the team if he gets injured (which increases in likelihood the more games he plays)? Etc etc

Now, I’m relieved, because the other goalie, who put himself pretty damn high up in the Vezina conversation last year, is healthy and ready to start games again. And that means Vegas, lucky lucky Vegas, should (if Lehner is still up to form after his time out) have TWO excellent goalies to swap in and out of net every night. Nice!!

No longer do the other teams in the division get to hope and pray for “maybe it will be the rookie in net tonight...” Nope. It’s going to be one of two excellent NHL goalies, both well-rested because they’re trading nights, ready to ruin that other team’s day. Do you know how many other franchises would kill for that right now? Leafs fans go to sleep at night and dream wistful dreams of having your goalie situation.

If it turns out Lehner isn’t where he used to be after the concussion, and it becomes clear that there’s a marked performance difference between the two of them, then yeah, it might make sense to give Flower a majority of starts down the road. But as it stands right now, Lehner won his first game back, and now that he is healthy his showing last year has more than earned the benefit of the doubt for a tandem situation.

Nobody who looks at his numbers is going to perma-bench a goalie who is giving the performance Flower is giving this year. He steals games, even when the team maybe isn’t helping him out as much as they could. You don’t have to worry about that. IMO, Vegas fans for now should really genuinely appreciate that he’s now going to get to rest up a bit more before the playoffs, and then the conversation can be had in May once we’ve seen them both perform about who gets the most starts when Vegas goes on their postseason run. Oh, to be spoiled for choice...

But like, the anti-Flower conspiracy isn’t real, guys. It’s just not. He’s the face of your franchise. He is playing amazing. If there was doubt about his future with the team before, he has spent the last six weeks drop-kicking (poke-checking?) it into outer space. And in doing so he has more than earned the chance to catch his breath, sit on the bench and be a well-padded spectator for a few games out of every handful. His play will be better for it.

And knowing Flower? He’ll still have a big ol smile on his face the entire time. 😁

#long post #this is SO long kfdksjaljdka I’m sorry everyone #asks #reavenedges-lies #I’m once again not gonna tag for teams or players but you’re all fine to reblog this if you want to #if this turns into a bunch of angry messages I *will* turn anon off tho

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ariahearthockey · 5 years ago

Text

Love Me, If You Will - Chapter 6

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Fandom: Men’s Hockey RPF

Pairing: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin

Tags: 2017 NHL Playoffs, Concussion, Memory Loss, Medical Inaccuracies, Unexplained Medical Conditions, Alternate Reality, Time Travel (sort of), Pining, Fluff, Porn With Feelings, Happy Ending (sort of)

Soundtrack: Dancing On My Own - Calum Scott

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Chapter 6

As days turn to weeks, the line between his memory and his reality has began to blur into one big dream. He has played every game after missing one, and he played them with the same tenacity just as before. Game five and six with the Caps were brutal, and even though he already knew, it still didn't take the sting out when they lost. However, the sting kind of faded away when Flower shut the front door in game seven and led them to the East Conference final.

It wasn't like Sidney was surprised by it or anything, because it was already in his head. He kept them mostly to himself though and only hinted vaguely when Geno was curious enough to ask. Sometimes it felt like he was cheating, but no matter how much he thought he knew, he wasn't capable to change anything that happened on the ice. So, in a way it felt like he was just a spectator reliving the playoff for the second time.

At the same time, something new and not hockey related is also happening in his life. It is exciting as much as it is frustrating, but he has never felt more alive. Before all these madness started, he has sometimes allowed himself to fantasize about having a family of his own. White picket fence, a golden retriever named 'Pucky' and a bunch of kids whom he can't get enough of. But as crazy and demanding as his career is, it all seemed pretty out of reach, even when the lack of someone who wants to have all of that with him doesn't put a damper on things.

But it is funny how the universe works sometimes. Somehow he finds himself living in the ultimate fantasy without remembering how he got there.

For one, he has the sweetest little girl that has him wrapped around her little finger the first time they spoke. It was during one of their off days when they called Sidney's parents, whom were temporarily taking care of the little one during the post season. He recalls being so damn nervous that he kept zoning out on what his mother was saying, and strained his ear to listen to the small voice that was mumbling adorably in the background. His mother let out a fond sigh before she finally placed the phone to her granddaughter's ear and urged her to speak.

No one can blame Sidney for wanting to make a good impression on his own daughter. He already feels guilty for not remembering her, and he doesn't want her to sense that something is wrong with him. So, understandingly, he over thinks about how he should act or what he should say to her just so he won't feel foreign to her as she would be to him, but as soon as he hears her squealing 'daddee, daddee!' quite excitedly in his ear, all his nerves are gone on an instant.

And then there is Geno, his husband of five years and fiancé a year before that and boyfriend of two years before that.

And Sidney has no idea what to make of Geno.

To sum it all up, Geno is everything and nothing Sidney has ever expected him to be. There is a side to Geno which Sidney is very well acquainted with—the side which racks up points on the ice like it is nothing, does some hasty dumb shit when he is provoked and comically yells back and forth with Phil when they get frustrated during game time. Sidney is awfully familiar with that side and he has no problem dealing with that.

However, he is woefully under prepared when the husband side of Geno comes up. For one, Geno is very touchy whenever Sidney is around. In other words, he loves to touch Sidney, like, a lot. It is not necessarily a bad thing in Sidney's opinion, if only those lingering touches are not becoming a teasing nuisance that is fucking driving him up the wall.

Sometimes when they are waiting in line to pay for their groceries, Geno would casually slides his hand into Sidney's back pocket and squeezes his ass lightly. And then there are a few occasions when they are driving, Geno would take Sidney's hand in his own, resting them on Geno's thigh before he starts to trace his calloused finger into Sidney's palm and the back of his hand. And one that is more intimate than the others is when Geno joins him in their bathroom, with him crowding Sidney from behind while Sidney is at the sink. Their gaze would connect in the mirror for a short, meaningful moment before Geno hooks his chin over Sidney's shoulder, and they would each brush their teeth in silence. All those little interactions seem innocent enough, and it may have been really nice if only they don't leave Sidney feeling hugely frustrated.

Ever since their almost-incident before game four, Sidney has been expecting Geno to jump him the first chance he gets. Those lingering touches seems promising at first, but it never advanced anything further than that, and it both baffles and infuriates Sidney to no end. Sidney is craving the intimacy that he had a brief taste of, his body is itching for it, but nothing is happening the way he wants to. He is yearning for the hard press of Geno's body on his and those hot, wet kisses that makes his knees go weak. He wants Geno to slam him against the wall and devour him like his last plate of piroshki. But the most he has gotten from Geno—other than those menacing touches—is a little peck here and there and some warm cuddling.

And when he wakes up one night to Geno pressed warmly against his back, he thinks the cock tease is finally coming to an end. Geno is gliding his fingers along Sidney's arm, so soft they almost tickle. The gesture is gentle and unhurried, like it is meant to lull someone back to sleep, but for the intimacy-starved Sidney, it is the most alluring things he has ever felt in weeks. He closes his eyes and surrenders himself into the sweet assault of Geno's touch, and lets out a shuddering breath when Geno plants a feather-light kiss onto the back of his neck. His dick twitches at that and he feels himself getting hotter by the second. And when Geno shifts to get more comfortable behind him, Sidney's throat goes dry. There is no mistaking the hard bulge poking at the small of his back, and it takes every ounce of Sidney's control to stay in absolute stillness, just so he won't startle away whatever that is going on between them.

And then Geno's hand gets more adventurous. Sidney waits with bated breath when the touch trickle from his biceps down to his side, and slowly dragging the warmth to the jut of his hip bone. Sidney's boxer briefs has been tugged low when he is sleeping and he has never been happier to know that Geno is taking full advantage of that. He leans back a little against Geno's chest, and spreads his thighs as subtly as he can manage, at the same time hoping for Geno to slip his hand towards where Sidney desperate needs him to. The anticipation is killing him, and he feels a little light-headed from the sheer amount of time he has held his breath. But then he relents, his body is charged with electricity when Geno starts drawing invisible patterns at the patch of skin very near to his crotch, separated only by the elastics of his sweats. He is miles deep in the cloud of his own pleasure, suffocatingly good before he feels it dissipating, and then gone completely.

He is immediately shocked back to earth and his eyes shoot wide. He counts the seconds before he feels the bed dip behind him, followed by the soft pitter-pattering on their hardwood floor and the click of the light switch. Sidney turns around to see lights coming from their ensuite bathroom, with the door slightly ajar. He tries to listen in from where he is, and it is pin-drop quiet for a moment before he hears a rustling sound followed by a light thud, and then the unmistakable sound of someone jerking off. His mind is immediately assaulted by the image of Geno touching himself. The moans are coming in low and throaty, and it comes in tandem with the image in Sidney's head, and all hell breaks loose.

Sidney springs up on the bed, mind reeling with his unimaginable predicament. Here he is, well and awake and horny as hell. His weeks of accumulated frustration is reaching its boiling point and it is bubbling over the brim. He doesn't think Geno is capable of being cruel like that, riling him up and then abandoning him to his own demise. Geno should know that he is a perfectly willing participant with a perfectly healthy libido, and it is ten levels of unacceptable for Geno to outright rob him of the attention that he deserves. And then Geno goes to take care of himself in the bathroom? No can do.

Sidney crosses the room in several big strides and swings the door wide open. He is all ready to let Geno know how upset he has been, ready to argue that he too has a perfectly functional pair of hands that can make Geno come just the same, if not more. However, he finds himself stuck in motion, his mind blank and there is not much he can do other than staring ahead with his jaw on the floor.

