#just shut up about ottawa for five seconds

[the-quotable-alberta-hansard]

March 9, 2023

Mr. Sigurdson: With more than a quarter of a million legal firearms owners in the province and with tens of thousands more licensed here every year, there’s no doubt in my mind that Alberta is one of Ottawa’s primary targets in its campaign of fearmongering and persecution around firearms. The previous member said that this government is picking a fight. We’re not picking the fight. Ottawa picked the fight. We’re trying to stand up for Albertans.

[cuttergauthier]

New Jersey Two

Jack Hughes x Female Reader

This is chapter Two of Four

Can read chapter one here

Warning: Ex, fluff, cursing, Non supportive parents? Let me know if i missed any.

This has been in my draft for a while, I finally finished it.

word count: 1.4k

let me know what you guys think🤍

I just got to my apartment, thankfully I was able to find a beautiful affordable apartment that was fully furnished. It was now 8 p.m. and I was starving so I decided to order some pizza, for how late it was the wait was still 45 minutes.

While I was waiting for my pizza to get here, I took a quick shower since I was just in a plane. I changed into some comfy grey sweatpants and a tight white long sleeve shirt. I threw my hair in a bun I was too exhausted to wash it tonight, so I’ll just do it tomorrow when I wake up.

Once I was ready the I heard a knock on the door, I opened the door I paid the delivery boy and closed the door.

I sat down on my couch and turned on the tv and started to eat. I put on my brother’s hockey game since Ottawa was playing Calgary tonight. They were leading 2-1 in the second period.

I continued watching the game until it was over. Ottawa won 3-1 so I texted my brother to tell him congrats. I threw away the trash and went to bed. I could worry about everything else tomorrow I was too exhausted to worry about anything else right now.

The next morning, I woke up refreshed so I jumped in the shower. Thankfully I still had another two week before class started, I wanted to make sure I could settle in and find my way around the city before I got busy with classes. Once I got out of the shower and got ready for the day, I looked on google to try and find a coffee place that was close since I got in late last night I didn’t have the chance to go get groceries.

I found a place that was only a five-minute walk so I grabbed my purse, jacket and keys and made my way to the coffee shop. I got myself a small breakfast and a cold brew before sitting down at the table next to the window.

New York was beautiful especially during winter, it was snowing today, and it was beautiful. I looked up nearby grocery stores, and once I was done eating, I made my way there, thankfully the grocery store was only 10 minutes from my apartment, so it wasn’t hard walking back.

Once I got back to my apartment, I unloaded my groceries and forgot that I needed to buy some utensils since I had none, I found a store, but it was a little further away, so I ordered an uber.

Thankfully it wasn’t a long drive, once we got to the store, I paid the uber and went inside to do a little shopping. I spend about an hour there before calling another uber to go home. I found everything I needed, I was finally adulting, when I was in Michigan my parents’ house was close enough to campus so I would just drove to campus when I had classes.

The day was coming to an end, so I made myself diner and facetime some family and friends for a while. Then I thought I should facetime Luke and tell him what I did today. Luke has always been like a little brother to me, he can be annoying, but I love him regardless.

“Hey sis, how was your first full day in New York?”

“pretty good, I went and bought groceries and then went to the store to buy some utensils so I could actually make myself some food” I said which made him laugh

“You’re getting old sis” he said which made me gasp

“shut up Luke, I’m only 2 years older than you” he was smiling

“I’m glad you’re happy”

“me too”

“you should really think about telling Jack, he’d be happy to see you”

“Luke…”

“I know you don’t want to see him, but he’s my brother and I know he misses you, he asks about you every time I talk to him”

“If I ever see him around I’ll talk to him, but I really don’t want to have to call him or text him to let him know I’m here”

“fine… I have to go it’s getting late and I’m exhausted, so good night I’ll talk to you later, love you”

“love you too lukey”

He was right it was getting late, so I went to bed happy for a successful first day in New York and excited for another one tomorrow.

Today I was going to go to time square and explore New York. I’ve always dreamed of living in New York and now I’m finally here.

I got ready for the day and ordered an uber. The uber driver got me to time square and I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.

I thanked the driver before he left and I started exploring the city. I found some stores I loved and made my way inside, I might as well shop since I’m here.

I bought a few new pieces of clothing and I didn’t need but they were to cute not to buy, as I made my way out of the last store time square was already packed and I bumped into someone’s chest.

“Dude you really need to start watching where you’re going” some guy said laughing

“Nate shut up it’s not my fault” someone said, and I recognized his voice it was Jack.

I looked up and saw Jack I didn’t think I’d run into him especially in Time Square. He looked at me and I saw him freeze. He was with who I assume are some of his teammates.

“Jack you okay man” who I recognize as PK Subban, Jack snapped out of it making him look at PK then back at me.

“Y/n?” he said in disbelief

“Hey Jack… long time no see” I said shyly

“yeah, no kidding, what are you doing In New York?”

“We’ll let you guys talk, were going to go to Sunglass hut” another one of the guys said before they walked away.

“umm… you want to walk and we can catch up while we do so?” I ask nervously

I didn’t know if he would say yes, and I honestly didn’t know if I was hoping he’d say yes or if he’d say no.

“yeah that sounds good, I can catch up with the guys later.” He said with a small smile

“So what brings you to New York? Are you here with some friends for new years?” he asked curiously

“um… no i’m actually here alone… I finally convince my parents to let me move to New York so I could go to Columbia university.” I said smiling

His eyes widen with a smile making its way on his face.

“Really? That’s amazing you always wanted to go to Columbia” he said happily

“Yeah, I got them to agree so I transferred I got here 2 days ago, I’ve always wanted to live here so I thought I’d explore the city”

“I’m happy for you, it’s about time you follow your dreams. How come you didn’t tell me you were moving here?” he asked lowkey hurt

“honestly I don’t know, we haven’t seen each other in over a year, so I thought maybe you wouldn’t want to know… even though every told me to tell you” I replied

“Of course, I would have wanted to know. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you. You were my girlfriend and best friend, I’ll I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy” he said which made me smile

I had missed him too; he was my person every time I had good news or bad news, he was the first person I wanted to tell. He’s been in my life since we born, there’s nothing I wouldn’t have done for him and him for me.

“I missed you too” I replied smiling

“Well now that we are close by we can catch up”

“definitely”

We kept walking and talking we stopped at a coffee shop, we sat down and talk for a little while before he got a call.

“I have to go, but you have my number use it” he said smiling

He gave me a hug before leaving. I finished my coffee before deciding it was time to go back to my apartment.

I went to bed happier than ever, I thought I’d be sad to see him again, but I couldn’t be happier.

[teenageread]

Review: The Best Laid Plans

Synopsis:

A burnt-out political aide quits just before an election — but is forced to run a hopeless campaign on the way out. He makes a deal with a crusty old Scot, Angus McLintock — an engineering professor who will do anything, anything, to avoid teaching English to engineers — to let his name stand in the election. No need to campaign, certain to lose - or is he?

Plot:

Growing up in a conservative household, Daniel Addison was nearly disowned when he started voting for the Liberals, and was kicked out when he started working for the Liberal party. For Daniel his life was on parliament hill, a place where he happily stays writing speeches for his party leader. But when caught his girlfriend of two years, Rachel, doing the nasty with the opposite house leader, Daniel left the hill right then and there. Moving to Cumberland to work as a professor for the University of Ottawa. But with dedication to his party and fellow Canadians, Daniel had to find someone who would run for the Liberals in his new riding, one in which the conservatives had a unanimous vote in the past five elections. Searching high and low he makes a deal with his landlord Angus McLintock that if he runs he would not win, will not have to do any work, would not even have to be in the country when the vote happens, and Daniel will teach English for Engineering, a class Angus hated. With only $157.23 in the campaign fund, Daniel's team consists of Mariel the old Liberal candidate who lives in the nursing home, her beautiful granddaughter Lindsey, and Pete1 and Pete2, two millennial punk heads, engineering students who want to help out. Soon Canadians of Cumberland start realizing that Angus might be their guy. As most politicians are there for themselves first, party second, and the people third, Angus is different as he does not want to be there at all, he just does not want to teach English. With a shocking scandal that sends voters into a tizzy, Angus might have a chance of winning, as Daniel fears knowing that parliament is not ready for this. 

Thoughts: 

For those who believe that Canadian politics are less exciting than their southern neighbors or across the sea, well prepare to be correct.  Background information on Canadian politics: the main party are the Liberal Party (red and currently in power with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) the Conservative Party (blue nicknamed the Tories, last leader in power was Stephen Harper from 2006 to 2015), New Democratic Party (orange, also known as NDP and never in power), Bloc Quebecois (light blue and like their name only exist in Quebec), and the Green Party (green and a joke pretty much). The main two are the Liberals and the Tories as they have been battling it out since Canada became a country (with a few Unionist leaders in the early 19th century). For most of the country this is how voting goes: if you like those in power vote for them, if not vote for the other side, with a few switching over to Green or NDP. For Canadians this book is a riot, as it brings up the classic CBC and CTV, Parliament Hill, and how our government works. As a Canadian myself, this book makes me realize I should probably pay more attention to politics, and that Ontario people need to shut up about their taxes (I come from one of the highest tax provinces so I should be the one complaining). With a romance on the side (Lindsey is just the girl Danial needs), the Petes keeping things spunky, and Danial runs around headless, with Angus blindly going into politics, Fallis deserves a ton of credit for this Canadian masterpiece. Taking an interesting concept (Canada) and something most people do not pay attention to (politics) he creates the best laid plan(s) that Daniel, the underdog, could do, and leads all Canadians in a new direction on how they see politics. 

Read more reviews: Goodreads

Buy the book: Amazon

[slafkovskys]

25 with josh norris please. I'm so obsessed with him right now you have no idea

#25. a kiss on the bicep

requests are closed, please do not send any more!

“now did you want to do the green or the purple icing?” you ask charlie who was too busy leaning over the couch to watch the movie that he had picked out only a few minutes before. “hello? earth to charlie?”

“ma’am?” he calls back, eyes still focused on the animated fish swimming across the screen.

you sigh, leaning against the counter, “if you’re not going to help me, i’ll just put all of this stuff up and you can go to bed at your normal bedtime-”

“no!” he says, pushing away from the couch and running into the kitchen. he climbs onto one of the chairs at the island and looks at you with pleading eyes, “you promised that i could stay up late tonight, y/n.”

“and you promised me that you would help me make cupcakes. if you’re not holding up your end of the deal, i’m not gonna hold up mine dude,” you raise an eyebrow as the eight year old pouts. you shake your head, “not gonna work.”

“fine,” he sighs, getting ready to climb on top of the counter when he’s interrupted by a knock on the front door. he stares at you for a second before darting out his chair and towards the door, “i’ve got it!”

“no you don’t!” you chase after him and find him standing in front of the door, looking at you like a little angel dressed in dinosaur pajamas. he steps out of the way so you can stare out of the peephole at who was on the other side. you twist the lock and pull open the door, “what are you-”

“mr. josh!” charlie shouts, squeezing in between you and the wall and launching himself towards your boyfriend. he wraps his arms around josh’s waist and josh pats his back. “why are you here?”

“i was going to ask the same question, charlie,” you lean against the door and stare at him, “why are you here, mr. josh?”

“um,” he holds up a tube of what appears to be sprinkles, “i heard that you were making cupcakes and i brought some sprinkles that we had in the cabinet that was about to expire. i figured that you could use them more than us.”

“thank you!” charlie takes the sprinkles from his hand and slips back inside the house.

you open the door for him to slip inside and when he does, he leans down to press his lips to yours, but you pull away, “not when i’m working.”

“he’s not even here,” josh whispers, copying you as he pulls off his coat and hangs it on the hook beside your keys.

“i don’t walk out onto the ice mid-shift and try to make out with you, do i?”

“i’d let you,” he shrugs his shoulders and walks further into the house after charlie, “what kind of cupcakes are we making, char?”

you’d been babysitting charlie ever since he was three years old. his mother was one of your mom’s coworkers and when their normal babysitter quiet unexpectedly, you had been hired on a temporary basis. however, when it was clear that you and charlie got along extremely well, you were hired full time and five years down the road, here you were.

now josh, josh was a surprise.

you had met him shortly after he came to ottawa for the season. he and brady had come knocking on charlie’s front door asking if he could play street hockey with them and a couple of other neighborhood kids and when you answered, all josh could do was stare. he kept using street hockey as an excuse to see you for almost a month until finally asking you out. three months later, he was a frequent flier at charlie’s house and his parents didn’t mind considering how much their son looked up to him and how good josh was to their son.

you find the two of them in the kitchen, josh helping charlie onto the counter before picking up the cupcake box. he quirks an eyebrow, “blue cupcakes with purple and green icing?”

“like zombies!” charlie says with a wide grin.

“i like the way you think, kid. did you wash your hands?” he asks and charlie turns his head.

“wash your hands, char and then we can make the cupcakes and go watch nemo,” you chime in, waltzing over to stand beside josh. charlie listens at the mention of his favorite movie and before long, you finally start gathering the ingredients.

when charlie gets distracted by the tv, you turn your head and press your lips to josh’s bicep. he nudges his hip against yours, “what was that for?”

“just for being you,” you shrug your shoulders. you watch as his cheeks flame and he cracks an egg against the side of the bowl. you elbow his side gently, “are you blushing?”

“shut up.”

[highbuttonsports]

PREVIEW: NHL’s Scotia North Division

The 2021 NHL season is finally here, and it will be special for Canadian hockey fans. All seven teams are loaded into one division to abide by government mandated travel restrictions. This means we will have intense rivalries renewed 8-10 times this year, and I can’t wait for the chaos. So let’s take a look at how I see each team faring, and the storylines to watch as this unprecedented 56 game schedule begins.

Ottawa Senators

Rank: 7th 

MVP: Brady Tkachuk

Best Off-Season Addition: Evgenii Dadonov

Biggest Off-Season Loss: Anthony Duclair 

Sleeper Star: Matt Murray

The Sens are coming off a tough 25-34-12 season that ranked second worst in the NHL. There were not a lot of positives other than landing Tim Stüzle with the third overall pick in the draft. This season I expect to see them take a step forward as they continue to rebuild, but unfortunately they are stuck in a division that is loaded with win-now teams and it will be tough for them to win on a consistent basis.

Forwards

 Up front Tkachuk and Dadonov will provide a solid offensive output, and Stüzle brings a lot of potential, but once again, depth is an issue. There is potential for some surprises if Alex Galchenyuk somehow finds his game and becomes the player he was once hoped to be, and Derek Stepan could return miraculously to his prime and perform to the standard his contract says he should, but I find that hard to see happening. 

Defencemen

 Their biggest question mark lies on the blueline, as after the top pair of Chabot-Gudbranson, there is not much. Chabot is a stud and I expect to compete for Norris trophies in his career, but unfortunately he can’t play sixty minutes a night, and with a condensed schedule he will likely see the ice even less per game.

Goalies

Ottawa’s GM Pierre Dorion did make a solid move this offseason acquiring Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray to guard their crease. Murray posted a .899 save percentage last season which needs to be improved upon if the Sens have any chance of stealing some games this year. If he can return to the Matt Murray he was before injury problems, however, he could be an X-factor for the Sens. Behind him will likely be Marcus Hogberg who posted a .904 save percentage and a 3.12 GAA last year in 24 games with the Sens. Those numbers aren’t outstanding but if he can improve off of that he will be a great backup and potentially a starting goalie in the near future.

Who to Watch

Without a doubt Tim Stüzle is the player to watch this year in Ottawa. He will likely be in contention for the Calder, and if the World Juniors were any indication, this kid is the real deal. Physicality of the NHL may be a potential weakness, but it will certainly be interesting to see how it plays out. 

 Edmonton Oilers 

Rank: 6th

MVP: Connor McDavid

Best Off-Season Addition: Tyson Barrie

Biggest Off-Season Loss: Andreas Athanasiou

Sleeper Star: Jesse Puljujarvi

Oilers fans certainly will not be happy with being ranked this low. Connor McDavid is often considered the best player in the world, Leon Draisaitl is coming off a season where he won the Hart Trophy as league MVP. Surely that would be enough to finish higher than sixth in a division, right? No. There are too many question marks everywhere to be considered a legitimate contender, very average depth and below-average goaltending. I could be wrong, and if any team surprises me this year I expect it to be Edmonton, however as of right now, I have many doubts.

Forwards

Draisaitl and McDavid are one of the best one-two punches in the league, but this year they’re expected to do so on different lines. With Kyle Turris as their third line center that is the position which they show the most depth and promise, but unfortunately that is the only depth. Jesse Puljujarvi is returning from Finland and sliding onto the top line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, however neither of those guys have proven they can produce at the rate you want a 1st line to produce. Playing with McDavid will certainly help, and they are both former top five picks in the draft, but McDavid cannot carry the team by himself if they expect to make the playoffs. The second line consists of Dominik Kahun and Kailer Yamamoto on Draisaitl’s wings, and once again, it’s one superstar between two unproven wingers. 

Defencemen

The Oilers are thin on the blueline with Oscar Klefbom out for the season. Darnell Nurse is solid but not a top pairing guy just yet. He’s forced into Klefbom’s top spot alongside either Ethan Bear or Tyson Barrie, both have potential to have breakout seasons, as Bear is still 23 and Barrie is out of the limelight that the Leafs put on him, looking to return to the production and success he had in Colorado. Kris Russell and Adam Larsson make up the third pair, which is actually a solid shutdown tandem, but paying 8 million to your bottom two D-men is not ideal. To sum up this defensive core: Good, not great, top to bottom. 

Goalies

Koskinen and Smith are not good enough goalies to win games. They are both at best backup goaltenders in this league, and with the schedule’s series-like format they will likely split most games, and that is a big concern for Edmonton, and ultimately what I see as their downfall.

Who to Watch

Kailer Yamamoto alongside Leon Draisaitl could turn into something special. Coming off a season where Yamamoto scored 31 points in 53 games, he could potentially improve on those numbers with a 56 game season. Anywhere above the 40 point plateau would be a success. 

Winnipeg Jets

Rank: 5th

MVP: Connor Hellybuyck

Best Off-Season Addition: Paul Satstny

Biggest Off-Season Loss: Dustin Byfuglien

Sleeper Star: Josh Morissey

Last year the Jets finished 37-28-6, a record that would have been much worse without their netminder Connor Hellebuyck. It’s very rare to see a goalie in the Hart Trophy conversation but Hellebuyck brings exactly that. An elite top six forward group is what carries the offence, however the defensive core is weak, and Laurent Brossoit is a question mark on whether or not he can maintain consistent play as Hellebuyck’s backup. Depending on the Patrik Laine situation, they could turn him into a solid defenceman and end up winning the division. Time will tell.

Forwards

The Jets top line of Scheifele between Wheeler and Ehlers is elite and will steal them some games. The offence is deeper than that too. With a full schedule last season Kyle Connor would have finished with 40 goals, and as it sits right now, he plays on a line with former 40 goal scorer Patrik Laine. This high powered offence will surely be a key to their success.

Defencemen

Josh Morissey and Neal Pionk will have to have stellar seasons in order for the Jets to find success and make the playoffs this season. They don’t have a true #1 defenceman as of right now and their depth isn’t all that great either. It is possible that each defenceman in their top 4 have breakout years, but that is unlikely. Hellebuyck will likely be hung out to dry this year, and Jets fans better hope he’s ready.

