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burkymakar · 5 years ago

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Nathan MacKinnon Imagine: Striped Heart (Part 2)

Summary: You and Nate deal with the repercussions of a relationship as a referee and a player.

Part One

Word Count: ~9k

BLM Resources

NOTE: after the Coyotes series, this will no longer follow a close line of the 2019-2020 season so everything after Round 1 Game 5 will be AU.

Rating: T (for violence)

(August)

Nate MacKinnon heard about it from Landeskog first.

“Did you hear that the NHL hired the first female referee since the 90s?”

They were working out in the Pepsi Center, gearing up for the new season. He preferred to work out in silence, blaring his playlists, but Gabe Landeskog liked to chat. Said it helped him with his breathing and distracting from the workout.

At the mention, it hadn’t occurred to Nate in almost seven seasons of playing in the NHL that there were no referees that were women. Maybe he should have.

“Interesting,” he told his captain as he spotted him.

But that was all he said. He had a season to focus on, and he didn’t have time to worry about a referee.

(November)

But that referee was often the talk of the hockey world. He’d even met her a few times during games, but never really outside of it.

In an interview after a game in Toronto, one of the outlets asked him, “How do you feel about Y/N Y/L/N? What’s it like having a woman referee out there during games? It’s gotta feel a bit weird.”

Something about the question irked him, so he spoke in your defense, “Y/L/N does a good job, and she explains her calls. I’m glad to have her on the ice.”

And it was true. He saw you out there talking with players after calls, and joking during faceoffs without losing your professionalism. Some of the referees were such mixed bags, but you kept it consistent. As a player, he appreciated it.

But he didn’t show that appreciation the next time you met.

In fact, he was an asshole.

After such an amazing start to the season, November felt like a kick in the balls without a cup. Landeskog was out, Rantanen was out, Zadorov took a puck to the jaw, Calvert took a puck to the head and the bad calls cost them a goal. All in the past two weeks.

Sometimes, there was a rage inside him. Thanks to his therapist, he was able to channel it usually into his speed and puck-handling, but sometimes it exploded out of him.

When you made an offsides call since as he skated across the line, he called you a bitch.

Later, on the bench, he had a moment to review the footage. He was offsides.

Shit, he was a dick.

He couldn’t recall the last time he apologized to a referee, but he found you after the game, and said he was out of line.

He wanted to give an excuse about how much stress he was under, but he figured that wasn’t fair to you. Regardless of his stress, he shouldn’t have said it.

And you called him out. Instead of feeling enraged by it, he took it, because he knew he deserved it.

The relief was palpable when you forgave him, but he felt a twinge when you said, “improve.” He always tried to, and he was going to do it.

Afterwards, he talked to Landeskog and Erik Johnson about it, “I think I fucked up.”

Landy slid a look his way while Erik was too busy eating his burger. It had been a while since just the three of them had hung out, and the new dad apparently needed a night out. Since he was a dad with a wife and stuff, the night out was a casual evening out at a Good Times burger place eating outside just after dark.

“What happened?”

“My unsportsmanlike,” he said.

“Yeah, what’d you say anyway?” Johnson said, eating his french fries. Nate resisted the urge to berate him again for not getting a salad or sweet potato fries. Too late now.

“I called her a bitch.”

The two other leaders of the Avalanche stared at him. Only Bednar had heard what he said, and that was from you. Erik was on the bench, and Landeskog wasn’t back from his injury yet.

“Dumb move,” EJ said, mouth full. No anger, just matter of fact.

“Nate, what the fuck?” Gabe said. He wasn’t angry either, just disappointed. And he felt the same thing as when he did when his parents were disappointed.

Nate winced and braced himself for an onslaught of disappointment.

“That’s not how you challenge a call.” The captain sighed.

“I know, I’m sorry-”

“It’s not me you should apologize to, it’s Y/N,” he said. “She’s not a bitch, Nate. She listens, she calls cross-checks, and she sent Linnea a baby blanket-”

“Fuck, I know.” He sighed. “And I did apologize to her, right after the game.”

“What if she tells the media?” Gabe asked. “It might get to the Canadian markets, then you’re really fucked.”

“Then I’d deserve it, I shouldn’t have called her that.”

“We don’t need that kinda press now, Nate,” EJ said.

Fuck, he’s right. It wouldn’t just be his name, it’d be the team’s. He let that slip, and now he had to suffer the repercussions.

“I’ll make sure to handle it if it comes out,” Nate said. “I’ll talk to Bedsy and everyone.”

“Cool,” Gabe said, finally seeming calm. “Want to see baby pictures?”

Nate had seen four dozen over the past three weeks, but he said “yes” anyway. She was an adorable baby.

(December)

Nate waited for the news to break, Avalanche Center Calls Female Referee A Bitch. But nothing ever got posted.

Why hadn’t you told anyone?

He saw you on the ice a couple times after, and he kept it civil, and stayed impressed with your calls when he was able to reflect on it.

He focused on his game, but found when he was on the bench, his eyes drifted to you. You had intensity, and when he heard bullshit around the League about you, he never saw it affect you. Your strength impressed him. Plus, you were beautiful. Your smile, your eyes, your curves and lines. He knew it was bad when he noticed the way your lips wrapped around your referee whistle.

But he had to focus on his team.

There wasn’t harm in looking, though.

Or so Nate thought. But his teammates just had to chirp him.

Erik Johnson, for being an idiot horse girl who drank too many White Claws for a man in his 30s, was perceptive as hell.

Nate studied you as you talked with another referee. You looked utterly comfortable on skates, and he liked the way you laughed with your whole body. Your nose had a bandage on it, but it added something to your face, even though it had to hurt. Broken noses weren’t fun.

“You gonna stare at her all warmies?” EJ asked, doing some weird stretch for his knee.

“Who?” He lied.

The other alternate captain scoffed. “Bullshit. I’ve seen you. Why don’t you just ask her out?”

“Nope,” Nate said, ignoring the fact he’d been successfully called out.

“Talk to her at least.”

“Shut up.”

“If you won’t, I will,” he said.

“Will you just fuck off?”

That never worked with Erik, though, so Erik skated up to her, and Nate had no one to blame but himself.

“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” He called, mocking her for her broken nose.

They both watched the Vegas/Habs scrum, it was an accident but it wasn’t your fault. It sucked to make fun of you for that.

“Don’t be a dick, Eej,” he said. Chirping him was fine, but chirping you seemed wrong.

But you were laughing, able to take it.

“It’s fine,” You said. At least it wasn’t a football, huh?”

“No, just a 220-pound forward,” EJ said. “You’re kind of a badass.”

“We knew that already,” Nate said without thinking, and swallowed tightly.

“Thanks, guys, but I’m not going to help you out.” You said, tapping your whistle.

“C’mon, get me a penalty shot,” Erik playfully whined. Sammy G skated around the three of you, practicing his tornade-spin.

“Who needs that when you have him on a breakaway?” You gestured your head his way, and Nate bit back a smile. He knew he was pretty fast, but you acknowledging it was awesome in an entirely different way.

He said his condolences about your nose after your compliment, but it wasn’t until you skated back to the refs that EJ said, “Wow, you’re hopeless.”

Nate couldn’t disagree.

(January)

Nate MacKinnon had mixed feelings about the All Star Game. There was a part of him that loved the competitive aspects, but mostly he’d rather just be playing the game than like skating around a rink with no players hounding him. It was fun and all, but he played hockey not dick around.

Plus, he didn’t really like getting too chummy with players. Sometimes, it was hard enough being friends with Sidney Crosby outside the games, because playing him was pretty tough. He didn’t want to go too far in his competitive edge. With Sid, it was easy, the friendship turned off on the ice and turned back on after the final buzzer. It was a lot harder with other players.

But he heard you were going to be there, and saying no felt like a bad idea.

He was in the middle of an interview with BarDown when he finally noticed you, in a beautiful dress that hugged you nicely. He had never seen you dolled up before, and it was an interesting change from the stripes and slacks of the referee outfits.

Luca called you over, and you two bantered a bit, but he couldn’t help but notice how cold you looked in just the dress and a thin shawl. The urge to offer his jacket overtook him, but he held it back.

But he couldn’t hold it back any longer once everyone was walking back to the hotel.

“Here,” Nate said, shrugging out of his coat.

“I’m fine,” You said.

“Seriously, I don’t mind and you look a bit cold,” he insisted. Was it too far? You just looked so cold.

You scrunched your nose but took the outstretched jacket, slipping it on. It was a bit big on you, but you finally stopped shivering.

“Thank you,” You said, and finally dropped your arms from holding your torso to hang at your sides. He had to resist the urge to reach over and hold your hand.

Back at the hotel after dinner, the mini-sticks game was getting intense, and he may have been taking it too seriously as he accidentally slashed Mat Barzal at the thigh.

Like a football player, Mat fell to the hotel carpet in agony, holding his leg like he’d gotten a charley horse and all the drunk players around you three laughed.

“Do we have to create a penalty box out of pillows for you two?” You asked, hands on your hips.

“Me?” Barzal looked up indignantly as Nate looked down sheepishly.

“Embellishment,” You winked, and everyone laughed. They did end up getting sent to the Sin Bin (the bathroom) but only for 30 seconds.

The game quickly dissolved into a mini-sticks duel, and it lasted until 2 in the morning. Since it was happening in Seguin’s room on the tenth floor, both you and Nate had to leave to go to your own rooms.

“Where are you staying?” He asked as you two walked.

“I’m on the sixth floor.”

“Oh, I’m on the fifth, I’ll walk you.”

“Thanks.”

“Was that your first All-Star game?” He asked as you reached the elevators.

“Yep, both being involved and really spectating. I usually just watched the highlights.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of filler” That was one of his problems with it, it just lasted a while without the joy of a team victory.

“It looks fun though.”

He considered this, “Normally I just like playing the sport, but I like having fun with the pieces of it, you know?”

“You ever gonna do hardest shot?” You raised an eyebrow.

He snorted, “No, I’ll leave that to Weber.”

“Maybe next year,” You said as you arrived at her room. The two of you paused there, and he debated the ramifications of inviting himself in. He wasn’t that drunk, mostly buzzed, and you hadn’t been drinking a lot either.

“Oh, right, your jacket,” You quickly pulled it off, and handed it to him.

Part of him was sad you remembered, because the idea of you continuing to wear his jacket was oddly pleasing to him.

“Thanks,” he said, and tugged it on even though he was just going down one floor to his room. It smelled sweet like you, and that was a good consolation prize.

For a moment, the two of you just stared at each other.

If you gave any indication that you wanted him to stay, he’d offer to.

You bit your lip and said, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

And he went back to his hotel room alone.

Nate stepped into the Avalanche locker room after Bye Week. He expected the chirps about missing Fastest Skater, and for some of his coaching decisions, but the focus was not on those.

“You really should be nicer to refs,” EJ said, using one of the team iPads to show a screenshot of his interview with BarDown. It was frozen on a picture of you and Nate, smiling at each other. A warmth unfurled in his stomach, but he ignored it.

“Those are for game footage,” he berated, but EJ wasn’t one to be tamped down by rules.

“I know one ref he wants to be nice to,” Burky waggled his eyebrows, so Nate threw a glove at the left winger.

“Didn’t you fuckers have anything better to do than stalk me?”

“No,” they all answered.

“She looks really nice in that not ref outfit,” Mikko Rantanen said, leaning over to get a better look. “Forgot she wear real clothes.”

“Leave her alone,” Nate ordered. But to his surprise, it came out like a lash of a whip.

Anyone who was paying attention gave him a surprised stare.

“Just saying,” Mikko said as he pulled on his protective gear.

Landy gave Nate a look, one that basically asked you okay? What the fuck?

He ignored it and got ready for practice.

(March)

Nate hated being injured, especially with so many key guys out of the lineup. The team needed him.

He talked to their trainer before the Rangers game and nearly begged, “Is there anything we can do to keep me from missing more games?”

The answer ended up being a global pandemic, pausing the entire NHL season indefinitely.

Fuck.

After doing what he could to support people, Nate focused on the positives. He went back home, he worked on rehabbing his injury, and he played a fuck ton of Fortnite.

Nieto usually played with him, and if not him, then JT was down. Josty liked to hide in the bushes, but he still played with him once in a while.

But when he wasn’t working out or playing Fortnite, he wasn’t doing much.

“Are you talking to anyone?” Gabe asked him during one of their FaceTime calls. They tried to chat just one-on-one once a week, but it usually ended up being twice.

“Yes.”

“Teammates don’t count.”

He went to argue that, but Landy spoke again.

“No Fortnite either.”

He clamped his mouth shut.

“You’re pathetic, man.” He shook his head, then turned away to coo, “Isn’t he? Isn’t he, Linnea?”

“At least I’m not talking to a baby.”

“The baby’s smarter than you,” His captain said with pride, using the camera feature to show off Linnea playing next to him. She threw a stuffed Bernie toy at the wall.

“Good arm.”

“You gotta keep sane, Dogg,” he forced the conversation back on track, since they both knew conversations devolved once Gabe fell into the dad-trap of bragging about his baby. “If you become a recluse, we won’t be able to pull you from your headset once we can get back on the ice.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“No you won’t. I’m gonna give you Y/N’s number.”

Nate’s eyes went wide, “Gabe-”

“C’mon, you know you like her. Plus, she’s really funny. Give it a shot or you’ll go crazy.”

“I’m not going to ask her out.”

Gabe held up a hand as if to placate, but he could see the devilish, matchmaking glint in his eyes. “Woah, I didn’t say anything about that. I just said you two can talk. But if you wanted to ask her out-”

“I’ll talk to her if it will shut you up.”

Landy grinned, and sent over the contact info.

He wasn’t going to text you, fuck his deal to Gabe, but he was bored. And curious as to what you were doing. So he gathered his courage and texted you.

(July)

In between strength training, exercise and Fortnite, Nate MacKinnon always tried to find time to talk to you. When the world seemed grey and hockey seemed like it was only going to get farther away, you cheered him up.

The little crush that he seemed to develop during the All Star game grew, and texting you became less of a distraction and more of a necessity. Landy was right, you were funny and great to talk to.

When he found out you were going to the Bubble, a weird mix of dread and excitement twisting inside him.

The idea of seeing you warmed his heart, but he also couldn’t handle distractions. The Avs had a chance for a Cup Run, even with all the terrible bullshit happening in the world. He couldn’t lose that chance.

But when he heard you were going to be in the Western Conference Bubble, he couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

Even if he did get chirped by his teammates.

Even Cale.

They were talking about what to wear in the Bubble, and the rookie was nervous about the lack of dress code.

“Should I still bring a suit?” Cale said over FaceTime, lips twisted in worry.

“You need to calm down, I promise it’s not that serious,” Nate reassured him, packing his own t-shirts and golf polos.

“Is that what you’re packing?” He studied the expanse of clothes, unimpressed.

“Yeah, why?

“You should bring some other stuff. At least one nice thing, what if Y/N sees you?”

“Jesus, not you too,” Nate sighed.

Cale smiled sheepishly, “Sorry, Nate. We just all root for you, you know?”

“Don’t make this sweet, you just want me to suffer.”

“Dating a girl you like would make you suffer?” He cocked his head, but there was a glint in his eyes that made it known he had the upper hand in the conversation. They were truly corrupting him.

“I’ll hang up and leave you to the clothes alone-” He threatened.

“Wait, wait, I’ll stop,” Cale quickly said. “I just think you should wear that flannel shirt-”

“Cale!”

And the rookie laughed until Nate made good on his threat and hung up the FaceTime.

But he packed the flannel.

(August)

Nate MacKinnon loved the feel of you in his arms. Even the times the two of you were in the same space, there was distance. But now, you were warm and solid against him.

It felt like a dam bursting, finally being allowed to touch you.

You were flush against him, and your lips were soft and you tasted amazing.

He needed leverage and moved backwards to fall against his bed, taking you with him. You whimpered, and pulled away.

“Shit, I’m sorry, my shoulder,” You winced, and he helped you sit up before grabbing the ice pack that had fallen to the floor.

“Here.” Gently, he situated it to your shoulder, held underneath the fabric of the sling. “How’s that?”

“Much better,” You said, then looked him in the eye. “So... we just kissed.”

He didn’t know the right words to say so he went with what came to mind, “We did.”

“Should I apologize?”

“Should I?”

“Jesus, Nate,” You laughed a little. “What’s going on here?”

Honesty was always good. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a while, but you did it first.”

“Sorry-”

“Don’t apologize,” he said, sitting next to you. “Seriously, I really had.”

“Really? For how long?”

“I dunno... The All-Star Game?” That was when he noticed. And when his teammates did. So it must have been fairly obvious.

Your eyes brightened, “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too,” You said. There was that warmth again, exploding like fireworks in his sternum. “But I was worried about the implications.”

“Implications?” He wasn’t thinking about anything while kissing you, other than the way you felt.

“My job, your job, the media,” You listed.

At “media,” he felt like he’d just taken an ice bath. “Shit, you’re right.”

You rested your head against his shoulder. “We’ve barely even kissed and we already have so much drama.”

“You call that a ‘barely’ kiss?” He couldn’t help but feel a little offended.

You pulled back to smirk a little and leaned over. He met you in the middle, and the kiss definitely wasn’t barely there.

He cupped the back of your neck as the kiss deepened, and your good hand fisted his shirt again to keep him close. He wondered absently if you could feel his heartbeat through his chest.

Before he knew it, you pulled away again, and your lips were slightly swollen. He liked the look on you.

“If we were to do this,” You said, each word like it was worth its weight in gold. He looked you in your eyes. “We’d have to start a lot more seriously than you might have intended.”

“I’ve been serious about you for a while,” he said, brushing your hair out of your face. “But whatever you want.”

“Being serious is fine with me,” You said, a smile tugging at your lips. “But I probably should tell the other refs that I’m dating a hockey player.”

“I like the sound of that,” he said, and let himself bask in the knowledge that you were dating before the real world came crashing down. “Are you going to tell them it’s me? Because, the press would have a field day.”

You nodded in agreement. “I’m going to see if I can avoid that, just to keep your name out of it,” You said. It was nice you remembered all the conversations you’d had about your mutual disdain for the press. “I’ll just say it’s a player currently in the Bubble, and if they press, I’ll say the Avs. Hopefully people won’t put two and two together.”

“Just because we won’t tell people doesn’t mean I think you’re a dirty secret,” he said, because he thought it was important to note. “But... we both know how bad the press can be. I want to spare you that as much as possible. Especially since most of the bullshit is gonna be at you.”

“You seem worth it,” You said, licking your lips again, and he was the one to lean over first, and kiss you.

He could get used to this.

Nate MacKinnon was putting on the finishing touches in his room when he heard two sad knocks. He didn’t even know knocks could be sad.

He opened the door to you, wearing a nice professional outfit, and you looked dejected. Not like you had been crying, just drained.