It feels like he is watching a scene out of his own personal wet dream. Geno is leaning over the sink, one hand perched on the marble top and the other a blur around his hardened dick. His chin rests against his flushed chest, totally lost in the chase of his own high, and Sidney swallows hard when Geno lets out a low, throaty groan. It is hypnotising and hot as fuck to see Geno pleasuring himself in quick, hard strokes, and Sidney can't help but presses the heel of his palm onto his own erection, tenting uncomfortably in his sweats.

He hears a guttural moan reverberates into the room before he registers it as his own, and Geno's eyes fly open in surprise. If he is embarrassed for getting caught jerking off on his own, it doesn't show in his face. He just halts his hand but makes no move to shield himself from Sidney whatsoever. Sidney ought to feel annoyed for the lack of scrambling or something of the sort, but he can't help but be more turned on by that confidence. Geno stares at Sidney with hazy, bedroom eyes, and gives his dick a few cursory strokes before he lets out a breath in a huff.

"Sid," Geno starts, his voice noticeably low and husky. "Sorry I'm wake you, I'm try to be quiet but," He continues a little sheepishly, but Sidney isn't paying a lot of attention to what Geno has to say, really. His eyes are stuck on the throbbing length in Geno's big hand, and it is reddened and slick with precome and looks so incredibly mouth-watering, he just want to drop onto his knees and just lick.

"I—I was already awake when you uh—when you were groping me." Sidney mutters with his eyes still locked on Geno's dick, and by the way his precome is dripping down the side, Sidney can tell that Geno is almost near the end if he hasn't interrupted earlier.

"Oh! I'm not know you awa—fuck, Sid. I'm sorry, I'm not mean to—" He tears his eyes away from Geno's dick when he hears Geno's rambling, trying to make sense of what he is saying. It takes a while though—since his mind is filled with nothing but lust at the moment—but he thinks he get what Geno is apologising for. He flicks his eyes back up and locks Geno in, before he takes a cautious, experimental step towards Geno.

"Why'd you leave, Geno?" He asks with another step forward. Seeing Geno being frazzled by his admission is making him feel braver.

"Fuck, I'm not plan to do. I'm think we just sleep, but Sid feel good, very pretty when sleep and I'm uh—"

"But why did you leave?" Sidney asks again, cutting Geno's rambling short. Geno looks at him with a confused daze on his face but it is quickly dissolved into something else. Sidney closes the remaining distance between them, until he is just a breath away from Geno.

"I—I'm not—"

"Geno," Sidney stops him again, his voice just short of a whisper. "Don't you want me?"

In that instance, Geno's demeanor changes entirely. His face crumbles in defeat, his eyes shut tight in a groan. And when he opens them again, they are looking at Sidney with so much want, it makes Sidney buckle under the weight of it.

The first touch of their lips together is more chaste that Sidney expects. It is tender and sweet, with soft press of lips and gentle swipes of tongue. But the tenderness escalates into something else quickly when Sidney opens his mouth in invitation, and Geno takes it without hesitation, deepening their kiss by thrusting his tongue pass Sidney's mouth. Sidney grabs Geno by the arms and pushes himself up on his tippy toes and gives his all into the kiss, sucking and licking and biting on Geno's lips. Sidney moans his delight when Geno slides his hand to his ass, the warmth from his palms seeping through the layers. Geno gives his ass a good hard knead before he smooths it towards the bottom and hauls Sidney up in a heave. Sidney lets out a surprised yelp and wraps his powerful thighs around Geno's waist. He pulls back to see Geno smirking at him (the gall of him!) but all humour is forgotten when Sidney clings himself tighter to Geno, and groans in unison when their hardened length press firmly together.

"Take me to bed, G." Sidney pants out against Geno's mouth, and grins when Geno complies without any question.

Sidney continues to kiss Geno and thoroughly enjoys the little punched out groan whenever he does something Geno likes, and it is not long before he is lowered onto the bed and he takes Geno with him without ever breaking their kiss. Geno is draped above him, his hips snugly in between Sidney's thighs and Sidney loves the weight of Geno pressing him into the bed.

"I'm miss you, Sid." Geno says as he comes up for breath, and ducks down to drop wet, opened-mouth kisses along his neck. "I'm miss you so much, baby."

Sidney's moan reverberates across their chests and he arches his back into a bow when Geno bites down hard near his pulse point. He curls his fingers into Geno's hair and tugs, feeling himself losing his mind quickly because Geno has started to rock his hips in a circular motion, grinding him into the bed.

"Hmm, Geno.."

Geno breaks away, and rears back just enough for him to bunch Sidney's shirt up and over his head.

"Fuck, baby. So pretty." Geno swears above him as he drags his big hands down Sidney's chest and stops to play with Sidney's nipples. He pinches the hard nubs in between his thumbs and index fingers, tugging and rolling them until they are red and tender. "I'm want you, baby. Fuck, I'm want you so fucking much."

Sidney moans as his body jerks upwards, and his hands clench and unclench on his sides. His moans turn into sobbing whimper when Geno replaces one hand with his mouth and sucks.

"Sid okay? Is too much?" Geno checks in after he has paid both the nipples an ample amount of attention.

"It's uh—it's a little sensitive but I like it."

Geno's smirks at the admission, like he is pleased to hear it and drops to kiss a long line down Sidney's sternum. "Sid still same, like when I'm make little pain."

Sidney feels his blush rushes up to his cheeks, because he does like his pleasure with a little pain on the side. This little kink of his is far from uncommon but it is one that very few knew about. It is not like he is ashamed of it but he is used to taking whatever his partner is willing to give, and hardly asks for anything he wants. But he can't deny the convenience that his husband not only knew about it, but seems to take pleasure from giving it to him.

He lets out a dry gasp when Geno sucks on the skin near his ribs, and his hands flies up to tug at Geno's hair again as Geno kisses lower and lower until he comes dangerously near Sidney's dick.

"Hhmm, Geno, please.." Sidney pleads in broken voice and he tilts his head up to see Geno looking back at him with a sly grin, like he is about to do something filthy to Sidney.

Sidney watches as Geno hooks his fingers under the waist band and pulls his sweats and briefs down smoothly. His dick bobs out before it rests on his lower abdomen, precome smears messily on his skin there. Geno kisses Sidney's inner thigh and locks him into an intense staring match, then flattens his tongue on the underside of Sidney's balls and drags it up until the dripping tip, and licks the precome off the slit.

"Oh, fuck.." Sidney feels his body shakes with the sudden influx of endorphins and almost crashes over by how good Geno's tongue felt on his dick.

Sidney is easily falling apart and Geno hasn't even done anything yet. At this point, he is not sure if he can survive to actually have his dick in Geno's mouth. But the thought is quickly put to test, as Geno begins pecking small kisses on his swollen head before Geno takes it into his hot, wet mouth.

The first sensation hits him like a punch to his gut, and it feels infinitely better than he imagined. When Geno engulfs more and more of his length, he feels his body is ready to combust at any moment. Watching Geno's luscious lips wrapped around his dick, stretched thinner as he goes deeper, feels a lot like watching live porn, only better and more intimate. He is about halfway down before he bobs up, hollowing his cheek as he goes. The suction feels incredible, like Geno is trying to suck his soul through his dick, and Sidney has to look away, simply to preserve his dignity by not coming too fast like an adolescent child.

Sidney lets out a whiny sob when Geno comes up for air, and he hitches Sidney's legs over his shoulder before going down on his dick again. Sidney trashes his head from side to side, his orgasm mounting fast and it is when Geno slips one finger into his hole that has him wailing into their once quiet room.

Having Geno sucking earnestly on his dick and his long finger in his ass, Sidney feels like his body is coming apart at the seam. His moans are getting gradually louder and his voice is almost hoarse from the constant need to gulp down air. The sensation is too much and not nearly enough, as he bucks his hips to chase the slight stretch of Geno's finger. Geno keeps a steady pace of fucking Sidney's ass with his finger and adds a second one, pushing it slowly in. Sidney rolls his hips and almost chokes Geno with his dick, but he really wants to speed things up a little, not because he is impatient, but because he is rapidly losing his goddamn mind.

"Oh god, Geno. Geno please, please, please.. I—I need more.."

It feels like forever before Geno pushes in a third finger, twisting and stretching the rim of his hole and the inner muscles and Sidney keens over it. Geno has switched to stroking his dick now, and focuses on driving Sidney crazy with the ever slow thrust of his fingers. Geno brushes against his prostate once in a while, and Sidney has his suspicion that Geno knows exactly where to touch, just that he is missing it on purpose. It makes it rather difficult for Sidney to get annoyed by that, especially when it feels like he is shocked by electricity whenever Geno does hit his prostate. He can only whimper like a sobbing mess and surrenders himself to the wishes of what Geno wants to do to him.

"Ass look so good, baby. Want to fucking destroy it."

Like music to his ears, Sidney nods frantically and makes a noise that is almost too whiny when Geno withdraws his hands from his ass as well as his dick. Sidney huffs a few deep breaths as he watches Geno go over the content in their nightstand, and pulls out a less than half empty bottle of clear lube. Oh, yes. They will need a lot of those if Sidney wants the night to go with what he has in mind. The spit may do an okay job for when it is just Geno's fingers, but no matter how stretched Sidney is, they will still need lubes to help ease Geno's impressive length into Sidney.

"How you want?"