Goalies

Connor Hellebuyck just won the vezina, and he may just have to do it again. With a weak defensive roster in front of him, he may be the Jets only ticket to the playoffs. It remains to be seen how much Paul Maurice will use Brossoit with the amount of back to backs on their schedule, but there’s no question his role will increase, and the Jets can’t afford to throw away games every time he’s between the pipes.

Who to Watch

The never-ending Patrik Laine saga continues in Winnipeg. He once had 44 goals in a season, but since then has struggled to find consistency. Rumblings of him wanting out of Winnipeg continue to flood the media and ultimately may serve as a distraction to the Jets the longer it goes on, similar to Byfuglien last season. It may be in their best interest to flip him for a defenceman now, or decide firmly that they’ll keep him and hope for 40 goals per year. They should stop delaying their decision, whatever it may be.

Montreal Canadiens

Rank: 4th

MVP: Carey Price

Best Off-Season Addition: Tyler Toffoli

Biggest Off-Season Loss: Max Domi

Sleeper Star: Josh Anderson

Les Canadiens had a pretty busy offseason headlined by the Max Domi for Josh Anderson deal. Marc Bergevin did what he could to make his team tougher and a legitimate contender this year. A pretty solid forward group in front of a great top 4 on the back-end, not to mention Carey Price in goal, this team could surprise some people this year. If they do get into the playoffs, Carey can easily steal four rounds and they could find themselves hoisting a cup. He’s that good. 

Forwards

The Habs have no superstars up front but they’re loaded with grit and have a few players that could blossom onto that star level. Johnathan Drouin is still too young to count out, and has shown flashes of greatness before, Nick Suzuki is their best prospect, Josh Anderson could sneakily put up 20 goals, same with Toffoli. Not to mention they’ve seen Gallagher put up 30 goals twice in his career. This is a very deep forward group that has the potential to be elite, but also could fail to find the back of the net. One or the other.

Defencemen

Ben Chiarot and Shea Weber are a great top pairing. Weber may not be the Norris candidate he once was, but he’s still an elite shut down guy who has all the tools to compete and bring leadership. Adding Joel Edmunson was a fantastic move, and Jeff Petry is coming off of a career year. With Romanov and Kulak rounding out the D-Core, there are a few unknowns, but once again, plenty of potential.

Goalies

Carey Price. That’s all I’ll say about him. Jake Allen has been a number one guy in the past and during the condensed regular season they can give Price some nights off to avoid overworking him in years past and prevent injuries. Depth will be key this year and the Habs arguably have the best tandem in the league.

Who to Watch

Josh Anderson’s seven year contract was scrutinized by hockey fans around the league (myself included), it will be interesting to see if he can live up to the 5.5 million AAV. If he can evolve his scoring touch, I think there’s a chance that this quietly becomes a steal because of the physical element he brings.

 Vancouver Canucks

Rank: 3rd

MVP: Elias Pettersson

Best Off-Season Addition: Braden Holtby

Biggest Off-Season Loss: Jacob Markstrom

Sleeper Star: Brock Boeser

Another team that was busy this offseason, the Canucks lost several players but Jim Benning was very quick to replace them. Chemistry on the blueline could be interesting to see develop because of all the new faces, but I feel people are generally sleeping on this team. A young forward group that provides a little bit of everything, scoring, grit and it has remained mostly the same from their success last year, with a defensive core that is different, but still very good to go with it. On paper the roster may not scream contender, but they have all the tools to make up a great hockey team in my mind.

Forwards

Elias Pettersson is a top 5 scorer in this league and I will stand by that. He leads this offence that is very good. Bo Horvat broke out in the bubble and if that was any indication of what kind of player he truly is, Canucks fans are in for a treat. J.T. Miller was an all-star last year and despite starting the season on the COVID list he should produce upon his return. If Brock Boeser can return to what he was in 2017-19 scoring 25+ goals, the Canucks will have no shortage of goals to lead them to victory.

Defencemen

Quinn Hughes was runner-up for the calder last year and already is one of the league’s best D-Men. He will likely be paired with Nate Schmidt or their most recent signing Travis Hamonic, both of whom are good pickups by Vancouver. Alex Edler is quietly still a great shutdown guy as well. The only blemish on the blueline for the Canucks is Tyler Myers and his contract. He doesn’t need to get big minutes and can hide behind the other defencemen in front of him. 

Goalies

Braden Holtby signed a 2 year contract with an AAV of 4.3 million this offseason, which some fans saw as an overpay after seeing Thatcher Demko shut the door for an injured Markstrom in the bubble last year. The reality is Demko hasn’t played a lot of games yet as he’s only ever been a backup. Signing Holtby, who despite a career-worst season last year, has been an elite goalie for nearly a decade. I expect Holtby to start as the number one guy, but worst case scenario, Demko gets molded into the go-to keeper by the end of the season.

Who to Watch

Quinn Hughes was elite last season and showed promise to become a future Norris Trophy winner. I’m curious to see if he runs into the dreaded ‘sophomore slump’ that many before him have. His success will likely have a huge impact on the Canucks success as a whole. 

Toronto Maple Leafs

Rank: 2nd

MVP: Auston Matthews

Best Off-Season Addition: T.J. Brodie

Biggest Off-Season Loss: Kasperi Kapanen

Sleeper Star: William Nylander

The Maple Leafs are likely the most criticized franchise in the league and have one of the wildest fanbases. The reality is, they are good. This year they look more complete than they ever had in the Auston Matthews era, and their defencemen have improved via free agency and Frederik Andersen is still an all-star goalie. They have proven in the past they are solid in the regular season, but with the added leadership of Simmonds and Thornton they might have what it takes to win in the playof- Er, at least win a series. 

Forwards

Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares. One of the best “big threes” that the NHL has as far as forwards are concerned. William Nylander has a big contract, yes, but he quietly had 31 bingos last year, and I expect him to keep up, if not improve that scoring pace. Wayne Simmonds adds grit that this Leafs roster has needed so badly for years, and with additions like Jimmy Vesey and Jumbo Joe Thornton to round out their top nine, this roster finally looks like it’s deep enough to win.

Defencemen

Morgan Reilly may not have had his best season last year but he is still a top defender in the league, and now he finally has a partner. Although they didn’t get the right-handed shot they wanted, they got T.J. Brodie who plays the right side to complement Reilly’s offensive game style. Jake Muzzin will continue to be their stay-at-home guy, and with expected development of Dermott and Holl, the Leafs may finally have a decent top six here.

Goalies

Frederik Andersen is still an elite goalie despite Leafs fans trying to drive him out of town. He is the reason the Leafs won many games last year and I expect that to be the case this year. With upgrades in front of him and a solid backup in Jack Campbell to share the load of games, the netminders are far from a concern for Toronto. We’ve come a long way from the Bernier/Sparks tandem folks.

Who to Watch

Although he falls outside the lineup right now, with injuries expected this year I would keep and eye out for Nick Robertson to sneak in and compete for the Calder Trophy. 

 Calgary Flames

Rank: 1st 

MVP: Matthew Tkachuk

Best Off-Season Addition: Jacob Markstrom

Biggest Off-Season Loss: T.J. Brodie

Sleeper Star: Elias Lindholm

The Flames are coming off a 36-27-7 season. Pretty good, but nothing spectacular. This year I’m expecting a huge jump for them. They added Jacob Markstrom who was nominated for the Vezina last year, Johnny Gaudreau should bounce back from a down year, (by his standards, otherwise solid) and their defensive core remains solid despite losing T.J. Brodie. They have a deep roster that brings toughness each night, similar to Montreal, but the Flames have more stars. This prediction is admittingly a bit of a reach, but I’m anticipating big seasons from Sean Monahan, Dillon Dube and Elias Lindholm. If that happens, the Flames are cup contenders.

Forwards

Matthew Tkachuk is absolutely electrifying. The touch of a goal scorer, the physicality of an enforcer, an all-around great player. On a line with Monahan and Gaudreau I expect all three of them to produce big numbers. Sam Bennett is arguably the best 4th line center in the league and that speaks to their depth, if they can get a breakout year out of Dillon Dube they will be a threat to score 5 every night.

Defencemen

Mark Giordano may be aging but as of today he is an elite defenceman. Rasumus Andersson is continuing to develop into a great top-pair guy, with Noah Hanifin right behind him. People often seem to forget Noah Hanifin is only 23, and isn’t even entering his prime yet. He will be an all-star one day and I believe this will be a big year for him. Another underrated add is Chris Tanev who will help lock it down to close out their top 4.

Goalies

Jacob Markstrom was nominated for a Vezina with Calgary’s division rival Vancouver Canucks just last year. He’s one of the most promising goalies in the league and without a doubt be the franchise guy the Flames have been searching for since Mikka Kippursoff. Behind Marsktrom is David Rittich, who also was an all-star last year, and as I’ve said throughout the article, with this schedule, a good backup goalie is crucial. WIth Rittich playing less games, I expect him to be more effective, and I predict the Flames GAA to be amongst the best in the NHL.

Who to Watch

Sean Monahan put up 48 points in 70 games last season. He is a great two-way forward but I would expect the Flames to lean on him more offensively, especially on the powerplay. Look for him to have his most productive season. 

That’s it! Those are my predictions! Let me know what you think and WHY you think it! Regardless of opinion, I think it’s safe to say we are all happy hockey is back. So buckle up Canada, you’re in for one hell of a season. Let’s go.

Aidan Robertson

[selfignitingimagines]

Lydia- Because I Had You

Request- Hi I love your writing, they’re my favorite! Can I have a Lydia x girl reader based on the song Because I Had You by Shawn Mendes? Maybe a happy ending? But it’s completely up to you! Thank you!

A/N- Coincidentally, I have both quit my shitty job and finished school, so guess who has time to write more imagines! I know this one has been in my inbox for a while, and now that I’ve got the time, I’m working on clearing it out. Next up is a Stiles imagine!

You were scrolling through your phone, not so patiently waiting for the Starbucks line to thin out as you waited to order. You tapped your foot to the upbeat music and sent a quick text to your cousin Derek, letting him know you would be at his loft in twenty minutes.

It had been over a year since you left Beacon Hills with your other cousin Cora, and the flight from Canada, combined with the flight back, had sapped the energy right out of you. You normally wouldn’t have stopped so close to Derek’s, but you were fading fast, and Cora wasn’t there to keep you awake on the drive over.

She had opted to stay in Canada for this trip, even though you had desperately tried to convince her.

“Last time I went home, I was trapped in a vault for three months,” she had reminded you. “I’m not exactly chomping at the bit to go back.”

You eventually relented and caught the plane back home alone.

Up until Cora decided to leave Beacon Hills, you had never lived anywhere else. After Deucalion and his alphas had been defeated and the sacrifices ended, Cora told you and Derek she was planning on leaving.

It seemed like a cruel joke at first. To believe she was dead for six years and get her back, only to have her disappear again would have broken your heart. After losing Laura a year earlier, that wasn’t a blow you were prepared to take.

“I’m coming with you,” you had announced suddenly, a couple days after Cora made plans to leave.

She had quirked her eyebrows up at you from where she sat on Derek’s couch and shut her book. “You want to go to Canada? It’s so far from home.”

Cora was met with the roll of your eyes. “No shit. After everything that’s happened here, I’m open to something new.”

“You sure there’s not something you want to stay for?”

At that you had paused. You knew the something she was referring to, and it was one five-foot-three, strawberry blonde genius.

You were older than Lydia by a year, but after Scott was bitten, you became a lot more interested in the budding werewolf in the sophomore class. After Derek ordered you to keep an eye on him, you were somewhat forced to hang out with him and his friends. Luckily they turned out to be pretty cool.

You liked everyone except for Jackson, but even then, you got the feeling that he wasn’t really a part of the group. Scott was mostly focused on making sure he didn’t expose everyone’s supernatural secret. Over time, Jackson left for England, Erica and Boyd went missing, and you and Lydia became incredibly close.

When she was trying to figure out what she was in the midst of Jennifer’s sacrifices, you were by her side the whole time. You were actually the first person she called whenever she found a body. Up until that point, it was no secret that you felt something for her, but you had never said anything. She had never asked, but if she had, you would have been prepared to tell the truth.

The night Jennifer tried to strangle her, you had rushed to Lydia in the parking lot. Scott and Stiles were preoccupied with figuring out where Jennifer had taken the Sheriff, and rescue crews had swarmed the school after the music teacher had been killed. Despite the commotion, you and Lydia actually had a moment alone.

You were frazzled and worried, and you held tightly to her hand as she sat in one of the ambulances that were called. She was silent for a long time, and you didn’t blame her. Someone had just tried to kill her, and if the Sheriff hadn’t been there, she might have succeeded.

“I know you might not be ready to talk about it,” you had told her quietly. “But I’m here if you do.”

Lydia had taken a deep breath, looked over at you with wide green eyes and said “I don’t want to talk.”

Then she leaned over, cupped your cheek with her hand, and kissed you fiercely.

You had only dated for a few weeks before your cousin announced she was leaving. At that point, you were torn between leaving someone you loved or losing Cora all over again. It was the hardest decision you had ever made, and while you loved Ottawa, you couldn’t help but wonder if you had made the wrong one.

Now, standing in the line for coffee, you were startled when you heard a familiar voice behind you.

“The first thing we need to do is start on your application essay. Community college standards aren’t crazy high, but you still need to work on your writing.”

You turned around, eyes going wide while you watched those familiar red locks blow in the spring wind as she walked through the door. Lydia carried a laptop case in her hand, and she was followed by a taller brunette, carrying two backpacks. You knew one of them was Lydia’s.

“Do you think I can actually get in?” she was asking.

“With practice, absolutely,” she said, smiling up at her. “And my help, of course.”

Her eyes scanned the room, and before you could even think about turning away, they landed on you. Lydia’s face fell, and the laptop case slipped from her hands. The other girl caught it before it could hit the floor, but followed Lydia’s gaze and glowered at you suspiciously.

Lydia quickly reached for the other girl’s hand and grasped it tightly as she straightened up. She tossed her hair over her shoulder with one hand and lead the girl over to the line.

“Y/n,” she said smoothly. “How do you like Ottawa?”

“It’s great,” you told her honestly. “Peaceful.”

You wanted to say more, to maybe tell her that she would love it, and that it would be so much better if she had come with you. But Lydia had turned down the offer a year and a half ago, and it looked like she was perfectly happy where she was.

“Who are you?” the girl next to her asked abruptly.

Lydia squeezed her hand. “This is Y/n. She’s Derek’s cousin, remember?”

“Oh,” Malia said, her eyes going wide.

“And Y/n,” Lydia began. “This is Malia-”

“Peter’s daughter,” you cut her off. “You look like him.”

Malia scowled. “That’s the only thing we have in common.”

“Trust me, that’s a good thing. I guess that makes me your second cousin, and uh, you’re Lydia’s girlfriend, right?”

Malia opened her mouth, but Lydia smiled brightly. “Yes!”

Malia looked over at her and nodded, smiling wordlessly.

You couldn’t hide the way your expression darkened, but you smiled at them anyway. “That’s great. You seem really happy.”

You felt an all too familiar ache in your chest, and looked back over your shoulder at the counter. You were exhausted, but you weren’t ready to stand there talking to Lydia for more than a few minutes, not with her new girlfriend by her side.

You had spent the past year and a half trying to distract yourself with other girls, but none of those relationships had ever panned out. They could never be Lydia, and you were certain that, even after a year and a half, you weren’t able to love anyone else.

“You know what?” you suggested. “Why don’t you guys take my spot in line? I’m already late getting to Derek’s.”

Lydia frowned. “Are you sure? You look exhausted, Y/n.”

You nodded vigorously, but you knew they were unconvinced. You had never inherited the Hale poker face. “Go ahead. It looks like you guys are gonna have a long night of studying. It was nice to meet you, Malia.”

“Y/n, wait,” Lydia said, but your eyes were already watering.

You rushed out of the coffee shop, and headed straight to your car. Lydia had looked happy, but when she saw you, her entire demeanor changed. This trip was supposed to help you make the decision of whether to come back or not, but by the way Lydia had looked at you, she might not even want you in Beacon Hills. If that was true, was it even worth coming home?

-----

“If I ask you what’s wrong, will you stop moping on my couch?”

You glanced up at Derek from where you had buried yourself in a pile of blankets. “I’m tired.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“You’re a terrible legal guardian.”

Derek huffed and sat down in the armchair next to you. “You don’t actually think that.”

“No I don’t,” you grumbled. “But I don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s Lydia, isn’t it?”

You frowned at him. “How did you know that?”

He shrugged. “She’s the only person you’ve ever been this upset over.”

You sighed and sat up, causing the mountain of blankets to cascade onto the floor. “I saw her in the coffee shop this morning. When she saw me, she just looked...horrified.”

“Did you talk?” he asked thoughtfully.

“A little, but she was with someone else. They were holding hands and studying together and...and she looked really happy.”

“Did you-”

Before he could finish, a sharp knocking on the door echoed through the loft.

“Expecting someone?”

Derek’s brow furrowed. “No. I’d better see who it is though.”

He rose from the armchair and walked over to the door. Once he got closer, he paused and turned to you with raised eyebrows. “It’s Lydia.”

Your breath caught in your throat. “Oh god. You can’t let her in.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Derek, please!”

He huffed. “Okay, go upstairs.”

You shoved the remaining blankets off of you and rushed upstairs. There, you hid just behind the door frame and listened as you heard the telltale screech of the loft door opening.

“Hey, Lydia. What’s up?”

“I’m looking for Y/n,” she told him. “She’s staying with you, right?”

“She is, but she’s out right now,” Derek lied smoothly. “Is there something you want me to tell her?”

There was pause. “I saw her this morning in Starbucks. She saw me with Malia and...I just really need to talk to her. When is she coming back?”

“Wait. Malia was the girl she saw you with?”

“Yeah. Did she say something to you?”

“I think you two need to talk,” he told her.

His voice grew too soft for you to hear, and you listened as his footsteps crossed the loft. The door screeched open once more, and you froze. Was he leaving?

After a few seconds, Lydia’s soft voice called out. “Y/n, I know you’re here.”

“Fuck,” you whispered to yourself. You should have known you couldn’t trust Derek.

You popped your head out from behind the door and plastered a bright smile onto your face. “Hey! I didn’t know you were coming.”

She let out a tired sigh. That was when you really got a good look at her. Her red hair was wild and curly, spilling out of the bun piled on her head. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and her cheeks were splotchy. She looked exhausted.

“Lydia? Are you okay?”

You felt yourself drifting down the stairs toward her. “Hey, are you okay?”

She took a deep breath and ignored your question.

“Was it worth it?” she asked softly. “Leaving?”

You were speechless. On your flight home, you figured Lydia might confront you about this. You just didn’t realize it would be so soon.

“I don’t know,” you admitted. “I was sick of fighting for my life. I’ve been fighting since I was eight years old.”

“So you just ran,” she whispered bitterly.

You paused and looked down in shame. “Yeah. Yeah I did.”

“Well you got what you wanted,” she told you. “You stayed out of it. You stayed out of everything. Stiles getting possessed, the assassins, the crazy, giant werewolf that tore apart the school. You missed all of it. You didn’t even come back for Allison’s funeral.”

