Every summer, Tater, Jack, Snowy, and Marty head to a lake house with their families to spend a week together. This year, Alexei brings Kent Parson as his date, which sparks a ripple effect through every other relationship in the house.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Nine years ago, if someone had told Kent Parson that he would attend eight years of school and become a veterinarian instead of a professional hockey player, he would have called them delusional.
But here he is at a small clinic in Providence, fresh out of vet school and ready to start the next chapter of his life.
And then in walks one Russian NHL player who seems to be having a lot of problems with his cat...
@thetimetravellercat won my fic giveaway many moons ago and he asked for a vet!kent meetcute patater fic, featuring cats !! i had so much fun writing it, so i hope you like what i did with your idea !
help support me in my 150k of creative writing this year !
The amazing AK and I are co-writing an epistolary! that means it’s all written communication (in this case almost all emails) and no prose.
Premise: an anonymous pen pal service connects K with an ally, A, to help him through a difficult time: being closeted in a homophobic field of work. It will follow the two becoming friends and sharing secrets, bettering themselves and each other along the way.
First two chapters just posted, new chapters daily! We’ve already written 25 and many more are planned out. Get ready.
Okay, I am in desperate need for some new Patater I have read a bagillion times. Prompt: A & B are watching TV and after a while A closes their eyes. Thinking they are asleep, B starts watching their favorite animated movie from when they were a kid, not knowing that A is wide awake and trying hard not to laugh at how adorable it is that B still like kiddie movies.
thank you so much for this prompt!!! i’m not sure i hit the mark 100% maybe? but i thought it could actually fit in perfectly to a headcanon i posted recently that i was really excited about? so i was so happy to get this and hopefully the tooth-rotting fluff makes up for the slight deviation. i hope that you like this!! ))))) i’m still taking prompts so feel free to send in more! xx
i’ve also added this to my ao3!!!
Most people would say that Kent Parson was shameless, unafraid to tell the world who he was.
But that wasn’t strictly true, because Kent did have his limits.
Most of them just revolved around not appearing like a loser in front of Alexei Mashkov, because he actually really liked him and didn’t want to weird him out only three months into their relationship. The Kent Parson that was displayed to the outside world, the one that Alexei knew best, was very different from the Kent Parson he was in private, and he was terrified by the idea that Alexei might not be interested in him for long. Alexei was leaps and bounds out of his league.
But, Alexei looked sound asleep– curled up a bit to fit his frame on the couch, and head in Kent’s lap– which Kent couldn’t really blame him for. He’d flown in from Providence only this afternoon, and he’d had a game against the Schooners go late, into a shootout, the night before. He looked peaceful and soft, and Kent’s heart hurt for a moment over the sheer amazement that he was the person who got to have these moments from the giant defenseman.
Kent brushed a soft hand through the other man’s hair and grabbed the remote off the side table with the other, looking through Netflix to try and find something new to watch.
They’d spent the evening just like this, watching movies and eating take-out from the new Indian place nearby and sitting close enough at all times to feel the other’s presence, because the last time they’d seen each other was when Kent had been able to sneak away to Phoenix to see the Falcs play the Coyotes a month ago and they’d only gotten two hours actually together, even though it’d been a nice change to watch Alexei skate, live, from the position of a spectator.
Presently, Kent wound up in the children’s movies section, because, without-a-doubt, they were his guilty pleasure. He’d never admit it, outside of not actually complaining when he was helping out with his teammates’ kids and they begged to watch their favorites with him, because otherwise he was sure he’d get chirped to hell and back for it.
He wasn’t sure if Alexei would care that much, but since he was asleep, Kent supposed it didn’t matter, waiting for something to catch his eye.
He found it in An American Tail, something that he’d definitely tortured his mother with as a kid with constant rental from the library and watching it every day they had it. He wasn’t sure the last time he’d seen it; not for years, probably– not since those days.
Kent turned the movie on, and settled more comfortably, absently stroking Alexei’s hair gently every so often, hoping not to wake him up until he was tired enough to go to bed himself, or until the movie was over.
