This is pretty shameless of me but dark!JT absolutely fits with how he first met Sid and I've got to nudge it your way for assessment: John went to an 09 SCF game with other top prospects and went backstage where they met Sid. All the other guys looked like squishy kid versions of their future selves, but John already had his handsome looks with a well-fitted suit and styled hair. When they filed into cramped Mellon locker room to meet Sid (cont)
John was the first to shake Sid's hand but ended up behind the camera and out of sight for the rest of the exchange. But if you zip to 0:19 in, you can see why. Sid is otherwise talking to the group as a whole but then Sid looks over to where John is standing separately and this *look* crosses his face. He ducks his head down to remove his skates and goes back to addressing the others with a softball question, eyes darting back to John occasionally.
Here's the YT clipA photo of the other prospects staring hungrily at Sid as he laughsAnd all the prospects together
that sure is... a fucking look.
the way sid’s eyes go hooded and the slight turn of his lips into a smile, shared and secretive.
like. did 18 year old tavares have game?? how was he looking at 21 year old sid to get that reaction? meeting the best player in the world during the stanley cup final... seeing him stripped down to his underarmor.... all his hard work and physicality on display.... playoff curls falling over his brow....
‘you’re beautiful and i can’t wait to dominate you on the ice’
a quiver settled in the base of sid’s spine and his eyes responded ‘can’t wait to see you try.’
the whole conversation between two people who breathe hockey so thoroughly that it bleeds into everything, done in an instant.
was it all those tough years in the island twisted that determination into something darker, something more willing to break? or was that always and already lurking below. is the dark urge that made john look sidney up and down and want to sink his teeth in the same urge driving john to bend or break mitch into exactly what he wants. except now, that urge has matured, john knows exactly what he’s doing, and the object of his gaze sits beside him every day.