Without hesitation, Sidney shifts onto his front and gets up onto his hands and knees. He spreads his knees a little, testing the position to acquire the best balance and comfort before he hears a string of Russian that sounds really filthy in his ears. He looks over his shoulder and sees Geno's wrecked face and he feels a smug satisfaction for making Geno forgets his English.

"Like what you see, Geno?" Sidney teases with a little wiggling of his ass.

It sets off another round of incoherent swearing but it boils Sidney's blood just the same. The look of desire and want is clear on Geno's face, and suddenly, there is just too much space in between them.

"Come on, Geno. Fucking destroy me."

Sidney feels as scandalous as he is desperate, but it no longer matter when Geno comes up behind him, spreading generous amount on Sidney's entrance and lubes himself up in a hurry. Sidney holds his breath at the first press of Geno's blunt head, and hisses when Geno gives a constant pressure in his thrust. When the tip of Geno's tip is all the way through the tight rim, he pauses, and sucks in a breath before he pushes again. It is now Sidney's turn to sucks in air in rapid succession, as his ass is filled inch by inch, his muscles stretching to accommodate the girth of Geno's dick.

Geno grits his teeth in concentration and punches out a deep grunts when he is balls' deep in Sidney, and he keeps himself as still as possible, giving Sidney some time to get used it. For what feels like the longest time, Sidney rocks forward a little to test it out, and it earns him a delicious friction. Geno's grip on his hips tightens significantly, and Sidney knows it is just as good for him as it is for Geno. So Sidney gives Geno the go ahead, and very slowly, Geno rears back until only the head is still inside, and pushes back in. The slow drag of Geno's dick is deliciously good, and they both moan their pleasure in harmony of each other.

"Fuck, baby," Geno grunts as he pulls out again. "You feel fucking good, so fucking tight." And thrusts forward a little harder.

"Oh, God, Geno. Don't stop. That feels so go—" His word ends with a bashful moan when Geno slams into him again.

Geno's thrusts are long and deep, and increasing in strength and speed. It is not long before Sidney is a moaning mess and muttering absolute nonsense, and Geno is pounding into Sidney without much inhibition. All bets are off when Geno plants one leg up on the bed, shifting his position a little, and the slight change of angle has allowed Geno to hit him squarely on his prostate with every thrust. He cries out in pleasure and buries his head into the pillow, and takes it hungrily as Geno continues to pound into him.

"Sid, baby, come on. I'm want you to come." Geno says lowly through gritted teeth, and his hand winds down to tug at Sidney's dripping dick. With just a few strokes, in sync with Geno's thrusts, Sidney comes hard, his vision whites out and his body goes boneless with only Geno holding him up by the waist. Geno's rhythm begins to falter after a few more thrusts, and comes deep in Sidney with a loud roar.

It feels like a while before any of them can move, and that being Geno because Sidney still can't feel his limps. Geno lays Sidney face down, thoughtfully avoiding the cooling splats of come on the sheets before he carefully pulls his softening length out. Sidney winces slightly at the sudden change of pressure but let out a content sigh when he feels Geno's warm come dripping out of his hole. Then, in his bliss-addled mind, he feels the bed bounce beside him and registers Geno plopping himself face down, an arm across his back.

"Fuck.."

"Mhmm.."

Minutes passes, or maybe it is hours, but it sure feels like a long while before Sidney feels his heart go back to its normal rhythm and his limps no longer feel like jelly. The room is now quiet aside from their breathing slowly coming back to normal, and Sidney chances a look at Geno next to him, only to snort as he takes in the wrecked look on Geno's face.

"You're slacking off, G. Need to work on that stamina a little."

Geno groans and says, "No, Sid. I'm come so hard, dick maybe broken now." Sidney gives out a loud honking laugh only to have an annoyed Geno slapping his palm onto his ass before he snuggles closer. Sidney lets himself bask in the aftermath of their explosive orgasm, and hums in delight when Geno litters some kisses on his shoulder. Sidney eyes the puddle of come on the sheets and makes a mental note to strip it out before the cleaning lady comes in tomorrow. But when he tries to push himself up, he is immediately reprimanded by Geno's arm across his back.

"Hey, I'm just gonna get a wash cloth for us, eh?"

Geno grunts and tugs him in even closer, if that is possible.

"Come on, G. It'll only take a second."

Geno wriggles like a fish and plops half his body onto Sidney's back. "No."

Sidney shakes his head and laughs unceremoniously into his pillow, but not moving away from the physical touch. "Is this how it's going to be with you, moving forward?"

"Yes."

"You are unbelievable, you know that?"

And so they stay in that position and bask in the comfortable haze of having their body so wrung out and satiated.

"That was really good, Geno. I think I've never come so hard in my life."

Sidney says with an expectation of a smug response that will sound something like 'of course, Russian best' but Geno is uncharacterically silent. A few moment passes and Sidney feels the weight of Geno lifts as Geno turns onto his back, his arms draped across his eyes.

"I'm feel like asshole, Sid."

Puzzled, Sidney asks, "What? Why?"

Geno lets out a long sigh before turning to face Sidney, and his expression is something Sidney usually saw when Geno feels bad about something. "Sid not remember many things."

"What? What does that have anything to do with—" Sidney trails off and backtracks all the conversations and interactions between them, from the time since the morning he woke up confused up until this very moment, and finds no clue to help him understand what Geno is saying.

Sidney has been nothing but an open book about the glitches of his memory, and it is a relief that Geno seems not bothered by it at all. Geno has been really understanding and supportive, especially when Sidney has his doubts and insecurities. Geno makes an effort to fill Sidney in about their time together, and half of them makes Sidney all flustered and red-faced. And then of course Geno tells him everything about their daughter, about her first word, about how she loves her baths, and about how she would only fall asleep on Sidney's chest before she is put into her cot.

And they just go about their life as normal as they would, and Sidney is thankful that Geno gives him the time and space that he needs, and not pressuring him to remember. If anything, Geno seems rather confident that the memory will return to Sidney, so in the meantime, they live like a pair of doting husbands, except..

"Geno, did you—did you think you were taking advantage of me or something?"

Geno is quiet for a second before he turns to his side and faces Sidney. "Ugh, is hard to say in english. You not remember we together, Sid. To you, we not kiss, we not do things like lover. I'm not want make weird for you."

Sidney doesn't know how to react to this new piece of information. His brain is still stuck on the insinuation of being taken advantage of and it is making it difficult for him to process anything else. Then it dawns on Sidney that Geno has been carrying this false burden with him all these time and it is the cause for all of Sidney's sexual frustration. He cannot believe the surreality of it but at the same time he cannot dismiss the selflessness of Geno's effort to stay away. Stupid, but very thoughtful nonetheless.

"Geno, you stupid jerk," Sidney says when he grabs Geno's chin and kisses him for a full minute. "Did you really think that I don't want this?

"Hmm, I'm think you maybe want, but you not say, so I'm not sure." Geno replies without a pause, still catching his breath.

"Are you serious right now? You flaunt around the house half naked all the time and then you touch me every chance you get. How could you be not sure?"

Geno grins something borderline sheepish, and it is the kind when someone is caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Oh my god, you evil bastard. You know exactly what you're doing, don't you?" Sidney accuses and gives Geno's chest a little shove. He goes for it another time just for fun and it falls into the grasp of Geno's hand.

"Come on, Sid. Don't be angry. I'm just have little fun." Geno says as he tugs Sidney down onto his chest.

"Oh, I bet it's plenty fun for you, doesn't it? Seeing me squirm like that? Ugh, God. You don't know the amount of cold shower I've had these past few weeks—"

"Wait. Sid, you not jerk off?"

Sidney rolls his eyes at the assumption. "Well, of course not. I was waiting for you, dickwat."

Geno looks shocked for a moment before his brows furrow into a straight line and looking all serious and determined. "Give me twenty—no, ten. Give me ten minutes, then we go again."

Sidney lets out an embarrassing squeak then laughs heartily when Geno flips them around and starts peppering little kisses all over Sidney's face. "Oh, God. Geno, stop. Your beard tickles!"

Geno in turn kisses Sidney on the lips and the complain quickly melts into a long moan. Sidney doesn't think it was possible before, but it seems like they can actually go again despite the fact that they have both came not too long ago. Geno seems pretty determined to make good on his words, with him grinding down on Sidney and doing sinful things with his mouth. It awakens the hunger in Sidney and his previously tired body isn't so tired anymore. However, he pushes Geno away all too reluctantly and ends their foreplay prematurely.

"Wait. Wait, Geno. I—I need to say something."

"Ugh, you killing me, Sid." Geno whines out, panting, and rests his forehead against his. Sidney can't resist the puckered lips and tilts his chin up to steal a kiss from it.

"Just hear me out, okay?" Sidney smiles to himself as Geno mutters an 'okay' before he goes nuzzling into Sidney's neck, all the while murmuring his dissatisfaction in a mix of Russian and broken English. Sidney can't find it in his heart to chirp Geno of his childlike behaviour, because he finds it embarrassingly endearing. He soothes his hand down the back of Geno's head and plays with the his hair near the nape.

"I guess I wanna thank you for being so patient with me these past few weeks. I know it sucks that my brain decided to screw with me now but you were handling it so well, way better than I could ever ask of you. It must have really stressful to deal with me in the middle of the playoff, and I can only imagine how it feels to suddenly have a husband who doesn't remember anything about their time together." Sidney pauses to see if Geno has something to say to that, but Geno just buries his head deeper into the crook and wraps his arm tighter around Sidney's waist.