“How’d it go?” He asked, even though he was afraid to. You simply rested your forehead against his chest, and he gently wrapped his arm around you, careful of your shoulder.

It was the day of Game 5 against the Arizona Coyotes, and it was also the day you talked to the other referees and the NHL about the fact you were dating an NHL player.

Since he knew the day was going to a lot for the both of you, he told the boys he’d join them later for the celebrations, and went right to his hotel room to set up a surprise.

The boys were surprised (except Landeskog, who always seemed to know what was going on) but they accepted it. Besides, the actual celly was gonna be done at night on their deck anyway, involving way too much champagne. Most of the guys wanted to call their significant others and their kids anyway before it got too late.

So he had several hours alone with you.

“It could have been worse,” You said, finally looking up at him. You took a deep breath. “They don’t know it’s you, but they do know it’s a player on the Avs. Once I’m healthy, I’m not allowed to ref anymore Avalanche games.”

“Really?” He exhaled sharply. “That fucking sucks. Can they do that?”

You twisted your lips in thought, “I’m not sure? Seems like. This is all pretty unprecedented. Not to mention the fact it’s 2020.”

He chuckled before he sobered up, “Yeah. I’m sorry, this isn’t fair to you. No one’s gonna make me stop playing hockey.”

You went to take off your jacket, but struggled with your shoulder, so he helped ease you out of it. “Honestly, I was bracing myself for the fact I’d never get to ref in the NHL again. This is probably one of the best case scenarios.”

“I wouldn’t have let that happen,” he said resolutely. “I would have gotten somebody to do a media campaign, someone who knows social media. You have fans, Y/N, the NHL would have been dumb to let you go completely.”

“You’re ridiculous,” You said, but you smiled as you said it. “Wanna grab food from a food truck? They have a couple new ones today.”

“I actually took care of it,” he said, and guided you further into his room.

On his little desk, he’d set up a candlelit dinner from one of the nicer restaurants, along with some wine you’d mentioned liking.

“You had a game today, and you still did this.” You looked around the room in awe before locking eyes. “You did this for me?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, I mean, it was just room service. Is that alright?”

You beamed and jumped at him, hooking your good arm around his neck and pulling him into a passionate kiss.

The two of you enjoyed the food, and splitting a chocolate lava cake. He only had a couple bites, but he was more content to let you eat it anyway.

“Oh shit!” You said. “I completely forgot, tell me about the game. I saw you got two goals?”

“You watched it?”

“I may have gotten NHL alerts,” You admitted. He leaned over and kissed you gently, because he could do that now.

“Thanks.”

“Congrats on the two goals,” You said, and gently pulled him out of the chair. “Let’s celebrate,” You whispered against his lips as he let you push him down to the bed.

Later, after some amazing sex that had been building off of almost a year of sexual tension, the two of you laid in Nate’s bed, with you icing your shoulder.

“So...” He said. “Wanna come with me to the celebration tonight?”

“With the team?” You asked. “I thought we were maybe going to keep it a secret.”

“You could just be cellying with us,” he said, even though it sounded half-hearted. The team was going to figure it out. But he went for broke, “I’d really like to have you there with me.”

You smiled softly, and said “Okay.”

Together, you and Nate stepped onto the sun deck, decorated with half-assed lamps pulled from players’ rooms. Luckily, there was a ton of celebratory booze and the music was already playing.

“Nate Dogg!” The group chorused, since the party had seemed to just to be started. People handed him alcohol, and basked in the joy of the 7-1 win when people finally noticed Y/N.

Luckily, he already thought of a good excuse for you to be there. “Hey guys, you remember Y/N, right?” You waved with your good hand. “I figured she could use a cheer up after her injury,” he added.

“Awesome. Welcome, Y/L/N,” Landeskog greeted, but his eyes cut to Nate’s, which the center readily ignored.

“More the merrier!” EJ said, already a bit sloshed. “You can dance with one arm, right?”

“Let’s find out,” You said, game, and followed the 6’4 defensemen to the makeshift dance floor as the music was some terrible dance-trap nonsense that Zadorov loved.

Nate watched with a smile as the two danced. They were the only two, besides Josty and Zadorov who could never stop moving, dancing. Most people were standing around talking or drinking or playing cornole.

“Already lost your date?” Gabe said

“She’s not my date,” Nate was quick to say.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” he said with no heat. “Did you guys finally work your shit out?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said through grit teeth.

Landy laughed, “Fine, don’t tell me. But if you do, I get fifty bucks from Mel.” “You bet on me?”

“I bet that you and Y/N would finally hook up during the Bubble,” he said. “She thought you’d be smart and wait until after. So are you smart?”

Nate refused to dignify that with an answer, so his captain just threw his head back and laughed, “Congratulations, man.”

Fuck, he was going to have to do a better job at hiding it. But Gabe was perceptive as hell, so it would be fine.

EJ acknowledged it next, spinning you back Nate’s way. “Here’s your date back.”

“I’m not-” “She’s not-”

But it fell on deaf ears.

Then Burky took notice when you tried to play cornhole against Sammy G, who played it with the same intensity he played hockey.

“You look all smiley, like when you finally get laid,” the brunet Swede said. “Did you sleep with the Lady Referee?”

“She has a name.”

“That’s not a no,” he crooned, dodging Nate’s kick with a laugh.

But it was probably the worst when Zadorov mentioned it.

“Your girlfriend fun,” he said. “Bring her to cellys more often.”

And Nate didn’t have it in him to fight anymore.

“Will do.”

With the cat basically out of the bag, he enjoyed dancing on you a little, and even rested his hand on your hip in front of people. At first, you tensed and he was going to pull away, then you sidled up next to him closer.

It was only one in the morning, but you kept wincing every time you moved, so Nate decided it was time to call it, at least for you two.

After saying goodbyes, Nate guided you both to the elevator. Giggly and tipsy, Nate pulled you in close as you slid down floors. “I should let you go back to your room, but I want you to stay with me.”

“I want me to stay with you too,” You said.

The elevator dinged at the unplanned stop at a floor, and the two of you didn’t pull away fast enough when you saw Jamie Benn, in a Stars playoff sweatshirt and basketball shorts, standing at the opening doors.

He raised his eyebrows, but said nothing as he stepped in and turned his back after pressing the floor for the indoor pool.

You sent a worried look Nate’s way, but he didn’t know what to say. Benn was gone before he could think of something.

Once the doors closed, you put your good hand to your face, “Oh god, fuck, Nate, I think he saw something.”

“It’ll be okay.” He pulled you close. “I don’t think he’ll say anything.”

You shakily exhaled, and you two went back to his room and just cuddled, trying to reassure the other.

Nate MacKinnon waited for some sleazy website to post about you and him, but it didn’t happen. It almost shook him up, but he had to put it out of his mind, since it was Game 1 against the Stars for Round 2.

The first period went the Stars’ way with two goals, but the second went the Avs’ with two right back. By the third, they were tied 2-2.

That last period was vicious, with both goalies playing like brick walls, and the top lines throwing everything. Neither team wanted to play into OT, especially after seeing those Blue Jackets/Lightning games. Especially not for the first of the series.

But one of them had to score.

“That wasn’t icing,” Nate tried to argue with a ref, trying to get it back in the Stars’ zone.

“Your referee slut isn’t here to throw the game your way,” Benn mocked, skating by.

Seeing red, Nate cross-checked him in the chest, but Benn was, of course, ready for it, gloves dropped and socked him in the face.

Nate wasn’t a huge fighter, but he had pure rage on his side. It took more punches than it did Fischer, but he was able to knock Benn to the ice, even if he might have broken his nose.

They both got five for fighting, and the Stars fucking scored during the 4-on-4, and it was their GWG.

After the game and the bullshit postgame interviews, Bednar liked to break everything down, and acknowledge what worked and what didn’t before they attacked the problems in the next practice. The depth wasn’t there, EJ and Grubauer got hurt, and Nate got into a fucking fight that ended up being a dumb penalty.

“I want to speak to MacKinnon alone,” Bedsy said, and everyone cleared the room except for him and the coach.

“You don’t normally do that,” Coach said, sitting across from him.

Nate’s nose pulsed with pain, “No, I don’t.”

“Are you going to tell me why?”

“Does it matter?”

“For you? I think it does.”

Nate sighed and swiped his hand down his face, careful to avoid his bandaged nose. “Benn mentioned Y/N Y/L/N. He said some shit-”

“About the ref?”

He nodded, letting himself be interrupted.

“And why did that bother you?”

He debated against telling the truth, but he wouldn’t lie to his coach. “We just started seeing each other,” he admitted.

Bednar blew out a surprised breath. Not much shocked that man, but Nate felt like he accomplished it.

“Is she going to be a distraction?”

“No. And it wasn’t her fault I got in the fight, it was mine. And Benn’s.”

“Then I’m happy for you,” his coach said. “But I would have been happy for you anyway.”

Nate bit back a smile, this was technically an admonishment, even with the praise mixed in.

“But this is a one and done thing. I won’t have our best player taking dumb penalties and getting into fights. We need you leading out there, Mack. Not sitting in the box.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Learn from this, Nate.”

Nate nodded again, and went back to his hotel room and showered, rinsing the game off his skin. His phone was all abuzz, so he texted his family to reassure them that he was not turning into a goon.

Then he saw the texts from you.

You: NATE

You: WHAT THE FUCK

You: we need to talk, when can I come by ur room?

He winced at the “we need to talk” and quickly answered you.

Nate: Yeah come up. U ok?

You didn’t respond, not over text, until he heard your knock at the door.

He opened it to see you, and you looked frazzled.

“Nate, what the fuck was that?” You weren’t furious, just stunned and soft. That was almost worse, like he’d shocked you to your core.

He didn’t know how to answer that. “What was what?”

“That fight with #14! You dropped the gloves, that’s the second time in two series. And Sutherland said it had something to do with me, what is happening?”

Nate gently sat you down on his bed, because he didn’t like how fired up you were getting.

“Yeah, it had to do with you. Benn said something and... fuck, I didn’t want to hear it.”

“What did he say?”

“Um...”

“Nate. Tell me. Please.”

“He said my referee slut wasn’t there to throw the game for me.” He hated saying it as much as he hated hearing it. Even though he knew Benn was just saying it to rile him.

But he hated you hearing it more.

Your breath left you in a rush, and you looked down, despondent. “Oh.”

“It was bullshit, Y/N.” He squeezed your thigh gently, as your clasped hands sat there. He wanted so badly to hold your hand and reassure you. But you seemed so close off. “I couldn’t let him-”

“Nate, you shouldn’t have done that,” You finally looked at him. “Jesus.”

“I was just protecting-”

“I don’t need protecting.” There was no fire in your voice, just disappointment. And again, that was worse. “If I’m causing you to behave like this, maybe- Maybe we need to take a break.”

He felt that like a punch in the chest.

“This was all too intense, too sudden,” You said, and tears started welling in your eyes. “I can’t be the reason you’re fighting, I won’t do that.”

“It’s not your fault.” He tugged you close, heart breaking at the thought of losing after finally having you. “My fault wasn’t your fault at all, Y/N, I promise. It was me being dumb. But I’ve talked to my team and Bednar, I won’t let my anger get the best of me.”

“Even if someone says something worse?” You stared at him right in the eyes, forcing an unbreakable bond between you two. “People have said some awful shit. I haven’t even told you what Lemieux or Leipsic said.”

That made something twist in his gut. “I promise,” he said, and meant it. “I don’t- I don’t want to lose you.”

With a whisper, you said, “You have me.”

And he kissed you, careful not to bump too hard against his nose.

“I want us to work, Y/N.” He cupped your face gently, and wiped at the tear tracks that slowly fell. “No more dumb penalties, no more dumb fights.”

“Promise, Lady Byng?” You asked, a smile finally gracing your face.

He rolled his eyes playfully and kissed you slow as a promise.

For the next week, things were good. Your shoulder was steadily improving thanks to rest and steroid shots. The Avs were on the upswing, and Nate wasn’t taking anymore dumb penalties. Benn and the other Stars tried throwing bullshit whenever they could, but he was smarter. He and Kadri both had to be smarter, and it helped set the example for the rest of their team.

If he had free time, you two spent it together. You inspired him to take some mental health time, even if it was just lazying around in bed, slowly making love to each other. And it really improved his game.

After beating Dallas, the Avs had two days before the series between Vegas and Vancouver was decided, so Nate decided to visit you at the refs/personnel hotel.

“I was expecting some dingey hotel,” he said as he walked with you down the hallway to your room. But it was actually really nice.

“Why?” You asked, opening your hotel door. There was something off about you. You seemed listless and grey.

“Because you spend so much time at the JW.”

“Because you’re there, you idiot.” You wrapped both arms around his neck and pulled him close as the door slammed shut.

He melted into the kiss with you, loving the way you molded against him. Then he leaned back with an excited grin, “Wait, where’s your sling?”

Your smile was half its normal brightness. “I’m cleared to go back to work.”

“That’s amazing!” He picked you up and spun you around.

But you didn’t seem nearly as excited.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just found out today,” You began. “Since I’m cleared to go back to work, they want me going to the Toronto Bubble. They have a special flight all set up two days from now.”

“Shit,” he said, then tried to perk up a little for you. “We’ll just have to get back to FaceTiming again.”

“I feel like we finally figured our shit out, and we’re separated again,” You sighed.

“We’re just social distancing,” he said, and you finally laughed. “We’ll figure it out. All my teammates are talking with their girlfriends and families through FaceTime, we’ll be fine.” And he believed that. You’d only been officially together for a week or so, but it felt strong enough to weather anything.

You finally smiled, for real. “You’re right.”

“How’s your arm feeling?”

“Feels good,” You tested it by moving it. “Let’s see how good it is.”

Later, in bed naked with only the sheets to cover you both, he said, “You know, a lot of relationships are long-distance right now. We’ll fit right in.”

“You’re right,” You said. “We already were good at FaceTiming each other most days.”

“Now we just need to master the art of the Sexy FaceTime.”

You snorted, “You were shirtless in most of them.”

“Yeah, I was trying to impress you.”

“It worked,” You said, finally grinning, and kissed him again. The next day, you left for the Toronto Bubble, and he kissed you close.

“I’ll miss you,” he said.

“I’ll miss you too.” You hugged him close. “Play well. Tell your teammates ‘hi’ for me.”

“Will do.” He kissed the top of your head, and then he let you go. But just for now.

At first, everything seemed fine for you to be in the Toronto Bubble. No other players to catch you two, Nate felt a bit reassured of being able to keep your relationship private.

By that point, the whole Avalanche team knew, and were supportive. They often crashed FaceTimes or texted Y/N on their own, which you said you appreciated even though he could do without the idiots sometimes, he was glad you all got along.

As he prepared for the Western Conference Finals, he spent what time he could talking to you. You were busy yourself, getting ready to referee the Flyers/Lightning game, but luckily your schedules still matched up. He almost said “be careful” a couple times, but he didn’t want to be patronizing. You could take care of yourself, he knew that.

He liked watching you on the ice, even just on TV. He didn’t realize how much he missed it. Even if he always flinched whenever players got too close. Overall, things were good.

But then someone in the media got ahold of the fact that you were transferred from one Bubble to another, and it got out that it was because you were dating one of the players in the Western Conference.

A few of the headlines were decent if not intentionally scandalous, “TORRID LOVE AFFAIR BETWEEN PLAYER AND FIRST FEMALE REF” but some were pretty bad, ones he didn’t even want to repeat. Some even accused you of throwing games for your team, but no one knew who the player was.

That night, he FaceTimed you, and you looked like you’d been crying. “I don’t know what to do,” You said, sounding wrecked. “Oh god, some of the stuff is so awful-”

“I’m so sorry.” He wished more than anything he could hug you. “What can I do to help?”

“I dunno,” You wiped at your face. “Fuck. I- I think we just have to ride it out.”

“It just sucks that it’s you dealing with it, I’m not.” He frowned.

“You are, you’re dealing with me,” You said.

“I’ll always deal with you,” he said, and you finally smiled. He let you vent about what you’d been through that day, but meanwhile a plan formed in his head.

The next day, one day before their first game of the Conference Finals, Nate spoke up after practice before everybody left.

“I wanted to bring up something with you all,” he began. “It leaked that my girlfriend is seeing a hockey player, and she’s taking a lot of bullshit for it.”

“I saw some of it,” Gabe said. “It’s fucking terrible.”

“Is Y/N okay?” EJ asked.

“She’s handling it as best she can, but the media doesn’t know it’s me. It might lead to some press stuff, but I wanted to see if you guys would be okay if I spoke up and said we’re dating.”

The room went quiet, and Nate thought that was a bad sign.

He spoke, “I know the press can be bullshit-”

“We’ll support you no matter what,” Gabe said and clapped a hand on Nate’s shoulder. “We know what’s in our room, and that’s what matters.”

Nate smiled at his captain, then looked at his coach, who nodded solemnly. He exhaled in relief.

“Fuck the press,” EJ added.

“Fuck Twitter,” Josty said with a grin. “We got your back.”

“Thanks, guys.”

During the media for that day, Nate answered the same boring questions with Francouz and Landy at his side. He’d texted you a heads up, but all the refs in the Toronto Bubble were in a meeting.

But hopefully he could direct the attention and pressure and blame off you.

“That should rap it up-” Their moderator started but Nate cleared his throat.

“Actually, could I say something?”

The moderator was not used to them speaking up, but said, “Sure, Nate MacKinnon has the floor.”

He’d practiced this with their marketing person, Landy and Bedsy. But the words still felt a bit tough to say. “There’s been a lot of press surrounding Y/N Y/L/N and her integrity as a referee in the league due to her relationship with a player in the Western Conference. Since I’m that player, I can say with certainty that we were not in a romantic relationship whatsoever when she reffed for us. Once we entered into a relationship, the other referees were informed, nothing was ever hidden and no games were ever affected.”

He took a deep breath.

“Some of the stuff said about her was pretty terrible, and I hated reading it. So I wanted to clear it up. Y/N is a great ref, and I said that before we were dating, and I say it now. She doesn’t deserve the bullshit she’s been getting, and it needs to stop.”

He probably shouldn’t have said “bullshit” but it was of the moment.

“Thank you, I won’t take questions about it at this time,” he said, and stood up. He turned to his side to see Landy smirking proudly before schooling his face and Frankie patted him on the back as they all filed out of the room.

Later, he checked his phone, and saw a ton of mentions, but he didn’t feel like dealing with it. So he called you.

“You told everyone?” You answered immediately.

You didn’t sound furious or thrilled so Nate treaded carefully. “Yes? I was just so sick of everything being thrown at you.”

“Nate, you hate the press,” You said softly.

“I know, but I hate it hurting you more than I hate it... Does that make sense?”

“It does,” You said with a kind laugh. “I- Thank you. You’re amazing.”