Things were quiet for all of maybe twenty minutes, when a loud sneeze from below him made Kent jump. Kent looked down, and noticed that Alexei was definitely awake now. Well now this was embarrassing. He quickly grabbed for the remote; maybe Alexei was still too asleep to notice Kent was watching a fucking cartoon movie and he could change it to something a little… cooler.
But instead, Alexei put long fingers around Kent’s wrist, and mumbled: “Нет, котёнок, you enjoying, not turn off.”
He sounded oddly awake and Kent frowned. “You’ve been awake this whole damn time, haven’t you?”
Alexei let out laughter, not even having the decency to sound sheepish as he admitted with a “Да.”
“Fuck you,” Kent grumbled, still clutching the remote, still having half a mind to save his dignity a little if he could and change it to– maybe a horror movie, or something, even though he actually kind of hated those.
But Alexei took the remote from his hand, and put it on the coffee table in front of the couch, and his head still in Kent’s lap meant the blonde was pinned where he was and wouldn’t be able to reach it again without pushing Alexei off. And Alexei seemed content to stay where he was, twining his fingers through Kent’s now empty ones, stroking his thumb along the side of Kent’s hand. “What wrong, моя любовь? Not be embarrassed. Tell me about movie? What is? I’m not know this one. Мыши русские?”
“I don’t know what that means,” Kent pointed out. There were small handfuls of Russian Kent could pick out, from Russian teammates throughout his life, and now with the way that Alexei threw Russian into casual conversation– Kent wasn’t sure if it was to prod Kent into learning more or so he could say sappy things that he knew Kent couldn’t understand, because Kent had repeated some of the phrases Alexei muttered to him to the Russian on the Aces and they were usually sugary sweet ridiculous that made Kent want to cry.
“Sorry”– but Alexei didn’t sound very sorry at all– “I’m ask, mice are Russian?” Kent looked down, and saw Alexei’s head turned up to him, a small smile on his face.
“Oh, yeah, they are.” Kent used his free hand to poke Alexei in the ribs. “And they’re Jewish– did you catch that in the beginning? They’re celebrating Hannukah?”
At that, Alexei’s smile spread into a grin. “Нет, I’m not notice that! Movie is American? With Jewish Russian mice! What is this movie?”
“It’s called An American Tail, it’s from the 80s,” Kent explained, and suddenly didn’t feel too embarrassed about being caught watching it because Alexei seemed delighted over this new discovery. “You don’t think it’s stupid?”
Alexei sat up then, surprising Kent like usual with the gracefulness he could have off the ice, with that huge lanky frame, and leaned into Kent’s space. “Think is wonderful, not you should be embarrassed,” he assured. “It’s cute, you enjoy movies from childhood, is sweet. I’m love it. Not think anything about you stupid, котёнок.” Alexei pressed a soft kiss to the corner of Kent’s mouth.
Kent couldn’t hold back a small smile even as his cheeks flushed and he gently shoved at the Russian, muttering: “Stop, you big sap, you’re clearly the embarrassing one.”
But Alexei laughed that bright, deep laugh and just grabbed at Kent, pulling him close. “Not stop, know you love when I’m embarrass you,” he protested, placing more kisses all around the blonde’s face, seemingly anywhere he could reach as Kent squirmed in his grasp, trying to act annoyed despite giggles betraying him.
“No, no, stop! You’re missing the damn movie, you goon! He’s gonna meet Tiger!”
“Who is Tiger?” Alexei asked, settling in and turning back to the screen, throwing an arm around Kent’s shoulder. Kent settled in, too, leaning into Alexei’s side and curling up a bit.
“You’ll find out if you watch the movie,” Kent responded.
“Fair, okay, I’m watch movie now. Shh, no distract,” Alexei teased, placing a last kiss into Kent’s hair and squeezing him gently.
Things were silent between them until the credits were rolling, then Alexei, beaming, exclaimed: “Good movie, Kent! Can’t believe you hide this from me. New favorite, we watch again sometime?”
“Babe, we can watch the other three right now,” Kent explained, exiting from the play screen and back to the menu.
“Is more! Замечательно! Let’s watch, please.”