Shame burned through you. That was probably the thing you were most angry at yourself for. You wanted to return, but you had made the choice to leave in the first place. There was a part of you that wasn’t sure if you should intrude.

“I wanted to,” you said softly. “Lydia, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do.”

“You didn’t know what to do?” she demanded. “How do you think I felt?”

Her eyes were watering now, and she was trembling with anger.

“I felt her die,” she told you softly. “And after she was gone, I wanted you there so badly. But you never came back. You’re not even planning on staying, are you? You’re just going to leave again.”

“I don’t know,” you admitted. “But Lydia, you never needed me. You’re so strong. And now you have Malia.”

She blinked in confusion. “Malia?”

“She’s your girlfriend now, right?”

She scoffed. “God, no.”

“But you said-”

“I was trying to make you jealous,” she admitted to you. “And I was surprised when it worked. When you left Beacon Hills I thought you didn’t care about me anymore.”

You blanched at her. “Lydia, no. No way. I left because I needed a change, but I asked you to come with me! I wanted you to come with me...more than anything.”

“I couldn’t leave our friends,” she told you. “And I wouldn’t have left you. I was in love with you, Y/n.”

“I was in love with you too,” you informed her. “I’m still-”

You caught yourself before you could finish. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”

“Wait,” she said suddenly. “You’re still what?”

“It doesn’t matter. I know you’re happy-”

“You don’t know anything,” she cut you off. “Just tell me the truth, Y/n. You’re still what?”

You let out a breath. “I’m still in love with you. I tried to forget about you. But there was never anyone else, Lydia. I could never love anyone but you. I know I left you. I know you probably hate me now...but you’re right. I ran away. Derek always says that once you start running, you don’t stop. That’s why I didn’t come back. I couldn’t stop.”

“And now?” she asked, her green eyes boring into yours.

“Now it’s time to stop.”

You crossed the distance between you in one stride, wrapping an arm around her waist and tugging her close.

“God, I missed you,” she breathed.

She stood up on her tiptoes, and it was only then that you realized she wasn’t wearing heels. That was the first indicator that there was something different about Lydia. She had been through so much in the past year, and when you looked into her bright green eyes, you could tell that something had changed. But whatever she had been through, she was still Lydia. She was still yours.

“I couldn’t get you out of my head,” you whispered against her lips. “I’m not sure I ever will.”

She smiled. “Don’t.”

Then she kissed you, pressing her red lips against yours in a way that would definitely leave lipstick stains.

You were definitely coming home.

[marlahey]

we stumbled in the dark; i knew we’d be alright (part two)

a shawn mendes rpf fic rating/warnings: still t and tame; references the death of ellie/ava’s parents. more misc notes: please ignore my total disregard for ontario’s educational system. and that this timeline is entirely made up and intentional vague, though I will try my best to maintain some kind of sense. for the first time in ages I can see almost all the major moments of this story, so I promise I won’t drop it. although I do want to take a poll: shorter, more frequent updates, or longer chapters with longer waits? shoot me an ask if you care.  pretend I didn’t forget to give shawn an opening act it’s fine. happy album drop day! come cry with me about it. first person to spot a reference to one of my favourite films of all time gets a prize; i’ll also be tagging this and any asks/updates with wsitd for your future reference! if you want to leave comments in that tag that would be amazing.

read part one here. 

ottawa; then “Are you sure you can handle this?” 

Ava’s expression is dubious at best as she watches you tap a restless and awkward rhythm on your jeans. By some miracle you managed the four and a half hour train journey from Toronto without bursting at the seams or spilling the beans to Hannah: your sister’s new PA gig she’s been hiding for months is for Shawn Mendes. You’re sitting in Shawn Mendes’ dressing room, waiting for him to finish last-minute level checks. 

Your sister had handed you floor tickets.  “Is it weird that I normally tune out his shows?” she’d asked, as she picked you up from the train station. “I usually have so much to do. I figured if I was going to treat you, I may as well you know, experience it properly myself.” “You’re asking me that as I haven’t spent the last four hours listening to his voice,” you reply. “Is it also weird that I feel like I might self-combust any second now?” Ava rolls her eyes. “Remind me to start restricting your caffeine intake if this works.” This is this meeting. You, Shawn, Ava, Andrew. Shawn’s manager (and presumably Shawn himself) are going to pass judgement on whether or not you can manage yourself as a normal person and not freak out in the presence of an international pop star only a year and half older than you. Your sister was very clear: you’d finish high school at a distance before you could even set foot in a stadium for sound check, any and all social media would have to stop completely, and–  “I know you’re a responsible kid,” Ava had begun when the arena was finally in sight and you’d craned your neck to see the top. It seems unimaginable that a single voice could fill the entire thing. “And Shawn’s not that sort of guy–” “God Ava, what is he going to do, proposition me?”  “I’d literally murder him.” You choke on a laugh, but it fades when your sister looks at you, her eyes serious. The eight year gap between you feels impossibly wide, sometimes. “I know you, and him, and something like that wouldn’t happen. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t...” She makes a face, as though she knows the words she’s about to utter are ridiculous. “catch feelings.” You can only stare at her. “If you think that I’m going to walk around like some lovestruck–” “No.” Ava’s parked now. She reaches across the console for your hands. “No, you’re not. But you’re young, and so is he. You’re both only human.” You can read your sister’s face well. There’s an apprehension there that you haven’t seen in many years. Your throat feels tight, suddenly. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.” “Isn’t it your job to make sure he does’t get hurt?” You ask, going for levity, but failing when your voice cracks a little. “I don’t want to be the reason you’re out of a job, either. You love being on his team.” “It is my job,” Ava concedes, but her hand is cupping your cheek, her fingers threading into the red strands of your hair that your mother gave you. “But you’re my family. You’re always going to come first.” She smiles. “Besides, you’re a catch. What’s to say Shawn doesn’t fall in love with you first?” You snort. “As if.” You were certain, in the car, just as you are certain now, moments away from being in the same room as Shawn for the first time. You can’t love someone you don’t really know, and you’re pretty confident in your ability to separate your admiration for his music (and his objectively stupidly handsome face) from actual feelings. You’d have to know Shawn to have those kind of feelings. And you can’t imagine how orbiting the periphery of his life on tour is going to change that. So it’s fine. You’re totally fine.  “I’m fine,” you tell Ava.  She raises an eyebrow at you, but it’s more teasing than anything. You promptly stick out your tongue at her, which is of course the moment that Shawn chooses to open the door.  It’s been a while since you’ve blushed past the colour of your hair. Shawn smiles; if that’s laughter behind his eyes, he’s as truly Canadian as you and doesn't give into it. “Hi,” he says, “I’m Shawn.” It’s the most normal opening interaction from someone who is so not normal that you have to bite down a hysterical laugh. Shawn’s smile only widens as he looks from Ava back to you. “I’ve interrupted something, haven’t I? A sister thing. I’ve seen that look before. Aaliyah’s friends always made fun of me.” “I doubt they do that now,” is the first thing you manage, having finally unstuck your voice. You’re not sure, but what looks like a faint blush colours Shawn’s ears. You just embarrassed Shawn Mendes. Two things happen at once: you feel badly, and you realize. Just a boy.  “I’m sorry,” you blurt. “You’re fine. You aren’t um, interrupting. In fact, I’m probably interrupting because this is you know, your dressing room.”  Ava clears her throat. You feel like melting into the floor. Shawn is just watching you, that maybe laughter still lingering. “I’m Eleanor.” You wince. He notices. “Not a fan of your own name, huh?”  “No one–” Come on, get it together. “No one really calls me that, anymore.”  You don't know why you phrased it that way, even though it’s the truth. But you can tell already: Shawn is too polite to ask. Instead he glances at your sister. “Len and Lenny, right?”  You didn’t know it was possible to be this embarrassed. “Most people call me Ellie.” You shoot a half-hearted glare at Ava, who just shrugs in a what do you want from me? sort of gesture. You turn back to Shawn and remember your resolve. “It’s nice to meet you.” His smile is gentler now, as if he’s trying his best to make you comfortable and you’re just making his job hard. Relax, god. He’s just a person, not Santa Claus. “I’m excited for the show,” you say, grappling for something concrete to talk about. “Thank you for the tickets.” Shawn looks so pleased that you momentarily lose yourself again. “No problem! Av has gone to exactly a third of a gig since we met, so I’m glad you’re here. She can actually experience it and I can finally know whether she hates my music or not.” Your sister doesn’t let anyone give her nicknames. You have to resist the urge to whip around and accuse her of violating a sacred sibling trust.  He’s looking at Ava with such a teasing grin that you can’t help but smile. The knot in your stomach unfurls a little. Your sister, for her part, just swats at him with the badge dangling from her fingers. “Who wanted kombucha after the show?”  Shawn’s mouth clamps shut at that. He raises his hands in surrender and your brain gets momentarily stuck: international pop star who drinks kombucha. Ava’s gaze is full of affection; it’s as familiar as it is strange. I know you, and him. “How’s school?” Shawn asks. You’re honestly getting whiplash from all these turns in conversation, but you manage to hold on. “Grade 11 right?” Just how much does he know about you already? You nod. “Busy,” you say, because it’s the truth and an easy answer to the most mundane part of being sixteen. “We had a fire drill yesterday.” “Really?” Shawn’s ability to look genuinely interested is baffling. “How long were you outside for?” “Like, forty-five minutes? It was the worst.” You don’t have to pretend to be slightly melodramatic. Hannah had started trying to tell your math teacher that he was violating her rights. “I didn’t have my phone.” “Oh man. That’s nuts.” Shawn then proceeds to launch into a story involving the boy’s locker room and the smoke detector at school. The reality of him as an eighteen year old boy is so jarring. It’s almost hard to focus on his words; all of this is so surreal.  “...they were sure they were gonna get arrested. It was crazy.”  As if he’d timed it, the man who could only be Shawn’s manager appears in the doorway. You catch Ava stiffen a little out of the corner of your eye and instinctively sit up a little straighter. You are a normal, responsible, non-hysterical young adult.  Shawn, either oblivious to the sudden tension in the room or attempting to diffuse it, jumps to his feet. “Andrew, hey.” He turns towards you, as though you’re somehow already friends. “This is Ellie.” You extend your hand; Andrew looks at it a moment before accepting. You attempt to shake firmly. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Ellie.” “You too,” you say honestly, though your nerves probably betray you. “Thanks for having me.” Andrew looks from Ava back to you. “Has your sister filled you in on our discussion? That you might be joining us for this last leg of the North American tour?”  You nod. You’re acutely aware of Shawn looking at you, sitting again, but you’re too nervous to actually look back at him and try to figure out what he thinks of this whole crazy thing.  “You’re not going to miss school? Your friends?” Andrew asks, his tone conversational, but you feel the weight of the test here. "You sure you’re okay with spending all this time on a tour bus?” “We,” you start, swallowing past the pinch of fear that this is too personal to share, “We used to move around a lot. I’m pretty comfortable with it.”  You throw an apologetic glance at your sister, who just smiles at you, nodding. Despite your fear of looking at Shawn, there is something magnetic about his presence. You can’t read his expression, but when you say, “And I’m actually fast tracked through University Prep courses,” his eyebrows fly up. “You’re finishing early?” he asks, sounding less surprised and more impressed. You allow yourself two seconds to bask in it and nod. “Wow that’s awesome.” Even Andrew seems placated. “That’s certainly impressive. Your teachers won’t mind if we pull you away?” “I’ve spoken to her school,” Ava interjects for the first time. “She’s set up to finish at a distance. I already have all the material for the rest of this year.” This is the first you’ve heard of that, but you figure it’s best to pretend otherwise. Just how certain was your sister that this...this idea out of a teen daydream was actually going to work?  What are you going to do if Andrew says no? The silence stretches into something agonizing. It takes everything you have not to shift in your seat, before Andrew stands upright from his lean on Shawn’s chair. “Well it was nice to meet you Ellie.” You attempt to smile. “You too.” “Ava, could I borrow you? Shawn, I’ll see you in  five minutes.” “Thanks,” Shawn says, but he’s looking at you again. Not breaking eye contact feels like another test.  Your sister rises to follow her boss out and suddenly you’re alone in a room with someone you’ve followed through a screen for almost as long as you’ve had a phone.

Breathe. “I’m not making you nervous, am I?”  You have to clamp down on another hysterical laugh. “Um, a little? Is that weird?” Shawn opens his mouth to speak, but you’re so horrified at yourself that you don’t let him. “Oh god I’m sorry–” “No, no please.” Shawn reaches out like he’s going to touch you and you can’t decide if that would makes this better or worse. “Don’t feel bad. I know...” He pauses, shakes his head a little, and leans back. “I know this is all kind of a lot.” His expression is so sincere, like he’s worried you won’t believe him. A blush you don’t even understand rises up your neck. “It’s not just you,” you admit, fiddling with the ring on your left hand, staring at the pearls. You’re sort of losing control of your filter and you can only hope it’ll eventually stop. “I mean, it is. Your music is amazing. You’re right in front of me but you don’t seem real.” You force yourself to look at Shawn now. He’s not laughing at your ridiculous sentiment; that small kindness emboldens and warms you both at once.  There’s something almost open in his eyes, as though all he wants is to understand you. The words very nearly crawl back into your mouth, but you push them out. You want him to understand this, most of all. “I just don’t want to mess this up for my sister.” Shawn does lean forward then, so far that his knees nearly bracket yours. You have to pull back under the pretence of taking a breath just so you don’t accidentally touch him. His swallow tattoo stands out in sharp relief on his hand; it’s even more beautiful from this close. The magnet pull of him drags your eyes up, and Shawn’s face is suddenly incredibly serious; you almost forget to breathe out. “You won’t.” He says it with so much certainty that your throat tightens at how badly you want to believe him. “I know we just met Ellie, but Ava’s been with me for months now and I’m not letting her go without a fight. She’s just been absolutely amazing.” Do not cry in front of Shawn Mendes whatever you do–  Shawn ducks his head a little to catch your eye again, that gentle, easy smile returning. “But you already know that.” He waits there until, by some miracle, you can smile back at him, and then sits up. “As for the me not being real part...” Shawn’s smile is still soft as he holds out his hand, as if for a high five. You stare at it, then at him. He just tilts his head, a go ahead, so you reach out. It takes all your concentration not to shake. You touch your fingertips to the top of his palm; you wonder if he can feel your pulse racing there. His hand dwarfs yours. You’ve never been so aware of how small you are. “See?” Shawn says, an almost tease in it now. You can only pray that one day you’ll stop blushing in front of him. “Definitely an actual person.” The door reopens; you promptly jump at least a foot. Ava’s vaguely alarmed expression does you both in. “Fuck Ava what the hell?” you gasp, and Shawn dissolves into peals of laughter. Pretty soon all those nervous giggles finally break free.  “Time to go, Shawn,” Ava says, her confusion clear, which somehow makes it all the more hilarious. You clap your hands over your mouth to try to stop. “We’d better get down to the floor, Len. The doors open in three minutes and I am not getting crushed by a horde of teenage girls.” You stand to gather your sweater and your bag. And yourself, more generally. To your surprise when you turn back, Shawn is still in the doorway, waiting for you.  “See you after?” he asks, glancing at Ava, who smiles at him in that particular way that has always reassured you, no matter what, since you were very small.  “We will. I expect an amazing show if I have to stand for the whole thing.” Shawn grins, somehow a little cocky and a little vulnerable both at once. “You bet.” “Good luck,” you call, and as Shawn picks up his guitar that other reality, the one which he’s a stadium selling pop star, hits you all over again.  “Have a good time!” With a wave, Shawn turns out of the doorway and disappears. Your knees are shaking. Ava wraps her arm around your shoulders as you finally reach her and steers you out.  “You’re okay, kid. You did it.” She’s laughing at you a little, but you don’t care.  “I can’t believe you left me alone in a room with Shawn Mendes.” “And you survived, which was the whole point.” You’re almost afraid to ask; thankfully your sister knows you well enough that you don’t actually have to form the words. “We're gonna try it out, okay? There’s three more stops on this Canada leg. You’ll come with us, then we get a week off before we go to the States. Thankfully your summer vacation works out, so you’ll stay at Hannah’s for that week.” “And then?” Ava waves and smiles at a security guard, dropping a Platinum lanyard around your neck, who nods at her and lets you pass through a door that leads out onto the main floor. “And then, either we’re getting on a plane or Shawn’s gonna need a new PA.” The certainty in Shawn’s face flashes through your mind. “Ava...” “Hey, hey.” Your sister pulls you to a halt at the metal barrier, where maybe a dozen other people are already congregating. People are streaming into the arena. The fact that they’re all here for a boy who’d been so kind to you just minutes ago is overwhelming. “Listen, I don’t want you to worry okay? I was going to take you to this show regardless. I just want you to have fun.” Ava pulls you into a hug; it feels like the first time you’ve been able to relax since she called you this morning with a train ticket in your email. You let yourself fall into her, inhaling the familiar smell of her shampoo. “He’s even cuter in person,” you mutter into her hair. Ava snorts. “Yeah, sorry. Should have warned you.” She takes your hand and pulls you forward, until you can wrap your hand around the cold metal that keeps everyone a foot or so back from the edge of the stage. “Ready?” Lights dim. The screams are genuinely deafening, but your throat will probably be as raw as everyone else around you by the end of the night. Ava grimaces. All you can do is laugh.  Two hours later, your throat does hurt. You’re mildly afraid you won’t be able to speak. You can still feel the beat of the drums in your chest, behind your ribcage, inside your heart. You can’t stop smiling. Ava sneaks you carefully back into the depths of the arena and drops you off in Shawn’s dressing room, muttering about kombucha and rolling her eyes.  And if you thought pre-show Shawn was cute, nothing prepares you for flushed and bright-eyed Shawn, who arrives just as you gingerly drop yourself on the couch. “Ellie, hey!” Words. Come on.��“Shawn, hi.” You’re not sure what comes over you, but the giddy feeling still hasn’t gone away. “I just– that was amazing. You were incredible.”  You’ve never seen someone smile as brightly as Shawn does when he’s onstage. Even though you’re not in the arena anymore, it’s still almost blinding to look right at. “Thank you. I’m so glad you had fun.” He glances around the room, as though your sister is hiding in a closet. “Where’s Ava?” You shrug. “Something about kombucha?” He laughs. “You must think I’m ridiculous. It’s delicious, I swear. And good for my  voice.” You struggle with a smile, not wanting him to think you’re teasing. “What did your sister think?” You pause, just to watch him squirm. When he looks vaguely offended you can’t help but laugh. “She liked it, she did. Though she’d never admit it. She’s a consummate professional, you know.” Shawn nods seriously. “Of course.” “She likes Never Be Alone,” you say, looking at the door and lowering your voice as if you’re sharing a secret. His eyes glimmer with amusement. “You know that harmony you do? When everyone sings?” Just talking about it is giving you goosebumps. Shawn nods. “She teared up.” He grins, but beneath that you can see that he’s touched, too. You’re so endeared, all of a sudden; a voice in the back of your mind says, careful. You can see now why so many girls around you burst into tears the moment he stepped onstage. You let silence linger, until you can’t quite bear it anymore. “You can ask me, you know.” “Ask you what?” You can’t keep his gaze. “Why Ava has to drag me on this tour with her.”  Shawn does that thing again where he ducks his chin to catch your eye. Eventually, you decide, you’ll be able to look right at him without having to steel yourself first.  “You don’t have to tell me,” he says, so gently you almost can't pretend your throat still hurts from the show. “It’s none of my business.” You have to swallow before you can speak. “If this whole thing works out, we’re gonna be around each other all the time. I don’t want it to be weird.” There is too much kindness in Shawn’s expression as he waits patiently for you to say the words out loud. You have to look at his sparrow. “My parents um, my parents died in a car accident when I was eleven.”  You take a breath. Then another. You can’t remember the last time you’d had to tell someone that, who didn't already know you as the poor orphan child with a nineteen year old sister who was so unprepared but who did absolutely right by you anyway.  “Ava took care of you?”  You nod. “Always has. She’s amazing.” It’s probably a measure of something, of how comfortable Shawn’s made you already, that you can smile at him. “But you already know that.”  He chuckles. “You know, I have no idea if you can actually get kombucha here or not.” “She’ll hate you.” The thought is hilarious. You feel lighter already. “I usually give a pick away every show,” Shawn says, reaching back for his guitar and plucking the tiny red disc from the neck. “Do you think she’d still hate me if I tried to give it to her?” “Oh god, absolutely.” When your sister returns with a small case, Shawn drops to one knee and presents her with the pick. You laugh so hard your stomach hurts. Ava glares and puts down the drink, dragging Shawn to his feet with her free hand. “Get up, stupid.” “I’m glad you came, Ava,” he says, earnest and honest still, despite how his shoulders shake with laughter. “Consider this a token of my appreciation.” She looks from him to you, before plucking the pick from his hand. “This was clearly a terrible idea. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Ava beckons you. “Come on Lenny, we have to sneak you out before the mob hits the busses. Shawn, Andrew’ll come to get you in a few.” Shawn dutifully lifts his hand in acknowledgement and hands you your sweater. “I’ll see you soon then?” he asks. You suddenly remember. Three more stops.  “Yeah.” It’s so unreal. And yet, here you are. “See you soon.” (part three)

[phroyd]

MONTREAL — Canada on Wednesday became the first major world economy to legalize recreational marijuana, beginning a national experiment that will alter the country’s social, cultural and economic fabric, and present the nation with its biggest public policy challenge in decades.

