#taggfics

[taggianto]

Sabres Trash

Sabres Trash

I started a completely new tumblr, not connected to this in any way. It’s completely hockey-focused, so if you enjoy hockey and my writing for hockey fandom, follow me over there.

[taggianto]

Prompt: Wingfic!verse, player and team of your choice, his wings have started changing colors, but it also means his old feathers are scraggly and molting weirdly, and the urge to preen is overpowering.

—

Mitch is the one who catches him in the locker room, wings outstretched as he tries to contort his body to reach the molting pigeon feathers between his shoulder blades. John sighs. He really should have waited to do this at home, but the itch was just too unbearable.

“Matty? You still in here? Did I leave my- oh.” Mitch stops short when he sees him. Not that it’s unusual for guys to have their wings out in the locker room or anything, but John had been keeping his stowed away for a reason. 

He clears his throat. “Auston already left. Is there something I can help you find?”

Mitch blinks and shakes his head as if he just realized he’d been staring. “Oh! Uh, no no, it’s cool, I just thought maybe I’d left my phone charger in his bag but it can wait until next practice; I mean, I have extras and stuff.” He bites his lip, a move John’s come to realize as Mitch trying to stop himself from rambling.

There’s a beat of silence before they both start talking at once.

“It’s okay to-”

“I could help if-”

They both pause. John hasn’t let anyone touch his wings since… Well. He hasn’t had anyone touch his wings in a long time. And yet Mitch looks so hopeful, and the itch of new feathers isn’t going to just go away.

Mitch seems to realize he’s crossed a line and starts to back away. “Sorry, sorry, I’ll just-”

“Mitch, wait.” John lets out a sigh and some of the tension drops from his shoulders. “If you want to help, I’d– I’d like that.”

[taggianto]

44 + bittyparse ♥

“You deserve better than him. It doesn’t have to be me, but you deserve better.”

“Excuse me if I don’t think you’re a little biased, Kent Parson.” Eric wiped at his eyes and stared at him defiantly. “What are you even doing here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be getting on your bus or something?”

“I heard what he said to you,” Kent said, shrugging a bit helplessly. “I know what it feels like to have to shoulder the brunt of Jack Zimmermann’s anxiety after a loss.”

“It’s called being a supportive boyfriend,” Eric said, narrowing his eyes. “Something I doubt you know anything about.”

Kent didn’t rise to the bait. “Maybe not. But the way I see it, a supportive boyfriend wouldn’t cause their boy to cry and then leave without making sure they were okay.”

Eric sniffed and leaned back against the white cinderblock walls of the arena. “He’s just under a lot of stress. He doesn’t mean anything by it, he’s just… it’s just hard on him.”

“And it’s not hard on you?”

“I’m not the face of an NHL franchise.”

“No, you’re just the first out captain of an NCAA hockey team, who, if I’m judging academic calendars correctly, is fast approaching senior midterms.” Kent’s eyes softened. “Who’s being the supportive boyfriend for you?”

Eric doesn’t have anything to say to that.

“Look,” Kent said, digging out a pen and ripping a piece of paper off a nearby flyer. “Relationships are a two-way street. If all you do is give, you’ll have nothing of yourself left. Believe me, I know.” He handed Eric the slip of paper that now had a phone number written on it. “If you need to talk,” Kent said. “And I mean it, I’m not trying to pull anything by giving you my number. I swear I’m not really an asshole, and I know how Jack can get.”

Kent pressed the paper into Eric’s hand, nodded, and left.

Eric didn’t move for a long time afterward.

[taggianto]

Prompt 39 for Sid/Segs, pretty please?

Missed call from Tyler SeguinMissed call from Tyler SeguinMissed call from Tyler SeguinMissed call from Tyler SeguinMissed call from Tyler SeguinTyler: i’ll keep calling for the rest of the night if i have to until you answer meMissed call from Tyler Seguin Missed call from Tyler Seguin Tyler: come on sid answer your fucking phoneTyler: i will not hesitate to call malkinIncoming call from Tyler Seguin

Sidney let out a grunt of frustration. The last thing he needed was to be hounded by Geno as well. He tapped on his phone to answer the call. “There, I answered. Happy?” 

“Ecstatic,” Tyler deadpanned.