Kent laughed softly, nodding and clicking play on the next movie in the series.
russian translations:Нет = noкотёнок = kittenДа = yesмоя любовь = my loveМыши русские = are the mice russian? (which alexei translates… but hey)Замечательно = wonderful
So I wrote this for my friend @kanyeparson and it’s probably terrible cause I haven’t written fic in forever. But enjoy!
When Tater comes home from his Saturday practice like usual he finds his door unlocked. He wasn't expecting Kent for their four year anniversary for another couple of days due to their practice schedules but he could have come early. He cautiously opens it and silently walks inside, hearing the familiar tunes of Carrie Underwood and the sound of crying.
The air smells like something was burning so he makes his way to the kitchen, surely an intruder wouldn't be making him dinner. As he turns the corner to his kitchen he sees his Kenny softly crying on the floor cradling a bottle of expensive wine. He makes his way over to Kent and kneels on the floor next to him.
"Kenny, what is wrong котенок? I thought you are not coming until tomorrow." Tater says gently. Their anniversary was only a couple of days away and they both planned to meet up and celebrate on their anniversary so Tater is a bit confused as to why Kent is crying on his kitchen floor.
"I came early to suprise you for our anniversary. I was gonna make a romantic dinner with candlelight and music, but I ruined it, i'm sorry I ruined our anniversary Alexei." Kent explains to him. Alexei smiles down at Kent who is still cradeling the bottle of wine in his arms.
"You did not ruin a thing Kenny. Our anniversary is not for another two days. Still have much time to make romantic dinner with candles and music. Or we go out instead." Tater says before pressing a gentle kiss on his forehead before moving down to his lips and giving them a quick peck. "Now let us clean up this mess and we can go out for romantic dinner."
Kent slowly gets up of the floor with Taters help and turns towards the counter. It's covered with what looks like the ingredients for breaded chicken. There are breadcrumbs everywhere, raw eggs in a bowl, some uncooked chicken breasts, and on the stove is a pan with four burnt chicken breasts. Tater smiles at the mess imagining Kent trying to cook chicken and chuckles.
The two of them work silently together to clean up the mess and when they're done Tater comes up behind Kent and wraps his arms around him.
"Where do you wanna go?" Kent asks turning around to look up at Tater.
"Wherever you want котенок, I do not care as long as I am with you." He says resting his forehead against Kents.
"Maybe we can just stay in and order takeout, maybe watch a movie." Kent whispers to him.
"Even better" Tater says smilng. As long as he has Kent by his side he doesn't care where they go or what they eat, he is just happy be with Kent on their anniversary. His mind wanders to the ring box in his sock drawer and his smile grows. Some day soon he'll ask Kent but now he is content to cuddle up and watch a sappy movie with him.
some extremely self-indulgent patater snow day fic bc of my snow day today and Why Not right. i hope it’s enjoyable!! ~3k words under the cut.
“Kent— Kenny— Wake up, котёнок.”
Kent moaned in protest, rolling onto his other side and away from the voice murmuring by his ear. “I dunno what time it is, but whatever it is, it’s too early,” Kent mumbled, hiding his face in the pillow.
Alexei’s laugh was familiar and warm and he felt the breath lightly against his hair. “Is ten, you are sleeping long enough, is time to be waking up now,” the Russian insisted. “Big snowstorm they are promising come. Очень красивый.”
“Baby, I’m not awake, don’t make me try to understand Russian right now,” Kent whined, because he had never had that kind of talent Alexei clearly did for another language— even if it was out of necessity; he had attempted to gain some grasp of Québécois in the Q and had never mastered more than introducing himself, really, and it was about the same for Russian.
“Very Beautiful,” Alexei translated, pressing a kiss to the shell of Kent’s ear. “Snow is very beautiful. You come look, котёнок.”
Kent reached up to pull the blanket further over him. “You remember I grew up in New York, right? I’ve seen snow before. I'd be fine without seeing any more of it.”
“Is too bad, because you are helping me to shovel,” Alexei replied, and Kent could hear the teasing lilt to his tone.