Across the country, as government pot retailers opened from Newfoundland to British Columbia, jubilant Canadians waited for hours in line to buy the first state-approved joints. For many, it was a seminal moment, akin to the ending of Prohibition in the United States in the 1930s.

It was also an unlikely unifier, coming at a time when Canada has been buffeted by bruising trade talks with the United States and has seen its prime minister, Justin Trudeau, repeatedly ridiculed by President Trump. Canada is the second country in the world, after Uruguay, to legalize marijuana.

“I have never felt so proud to be Canadian,” said Marco Beaulieu, 29, a janitor, as he waited with friends outside a government cannabis retailer in the east end of Montreal. “Canada is once again a progressive global leader. We have gay rights, feminism, abortion rights, and now we can smoke pot without worrying police are going to arrest us.”

Canadians broadly support marijuana legalization, but amid the euphoria, there was also caution.

“Legalization of cannabis is the largest public policy shift this country has experienced in the past five decades,” said Mike Farnworth, British Columbia’s minister of public safety.

“It’s an octopus with many tentacles, and there are many unknowns,” he added. “I don’t think that when the federal government decided to legalize marijuana it thought through all of the implications.”

In a stinging editorial published on Monday, for example, the Canadian Medical Association Journal called the government’s legalization plan an “uncontrolled experiment in which the profits of cannabis producers and tax revenues are squarely pitched against the health of Canadians.”

It called on the government to promise to change the law if it leads to increased marijuana use.

Under Canada’s new federal cannabis act, adults will be allowed to possess, carry and share with other adults up to 30 grams of dried cannabis, enough to roll roughly 60 regular-size joints. They will also be permitted a maximum of four homegrown marijuana plants per household in most provinces.

[Yes, Canadians can grow their own, but not in every province. No, it won’t be legal for kids to smoke. Here’s what you need to know as Canada legalizes marijuana.]

Marijuana for medical purposes has been legal in Canada since 2001, and about 330,000 Canadians, including cancer patients, are registered to receive it from licensed producers.

Pre-rolled joints, fresh or dried marijuana flowers, and cannabis oil are all permitted under the law. Cannabis edibles — like pot-infused jelly beans, peanut butter and coffee — won’t be legal for another year.

According to Canada’s national statistics office, 4.9 million Canadians used cannabis last year and consumed more than 20 grams of marijuana per person.

On Wednesday morning, the government announced that it would introduce legislation to make it easier for Canadians who had been convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana to obtain a pardon.

While the government is not offering a blanket amnesty, Ralph Goodale, the public safety minister, said at a news conference in Ottawa that as “a matter of basic fairness,” the government would seek to end the minimum waiting period of five years to apply for a pardon as well as waiving the fee of 631 Canadian dollars.

The federal government has left the country’s 13 provinces and territories to carry out the new legislation and set their own rules, creating a patchwork of regulations. Among many open questions are how the police will test drivers who may be high and how employers deal with employees who smoke before coming to work.

Bernard Le Foll, a specialist in addiction at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, a leading teaching hospital and research organization, said that although the center supported legalization, he was concerned that the public dissemination of information about risks had been insufficient.

“Cannabis is not a benign substance,” Dr. Le Foll said. “There is a clear risk of addiction, and it can produce significant mental health issues if used by the wrong kind of people.”

He added, “It took decades for the public to understand the risks of cigarettes, and the legalization of cannabis has taken place only over a few years.”

Jean-Sébastien Fallu, an associate professor of applied psychology and a specialist in addiction at Université de Montréal, said he particularly worried about the effects on young people.

“We don’t want young people to feel stigmatized, for example, if they don’t use cannabis,” Professor Fallu said.

The legalization of cannabis has led to a so-called “green rush,” with licensed cannabis growers pressing to get a foothold in what is expected to be a $5 billion industry (6.5 billion Canadian dollars) by 2020, buttressed by the expected arrival of thousands of pot tourists from the United States.

[Companies are clamoring to join in the next get-rich-quick hope — the Canadian marijuana industry.]

After months of soaring share prices, though, the first day of legal marijuana sales initially saw steep drops in the value of marijuana stocks. That reversed somewhat in the afternoon, leaving the largest companies’ shares down just slightly by the end of trading. Many analysts say the value of legalization was long ago priced to the shares’ value.

At the government cannabis store in Montreal — one of 12 in Quebec — a line stretched across a long city block on Wednesday morning. Some of the hundreds of people had waited since 3:30 a.m., anticipating the store’s 10 a.m. opening.

Kate Guihan, 29, a beautician, said she planned to celebrate the “historic moment” on Wednesday night with several puffs on a joint. The low cost of government pot, she added, was a big draw for her, along with the fact that legal marijuana was screened and devoid of contaminants.

In Halifax, the mood was similarly buoyant.

“We are witnessing history,” said Shawn King, the host of a countdown to legalization on a local radio station. “Marijuana prohibition is ending after 96 years. There’s going to be a generation of people that never knew it was ever banned.”

Inside a government retailer in Halifax that looked like an Apple store, shoppers browsed for products including “Ghost Train” and “Lemon Skunk.” Bongs were on display. Some shoppers bought weed, and others accessorized.

Others across Canada were ordering pot online from government stores.

As online demand soared, stocks quickly ran out, creating fears of marijuana shortages.

In New Brunswick, the government cannabis agency provided a step-by-step guide on its website on how to roll a joint.

[Want more Canadian coverage in your inbox? Subscribe to our weekly Canada Letter newsletter.]

The stated rationale for legalizing cannabis was to tame an illegal multibillion-dollar trade. But from Toronto to Winnipeg to Vancouver, hundreds of illegal shops have indicated that they have no intention of shutting down, and the black market supply chain remains deeply entrenched.

In Toronto on Wednesday, revelers — some wearing T-shirts that said “Weed Won” — packed a cannabis lounge in the city’s bohemian Kensington Market, where some were smoking black market pot to the sound of reggae music.

Toronto had 92 illegal dispensaries the day before legalization, though 56 were shut down Wednesday afternoon. One had a “For Rent” sign inside its window. Others were shuttered.

In Vancouver, dozens of illegal marijuana dispensaries defied the new law by selling, among other things, outlawed edible cannabis and marijuana-infused face creams.

Some illegal shops in both cities are hoping to get licensed.

Chief Constable Adam Palmer of the Vancouver Police Department, who is also the president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said this week that at a time of limited resources, policing marijuana would not suddenly become law enforcement’s primary concern.

“Fentanyl kills 11 Canadians a day,” he said, referring to the powerful synthetic opioid that is a public health scourge in some cities like Vancouver. “Marijuana does not.”

He added, “I don’t expect a big crackdown on day one.”

Phroyd

[miracleonice87]

Begin Again, part two

with Mathew Barzal

a/n: in honor of @kerwritesthings’ birthday (that’s right, go wish her a happy one if you haven’t already!)… Hayden and Mat are back! part one was one of the earlier pieces I wrote, and it was a combo of a reader/oc, which I don’t really like to use in my writing now, but I’m sticking with it for consistency’s sake. title is based on T Swift's song, which I obviously don't own and all that stuff.

warnings: swearing, allusions to sex, nothing graphic

word count: 5.3K+

_____

“Hayden!” you heard from across the Coliseum concourse, just moments after you’d stepped through the doors of the main entrance. A stunning platinum blonde with a dazzling smile quickly approached, waving excitedly. Your first instinct was to look over your shoulder to try and determine who the woman was speaking to, since you didn’t recognize her, but she had called your name.

Instead, you forced a small smile and tentatively stepped toward her. As soon as she was within arm’s reach, she gathered you into a tight hug.

“Sorry, I’m a hugger!” she exclaimed, then stepped back and fanned a hand across her chest. You couldn’t help but notice the rock on her left ring finger, not to mention her perfectly manicured nails and pristine blue silk Islanders jacket, paired with a white t-shirt, black jeans, and snakeskin boots. “I’m Sydney, but you can call me Syd. It’s Sydney Esiason Martin, actually. I’m Matt Martin’s wife, but all the guys just call him Marty,” she explained, her hands gesturing animatedly all the while.

It was all coming together in your brain now, that Mat must have arranged for Sydney to be on the lookout for you, and you nodded slowly, your smile growing.

“I’m Hayden,” you offered, but of course, she already knew that, you thought as you mentally kicked yourself. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you, and Marty, too.”

Sydney beamed, her eyes glittering. “Yeah, you, too!” she said. “It isn’t often Barzy brings a girl around the group. Well, honestly… it isn’t ever, actually,” she said with a lighthearted giggle. “You must be pretty special.”

You breathed a chuckle and swiped your tongue along your bottom lip, lost for words.

Sydney must have sensed your unease, because after a beat, she gave your upper arm a light squeeze and nodded her head toward the escalators leading to the suite level.

“C’mon, I’ll show ya where we’re sitting,” she said. “I’m starving. I think I want a pretzel with cheese. Are you hungry? They have the most incredible nachos up there, just wait…”

And as Sydney rambled on about the delicacies to be found in the family suite, your anxieties about meeting the people there suddenly shrunk, and you found yourself thinking that you were going to like this “Syd.”

_____

The game was a blowout.

New York beat Ottawa 6-1, and Mat had a goal and three assists, not to mention the night’s second star. You had held your own in the family box, and Sydney had been the perfect guide — introducing you to the kindest of the guys’ partners and avoiding the ones that side-eyed you standoffishly, whispering in your ear that so-and-so had dated two NHLers in the past, and so-and-so and her boyfriend were constantly on and off, and that Syd didn’t expect them to be around for long, so don’t worry about them. You mostly spent the evening nodding along politely to various conversations, giggling at Sydney’s over-the-top antics, and making small talk with some of the veterans’ wives. They all seemed relieved to know that you were familiar with the hockey world and, therefore, had at least a hint of what you were (potentially) getting yourself into.

But one thing you hadn’t expected? When Syd turned to you a few minutes after the game ended and said, “Oh! Matt just texted me. He said Barzy wants me to bring you downstairs.”

You swallowed your last sip of beer, hard.

“Downstairs?” you asked softly after a long pause.

“Uh huh!” Sydney nodded emphatically, tucking her phone into her Louis Vuitton bag and patting your knee. “He probably wants to introduce you to some of the boys. Don’t worry,” she said with a nonchalant wave of her hand, doing her best to calm your nerves.

You nodded slowly and reached for your own, much less expensive, bag. “O-okay.”

Ten minutes later, you were in the depths of the Coliseum in a lounge across from the locker room, Sydney chatting away about how when playoffs start, you’ll have to join her and the other girls for tailgating in the parking lot before the game, because it’s such a blast, and it’s a lot easier to watch your significant other knock the shit out of someone (or get the shit knocked out of him) when you’re tipsy. You stayed noncommittal, all the while questioning in your mind whether Mat would even want you around once playoffs started.

But you didn’t have long to dwell on that, because a moment later, the locker room door swung open, and two tall, broad, light brown-haired men stepped through it, Mat close on their heels. You could have sworn you heard him sharply whisper “please don’t embarrass me” before they crossed the hallway, but then again, maybe that was just in your head, because immediately after, Mat gave you a huge smile and stepped forward to pull you in for a hug.

“Hey!” he greeted warmly, then completely caught you off guard by pecking your lips, right there in front of half a dozen of his teammates and their partners.

You touched your fingertips to your lips, feeling them buzzing at the unexpected contact. You recovered as quickly as you could and smiled back at him, lost in the way he looked in his sharp grey suit and in how he smelled fresh out of the shower.

“Hi,” you said quietly.

And just as you studied Mat’s appearance, he was studying yours — taking in your royal blue blazer, the way your light-wash jeans hugged your curves perfectly, and, of course, admiring the Manolo Blahniks you’d scrimped and saved for two years to purchase.

“Nice shoes,” Mat commented, winking flirtatiously. You giggled, his words echoing the very first he had ever spoken to you back in the coffee shop. “Seriously, though, you look beautiful, Hayden,” he added.

Your cheeks warmed, and you tucked your hair behind your ear as you glanced down at your feet.

“Thanks, Maty,” you said quietly. “You look great, too.”

With an appreciative nod, he pressed his hand to your lower back and guided you nearer to the men accompanying him, who had already greeted their significant others — Syd kissing Matt, and Grace, you remembered, hugging her husband, whose name you couldn’t quite recall.

“Well, Hayd, you know Syd and Grace now, but I want to introduce you to their husbands, Marty and Anders,” Mat said, motioning toward them. “Anders is our captain, and Marty’s like my team dad.”

You giggled at that, glancing up at Mat fondly before focusing back on his teammates and extending your arm.

“It’s so nice to meet you both,” you said, shaking their hands.

“You, too,” Anders said. “I’m glad you came out tonight.”

“Yeah, Barzy won’t shut up about you, and now we see what all the fuss is about,” Marty said, laughing at his own joke as Sydney poked him in the ribs playfully.

“What’s this about Barzy not shutting up?” you heard from behind the wall of well-dressed men in front of you, before an icy blue-eyed man stepped forward. Mat rolled his eyes.

“And this is Tito,” Mat said, waving his arm toward the man you knew to be his close friend. “Don’t let him fool you — he doesn’t ever shut up, either.”

Tito smirked at that and held out his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hayden,” he said kindly. “You’ll have to come back — you must’ve been our good luck charm tonight.”

You shook your head shyly. “No, no, I can’t take the credit,” you insisted. “That was all you guys. But yes, it’s so nice to meet you, too, Tito.”

Tito smiled, looking between you and Mat, and before Tito could offer a response, Mat spoke into your ear.

“I got us a reservation at this place nearby,” he said, his low tone making the hair on the back of your neck stand up. “I don’t wanna rush you, but we should probably get going. Besides, hopefully this is far from the last opportunity you’ll have to hear my friends chirp me.”

You smiled up at Mat, admiring the way his still-damp hair fell perfectly around his sculpted face, and nodded.

“Sure, let’s go,” you told him.

_____

“Okay, favoriiite... NFL team.”

“Seahawks," Mat answered. "Since Seattle’s not far from Coquitlam, you know?”

You nodded. “Plus Russell Wilson and Ciara are everything.”

“Everything,” he agreed dramatically, knocking his knuckles on the table for emphasis. “What about you?”

“Oh, Pats all the way,” you proclaimed, sitting back in your chair. “The day Brady signed with the Bucs was top five worst days of my life,” you added emphatically.

Mat clucked his tongue. “Awww, poor baby,” he said teasingly, throwing you a wink. You rolled your eyes.

“Okay, okay, your turn. Next question,” you said, reaching across the table for his hand, tracing the veins there with your fingertips as Mat beamed at you, unable to think immediately of another inquiry as he was too distracted by your soothing touch.

Finally, he cleared his throat. “Alright, uh,” he began. “How about... oh, what was your favorite movie as a kid?”

A faraway smile spread slowly across your lips as you looked just past Mat, recalling laying on the floor of your den back in Maine, Nick by your side as you watched the same VHS tape over and over again.

“You’ve probably never heard of it,” you started, shaking your head. “But, uh, it was called Brave Little Toaster.”

Mat stilled.

“Shut up,” he deadpanned.

Your brows pulled together, puzzled. “What?”

Mat chuckled in disbelief. “Brave Little Toaster was my favorite movie as a kid.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “You’re lying,” you accused.

Mat put up his hands in innocence.

“Swear!” he insisted. “You can call my sister right now. We watched it every day for years.”

You could only grin stupidly. “Us, too,” you told him. “Sequels weren’t that good, though,” you added, taking a sip of your wine.

Mat nodded, looking pleased with that assessment, and thought not for the first time that night about how easy this all felt with you. How right. From the simplest thing to the most important.

“No, no, they were trash,” he laughed. “Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars, and, uh... shit, what was the other one… uh, Brave Little Toaster…”

“To The Rescue,” you finished, Mat echoing the last word before you both fell into a fit of giggles.

“I cannot believe we have this much in common, Maty,” you said when you finally caught your breath.

“Yeah, pretty crazy, right?” Mat said. You nodded as he reached for his gin and tonic. “Feels like I’ve met my other half,” he said.

You pressed your lips together in an attempt to hide your shy smile, dropping your gaze to your lap. From across the table, Mat squeezed your hand. Then, a voice piped up from behind you.

“I hate to interrupt…”

You turned in your seat to find the maître d' leaning toward you, an apologetic look in his eyes.

“We’re going to be closing, so I just wanted to ask—”

“Oh, god, did we close the place down?!” you asked apprehensively, glancing around the room to discover that, indeed, you and Mat were the last two in the room.

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” Mat said, flustered. “I didn't even realize. We’ll get out of your hair. I’m so sorry, sir. Really.”

The man shook his head in understanding and left the table as the waiter approached with the bill.

Suddenly, your stomach dropped. You couldn’t even fathom how much two steak dinners and drinks for the both of you would cost at a place like this. You felt guilty for agreeing to come here instead of suggesting something less extravagant, and you braced yourself as you waited for Mat to make some noise of disgust at the number on the check, just like you’d been used to at the end of date nights for so long.

But, it never came. Mat simply tucked a few bills into the fold, and looked back up at you with a smile and a contented sigh.