“Can’t we just forget about this and move on?”

“We really, really can’t, Sid. You know that. I know that. And now most of the hockey-loving world knows that so.”

“Why did I ever let you talk me into going out last night?” Sidney flopped back onto his bed and closed his eyes. Maybe if he wished hard enough, he could will the earth to swallow him whole.

“Because I am fucking delightful and you know it. Look, we have options here.”

Sidney let out a derisive snort. “Do we now.”

“Get your head in the game Crosby, of course we do. All they have is one picture. We were clearly both inebriated, we can write it off as nothing more than alcohol and poor choices.”

“You would have experience with that, I suppose.” There’s silence on the other end of the line and Sidney cringes inwardly. That was harsher than he intended. “I’m sorry, I didn’t–”

Tyler’s voice is tight when he speaks again. “I’ll chalk that up to your being under a lot of stress and move past it if you will.”

“Deal.”

“Right,” Tyler continues. “Well. I’ve already been in contact with Stars’ PR, of course, and they made sure I knew the organization supported me regardless of sexual orientation, blah blah blah, you know the drill. They’re willing to take cues from us on how we want to handle this so. I’m assuming you’re looking to deny, obviously.”

Silence again, this time on Sidney’s end.Was he looking to deny the allegations? The smart answer would be to take the out that Tyler was offering. Nothing more than alcohol-inspired bad decisions. But then Sidney thought of actually going up in front of a press conference and denying it, denying he was anything other than the good, straight, Canadian hockey robot everyone wanted him to be. And for what?

“Sidney? You still with me?”

His career could obviously withstand his outing, is the thing. The Pens were hardly going to trade him or cut back his ice time. Tyler was similarly comfortable in his position with the Stars, even if he was in Texas. And what sort of example would it set? He’d never be able to come out after denying it once.

“Hello? Earth to Sid?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Right. So anyway, Stacy already has drafts written up for a press conference, so all she needs–”

“No.”

Tyler was quiet for a second, then, “No?”

Sidney sighed. “Aren’t you tired of hiding, Tyler?”

“Well, fuck, of course I am but that’s how the world works, Croz.”

“Why? Why is that? What if it didn’t have to be like that?”

A beat. “Sid, you can’t be serious.”

“Why not?” Sidney sat up on the edge of the bed, more sure by the second. “I mean, if you don’t want to then I’m not going to out you. But what if we didn’t deny it?”

“You’re crazy,” Tyler said, but Sidney was sure he wasn’t imagining the smile in Tyler’s voice.

“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m batshit insane. I don’t know. But I do know that I am a gay man and I play damn good hockey, and I’m tired of pretending that one can’t exist because of the other.”

“We’re actually doing this,” Tyler said, voice a bit quiet and awed. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I think we are.” 

[taggianto]

If there was one thing Kent knew, it was that with every high, there inevitably followed a low. And winning the Stanley Cup in his rookie season was a big fucking high. So that’s how Kent found himself three weeks later, in the kitchen of his brand new, professionally decorated penthouse apartment, eating Rocky Road ice cream straight from the tub. The radio is blasting “All By Myself” and though he’s definitely not crying, it’s a damn close thing.

The music is so loud, he doesn’t hear the door opening. When Jeff Troy rounds the corner into his kitchen, Kent’s eyes go wide as saucers, and he swears rather explicitly in Quebecois.

“Jesus Christ, Parser,” Jeff starts just as Kent says, “Shit, you’re early.” They stare at each other awkwardly for a moment until Jeff breaks out laughing.

Kent throws his spoon at him. “You are such an asshole.” He puts the lid back on the ice cream tub and shoves it into the freezer before switching off the radio.

Jeff is still chuckling, but there’s concern in his voice too. “So what was that about, huh?”

“It’s stupid.” Kent bends to pick up the spoon and toss it in the dishwasher.

When Kent looks up, Jeff has his arms crossed and an I’m not going to let you brush this one off, Parson look on his face. “Try me.”

“It’s just…” Kent sighs. Jeff was his best friend on the team, one of the only other players who’d bothered to get to know him outside of what he brought to the ice. Hell, he’d lived with Jeff’s older brother up until a few weeks ago, so if he couldn’t tell him what was going on, who could he tell? “It’s the apartment.”