“Fuck you,” Kent muttered, groaning. “Fine.” He couldn’t exactly tell Alexei no, even though he doubted shoveling was too hard of a task for a 6’4” man with the build of a hockey defenseman. Then again, with the addition of a 5’10” man built like a hockey forward, maybe Kent could get them back inside far sooner, where he could sit under blankets on the couch, curled up with Alexei and the dog, and pretend there was no such thing as snow— which had lost its magic by the time Kent was twelve and realized he hated everything about being cold down to his bones and always having to shovel the stoop and sidewalk of the New York City brownstone apartment he lived in with his mom.
"Спасибо," he heard Alexei respond— and Kent could translate that, at least, as 'thank you', because he'd heard it umpteen thousand times.
However, Kent made no moves to change position or get out of bed, if anything just burrowing himself into bed further. Alexei seemed content with this for a few moments, just leaning over Kent and lazily mouthing at his jaw, until Kent finally blinked his eyes open because obviously he wasn’t actually getting back to sleep. “Okay, okay, I’m up,” he sighed.
Alexei pulled away as Kent sat up, rubbing his eyes, and when Kent looked over he saw the brunette was grinning. “Good! Is time to play in snow!” he exclaimed.
Kent rolled his eyes. “I don’t get how you’re so excited about it. Bet snowstorms are even worse where you grew up… I’d hate it.”
“Нет, Kent, I’m find very nice… very refreshing. Do not mind the winter.”
“You’re crazy, you know that?”
Alexei smirked, nodding. “But you are still loving me, baby.”
Kent laughed. “Yeah, uh-huh. C’mon, you goon, let’s get this over with.” He pushed himself from bed, simultaneously running his fingers through his hair in lieu of a comb, then going through Alexei’s drawers to find some extra layers to put on top of his own clothing. Anything Alexei owned for himself was baggy on Kent, but not baggy enough that he drowned in it— just enough to be comfortable— and it certainly wasn’t a con that they also, of course, smelled like him. He pulled on his own clothes, threw what he’d borrowed from Alexei over top, stumbling a bit in his still-waking-up state. When he figured he was wearing enough to be fairly warm, he followed Alexei downstairs to the entryway of his house, where they had outerwear hanging.
Kent had had to buy new, real, winter outerwear when he’d started visiting Alexei more regularly. Even if the season was ongoing and he couldn’t get over much during the wintertime, he’d quickly realized that his Vegas-winter-wear wasn’t going to cut it whatsoever. It had been a while since he’d been out east any time but the off-season.
He pulled on boots, gloves, and his jacket, before tugging on his ridiculous Aces winter hat complete with a stupid pompom on the top. Alexei was similarly bundled up, but sporting a Falconers’ beanie, of course.
Kent followed Alexei outside and frowned at the cold breeze that blew flurries in his face. It was still coming down lightly, he realized, but it looked like at least a foot had collected on the ground already and Kent saw other neighbors had ventured out to clear what had settled on the ground before there was double the work to do later. He sighed, pouting at Alexei, who just gave him that loose and lopsided grin that always made Kent melt instantly, and rolled his eyes instead as his lips pulled up into their own smile.
There were two shovels set against the side of the house on the porch, so Kent grabbed one and Alexei grabbed the other, and after a quick debate over who would start shoveling what area, he got to work.
It had been years since Kent had had to shovel snow. He remembered a few occasions of helping his billet family shovel during snowstorms in juniors, but even that had been almost ten years ago. Then, of course, Kent had spent his winters in Las Vegas. Well, he could confirm he still hated shoveling as much as he ever had. He grumbled as he pushed snow off of the steps, clearing them and the walkway that led from Alexei’s house to the sidewalk.
“It’s cold as shit out here,” he complained when Alexei was within earshot.
“Thought you growing up in New York, used to snow and cold?” Alexei chirped, and there was a look in his eyes that Kent recognized well by now as his fucking-with-you look.
So Kent rolled his eyes and huffed, exasperated. “Doesn’t mean I like it. I’m freezing, babe. I’m about to turn into a popsicle.”