“You ready?” he asked easily.

You nodded. “I’m ready for anything with you.”

Mat jutted out his chin proudly and came around to pull out your chair. With his hand gently resting on the small of your back, he guided you to the valet station in front of the restaurant while you waited for his car to be brought around. All the while, Mat felt his heart thudding against his ribcage as he contemplated his next move.

Unaware of his internal struggle, you turned to him with a smirk as you awaited the car’s arrival, and you slipped your hands into his jacket pockets as you leaned into his chest.

“My hands are cold,” you explained simply, while Mat nodded, thinking that there was no better feeling than you reaching out for him. He only wanted to be near to you, ever, always, which brought him to finally posing his long anticipated inquiry.

“Hey, uh…” Mat began, clearing his throat nervously. “I was thinkin’, maybe you’d wanna come over to my place, like, maybe for the night? Honestly I just… I just wanna spend as much time with you as I can, especially since we’ve got another roadie coming up. And I’d love to just curl up on the couch with you, maybe watch a movie—“

“Yes,” you answered softly, but firmly. You had never been more certain that yes, you wanted to go home with this person. Right now.

Mat was caught off guard by your confident answer, and he smiled down at you in disbelief.

“You sure?” he asked. “There’s no pressure, Hayd. I know this is moving fast and all.”

You nodded. “It is,” you concurred. “But it feels… good. It feels right. And I wanna come home with you, Maty.”

Mat grinned from ear to ear and grasped your face with both his hands, kissing you deeply just as his car pulled up to the curb. He took your hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Let’s go then.”

_____

You did spend the night at Mat's that night, and the next night, and the one after that. But the one after that, Mat wasn’t around, and was instead in Raleigh for the first half of a two-game road trip. So, you were surprised when, while you were watching the game, you heard your doorbell ring. Frowning, you jogged to your door and hit the intercom.

“Hello?”

“Yeah, Miss Parker?”

“This is she.”

“Got a delivery for you. Says it’s from an ‘M. Barzal’?”

You smirked, tucking your chin to your chest.

“I’ll be right down.”

Seconds later, you were bounding down the stairs to meet the delivery person, who stood on your building’s front steps holding a stout bouquet of full, white peonies. You thanked them as you took the bouquet in your hands, staring down at it wistfully as you closed the door behind you. Not bothering to wait until you were back in your apartment to read the note, you pulled the card from the envelope tucked within the bouquet.

Hayd,

Pretty flowers for my pretty girl. Be home soon. Don’t forget about me.

MB

_____

“Baby sis!”

You heard your brother’s booming voice on the other end of the line three days later, sounding a bit distant. By that and the sound of papers shuffling, you knew he had you on speaker at his office. “What’s up, Hayd?”

You smiled at his eternally effervescent tone.

“Hi, Nicky,” you greeted. “Oh, nothing much.” Lie. “Just wanted to give you a call and check in.”

“Aww, I’m flattered,” Nick replied. “But you know that I know you better than anybody else, right? I can tell by your voice that you’ve got something to say. What’s goin’ on? Lay it on me.”

You bit your bottom lip. Damn him. Even all the way from Boston, he could still read you like a book. You couldn’t help the girlish giggle that escaped you as you admitted, “Okay, okay. I wanted to tell you that I, uh... I met somebody.”

You could practically hear his eyebrows shoot up over the phone.

“Really?” Nick drawled, lengthening both syllables dramatically. You rolled your eyes at his theatrics, but still, you beamed.

“Really,” you confirmed. “Somebody you’d, uh... somebody you’d actually probably recognize.”

“What do you mean? You cop yourself an attorney or what?”

“No,” you responded, fussing with the frayed hem of your cropped sweater. “No, not quite—“

“What, a Yankee then?”

Your eyes widened at his surprisingly accurate interruption. He was more on the nose than he knew.

“Well... not a Yankee, but...”

“Shut up,” he cut you off once more. “A Met? A Jet?”

You bit at the skin around your polished plum fingernails before you spat out, “An Islander.”

Silence. Then, a bellow.

“What?!”

That was Nick. Ever the thespian.

“It’s Mat Barzal, Nicky,” you answered matter-of-factly. “Like something out of a goddamn rom-com, I met him in a coffee shop about a month ago, and we’re… we’re dating. He’s my boyfriend.” You uttered the last words of your statement with an astonished laugh. It still seemed too good to be true just in your own head — telling someone else made you sound certifiably crazy, even to your own ears.

“I- … how... Jesus! What?!” Nick sputtered. “Hayden! What the fuck! Well, ‘m happy for you, but I’m just… I think I’m in shock right now.”

You groaned with a pained chuckle.

“I know. I’ve been in shock this entire time,” you concurred. “But Mat, he’s… he’s amazing. It sounds so cliché, but he’s just such a normal guy. He’s super polite, funny, thoughtful—“

“Plus he’s an absolute man rocket,” Nick added enthusiastically.

You put a hand to your forehead, rolling your eyes once more.

“Spoken like a true former hockey player,” you commented.

Quickly moving on from your remark, Nick asked, “So, when do Annie and I get to meet him? Seen him on the ice for years but I gotta make sure he’s good enough for my baby sis.”

You smiled warmly at his often-used term of endearment and replied, “Well, yeah. That’s kinda the main reason I wanted to talk to you. He plays the B’s next weekend, on Sunday, at the Garden. The game’s at 1, I think, so… uh… he got us tickets — three tickets. He wants me and you and Annie to go to the game and then he wants us all to go out together—“

“Done,” your brother spoke up firmly before you could even finish. You beamed at his confirmation, despite the fact that he had interrupted you for what felt like the hundredth time in your three-minute call.

“Really?” you asked, scrunching your nose tentatively. “I know you guys are really busy, especially with wedding planning and stuff, and I’d totally understand—“

“Hayden, stop,” Nick spoke sternly. “Seriously. It’s no problem. Sundays are good for us. Besides, even if I did have plans, I’d cancel them for this. Meeting my sister’s new boyfriend is a big deal.”

Absentmindedly, you nodded, though he couldn’t see it.

“Well, thank you, Nicky. It means a lot. I’ll let Mat know you can make it. He’ll be so excited,” you told your brother happily.

“Awesome,” Nick replied warmly. “So what about Mom and Dad? They haven’t met the kid yet, have they?”

You snorted. “Nicky, you’re only two years older than him,” you pointed out. “You can’t call him a kid.”

“Sure I can!” he insisted. “He’s dating my kid sister — that makes him a kid to me.”

You sighed, amused.

“Whatever. But no, they have not met him yet,” you said. “That’ll happen soon enough, you know? I mean, you know how Dad can be — he can come off as kinda gruff, even though you and I know he’s a teddy bear. And Mom, she’s just gonna fall in love with him, and I’m not ready for that just yet.” You chuckled as you heard Nick offer a hum of understanding on the other end of the phone. “Besides, he has a lot of respect for you, and you guys have a lot in common. I just think it would be great for the two of you to meet first,” you said.

“What do you mean he has a lot of respect for me?” Nick asked, sounding puzzled.

One of your brows quirked of its own accord and a smirk stretched across your lips. You’d unwittingly skipped over the best part — the best part for Nick, anyway.

“Oh, I didn’t mention that?” you asked smugly. “He remembered you. The first day we met, I told him my brother played in the Q, he asked my last name… and immediately, he remembered you.”

You heard Nick suck in a breath. “You can’t tell me shit like this, sis,” he said. “Annie always says my ego is already too big as it is, and you just inflated it even more.”

You couldn’t help but burst into laughter, amused by his declaration.

“Well, that’s facts,” you replied. “He remembered the injury, but most of all, he remembered how good you were. He was really glad to hear you’re doing well now.”

“Marry him, or I will,” Nick deadpanned. You could tell he was trying to use humor to mask any emotions your statement had stirred up.

“Oh, Annie would love to hear you say that,” you scoffed, then you glanced at the clock above you. “Listen, I gotta get to the Coli, but I’ll—“

“Oh, my god, my name is Hayden, and my boyfriend is an Islanderrr! I have to get to the Coli to watch him playyy!” your brother mimicked ruthlessly.

You growled at Nick’s playful mocking of you and spat, “Hey, you want these B’s-Isles tickets next weekend or not?”

Immediately, Nick shaped up.

“Just kidding, my darling baby sister! I’ll let you go, and I’ll see you next weekend,” he said.

“Deal. I’ll call you once Mat and I go over the details and stuff,” you promised.

“Sounds good. I’ll talk to ya then. Hey — one more thing,” Nick said hurriedly.

“What’s that?” you inquired as you swung your handbag over your shoulder and grabbed your jacket from the hook in your entryway.

“Are you happy?” Nick asked, his voice more solemn than it had been throughout your entire conversation — more solemn than it almost ever was. Your lips stretched into a slow grin.

“Honestly, Nicky…” you began, a dreamy sigh leaving you as you paused pulling on your jacket. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m super happy.”

You could hear Nick smiling as he replied, “Good. I can tell. You deserve it, Hayd.”

“Thanks,” you answered softly. “It feels really good.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Nick retorted knowingly. You hummed in agreement and he added, “Alright, I’ll talk to you later. I love you, baby sis.”

“I love you, too, brother,” you replied. “Bye.”

You tapped the red button on your screen to end the call and slipped your jacket the rest of the way over your shoulders as you headed for the door. Just as you reached for the knob, your phone dinged with a text alert.

MB 😍: See you after the game, beautiful. Sushi and sleepover at my place tonight? Up to you. Just let me know 😘

You felt your cheeks warm as a smile stretched across your face, grinning like an idiot at your phone as you had every day for the last month — not that you cared. In fact, it was a welcome change from the sighs and eye rolls you used to emit when reading texts from your last significant other. You felt grateful for this new beginning, this flood of long-dormant feelings you didn’t know you’d ever feel again.

Your fingers flew easily across the keyboard as you typed your response: Sounds perfect. Count me in. Good luck, baby 💋

Within seconds, as you pulled the door closed and headed for the parking garage, his reply lit up your screen.

MB 😍: 🥰

Yeah, you couldn’t have said it better yourself.

_____

The next weekend after dinner, Nick stood with his arm wrapped around Annie’s shoulders, waving goodbye as he watched you and Mat turn and walk down the sidewalk in front of the restaurant hand in hand. Annie squeezed Nick’s waist as he sighed.

“What’s the matter?” Annie asked with a soft smile.

Nick shook his head.

“Nothin’,” he said. “Absolutely nothing is the matter. That kid is… I mean, he’s somethin’ else, huh?”

Annie chuckled thoughtfully.

“He really is,” she agreed. “I’ve known your sister since she was a kid, and I’ve never seen her so giddy as she was today with him.”

“Yeah, me either,” Nick said, his voice sounding far away. “I feel like… I dunno, I feel like this might be the real thing. I know it sounds crazy to say that already.”

Annie grinned, leaning her head against his shoulder. “I don’t think it’s crazy,” she said. “I think they’re really in love.”

Nick breathed a laugh through his nose, shaking his head. “Who woulda thought? My sister and an Islander. Shit.”

_____

“Don’t freak out,” Mat spoke, an anxious smirk on his face as his eyes glimmered.

“Maty!” you whined. “You’re scaring me. What the hell is it?” you asked, your eyes landing once more on the white box tied with a blue satin ribbon.

“Just open it,” Mat instructed, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees as you studied him cautiously.

You shook your head, wondering what on earth he was up to, but pulled the ribbon to loosen the bow nonetheless. You pulled the top of the box off and peeled away the tissue paper beneath to reveal a denim jacket, the name “BARZAL” and the number 13 embroidered in blue and orange on the back, along with an Isles logo, a blue heart, and plenty of gemstones.

You silently looked toward Mat, who gazed at you expectantly.

“It’s a WAG jacket,” he explained. “You’ve probably seen some of the girls wear them to games.”

You nodded slowly, unable to think of even a single-word response. You knew what it was. You just couldn’t believe it was yours.

You looked back down to the jacket, then finally back at Mat. He moved from his seat on the couch to sit beside you on the loveseat, taking your hand.

“Listen, I know it’s still really early on, but, I… it just felt like a no brainer to me, Hayd,” he said, his words rushed. “You totally don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to — there’s no pressure. But with the playoffs coming up, Syd asked me if I wanted to have one made for you, and I said I did. I didn’t know if I should clear it with you first, but I wanted to surprise you with it, so I���”

“You… you want me to wear this to games?” you interrupted, your brows furrowed.

Mat’s own face contorted with confusion.

“Y-yeah… yeah, of course I do, baby,” he said. “You’re my girlfriend. And I want people to know it.”

You tried to hide your unsureness under a tight smile as you ran your fingers along the decals adorning the jacket, trailing your touch down the seams. You weren’t sure if you would ever get used to being someone that your significant other was proud of and wanted to show off to the world. Past that, you couldn’t believe that Mat had purchased this for you on his own, with no strings attached — just by looking at the custom item, you knew it had been far from cheap. Every day, Mat made you feel like the most special person in the world, and sometimes you weren’t sure why he bothered, or why he’d chosen you when he could have literally anyone else.

But instead of voicing what your insecurities and your past traumas were screaming at you, you simply decided to take Mat at his word — something you’d been working hard on since the start of this relationship. You flashed a million dollar smile and threw your arms around his neck.

“Thank you, Maty,” you whispered into his ear. You felt his arms tighten around you, his hands gently caressing your back. “This means so much to me.”

Mat smiled over your shoulder and kissed your temple.

“It means everything that you wanna wear it,” he told you, pulling back. “I can’t wait to see you in it.”

You beamed and glanced back down at the garment.

“You want me to try it on?” you asked excitedly, like a little kid just home from a back-to-school shopping spree.

Mat nodded, smiling. “I would love for you to try it on,” he assured.

You wasted no time pulling the jacket from the box and lifting it up. You put one arm into the first sleeve, and Mat guided the other arm after it. Upon closer inspection, you could see your own name embroidered into the wrist of the left sleeve, along with a date in matching script on the other sleeve.

“What’s this?” you asked, smoothing your finger along the thread as you held out your arm to Mat.

The corners of his lips ticked upward into a smile. “The day we met,” he said simply.

You met his eyes and immediately leaned in, grasping his face in one hand as you kissed him, overwhelmed by his constant thoughtfulness.

“Thank you,” you repeated, and Mat only nodded. He took your hands and squeezed.

“Stand up, show me,” he insisted.

You giggled and obliged, doing a little spin with your arms outstretched as Mat laughed.

“Wow, baby, it looks great on you,” he said, in awe. “I absolutely love it. Do you like it?”

You nodded, biting at your bottom lip.

“It’s perfect,” you said, smoothing your hands along the fabric. “I’m definitely wearing it to the next game.”

Mathew nodded, pleased to hear your declaration, and crooked his finger, inviting you closer. You stepped forward, rested your knees on the couch on either side of his lap, and looped your arms around his neck. Mathew began to peck at your lips, jaw, and neck playfully.

“You look,” kiss, “so good,” kiss, “with my name,” kiss, “on your back,” kiss, followed by a mischievous squeeze to your butt.

You felt heat rise from your chest, up your neck, to your face, and you leaned back to rid yourself of the jacket and carefully toss it onto the back of the couch, causing Mat to pout his lips.

You shook your head, placing your index finger to his pucker.

“For what I have planned to say thank you, I’m not gonna wanna be wearing anything nice,” you told him, removing your finger to kiss his lips.

Mat raised his eyebrows and hummed his approval.

“How about not wearing anything at all?” he asked, cockiness in his tone as he tugged at your t-shirt. Following his cues, you removed it from your body and tossed it onto the floor.

“Whatever you say, Barzal,” you said, though Mat was too focused on your lacy bra to think of a response.

Instead, he hoisted you over his shoulder as you squealed with laughter, hauling you to the bedroom and leaving the denim jacket to be worn another day.

[punmasterkentparson]

Sacred in the Moment

read on ao3

“I wanna kiss you everywhere,” Swoops murmurs, his lips tickling Kent’s jaw as he speaks.

“Everywhere?” Kent asks, only half-listening. They’ve been making out on his couch for twenty minutes and Swoops has both hands on Kent’s ass. Higher brain functions have been out the window for a while.

“Mm, everywhere.” Swoops punctuates this with a gentle bite.

And because Kent can’t pass up any opportunity to be a dick, he says, “Even Omaha, Nebraska?”

Swoops pulls his head up. “What.”

“Salt Lake City, Utah?” Kent continues, making his eyes wide as though scandalized. “Steak N Shake?”

“Stop.”

“Blockbuster?”

Swoops groans and pinches his ass through his jeans. It barely hurts but Kent yelps anyway. “I was being romantic, you dickweed.”

“Sorry. It was too easy.” Kent knows he’s grinning too much for a believable apology.

“You’re such a pain,” Swoops grumbles fondly, and kisses him.

Columbus, OH

Losing is never fun. Losing in Columbus isn’t as awful as, say, losing in Pittsburgh, but it still sucks. The Aces are subdued the next morning as they haul their luggage out of the hotel, onto the airport shuttle, and onto the plane. Most of them find their usual seats and settle in for a nap, a movie, or a game of cards. Swoops’ normal seat isn’t next to Kent, it’s a few up ahead, so Kent is surprised when Swoops slips into the spot beside him.

“I’m not gonna be good company,” Kent warns.

“That’s fine, I’m not staying. Just wanted to give you something.”

“Oh?” Kent’s eyes still feel sticky with sleep and his heart is heavy from the shutout. He doesn’t realize what Swoops is doing until he feels the light pressure of lips against his temple.

“Everywhere,” Swoops says, giving Kent a gentle smile, and then he gets up and heads down the aisle.

Kent doesn’t figure out what Swoops meant by that until their plane is touching down on Ottawa tarmac. When he does, he blushes so hard his cheeks hurt.

Oh. Everywhere.

BB&T Center, Miami, Florida

“Your tie’s crooked, c’mere.”

Kent looks down at himself, trying to see what Swoops is talking about.

“Just c’mere, will you?” Swoops is waving him away from the door to the locker room, which is already full of their teammates pulling off their game day suits and getting ready for warmups.

Kent rolls his eyes and goes over. “I’m taking it off in like, a minute.”

“Aren’t you the captain? Set an example.” Swoops messes with Kent’s collar and makes a few (minor) adjustments to the angle of Kent’s tie. “There.”

“You did literally nothing—” Kent begins to protest, but shuts up when Swoops reels him in by his tie and kisses him. The pressure is light, barely there, and gone in less than a second. After all, they’re alone in the hall but anyone could walk by.

Swoops drops Kent’s tie and winks. “Everywhere. Even outside the locker room.” Then he grins. “You’re blushing really hard.”

“You surprised me,” Kent sputters.

“Better stay on your toes, then.” Swoops pats his shoulder and heads into the locker room alone.

Kent stands outside and fans his face for a couple minutes before he feels like he can go in without being chirpped to death.

The Blind Badger, Anaheim, California

Kent quickly figures out that there’s no logic to the locations where Swoops will choose to kiss him. Sometimes it’s by city, sometimes by arena, sometimes it’s just random. Kent also finds out that he’s not allowed to play. He sneaks into Swoops’ hotel room one night in a desperate attempt to end the week-long dry spell they’ve been forced to have, and when he tries to say, “Everywhere, even your hotel room in Dallas,” Swoops just shakes his head and says, “Doesn’t work like that, Parse.”