"But you keep surprising me by being so thoughtful and sweet. I just—" Sidney draws a long breath to calm the emotions that came up unannounced. "I just want you to know that I'm really happy that I get to start this new memory with you as my husband. And you know something else? You don't have to feel like you have to keep away from me. It doesn't matter if I remember about us or not because beyond all that, I think I have always been attracted to you, since the first day we met."

Geno lifts his head to look into Sidney's eyes, gaze piercing with such adoration and fondness. It is almost like Geno is confessing his feelings through his gaze, and Sidney is overwhelmed by the amount of love that he is receiving. Sidney winds his arms around Geno's neck and tugs him down for a kiss. It starts sweet—gentle swipes of lips against lips, once, twice before Geno delves his tongue into Sidney's mouth to deepen it. Sidney has never known such passionate kiss before this, and he surrenders himself into it completely and lets Geno take the lead.

Sometimes Sidney wonders if this is crafted by someone higher in the universe to fill up the emptiness in his heart, because he knows not of such happiness could exist in real life. He has someone who knows all of his quirks and accepts them without question. He has someone who chirps him relentlessly about his huge ass but still cook him his favourite pasta, a mountain of it. And it so happened that, that someone is Geno.

He thought about the possibility of maybe waking up one day and be heartbroken over losing it all. He thought about how devastated he would be, having to finally have a taste of such bliss and then be stripped away after. But even with that risk looming threateningly over his head, Sidney can't see himself trading it, for the alternative is ten times worse, because it means that he will not have any at all.

And the night ends with them snuggled closely under the cover, sharing body warmth and lazy kisses. Their hands wander with meaningful touches, coaxing quiet moans and short gasps little by little. And it is another twenty minutes before the quiet affair reach its pinnacle, and when it does, they murmur their 'I love you's during the throes of their pleasure against each others' mouth. And they lay in the bed, languidly with their limps entangled, and they stay that way until eventually, sleep finds them.

_/_/_/_/

#sidgeno #fanfiction #men's hockey rpf #Love Me If You Will #ariahearthockeywrites

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hockeyknowitall · 7 years ago

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i could be totally off the mark with this but i feel like teams that don’t have a clearly defined starter and backup goalie tend to not do so great? i mean among other reasons of course, but for like the flyers last year and the red wings and the yotes etc

And the stars I think are a big example of that and you’re completely correct. Very rarely does it work to have two starters. The pens were able to land a pretty good tandem where both goalies could start but Murray was a rookie which makes a big difference. The problem is price. You should probably be spending over 5 mil on a starting goalie but never over 8 mil on a tandem. and rookie contracts have to be below 925,000 i believe. So the pens were able to get two starting goalies for relatively cheap. So when you have teams that split the goalie job, you need two equally good goalies. So if you were to get two goalies who should be starters to start for you, and you want them to split games you should be paying them about equal. which would mean that two good goalies would cost around 10 mil or over. which is way too much oh good goaltending. you spend 10 mil on elite goaltending plus okay goaltending. and not having that elite player is what sinks a lot of teams.

You need a definitive starter and backup because you need a definitive pay difference. You can get a good back up goaltender for somewhere around the 1-2 million mark usually on the lower end. And a Great/Elite goaltender for around 6 (although some goaltenders definitely should be making more and will). so instead of having two okay goaltenders who split the job and wont’ steal you any games. you could have one elite goaltender who can go two months without a loss plus an okay backup goalie who comes in every other week and wins you a game. it just doesn’t make sense to think you can succeed with mediocre or even slightly above average goaltending. not in the NHL and definitely not in the playoffs.

The other problem is that being a backup is hard and takes a different skill set than being a starter. Goalies warm up and get the feel of the game and their team and that’s part of how they play and repsond in game. A backup doesnt get to play behind a team to get a feel for the players as much and because of that is much more of a improviser than a starter. Backups don’t need the consistency or the preparation, and are always ready for something on the fly. I’m not saying their better than starters but it’s different, it’s a different position in a lot of ways. So asking two starters who probably would succeed a lot more playing 60-70 games you’re asking both of them to play 40 games and not allowing them to really get a feel for the team and get hot.

A lot of this i guess is opinion but I find it to be the truth in most cases. Unless you strike gold with a rookie you really should not have two starters ever

#goalies #nhl #Anonymous

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axiomsofice · 3 years ago

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Kraken: A New Threat Rises

The much anticipated Seattle Expansion Draft was not quite what anyone expected, and until they take the ice we can do nothing but speculate how this team might perform. One thing is for certain, Seattle’s approach to the onslaught of transactions was far closer to GM Francis’ Hurricanes than to Vegas’ previous expansion, in terms of strategy and vision.

It is under this context we can start to assess the main strengths and themes of the inaugural Kraken outfit, and immediately one commitment stands out, defence. A hallmark of Francis’ aforementioned Hurricanes tenure, this was clearly a focal point in choosing a coaching staff. Coach Hakstol’s track record is quite strong at this moment of time. His work with the Flyers is ageing well, and as an Assistant with the Leafs the team’s defence transformed from weak to strong. Ultimately, where it matters most is on the ice, where the roster is consistent with their Coach and GM in said defensive ability.

Right away the blueline should be among the top third of the league as it boasts a very deep group that has some star power as well. Giordano and Larsson are established defenders, so we know they will deliver quality minutes. Oleksiak signed a big deal with the team, and well deserved. Even though he’s the same age as Larsson, he’s continued to get better every year. If that trend continues at all the rest of the league is in trouble. Vince Dunn had a tough final season in St. Louis, but he’s shown he can play enough in his young career that many have called him Seattle’s Shea Theodore, which might be a bit bullish, but he certainly is around the same age and coming from a similar situation. With the three mentioned prior with him he will not be overextended, and in fact between the four their skillsets do seem to cover a lot of bases.

Beyond that Carson Soucy projects for 3rd pair minutes, a role he excelled at in Minnesota. Jeremy Lauzon was one of my easiest choices in my own Seattle Expansion mock, coming from an important role on the Bruins. He’s fast, physical, and aggressive, and Boston is definitely not thrilled to have lost him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he found his way further up the lineup at some point. This is already 6 good NHL caliber defenders and we haven’t even touched on the brothers Fleury (Haydn, Cale), Will Borgen, Denis Cholowski, and Conor Carrick, who would all be fighting for time on any NHL team. Without a doubt the Kraken have the tools to ice a very strong defence group.

However, this defensive philosophy is present throughout the forward group as well, it takes every player on the ice after all. Yes, looking through their forwards one might try to wonder who will score for the Kraken, it does lack the name brand excitement retrofitted to the Inaugural Vegas team, but they are both defensively strong and deep, and they most definitely will not cheat you for effort. Perhaps the perfect player to encapsulate these characteristics is Colin Blackwell, and if you’re wondering who that is, that is exactly what I mean. He played his way onto a Nashville team two years ago, played well enough to sign with the Rangers, played his way onto Panarin’s line (to the dismay of those who wanted Kakko or Lafrenire to get minutes there) and played so well Panarin is rumoured to have asked to keep Blackwell on his line. As Babcock famously said of Hyman, “the stars like to play with someone to get the puck back”, Blackwell has thrived on doing the dirty work.

And he’s not alone. We saw Yanni Gourde play a huge role on the Lightning’s 2nd most important line (sorry Stamkos) in back to back cups, forming a legendary checking line with Coleman and Goodrow. In 2021 I learned both Tanev brothers are severely underrated, so Brandon will be a lot more than a pretty face once the season starts. Finally both Wennberg and Jarnkrok are really well rounded, defensively responsible, and physical players. Throw in Mason Appleton and that’s 6 really intense forwards to start with. Particularly Gourde and less so Wennberg have a bit more offence, but all 6 could chip in 10+ goals in a full season as well, which starts to add up as we go through the lineup.

Schwartz is a strong signing, a bona fide top 6 winger does a lot considering the rest of the roster, but Schwartz has posted strong defensive numbers with the Blues throughout his career. Eberle adds a splash of offensive flavour that is needed. Donskoi is a good middle 6 forward but if you aren’t familiar with his work, the guy’s got mad dangles. McCann has had a tumultuous carrer path thus far, but he’s coming off a strong year with Pittsburgh, and he might be one of the best power play options on this team. He was on pace for 25+ goals last year and could easily equal that pace again in his 25 year old season. This quartet should be the offensive catalysts of the team, and if they could all get 15+ goals it would put the team in a good spot to be successful.

The two biggest x factors, especially when it comes to Seattle’s goal scoring potential, lie with Morgan Geekie and Alexander True. Both have proved to be strong offensive players in the AHL and are ready to be full time NHLers. Both have positional flexibility as well, and if they can both play well enough to take a hold of a role in the top 9 forwards this team would be so much better for it.

All this attention to detail in terms of preventing goals against will make the netminders’ jobs that much easier. Grubauer’s played really well on strong teams, but has been a bit injury prone, so his contract does remind me of the Leafs signing Andersen 5 years ago. The injury history, as well as the continuing trend of tandem situations in net, justify the overqualified Drieger. Joey D’Accord is a good 3 as well, regardless virtually everything would have to go wrong for this group to underperform.

It’s for these reasons that it’s hard to imagine Seattle being that bad of a team this year, and as everyone chuckles at the on-paper strength of the Pacific Division, it’s not out of the question that they make the playoffs. It’s getting ahead of myself, but they seem rough and tumble enough to do really well in the playoffs as well, and if they finish 3rd they’ll probably play Edmonton in the 1st round…

As we go forward it will be interesting to see how their treasure trove of cap space is utilised, and most likely they might be waiting to see how they perform before deciding how to use it to their advantage. It’s easy to see how adding a talented but expensive played might not cost a lot, and simultaneously vastly improve the quality of the team. Tarasenko is one that’s been speculated, and honestly I think that would take them into a legitimately good team tier.