Alexei laughed, because he was a merciless bastard. “Sooner you stop complaining, sooner we are finishing shoveling. Need to shovel Mrs. Everett’s house, too,” Alexei explained, gesturing over to the house across the street, where said Mrs. Everett lived alone. She was an elderly, spitfire of lady, but also the kind who brought over containers of homemade soup for Alexei, especially during the season, and made sure his fridge had something in it. Kent remembered the first time Alexei had excitedly explained Mrs. Everett, and how she had learned to cook a few Russian dishes for him— which were admittedly, and understandably, not as good as his mother’s, but the sentiment was all that mattered. In turn, Alexei was always willing to go over and help her with housework when hockey wasn’t in the way. In short: Kent wasn’t surprised that they were digging out her house, as well, and he only nodded his head with a small pout on his face as they finished up Alexei’s home.
After they had finished Mrs. Everett’s house, Kent was making his way back across the street, shovel dragging along behind him, when something thunked against the back of his head. The beanie stopped most of the cold, but he shivered at the small pieces of snow that fell against his neck.
He whipped around, eyes narrowed at Alexei, who was poorly feigning innocence, working too hard to suppress a smile.
“You really want to start a snowball fight with the best shot in the NHL?” Kent accused. If there was one thing he didn’t feel like doing, with the cold officially having seeped into what felt like every last centimeter of his being despite his effort to layer up, it was find himself sopping and covered with snow.
“Am not being such bad shot myself. I’m having many goals this season.”
Kent laughed at Alexei’s comeback, because he knew that. He obsessively kept himself up to date with Alexei’s stats. Besides, he’d always known Alexei was a good player, his goal scoring records impressive for a defenseman. “You’re not goading me into this. I want a hot chocolate and a fluffy blanket,” Kent replied instead.
“Such grumpy old man, Kent Parson. No fun.” Alexei’s stance took on one that Kent recognized from on-ice moments: a challenge, daring Kent to back out of the competition; it was the posture he took whenever he was lingering on the edge of a face-off, ready to jump into the melee and take the puck for the Falcs.
And damn, if being a competitive motherfucker wasn’t something Kent couldn’t seem to grow out of. “First off,” Kent said, and heard the glint of challenge in his own voice, “You are older than me, Mashkov. Second, I’m so much fun, it’s illegal. Third: you’re going down.” Kent let his shovel drop where he was standing. The street hadn’t been plowed yet, and Kent had the feeling it wouldn’t be any time soon, considering the other neighbors coming and going across it like automobiles were a forgotten thing of the past.
He leant over, picking up a handful of snow and forming it into the rough shape of a ball (when was the last time he’d had a snowball fight? Probably the Q, he thought, on the occasion a bunch of rowdy teenage hockey-playing boys had an off-day and the snow was the right consistency for it). As he concentrated on pressing the snow together in his hands, another thud of snow hit against his chest, and he tensed for a moment before chucking what he had formed right back at Alexei, nailing him in the chest as well.
They continued like that for a maybe ten minutes, until a few of the neighbor kids caught on to the snowball fight— and Alexei was the kind of guy that always joined in when he had spare time and they were out playing some sort of game in the street, of course; Kent had watched last summer from the porch as the kids had set up a game of street hockey and yelled to Tater to join them, and then Alexei had convinced Kent to join in as well, and they had been awestruck that they were playing hockey with Kent Parson, but they had treated Alexei like he was just another one of the kids (and Kent had forcefully pushed aside his feelings about watching Alexei with children to examine at a much, much later date)— and before Kent even realized it, they were pausing to develop strategies and build defenses, Alexei with a handful of children on one side of the street and Kent with his own handful on the other.
Things turned into a flurry of snow and shouts when one of the kids called to resume the war, and Kent forgot for a moment that he was uncomfortably cold and that his gloves were starting to soak through as the kids chirped his poor snowball-making skills and he was told he was only allowed to throw them because, yeah, he was Kent Parson.
And then suddenly, Alexei’s team plowed through their own defenses, charging at Kent and his kids, and Kent was trained to prepare himself for ambushes like this, body turning and tensing in a way that would make Alexei’s body slamming into his hurt a little less, throw him a little bit less off balance even though he wasn’t on skates, but it was instinct at this point in his life. And sure enough, Alexei’s body connected with his own, and he was so much bigger, so much heavier, that without any boards to catch the impact or the ability to skate away at a lightning speed, Kent fell into a drift of snow with a huff of breath as Alexei knelt over him and— motherfucker!— shoved some snow down his jacket.
