As much as I enjoy the concept of Bratlin Celebrini and Will Smith Brat Tamer, I (through my rpf goggles) don't see Mack as a brat outside of his relationship with Will. Everything I know about him makes me think that he's incredibly polite and humble, that he prefers working hard for the things he wants over being handed anything. He'd rather bite his own tongue off than say anything that might come across as rude or asking too much. Plus, the 20 years of his life have been full of sacrifice - Mack is not a guy that expects or is used to always getting what he wants. He's incredibly driven and takes hockey so seriously that it may seem obsessive to outsiders, but he's not a brat.
Except, then he gets to know Will, and Will is confident and unapologetic about wanting things in a way Mack hasn't known. Will knows how to make jokes that could be understood as mean if Will wasn't so damn charming. Will was supposed to harbor some remnant of hate for Mack after their BU/BC days but instead, he took one look at Mack and decided that they were partners now, and he never cared about any of the things that make Mack feel like an alien among human people sometimes.
Will tells Mack to dream big and be proud and speak things into existence. He laughs when Mack is intense and ridiculous. He listens to Mack's yapping, throws in a 'yes, and...' every once in a while. He made Mack his partner in crime for pranking teammates. When Mack says or does stuff that warrants getting mad, Will asks what's wrong, and when Mack doesn't want to talk about it, he finds a way to distract him instead.
Will and Mack have confirmed that Mack punched Will's windshield when he got impatient and annoyed because Will didn't take him home fast enough at the end of a long day, and that Mack refused to apologize for it. Will told this story with a big fat smile on his face and Mack blamed the softness of Will's windshield. Can you imagine Canada's prince of hockey accidentally breaking anyone else's windshield? He'd be mortified and apologizing a million times.
Anyway, Will Smith Hockey made his boybestfriend into a brat because he likes it. He walks his good little brat like a dog and he could tame him, thank you very much, but most days he enjoys the growling and biting. Every so often Will tells people the story of his windshield and people are like, What's wrong with that guy? Will looks over to his favorite person and thinks, Nothing you'd understand.
