[ jacob elordi, 29, cis male, he/him ] - was that BERNARD 'FITZ' FITZGERALD i saw around town today? i heard that they work as a DEFENCEMAN FOR THE TEXAS TWISTERS and have been in town for 6 YEARS. they have a reputation of being MAGNETIC & AVOIDANT and people in town usually associate them with a phone call home that goes longer than he planned, the specific din of a locker room after a win & the accent that comes back thicker when he's tired. can’t wait to see them at the next game!
fitz has never had trouble being liked. the harder thing, the being known, is where it gets complicated. he's warm in a way that feels effortless because for him it largely is — good in a room, good with people, the kind of person who makes friends without particularly deciding to. he remembers names, remembers details, has a way of making whoever he's talking to feel like the most interesting person he's encountered all week. what he's less good at is staying still long enough for any of it to go deeper than surface level, and dallas has mostly accepted this as part of the deal because the surface level is genuinely enjoyable company.
he came to hockey later than almost anyone at this level. the discourse ran loud for years because of it, the question marks, the potential narrative, the takes that had decided what he was before he'd finished becoming it. he sat with all of it in the specific way someone does when they're too proud to admit it stings and too stubborn to let it go. the numbers this past season have started saying things that are harder to argue with, and he is not interested in being gracious about that. he was right. it just took a while for everyone else to catch up.
dallas suits him. he moves through it like someone who has made a deliberate decision to enjoy his life, and largely succeeds. he's social in the way that comes naturally rather than effortfully, the kind of person who ends up at things without entirely meaning to and leaves later than he planned. there's a dog who takes up the whole backseat of his car. there are sunday dinners that are non-negotiable regardless of what else is going on. there are two people ten minutes away who have followed him across the world twice without being asked, and the way he talks about them, when he does, tells you more about him than most things he'd willingly offer.
the commitment issues are real and he knows it. he doesn't pretend otherwise, doesn't sell anyone a version of himself that includes a future he's not going to show up for. what he can't fully account for is where it comes from — or more accurately, he can account for it and just hasn't found a version of that conversation he's willing to have. he moves through relationships the way he moves through everything, fully present until he isn't, and the people who've been on the receiving end of that would tell you the worst part is that he's never cruel about it. it would almost be easier if he were.
there's a version of him dallas doesn't get. it surfaces in the way he talks about melbourne with people he actually trusts, in the jersey number nobody here has ever thought to ask about, in the accent coming back thicker on certain phone calls before he's even noticed it happening. the warmth is real, the charm is real, the genuine interest in whoever he's talking to is real. but there's a difference between fitz being generous with his presence and fitz actually letting someone in, and most people in dallas have only ever been offered the first one.
he is, by his own account, fine. the ambition that drove him through a canadian winter learning a sport he had no business being good at hasn't gone anywhere, it's just got quieter and more certain. dallas is starting to feel familiar in a way that's different from the places he's lived before, and he's not entirely sure what to do with that yet. he's starting to think he might want to find out.
platonic
– best friends.
– ride or die.
– teammates.
– sibling like friends.
– unlikely friends.
– positive influence.
romantic
– flirtationship.
– one night stand.
– friends with benefits.
– exes on good terms.
– exes on bad terms.
– enemies with benefits.
antagonistic
– enemies.
– former (best) friends.
– negative influence.
– mutual jealousy/rivals.
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