“You’re amazing,” he said and leaned against the hallway wall as the force of how much he missed you almost knocked him off balance. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” You said. “Did you know the video of you went viral?”

“Let it,” he said. “As long as you’re ok.”

“You know? I feel pretty damn great. But you know what would make me feel better?”

“Name it.”

“Phone sex.”

Nate rushed quickly to his room, you giggling in his ear.

Vegas beat the Avs in the Conference Finals 4-3, and Nate didn’t even have you to cheer him up in person.

You did call him afterward, leaving a voicemail while he dealt with press stuff and packed, but you two weren’t able to talk until he was on the plane back to Denver late that night since the turnaround was so quick.

He bought wifi just to FaceTime you as the other boys played poker dejectedly, watched movies, or slept.

“Hey, Y/N,” he said, a sad smile on his face.

“I’m sorry, babe,” You said, and the moniker cheered him. But the real joy was seeing your face, even if it was just on his phone screen.

“Yeah, we wanted to go further,” he said. “But at least now I’ve made it to a conference final.” It was important to be optimistic, plus every year they went farther. That had to mean something.

“You’ll go farther next year,” You said with absolute certainty. “Besides, no asterisk.” You winked.

He chuckled. “How was the Flyers/Lightning game?”

“Seems like it’s gonna go to 7 too,” You said with a yawn from where you were curled up in bed. He forgot, it was two hours later for you. But he didn’t want you to hang up yet, which was selfish but he figured he earned a little. “But it should be interesting. I like reffing more games.”

“How’s your shoulder?”

“Feeling good,” You said. “Surprisingly not a lot of scrums but I don’t think that’s going to be said for Game 6. God forbid, game 7.”

“Be careful,” he said.

“Will do.”

“What are you-”

“Is that Y/N?” Mikko got up and fell into the frame, leaning on his shoulder. “Hi, Y/N!”

With a sigh, Nate undid his headphones so Mikko could hear you say, “Hi Mikko! Great series!”

“We try, but next time we need you with us.”

Nate elbowed him in the side, “Don’t be an ass.”

“Not reffing!” His Finnish linemate quickly clarified. “I mean good luck charm.”

“You’re sweet,” You said, and Nate was glad you weren’t offended. “I really liked your goal in Game 5, what a slap shot.”

“Thank you, it’s better than his.”

“Let’s not go that far,” Nate said. “Go away, I’m talking to my girlfriend.”

“Is that Y/N?” Burky popped up from the seats behind him. He made his way around to squish into the seats. “Hi, Y/N!”

“Hi, Andre!”

They all talked for a bit, Nate actually staying quiet to let his friends bother his girlfriend because he found it oddly cute. But then Mikko and Andre got into an argument about The Mighty Ducks movies (again).

“Shut up, or I’m fining you all!” Erik called from the middle of the plane.

Mikko grumbled about the third movie being not that bad but Nate shoved at them. “Go away, let me talk to Y/N alone.”

“Fine,” They said, waving goodbye.

“Don’t be mean, they’re fun,” You berated him as he put back in his headphones, then yawned again.

“I should let you sleep but I really miss your face,” Nate said.

“I miss your face too.”

“What are you gonna do after the Stanley Cup playoffs?”

You cuddled into the pillow more, “Not sure. Don’t have any concrete plans.”

“Do you...” He gathered his courage. “Do you want to stay with me in Denver?”

You smiled, “I’d love to.”

“Great,” he said. “Get some rest, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Today, technically,” You corrected. “‘Night, Nate.”

“Good night.”

He wasn’t going to come back with the Stanley Cup (at least not yet) but at least he’d have you there.

(January 2021)

“So, Nathan,” Luca Celebre said, wearing a ridiculous referee costume on the carpet of the All-Star Game again. Nate MacKinnon normally hated these interviews, but the BarDown ones always were the best. “Last year, you said you could be nicer to referees. How’s that going for you?”

“I’ll answer for him,” You said, standing by his side in a dress and his coat to fight against the Vancouver chill. “The Lady Byng award winner here is a farce, I actively advocate for his award to be rescinded-”

Nate laughed, and poked you in the side.

“Fine I’m kidding,” You said into the microphone, fighting a giggle. “I have it on good authority, he’s nice to refs.”

“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” Jesse Pollack asked, and you laughed while Nathan felt a blush light his cheeks.

“I’ll answer the other question. Yeah, refs have a tough job, and we gotta do what we can to not be dicks,” he said.

“So diplomatic,” You whispered in his ear.

“You excited to be back at the All-Star Game, Y/N?” Jesse asked.

“Absolutely, I’ll be reffing the Eastern game,” You said. “But cheering Nate on in the Western. Go Central!”

“Will you be cheering Y/N on as a ref?” Luca asked.

“Against my baser instincts,” Nate said dryly. “No, I’m kidding. She always has more support.”

“Thanks you two,” the BarDown interviewers said, and Nate and you moved on.

“This is a lot better with you by my side,” he tells you.

You smiled up at him, “I agree.”

He leaned down to whisper in your ear, “But I can’t wait to get you alone in our hotel room.”

“And play mini-sticks?”

He tickled your side, where he knew your weak spot was and you giggled, “No! Referee interference!”

He grabbed you by your hips and pulled you close to kiss you. Cameras flashed, but he didn’t care. It was more important to have you at his side.

Note: thank you for reading!!

#nathan mackinnon imagine #nhl imagine #colorado avalanche imagine #mywriting #sbhposts

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hockeylvr59 · 5 years ago

Text

Life Changes Part 10 || Paul Bissonnette

Author's Note: So this one was tough for me because Paul’s head is a tough nut to crack so go easy on me. This is from his POV because I felt like we needed some insight as to where he stood in all of this because so far we’ve only see Leigh’s thoughts. Let me know what you think. We’re covering quite a bit of time fairly quickly now. In fact, there’s probably only 1 more chapter before the event everyone has been waiting for happens *hint hint*. Also, I updated the playlist for this story so feel free to go take a listen and let me know what you think and feel free to send me any songs that make you think of Leigh and Paul because I’d love to hear them.

Requested: [ ] yes [x] no Warnings: swearing Word Count: 2,389

_________

Paul’s POV

“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.”

Something had been different with Leigh since the awards but I couldn’t put my finger on what had changed or why. We still talked almost every day but where before she would be an open book, now it seemed like a glass wall was between us. Knowing that she would reach out if she needed me, I came to the conclusion that it was something to do with the pregnancy and tried not to dwell on it.

Hopefully, this trip would make not dwelling a little easier. Thanks to some networking at the Awards and a little help from CCM, we’d finally landed our white whale for the podcast. And not only had we secured Crosby, but we’d also gotten MacKinnon as well. Having arrived in Nova Scotia yesterday, Whit and I were slotted to face off against the local duo in a round of golf, dinner on the line, before sitting down to record the interviews.

It was a gorgeous June day on the course, and I was absolutely buzzing. This was potentially the best game of golf I’ve ever played in my life. But before we had even finished the front half of the course I was already being accused of being a sandbagger...fucking ridiculous. Nate was getting all sorts of worked up while Sid just laughed saying they’d have to wait and see what the back half brought.

Needless to say, the second half didn’t go as well as the first...the damn yips taking over. Though we’d had the lead and secured dinner, for some reason Whit felt like giving the losers a second chance to redeem themselves so it was determined that we were only up 1 hole with two remaining. Whit came up just short for birdie leaving us square to start the 18th hole.

Just as we reached the final tee, my phone rang, Leigh’s picture filling my screen. If it had been anyone else I would have ignored it but there was no way I could ignore her so I grabbed my phone and stepped slightly away as I answered.

“What’s up?” I questioned. “We’re on the 18th hole with Sid and Nate.” Before she even responded I could hear the hitch in her breath and my heart raced with concern for why she would be crying, though lately, it didn’t take much to make her cry...pregnancy hormones.

“I forgot.” She admitted, her watery voice cracking.

“It’s fine. What’s up?” I repeated my question, my stomach twisting as I waited for her answer.

“It’s a girl.” She whispered. Immediately my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.

“What?” The word slipped out while my brain was rushing to process.

“Dustbunny...she’s a girl.” I had totally forgotten that Leigh had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for today. Without even realizing it, tears had pooled in my eyes and I let out a shaky laugh as I tried to blink them away. Deep down I knew that she was hoping for a girl and so I knew just how much this news meant to her.

“That’s incredible.” I finally managed my throat tight. “Congratulations.” Though the concept of her really having a baby had become more concrete for me in Vegas seeing her bump, now it really did feel real. In just a few months there would be this little human who looked like her mom hanging around and the thought of that was almost too much.

With Whit calling my name from the course, I signaled for him to give me just a minute but it was clear that Leigh heard it and she murmured that I should get back to the game. But before she hung up she made one final statement.

“You can tell the guys if you want. And uh...let them know I’ll make a public announcement in the next couple days but to keep it to themselves until then please.”

“Course.” I murmured, my brain still operating mostly on autopilot as it worked over the news she’d just dropped on me. “I uh...I’ll talk to you and dustbunny later.”

“Yeah.” She agreed. “Now go have fun.” She added just before the line went dead. Frantically I tried to pull myself together, wiping at my eyes and pocketing my phone.

It was my turn up at the tee and as I tried to focus, laughter came at me from all directions. Whether it was the laughter or the thought of Leigh and her daughter racing through my mind, as I swung at the ball I sliced it way left and the laughter took full force.

“Fuck off okay,” I mumbled, moving to sit on a bench, my nails scraping over my scalp.

“What the fuck was that?” Whit demanded. “You take one phone call and make the worst shot of the day?” There was nothing but silence as we made our way down to the green and as we waited for Sid to putt Whit looked over at me. “Everything okay?” He asked, voice calmer. “I’m assuming that was Leigh.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Everything’s good.” Whit looked at me skeptically before taking his turn and after sinking his putt for the win he paused.

“Okay, Biz...spill.” He stated, leaning against his club. “You’ve been all hyped up all day and now you’re quiet. What was that call about?”

“She’s having a girl.” I breathed, tossing my club back in the bag before reaching for a bottle of water to try and calm my still racing heart down.

“Who’s having a girl?” Nate inquired, clearly confused by the statement.

“Leigh. Our business manager.” Whit explained. “That’s awesome, I’m sure she’s over the moon.”

“Wait...she’s pregnant?” Sid asked, having obviously paid no mind to her growing bump when they met just a week or so ago.

“Yeah. It’s complicated.” I expressed. “And she is over the moon. She was crying over the phone.” I added, once again scratching my head. It was left unspoken, but not unnoticed by Whit that I had been crying over the news too and we made our way over to a little cafe to record both interviews, my mind gradually refocusing as I focused back in on hockey and the world surrounding it.

~~~

It wasn’t until we were a few drinks into a delicious dinner courtesy of Sid and Nate that Leigh was brought up as conversation again.

It had happened casually, Sid inquiring as to what we had upcoming for the podcast. Whit went into a ramble on the secret project we’d been working on for months, a Pink Whitney vodka, and how we had a launch party for that planned for Labor Day weekend. Then RA brought up how each of us was working to pick up some of the management job duties so that Leigh could have a proper maternity leave when the time arose. That triggered Nate inquiring about the whole baby thing and I quickly had to vaguely explain that Leigh wasn’t with the baby’s father and that we were close friends because she’d been with me in Arizona when she found out.

We’d just downed another round of drinks when Whit threw the first real punch.

“So Biz….when are you going to tell her you’re in love with her?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about...we’re just friends.” I lied, doing everything I could to keep my facial expressions neutral.

“That’s bullshit and everyone else can see it besides the two of you.” He tossed back. “You look at her like she’s the goddamn stanley cup. I haven’t seen you even look at another woman in months. If you aren’t talking about work you’re talking about Leigh and the baby so stop playing. You’re in love with her.”

If it weren’t for the drinks I’d already consumed I probably wouldn’t have admitted to anything. But with the drinks, I felt my palms start to sweat and my filter let a few too many thoughts slip through.

“Of course I love her,” I mumbled. “She’s smart, she’s funny, she’s absolutely stunning, and she has one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever seen. She’s handled everything thrown at her with far more grace than I ever could have and she’s going to be an absolutely incredible mom.” Downing the rest of my last drink I sighed heavily. “But we’re just friends and it’s going to stay that way.”

“So you love her and you obviously love her baby...what’s the fucking problem?” Whit pushed.

“The problem is that she deserves more. Better.” At those words, every head at the table turned to look at me.

“What the fuck does that mean?” RA questioned, his tone brusque.

“It means that she could do so much better than me. I don’t exactly have the best reputation with women or in general. She deserves someone that can match her in intelligence and who won’t fucking stain her name with his own. She deserves someone who isn’t mentally fucked up...who doesn’t experience episodes where he can barely take care of himself let alone her and the baby. She deserves stability.”

After spilling out all of the reasons why friends was all we were ever going to be, I expected some resistance, what I didn’t expect was Whit to bust out laughing at me. Glaring at him I clenched my jaw and he just shook his head.

“You’re a fucking moron Paul. You’re making excuses as to why you aren’t good enough for her and she’s making excuses as to why she’s not good enough for you when in reality you’re perfect for each other.”

“What are you talking about?” I pressed, swirling the ice in my glass aimlessly.

“I’m talking about the fact that she told Brie she didn’t think that you’d ever even have sex with her because she’s not your type. She minimizes anything you feel for her proclaiming that it’s just the baby you’re attached to. She thinks that all you’d ever want to be is Uncle Paul so how could you possibly want to pursue more when a relationship with her would come with the baggage of a baby that’s not yours. She’s just as insecure as you are….but I guarantee you that the way you’re shaking your head about the things she’s worried about would be the same way she’d react to the things you’re worried about.”

It baffled me to think that Leigh thought I wouldn’t want her. At the same time, I couldn’t help but wonder if that expression meant that she actually did want me. For a while, conversation traveled back to less serious topics but before we headed back to the hotel for the night Whit pulled me aside one more time.

“Look I get you have your own concerns and that you’re worried about unnecessarily dumping something else onto her plate but don’t let either of those fears keep you from something that could be great. Now may not be the right time, but I’ve seen the two of you together and you both bring out the best parts of each other...so just be patient and things will work out like they’re supposed to.”

It wasn’t until I was settled into bed that I was able to watch the ultrasound video Leigh had sent me. Between that and dinner’s conversation, the moment that I closed my eyes, too many thoughts, thoughts of Leigh and the baby she was carrying, filled my mind making sleep impossible. Was it really possible that she felt the same way I did? Did I want to play a role more than Uncle in this baby’s life? Was she ready to move on after having her heart crushed not once, not twice, but three times?

~~~

Just like she had said, Leigh dropped her pregnancy announcement as we were leaving Nova Scotia. Swiping through the photos I couldn’t help but be mesmerized at the way her bump had grown in the short time since I’d seen her last. She was very obviously pregnant now and though her photos only barely showed her face it was easy to see how much pregnancy suited her and how she was glowing because of it.

Unsurprisingly the announcement garnered some attention both positive and negative. There were people both in her personal life and around the league that were absolutely thrilled for her. Then there were people that had very much jumped to conclusions as she expected they would and though there really wasn’t anything I could do, I was angry that I couldn’t protect her from their harsh words and suspicions. If I thought she’d let me, I’d chew out every idiot on the internet but deep down I knew that kind of attention would only make things worse. Instead, I focused on distracting her away from that content, asking questions about her plans for a nursery while trying to hide the feelings that were getting harder and harder to suppress.

By the time her birthday arrived in the second week of July, I was determined to do something special for her. Though we were once again on opposite sides of the country I had been planning for her birthday since we left Vegas. In addition to sending flowers, I’d booked her a pregnancy massage session hoping to help alleviate some of the aches and pains she’d been complaining of. It didn’t seem like much to me but when she called after her appointment raving over how much better she felt, it was evident that my gesture was appreciated. Though I didn’t generally make posts for others on their birthdays, I felt compelled to share a few photos of the woman who had brightened my life up just by being a part of it. It was a little sappy but if anyone deserved it, it was her.

Though we talked almost daily and her selfies came more frequently as dustbunny continued growing, I still found myself counting the days until I would see her in person next. And to be frank, it couldn’t come soon enough. I was completely screwed...but to be honest there was a part of me that knew that the moment I first laid eyes on her.

Chapter 10 Social Media:

#paul bissonnette #paul bissonnette imagine #arizona coyotes #arizona coyotes imagine #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #hockey imagine #hockey imagines #former player #former player imagine #014.1

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antiquechampagne · 5 years ago

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Antique Champagne - Ch42 - Pack Your Bags

Hancock was as good as on his word. He tried drinking again the next night, but this time with a half a Mentat. To his delight, he kept it down the whole night. By the end of the week, he had worked up to a whole tablet, well on his way to working his tolerance back up to pre-assassination attempt levels.

Everyone settled back into their daily routines, even with the mystery still hanging in the air. One afternoon while eating her breakfast at the bar, a familiar face sat down on the bar stool next to her. Kent smiled at her as he ordered a sandwich for himself.

“Glad you could make it!” Payne really meant it. With all that had happened lately, they hadn’t had much time to meet up. After chatting for a while, Payne started to notice something odd about Kent. The edges of his mouth kept curling when she started to talk, especially if the subject turned to her employer.

“Okay, Kent, what is it?”

“Huh?”

She playfully pointed a finger at him. “Come on. Are you trying to hide something?”

Kent shrugged shyly. “I’m just happy to see you.” Payne gave him a side-eyed glance as she bit into her lunch. “Really…”

“I don’t believe you. You’re a terrible liar.”

Charley had been slowly getting closer to the pair while cleaning a chipped glass with two of his three mechanical arms. Out of the corner of her eye, Payne noticed the bartender try to hush Kent with his free claw.

She turned; her finger now aimed at the robot. “Now you, too? You’re in on this?! Spill it!”

“I don’t know what you’re on about, love. Nothing to see here.” Charley whirred back around, floating back down to the other end of the bar.

Kent looked even more guilty, his hand sheepishly covering his mouth. “Really, it’s nothing. Nothing bad, anyway… but I can’t say anything more about it. “

Try as she could, Payne couldn’t get any more out of Kent on the subject. She had to give him credit, he was a lot tougher a target than she had given him credit for. Defeated, and done with her meal, she wandered up into the State House. With every step, the mystery ate at her.

Entering Hancock’s office, she barely noticed Fahrenheit as she left, grumbling under her breath.

“And there she is! How is my little dream girl doing today?” He seemed awfully chipper, given how Fahr stormed out.

“Don’t you look like the cat that ate the canary.” She crossed her arms and smiled. “What did you get up to while I was sleeping?”

He gave a very unimpressive “Nothing. Scouts honor.” Hancock stifled a chuckle when Payne’s eyebrow popped up, unconvinced. “Seriously!”

“First Kent, then Chuck… and now you! What is with everyone today?” Payne was trying not to let her frustration show, but this whole morning was starting to get on her nerves.