Kent spluttered as the cold bit at his skin, trying to censor his curses in front of kids suddenly ten times more difficult. “I’m— I’m gonna— you are dead, Mashkov,” he finally stammered out, pushing at Alexei’s chest with all the strength he could muster, as the big Russian laughed and fell off to the side, lying beside Kent in the snow.
The blonde seized the moment before he even really thought about it, grabbing a handful of snow and sitting up to let it drop down onto Alexei’s face. It wasn’t compacted, wouldn’t hurt, just give Alexei the same cold sting of snowflakes on skin. The bigger man gasped in surprise, bolting back up into a sitting position, and pouting at Kent as he wiped the snow off his reddened cheeks.
The neighbor kids had already forgotten about them, continuing their snowball war with single-minded intensity, leaving Kent and Alexei in their own little world.
So Kent stood up, then offered out a hand of truce. “Ready to go inside?” he suggested.
Alexei sighed, but nodded, taking Kent’s hand and allowing himself to be pulled up (not as much of an effort as it sounded, considering Kent could bench more than Alexei’s weight during his workout routine). “Cannot believe you put snow in my face.” Kent knew the anger was feigned. It wasn’t as if Alexei had never fallen face first onto solid ice before. A little snow in the heat of a moment of play was nothing.
“You shoved snow down my shirt, so, fuck off,” Kent chirped back easily. “It’s still down there.”
“Guess you are just going to have to be getting undressed when we are getting inside,” Alexei replied, all-too-giddy about the prospect.
Kent rolled his eyes. “Nope— No— You are not getting in my pants right now. I’m putting on the fluffiest, warmest clothes you have immediately and cuddling on the couch with Willow while you make me a giant mug of hot chocolate.”
Alexei laughed, but took Kent’s hand and squeezed it. “Yes, котёнок, whatever you are wanting,” he conceded as they crossed the threshold back into the warmth of Alexei’s house.
They walked up to the master bedroom together, unlinking hands when they reached the bathroom— the safest place to strip off their wet clothes without getting snow all over the carpets and making a bigger mess. Kent felt goose bumps rise over his flesh when he was standing naked, and quickly walked back into the bedroom, grabbing a pair of his own boxers before yanking open the drawer of Alexei’s dresser where he kept pajamas. He pulled on a pair of flannel pants, then found a worn and soft sweatshirt. When Kent was done getting dressed, he padded downstairs to the living room, settling on the couch where Willow was already napping. She repositioned herself against Kent when he sat down, and Kent threw a blanket over himself.
A moment later, Alexei walked in on his way to the kitchen. He paused to ruffle Kent’s hair from the back of the couch. “Making hot chocolate now. You are wanting marshmallows?” he asked.
Kent tilted his head back to smile upside down at his boyfriend. “Please, babe.
“Да, be back in few minutes.” And with that, Alexei was walking out of the room.
The warmth seeping back into Kent’s body as he waited had him half-asleep by the time Alexei came back, nudging him to alertness. He had placed the mugs on the end table, and when Kent was awake again, Alexei sat down and repositioned them so that Kent was in between the v-shape of Alexei’s legs, pressed close, and the blanket was over both of them. Willow shifted as well to get closer to the both of them, laying herself half across their legs.
Alexei pressed a light kiss to the back of Kent’s neck before twisting, and a few seconds later, a steaming mug of hot chocolate, topped with a ridiculous amount of marshmallows already melting into it just the way Kent liked them to, was in front of his face. He took the mug with both hands, enjoying the hotness against his semi-stiff fingers.
“Thanks, Tates, you’re the fuckin’ best,” Kent murmured, taking a cautious sip. Hot, but not enough to burn too much. He lowered it from his face and relaxed against Alexei’s chest.
“I’m know, am best,” Alexei replied teasingly, “But thank you. And thank you for helping with snow. Was being fun day. Not so bad, the snow, да?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kent agreed half-heartedly. “I guess it’s not terrible. I still like the desert better, though.”
“Will convince you eventually, Providence being much better than Las Vegas.”
Kent laughed sleepily. “Right, okay, Alyosha, if you say so.” He took another sip of the hot chocolate Alexei had made, feeling content.