The final, and perhaps most important point of their offseason is the acquisition of Matthew Beniers. I’m not sure they will have a shot of selecting so high in the near future, and to be able to grab a great centre prospect, especially considering how scarce that opportunity is for even an expansion team (ahem, VGK), and the strengths and weaknesses of their roster, it bodes so well for the future of the Kraken beyond 2022. Many said he is a good defensive centre, a good support player, a good transition player, some Larkin and Bergeron (stylistic) comparisons, and it's easy to see how that would fit in so nicely whenever he makes the jump (my guess is spring 2022, after NCAA season).

#seattle kraken

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junker-town · 4 years ago

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NFL mock draft 2021: Quarterbacks dominate top of board with one big surprise

Our latest NFL mock draft features a furious run on quarterbacks at the top of the order.

The Miami Dolphins shook up the top of the draft order Friday with a duo of trades with the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles respectively. The order should remain relatively static until draft night, when there will undoubtably be more moves when teams jockey for the player they’re aiming for.

There has been a lot of movement in player rankings after the pro day workouts, so today we dive into the latest where there will be more than a few shocks in the first round.

No. 1: Trevor Lawrence, QB (Clemson) — Jacksonville Jaguars There is nothing that changes at the top of the draft, and for good reason. There is no doubt selecting Lawrence first overall is the correct move, despite hype about other quarterbacks. Lawrence represents the perfect mix of NFL readiness and future potential. He’s everything the Jaguars need to get back on track. This is FINALLY the franchise quarterback Jacksonville has been desperate for.

No. 2 : Zach Wilson, QB (BYU) — New York Jets This pick is a representation of the Jets showing some confidence and betting on themselves. Incoming coach Robert Saleh isn’t beholden to continue the Sam Darnold development project, and the upside of Wilson is too good to pass up. New York will hope it’ll be a long time before they pick top three again, so striking now and getting a passer they believe can become a franchise QB is the correct move.

No. 3: Mac Jones, QB (Alabama) — San Francisco 49ers The bomb drops here and the NFL world is in shock. Rumors abounded that the 49ers liked all the passers at the top of this draft, but nobody thought that meant Mac Jones. Here’s the deal: Trading up to No. 3 to take Jones might seem stupid, but San Francisco has a window that’s still open, and getting a NFL-ready quarterback to step in now keeps it going. Jones might not have the long-term upside of Justin Fields or Trey Lance, but he also doesn’t carry the risk. At worst the 49ers get a low-level NFL starter, and that is too appealing to pass up here.

Gary Cosby Jr via Imagn Content Services, LLC

No. 4: Justin Fields, QB (Ohio State) — Atlanta Falcons I have no doubt the Falcons are fine going in another direction here and waiting to find a QB in the future, but after the 49ers take Jones, the choice becomes obvious. Fields is given a chance to sit for a year in Atlanta behind Matt Ryan and learn the Falcons’ system, an ideal place for him. This is an organization who isn’t afraid to take big swings in the draft to land elite talent, and this falls in that tradition.

No. 5: Penei Sewell, OT (Oregon) — Cincinnati Bengals The bottles will be popping in the Bengals’ war room before this pick is even announced. Never in their dreams did Cincinnati think Sewell would be available at the fifth pick, but the unprecedented run on quarterbacks allowed Sewell to fall. Joe Burrow needs protection, badly, and Sewell will lock down his blindside for the next decade.

No. 6: Trey Lance, QB (North Dakota State) — Carolina Panthers [TRADE] The Panthers had been hoping all offseason that they wouldn’t be making a pick during the draft, instead wishing this pick could be flipped to the Houston Texans in a deal for Deshaun Watson. However, Watson’s off-field issues, paired with a reluctant Houston front office leads to this moment. Miami gains the Panthers’ 2021 second round pick in exchange for falling back two places, with Carolina terrified someone else would jump up to get Lance. The Panthers were heavily scouting Lance at his pro day, and don’t want to enter the season without a long-term plan.

No. 7: Micah Parsons, LB (Penn State) — Detroit Lions This is one of those picks that just makes too much sense. On paper the Lions need more help on offense, but their linebacker corps is slow, and in dire need of an upgrade. Couple that with Detroit’s woeful 26th ranked pass rush, and a new defensive-minded coach who will love Parsons’ versatility out of the gate, and it’s a recipe for success.

No. 8: Jaylen Waddle, WR (Alabama) — Miami Dolphins The newly pick-flush Dolphins have every tool to put together an elite team, assuming they make the rights moves. The defensive side of the ball is coming together well, but in order to take the next step the offense needs a major upgrade. Picking Jaylen Waddle, the draft’s most electric receiver, is just too beautiful considering it reunites him with Tua Tagovailoa. Waddle is a Swiss army knife, who can adapt to passes at all three levels and allow Tagovailoa to find a rhythm with ease.

Photo by UA Athletics/Collegiate Images/Getty Images

No. 9: Caleb Farley, CB (Virginia Tech) — Denver Broncos If this draft broke in a way that allowed the Broncos to get a quarterback I assume they’d go in that direction, but instead of reaching for a passer, Denver waits and gets the best cornerback in the draft. Denver allowed 66 percent of opposing passes to be completed last year, and Farley will go a long way to fixing that.

No. 10: Patrick Surtain II, CB (Alabama) — Dallas Cowboys With Dak Prescott under long-term contract and the offense largely solidified it’s time for the Cowboys to fix their defense. The secondary is an area of major concern, and Surtain is a major talent with stunning size at the position. He’s going to be a leader on defense from day one, and a lockdown corner for the Cowboys.

No. 11: Kwity Paye, EDGE (Michigan) — New York Giants I wish I loved anything in this world as much as Giants GM Dave Gettleman loves large linemen. That said, getting Paye at this spot is a major boon to a pass rush in need of help. Paye is an excellent hand in the dirt 4-3 end with the size and speed to get penetration on speed or power moves.

No. 12: Ja’Marr Chase, WR (LSU) — Philadelphia Eagles There’s a lot of temptation to take DeVonta Smith here, and personally I like Smith better. However, for the fit, Chase works better in the offense the Eagles are building. It remains to be seen how Jalen Hurts will operate as a full time starter, but his legs and creativity will warrant a receiver who is better picking up yards after the catch, and a powerhouse with the ball in his hands, regardless of where he catches the ball. This selection adds more electricity to the burgeoning offense.

No. 13: Rashawn Slater, OT (Northwestern) — Los Angeles Chargers The Chargers hit one of the home runs in the 2020 draft with Justin Herbert, who was electric his rookie season. Now they just need to protect him better. This is an oddly similar situation to Cincinnati, who benefitted from a QB-heavy top to the draft to select someone above their station. Slater would probably go in the 8-11 range in any normal draft, so they’ll be thrilled to get him here and keep Herbert upright more often.

No. 14: Christian Darrishaw, OT (Virginia Tech) — Minnesota Vikings Minnesota needs trench help on both sides of the ball, and a major talent upgrade at cornerback. Right now this board isn’t shaping up for the secondary, with both the top corners taken, and it’s a little early to take an interior defensive lineman. This is all fine though, because the Vikings need serious help at left tackle. The team was forced to release starting left tackle Reilly Reiff due to salary cap concerns, so Darrishaw can step in from day one and start.

No. 15: Kyle Pitts, TE (Florida) — New England Patriots Kyle Pitts is an athletic freak. This is a man who is a 6’6, 240-pound tight end who can run faster than a good chunk of NFL wide receivers, and put the work in as a blocker as well. Bill Belichick has always had an affinity for tight ends in his passing game, and Pitts could be the best he’s ever coached next to Rob Gronkowski. Furthermore, it’s the ultimate “show me what you got” move for Cam Newton. Newton’s best seasons in Carolina were when Greg Olsen was healthy, and Pitts is a player in the same mold who can stretch the field, and serve as a safety net.

Photo by Hannah White/Collegiate Images/Getty Images

No. 16: DeVonta Smith, WR (Alabama) — Arizona Cardinals Yes, the Cardinals need help on defense. Yes, taking a receiver would be a bit of a luxury move. No, I do not think there is any way on this earth Kliff Kingbury sees Smith on the board at his pick and doesn’t select him. Larry Fitzgerald was the sure-handed cornerstone of the Cardinals passing attack for almost two decades, and Smith has that same kind of potential. Putting him across the field from DeAndre Hopkins would immediately lock in Arizona as having the best receiving tandem in the NFL, and continue making Kyler Murray’s transition into the NFL as easy as possible.

No. 17: Azeez Ojulari, EDGE (Georgia) — Las Vegas Raiders A hybrid defender who can fit a lot of roles, Ojujari might be best as home as the Will linebacker in a 4-3, but he has the speed to be moved all around the defense. This is a kind of versatility Jon Gruden will love on the Raiders’ defense, at a position they need more help on in order to make a playoff push.

No. 18: Alijah Vera-Tucker, OG (USC) — Miami Dolphins The Dolphins have multiple picks in this draft because they traded away starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil last year — and haven’t really recovered on the line. It’s unclear exactly where Vera-Tucker projects in the NFL. He started at LT for USC this season, but there are legitimate concerns his lack of arm length will force him to play guard in the NFL. Either way, he’s an excellent, instinctual lineman who help Tua Tagovailoa have a cleaner pocket in his sophomore season.