Hancock shrugged and started half-heartedly flipping through a paper. He tried to hide it, but his half-cocked smile refused to leave his face. Payne ignore it for as long as she could, but eventually gave in to her baser urges.

“Spill it! You are driving me insane! Just tell me what the fuck is going on!”

“Oh, but it’ll ruin the surprise!” Payne launched stained pillow at his head. “FINE!” he put his hands up in surrender. “Honestly, I’m surprised Kent didn’t let the cat out of the bag already. I was sure he would run off and blab to you as soon as he figured out why I was needling him with questions.”

Payne waited, but Hancock seemed pleased to leave it at that.

“AND?” she prompted.

“Go pack a bag! I’m taking you on a bit of a vacation. Think of it like a little payback for keeping this walking corpse out of the grave.” Payne’s jaw dropped a bit, but before she could recover, he added, “And that’s all I’m going to say until we’re on the road.”

An hour later, the pair finally stepped into the deserted street, bags and weapons in hand.

“Okay, now where are we going?” Payne demanded.

Hancock waved a finger. “Not yet. We have to meet up with a few people first.”

They walked on. Try as she might, she couldn’t wheedle any more information out of him. Eventually she fell in step with him, stewing in the silence.

“Oh, don’t be like that.” Hancock stopped. “You’ll like it, I promise. Just lighten up a bit. This is supposed to be fun!”

Seeing his earnest face, most of the sourness Payne felt melted away.

“Okay… but remember the last ‘trip’ you took me on. It ended with a pile of spoiled mirelurk meat, Brotherhood goons and Fahrenheit hating my guts.”

“Fair enough. This time, I’m bringing along someone a bit more amicable.”

They continued to hike until they got to what looked like a small single-story warehouse. Rows of orderly mutfruit trees sat to one side, tended by a handful of Mr. Handy robots. As they got closer, Payne realized that the warehouse was actually a greenhouse, the inside bursting with greenery. A ramshackle home stood to one side of the building. Payne guessed it was a recent addition.

A smarmy voiced Handy with a green painted chassis greeted them. “Well, this is just super! We love to have visitors! Are you ready to bargain in the garden?”

“Hey there, brother. Is the General around?” Hancock asked casually.

“Come right this way!” The robot floated off in the direction of the shack. “Take a peek behind door number one!”

“Thanks.”

Hancock walked up to the door and gave it a knock. Nate opened the door, dressed only in a pair of jeans and a sweat stained undershirt.

“Hancock? Welcome to Graygarden! The best robot run farm in the Commonwealth.” Something caught his eye. Nate leaned out of the door and yelled around the building. “Hey, Strong! Could you put that over there with the others? Thanks, pal!”

From behind the greenhouse, the muscular super mutant nodded an acknowledgement as he lugged a rusty truck frame to a pile of scrap nearby.

“Why don’t you come in.” He quickly wiped his hands off on his pants before welcoming the pair into the small home’s only room. The room housed a small loveseat, a slapdash kitchenette and a single bed tucked in a corner. “I wasn’t expecting you to get here until tomorrow morning.”

“Well, someone tipped off the guest of honor, but why wait? Besides, don’t you agree that it would be much more impressive to see the place all lit up?”

Nate smirked. “Who let the cat out of the bag?” He added sarcastically, “Let me guess. Fahrenheit?”

Hancock snorted. “Almost let the cat out of the bag… so don’t say anything. And it was Kent, apparently.”

“I’m right here guys!” Payne gave Hancock a playful shove.

“Well, if you really want to leave tonight, I have some stuff around here I need to take care of. Feel free to relax in here, if you want. I’ve got some goodies in the cooler over there.”

With that, Nate ducked out of the shack, leaving the pair alone.

“Good to know that you don’t consider a robot farm a hot vacation spot.” Payne plunked down on the worn couch.

“What? Don’t you find the place charming?” Hancock stretched an arm over her shoulders after lighting a cigarette. “And what’s that old saying? Don’t look a limp horse in the mouth?”

“Charming, yeah, I suppose… the gameshow host bot was a nice touch. And it’s gift horse, not limp horse.”

“You excited yet?”

Payne thought about it for a moment. “Given I haven’t the slightest clue where the fuck you’re dragging me off to in the middle of the night… yeah, I suppose I am.”

“Perfect.” He leaned over and gave her a little peck on her cheek. “I can’t wait to see your face when you figure it out.”

After an hour of vegging on the couch, Nate returned with Strong in tow. Soon they were on the road, picking their way across the back roads of the Commonwealth wasteland. They kept away from any trouble, avoiding any of the sparse habitations they came across, both friendly and hostile. The terrain grew rocky as they followed an old highway. Out of the predawn mist, strange red spires dotted the horizon before them, some lit by hidden spotlights at their base. It took a moment for the familiar shape to register in Payne’s head. Why were there 15-foot-tall Nuka-Cola bottles out here in the middle of nowhere? Then it dawned on her. She stopped in her tracks.

The rest of the group turned to look at her.

“Are you kidding me?” Payne asked, gob smacked. She looked down from the monuments at Hancock’s grinning face. “We’re going to NUKA-WORLD?!”

“Happy now?”

“OH, FUCK YEAH!” Payne could barely keep her delight from forcing her to running ahead. She was beaming when they walked under the giant Nuka-World sign that spanned the wide road between two crumbling parking structures. This was going to be amazing!

At the end of the road stood an old transit center, complete with a fleet of derelict buses.

Nate chatted with Hancock as they walked. “This whole place was filled with Gunners the first time I came here. They were dug in pretty good, but between me, Codsworth and a handful of frag grenades… we made short work of them.”

Payne looked around, picking out the small prewar details left behind by long dead… what were they called… beverageers? Plenty of tourism industry trade magazines had followed the beverage tycoon John-Caleb Bradberton’s attempt to open his Nuka-Cola themed amusement part. The big wigs in Las Vegas drooled over each leaked photo and anonymous interview, while the rank and file worker worried about how much business would be sucked away from the East Coast. Bottle shaped trash cans, crown wearing mascots pointing the way on signs… even just the kitschy red and white theming. All of it was over the top and campy, and it thrilled her each time she saw some new and gaudy detail.

Into the bowels of the station they went. At the base of the stairs sat a bright red monorail train. A cheerful recording touted a percentage of each admission fee being donated to the long forgotten armed forces. It was a bit of a trial fitting Strong into the cabin, but soon they were flying through the air, suspended above the glowing bones of the once magnificent park. Looking out over vast lands, Payne’s giddy smile faded. She felt something well up inside, something that was a stinging, painful kind of sweet. The announcers voice faded away from her ears.

Feeling a warm arm around her waist, she let Hancock pull her aside.

“You okay there?” he whispered.

“Yeah… it’s just…” she floundered before found the words. “This place… it feels so much like home.”

#antique champagne #ao3 #fallout 4 #hancock #kent #strong #sole survivor #nuka world #fan fiction #fanfic #fan fic

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allisondraste · 5 years ago

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Character Interview

Tagged by @haledamage age to answer these questions as one of my characters. Thank you!!! I’ll tag @norroendyrd @gingerbreton , @dalish-ish , and anyone else who might be interested. (No pressure of course!) name ➔ My full name is Elissa, and I hate it. Elissa was the name my parents used when I was in trouble. It’s the name used formally by people who don’t matter. It’s also the name Nate uses when he’s angry with me, and he bloody well knows better. Please, just call me Liss. It’ll save us all time and energy.

are you single ➔ It’s complicated right now. I certainly don’t feel “single.” I haven’t in many many years.

are you happy ➔ Not at all, but I am trying to be. I lost most everything I cared about in one night, so I’m still reeling. Stability first. Then, happiness, if it’s possible.

are you angry ➔ Quite. I’ve tried to hide it, but that’s not my strong suit.

are your parents still married ➔ My parents are... they died, but the last time I saw them, they were as in love as ever.

NINE FACTS

birth place➔ Born and raised in Highever.

hair colour ➔ Blonde, mostly. I’ve been told it takes on a red tint in the sunlight, but it’s not like there’s a lot of sunlight in Ferelden.

eye colour ➔ Brown, almost black. I’ve been told they’re lovely, but I’m not sure I believe that. *shrug*

birthday ➔ 16 Justinian. I expect a gift now, you know.

mood ➔ Hmm. I suppose it varies from day to day, depending on what has happened. I’m somewhere in between being unbearably sad and numbness. I don’t like either. I’ve always been a happy person, so this has taken some getting used to.

gender ➔ Female.

summer or winter ➔ I know it is almost sacrilegious to say so as a Fereldan, but I detest the cold with every fiber of my being. I love warmer weather with all of its lovely colors.

morning or afternoon ➔ When I was younger, I loved the morning. It’s hard to like the morning when you don’t sleep.

EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE

are you in love➔ Painfully so.

do you believe in love at first sight ➔ When I was a little girl, I did. I thought that when I saw the person I was supposed to be with, that I would just know. Of course it doesn’t work out like that, and sometimes it sneaks up on you. Before you know it you’re desperately in love with your grumpy arsehole of a best friend, and that’s that.

who ended your last relationship ➔ Eh, I don’t know that I would call any of my brief romantic endeavors “relationships,” but technically, I ended them all. I’m... particular.

have you ever broken someone’s heart ➔ Definitely. I may be breaking someone’s heart right now. I don’t know. I am very bad at this.

are you afraid of commitments ➔ Not at all. I have some reservations about marriage and all that. However, its because I spent my childhood thinking that I’d have to marry someone I didn’t want to marry. I have no problems committing to someone I love.

have you hugged someone within the last week? ➔ I hug people all the time, so probably.

have you ever had a secret admirer ➔ Hahaha less “secret” more “ridiculously stubborn.”

have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ Of course I have.

SIX CHOICES

love or lust➔ Love! I mean, I will be honest, I’ve enjoyed a few meaningless affairs in my time. They were fun, but I still felt empty at the end of the day. It’s so much different when you love someone.

lemonade or iced tea ➔ I like warm tea. I can’t say I’ve ever had tea with ice in it before.

cats or dogs ➔ Dogs! Dogs! Dogs!

a few best friends or many regular friends ➔ A few best friends. I’d rather be around people who understand me.

wild night out or romantic night in ➔ I love parties, don’t get me wrong, but the night’s I’ve spent in, alone, drinking and talking with someone I care about? Those are the best.

day or night ➔ Day. Nighttime and I don’t have a good relationship.

FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS

been caught sneaking out➔ If by sneaking out, you mean skipping lessons to hide in the garden? Yes. Always.

fallen down/up the stairs ➔ I have never fallen down stairs. Nate has, though. You should ask him to tell you the story.

wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ I’ve only ever attached myself fully to things completely out of my reach, so yes, I guess. Wow these are personal. Who did you say you are, again?

wanted to disappear ➔ When Rendon Howe killed my family, I kind of wanted to not exist anymore. Does that count?

FOUR PREFERENCES

smile or eyes➔ Eyes are so expressive if you know what you’re looking at. It’s like a window into everything a person is thinking and feeling. Right there. On their face.

shorter or taller ➔ Oh, taller. I love feeling like someone could man handle... uh... if it were desired. Ahem.

intelligence or attraction ➔ Intelligence is one of the most attractive things, silly.

hook-up or relationship ➔ I’ve had my share of casual relationships. Hated most of them. Hated myself after them. It’s like when you know you’re just doing something because you think it will make you feel better, but it doesn’t? Anyway... relationships all the way.

FAMILY

do you and your family get along➔ Fergus is a loser, but he’s my loser, and nobody else is allowed to mess with him. I miss my parents a lot. They were the absolute best.

would you say you have a “messed up life” ➔ Not until recently, but yes. Sort of.

have you ever ran away from home ➔ Never.

have you ever gotten kicked out ➔ Nope.

FRIENDS

do you secretly hate one of your friends➔ If I secretly hated them, then they wouldn’t be my friend, would they?

do you consider all of your friends good friends ➔ Oh, yes! Absolutely. The Best.

who is your best friend ➔ Nathaniel. He’s always been my best friend. Years of unanswered letters doesn’t change that. >.>

who knows everything about you ➔ Also Nate. Surprise! I have had one friend in my whole life.

#tags #my ocs #liss #cousland #liss cousland

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thedeaditeslayer · 5 years ago

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INTERVIEW: The creative team behind DEATH TO THE ARMY OF DARKNESS chats about making multiple Ashes.

Ash Williams is a larger-than-life character, but is the world ready for more than one of him? Readers are going to find out in Death to the Army of Darkness #1 from Dynamite Comics. Taking place just after the Army of Darkness movie, a bad translation of the Necronomicon is at the heart of the problem, leading to versions of Ash such as the female Ashley Williams, the erratic Lil’ Ash, Dash aka Doggie Ash, Skeleton Ash, and Chainy, Ash’s now sentient chainsaw.

At the helm are writer Ryan Parrott (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Batman: Gates of Gotham) and artist Jacob Edgar (Savage Tales: Red Sonja), with colorist Kike J. Diaz (Sherlock Frankenstein, Ether) and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (Red Sonja, Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt) completing the creative team.

The Beat chatted with Parrott and Edgar about the upcoming comedy-horror book.

Deanna Destito: What inspired the premise of this new series?

Ryan Parrott: My editor, Nathan Cosby, actually called me up one day. He’d read some of my work on Power Rangers and was tossing around the idea of doing a “Team Ash” book. Ash is such an iconic character and I loved the idea of trying to surround him with his own team of misfits. At first, we talked about it being Ashes from other realities, but we realized there was already a precedent set for clones and dopplegangers with “Evil Ash” from “Army of Darkness.” And character-wise, we started to really gravitate toward forcing Ash to come face-to-face with different parts of his own personality and it slowly started turning into a story about responsibility and what it means to be “The Chosen One.”

Destito: How big of an Army of Darkness fan are you?

Parrott: Have I read Bruce Campbell’s autobiography If Chins Could Kill? Yes, I have. Have I been playing exclusively with “Ash” for over a year on the horror game, Dead By Daylight? Yes, I have. I actually saw the trilogy backwards in college because of a friend and, I will argue that to this day, there is no better horror hero than “Ash.” Being able to put words in his mouth and add a brick to the legacy wall of a character I love is an insane pleasure.

Jacob Edgar: I came to it late. Right when I took on this project, if I’m being honest. I’ve been familiar with the franchise for a long time, I had seen a lot of Bruce Campbell’s other work (can we do a Brisco County Jr comic next??) but not Evil Dead and Army of Darkness. So immediately after signing on I got to dive in and binge the movies, the Starz show…it’s been a blast. I don’t have the history with it that Ryan does, but I loved it immediately.

Destito: Where does this fall in the mythology and can new fans jump in easily?

Parrott: My approach to nearly every comic series is to try and make it accessible to both hardcore and casual fans alike. And since you can’t guarantee everyone has seen every movie or read every comic series beforehand, I built this story so a person could pick up the first issue only knowing that Ash was the hero of Army of Darkness. Now, since I’m also a fan, there are definitely elements and Easter Eggs for people who are paying attention… but this one is its own story that simply takes place in the world of Army of Darkness.

Destito: Do you find it easier or harder to illustrate something so well known and played by such a distinct, animated actor like Bruce Campbell?

Edgar: I think it’s easier in a lot of ways. Ash as a character is already built for me, that work is done. I know what he wears, I know what he drives, I know what kind of guy he is which informs set design and character acting. I love Bruce Campbell, and I love how expressive Ash is. That’s definitely something I’m trying to translate into our book.

Destito: What was your process for designing each Ash?

Edgar: For Ash himself, I wasn’t ever interested in trying to make a realistic depiction of Bruce Campbell. I don’t think my style lends to that, but also…you really have to nail that EVERY panel, or the panels that are off are going to take the reader out of it. The other thing I wanted to be conscious of was not exaggerating his chin too much, or his build. I think that’s a pitfall sometimes. Ash is fairly fit, but he’s not Batman.

When it came to Ashley, I really wanted her to have a unique look of her own. Reminiscent of Ash, but with some twists. And those twists were never going to be cleavage and booty shorts, which is another pitfall for something like this. Ashley is probably the most tactical and dangerous of the bunch, that’s what needed to come across.

The others are pretty straightforward. Dash is a Boxer dog and we gave him a blue bandana to echo Ash’s shirts. Bones is based on that famous Evil Dead 2 poster, the skeleton with eyes. But I’m getting to add costuming to him in issue #2, which is making him much more fun (and easier to draw!). Then we’ve got Lil Ash who is an exaggerated and extra crazy version of the Ash gremlins from Army of Darkness. I hope readers will love all these weirdos as much as we do.

Destito: How has it been working with the creative team to bring the series to life?

Edgar: This has been especially fun for me because it’s my first time doing multiple issues of something. Ryan’s scripts are a blast to draw and Kike is going to be a superstar colorist, I love the energy he’s bringing. Hassan is one of the best letterers around and I just hope I don’t make his job harder than it has to be. Nate’s been my editor since 2017 and he always gets the best out of everyone, we’re in great hands.

Destito: Of the Ashes, which clone is your favorite?

Parrott: Oh man. I have to tell you which one of my kids is the favorite? This won’t come back to bite me. Oddly enough, it has kinda depended on which issue I’m writing. In the second issue, it was Ashley, Ash’s feminine side because I loved that she wasn’t afraid to call Ash on his tricks. In the third issue, it was Dash, the dog version of Ash, because he started to become the leader, but in the fourth, it became Bones, the walking Skeleton version of Ash, because I started to realize just how in over his head he felt, and that was fun to write. Maybe that’s me dodging your question… but I like the voices of all the characters, it feels almost unfair to choose.

Edgar: At first I was telling everyone Dash, the dog. Because dogs are always best. But I’m really starting to love Bones, the cowardly skeleton. His character is so different from everyone and everything else, he’s really fun to play with.

Destito: What can fans expect in future issues?

Parrott: I think if you love Army of Darkness as much as I do, well… I tried to put in all the hallmarks of the series: Action, adventure, horror and humor. We’ll have Deadite possessions and chainsaw decapitations, and it wouldn’t be complete without a little time travel. For hardcore fans, we’ll get into some of the reasons behind the creation of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and even the philosophy behind the Deadites themselves. Hopefully, if people like it… this will be the first step into some epic mythological Army of Darkness storytelling, because… we have plans… but if not, I hope people will be happy with a lot of blood, guts and boomsticks.

Death to the Army of Darkness #1 can be preordered at your local comic shop this month. The issue hits shelves in February. For digital, head over to Comixology, Kindle, iBooks, Google Play, Dynamite Digital, ComicsPlus, and more.

#Army of Darkness #Dynamite Entertainment #Dynamite Comics #comic #comics

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americaswritings · 7 years ago

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A Beautiful Lie | Day 3

Prompt: Fake dating au

Summary: During a live interview Tom reveals that he has a girlfriend. When he pleads you for help, you jump in to be his fake girlfriend for a while. But no one of you realizes how grave of an impact his beautiful little lie will have.