So it’s Swoops’ thing, just his. Kent doesn’t mind. It’s embarrassing as hell, because he cannot stop himself from blushing like a fool every time it happens, but he doesn’t mind.

He’s starting to look forward to it.

The Aces go to Anaheim and win handily, 5-2, and then go out to celebrate. They’ve got their choice of bars, and end up in a place that one of the guys found on Yelp, called “The Blind Badger.”

“This place is classy as fuck,” Carl announces when they get in.

“When you’re right, you’re right,” Swoops drawls, although Kent is looking around and he can’t say that Carl’s wrong. The bartenders are wearing ties and serving flaming martinis. Most people here are wearing at least business casual attire.

Their group gets a table and orders their first and second rounds. The bar’s atmosphere keeps them from getting too rowdy, but it’s impossible to smother the full force of their volume. Fortunately, the bar is crowded enough that the worst of their noise is drowned out.

Three rounds and a burger later, Kent hauls himself out of his seat while calling, “I’m going to the bathroom, nobody drink my beer.”

He’s no sooner through the door labeled “Gentlemen” than Swoops is right there with him.

“Swoops, what—Oh no, dude, we’re basically in public—”

Swoops kisses him anyway. Hot, wet, and filthy. Kent almost chokes on the amount of tongue in his mouth. His back bumps the door and he yelps, which becomes a low, needy whine when Swoops pushes a thigh right there.

It’s over before Kent can even think to retaliate. 

Swoops steps back, smirking, and licks his lips before wiping them with the back of his hand. Then he gestures to Kent’s crotch and says, “You’ve got...”

Kent doesn’t need to look, he can feel his own dick getting fat in his pants. “Who’s fault is that?!”

“Not mine. I was never here. I never kissed you in the men’s bathroom at a bar.”

“You absolutely did, and now I’m horny as fuck. You better make this up to me later. You owe me.”

“I will.” Swoops is still smiling, the dick. “You gonna let me out?”

Kent moves away from the door, but not without getting in a hard smack on Swoops’ ass as he goes by.

The Marriott, Montreal, Canada

They’re both stupid, is the problem.

They join a group of guys watching a movie in Kelly’s room. They don’t sit together—Kent shoves his way onto the bed and Swoops takes up a spot at the foot of an armchair. But they’re in the same room, still together, and even having five other teammates in the room with them heckling their way through Fifth Element, they can catch each others’ eyes and share a smile and that sense of, Oh, hello.

After Corbin Dallas has met LeeLoo (but before the Diva sings her solo) Swoops gets up and says, “I’m hitting the vending machine.”

There are scattered requests for Doritos and Snickers and Diet Pepsi, and half a dozen other things that aren’t on any of their meal plans. Kent grabs his wallet and says, “I’ll go with you.”

The halls are empty, just miles of off-white walls and eye-smarting geometric red carpet. A dimly-lit alcove hides the ice dispenser and two vending machines, one for drinks and one for snacks. It’s not exactly romantic. But as Kent is feeding dollars in and eyeing his chocolate options, Swoops takes his arm and says softly, “Hey.”

Kent looks up, and Swoops kisses him. It’s soft and lingering, the kind of kiss that makes Kent feel peeled open. Like Swoops is seeing Kent raw and he likes what he sees. It makes Kent feel wanted, cherished.

"With Hershey's as my witness," Swoops murmurs.

Kent chokes on a laugh, which makes Swoops giggle, and it's so goddamn cute that Kent has to pull him back in. They kiss through their smiles, each of their hands finding places to latch on: a hip, a shoulder, a back pocket. Kent loves that Swoops makes him feel like this, like Kent is something to be sought out and savored. He wants to say "fuck the movie" and drag Swoops back to his room.

Then someone says, way too close, “Are you guys—oh, my god.”

They break apart. It’s Scraps.

Kent can feel the blood draining out of his own face. He feels numb.

Scraps is still standing there, slack-jawed, his eyes wider than Kent ever thought they could go. 

“S-scraps,” Swoops says. “Buddy—”

“You guys were kissing."

Kent grapples with words. “I, uh. No we weren't.” 

“You were kissing in the hallway,” Scraps says, like he’s talking about an alien encounter in a cornfield. “Like, kissing. Are you guys, you know, together? Or is it just—what’s it, blowing off steam? ‘Cause I never did it but I heard a lot of guys in Juniors—”

“How ‘bout you fuck off ‘cause it’s none of your business?” Swoops cuts in, his glare cold.

Kent puts a hand on Swoops’ arm and gives him a look meant to convey Back the hell off, man. To Scraps, he says, “Can we talk about this later? Please? And... maybe don’t tell the guys? Or like, anyone?”

Still giving Swoops a befuddled frown, Scraps nods. “Sure.” He holds up a dollar bill. “Can I buy some pretzels?”

So they move aside to let Scraps buy his pretzels. Kent pats him on the shoulder and says, “Don’t tell the guys?”, to which Scraps repeats, “Sure,” and heads back to the room.

Kent heaves a sigh of relief. “Well, fuck.” Then he gives Swoops a gentle-but-not-that-gentle punch to the arm.

“Ow! The hell?”

Kent punches numbers into the vending machine and squats to pick his M&Ms out of the slot. “You didn’t have to be such a dick.”

“Oh yeah, sorry for being scared outta my mind. How long do you think this is gonna stay quiet? It’s Scraps, for crying out loud! This is the guy who spent a whole day pondering out loud whether a ton of bricks weighed more than a ton of feathers and still didn’t come up with an answer!”

“Wow, and you are still being a dick.”

Swoops waves both hands angrily, hard enough to nearly send his handful of snacks flying. “How are you so calm?!”

Kent sighs. “Because it’s Scraps. He’s a good guy, he won’t rat us out. Christ, Swoops, you know that. You wanna tell me why you’re freaking out so badly?”

Swoops grinds his teeth for a second, then says, “No.”

“No, you don’t know, or no, you don’t wanna tell me?”

“No, I don’t want to tell you. It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.”

“So?”

Kent gapes. “Fine, then.” He turns on his heel and heads back to the room, alone.

Later, when Swoops comes back and hands out goodies, Kent doesn’t look at him. He doesn’t acknowledge Swoops for the rest of the night, and when he wakes up the next morning still mad, he doesn’t talk to Swoops on the bus or the plane, either.

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Eventually the sting of the spat wears off. It has to; if they don’t let it dissipate, it could fuck with team dynamics, and nothing is worth that. Kent is a captain first and a lover second. When they’re on the road, facing down December and an agonizingly slow but steady drop down the Western Conference rankings, he has to be.

They don’t talk about what happened in front of the vending machine in the Marriott in Montreal, though. It chafes at Kent, the memory of dismissal in that single, “So?” But Scraps doesn’t tell anyone and that seems to satisfy Swoops, and if there’s no active disagreeing going on, Kent has to assume it’s all fine.

"Are you guys fighting?" Scraps asks Kent at a team dinner.  "You and Jeff?" Everyone around them is stuffing their faces and drinking, because they’d just lost that afternoon on account of a truly embarrassing couple of empty-net goals.The bar has three blaring TVs and most of them are half drunk. None of them are listening.

"No.”

Scraps looks surprised. “Really? You guys are always together, and now you’re...not.” He glances down the table, where Swoops is laughing loudly at something Tads has just said and stuffing cheese sticks in his mouth. Then he leans in close and says something so quiet that Kent can’t make it out.

“Bud, I can’t hear you.”

The volume comes up a notch. “I said, did you guys break up?”

Kent’s immediate response is to shake his head and exclaim, “No!” but what’s horrifying is that his first thought is, Wait, did we?

Their game hasn’t suffered, at least. Kent wouldn’t place the blame of tonight’s loss on him and Swoops not clicking on the ice.

But he’s acutely aware that Swoops hasn’t kissed him since Montreal, and that... scares him, actually. He hadn’t let himself think about it but he is now and when he looks at Swoops sitting a few feet (it feels like miles) away, drinking and eating and not seeking Kent out with his eyes the way he usually would...

It’s a black hole in Kent’s chest.

Shit.

Providence River, Providence, Rhode Island

“Can we talk?” Kent asks—pleads, really, the morning of the game. Half the team is still asleep upstairs in their rooms, the other half eating breakfast and fully distracted by coffee and their phones. Kent is not a morning person, but Swoops is. Kent had set his alarm for this god-awful hour so he’d have a shot at getting Swoops alone.

Swoops has been wearing an expression like he was expecting this since he spotted Kent coming out of the elevator. But he just sighs, says, “Yeah, sure,” and puts his empty plate aside. “Where?”

“Let’s take a walk,” Kent suggests.

They grab cinnamon rolls and cups of coffee for the road and leave the hotel. Nobody expects the Aces to go anywhere this early, so the front lobby and entrance are clear. Kent steers them in the direction of the Providence River. Swoops might know where they’re going, he might not. Still, he follows without question or complaint.

With the sun barely in the sky and the area not residential, they have the sidewalks mostly to themselves. Kent asks, without preamble, “Did we break up?”

Swoops nearly spits out his coffee. “What? No!” His eyes are wide. “Wait, are you saying you want—”

“No! No.”

“Okay.” Swoops takes a careful breath. “Okay. Good. I don’t want to.”

“Me neither.”

Kent leads them left at an intersection, and it’s only a few more minutes before the river comes into view. There’s a bike path following it, lined with white railing and skeletal trees bereft of their leaves. It’s November but unseasonably warm—or at least what passes for “warm” in Rhode Island at this time of year. Kent’s sweatshirt and his coffee are keeping him from feeling the brunt of the morning chill. The sun is rising over the city, breaking it into blocky shadows and streaks of light.

They walk, finishing their cinnamon rolls and draining their coffees and then dumping the remains in a public trashcan. The silence drags on.

Swoops breaks it. “I know what I said, I know how it came off, and I’m sorry. I’m also sorry I wasn’t sorry earlier. I’m just... I don’t know. I was pissed off.”

Kent hates to ask, but he does. “At me?”

There’s a small, awful pause preceding Swoops’ response. “No.”

“Scraps, then? ‘Cause it’s not his fault he saw us—”

“I’m not pissed at Scraps. Or maybe ‘pissed’ isn’t the right word, I don’t know. I just—him showing up reminded me, is all. That it’s not safe to kiss you everywhere.” Swoops blows out a frustrated breath and rubs his eyes. “I would, you know? I’d kiss you in front of other people. I’d kiss you anywhere, in front of everyone, if I...could.” His eyes are going glassy and he quickly wipes the wetness away.

“Holy shit, are you—?” Kent says, but doesn’t wait for a response before pulling Swoops into a tight hug.  

Swoops’ returning grip is like a bearhug. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Kent holds him close as long as he dares. Then he pulls back and meets Swoops’ gaze. “So, you like me, don’t you.”

“Of course I like you.”

“You really, really like me.”

“I’m fucking crazy about you,” Swoops huffs. “Okay?” He’d be more convincingly exasperated if his face wasn’t blotchy and his eyes weren’t still damp.

“I’m fucking crazy about you, too,” Kent admits, even though it feels like diving in front of a Zdeno Chara slapshot. Being around Swoops has the side-effect of making Kent brave to the point of stupidity. “So don’t stop kissing me all over North America, okay? You said everywhere. I want everywhere.”

Swoops might cry again, from the look of him. Kent can’t believe he’s been best friends with this guy for half a decade and never known what a soft heart Swoops has. “I’ll do my best,” Swoops says.

Kent wants so badly to take his hand. “Come on,” he says instead. “Let’s find a really thick bunch of trees and kiss behind them.”

“That’s basically in public,” Swoops protests, but Kent can’t help noticing that he follows along as soon as Kent starts walking again. “I’m not helping you do something that stupid.”

“Well, fine. Where do you wanna kiss me?”

Swoops puts an arm over Kent’s shoulders—casual enough to be ‘just friends’ but close enough for Kent to feel his warmth—and smiles. “I’ll see what comes to me.”

[andrewuttaro]

New Look Sabres: GM 11 - CBJ

I was going to save Rob Ray using the term “Gloryhole” to describe Artemi Panarin’s second goal for the P.S. but I couldn’t help myself and that is just everything you need to know about Rob Ray the broadcaster in one hilarious live TV misspeak. Was he misspeaking? I feel like he used the word totally seriously just not fully realizing what it means… you know in sexual parlay. I actually missed that epic call, I had turned off the stream; not in rage, OT does make the heart race, but I was at my wife’s grandma’s house deep in the Finger Lakes. They aren’t the people to forego a game in the World Series for an October Sabres game. Rob Ray had a pretty classic gaff about that too but this isn’t a Rob Ray blog, this is New Look Sabres. I got to say, I don’t know if I would go through the effort to watch a stream on my phone on Saturday night for last year’s Sabres. This game is pretty indicative of the New Look Sabres I envisioned naming this blog. The Columbus Blue Jackets have proven themselves to be the frustration factory of hockey in the playoffs and if the Sabres ever want to get back to those they will need to beat some CBJs this season. The Buffalo Sabres did not look out of place against these guys and that says a lot.

Tage Thompson made himself useful and got an assist on Kyle Okposo’s first goal of the game crashing the net 98 seconds into the game. Two thoughts on that: Tage Thompson sat the last several games and several Smart Sabres folks pointed out the uselessness of not sending him down. He has taken his time to get comfortable in the system and didn’t look great but if he can start producing he ought to stay. I won’t be offended if he goes down at this point but hey, silver linings, right? Second Thought: Crashing that net. Look at most of the goals the Sabres have scored so far this season, thirty goals to be exact, and the majority will be crashing that net. If the Sabres score goals I’m not upset but is crashing the net the substitute for all our guys not shooting from the point? Just a thought, it’s more rhetorical, I had a lot of time to think about this game. Pierre-Luc Dubois shot from the point. After receiving a pass from Panarin he shot one high on Linus Ullmark. Five minutes later Jeff Skinner found a puck sent from McCabe and launched it two-hole. For the second time in two games a Sabres goal got challenged and stood. I could get used to this. The Sabres would enter the first intermission up 2-1 on the home team. Then the second period happened.

The Buffalo Sabres shut off. They got a single powerplay opportunity but it was the first period since maybe the San Jose game when we saw the Sabres just fall flat. Did they play their game? Perhaps they did: Jack Eichel screeched in on Joonas Korpisalo and got robbed. It wasn’t Sabres who scored this period. Artemi Panarin was a man on a mission scoring 94 seconds into the second in a goal that I will say was sick because I, like anyone with two eyes for hockey, want that guy on my team. He made Ristolainen look like he didn’t know ice is slippery. Those cannon blasts just kept coming and Cam Atkinson scored twice 32 seconds apart to put the Jackets up 4-2 through forty minutes of hockey. I am not even going to defend my boy Linus Ullmark in this period. The whole team sleep walked through this period. Then the New Look Sabres got back in the final frame. Jason Pominville scored on a behind-the-net setup from Jack Eichel to get the game within one two and a half minutes in. Two minutes later the Sabres highlight of this game happened. It took eleven games into his first full NHL season but Casey Mittelstadt scored one, a sausy one on the powerplay but it was his. That’s one monkey we all ought to be happy is off our favorite child’s back. The two teams traded chances for the rest of regulation; one shot by Columbus’ Anthony Duclair was taking a gentle stroll toward the line when Sam Reinhart fished it out. That may have been the play that secured the point in this game as this one went to a brief OT before Artemi Panarin out maneuvered three misaligned Sabres and won it. Sabres lost in OT 5-4 and altogether you probably love what you glean from the Blue and Gold team in this game.

I brought up crashing the net earlier because I think it’s a really interesting point of study in Phil Housley’s system. I am no expert, that’s kind of one of this blog’s calling cards, but does a net-crashing team not play fundamentally differently than a shoot first team? This league is overwhelmingly going in a speed-first direction and that’s made defenses slimmer and agile. Not many teams beat the shit out of you in front of the net anymore. It’s a good strategy for now, but I am just not certain how sustainable it is. It could also be a fair analysis of this team’s strengths by the coaching staff. I looked at those thirty goals Buffalo has scored, aw yeah its cool having that many goals through only eleven games, and very few lead you to believe any skater on this team prefers to shoot from the point. Jack Eichel’s overly-selfless pass-first mentality is well documented but I couldn’t find anyone really who jumps out as an honest-to-God shooter on this team. Kyle Okposo, who has looked like a new acquisition as of late thank God, stands out as something of a shooter but who else? Conor Sheary scores slappers from close up, minus well just call him Lumberjack Conor at this point, Jeff Skinner has scored more of his goals rather tight in there and I’ll leave Sam Reinhart alone for now. Jason Pominville even shoots from a place he can hear the goalies breathe. Maybe I had too much time to think about this game.

This team looks capable of comebacks and that is as refreshing as it gets. More than one observer across the bloggers, beat reporters and newsmen said following this game that this matchup last year… or really any season since Obama’s first term, would’ve turned into a rout. Buffalo comes back now and that’s what good teams do. I will gladly take a few OT heartbreaks that result in a point than fighting the urge to turn off the game before it’s over. Speaking of things I don’t want to turn off: how do you like this blog? Yea, I am talking to you with the shirt. It’s nice to see feedback come in certain non-word ways but it would be cool to read it in text too. Share this, like it, heart it, all of the above, and just spread it around. Know someone stressing about that OT loss to a team that is probably better? Send this to them. Hey you, this ain’t the old Sabres, these guys are allowed to lose tough games if they’re going to fight that hard in them. Well anyway, Tuesday night Calgary comes to town on the back of a faceoff against those cardiac kids up in Toronto so maybe we can put out a fire with one of our own. A home and home with Ottawa awaits us later in the week and a win streak here benefits not only how the rest of the season goes but also divisional bragging rights! Let’s go Buffalo!

Thanks for reading.

P.S. I really hated Artemi Panarin in 2016. I thought he stole Jack Eichel’s Calder Trophy but as I have matured as a hockey fan I realize it wasn’t so much an injustice as an armed heist.

[ourykadventure]

Day 16: September 1

Quarantine Diaries - Day 3:

Ha! This quote couldn’t be more accurate! We left hot and sunny ☀️ 28 degree weather in Ottawa and wake up in crisp, cool 8 degree weather in Yellowknife. Hello September!

Today I woke up and thankfully with the time change I was able to call the pharmacy in Ottawa right away and sort out my prescription. I was able to get it transfered, and should have it later tonight.

Geoff went to get the keys to our home! After, he came to pick us all up and we went to visit our new house! It’s so great! The kitchen is a little outdated but we might be able to make it look a little more modern! Besides that we have so much space! I mean, if you’ve been in our previous home, the thing could have been featured on Tiny House, Big Living. Grover loves his new fenced in yard! Annabelle loves rolling around on the soft carpet and watching the cars drive by! She also enjoyed finding pinecones in the yard until they made her hands “tooooo sticky”. Apparently tree sap is the end of the world, but licking the luggage trolley at the hotel (ESPECIALLY during COVID) IS TOTALLY OKAY! 🤦🏻‍♀️. We spent a little while there because even though the house is empty, it already felt like home. ❤️

After we got back to the hotel, it was lunch time and nap. Naps are loved here, by all members of the house! I think we ended up all taking one.

We spent the afternoon playing hide and seek. (Annabelle is the worst at this game - I mean that with love). We did counting with our play dough blueberries and was rewarded with real blueberries.