No. 19: Jaelen Phillips, EDGE (Miami) — Washington Football Team Is it greedy for one of the NFL’s best defenses to keep loading up in spite of the other side of the ball? Yes. Do I think they’d do it? Also yes. There’s a strong likelihood Washington takes a top RB here, but I think a player like Jaelen Phillips would be even more impactful. Najee Harris or Travis Etienne would certainly balance out the offense better, but a rushing rotation of Phillips, Chase Young, and Montez Sweat would be the most terrifying group in the NFL. Ron Rivera is a defensive guy, and that’s a hell of a toolbox to give a coach like that.

No. 20: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB (Notre Dame) — Chicago Bears There is a chance the Bears trade up for a quarterback in this draft, but at least for now I’m operating under the assumption they stay put and try for a season with Andy Dalton (yuck). That said, whatever bad taste Dalton leaves on the offense can easily be washed away by adding one of the most explosive defensive players in the draft to a unit already featuring Khalil Mack. Robert Quinn is a decent player opposite him, but now at age 30 the slow down will be happening. Owusu-Koramoah can be a rotational linebacker, even move back and play as a third safety when needed.

No. 21: Rashod Bateman, WR (Minnesota) — Indianapolis Colts The Colts have a major interest in learning quickly whether Carson Wentz can regain his form, and a key part to that is getting him a weapon. Michael Pittman Jr. had a promising first season, but T.Y. Hilton is getting on in age. Bateman has ideal size, athleticism and speed to be a No. 1 receiver for a long time.

No. 22: Baron Browning, LB (Ohio State) — Tennessee Titans The Titans went a long way to helping their defense in free agency by signing Bud Dupree and Janoris Jenkins, but there’s still work to be done. Browning is a prototypical linebacker with great speed and versatility. He can be spelled in his first season without too much pressure being on him to start from the jump, and develop into a defensive cornerstone.

No. 23: Jaycee Horn, CB (South Carolina) — New York Jets Robert Saleh strikes to get a defensive player who can help the Jets immediately. The son of former NFL receiver Joe Horn, Jaycee has great size and speed, and is comfortable being on an island covering a top receiver.

No. 24: Najee Harris, RB (Alabama) — Pittsburgh Steelers There’s debate on who the better running back is between Harris and Clemson’s Travis Etienne, but there’s nobody more Steelers than Harris at the position. A Derrick Henry-esque runner, Harris may not possess Henry’s top gear speed, but he’s still a bruising runner who can pick up hard yards and move the chains. Exactly what the team has been lacking.

Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images

No. 25: Teven Jenkins, OT (Oklahoma State) — Jacksonville Jaguars You’ll probably notice a theme here of teams selecting quarterbacks, then getting protection. It’s because it’s just a no-brainer. Jenkins is definitely more of a developmental project than the other tackles taken so far, but he offers tremendous versatility having played almost every position on the line. Jenkins can be moved around, coached up, and help make Trevor Lawrence’s debut easier.

No. 26: Jayson Oweh, EDGE (Penn State) — Cleveland Browns An athletic edge rusher, Oweh perhaps projects more to the role of a 3-4 pass rusher, but we’ve seen that the Browns don’t saddle themselves too much with prototypical size. They’re happy to use speed rushers on the edge, and Oweh can step into the rotation immediately and be spelled with Takkarist McKinley while adjusting to the NFL.

No. 27: Tevon Moehrig, FS (TCU) — Baltimore Ravens The Ravens need a safety, and Moehrig is the kind of impact player they’ll love to tinker around with. Comfortable working the middle, he’s a ball-hawk who will make plays in his area and relish the opportunity to make a play. These are qualities the Ravens love, and they’ll suit him well in Baltimore.

No. 28: Greg Newsome II, CB (Northwestern) — New Orleans Saints The Saints bled talent on both sides of the ball due to difficult salary cap-based cuts. Greg Newsome II helps turn the tide. He’s a raw prospect with tremendous upside, and it’s worth rolling the dice on what Newsome II could become, rather than what he is right now.

No. 29: Kadarius Toney, WR (Florida) — Green Bay Packers Honestly, I just want to see this — because Aaron Rodgers throwing passes to Toney will be FUN (except for opponents). A lightning fast slot receiver, Toney perfectly compliments Davante Adams and gives the Packers some offensive depth. We saw in the NFC Championship what happens when Adams was taken out of the game and Green Bay crumbled. Another big play threat is just what they need.

Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

No. 30: Gregory Rousseau, EDGE (Miami) — Buffalo Bills A varied, devastating pass rusher, Rousseau can adapt to almost any scheme and make an impact. He’s comfortable working from the outside and inside, giving the Bills a defensive tool to wreck havoc with.

No. 31: Jalen Mayfield, OT (Michigan) — Kansas City Chiefs Do you remember the Super Bowl? Remember how overwhelmed Patrick Mahomes was without Eric Fisher? Remember how bad the rest of that line was? Yeah, I do. Let’s fix it. Mayfield can play either tackle spot to varying degrees of success, or kick inside and be an effective guard.

No. 32: Zaven Collins, LB (Tulsa) — Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Buccaneers don’t have a lot of needs, and the ones they do they tend to fix in free agency. Collins has the ability to play a lot different places and make an impact, allowing Tampa Bay to play around with him until they part ways with veterans and he finds a long-term spot.

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himbeaux-on-ice · 4 years ago

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I want Flower to come back to the Pens so bad especially to end his career with Sid, Geno, and Kris. But I feel like the Pens would have to give up a lot and can't afford him at the moment. But perhaps when his contract is up with Vegas in a year or two he'll come back. What is your thoughts?

It’s a beautiful pipe dream, but right now even setting aside his $7,000,000 contract, the only thing Vegas would take in return for him is a second Flower, because their other goalie Lehner (who was very very good last year!) is currently out injured and Flower is literally stealing games for them right now. And clearly having fun doing so! I’m watching him play against the Avs as I type this and he’s pulling off insane saves to the point that the Colorado broadcast commentators just said “This is just getting silly!” and are now actively trying to jinx him by saying the s-word lmao (edit: he got the shutout!). They’re also talking about how much he’s been the primary face of the franchise since they started, and anecdotally I would say he is definitely Vegas’ most beloved and popular player right now.

I think whether the Knights head office want him to stay in Vegas after his current contract (he’s a UFA after next season) will depend on both how Lehner (who was supposed to be the 1A this year and is contracted at $5 million per through 2024-25) is doing at that time and who they have available to be their second in terms of prospects or other trades — even if Flower doesn’t continue the absolute witchcraft he’s doing right now indefinitely and isn’t part of a full 1A-1B equal tandem, as long as he remains reasonably solid he could be a serviceable (if slightly pricey) backup a-la what Jake Allen is supposed to be doing for Carey Price right now.

However, Vegas’ salary cap is usually pretty tight each year, so if he does plateau/decline towards the end of that contract and they have a chance to get a cheaper “serviceable backup” for nights that Lehner needs to rest, they may decide not to keep Flower around. The question at that point would be, would what he provides then be something that the Pens would still need if they have solid goalies? The whole reason he’s in Vegas is because he didn’t want to be mothballed to a bench as a “just in case” backup, and I think he’s likely to spend the rest of his career going wherever he can get the most net time and be The Guy. You might see him next at a franchise that BADLY needs to simply pour a good chunk of change into competent dependable league-average goaltending to backstop them during a rebuild or some development years — someplace he can still be The Guy who takes the net most nights, without needing to pull off insane wizardry saves and push through the playoffs into his late 30’s.

Based on what new management has said I don’t expect the Pens will be headed into a “time to accept mediocrity” rebuild until all those guys we’d love to reunite Flower with are already retired or on the way out (and their big contracts are gone with them). The goalies they have right now are competent but suffering for having a struggling and somewhat under-built defence in front of them — and their total cap hit combined is only HALF of what Fleury is currently paid per year by Vegas. Given that D-men are easier to find than goalies I assume Hextall and Burke are going to spend some time working on fixing that part of the team (which they haven’t really made moves for yet), and then seeing how DeSmith and Jarry perform behind a solid D-core, before they start really thinking about goalie-shopping.

So all in all as much as I’d like to see the band get back together in Pittsburgh for sentimental reasons, I’m not sure that Flower’s personal wants, his pricetag/skills, and what the Pens need and can afford are all going to coincide anytime soon. I’m just a very amateur analyst, and Flower is nothing if not full of surprises (as is this crazy sport)! But I personally think this might be a case of having to accept that we can’t re-live the past, no matter how lovely it was.

#hope this makes sense! still learning how to talk about contract stuff legibly and intelligently #asks #anon #marc andre fleury #long post

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goldenknightsnews · 4 years ago

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Golden Knights 5, Ducks 2: What Had Happened Was...

——————————————————————————

Thursday evening brought Day Two of NHL action and the opening game for Captain Mark Stone and the Vegas Golden Knights. Stone was named captain by Head Coach Pete DeBoer and his teammates just in time to sew the C on his sweater and for him to carry his team to their first win of the season.

Alex Pietrangelo donned an A, making his first appearance with the club. With his help, Stone and Co. walked away winners after a frantic start, a largely sloppy second period, and a Golden Knight dominated third. Scoring came from up and down their unconventional lineup, a key to success in the National League. It may not have been perfect, but the boys got the job done, heading home with a 5-2 win.

This one started fast and furious, with four goals in the first eight minutes of action. If you blinked you probably missed it. Marchessault and Tomas Nosek got the game going and before I knew it, the two Vegas goals were quickly matched by the Ducks. Not even one drink into the game and four goals were scored. Wow.