Words: 4.1k

Warnings: swearing, horrible writing

Pairing: Tom Holland x reader

A/N: Okay so first of all, yes I am not dead! I know I have been absent for more than a while and haven’t updated this story in what feels like forever. I am so sorry! Hoewever, I feel like I owe you an explanation.

There were a lot of things happening in my life, which I can’t talk about yet. To make up for it this chapter is extra long!

I hope you forgive me and I hope you enjoy!

This is for @underoossss writing challenge.

Add yourself to my taglist!

Series Masterlist

You stared after Tom for a while before turning your attention elsewhere. The doors leading to the main area where the show would take place were still closed so you couldn’t get to your seat just yet. Sighing you took out your phone, hoping that the time would fly by so you wouldn’t have to be alone for long.

You leaned against the wall and scrolled through your messages. There were a few from Haz, Harry and Elysia asking how the Oscars were going so far. But then there was also one from Jacob, congratulating you and Tom.

For a second you wondered how he already knew, but Zendaya had probably already texted him the news. You quickly answered all of them, leaving Jacobs message unreplied. You felt guilty.

You put your phone back into your purse and realized someone was making their way over to you. Glancing up you saw a young man with dark hair and sparkling eyes casually walking into your direction.

“Hey, gorgeus”, he smirked when he reached you and you huffed. “From all the things you could have said you chose that?”

You grimaced and he laughed. “Sorry, I just can’t help myself around such a beautiful lady.”

You blushed at his words and he gave you a satisfied grin. “Uh- I’m actually here with someone”, you explained, not daring to look at him. “He is one of the presenters this evening.”

You peeked into his direction to see the man still smiling at you. “I should have known that you are already taken”, he commented, but his smile had grown warmer and friendly.

“I’m Nate!” He held out his hand and you eyed it for a second before shaking it. “(Y/n).”

“I came over, because you look a little lost. Why are you here all alone?”

You fiddled with the hem of your dress before putting back on your dull smile. “As I said my boyfriend”, the words felt weird on your tongue, “is one of the presenters this evening. There are still some organizational matters for him to take care of.”

The man, Nate, nodded in understanding. “What about you? Aren’t you here with someone?”, you asked, hoping to not have to talk about yourself anymore.

Nate cringed at your question before laughing it off. “Well, my date jumped me yesterday so that kind of sucked.”

You couldn’t help but break into laughter. “Why would she do that?! It’s the Oscars”, you wondered then. “Turns out she was using me just for the fame and now found someone better to play with.”

You clenched your jaw and although Nate seemed to be completely loose talking about it, you still felt an uneasy feeling in your stomach.

For one, because you felt sorry for him, but then you also couldn’t help but project his words onto your and Toms situation.

Was he just using you for fame? Were you only something that brought him into the headlines for a while, before he decided that he had found something better and moved on?

But no, that couldn’t be. It was Tom you were talking about. He wouldn’t use you nor anybody like this.

But somewhere deep inside of you doubts were nibbling on you. Harrison’s words had planted an idea into you; something he might not even realized he had done.

“Okay I know it sounds bad, but you don’t have to feel bad for me”, Nate’s voice woke you out of your thoughts and you quickly put on your smile again.

“Sorry, I just-”, you didn’t finish. “Went somewhere else?”, he finished and you nodded in gratefulness that he seemed to understand.

“Sorry!” You felt a little embarrassed about it, but Nate quickly shook his head. “Don’t be.”

You talked to him until the doors opened a good few hours later. You found out that he was actually very funny, a little sarcastic, but what completely took you by surprise was that he seemed to have a deep side as well.

He knew that something was off, but didn’t ask any further and instead tried to distract you for a while.

You had even exchanged numbers.

“C’mere!”

A familiar voice caught your attention and you spun around to find Zendaya petting an empty seat next to her.

Relieved that you had found her this easily you slid into the seat next to her and exhaled.

“Thank god! I already thought I would never find you and have to sit alone.”

Zendaya grinned in amusement before starting to poke your arm. “Hey, I wouldn’t have let that happen! I might would have even called out for you on stage to make sure we find each other!”

You laughed and watched the people passing by, hoping to make out Tom somewhere.

You hadn’t seen him since your conversation with Zendaya earlier and you feared that you wouldn’t see him again before his presentation started.

“Searching for your lover boy?”, Zendaya teased and you giggled.

“I just wanted to wish him good luck, that’s all”, you muttered, a little disappointed that you wouldn’t be able to do it.

“I am sure Tom will forgive you”, Zendaya joked and you nodded, knowing that Tom wouldn’t be mad at you.

“But since you already started the topic.” You turned your head to meet Zendayas cheeky grin. “I wanna know everything!”

“Okay, so I think you have to be a little more specific!”, you commented and she laughed.

“Is Tom a good kisser?”

You broke into a fit of coughing at her direct question and Zendaya broke into loud laughter. “I suppose that’s a yes?”, she giggled and you shook your head in playful annoyance.

“No comment”, you smirked and leaned back in your seat. It was nice talking to Zendaya. She could always make you laugh and didn’t seem tensed about the situation.

But that didn’t mean you weren’t terrified of her questions. How should you answer the question when you had never kissed Tom?

“Have you done that yet?”

“Done what?” You frowned, trying to figure out what she meant when suddenly you realized what she was talking about.

“Oh my god Zendaya! I’m not gonna talk about this to you!”

The girl didn’t seem to mind your rejection and laughed even more.

“I can’t believe you and Tom are a thing”, she suddenly said in a more serious tone.

“Really? W-why?”, you stuttered, now insecure when Z got serious.

“I don’t know to be honest. I guess it makes sense considering how close you always were, but I can’t believe Tom kept his mouth shut.”

“I guess he didn’t have a choice or else he wouldn’t be breathing right now”, you shrugged, but Zendaya didn’t react to your joke.

“So you were the one, who wanted to keep it a secret?

You gulped, hoping that the show would start any minute and release you from this situation.

“No, no, we both wanted that”, you protested and Z turned her head to you.

“I get that you didn’t want people to know. Trust me, I really do, I just wish you would have told me before all of this chaos started.”

Your guilt was heavy, but at the same time you hadn’t been able to tell her any sooner. A part of you wanted to tell her the truth, but you had made Tom a promise.

If you started to tell more people you wouldn’t be able to stop. “Where do we draw the line?”, Tom had asked and so you had agreed with him.

But right now, looking into Zendayas disappointed chocolate brown eyes made you fill with blame.

“I’m sorry”, you whispered and you hoped that she could see how true it was.

“We should have thought about you too.”

But the girl already wore a smile again, patting your shoulder. “Don’t worry. I know how love can be sometimes. It makes blind.”

You gave her a grateful smile when suddenly the light was dimed and the show started.

It all went by in a rush. Too many impressions were overwhelming you, but although your head had started to hurt, you felt happy. Sitting next to Zendaya made you forget about everything around you for a while.

All the press and fans that would be going wild about you and Tom were out of your mind and you just concentrated on having a good time.

Eventually it was Toms turn. You knew that he was beyond nervous about his presentation, but he covered it up perfectly- just like you had expected.

Seeing him on the big stage suddenly didn’t scare you anymore, but instead you felt unbelievably proud.

You could still remember when Tom had first told you about his dream of becoming an actor. It wasn’t uncommon for kids to have such imaginations, but with him it had been different.

You had always known that it wasn’t just a phase. Tom wanted this and if he had set his mind on doing something, there wasn’t anything or anyone that could stop him from fulfilling his passion.

Tom had talent and finally people had witnessed how special he was. And somehow you were still here, by his side in all of this.

You knew that people were talking. How Tom would dump you and Haz sooner or later and choose more famous people to hang out with instead, but you couldn’t imagine it happening ever.

Tom was too smart and too kind-hearted to lose himself in fame. He didn’t care much about money nor fame. All he wanted was to act, the one thing that seemed to make him genuinely happy.

Applause erupted and you joined in, wearing the biggest smile while watching Tom leave the stage with a smile himself.

You glanced towards Zendaya to see her watching you with a smirk. “What?” “Nothing”, she shrugged it off.

You were making your way out of the hall along with a crowd of other celebrities. The show had just ended and you were hoping to find Tom somewhere.

Searching the crowd you tried to make out his figure, but had no luck. So you searched for an empty corner to wait for him.

“Here you are!”

You glanced up from your phone to meet Tom’s relieved eyes. “I just wanted to call you”, you explained while putting your phone back into your purse.

“Sorry, I had to clarify some things backstage, but now I am ready.” You nodded before reaching out to hug him.

He was confused at first, but quickly pulled you closer into his chest. “I am so proud of you”, you whispered into his shoulder, but it was loud enough for Tom to hear it.

You felt his lips curving up into a smile before he stepped back to get a look on your face. “Thank you. That means a lot to me”, he whispered. “I hope you know that.”

You smiled, nodding while your eyes didn’t leave his. For a moment you had forgotten about your surroundings, only you and Tom being important right now. “I do.”

He smiled as well and you felt how vulnerable the moment was that you were sharing. You had missed this, just being with Tom without caring about anything else. And as much you loved teasing and joking around with him, you needed these moments as well.

Moments when you and Tom were honest with each other. It reminded you that you could tell him everything, even your deepest feelings, and he would make it his mission to help you.

It was just who he was.

“About earlier”, Tom started and you knew the moment was over. You glanced to the ground, fiddling with your hands. “I don’t blame you for this Tom”, you interjected before he could say anything.

“Why? You should do it. This is all my fault!”

You sighed again, before reaching out to take his hand into yours. “C’mon, that doesn’t matter now. Zendaya isn’t mad at us and the reporters will eventually focus on a different topic.”

Tom nodded, but a frown was still covering his face. “I guess you’re right”, he stated and you grinned.

“Besides, it will allow us to spend more time together without being suspicious.”

Tom laughed at that and you were glad to relief some tension. “Now let’s go back to the hotel”, you suggested.

“You don’t want to go to the after party?”, Tom questioned and you shook your head.

“I am hella tired, aren’t you?”

“Fair point”, Tom remarked and chuckling you made your way to the entrance.

The ride to the hotel hadn’t been easy, but eventually you had arrived. You had just put on some sweatpants and a loose t-shirt when Tom returned from signing a few more autographs.

“I can’t believe they waited all this time for a signature”, he chuckled while beginning to change.

“Well I can”, you smirked, continuing to rub the make-up off your face.

“Yeah?”, Tom replied and you tried your best not to gaze into his direction. “If you didn’t know me, would you be standing out there too?”, he asked with a grin and you snorted.

“Totally!” You both laughed at the sarcasm in your voice. “I would be your biggest fan, Holland”, you added and he chuckled.

“How come I can imagine that so easily?”, he smirked and you huffed. “Oh shut up! Just because you delivered a not so terrible speech today doesn’t mean you’re irresistible.”

You turned to find Tom already in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt lying on the bed while scrolling through his phone.

“Trust me, I know you can’t resist me”, he grinned and you rolled your eyes, but not without being able to stop a smile from forming on your lips.

“You wish”, you chuckled while awkwardly walking over to the bed, stopping in front of it in uncertainty.

Tom didn’t seem to notice at first, but then he looked up with a questioning look on his face.

“Is there anything you need?”, he asked while raising his brow.

“Yeah the bed so make some space.”

“Oh.” Tom quickly moved to the side, putting his phone on the nightstand.

“I could sleep in the armchair”, he suggested, but you shook your head. “There is enough space for the both of us”, you explained, still a little unsure about the situation.

It wasn’t like you and Tom hadn’t slept in the same bed before, but that had been years ago. While getting older you had become more aware and insecure of the situation and build walls around yourself.

But at night when you were sleeping, you were completely vulnerable. And you didn’t want to make this awkward for any of you.

Keep it simple.

“Are you sure?”, Tom wondered, visibly insecure himself. “Yeah, it’s no problem. Just don’t steal my blanket”, you tried to loosen up the tension a little.

“I will give my best”, he winked while getting comfortable. You did the same and soon Tom had switched out the light.

You woke up to the light flooding your room. Tom was still asleep next to you so you reached for your phone.

8:30

Yawning you checked your messages and social media. But all tiredness vanished when you saw the hundreds and thousands of messages and followers you had reached.

Zendaya had uploaded the photo of last night and you had to admit it looked pretty adorable.

The comments were filled with hearts and cute messages and your mood brightened up immediately while reading all the positive messages.

The people really seemed to be happy for you.

“What are you looking at?”

Tom’s voice woke you out of your thoughts. He had turned around, watching you with tired but attentive eyes.

“Social media. The people really seem to like us together”, you explained, grinning when you mustered Tom’s curls falling messy into his face.

He looked so much younger like this.

“See, I told you they would.” He had never said something like it, but you ignored that and just smiled.

“What’s the plan for today?”, you asked instead.

Tom yawned, burying his face in his pillow. “Nothing to be honest. Just relaxing”, he murmured and it took all your attention to understand his muffled voice.

“That sounds lovely”, you smiled, really looking forward to a day off.

“Tell me something I don’t know”, Tom smiled and you rolled your eyes.

Later you found yourself at the couch, scrolling through your phone again. All the comments begged for you to be seen and you couldn’t force yourself to stop reading.

“Can’t get enough of all the love?”, Tom teased you from across the room. “Ha ha”, you commented, not looking up from the screen.

“Unlike you I don’t get compliments 24/7″, you defended yourself.

It was silent for a second until you gazed up to see Tom sitting down facing you.

He hadn’t been able to unhear that you were bothered about it.

“Is that hard?”, he asked and you raised your brows. “What exactly?”

Tom cleared his throat. “I mean it somehow has become normal for me to look at my phone and see tons of compliments and lovely messages. Does it bother you that you don’t?”

You would have liked to smack him for that question, but his voice told you that he wasn’t intending to hurt you nor make you look small. He actually seemed to care about your thoughts and feelings towards the situation.

“Of course not!”, you called out, but Tom raised his brow.

A look that urged you to tell him the truth.

“Okay fine”, you sighed.

“Sometimes it might be a bit difficult to see one person get tons of love and attention while being invisible. I mean, I am happy for you and you deserve everything of that, but at times it makes one feel less of a person, like you are better than me.

When I am depressed I can’t just scroll through my phone and see all the love of people that care about me. I will just sit at home and stare at a black screen.”

You didn’t know where your emotional outburst came from, but suddenly everything you had always kept to yourself came to the surface.

Talking to Tom just had that effect on you. He always gave you a reason to tell him your deepest feelings and you knew that you could trust him more than anything.

But now, when Tom was asking this question you just felt bad. You had never wanted to say those things out loud, especially not to him, but now it was too late.

But at the same time you felt like a small burden was falling from your shoulders. All this time you were feeling like you lived in Tom’s shadow and although you were fine with it most of the time, sometimes you struggled to accept it.

How should you learn to love yourself when you were always in the dark? When your two best friends gained all the attention and you were standing in the back as if you didn’t know them?

It was silent. You had put your phone away and were facing Tom, who seemed deep in thought. He was being completely serious and you could see on his face that he was surprised by your words.

“I’m so sorry. I should have asked this way sooner, but I never really paid attention to how you felt with me being famous.”

Tom’s voice was soft and like a warm embrace. “Don’t!”, you protested while rapidly shaking your head. “Don’t feel guilty. None of this is your fault!”

Tom smiled a little, but still seemed sad. “I just wish I would have known this sooner”, he sighed.

“I should have come to the conclusion that it isn’t easy for you, but I guess I just wanted it to be easy and ignored it.”

“Tom!”, you demanded for him to stop and he stilled.

“Don’t do this to yourself! You deserve this more than anyone. I am unbelievably grateful that people see how amazing you are and show you how much love you deserve. It makes me so happy to see that people finally recognize you for all what you are.”

Tom’s eyes didn’t leave yours while you spoke and you could feel the nervousness kicking in.

Butterflies were erupting in your stomach and you did your best not to stumble over your own words.

“Thank you”, he smiled and you nodded with a smile yourself.

“You don’t have to thank me, Tom. That’s what friends are for, right?”

Tom shifted, but didn’t move away from you.

“Right.”

You smiled at him once more before trying to reach for your phone, when you suddenly heared his voice again.

“But I wanna say something too.”

You looked back at him with an amused smile on your face.

“Go for it, Holland”, you encouraged him with a smirk, but Tom’s calmness told you that he was still being serious.

So you gave up your playfulness and waited for him to continue with a serious expression.

“I want you to know that, (Y/n), you’re not invisible. You are all I’m looking for when I enter a room and everything I could ever ask for. I don’t know why you’re still here or how I got you to be my friend, but please know that I am really grateful for that.”

You felt a lump in your throat and gulped to cover up how touched you were by his words.

“I care about you! So whenever you’re depressed you text me, okay? I don’t want you to be alone and feel less worthy of love. You deserve so much more than that!”

Tom was watching you with sharp eyes, waiting for you to make him the promise.

His words felt like a cure and poison at the same time.

They seemed to make up for every moment you had spend wondering why no one seemed to be interested in you and if you were less beautiful or smart or funny than Harrison and Tom.

But simultaneously they reminded you that Tom couldn’t keep his promise. As much as he might want to, it wasn’t possible.

You remembered when you had one of the worst days imaginable. Coming home you had broken down in tears and spend the rest of the evening crying until you eventually fell asleep. But through those tears you had called Tom multiple times and send him messages.

And you could still remember his only message.

Sry, but I’m busy. Call you back later.

Not only had you found out that he had been out partying with Harrison, but also he had never called you back.

He had never asked you about the evening again, so you had just dropped it.

Or the other little moments when you had needed him and he had been unavailable; in an interview, filming, on press tour. It was always the same.

But right now that didn’t matter. Bringing it up would only make Tom feel bad about something he couldn’t control.

Well, except for the partying.

So you nodded.

He gave his best, so you should do too.

Besides, his words gave you weak knees. He cared about you. You are all I’m looking for when I enter a room and everything I could ever ask for.

Only a few words and your mind was going wild. Maybe he felt the same, maybe he was in love with you too.

The hope that you so desperately tried to ignore grew and you began imagining what could happen next.

Maybe he would kiss you.

“Thank you”, you smiled, tears in your eyes.

“You don’t have to thank me. That’s what friends are for, right?”

His words felt like a punch in the stomach. Although he was only repeating you without any bad intentions, it felt like a slap.

You were brought back to reality. He wouldn’t kiss you. Why should he? You were just a friend to him.

Before he could sense the impact his words had on you, you forced a smile on your lips and reached for your phone.

Your mind was numb, while you scrolled through social media.

You didn’t read any of the messages, was your mind too distracted to deal with the sudden rejection.

But you feared that if you stopped acting like you were distracted, Tom could talk to you again.