We ordered Miss Saigon for dinner. I can’t say either of us were super impressed! We heard such great things, so this won’t be the last time we order, there was a lot to choose from so I’m sure we would like something else!

Annabelle really wanted to go “swimming” in the big bath tub! She loves the bath so when she saw our jacuzzi tub she was thrilled! As a baby her and I took a bath together every night and every once in awhile we still do. I asked her tonight, and was totally shut down. 🙅🏼‍♀️

I ended up getting my medication picked up! So I am now back on my crazy pills 🤪! This was honestly such a terrible time to misplace them. We have been living in a hotel since the 16th of August, we just up and left our family and community. We pulled Annabelle from her amazing daycare (her second family). COVID is happening, we pulled a trailer for the first time with our van and drove 10 days across western Canada with a puppy, a toddler and a newborn! So, all in all - I am happy to have them back. I already feel a relief, maybe it’s placebo - but whatever it is - it’s working and I feel better going to bed knowing I have restarted my medication!

Isolation Fact #2:

Due to its latitude, Yellowknife sees a wide range of time between day and night over the course of the year. In June, they see about twenty hours of daylight, while in December they will only see about five hours!

[sector2020]

Canadian Attitudes Toward Love And Ai » Media In Canada

CAP/AIDS is a registered Canadian Charity # 88898 7500 RR0001 with one staff operating in Canada and a voluntary Board of Directors based in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. Site: www.capaids.org. Meet the CAP/AIDS Board: CAP/AIDS BOARD.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Advancement's Better Life Index ranks Canada among the finest locations to reside in the world. Here's why. A research study published yesterday by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Advancement (OECD) discovered that "Canada carries out exceptionally well in measures of wellness," according to an online report.

The research study scored 36 countries, consisting of 34 OECD members, Russia and Brazil. No general ranking is reported. The findings will surprise some, offered our 7.2% nationwide joblessness rate, 14.5% youth joblessness rate and financial development forecasts that stay soft in the short-term. Here are seven highlights from the OECD report: The average home earns US$ 28,194 each year after taxes.

There is disparity at both ends of the incomes spectrum however, not surprisingly. The top 20% takes house US$ 55,718, while the bottom 20% earns US$ 10,526. We ranked seventh on household wealth and ninth on earnings. Canadians spend 2 minutes a day volunteering; that has to do with half the OECD average. On the other hand, 64% said they 'd assisted a complete stranger in the last month.

We ranked seventh on support network. 9 in 10 Canadians are pleased with their housing. The typical home in this country provides 2.6 spaces per resident, more than any other nation. And 99.8% of Canadians live in a house with a private bathroom that has an indoor, flushing toilet. (The OECD average is 97.8%.) We ranked 24th on the ratio of real estate costs to earnings, 8th on standard facilities and first on variety of rooms per person.

We ranked 14th on contamination and 12th on water quality. Our life expectancy at birth is 81, a complete year above the OECD average. And 88% of Canadians say they remain in health. Health costs in this nation comprises 11.4% of gross domestic product. (The OECD average is 9.5% of gdp.) We ranked third in health and 17th in life span.

That's well below the OECD average of 4%. Our murder rate is less remarkable. It's 1.6%, just marginally listed below the average rate of 2.2%. We ranked first on assault rate and 23rd on homicide rate.: Canadians work a typical 1,702 hours each year. That's 74 hours below the OECD average.

(The OECD average is 9%.) We ranked ninth on working long hours. The full index is comprised of 11 categories. Canada ranked 27th on job security, 4th on student skills, fourth on federal government transparency and eighth on life fulfillment.

Canada has an objective to bring in one million people to live and operate in the country by 2020. Evaluating by feedback from expats, it should not have excessive difficulty with that objective. Listed as one of the best countries in the world for expats, it is regularly praised for its accepting and tolerant society and excellent quality of life.

If you're thinking about the huge relocation and still require some convincing that Canada is the ideal https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=toronto attractions destination for you, keep reading. Here we list the 15 factors why you ought to call the Great White North your new house. It appears Canadians live up to their welcoming track record, with more than four in 5 expats surveyed for the latest Internations Expat Insider study explaining Canadians as "friendly" double the global average.

Canada ranked 12th out of 189 nations on the current Human Development Index, scoring extremely for a whole host of classifications, from life span and gross nationwide income, to security and socio-economic development. With a lower cost of living, a concentrate on sports and enjoying the outdoors, lots of expats select to head to Canada to enhance their quality of life in fact Canada ranked number 3 worldwide in the most current Lifestyle rankings according to a study by US News & World Report.

Neinstein Personal Injury Attorneys has actually handled severe injury claims across Ontario for over Five decades. Its locations of knowledge include medical, legal, and insurance coverage issues connected to healthcare carelessness, motor vehicle mishaps, disability claims, slip and falls, product legal responsibility, insurance disputes, plus more.

We are our customers' supporters. We, together with our team of medical, forensic, and investigative experts, have actually represented individuals from all walks of life 50 years. We are devoted to doing everything we can to assist our clients receive the settlement they are worthy of.

Canadians in basic love sport, however that enthusiasm isn't just confined to ice hockey, lacrosse and basketball, it likewise extends method beyond that. Canada is huge and the majority of the populations resides in cities, which leaves fantastic areas of wilderness simply waiting to be explored. Whether you're kayaking or swimming, skiing or simply walking through lovely landscapes, the Outdoors is Neinstein Reviews just pleading to be found.

But it is not simply this Francophone city that enchants expats. Coastal Vancouver is the country's Neinstein settlement culinary capital, surrounded by beaches, mountains and stunning forests, while Toronto is said to be the most multicultural city worldwide. Include the cowboy charms Calgary and Ottawa's popularity as the Silicon Valley of the North and you have a country breaking with range.

Canada is cold. The second coldest nation on the planet, in fact. But while those long, chilly winters might be mentioned as a reason not to relocate to the country, the locals understand you can still have a good time when the snow is thick on the ground. From Whistler to Lake Louise, the names of this nation's iconic resorts make you desire to get your skis or board and leap a chairlift.

After the long winter season, the sun comes out throughout Canada and mountainside are blanketed in colourful wildflowers, alpine lakes glisten in the sunshine, the rugged coastline begins to draw in holidaymakers and the sun-kissed vineyards of the Okanagan Valley welcome visitors. Yes, Canada comes alive in summer, with average temperature levels of 25C, and the locals understand how to enjoy it to the max.

You won't need much reason to get out and enjoy the sunlight. When the winter truly bites and the wind chill sends you desiring to scurry indoors, you do not have to shut yourself up in the house. In the coldest cities throughout Canada, you can go out shopping and take pleasure in suppers and mixed drinks, all underground.

In Toronto, COURSE is a downtown pedestrian sidewalk offering dining establishments, shopping and home entertainment, while Montreal has its own Underground City, stretching for 20 miles and including city stations, plazas, shops and eateries. Among the many delights of exploring the Great Outdoors while living in Canada is the fantastic wildlife you can witness.

The moose is an icon of the nation, while the Canadian caribou migration is not to be missed out on and beavers, wolves, grassy field dogs, coyotes and deer all contribute to its rich wildlife offering. Canada is rightly happy Toronto with its state-funded health care offering Medicare, which guarantees vital medical treatment is complimentary at the point of delivery.

As an irreversible local, you can take pleasure in both in-patient and out-patient services as part of Medicare, which is really viewed as a medical insurance service, funded by the taxes citizens and citizens pay in through earnings tax, sales tax and things like the purchase of lotto tickets. If Toronto is one of the most multiculturally diverse cities in the world, then Vancouver isn't far behind it.

According to the latest Internations survey of expats, 94% ranked tranquillity as a crucial part of the country's quality of life and Canada also carried out exceptionally well when it concerned safety and security, with low criminal activity rates and particularly low violent criminal offense when compared with its southern neighbour. If you want to raise kids in Canada, you will be pleased with the conclusions from expats currently Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers residing in the country.

Frequently weekends are invested escaping to the mountains, lakeside lodges and the coast, anything to get in touch with nature and shake of the stresses of the huge cities. Canada is among the world's greatest economies and there are growing markets such as mining and oil and gas in basic. As a country, it welcomes foreign workers and favorably encourages those who can fill under-represented industries and positions.

As part of its open policy to foreign employees, Canada lists info about all the visas offered on its website cic.gc.ca. Companies searching for foreign employees can do so through the Temporary Foreign Employee Program, while you can likewise apply through the Federal Knowledgeable Worker Program, which operates on a points-based system based upon your scholastic experiences, language abilities and so on.

In truth, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Canadian trainees carry out well regardless of socioeconomic status or whether they are Very first Nations or recent immigrants, as the nation has a policy of no student being left behind. More than 90 per cent of trainees attend public school and there is a real focus on sports and extracurricular activities as well as academic achievement.

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The Duchess of Sussex is already there and Prince Harry is expected to join her within days. So what is it about Canada!.?.!? Here is our guide to the nation's absolute best tourist attractions and experiences and why you must think about Canada for your next holiday. For those who want holidays where you escape the crowds, Canada delivers.

The country also has the longest shoreline worldwide. Fans of Canada say its natural charm is finely balanced with fun and stylish experiences, plus a host of metropolitan attractions. THE MUST-SEE SIGHTS1. CN Tower Highlights: Toronto's horizon featuring the CN Tower, which has a glass floor you can stroll or crawl throughout at 1,122 ftYou'll require nerves of steel throughout a trip to the top of Toronto's main destination.

There is also the Glass Flooring (you can stroll or crawl across it while looking down 1,122 feet), and the SkyPod observation deck which, at 1,465 ft, is among the world's highest viewing platforms. 2. Niagara Falls Visitors get drenched at Niagara Falls. If you wish to escape the crowds, go on a two-mile walk through Niagara Glen Nature Reserve, or dive into the Falls View Water Park, which has 16 water slides, a few of which are 6 storeys highThe white waters and thick mists of Niagara Falls are Canadian essentials.

Alternatively, the Journey Behind The Falls trip takes you down a lift shaft and through a tunnel to a series of observation decks for much more extreme photography. If you want to get away the crowds, go on a two-mile walk through Niagara Glen Nature Reserve, or dive into the Falls View Water Park with its 16 water slides, some of which are six storeys high.

Northern Lights: A fantastic location to see one of nature's biggest shows remains in the frontier town of Whitehorse in the Yukon territory. It's a sporty paradise you can fly to with Air North, among the friendliest airline companies worldwide. Further south in Saskatchewan, La Ronge has some of the darkest skies on the continent and is also a great base for ice-fishing trips.

Vancouver Island: Take a two-hour ferry flight from Vancouver to Vancouver Island, where you'll discover sandy coves and rocky shores. And who knows, you might even catch a glance of Harry and Meghan. Looking for a place to remain? The island has everything from camping areas to five-star health spa hotels. The island's cool browse town of Tofino is worth a go to, as is the bigger Nanaimo, where you can try the Nanaimo Bar, a rich, chocolate biscuit. : since July 1 of the year indicated.: Overall overall population (both sexes and all ages) in the country as of July 1 of the year suggested, as estimated by the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Potential Customers: The 2019 Modification. For anticipated years, the U.N.

Read More Meanings ...: For 2019: percentage modification in overall population over the in 2015 (from July 1, 2018 to June 30 2019). For all other years: newest year annual percentage modification equivalent presuming homogeneous change in the preceding 5 year duration, determined through reverse compounding.: For 2019: outright modification in overall population (boost or reduce in variety of people) over the in 2015 (from July 1, 2018 to June 30 2019).

: The average annual variety of immigrants minus the variety of emigrants over the preceding 5 year duration (running from July 1 to June 30 of the initial and final years), or subsequent five year duration (for 2016 information). An unfavorable number indicates that there are more emigrants than immigrants.

This parameter supplies an indication of age distribution.: (Overall Fertility Rate, or TFR), it is revealed as kids per woman. It is determined as the average number of kids a typical lady will have throughout her reproductive duration (15 to 49 years of ages) based upon the current fertility rates of every age group in the country, and presuming she is exempt to mortality.

: Urban population as a percentage of overall population.: Population residing in locations classified as urban according to the requirements used by each country.: Overall population in the country as a portion of overall World http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/?action=click&contentCollection&region=TopBar&WT.nav=searchWidget&module=SearchSubmit&pgtype=Homepage#/toronto attractions Population since July 1 of the year indicated.: Overall World Population since July 1 of the year indicated.

Undoubtedly, some food waste is unavoidable this is the food that can't usually be offered or consumed, such as bones, vegetable peelings, egg shells, tea bags, and coffee premises. Avoidable food waste is the edible food that winds up in the garden compost or in the bin. Unfortunately, we frequently squander excellent food since we buy excessive, cook too much, or do not store it properly.

[hazel3017]

I promised you guys an essay on the dark ages that was the Mike Johnston era, and here it is. By the way, this is gonna be long and longwinded, but bear with me people. This is all connected. You have been warned.

In 2013, Sidney Crosby was on a ridiculous tear where he scored 56 points in 36 games for a truly stupid 1.56 points per game. It was a shortened season, true, but no one was even close to touching him. If he’d played the full 48 games, he’d have 75 points. Martin St. Louis won the Art Ross with 60. Anyway, what happened instead was the broken jaw, courtesy of a Brooks Orpik slap shot, and Sid didn’t play for the rest of the season (he missed 12 games) which is probably why he didn’t win the Hart (he was nominated, but it went to Ovechkin).

The broken jaw also meant that the Penguins, in their infinite wisdom, allowed Sid to be interviewed while he was CLEARLY high on painkillers.

Sid returned to the ice (wearing a protective cage) in time for the second game of the playoffs (vs NYI) and picked up right where he left off. He had nine points in five games against the Islanders, and 6 points in five games against Ottawa. It was all rainbows and sunshine until the Penguins reached the ECF against Boston and the offence just dried up. Sid didn’t have a single point in that series, and ultimately the Pens only put up a collective 2 goals and were swept in 4 games. It was brutal. Especially for Flower, who really took a lot of flack. He’d been gaining a bit of a reputation as a bad playoff goalie, and the 2013 playoffs didn’t help. It was after this that Flower started seeing a sports psychologist.

For context, since they won the Cup in 2009, the Penguins had only won 3 playoff series before reaching the Eastern Conference final in 2013. Three. Think about that. They didn’t even make it past the first round in 2011 and 2012. 2013 was supposed to be different. They were the top seed in the East, and their offence was on fire through the first two rounds. And then they just crashed and burned. It was the 4th year in a row where they were eliminated by a lower-seeded team. Things were dire. And just to emphasis how truly sucky this time was for Sid, people thought he’d already played his best hockey. They thought the concussion and neck injury that kept him out for almost two seasons meant he wouldn’t ever be able to dominate the way he had before.

(Speaking of the concussion: he missed 41 games in 2010-2011, and 60 games in 2011-2012. Dire, dire times. He’s admitted he thought he might never play again. Also, at some point during this time, Sid and Geno went to a Lady Gaga concert together. Never forget.)

The 2013-2014 season comes around, and Sid is back to being on fire. Because it’s not a Penguins team unless everyone and their mother is out with an injury, Sid had a revolving door of line mates but would still finish the season with 104 points in 80 games for 1.30 PPG. Because he is stupid like that.

One of the injuries, by the way, was Pascal Dupuis in December 2013. The Pens were playing in Ottawa when Marc Methot hip-checked Sid, and Sid went flying into Duper, who almost got Sid’s skate to his face, and also tore his ACL. Duper needed surgery to repair the ACL damage, and while he was recovering, he started developing blood clots and serious health issues related to that, which he would never really recover from. He tried to play while on blood-thinners for a while, but ultimately had to call it a night in the 2015-2016 season. I bring this up because it will play a role in the timeline later.

So, mid 2013-2014 season; Sid is the engine that keeps the Penguins going, the NHL takes a break in February for the 2014 Sochi Olympics and we get the NHL Revealed series, which is actually pretty cool (there is a scene from Geno’s house and you can see his fridge where he has decals of himself and Sid, Tanger and Flower. It is adorable. Also there is Geno whining to Sid about Sid not warning him about their flight being delayed because then he would have just waited at home). Chris Kunitz is also an Olympian, and everyone at the time was pretty much in agreement that the only reason he was there was because of how well he played with Sid, and then they didn’t play well together at all. And everyone was up in arms about how Sid wasn’t scoring enough, but Canada still won gold (both Sid and Kuni scored in the gold-medal game) and Russia did not, and so Geno was sad and grumpy for about a month. Then Sid wasn’t having it anymore and talked to Geno because he obviously needed a friend, and Geno was no longer sad and grumpy.

Fast forward a little bit, and we reach the playoffs. The Pens played against Columbus, and it was super weird because almost every game ended 4-3 and no one could keep a 3-1 lead. Also, Sid wasn’t scoring. Again. It was a thing. He was still putting up points, and he averaged 1 PPG against Columbus, but people would not shut about how he hadn’t scored a playoff goal in 13 games dating back to 2013. He kept insisting that he was healthy too, but he actually had a busted wrist, which was the result of a Ryan Reaves hit where he got his wrist caught awkwardly against the board in a game in late March. The injury meant he had trouble putting any power behind his shots, which meant no goals, although he was still dominating possession. Add to that the abuse he took from the likes of Dubinsky and Marc Staal (and also Lundqvist squirting water at him lol!) it was a pretty miserable playoffs for him.

All of this is made worse by his deteriorating relationship with Coach Dan Bylsma. Now, I know I have read this somewhere, and I can’t for the life of me remember where, but there was a rumour—a rumour, mind you—that Bylsma had specifically instructed the players not to stick up for Sid when the other team’s players were abusing him. Apparently, Bylsma threatened with benching people if they got into scrums after the whistles. (RUMOUR, remember. Take it with a grain of salt). But Bylsma and Sid obviously weren’t getting along that great during the Rangers series, at least, and it didn’t help that Bylsma kept playing his favourites, aka Craig Adams and the gang. Jesus. As I recall, Kuni and Geno were pretty much the only ones sticking up for Sid, especially Kuni who was playing on his line. The Rangers series did give us this gem of an interview though.

Game 7 comes along, and the Penguins lose. They’d been up 3 games to 1 at one point, and again they were the higher-seeded team. Shortly after, reports about Bylsma losing the room started popping up and it was pretty obvious that there would be a new management. Sure enough, Shero was fired first, and then Bylsma later.

(Bylsma was actually fired by Jim Rutherford. Ownership said they wanted the new GM to decide if he wanted to keep Bylsma around or not. It was pretty obvious that Bylsma would have to go too, and a lot of people were upset that they kept Bylsma so long when that could potentially keep him from getting a job elsewhere.)

And now, finally, we enter the dark ages. Or, in which GMJR did the one mistake he needed to make in order to find the one true Penguins coach: Mike Sullivan.

Mike Johnston. What is there to say about Mike Johnston? He had pretty much only one facial expression in that he looked perpetually shocked, he snuffed out the offence of a team that has always been built for scoring goals and made them play boring, sluggish, defensive hockey instead. It very nearly broke Sidney Crosby. That is not to say that it was all MJ’s fault, but he was very clearly unsuitable for the Pens and vice versa.