It was a wild night inside the T-Mobile Arena. What had happened was......

Marches-score:

If the Golden Knights are going to make a deep playoff run, they’ll need their Top-Six forwards to be on their game. Reilly Smith is as consistent as they come, as is Stone. Max Pacioretty is a prototypical sniper. One big question mark is the 2-LW, Jonathan Marchessault, a player I have admittedly been critical of at times.

The man they call Marchy wasted no time getting on the scoresheet, tallying the first goal of Year Four just 1:07 into the contest. Alec Martinez spotted the chatty, chippy winger as he split the defense and he buried it, top cheese, over the always-tough John Gibson. Marchessault found a nice seam and Martinez didn’t miss. The shot was a beauty. Great start for Vegas.

Marchessault finished the 2019-20 season with a respectable line of 22-25-47, but he fell victim to long stretches of low production and tends to get too involved in the extracurricular portion of the game. When he asserts himself offensively, he is a treat to watch. If he fails to build on his solid start, Alex Tuch is always waiting in the wings, itching for Top Six minutes. Tuch added an empty-netter as the game came to a close.

So far, so good for Marchessault. He’s now on pace for 56 goals; not too shabby.

Shutting the Door:

As mentioned previously, there were four goals in eight minutes. Two of those made it past Robin Lehner, who got the first start in the Vegas’ strong goalie tandem. Lehner did what Lehner does. He made the necessary stops, never made it look difficult, and continued to make the Islanders look silly for letting him leave NY back in 2019 after a 2.13 GAA/.930 SV% season.

Following the game, Lehner acknowledged that the Ducks got a few good bounces, leading to Max Comtois’ pair of lamp lighters. Panda and the VGK defense shut down the Ducks for the next 52:02. Lehner was strong finishing with 20 saves on 22 shots on goal. Expect Fleury in goal on Saturday, when the Ducks come quacking for revenge. Unfortunately we will never know prior to warm-ups, as DeBoer wants to keep his cards close to the vest.

Oh Captain, My Captain:

Wednesday was a big day for Stone. He was named the first-ever captain of the Vegas Golden Knights, which is an honor in itself. Combine that, with the fact that he was chosen over two former captains and original Golden Misfits who have donned the A. Also keep in mind, that he has never worn a C on the front (or back for that matter) of his jersey in the NHL. What an accomplishment.

Mark Stone on the Captaincy:

“It’s an honor and not something I’m going to take lightly.”

What Stone didn’t take lightly, was his team being tied heading into the third period, fresh off the heels of a sloppy second. The captain was noticeably good in the third, scoring the go-ahead goal before setting Pacioretty up for an insurance marker of this own. Stone’s persistence and compete level shone through in the third period and gave the Golden Knights the lift they needed.

Broadcasting in 5D:

Five D, as in Defensemen. In his pre-game availability, GM Kelly McCrimmon broke the news that the opening night lineup would consist of 13 forwards and five defensemen and our collective media jaws dropped.

Shockingly, DeBoer was upbeat and excited about it in his time immediately after McCrimmon. “For me there’s going to be some salary cap gymnastics that we have to deal with.” He followed that up quickly with, “Small price to pay” for the types of players (Pietrangelo) they brought in. Keegan Kolesar benefited from the move, while Nic Hague and Nick Holden found themselves watching from above.

Partially, the five defenseman decision was salary cap driven. In addition to saving money, the team was able to roll out either Pietrangelo or Shea Theodore more often. That also helped get Zach Whitecloud time with some better partners. Whitecloud is really blossoming, a continuation from last year’s training camp, in my eyes. Traditionally he’d be on the third pair, but he looked great alongside the top four.

This surely won’t be a permanent configuration, but what game one showed was that they can do it and do it successfully. Both Hague and Holden will get NHL time at some point this season.

No Fans Needed:

Without their raucous fan base in attendance, the Golden Knights production crew ramped up their efforts, assisted by new Music Director DJ Joe Green. All facets of the in-arena entertainment were in effect. Bruce Cusick screaming through the PA system, mind-numbingly loud music, and of course the debut of their new video opening. COVID made things tough, but not impossible.

This is Vegas and we know how to party. The players enjoyed their two scrimmages with the current setup and it seemed to give them the typical jump you see out of the VGK home games. As much as the fans get recognized for being an X-Factor, the music and crowd noise were an adequate substitute. This team is just good. Fans or no fans, they’ll rack up wins.

A grudge match with the Ducks on Saturday is next up for the Golden Knights. Puck drop in Vegas is scheduled for 7pm. Locally, the game will be broadcast on AT&T Sports Net, in addition to national viewing on NHL.tv and the NHL Center Ice package.

By: HockeyBuzz Golden Knights Writer Jeff Paul

#vegasborn #hockey #goldenknights #vegas golden knights #sports #VGK

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allcapsexchange · 7 years ago

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The 2017 ALL CAPS Exchange: The Fic

Here it is, everyone: The list of stories written for the 2017 ALL CAPS Exchange. Thank you so much to everyone who wrote, betaed, pinch hit, treated, and otherwise helped make this exchange such an incredible success. Enjoy the stories!

Adventures in Haberdashery by ErinKatz for anonissue

2k. G. Nate Schmdit/Braden Holtby. “Yeah, nope. I was going to do this tomorrow, between practice and game time, but you need to get out of this goalie trance, man, so we’re doing it tonight.” Nate holds out both hands. Braden still has no idea what’s going on and he’s still certain that Nate should be going to bed, but lets himself be pulled to his feet from where he’s sitting at the foot of the bed. He must be more tired than he feels because he stumbles and has to catch himself with a palm against Nate’s chest.

back to you by alotofthingsdifferent for Wargasms

1k. G. Micheal Latta/Tom Wilson. There are three games left in the regular season, and the Rangers haven’t been a playoff team in five years. Tom thinks maybe it’s time. “You look good, Tommy,” Mike says by way of a greeting, and when he smiles, his eyes crinkle at the corners. There are a few more wrinkles there than Tom remembers, but he’s still the same Mike, still as handsome as ever. Tom fills with a familiar warmth, the feeling he always gets when he sees Mike in person, and kicks at Mike’s feet under the table. “You’re going grey,” Tom teases, and Mike’s grin widens as he runs his fingers through his hair.

Can't Have You by sunshinexbomb for constantine

6k. T. Nicklas Backstrom/André Burakovsky/Marcus Johansson. Nicky doesn’t want to get married, not yet at least. And maybe, just maybe, there’s a part of him that knows who he’d like to marry if he could be given that option, but. It’s probably better not to think about it. -- In which Prince Nicklas of Sweden has to find a husband before his thirtieth birthday, but all he really wants is to maybe marry his best friend instead.

Capital Grounds by constantine for thegraceinyoureyes

2k. T. Nicklas Backstrom/T.J. Oshie. The love of TJ’s winter comes in several afternoons a week to buy a small Swedish coffee and something from their pastry case while TJ gazes at him.

champions by angularmomentum for screamlet

2k. E. André Burakovsky/Tom Wilson. Tom had a problem. To be more accurate, Tom had several problems but that was the way of Tom’s life. He often had a few running in tandem. Tonight they included but were not limited to: bruised knuckles (regular problem) forgot his toothbrush (also a regular problem) and a boner for Burky (definitely NOT a regular problem.)

come under the covers by ghosthunter for taxingme

4k. M. André Burakovsky/Tom Wilson. Andre meets him at the airport. He has a tan and he looks good. Not that Tom thinks he, himself, does not also have a tan and look good, but he's not picking himself up at the airport in a foreign country either.

домовинами by constantine for xihale

5k. T. Nicklas Backstrom/Evgeny Kuznetsov. If only his parents had been more traditional rusalki. Sure, the Miass is cold in the winter, and it was nice to live in a warm apartment instead of sleeping down in the river mud so he had the chance to play youth hockey, and sure, his father liked to be able to watch episodes of Ulitsa Razbitykh Fonarey as they aired instead of having to wait for DVD. But Evgeny’s romantic future had been on the line. Or: Nicky and Kuzy are from different species, with different conventions when it comes to courting. Efforts to ask to join his pack/be his mate fail spectacularly.

Evergreen Molasses and Gilded Heartbreaks by xihale for angularmomentum

4k. T. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. In his dreams, Alex still plays hockey. Alex just passed his career 1,000 points. Alex is one of the hundred greatest NHL players of all time. And every milestone, everywhere he turns, Nicklas is there.

Fault Lies by hoosierbitch for somethingnerdythiswaycomes

6k. M. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Alex kneels.“You’re smarter than me,” Trotz says to Nicky, “but I do know what I’m doing.” Right now, Nicky is fairly sure that he’s wrong on both counts. “Let me be his coach. Let me take care of him.”

feels like summer by Thorne for protect_rosie

30k. M. Karl Alzner/John Carlson, Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. The unglamorous fact of the matter is that lifeguarding, particularly at a community swimming pool, is much less about the dramatic rescues and slo-mo dives into the water that Baywatch has tricked people into believing, and much more about janitorial work that's either tedious or gross, spiked with the occasional scraped knee or elbowed nose or no-holds-barred ice cream vendor death-match in the parking lot. (Or, Karl's in love with his best friend, all the local community pools in the Metropolitan county are at prank-war with each other, and also there are ducks.)

get by with a little help (from our A) by Wargasms for AetherSeer

11k. E. Michael Latta/Tom Wilson, Michael Latta/Tom Wilson/Nicklas Backstrom. Mike is a switch without much experience at Domming. Tom is a sub. They figure out how to make it work with some help from Nicky.