And right now his presence felt more like a burden than a gift.

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recentanimenews · 6 years ago

Text

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Begins with Episodes 1-7!

*guitar*

*shadows*

COME ON!

Welcome to The Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! I'm Nate, and I'll be your host this week as we make our way through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto. Last week, I told you how all this worked, but everybody who's new I'll go over things one more time.

Each week, we'll be watching SEVEN EPISODES of the original Naruto, and sharing our thoughts on them interview-style every Friday at 5pm PST.

This week, we're starting things off with episodes 1-7, featuring an introduction to everyone's favorite super-loud orange ninja, the rest of our main cast, and this world of ninja that they inhabit. Things move pretty quickly--it's not long before Naruto's assigned to Team 7, they have their first real test against their teacher and commander Kakashi, and they face their first life-or-death fights against the Demon Brothers and Zabuza!

But, before we discuss these episodes, let's take a look at the comments and questions that you had from our last installment!

The number one question we got last week was a simple one: ARE WE GOING TO SKIP THE FILLER?

No. We are not skipping the filler.

You may skip the filler, but be sure to tune in to see our reactions to it... there's gonna be a lot down the road.

Now, let's see what the Crunchyroll Features team thought of this week's episodes!

Alright, this is where it all starts--I know a bunch of you are new to Naruto. How did actually watching it compare to your expectations?

Paul: Judging from my previous experiences with the fans, I was expecting Naruto (both the show and the titular character) to be a little more meat-headed and hyper-masculine. Instead, the show sets a laser focus on evoking sympathy with a protagonist who wants to be the best in the world simply so people will recognize him. I didn't anticipate such feelings of internalized inadequacy from the shouty, fighty shonen hero.

Peter: I’m rewatching and also decided to read the manga alongside. So far I’m really impressed by how strong Kishimoto’s aesthetic was from the outset. The environments and character designs are all unmistakeable and his action is like this perfect combination of piece-by-piece panels and splashes. I like the anime’s additions, especially some extra Naruto/Konohamaru scenes which drive home the difference in how they’re treated and an early Ino intro that sets up her rivalry with Sakura.

Kevin: I was one of the people watching the original Cartoon Network run of the show’s dub back somewhere around 2003 or 2004. Going back and rewatching, I forgot how much the early parts of the show focus on Naruto’s emotional struggle, first of not being accepted by anyone and just trying to get attention, then how he feels about his various failings as a ninja. As a result, the stakes aren’t as high, but it feels like a much more personal story.

Jared: I completely missed out on Naruto after dropping off anime around 2003, but going in I was more expecting it to follow a similar structure to other shonen shows I’ve seen. From the start, the opening episode completely shattered any expectations I had with how tight the entire episode was woven together with regards to its narrative, characterizations, and how much info it packed into 24 minutes. Outside of that, I think I’d missed out on knowing that Naruto can act like a brat early on in the series.

Joseph: I’m in an interesting position, because I watched maybe 40 episodes of this a decade ago and I’ve read around 50 volumes of the manga. I will say I was surprised at how nostalgic it felt to watch this compared to, say, Shippuden, which has a much different vibe. It’s also impressive how much groundwork is laid for the entire series via Kishimoto’s designs and world and the way the anime adapted it.

Carolyn: I was very surprised at how quickly they dove into Naruto’s backstory. I have seen the show many years ago and didn’t seem to remember that such a “big reveal” occurred so quickly. I… honestly find the story quite boring and hard to keep my attention focused on, I guess I’m just not super invested in the characters. However, I can absolutely see seeds of how this show has affected and inspired many that came after it. I hadn’t really noticed that when watching other anime, but going back and rewatching Naruto makes that pretty clear. Also, I am cracking up at the totally rad ‘80s Breakfast Club-esque opening sequence. I didn’t remember that music at all.

Noelle: Naruto was one of my first encounters with manga when I first really started getting into it, but it’s been a long time since I touched it. I read the whole thing, but I never reread it, so a lot of instances I completely forgot about. For example, I forgot how kind of gruesome it was at the start, focusing on serious injuries instead of just fantasy violence. At the same time, I’m impressed how strong the characters are established, along with themes such as kindness and proving yourself that will resonate throughout the entire series.

Kara: I was five years out of college when Naruto started, and I remember in the circles I ran in it was Not The Done Thing to be into it. I can’t remember if it was because it was considered a “casual’s anime” or if it was based on run-ins with cosplayers at conventions. Likely a little of both. Watching it has been a lot more chill than I expected, and while I see a lot of the tropes I figured I’d see, it looks like it’s leading somewhere interesting.

David: I basically grew up with Naruto, but I fell off of it in high school so it’s been more than a decade since the last time I actually watched an episode or read a chapter. Comparing it to my expectations, it’s much more focused than I recall--the first episode could stand alone as a very emotionally effective short story, for example. Kakashi is still the only side character who seems to have a lot of thought put into their long-term character arc, though.

Daniel: I like it, though Naruto has always kind of been a blind spot for me. I’ve seen a decent chunk of it, but it’s always kind of been background noise, something to have on so that when people ask me “Do you only watch One Piece?”, I can say “NUH UH. I ALSO WATCH THIS ONE ABOUT ANOTHER LOUD BOY.” That said, actually paying attention to it, it’s pretty fun. I dig Kishimoto’s world building, and the environment that he’s set up. I’m really interested in finally figuring out why so many people adopted this show as their gospel.

Danni W: I actually did watch the first dozen or so episodes of Naruto around six or seven years ago, so this was more of a refresher than anything. It never quite clicked with me the first time, so I was surprised to find I enjoyed it more this time around. I think it helped that the show gets real pretty immediately. We’re only seven episodes in and Naruto has already had to face real combat three separate times. The characters aren’t enough to hook me yet, so the early doses of action have made for a good on ramp for me.

I've always enjoyed how Naruto hangs on to its emotional core, and we see that very strongly in the first few episodes. What did you all think of this part of the story?

Paul: I'm not fully invested yet in the emotional stakes of the series, mostly because I don't really know the scope and scale of the world that Naruto inhabits. Why are these children being trained to be spies and assassins from such a young age? What dangers does the outside world present such that it prompts entire villages to weaponize their kids?

Peter: I feel like I never gave Iruka enough credit in retrospect, maybe because his act was the first in what later emerged as the series core. Without him, Naruto probably would have been another Gaara. I also never realized that Naruto is wearing Iruka’s headband the entire damn story. After Naruto’s hand stab I’m trying to remember if grand masculine gestures are regularly mocked as an inverse toward the important compassionate gestures, so I’m planning to track that moving forward.

Kevin: While I like seeing the cool techniques and fights from later in the show, going back to the beginning and seeing much more of a focus on each character’s internal conflicts is an interesting change, giving each of their actions a bit more personal weight. It’s not inherently better or worse, just a different focus on the same story.

Jared: It really seemed like a great way to start the series and let people know from the onset that this is a story that deals heavily with empathy. I figured eventually the series would go that route, but to do it immediately sets a tone that allows for these characters like Naruto to instantly have layers that otherwise might take a long time to see. With the show really bouncing between emotional moments and comedy pretty frequently, I’m curious whether it’ll continue that or try and lean more in one direction or the other.

Joseph: Naruto is the most three-dimensional character in these first episodes, mostly because we haven’t had much time to delve into the stories that drive Sakura and Sasuke. I think they do a great job of making Naruto sympathetic, which makes up for his brattiness. One other thing I appreciate is that they make it clear from the outset that being a ninja isn’t just cartoonishly huge shuriken fun and games. People die on the regular here, and Naruto and the rest of his upstart era would do well do remember that before taking the next steps.

Carolyn: Just let Naruto live! Everyone is so mean to the poor kid. Again, I was surprised at how quickly they jump into this and I have a feeling it is what kept me watching the first time around. They do a good job of making you feel empathy for Naruto even when he is being totally obnoxious.

Noelle: While I remember pretty vividly the general plot, I don’t remember a lot of the small moments that make up a scene. Naruto is set up really well, and I to this day really enjoy that he’s not just cast as a quirky problem child with no future, but someone who genuinely wants to be acknowledged, and acting out is the easiest way to get attention. Knowing how things end up, seeing everyone at the start and how they are introduced is a good refresher and sets up a lot later on. At its heart, this really is a story about teamwork, empathy, and growing up.

Kara: It’s been all right—some cute and funny bits, and I like what action scenes we’ve had. From a writing standpoint, it feels like (except for Naruto himself) everyone’s categorized largely by wanting to be the Hokage, wanting to kill someone, or having a crush on someone. But I can also see that we’re quickly moving forward from that. Being on the News team means educating myself fast about unfamiliar shows, and the wildest thing to me has been seeing Hinata in the background crushing on Naruto when I just recently posted an article about her wedding figure.

David: Iruka and Naruto’s relationship has to be my favorite single part from this section. Iruka is given every reason to not like or just give up on this kid, yet he sticks up for him the whole time (while also never letting him slack--no free pass on the exams for Naruto!). Kakashi is setting up to be a good role model, too, but I’ll definitely miss how intimate Iruka’s care for Naruto is.

Daniel: You can really sympathize with Naruto because he’s the “chosen one” character without being a prodigy. He isn’t impressive right out of the gate, but he has the potential to be impressive. I think you can relate to him easier than, say, Goku, who is ready to dropkick most of the world the first time you meet him. That feeling of being meant for bigger things, but still struggling to even get on the path to those bigger things is pretty powerful.

Danni: I think it’s showing some promise. I really appreciate the lengths it goes to explain why Naruto is a troublemaker in the first place. He can be pretty annoying, but the reasons for that are mostly justified. In the end, he’s a victim. I like that Sasuke can already see that and identify with him in that respect. They both have a lot of trauma to work though in the next *checks notes* few hundred episodes.

I know we're really early in, but have there been any standout moments or characters so far?

Paul: I know everybody else is probably going to go with Kakashi as the standout character, but also cool as Kakashi may be, my heart goes out to Akimichi Choji, the chubby ninja who is stuffing his face with potato chips in Episode 3. I also like the design of the oversized shurikens and other exaggerated weapons, and I dig the visual aesthetic of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Peter: This question is kind of hard to answer since I’m retracing old ground but I definitely did not recall Sakura being such a little shithead. Completely forgot her putting her foot in her mouth with Sasuke saying Naruto’s a troublemaker because he’s an orphan. Funnily enough, I think her hating Naruto for who he is rather than what he represents is a really important connection between the two.

Kevin: Naruto freezing up in his first real fight and then stabbing himself, swearing that he’ll never be a burden again was a scene that I feel is an exemplar of how the early story focuses more on Naruto’s emotional journey, rather than just trying to fight increasingly strong bad guys, but still has the kind of payoffs that the audience can rally behind.

Jared: Iruka is a good dude who really wants what’s best for Naruto, even if it means taking an oversized shuriken to the back. Naruto stabbing himself in episode 6 was an immediate “YO” moment from me. The entire atmosphere of the fight in the back half of episode 7 was incredibly good. I really hope that Konohamaru continues to show up with either worse and worse stealth or continuously better ways to try and fight Naruto.

Carolyn: Glad to see Shikamaru show up so early. Love him. As I mentioned before, I’m not sure I’m fully invested in these characters. I am quite disappointed in Sakura. I remember loving her when I was younger and she is not the strong female character I remembered. She’s kind of desperately boy-crazy. Which is fine! But it feels like it comes on strong and the first several episodes don’t give her many traits beyond that. She must grow throughout the series, or my memories were warped? Kakashi Sensei feels sooooo much like a Shoto Aizawa (My Hero Academia’s Eraserhead) prototype. The mystery, the aloof manner, but secretly a big softie that just wants his student to do well. Similarly, Naruto has a lot of traits that seem to overlap with Bakugo and Soul Eater’s Black Star. More evidence of the show’s reach. Sexy Jutsu has not aged well. Also, the ending theme song is beautiful.

Noelle: Kakashi’s great, and knowing that he’s pretty close to my age puts a lot of things into context now that I’m an adult. Kakashi’s got a lot on his plate with these three problem children under his wing, but he’s still a pretty laid back guy personality-wise. Someone who stood out to me more in my rewatch was Iruka. Iruka’s presence means so much to Naruto, being the father figure he never really had. If Iruka wasn’t kind to Naruto, and he really was the only person to treat Naruto like a kid and not just a monster container, this would’ve been a very different series. Naruto truly did need someone to be there for him, and seeing their relationship really does make my heart warm. Iruka’s a good guy!

Kara: I actually cannot believe how much I associate with Naruto, and 12-years-ago me would faint at hearing that. The absolute need to prove himself, the feeling that he’s sliding backwards the harder he works, all that is something I (and others, I’m sure) can relate to. Obviously he goes a little harder than most people would in his situation—seriously, if you’re wearing Safety Orange constantly, you’ve gotta think really highly of yourself as a ninja—but it’s really something to see how much of his attitude is couched in fear of failure.

Joseph: Kakashi’s kancho, obviously.

David: Konohamaru only gets his one episode here, but I actually thought his bit was the most emotionally effective. He largely has the same issues as Naruto but in reverse. Konohamaru isn’t necessarily "royalty" but treated as such, infantilizing him from his perspective. Even his name is a point of contention for him, putting a burden on his very existence that others can’t relate to. To these ends, he looks up to Naruto for being a free spirit, but as the viewers we understand that they are more similar than they know. Naruto is the main character--we see his troubles garnering respect and even love from his peers and mentors in these episodes--but Konohamaru grounds that conflict by mirroring it.

Daniel: In my high school band class in Freshman year, a kid asked the teacher to be referred to as “Sasuke.” He also had a ninja headband that he’d wear around some time, and while I thought it was goofy then, I think it’s ABSOLUTELY DOPE now. So, while I still figure out the characters, I’m gonna nominate broody ol’ Sasuke in honor of that kid.

Danni: Kakashi covers like 75% of his face with ninja gear and to show how badass he is fought one-handed while reading a book called Makeout Paradise. I want to be that cool someday.

The action escalated pretty quickly--we started with Team 7 having to take the bells from Kakashi for the first full-on action scene (even if it wasn't "for keeps"), and then we have to worry about Hidden Mist assassins and our first real villain, Zabuza. Any thoughts on the action?

Paul: I like all of the action that I've seen so far, but the resolution to Kakashi's test wasn't dramatically satisfying for me. The payoff didn't match the build-up. I wanted to see Team 7 put up more of a show of resistance than simply refusing to obey Kakashi's instructions not to feed Naruto. The scene plays more like everyone being recalcitrant teenagers and less like anyone taking a principled stand.

Peter: I can’t believe the action is so sick even this early on. I always thought of Sasuke’s style as the most orthodox and the intricacy of some of his combos and the shots are so damn satisfying to look. Kishimoto made it super easy for the animators to make some stylish shots and they ran with it. The series is already building its vocabulary with a Sasuke attack that obviously builds into the Lion Combo and some underground shenanigans.

Kevin: I feel like this is the show’s action at its weakest. None of the Genin know how to fight yet, so once the actually dangerous fighting begins, they’re relegated to standing around watching Kakashi and Zabuza fight, and even that hasn’t gotten to the more impressive techniques. It’s not bad since at least there is still a fight between two experienced combatants to watch, it’s just weaker than what the show delivers on later when the protagonist and major characters are experienced enough to contribute.

Jared: I was surprised how subdued the action had felt before Team 7 took on Kakashi with there being pretty minimal fight scenes until that point. Kakashi messing around with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura gave a good baseline of the complete difference in skill between all of them, but it wasn’t until Zabuza and his ridiculous cow print sleeves showed up that we truly get a sense of how much of a gap there is between Kakashi and Team 7. The beginnings of that fight truly gave the feeling of their being stakes involved which had been missing elsewhere.

Carolyn: Again, surprised at how quickly the show turns on a dime. They can go from goofy to serious in a heartbeat and it is very reminiscent of how things often progress on My Hero Academia. But I still find it hard to really get into the peril. I’m not sure why, exactly, I’m not very invested in the characters, but it’s early. I’m sure that will change.

Noelle: Since this series came out where it did, Jump was still very much comfortable with keeping pacing slow. As a result, the fights are a lot slower than what I’m used to, even if that was the norm back then. At the same time, the action itself isn’t bad--it’s pretty clever, and introduces the rules of the world in a way that anyone can pick up with ease.

Kara: I have a feeling a lot of my appreciation for the fighting will come as I start learning the different abilities in play. There have definitely been some cool moves, but I think we’re still in that exposition phase where we’re learning the types of things ninjas can do (and what our main cast’s strong and weak points are). A couple weeks from now when I’ve seen more of how this universe operates, I’ll probably be all in.

David: Sure, the action isn’t flashy, but the Kakashi training fight was much better than I remember it being for two reasons. One, it’s just funny. Kakashi doesn’t do anything truly harsh to the kids (well, aside from starve them, but that’s part of the plan), and what little physical combat he does with them is either light or just plain comedic. Two, it serves as a small show-don’t-tell of the show’s combat mechanics. For example, he calls out at the beginning that he’s going to use taijutsu, leading to his infamous kancho when he could have done a million other things; Sakura even believes he is using a more fancy technique before it happens. From there more involved strategies are used and by the end we have a basic primer of Naruto combat simultaneously serving as a team-building exercise for our heroes. Very efficient storytelling.

Joseph: The action is really clear and well-handled in these early episodes. I’m not sure how it gets later on, but I know in the manga I found some of Kishimoto’s action layouts much harder to follow than they should be. His designs and the intention behind his action translate nicely to animation, thankfully. Naruto is also really good at suddenly showing just how powerful a character really is within action, which is a total must-have shonen staple.

Danni: It’s not very flashy so far, but it is pretty tense. The high-level combat so far seems to entirely be a contest of clones and substitutions. The substitution jutsu seems way too broken. That being said, it’s a pretty cool technique. I hope we get to start seeing some good hand-to-hand soon.

For this batch of episodes, what were the highest and lowest points, respectively?

Paul: High point: Naruto getting caught in Kakashi's rope trap, grumbling about not getting tricked again while he frees himself, and then immediately getting caught in another rope trap. I love those kind of gags. Low point: ninja diarrhea.

Peter: In both cases probably the information reveals. Purely narratively speaking, a lot of the info that comes at the characters feels like common knowledge in retrospect. Kakashi is famous for having the Sharingan, how the village and mission systems work, and Sakura not knowing about her crush’s family being murdered seem like they should things the kids know. On the other hand, I’m super impressed with how much of a foundation Sasuke and Kakashi’s backstory have so early on and foreshadowing for both.

Kevin: The lowest point for me was the repeated use of the “Sexy Jutsu.” Once made sense to show Naruto as a troublemaker who could invent new techniques if he tried, and the Harem Jutsu showed that he can be creative and combine techniques for new tactics, but the other 2-3 times just feel like a joke being overplayed. The best moment was the fight against the Hidden Mist Chunin, since each of the kids’ personalities show through clearly. Sakura is terrified but keeps to her main duty, Sasuke starts retaliating to get rid of the threat, and Naruto freezes in place and needs to be saved, leading to an excellent emotional payoff when the fight is over.