Consider this: In 2012-2013, Sid went from a 1.56 PPG to 1.30 in 2013-2014. A pretty steep dive, but still dominating his peers (Ryan Getzlaf was the closest to him in points that year. He had 87 points. Sid had 104.). From 2013-2014 to 2014-2015, Sid’s PPG dipped again, even more this time as it reached an all-time low of 1.09. He’d never been below 1.26 before. Not so incidentally, the Pens went from 242 goals total to 217, and their winning percentage dipped from .665 to .598, the lowest it had been since the 2005-2006 season. This all coincided with Mike Johnston becoming coach. The Penguins just barely edged their way into the playoffs that season. They made it with literally the last game of the season, against Buffalo.

(No offence to Buffalo, but they were ranked dead last that season.)

The Pens lost the first round of the playoffs against the Rangers. They only managed one win in 5 games. Sid played okay, he had 4 points on the series, but the Pens were so sloooow. They kept being outskated by guys like Zuccarello and Hagelin—no wonder, with guys like Craig Adams and Rob Scuderi slowing the Penguins down.

(Also, would you believe I used to strongly dislike Carl Hagelin?)

Sid didn’t stick around for the fallout. He called the GM of Team Canada the same night they were eliminated and jumped on a plane to Prague. I actually think the World Championship did him a ton of good. He won another gold medal in the Olympics the year before, but I really think it must have messed him up going so long without playoff success. No one expects more from Sidney Crosby than Sidney Crosby.

Anyway: Worlds.

I’m pretty sure that what happens at Worlds stays at Worlds, but Sid seemed to have a really good time with his x1000 boyfriends. Like, there was Giroux (what????), Seguin (we don’t kiss and tell), MacKinnon (of course), and even Brayden Schenn (lmao).

Also, there was Geno and the pictures that launched a thousand plot bunnies. Because you can’t have one without the other.

Sid won gold and was happy, he became the 26th member of the Triple Gold Club and was happy, and he came home from Europe and promptly entered an existential crisis, I’m pretty sure. He turned 28 that year and freaked out about it. Probably, he realised how sucky the last few years had been for him. He grew a beard. It was very disturbing for everyone involved. He also went to all the weddings, hosted his first annual hockey school, and filmed the documentary that would win him an Emmy award as the “talent”. That is an actual thing that happened, people.

And then the new season began. And here, my friends, we must circle back to Pascal Dupuis.

So because of the blood clots Duper developed after his ACL injury, he had to sit out the rest of the 2013-2014 season. He was cleared for the start of 2014-2015, but again was out for the rest of the season when they discovered blood clots in his lungs in November 2014 and he had to go on blood thinners. The next season, he was cleared again, but was still on blood thinners to manage the blood clots. He was being monitored by medical professionals at the time, and it was a procedure that had worked for other athletes, but Duper experienced side effects like serious chest pains. In the end, he was forced to call it quits. This was in December 2015.

Up until that point, from the start of the season, Sid had 18 points by then. He was 86 in in scoring. 86. Comparatively, he had 29 points by the same time next year. In 5 fewer games. No one knew what was going on. Sid didn’t know what was going on, but there’s probably a few things that explain his low offence. If you believed the media at the time, he was washed up. They were literally writing up the obituary of his career. Sports Illustrated posited that he would be a 4th-line centre at the World Cup. People were wondering if he would even make the team. The Team Canada GM had to publicly state that Sid would be on the roster.

So what actually did cause the notorious slump? Like I said, a combination of things.

First, MJ’s system meant that Sid had to play a 200-feet game. “But he does that now!” you say, and true, he is defensively responsible, and the NHL is gonna have to start thinking about giving him Selke consideration sooner than later, but he’s always thinking offence first, and his line’s puck possession means he’s spending more time in the offensive zone than defensive zone. They only had a 52.2% defensive exit rate under MJ during that December. Under Sully, it was at 73.1%. Consequently, MJ’s defence first mentality meant that Sid had to constantly haul ass from one end of the rink to the other; he was overexerting himself. 

Second, he had bad puck luck. No, really. The puck just wouldn’t go in the net for him, and he had one goal on 30 shots at one point. That’s a 3.3 shooting percentage. Around 9% is League average, I believe.

Third, the power play was a mess. MJ had no clue how to configure it, even with the kind of fire power the Penguins’ boast. They just couldn’t make it work, which meant that Sid was missing out on the points he usually get from the power play.

And finally, there was Duper. Now, this is my personal opinion, but I honestly think Duper’s situation really messed him up. I think he spent so much time and energy worrying about Duper being okay that if affected him on the ice. When Duper was forced to retire, Sid was heartbroken. Consider this extract from Duper’s Why We Play the Game article:

One leg was twice the size of the other. It was a few hours before the game. We were in Edmonton last November. I was warming up in the hallway, doing some band work, some quick-feet stuff. At some point I looked down and saw that my right leg was really swollen.

When you are dealing with blood clots, this is the moment you always fear. Your body is betraying you. You can’t deny it. You can’t fight through it.

I took my equipment off and put on a tracksuit to go to the hospital to get checked out. As I was walking out of the locker room with the doctor, one of my teammates gave me a hug and just broke down in tears.

“Not again, Duper. Are you kidding me? Again?”

That’s the moment I realized that I needed to draw the line. People weren’t just worried about me playing hockey. They were worried about me playing with my life.

I believe that teammate was Sid, and I feel as if Duper confirmed that, but I can’t remember where I saw/heard it.

Once Duper was out for good, Sid noticeably started playing better. He had 9 points the rest of December alone. Also, on 12 December, GMJR fired Mike Johnston and hired Mike Sullivan. Hilariously, Sid was accused of being a coach killer, and the reporter outright questioned the legitimacy of hiring Sully was MJ’s replacement in the same article.

JOKE’S ON YOU BRETT CYRGALIS.

The rest, as you say, is history. The Penguins finally found a coach who can wrangle Sid and Geno and Phil, and GMJR isn’t having any of your shit anymore NHL, so he went out and got Ryan Reaves to protect his star players from being abused. Which will probably be either really awesome or really awful. Time will tell.

[heatpeen03-blog]

Morning Links: Keeping our streets deadly, biking to a surf record, and hard-hitting non-LA Vision Zero ads

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

San Gabriel police arrested a man for the hit-and-run death of a grandmother and her one-year old granddaughter as they walked in a crosswalk last week.

The suspect, who was taken into custody leaving a local hospital, has three previous arrests on DUI charges. Yet was still driving, and posing a risk to everyone on the road around him.

So once again, authorities managed to keep a dangerous driver on the streets until it was too late.

And another innocent family had to pay the price.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

……….

Brazilian big wave surfer Maya Gabeira combined running and riding intervals on her bike to get back in shape, five years after she was nearly crushed to death by a monster wave.

The result was a new world record for the largest wave ever surfed by a woman.

………

A hard-hitting public service campaign uses actual broken bicycles, helmets and personal possessions belonging to people who were killed on Toronto’s streets to drive home the message of the city’s Vision Zero campaign.

These definitely succeed at cutting through the usual ad clutter, and eliciting a strong visceral response.

The question is whether it’s enough to convince people to drive more carefully. Or just convince people that riding and walking are too dangerous, as Marc argues in this Twitter thread.

I’m not sure just where I come down on that debate.

But I do know they’re a hell of a lot more effective and impactful than this embarrassing effort from LA’s Vision Zero program.

………

Let’s catch up with a few coming events.

SoCalCross is hosting a weekend of cyclocross racing at Lake Casitas this weekend, including a Halloween-themed Spooky Cross.

The LACBC’s monthly Sunday Funday Ride will roll from the Spoke Bicycle Cafe to the free 2nd Annual Griffith Park Harvest Fest this Sunday.

Bike SGV reports Arcadia is hosting what may be its first ever public meeting on November 7th to discuss bicycle improvement projects throughout the city.

The East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice will host their annual LA River Bike Toxic Tour on November 18th. And no, I don’t know what that means.

………

Local

After losing at City Hall, LA’s overly litigious, self-appointed NIMBY watchdogs have filed suit against the City of Los Angeles to halt the recently approved plans allowing for greater density near Expo Line stations.

State

Life is cheap in San Diego, where a 20-year old woman will serve just four months of a one-year sentence for killing a Fallbrook man as he was riding just minutes from his home, while she was under the influence of antidepressants.

Sad news from Marin County, where a popular teacher was killed when her bike was rear-ended by an alleged drunk driver.

More bad news, this time from nearby Sonoma County, where a woman was run over by a loaded dump truck as she was riding her bike in a Santa Rosa crosswalk.

National

Zwift wants you to ride for a good cause starting next week, including helping pay the medical expenses for former pro Adrien Costa, who lost a leg while rock climbing in Italy, as well as raising funds for African bike charity Qhebeka, among others.

A Michigan charity group is getting into the holiday spirit already, gearing up to distribute 101 bicycles to needy families.

This is who we share the streets with — and who polices them. A Massachusetts police lieutenant is on administrative leave after a series of columns he wrote for a police publication came to light, including calls to “meet violence with violence” while complaining about Lime Bikes, bike lanes and Tour de France wannabes. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.

Gothamist asks if just tossing protective bollards in pedestrian areas and bikeways is enough to protect New Yorkers against another truck terrorist attack.

Baltimore has officially changed the fire code to allow bike lanes on narrower streets, despite the mayor’s failure to sign the bill.

After a North Carolina man was killed by an alleged drunk driver while riding on a narrow street, a local resident says bicyclists should ride on the nonexistent sidewalks.

Four experienced Florida bike riders were critically injured when they reportedly changed lanes in front of an oncoming car, and were run down by the 92-year old driver; police blame the victims for an improper lane change. Bicyclists said the popular riding route where they were struck is dangerous, but local residents say bikes belong on the sidewalk instead.

International

Here’s another way of looking at Vancouver’s successful bike registration program — it helps return an average of one stolen bike a day to their original owners.

An Ottawa, Canada woman says bike riders should stay off the damn sidewalk already. No matter where we ride, people will complain that we should be somewhere else. Or anywhere else. So just ride safely, legally and courteously, and let it be their problem.

Caught on video: Just moments after safely passing one bike rider, an English bus driver nearly takes out a second bicyclist by cutting in way to close after passing to avoid oncoming traffic.

A British sporting goods company has saved a chain of bike shops from insolvency, while warning that half of the stores may be shut down.

A researcher in the UK finds no evidence that bicyclists pose an elevated risk to disabled people, but says that cars do.

Irish bike riders are posting photos of their bikes outside of polling stations as part of an “I Bike I Vote” campaign. If anyone wants to share photos of how you Bike the Vote next week, I’ll be happy to post them on here.

A New Zealand bicyclist penned an Op-Ed decrying the growing anger on the roads, after an impatient driver posted an irate video showing his group delaying her car for a whole 20 seconds.

Beleaguered Chinese dockless bikeshare company Ofo appears to be in retreat around the world.

Competitive Cycling

Former American national champ Larry Warbasse was back in pro cycling’s WorldTour, just days after his Aqua Blue team unexpectedly folded after he had signed a new two year contract.

Cycling Tips profiles former U-23 national champ Keegan Swirbul, who finds himself without a team at the ripe old age of 23; he may be the only rider to make the leap from parkour to the pro tour.

Finally…

Honestly, who doesn’t need a $6,000 sort-of bamboo e-cargo bike?

And why bother with brake levers when you can just brake with your butt?

………

Happy Halloween! Use extra caution if you drive tonight, and watch for kids early and over-indulging revelers late.

And if you ride your bike, ride defensively, because drivers won’t be looking for you tonight.

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Source: http://bikinginla.com/2018/10/31/morning-links-keeping-our-streets-deadly-biking-to-a-surf-record-and-hard-hitting-non-la-vision-zero-ads/

[patauctor-writesandstuff]

Last Line Tag

I was recently tagged by my friend @stationhousesix (who was tagged by @homesteadhorner) who posted a wonderful scene with her characters Erin and Saif from her project In the Black.

Well... I have been working on book 2 for my Across the Veil series, Across the Veil: Faerest One, so let’s go with my first draft of chapter 1 from book 2!

Rules: Post the last line, phrase, or passage that you wrote. Tag people as you please to continue the trend!

Across the Veil: Faerest One (Book 2) Chapter 1: Home again

Port Edwards. A lovely little city on the edge of the Lake Ontario. The fresh air, clear skies, and rolling waves. Moira had spent many a summer there during her childhood. Once she was old enough, she basically found herself living there with her aunt and learning what it meant to be a psychic Fae, or Faerest as Magicals tended to call them.

Usually Moira would have been absolutely thrilled just to be home again, maybe even catch up on some relaxation and visit Lafayette at his bar. This return trip felt… different though. Moira knew that Osriel, a figure that was meant to be a secondary mentor for her, would be less than amused at the fact that she was bringing home a Demon. Not just any Demon though… A Demon that he himself had dealt with in the past. Moira knew very little about their background, but it was clear that Osriel hated the Demon Menticordon with an inhuman passion. Whenever she tried to ask about Demons, Osriel immediately shut down the conversation, much to Moira’s frustration.

She took a deep breath and looked out the window of the taxi she was in. She would deal with Osriel when it came time. There was something else bugging Moira though, a pull in the back of her mind and a chill in her gut. She couldn’t place it, but something felt wrong. She looked up at Menticordon, still masquerading as a Human himself, and found him watching her from the corner of his eye.

The two had made a pact back in Ottawa which enabled Moira to use his power to bolster her own and stop a gathering of Hunters before they could unleash hell on the Magicals in the Ottawa and Gatineau region. An unfortunate side effect of the bond was that they were now telepathically connected. It was not something Moira had anticipated, but Menticordon hadn’t taken advantage of it yet so that put her at ease. Also, he helped her stop the Hunters. As far as she knew, he had no real reason to help her if he didn’t want to… So surely she could let her guard down around him. Right?

“Edgy?” Menticordon asked simply, cheek resting against his knuckles as he leaned against the taxi door.

“Just tense.” Moira said, rubbing her eyes with the tips of her fingers. She had a slight headache and the tension was not making it any better.

“Let me know if you need me to take the reigns for a bit.” he offered softly and simply.

Exhausted, Moira simply hummed a response.

Menticordon watched her for another moment before looking out his own window.

***

The taxi stopped outside of Moira’s Aunt’s house. Moira paid the driver before stepping out onto the neatly trimmed lawn and taking a deep breath. She missed the crisp air and view of Lake Ontario. She allowed herself a few moments to just take in the peace and tranquility when she heard Menticordon, or rather sensed him, counting back from five in his mind.

The moment he hit zero the door of Aunt Catherine’s house swung open revealing a stoic older man with a quiet fury in his eyes. Osriel did not take his eyes off Menticordon as he spoke, “Moira. We need to talk.”

The pair started to approach the house but Osriel pointed a stiff finger at the Demon, “You will stay out here.”

Menticordon simply shrugged, plopping himself down on the steps while Moira went inside.

The moment the door shut, Osriel directed his full attention to Moira. His voice was firm and direct, as if he was going through a mental checklist of his own, “Are you okay?”

“I am fine. I’m just really tired from the Ottawa mission.” she replied, walking into his office and taking a seat in the chair in front of his desk. She nodded at the worn out, blue fabric couch on the far wall of the office. It looked like it came from, and probably was from, the early Victorian era. It was stained with blood and other fluids from Osriel’s past clients. She always joked about how if she looked at it too long it would give her the plague. In an attempt to break the tension she quipped, “Still have that old thing?”

Osriel gave her a sharp look, “It’s a fine couch. Now let’s stay focused.” He took a seat, pulling out his pipe and lighting it. He took a few puffs before nodding at Moira, “Why is the Demon here?”

“You got my voicemails, yes?” Moira asked.

“Yes.” was Osriel’s response. His voice trailed off as if he knew what she was going to say next.

“I needed help to stop the Hunters-” Moira began.

“And you made a deal with it.” Osriel stated. He sounded more disappointed than angry. Somehow that hurt more.

Moira frowned as her body tensed up, “I did what I had to to protect the Magicals.” Her voice was firm as she tried to maintain her composure, “I tried to contact you, but I couldn’t get a hold of you. Osriel, if I didn’t act when I did, then those Hunters would have been leading an attack on the Ottawa area as we speak.”

“I saw the news.” he said simply, taking another puff from his pipe.

“We both did.” a second voice said.

The pair looked up as Moira’s Aunt entered the room. Catherine had trained Moira to be a strong and tempered Faerest, and it was thanks to her that Moira was able to find work with the local Centaur Court.

Catherine gave her niece a hug before pulling up a chair to join them. “Those were all Hunter leaders from my understanding. That was brave of you to go after them.” she said softly, “I didn’t think you had the power to take them all on, and then Osriel told me… about the Demon.”

Osriel leaned forward in his seat, his voice a small bit more restrained, “I need you to tell me exactly what deal you made with it.”

“We agreed to share powers until I stopped the Hunters. I would not abuse his power and he would not break my faith in him.” Moira explained, “I stopped the Hunters… but now we seem to have this… mental bond.”

“What?” Osriel just about roared, his halo flaring to life and small tendrils of lightning sparking from his hands and into the desk making the wood pop and crack.

“Osriel! Calm down!” Catherine began.

“She imprinted with a Demon!” he said loudly before focusing on Moira, “How far does this go?”

“Just reading each others’ thoughts, but we can block each other out too.” Moira said quickly.

Osriel’s body was tense as he slumped back into his seat, head resting in his hands.

“Moira…” Catherine spoke up after a few seconds, “That is really dangerous… And how will the Court react?”

“Auntie, I had no other option. It was that, or let the Hunters do as they pleased. I needed to stop them and find out about the Dragon they have on their side-!” Moira started to explain when Catherine cut in.

“Wait. Dragon?” Catherine looked at Osriel. This just kept getting worse. She looked back at Moira, “Are you certain?”

“I had an Elf scry one of their emblems and I even saw it within the Hunters’ minds. There’s a Dragon somewhere on the western coast that is giving the Hunters tools made from its own body to kill Magicals. One of them used the weapon on Menti’s host and banished him for a bit.”

Catherine paled. This was really bad. She got up and excused herself to go and call the Court she had worked for in Toronto. She told Moira to go and see the Centaur Court as soon as she was done with Osriel.

Osriel simply sat in his chair, eyes wide with surprise. Dragons were not supposed to be in the Human world… But there was one. And it was working with the Hunters? He looked at Moira and sighed. Things just kept getting worse. He had known her since she was a infant, so he could easily pick up on her tells. The slight furrow in her brow despite the sternness in her eyes. She stood by her actions, but she was scared.

He emptied the tobacco leaves from his pipe into a metal tin on his desk and stood up. “Moira.” he said simply.

“Yes?”

There was a pause as Osriel searched for some appropriate words. Finally he spoke up, “I understand why you worked with the Demon.” The words were truer and deeper than he knew Moira would have known them to be. “I do not fault you for doing what you believe was right.” he continued, “But I do worry about how the Court will react.”

Moira nodded slightly. Eyes watching the cracks in the wood of Osriel’s desk. “Same.” her voice was quiet, barely more than a whisper.

He nodded at the door, “You need to inform the Queen and her Court. I will go with you.”

Moira nodded again as she stood up. He was right. She needed to inform Queen Alistar and the others as soon as possible.

If you like this, please feel free to check out Across the Veil: Open Eyes (Book 1) on my archive of our own page!

I tag: Anyone who comes across this and would like to take part!