and/or small things for "checkmate (i couldn't lose)"
fic ask game
↻FLIP FLOP: a scene from another character's POV in of use:
(I was going to do something from Geno's perspective and then this occurred to me and unfortunately, i am constitutionally incapable of not going for the bit.)
Dana watched from his office as the guys trickled out of the locker room in twos and threes. He was glad they were wrapping up early for once. This group sure liked to linger, sitting around in their own stink or messing with the new kid, sometimes for hours after a game. And he wasn't one to complain, but tonight was the season finale of Battlestar Galactica and his wife wasn't too good with the TiVo.
When the press finally filed out, Dana took it as his cue to duck into the room and finish his post-game routine. He figured he could get the gear airing out and the laundry going in about 15 minutes and could wrap everything else up within 20. He should be able to make it.
He heard them before he even got the door open.
"No, no—Geno, please I can't."
It was the kid in his nasally little whine that Dana was, unfortunately, all too familiar with. Sid was sweet, though particular as all get out, but you could hardly turn a corner these days without tripping over him being contorted into some position that frankly seemed a little impractical. The kid always seemed to be enjoying himself though, so what did Dana know. He was just a beta.
He hesitated with his hand on the door, screwing up his courage before he ducked inside. Surely, he thought, after an entire season of indecency, there was nothing left to shock him.
He was wrong.
"Geez," he whispered under his breath. Sid was splayed over Geno's lap with his face screwed up and tears on his cheeks, while Geno held him by his throat and shoved his improbably large knot into him. Good heavens. That didn't look comfortable at all.
Dana felt a spike of worry for the kid when he yelped in pain, but kept his head down and crept around the room, grabbing stray jerseys and base layers and throwing them into the bin. Whatever Geno was doing with the breeder wasn't his business, but the laundry was.
Geno bared his teeth when Dana skirted too close to grab the jock from Scuds' stall, and Dana made sure to duck his head and avoid eye contact. Geno was real protective of the kid, even if he didn't seem to use him regularly, as far as Dana could tell. He'd made it real clear to all the staff that Sid was for the team only and no one else should touch him, and despite his breeder status he was to be treated like the other players. And he was always watching Sid like a hawk, pulling guys aside to bark at them if he thought they weren't treating him right.
It was nice, Dana thought. He'd been nervous when they'd gotten word that Bettman was letting breeders integrate into the league, and he'd heard a few horror stories from other teams on the road. But Sid was real respectful, even when relaying his litany of requirements for his gear—which, privately, had made Dana wonder if perhaps the kid wasn't just a touch spoiled. But he always cleaned up after himself and wiped down whatever surface he'd been bent over, so Dana couldn't hold it against him too much.
He wondered idly as he shoved the laundry into the machines, if Geno knew just how particular Sid was about his routines, though. He hoped this wouldn't become one of the kid's post-game rituals, because Dana had a tight schedule that didn't include waiting around for the captain to finish his hanky panky with the breeder every night.
He sighed when they were still curled up together in Geno's stall after the laundry, and headed to wipe down the bathroom. He didn't know how knots worked nor did he care to, but surely they'd have to be done soon.
He lingered over the bathroom for as long as he could, hanging up the razors and refilling all the hand soap and lotion bottles before venturing back out into the locker room. Geno was still hunched over the kid, murmuring into his ear and rubbing at his stomach. They were both smiling softly, and the kid was making that little noise that was part honking giggle and part purr.
It was sweet, actually, and Dana felt a little bad about being annoyed. It'd been a couple long hard seasons for the captain. He was glad to see him getting some use out of the boy. That's was the whole point of having him, after all.
He snuck out of the room and back to his office to wait them out, hoping they were almost done, and called his wife. "I'm sorry honey, but you're gonna have to work the TiVo tonight."
♡ SMALL THINGS: my favorite minor detail from checkmate:
I think my very favorite thing about it was getting to call Hextall a beta cuck, that line makes me laugh every time. I just reread though, and I'd forgotten the little detail about how Geno's slick changed with his heat. I like that, I should use it again lol.
⇆ SLIDING DOORS: pick a character from one fic to drop into another!
oooh fun. and evil. if rabbit heart tendersoft geno was bodyswapped with geno in the of use locker room, he'd of course zero in on sid and then be extremely taken aback when sid melted into him and started begging for it. he'd very quickly get over himself and Do It For Her since sid obviously wanted it so bad and no one else was batting an eye at any of it.
however, the first time anyone else tries to touch sid and geno sees him leaning into it, he'd be picking sid up like a football and sprinting the hell out of there. not on his watch.
✰ NEW SHAPES: an alternate direction rabbit heart could have gone
oh, easy—my original intention for the rabbit heart dynamic was of use. the scene with the reporters was pretty much all i had in my head when i started writing, but it became clear pretty quickly that this geno was way too soft for all that so i just ran with it in another direction. (i can never commit to pure grime, unfortunately. skill issue.)
Congratulations to our nominations for this year’s
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Fiction
“Fernweh” by Tamzin Mitchell
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