Jared: The high points for me were Kakashi vs. Zabuza, Naruto’s hand stab, and Sakura and Ino’s incredibly ridiculous power walk competition in episode 3. Sexy Jutsu really beats you over the head with how many times they use that gag and Naruto’s stomach issues from episode 3 were just strange, so those would be my low points.

Carolyn: The music is a definite high! The emotional moments and humanizing of Naruto is nice to see. Using ninja skills to save a lost cat is completely adorable and feels like something All Might would do. Did the My Hero peeps grow up on Naruto? It feels like it. I also like how positive Naruto is in the face of adversity. He can make any situation a positive one. Laughing at the clunky exposition, “It’s going to take someone who is highly skilled.” Low point, again, definitely Sexy Jutsu (and teaching Sexy Jutsu to a little kid, WTF, these were different times) and Sakura’s desperate crush.

Noelle: Sexy Jutsu got old really fast. It was interesting to see Naruto expand it, as that showed he was learning, but aside from that, it’s an overdone gag. Glad they cut down on it. For good points, the Zabuza fight for sure, and each one of the kids standing up for themselves in the face of danger. And of course, Naruto stabbing himself in the hand to show his resolve!

Kara: Low point was absolutely the diarrhea episode—add to that the weird middle school comedy of errors surrounding it. I only had so much tolerance for Sakura’s crush and Naruto’s willingness to either mess with or take advantage of it. High point for me was Konohamaru’s desire to be called by his name and not his function or association. It was such a goofy little episode, but something really resonated for me about being willing to go to ridiculous lengths just to be recognized for who he is.

David: The bizarre ‘love triangle’ dynamic as a whole is the low point--this is notably represented well in the “diarrhea episode,” but comes across everywhere else too in how obviously undercooked Sasuke and Sakura’s characters are at this point. On the other hand, the high point is how obviously fully developed Kakashi is despite us knowing so little about him at this point. Unlike the rest of the side characters, there is clearly a lot going on in both what we see him doing here and what is implied to be happening in his background, and that’s as exciting a hook as it was when I was in middle school.

Joseph: The gags are hit or miss, but mostly decent. For me, the low point is any time an information dump rears its head. Zabuza standing on top of his sword for an eternity while he and Kakashi trade off exposition about the Sharingan is sloppy. I dig most everything else, and the high point is how the story handles this early-stage version of Naruto. He is just straight up a bad ninja, and it shows. He’s loud, brash, and obnoxious in an all orange jumpsuit. He’s the anti-ninja. Best of all, he’s terrified, and he totally should be.

Daniel: I really like the show’s tone, usually. But the high point and low point were within five seconds of one another. In the first episode, it’s so rad when Naruto finally reveals his Shadow Clone Jutsu against Mizuki. And then they all beat up Mizuki, and you get these “BONK BOOP SCHWWWWOOOP” sound effects, which takes all of the power of the scene and kicks it out the door.

Danni: For me, the highest point of this batch was in the first episode when Naruto overhears Iruka defending him against Mizuki. That’s a potentially life-changing moment for Naruto, finally learning why so many in the village hate him. Had it been anyone but Iruka who had found Naruto, he likely would’ve ended up turning against the entire village in anger. It’s a touching moment of understanding not just between teacher and student, but also between a pair of orphans linked by the same tragic event.

The lowest point is anytime I‘m reminded the sexy jutsu exists.

COUNTERS

Ramen consumed so far: 2 bowls, 1 cup

"I'm gonna be Hokage!" count: 8

Number of Shadow Clones summoned: 46

And that's everything for this week! Remember that you're always welcome to join us for this rewatch, especially if you haven't watched the original Naruto!

Here's our upcoming schedule!

-Next week, on JANUARY 25th, we'll be discussing EPISODES 8-14, hosted by KARA DENNISON! The mission in the Land of Waves continues! THIS IS THE ONLY INSTALLMENT WE'RE ACCEPTING QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR THIS WEEK!

-Then, on FEBRUARY 1st, we discuss EPISODES 15-21, with KEVIN MATYI hosting! Not only do we start the Chunin Exam arc, but we get our first FILLER EPISODE!

-On FEBRUARY 8th,we'll discuss EPISODES 22-28, with JARED CLEMONS as host! The Chunin Exam kicks into high gear!

Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

Have any comments or questions about episodes 1-7? What about our upcoming installment, featuring episodes 8-14?

-----

Nate Ming is the Features Editor for Crunchyroll News and creator of the long-running Fanart Friday column. You can follow him on Twitter at @NateMing. Check out his comic, Shaw City Strikers!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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kinsbin · 7 years ago

Photo

I’m here with my Uncharted 4 Insert because I am incredibly emotional about that game and Samuel Drake and I blame @bumblebeequeenie for this entire situation (happily though, happily)

My SI has short hair this time because I’m planning on getting my hair cut this coming Saturday, so, I’m trying to get used to drawing myself with shorter hair? Plus, like, pixie cuts are the cutest and I look good in it.

More information about my SI Under the cut also!

Xena Brady is well known in most American medias as the daughter of esteemed technology mogul Gillian Brady and his wife Regina Brady. Though not legitimate, as she came from Regina’s first marriage, she remains the top heir and manager for the Brady Technological Corporation. A focused, hard-working girl with a sense of humor and fiery compassion for those around her, the media has given her the nickname of ‘The Persephone of Technology’.

---

SO BASICALLY:

My mother married a young business/technology mogul named Gillian Brady, who tends to sell his technology to very questionable or unsafe buyers. He often invests in Victor Sullivan’s trips or treasure hunts and helps him to keep up-to-date with technology when he can so long as he gets news and perhaps a small cut of the treasure as he goes.

I don’t feel very close to Gillian as a father, but, I meet and know Sully often and slowly start to see him as a father figure? After a while it becomes a role he accepts as well and, soon, I spend more time with him than my actual family. When I move out of the house my mother and stepfather live in, I often go on trips with Sully and meet people he knows. I met Nathan and Elena Drake through him years back and we’ve known each other well for a long time.

Elena adores me both from a reporter perspective and as a person. She loves hearing the stories I tell and also interviewing me often and we become close friends! Nathan sees me as a sister as he sees Sully as a father and we both spend a lot of time together. I go over to their house for dinner and little trips here and there a lot!

In Uncharted 4, Sully gets into the auction for the Saint Dismas Cross with my help, as my family helped to invest in the whole auction and I’m there as a sort of ‘buyer’ on behalf of my step-father. Using me we sneak our way into the house to let the Drakes in. That’s also how I meet Samuel Drake (My F/O in this series). Since he’s been out of the loop he has NO IDEA WHO I AM or why Sully and Nate treat me so casually. But, one thing’s for sure, he thinks I’m beautiful and immediatley starts flirting with me when he can.

It makes Sully go full Dad Mode, but, I flirt back with Sam and we spend time together during the auction. I help the Drakes and Sully to steal the cross and escape and basically tag along with them on the adventure from then on out! Sam and I also grow closer through the events and sleep together once in a while ngl.

At the end of the game when Sam goes off with Sully, I go with them. We go on adventures and travel together and fall even more in love than we were at the start~.

#self insert #self shipping #self insert community #uncharted self insert #uncharted 4 #kinley scribs #kinley talks #i need a ship name for me and sam now fuck #Sam Drake #the thief and the flower #there #thats it

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abdicatedarchive · 4 years ago

Text

bachelor party || the boys

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: summer’s home // summer 2021.

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: charlie, marshall, cody, nathaniel, ross.

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒: none.

𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: charlie’s bachelor party! the guys all get together for a fun night out, but not before nathaniel can grill cody about dating his sister.

Charlie went to go and pick up Cody for the big night, "No moping and texting Bella all night. Have fun with me and the boys. Let me see your fake" said Charlie as they left the car to head to Marshall's. Cody handed it over, "No phone moping. But I think I deserve at least one drunk call" he said as he committed to the bit. Honestly, Bella would not want to hear from him intoxicated. Cody should probably warn her that Charlie will insist on saying hello at some point during the party. That was gonna be fun. He could see the disaster now. Charlie looked over the fake and handed it back in approval, "it's not like we're out of town anyways. I'm sure that it will work. People love us" said Charlie confidently. He had never had any problem getting in anywhere as an underaged person. "People love you" Cody corrected, and he knew it was true. Everybody loved Charlie, Cody was just a footnote of the Summers experience. "At least look like you're having fun" said Charlie as he knocked on the door, "you'll be drunk before you know it" he added with an exhale. Being out with his little brother was a new experience, but he didn't want to miss it. Cody would be his friend, like his actual friend, in a few years. It was just going to take a little bit of growing and time. Charlie was sure of it.

Marshall opened the door with two shots in his hand and a big smile on his face. Charlie was the first friend in the group to get married, and honestly, it didn't seem like him or Katie were going to be married anytime soon... So he wanted to make sure everyone had a great night. Charlie had been particularly stressed with all the wedding planning, but now that everything was set, all that needed to be done was to have a fun time. "My boys!" Marshall passed the shot glasses to both Charlie and Cody, "Just to start the night off on a high note. Oh, Katie told me that Daniel and Milly are gonna be hopping around. Not sure when we'll see them, but we don't have to pick them up. So that'll just leave Ross and Nate." He then patted Cody on the shoulder, holding in a laugh. "You tell him about Nate?" he asked Charlie before looking back at Cody. "Dude's probably got a whole ass interview waiting for you."

Charlie laughed, "you know if you told young me I was popular in high school and college, and then you told me how many people were coming to my bachelor party. I don't think I'd believe the first thing". He was very happy keeping things small, in fact he had asked Marshall to. A lot of his friends were girls, but at the end of the day Charlie and Alice shared the majority of their friends. They would be at the wedding, but for now it was nice to be with just the boys. "Oh shit dude, I meant to tell you I invited Nathaniel Langston even though it's small" said Charlie. He had mentioned to Cody that not a lot of people were invited period, but he had forgotten that one of those select few was his girlfriend's brother. "He's a peach. I'm sure he's not going to interview you. You've seen him since he talked to me, Alice, and Katie about you ... right?" Charlie asked innocently as he poured some drinks.

Cody had not heard one of the people who was witnessing him underage drink tonight was Bella's uptight much older brother. Now he couldn't get wasted. This was upsetting. This was the only family bachelor party he was ever going to go to unless he was invited to Claire, Channing, or Courtney's husbands thing. And that was different. Tonight was the night he could get shitty litty no questions asked. Cody already knew he had to be moderately sober at the wedding itself. "Dude, I haven't seen Nathaniel since the dinner. What the hell did the three of you tell him? Tryna get me in the dog house with her family?" said Cody as he took a sip, "I guess I'll be on my best behavior".

"Quality over quantity, my friend. No need for any extras." Marshall said with a smile. They didn't need to be apart of some big group to have a good time, they were the fun. Maybe that's why people loved them so much, they were just a joy to be around. "Nah he'll definitely interview you." He was just trying to mess with Cody a bit. That whole relationship was really out of the blue, but he wasn't judging. Marshall didn't know what was actually said when Charlie, Alice, and Katie were with Nathaniel, but it probably wasn't too bad. No one was actually out to sabotage Cody's relationship, but then again, Nathaniel didn't seem like the type to really get a joke. "I'm sure everything will be fine," he grabbed a glass and took a sip, "and if anything happens, Ross will mediate. It's what he does best."

"My ears are burning" said Ross with a laugh as he walked into the room, hearing people talking about him. "It's been a minute guys" he said as he gave Charlie and then Marshall a hug. Ross had been living his best life, dating Julie, working at the school. Even Bryce had been on his best behavior recently. Life was going really well for him because no one had a hand in making it worse. "Lane and Nor sent pastries" he said as he put the goodies down on the counter. "Cody, Savannah and Sloane wanted me to tell you that they're going to college in the fall and to dump Bella. I do not recommend it" said Ross, laughing as he took a drink from the counter. It was nice to be back with everyone from high school.

Nathaniel wasn't intending on being the last one to arrive, it was so unlike him, but he got caught up in a lot of work. He made sure to not let it ruin his mood though, this night was about Charlie and he wanted to make sure he had a fun time. He had been to quite a few of his pals' bachelor parties, and the more he went, the more self conscious he became. Nate was only 29, there was no age limit on getting married, but sometimes it would get to him. But for the sake of Charlie, he would not sulk around. He walked into the house with a polite smile on his face, "Sorry, I hope I didn't have you all waiting too long." Nathaniel shook everyone's hands and gave Cody any extra nod of the head. He was still a bit suspicious of that one, especially after what Katie said. Katherine Hastings was no liar. "Congrats again." he told Charlie with a smile.

"Girls after my own heart. I'll definitely have to hit the gym tomorrow. Gotta look slim for the dress" Charlie joked, even though he and Alice would definitely be working off the hangover tomorrow at the gym. It was their typical routine. Charlie picked up an eclair and drank more of his drink. Once Nathaniel was there, Charlie could see the anxiety wash over Cody's face. He must be really concerned about saying the right things. Maybe Cody was actually legit about this one. But it was his bachelor party, so Charlie didn't want to meddle too much. The boys were all here, and life was good. It was going to be a great night, "Thanks man. I'm glad you're here. Office wasn't too bad with me taking off early today?" said Charlie, he always felt guilty for taking time off but it was final details with Katie day. She'd shown up to the office to get him, and he'd let them know two weeks in advance. He was just a really hard worker, overworked himself even. It was all about showing Bryce up at the end of the day.

Nathaniel shook his head, "Not at all, I had made sure to put a reminder that you were leaving early. I appreciate the notice in advance, by the way." Nathaniel liked to make sure everything was in order, he had always been like that. Spontaneous decisions were not frequent for him. "You've been doing great, no need to worry about anything." he added with a friendly smile. Playing favorites wasn't exactly something Nathaniel did often, but he did really like Charlie, though there wasn't much to compare. The only source of competition for Charlie was Bryce, and well ... Nate quickly understood why people in town didn't like him very much. "But enough about work, this is your night. We're here to have a good time." He then turned to Cody, keeping the smile on his face, "I'm glad you're here too. I've been meaning to reach out. Get to know each other better, you know?"

Cody was naturally really nervous around Nathaniel, but he didn't show it. This was the time to be confident. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Bella and I have been meaning to do more with you guys" said Cody, lying because why not. He was sure they would do more stuff with the families soon. Now that school was out, it was a necessity. They had their trip next week, "she's coming out to the lake house with us really soon" Cody added, "there'll be plenty of time for her to work on her art. Get to know my parents. Things are getting pretty serious". Cody needed to sell that he wasn't some sort of romantic jackass like his reputation showed. Nathaniel probably didn't listen to gossip, but then again everyone in town did. It made it hard to do anything in Hastings.

"We're on different schedules most of the time, which is pretty unfortunate. Veronica is usually with Eleanor, and Fiona is such a mystery. She'll go off to who knows where from time to time." Nathaniel said, followed by a small chuckle. "But we come together more during the summer, probably because Founders Day is so close. Our parents like us all to be together when they host their events. So I'm sure we'll see each other more." Nathaniel wanted to make sure Cody had good intentions with this relationship. Bella was devastated after her breakup with Landon. She had pretty much shut down and stopped talking to everyone. He didn't want to see her like that again. "Is that what you want?" he asked, referring to Cody's comment about things getting serious. "Casual relationships are always fine, it's just being on the same page with one another is what matters most."

Cody was holding on strong. If he could get out of this he would, but here they were. Committing to the bit. "Yeah, it's what I want with her. She's different. Good for me. I'd like to think I'm good for her too" said Cody kindly with a shrug, "I don't express much, so this is a lot for me". Cody wanted him to back off about everything, the less focus there was on Cody and Bella the better the lie would look. Put a microscope up to it and everything would fall apart, "but she's got me opening up for sure. Slow and steady though" he assured.

Nathaniel listened with a friendly smile on his face, "Well that's very nice. I'm happy for you both." Though everything seemed fine so far, Nate was aware that Cody wouldn't say something dumb in front of him either. He was literally Bella's brother after all. But there was no reason to push any further, if this was someone that his sister was serious about, he wanted to develop some kind of relationship with him. Be optimistic until Cody gave a reason not to be, that was the plan. "I'm sorry if I'm being too pushy, especially right now of all times." he let out a laugh. Sometimes Nathaniel didn't know when to just have a good time. He really needed to loosen up. "I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of you anyways, so there's more than enough time to get to know each other. But tonight is about Charlie." he said as he patted Charlie's back.

Cody shook his head when Nathaniel said he was being too pushy. For Cody, he absolutely was. But towards the guy his youngest sister was dating? Absolutely called for. Cody got it. "Not at all" he lied. "We will definitely be around" Cody said, knowing that was the crux of their agreement. "Tonight is all about Charlie" he repeated. It was important to keep the focus off of him, and he was going to be good tonight just to appease Nathaniel. They had a great night, all of them. Eventually meeting up with Alice and her girls. Cody felt almost normal hanging out with his brother and his friends. //END

#chalice wedding #charlie: thread #cody: thread #ross: thread #threads || charlie and cody #threads || cody and charlie #threads || charlie and ross #threads || ross and charlie #threads || cody and ross #threads || ross and cody #threads || marshall and charlie #threads || marshall and cody #threads || marshall and ross #threads || nathaniel and charlie #threads || nathaniel and cody #threads || nathaniel and ross

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miriyos · 7 years ago

Text

blind eye (wc: 2,074) jt/tyson

Gabe looks between Josty and JT trying to explain his thought process — how he put two and two together to get a couple out of their rookies — to Nate when it clicks. “Oh my god. They were roommates.”

“What does that even mean?” Nate asks in return, confused.

It’s okay. Gabe is the captain. He can break it down more.

JT gets the call up from the Rampage first which gives him enough time to acclimate himself in Denver before one of his Rampage friends gets the call up too. That friend is Tyson Jost.

Tys, Tyson #2, Josty, the Jostmiester.

The spirit in the locker room for the most part is down. They’re not having a great season so really, all the Avalanche can really do is go up. They literally cannot get any worse than they’ve already been performing. As captain, Gabe is delegated to take care of all the motivational speeches and he tries, but he’s tired. He’s tired of losing, he’s tired of working on lines with chemistry that keeps missing the mark, and he’s tired of this season.

His captainly duty should lead him to making sure that Tyson feels welcome to Denver but he doesn’t have the energy. He tries and his effort ends up feeling half assed.

Rookies stick together though so instead of Gabe opening his home for the rookie, JT invites Tyson to go apartment hunting with him. JT is in need of a roommate and Tyson is in need of, well, a room.

Luckily, Tyson doesn't have to suffer for as long as the rest of them. He only plays the last few games of their season before it ends.