Good Friend Alex by WeagleRock for Guzmanasol

4k. T. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Nicke was already going to die a slow, painful death for the love of a faerie. He'd have to be the world's stupidest person to turn around and fall for a troll.

Half Of The Time We're Gone by angularmomentum for waspabi

36k. E. Tom Wilson/Michael Latta, Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Mike never thought Tom would come back to Kitchener. That was his first problem. The second was that he didn’t want him to, which was a slightly bigger issue.

i'll never let go by taxingme for Louhi

13k. M. Micheal Latta/Mike Richards. There’s a thousand and one theories about where and why Travellers go where they do. Mike’s not sure about anyone else but he only ever goes to Michael.

in fingertips, in teeth by pr_scatterbrain for hoosierbitch

11k. M. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin/Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Ovechkin/Alexander Semin. “You’re going to hit the ground running,” Nicky’s agent tells him, before he arrives on US soil. Nicky mostly hits the ground again and again.

imploring harvest by chartreuser for Fourthlinewinger

20k. M. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Nicke just wants to play hockey, eat some iPhones, and watch his boyfriend photosynthesise.

The Kindness of Strangers by angularmomentum for thegraceinyoureyes

17k. E. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Nicke has created a life of careful boundaries.

Literally by xabier for maunnier (jbmaunier)

4k. T. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. In which Nicklas Backstrom is literally Andre Burakovsky's father.

A little nip from every flower by anonissue for spaceyho

4k. T. Michael Latta/Tom Wilson. Nate finally just up and face-times Mike after Mike sends him one too many questions about how to properly julienne carrots, and the conversation quickly redirects from the actual cooking to the status of Tom's health and how poorly Mike is coping with him being out of action. "Trotz had us run different lines yesterday in practice man, and now I'm on Beags' wing, and it's, just," Mike makes an inarticulate frustrated noise as he mashes garlic cloves with the back of a spoon more forcefully than strictly necessary. "It's shit. We suck." "You know," Nate starts and then pauses. "What?" Mike prompts after a few seconds of silence. "It's stupid, but like, my mom always believed the fastest way to get rid of a cold or whatever was to give it to someone else," Nate says shrugging. -- Mike feels like playing hockey without Willy on his line far outweighs the shittiness of being sick. Tom doesn't agree. Mike has to take measures.

Match Your Weakness With A Name by leyley09 for screamlet

4k. T. Andre Burakovsky/Braden Holtby. In which Braden gets talked into playing spin-the-bottle with his teammates and - surprisingly - doesn't live to regret it

A More Fascinating Name by pukeandcry for hardtoconcentrate

38k. E. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin, Andre Burakovsky/Braden Holtby, Michael Latta/Tom Wilson. Although Sasha had never made the younger Mr. Backstrom’s acquaintance, he was at least familiar enough with his reputation to know that chief amongst his qualities was the quite publicly known fact that Mr. Backstrom was as notoriously uninterested in achieving an advantageous marriage as Sasha himself.Something, then, must have upset the order of things. What that was he could not say, but Lord Backstrom was now, it would seem, in active search of a husband for his son.

My Life’s Work by protect_rosie for leyley09

2k. G. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Alex comes in on a Tuesday night, a couple of hours before closing time.

no it's not nirvana but it's on the way by ghosthunter for taxingme

4k. M. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Sasha does not miss the way Backy looks at him then, sharp and angry, and Sasha knows he deserves it. They sit in awkward silence until the waitress comes to take their drink orders.

Not a zero sum game by Guzmanasol for pr_scatterbrain

3k. Not rated. Alexander Ovechkin/Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin/Alexander Semin. His first soulmate gets another soulmate over the summer.

An Ocean Not to Break by hardtoconcentrate for kingsoftheimpossible

2k. G. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Every offseason feels like a bad taste in their mouths, the remnants of a dream turned into a nightmare time and time again. After a while, the commentators start discussing if the Russian Federation lied about Sasha carrying the cursebreaking gene full stop; it gets bad enough that Don Cherry calls publicly for him to submit to gene sequencing. “It’s fine,” Sasha insists one morning, as they’re watching Sportscenter before an early morning skate. Nicklas can see his eyes tighten around the edges when Cherry comes back on-screen, raving about how typical this dishonesty is from the Russians. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Nicke mutters, sparing another glance at Sasha before sighing and resting his cheek against the table. A cursebreaker AU.

Red is the Color (of Your True Love's Blood) by Saebrin for WeagleRock

2k. T. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. What are the odds that all of Jakub's teammates are serial killers? Like, statistically that has to be impossible, right?

say all that you're feeling by screamlet for sunshinexbomb

43k. T. Andre Burakovsky/Alexander Ovechkin. Much had happened in the past year, enough that Andre sat on the hill overlooking the lands he had been naive enough to call home until he pledged himself to Lord Laich and left his friends with barely a note. Now he had returned and— Who would want Andre now? A flash of lightning in the distance illuminated the one house he hadn’t yet considered. After a moment’s thought, Andre rode south.

Six Months by constantine for xihale

14k. T. Nicklas Backstrom/Evgeny Kuznetsov. “The Snow Queen only looks at what she takes, now,” Sasha said. “And she always takes something, from everywhere she goes.”“Yes. I know what winter’s like,” Evgeny said, and shrugged against the back of the seat. He didn’t want to ask questions or hear answers, when Sasha was sitting blunt and solid next to him, talking like an old folktale Evgeny could half, but only half, convince himself he knew.“No,” Sasha said. “Not just like the flowers and all that from summertime. Those die back for the winter, but they have roots and they grow again, always. Winter is just dark, time to rest. The Snow Queen comes with the real deep cold. What she takes, it doesn’t come back.”

something just like this by maunnier (jbmaunier) for oops_ohdear

2k. T. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Nicklas was eleven years old when he met Prince Alexander of Dynamo for the first time.

Something Old, Something New by Rave for pukeandcry

6k. E. Michael Latta/Tom Wilson. “I’m into guys,” Mike had told him before they moved in together. “If we’re gonna be roommates, that’s gotta be cool with you. I don’t want it to turn out to be a thing later.”

The Sorcerer of the Wood by Fourthlinewinger for ghosthunter

53k. T. Marcus Johansson/Evgeny Kuznetsov. Marcus opened his mouth to say, ‘I’m worried about Burky, no one knows where he is,’ but what came out was: “I think Koschei the Deathless kidnapped Burky,” and the locker room went quiet. Marcus winced and looked down at Kuzy, who appeared shocked and slightly pale. Marcus closed his eyes against the worry and his own rising embarrassment. It sounded crazy, out loud.They were in California, not Russia. It was just an exhibit. Thousands of other people had visited without incident, no curses or hexes causing trouble, and there were definitely no kidnappings. Burky sometimes got distracted and climbed into the wrong car. He was probably stranded in San Francisco. Marcus scrubbed his hands through his hair. “How do I get him back?”

staying put by thegraceinyoureyes for tiptoe39

7k. E. Nicklas Backstrom/T. J. Oshie, T. J. Oshie/Washington Capitals Ensemble. There are bodies—hands all over him, all around him.

sugar by ghosthunter for sunshinexbomb

4k. M. Nicklas Backstrom/André Burakovsky/Marcus Johansson. Nicke’s almost ready to leave, his jacket still off, his tie around his neck. “He’s fucking with you,” Nicke says quietly, coming to stand next to Andre as he ties his own tie. “And you looked at his ass when he walked away.”

Summoner's Rift by xabier for maunnier (jbmaunier)

3k. T. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Ovi too OP, Rito pls nerf.

A Swedish Crown Is Just Seven Rubles by Louhi for alotofthingsdifferent

25k. M. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Alex was twenty when he went to the Olympics for the first time. He did not win a medal, but he did meet a prince. Then he met him again. And again.

to have and to hold by oops_ohdear for xabier

6k. T. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. The problem with putting a fake engagement photo, complete with stupid smiles and a bottle of champagne, on Facebook, is that sometimes someone's mother sees it. This is not a problem Nicklas ever had before he knew Alex.

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? (series) by AetherSeer for chartreuser

4k. T. Evgeny Kuznetsov & Alexander Ovechkin. By Royal Appointment / And They Called It Puppy Love / It's My Choice to Make. If Zhenya gets a little crush on his older, good-looking, ridiculously fit bodyguard, it’s fine, right? It’s normal. He’ll get over it, sooner or later, and no one will ever know the difference.

Wolfborn by waspabi for 13058

54k. E. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. A wolfborn on an airplane was either unbearably reckless or a hockey player. Most of the time, both.

Words Just Get in the Way by somethingnerdythiswaycomes for Rave

8k. T. Andre Burakovsky/Braden Holtby, Michael Latta/Tom Wilson. “You’re pretty gone on him, huh?” Mike asks him. Andre nods. “And you don’t know anything about him?” Andre nods again, glumly. “This is the semester,” Mike proclaims with enough conviction that Andre almost believes him. “This semester, you’re getting him.”

You May Be Right (I May Be Crazy) by spaceyho for Thorne

10k. M. Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Ovechkin. Nicklas sets his phone back on the counter, and blinks at the fogged over reflection in his mirror. He is so utterly fucked. He hasn’t made the decision to go to Russia, but he has made the decision to make that decision. It’s basically the same thing, but there’s enough of a difference that he feels like he can justify stalling making it final. --or OviNicky: The Lockout

#allcapsexchange #washington capitals #hockey rpf

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