The Avalanche is a young team though. Gabe is more confident in their next season that something, literally anything will go right for them. So he goes back to Sweden for the summer to relax and train, attends some weddings, and comes back for a new season feeling refreshed.

Most things are the same. Others take Gabe longer to put his finger on.

*1*

“You left this at my house,” Josty tells JT, handing him an opaque plastic bag. Gabe can’t tell what’s inside but Tyson is already making his away across the locker room to be nosy.

“What’s in the bag?” Tyson asks, trapping both rookies into headlocks as he takes over JT’s stall to make room for himself. Jost admits defeat while JT tries to use his big body to wiggle out of Tysons grasp. “Bring us anything?”

“It’s just a jacket I left at Tys’s house,” JT replies. He even takes it out of the bag to show Tyson. The jacket is Rampage issued with his number on the shoulder and JT’s name on the back.

“You guys hung out over the break?” Nate butts in, his shoulders slumped. “Why don’t we do that?” he asks Gabe.

“You never called,” Gabe answers.

“You saw me over the summer,” Tyson points out to Nate, “am I not enough for you?”

Nate makes an awkward noise. “Yeah, of course, dude. You’re plenty.”

After practice Gabe logs onto his Twitter for the first time in months. Sitting on the top of his feed are retweeted pictures of Josty and Comphy standing in front of a lion exhibit. The original tweet is from Josty’s sister. The caption: third wheeling with these boys.

Just bros being bros, taking one bro’s sister with them to the zoo for... supervision?

*2*

Gabe gets used to Josty and JT sharing clothes. It’s mostly just Tys stealing JT’s things though. If not for the fact that JT’s Avalanche gear is always branded with his name or number, the visual of the sleeves making sweater paws when Josty takes JT’s stuff is indiciation enough to hint what is JT’s and what is Tys’s.

They’re roommates though. They live together in Denver and they’re roommates on the road too. Clothes can get mixed up. It’s happened to Gabe before back when he was a rookie. He wore Nate’s shirt for an hour before someone pointed it out to him.

He genuinely thought he had lost weight. The shirt fit looser than usual but he didn’t think much of it until he got an earful of chirping. Gabe became more careful after that.

After getting caught once or twice, Tys becomes more and more casual hanging around the hotel wearing the number 37. The exact opposite to Gabe’s strategy which puts JT in a situation where he announces, “I’m cold.”

Josty yawns, hugging his arms closer around himself. His eyes don’t leave Nate’s PSP where he’s trying to snipe all his teammates as he replies, “I have a hoodie in my bag.”

JT sighs although he digs through Josty’s bag with familiarity to pull out an Avalanche sweater with the number 17 on it. Gabe catches JT’s eyes drag over the name Compher stretched across Tys’s back. He puts on Tyson’s sweater then goes to reclaim his spot on the bed.

It’s not weird.

Bros sharing clothes. Not a big deal unless someone makes it a big deal. Gabe isn’t going to be that person.

*3*

All the boys get fitted for brand new suits for the Mile High Dreams Gala.

LG helps Tyson get mic’d up so he can go around to interview all the boys while Peter coaches him through the questions the fans want answered. Tyson nods through it all and then completely works by his own script.

“Are you interviewing the boys or hitting on the boys?” Dutchy asks, laughing.

“Well I don’t have a date so,” Tyson attempts to explain before EJ jumps in the conversation to chirp Tyson too.

Gabe laughs along with the rest of them for a moment, then dismisses himself to see what the rookies are up to. The gala is probably their first big media event. Unlike most teams, no pranks were played on the rookies. Gabe is just a good captain like that.

“How are you boys doing?” Gabe asks, approaching Josty and JT hovering around the buffet line. Barbs and Greer swerve around Tyson to avoid being interviewed before making a beeline toward Gabe.

“Tell Tys that that tie doesn’t match,” JT asks Gabe, poking Josty in the chest.

Josty laugh. “But you said I looked good. My mom picked out this tie and you picked out my shirt.”

“Yeah,” JT agrees, “but I didn’t know that you were going to wear that together.”

Gabe looks his rookie up and down, head to toe carefully. He’s somewhat of a fashion aficionado on the team. Still, he isn’t sure what’s wrong with Tyson’s outfit. “It’s not bad?” he says, sounding much like a question.

“Those are different shades of blue,” JT points out. “Blue and navy blue. And like, stripes. You can’t pair stripes with polka dots.”

“I don’t even know what navy blue looks like,” Josty says.

“It’s a nice color. I like it but you’re too blue,” JT tries to put lightly.

“Well,” Gabe says, wanting to make the rookie feel better, “I think you look good. You look like a real lady killer.”

Gabe gets called away by Nate asking for an assist but not before JT chirps Josty saying, “Well you’re definitely killing me.”

*4*

The Avalanche get scheduled to play on Valentine’s Day against the Montreal Canadiens at the Pepsi Center. The boys with relationships briefly lament the fact that they won’t be able to make any big plans for the day but ultimately, it’s game time.

It’s a revenge match since the Habs managed to kill their 10 game win streak.

The game ends at a reasonable enough time which means there’s enough time for them to go out to celebrate the win. The vote ends up being split between going out to a club or to a restaurant for some real food. Gabe feels too tired to go out partying.

“Okay old man,” Nate chirps once it’s officially decided that the team will just split up and go two places. Nate is a free man to go out since his girlfriend is back in Canada.

“We can drive together,” Gabe suggests to the rookies that decided on food.

Josty and JT exchange glances. “I can drive me and Tys,” JT offers. “You can take more guys if we take a separate car.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal,” JT shrugs. “We can just meet you guys there.”

“You guys know where you’re going?” Bernie asks, phone held in the crook of his neck as he tries to gather his things. “I’m going to pick up Martine and I’ll meet you there.”

“I’ll use my phone to find it,” Josty says.

Gabe is unable to wrangle EJ, Girard, Sven, and Barbs in a timely manner. They leave last and get to the restaurant just as Bernier and his wife are pulling into the parking lot. Gabe heads inside, his eyes peeled for his rookies when he sees Tyson and JT tucked away in the corner at a table for ten.

Sitting against the wall it kind of looks like they’re on a date.

None of his teammates blink an eye so it must just be Gabe imagining things.

*5*

Gabe gets a call that Avs 360 is doing a segment for Jost with color blind glasses. He’s asked to host so he shows up only to find JT dressed up on standby.

“He insisted on coming,” Lauren tells him. “He wants to host.”

It’s not really worth arguing over, plus, the less time he has to spend on camera, the better. His hair just isn’t working with him this morning no matter how much he played with it. Plus, it’s better for the fans to get to know the rookies.

He still doesn’t leave though. He kind of wants to be present when Tyson sees all the red, blues, and greens clearly for the first time.

One thing Tyson can’t stop looking at is JT’s hair.

“It’s like fire,” he says, clearly fascinated while he reaches out to touch. JT seemingly leans closer into Tyson’s reach but Tyson does not actually touch JT’s hair. His eyes haven’t left it though. “Has your hair always been this color?”

“Yeah, I think so,” JT replies. He licks his lips, which, weird, but could mean anything.

“What do you see in the painting?” Lauren asks from behind the camera.

Tyson doesn’t hear her because JT is still talking. “Guess me and your mom don’t have to help you get dressed for —”

“How do I look? In the glasses, I mean.” Tyson cuts in, blushing as he cuts his teammate off.

“I mean, like, as good as you can look,” JT says after a long pause. He does that thing, the lip licking, Gabe is trying not to pay too much attention to.

Gabe is prepared to be insulted on Tyson’s behalf. He thinks the rookie looks good but Tyson is smiling, clearly having a good time with the experience. He’s pretty much been beaming the entire time filming.

“So, like, not that good?” Tyson asks for clarification.

“You look fine, yeah,” JT confirms.

LG calls for the scene to cut for now so the cameras can be set up elsewhere for the last few closing questions. Gabe is about to follow but eavesdropping. He’s not strong enough to resist.

“So I really don’t look good?” Tyson seems to be asking again, putting his back to the rest of the staff present for the video.

The poor rookie doesn’t seem to realize his mic is still very much on.

“I think you look good either way,” JT says reassuringly with his head ducked down. “I can see your eyes better without them.”

Tyson pushes JT away from him, laughing with that same smile he’s had on since he walked into the building. They’ve probably expected that Gabe walked away with everyone else to move onto the next part of the video so the arm JT puts around Tyson’s waist is no illusion or mistake at all.

Gabe sees it.

He sees Tyson reciprocate the gesture, his hands coming up to JT’s collar pulling his teammate in closer. JT says something private, directly whispered into his teammate’s ear and that’s where Gabe draws the line of playing spectator.

“Where’re the guys?” LG asks when Gabe shows up in the hotel lobby alone.

Gabe shrugs. “I’m sure they’re coming.”

(The inspiration for the fic. Thank you, Avs 360.)

#myfic #jt/tyson #and they were roommates #5 things fic #5+1 fic #also having two tysons on the team #very confusing #had to switch between using names and nicknames #hockey rpf

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craigrcannon · 4 years ago

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Employee #1: Airbnb

A conversation with Nick Grandy, Airbnb’s first employee.

Employee #1 is a series of interviews focused on sharing the often untold stories of early employees at tech companies.

Nick Grandy was the first employee at Airbnb. He is currently building Outschool, which helps parents find and book learning activities for their kids.

Discussed: Closing Down Your Startup, Finding a Startup to Join, Meeting the Founders, Interviewing at Airbnb, Growing From Four to 500, Leaving Airbnb, and Hiring Your First Employee.

Craig : Could you just start by explaining how you ended up at Airbnb?

Nick : Yeah, for sure. I had come out to Silicon Valley with the intention of getting into the startup world though, to be honest, at the time I didn’t know anything about Silicon Valley or startups. I just knew I wanted to explore that world.

I moved out to San Francisco at the same time I joined YC in the winter of 2008. I was working on this company, Wundrbar, with a friend of mine and had a fantastic experience in YC and learned a ton and met a lot of people.

I think actually my high-level plan was “Okay, I’m going to go do this startup, I’m going to do YC, I’m going to figure it out, this is going to be awesome and that’s Plan A. And if that doesn’t work out, well, Plan B is that hopefully I’ll join some other cool company and get into a startup that way.”

Plan A didn’t work out. We shut down the company after about a year and that’s when I started looking around for other startups to join. I think I had the appetite at that point to join an early-stage company so I still had a pretty high risk tolerance but I also wanted to work on something where I felt more assured that my efforts would be put to good use and that there were actually customers and users.

I was meeting with various early-stage companies and ran into the Airbnb guys at a YC event, actually. I met Brian [Chesky] at one and then at a separate event met Nate [Blecharczyk], and the conversation continued from there.

Craig : Were you interviewing with other companies?

Nick : Yeah, I was interviewing elsewhere. Another company I interviewed with was a brain-training game company. I actually worked in a neuroscience lab previously and had an interest in that realm as well. They offered me a job but I passed. I wasn’t fully convinced.

At the same time I was talking to some other people about starting a new company where I would be CTO. But again, I think it was too early, too risky, and I didn’t want to spin wheels for another year trying to get something going. Whereas with the Airbnb guys, they were super early and small but they had a product, a V1, that was up and running. And the product was working. I used it as part of my application process and was like “Yes, this is super cool, this works, I can totally envision this growing and taking over the world and I want to help do that.”

Craig : In terms of interviewing, what was that like?

Nick : I met them socially then swung by the office one day for a pretty casual chat, sort of like “get to know you.” We went to the roof and chatted and had an introductory conversation. Then there was a take-home coding test. Which was basically building a web app. They wanted an answer to, “Can you be productive immediately?”

And then there was an in-person interview with each of the founders. Lastly there was what at the time was termed “the beer test” though now it has more appropriate names.

Craig : Was there anything in particular about the founders that made you want to join Airbnb or was it the product entirely?

Nick : I think it was both. I knew that I’d be working with those three guys very closely. I had to be impressed by them and excited about the prospect of working with them and I was. I was at a point where I was looking for both a product and a vision that I was excited about in addition to the people.

Craig : In terms of the early days, how long was it before there was another employee?

Nick : It actually wasn’t long. They had been looking to hire a first engineer for a long time and the product was starting to take off in such a way that it was then like, “Okay, we need to scale.”

At the time that I joined, there were some sales contractors who were there and pretty soon after, we brought on support contractors. I think actually the second full-time hire came on like a month after I did and then probably the next full-time hires came on maybe like a month or two after that. And then it just picked up steam.

Craig : When it was just four of you, what was that environment like?

Nick : It was the four of us around a giant desk–like four desks pushed together in the middle of a living room.

I think that they, as the founders, they remained more concerned with the corporate questions. I was brought on as an engineer specifically so I had a pretty specific domain. But for things like product questions – “How do we fix this problem?” or, “How do we do this?” – I think those questions were fairly collaborative.

At the time we had weekly product meetings where we talked about the work in progress, challenges, priorities, and how we were going to invest them. It was a fairly collaborative environment.

Craig : You were there for several years, how did the environment change over the course of your time there?

Nick : It definitely evolved. I think that as the company grew, more separation was created. Initially The founders would independently talk about the high-level priorities and then Nate and I would talk about engineering priorities–what we’re going to build, how we’re going to sequence it, and the allocation of work. As the company grew, early employees, myself included, had larger responsibilities in terms of onboarding new people, setting product direction, and defining the direction of the company. I was basically an individual contributor engineer in my first year, an engineering manager / product manager in my second, and a general manager in my third.

Craig : How did your opinion of the company change as you came into this role where you were managing other people?

Nick : The company definitely scaled very quickly. I was there for three years and when I left it was about 500 employees globally. In the last year that I was there, we basically opened like 10 international offices and hired a ton of people because it was just this incredibly rapid growth.

I preferred the small company vibe and was less interested in being a senior manager at a larger company. My favorite stages at Airbnb were when we were around 10, 15 people plus or minus, where there was some focus and specificity of roles but the whole team was also really intimate and you knew exactly what was going on. There was a very fun feel to working at the company. It had this sort of Wild West feel then.

Craig : I’ve noticed that desire among a few first employees. They seem to like that stage where it’s kind of in-between. Do you know what I mean?

Nick : Yeah, totally. I was going to say that by comparison I also worked at Clever. I was there immediately before Outschool. I joined when they were about 20 people and left when they were around 80 people. I started to have the same feelings in relation to the size of the company. That said, Clever is an awesome place and I actually would have stayed except that the time was right to start Outschool with Amir [Nathoo] and Mikhail [Seregine].

Craig : So what was the trigger for you to leave Airbnb?

Nick : There wasn’t one trigger in particular. I was and remain super excited about the company but it was basically the organization growth. Scaling from four to 500 people in three years is super chaotic, and I was less excited about being part of a large company.

Craig : You picked a winner in joining Airbnb. You could have tried to do that again. What made you feel that you wanted to start your own thing?

Nick : That’s a bug that I had prior to being in Airbnb. I had gone through YC. I wanted to start my own thing. Where that came from, I’m not really sure.

I think it’s just different strokes for different folks. Some people would be really thrilled to pick a winner and join a hot startup early on, then grow and become a senior executive at that company. For whatever reason, that wasn’t the vision that was exciting to me. The vision was to create something from the ground up.

Being at Airbnb also created a really tough baseline. Airbnb’s such an awesome business. It’s a really great business model, it’s really fun and it’s exciting and romantic. There are so few businesses like that. It’s particularly difficult when comparing it to other businesses that I’ve looked at and considered joining or starting.

Craig : I assume you learned a lot at Airbnb. How are you translating that now into Outschool?

Nick : There are a lot of parallels in the two-sided peer-to-peer market. I think pretty much every day there’s some parallel or learning I think back to or recall for Outschool.

In terms of product, marketplace dynamics, and organizational growth, learnings are applied every day. Actually, working at Clever was also a fantastic experience because it showed me that it’s possible to have a high-growth company with a totally different culture and different approach. That was a great learning experience and one I’m glad I did before starting a new company again.

Craig : Have you hired someone yet as a first employee?

Nick : Actually we’re in the process of that right now.

Craig : So what are you doing? How’s it going?

Nick : There’s all of that tension around how much you optimize for every hire. And I think Airbnb sort of optimized very carefully and it was really painstaking in the early days of hiring me and then also hiring subsequent employees. We were really careful vetting and then on the other hand you have the advice to, “hire fast, fire fast.” I think actually my approach is going to be a little closer to that.

Craig : Are you narrowing in on a person?

Nick : We have two roles: a customer success manager and an engineer. We’re in the interview process for both of those and we’ve had a pretty good response. We’re interviewing people in person so hopefully we’ll have a hire in a matter of weeks, hopefully not months.1

Craig : What are you looking for in a first hire?

Nick : The thing that we’re screening for in the first hire are someone who’s comfortable with a dynamic environment and comfortable with change. They need to recognize that week-by-week there might be differences in the company. You just have to be comfortable with that or it’s not going to work.

We also want somebody who wants to help build a company from the ground up. Not just someone who’s just looking for a job, somebody who’s really excited about the idea of helping to build an organization.

Those are sort of critical for any role, independent of the particular skill sets. And then also things like being an independent thinker and being able to solve problems on their own, because we can’t oversee everything.

At this point we’re essentially looking for partners as opposed to people who are simply hired to do a 9-5 task and then go home.

Craig : What about somebody who’s looking at companies and thinking about being a first employee? What should someone know if they’re going to do that?

Nick : That’s a good question. I think a lot of that’s pretty context-dependent by where the company is at. I joined Airbnb at a time when we were just starting this very aggressive growth curve and the whole organization scaled very quickly. That’s different than if I had joined early on and for a year we struggled to find product/market fit and didn’t hire anybody else.

Those are very different things and imply different relationships. I think for a lot of YC companies there is a pretty big distinction between the founder role and an employee role where the founders are thinking about corporate-level things and a different set of problems than any particular employee will who is brought in to solve a particular problem for the company.

Craig : Is there anything someone should know about setting or managing their expectations when joining a company as a first employee?

Nick : Generally, it’s a super risky thing to do. The sweet spot generally comes later where there’s more clarity that a company is on a great path and has a great growth curve. For very early employees often that’s not clear, let alone how long the company will be around or what things are going to look like in six months or a year.

I think that anyone looking for an early role needs to be comfortable with that high level of risk and needs to be particularly excited about the benefits of being super early, such as being able to touch all parts of the company and see all the parts clearly. There’s also the team intimacy, the Wild West feel, the lack of process, and then the immediacy of doing anything that comes along when your team is then only four people or ten people large.

Craig : Thinking back on Airbnb, how do you feel about your time there?

Nick : I feel incredibly fortunate that I got connected with the company at the time. It was a fantastic experience in growth and I’m itching to have that experience again.

1 Since speaking with us Outschool has hired their first employee. ↩

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