“What about it?” Jeff drops his keys and wallet on the counter and hops onto a stool next to Kent at the kitchen’s granite-top island. “Regretting going with almond cream in the bathroom rather than waterfall mist?” Kent had a feeling Jeff was never going to let him live down the one time he’d asked his opinion on paint swatches.

“No, it’s just… so…” He waves a hand and searches for the right word. “...empty.”

He’s expecting Jeff to chirp him for that. He’s not expecting Jeff to look at him and nod. “Yeah, no, I get that.” Jeff claps a hand onto his shoulder. “And I know just what you need.”

So that’s how, forty-five minutes later, Kent finds himself knee deep in puppies at the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society. It turns out if you’re mildly famous and show up at the shelter, they’ll let you play with the puppies all you want. He and Jeff had taken a few of the older dogs out for their walks earlier and now they were both on the floor of the puppy play room throwing tennis balls and watching the rottweiler-lab-chow-terrier mixes gallop unsteadily after them. Their mother has her head on Kent’s thigh, grateful for the break from dealing with her pups.

“You do this a lot?” Kent asks once the pups have waddled off to occupy themselves with something more interesting.

“Not a lot, but it’s good stress relief.” Jeff ruffles the ears of a nearby pup. “I mean, obviously with our schedules there’s no way I’d have time for a dog but I had them growing up, y’know? So I miss it.”

“I never had pets growing up,” Kent says, staring straight ahead as one of the pups wrestles his brother to the ground.

“Really?” Jeff looks over at him. “Not even a fish?”

“Well, okay, I had a goldfish, but it only lived a couple months. But like, my mom is really allergic to pet dander so we could never have one.” He scratches between the mother dog’s ears and she thumps her tail appreciatively.

“Are you allergic?”

Kent gestures around at the surrounding animals. “Obviously not.”

Jeff laughs and nods. “Then you should get one. It’d make your apartment less empty, that’s for sure.”

“You just said that we don’t have time for dogs with our schedule. And we don’t.”

“So get a cat.” Jeff shrugs.

“Are cats easier?”

“Dude, cats are so easier.” Jeff stands and stretches out his back, holding out a hand to help Kent up. “As long as you leave food out, you can leave them by themselves for a few days. And on the longer roadies, you can just hire a pet sitter.”

They find one of the shelter workers who happily shows them to the cat rooms. The walls are lined with stainless steel cages. Paws reach out through the bars and tiny mews follow them around the room.

“Fuck, there are so many.” Kent is a little overwhelmed by the number of cages. “How the hell do you choose one?”

“From my experience, you just kinda know.” Jeff kneels down to scratch at a calico rubbing up against the bars. “That’s how it was when I picked out my first dog.”

Kent does a lap around the room, looking in the cages. He’d never really been a big fan of cats - yeah, they were cute and cat videos were inherently hilarious - but because his mother was so allergic he’d never really thought about them much. But now, looking into the cages and listening to the soft (and some not-so-soft) sounds coming from them, he’s starting to see the appeal.

He’s rubbing between the ears of a little grey kitten when he spots her. She’s in one of the bottom cages, and she’s curled up asleep in her litter box of all places. She eyes him warily as he crouches down.

Hi! My name is KITT, the placard on the front reads. 2 years old, female, spayed. BREED: Maine Coon. COLOR: Brown tabby. My previous owners had to move, so I’m looking for my new furever home! I may seem shy, but I warm up quickly. My favorite things to do include sitting in sun beams, chasing toy mice, and purring!

“Hey there, little girl,” Kent says quietly. She stands and stretches, arching her back up and yawning. He slides his fingers in between the bars and she cautiously comes over to sniff at him, then proceeds to start licking him. “Hey, that tickles!” he says with a soft laugh.

“Would you like to hold her?” Kent jumps slightly and looks up to see one of the shelter volunteers smiling at him. “I can let her out for you.” He nods, and the woman opens up the cage door.

Kitt stands at the edge of the cage, and Kent gently slides a hand along her cheek. “She’s so soft,” he says, smiling.

“Maine coons are really soft,” the volunteer says. “And really loyal. If you’re looking for a fluffy companion, a coon would be good for you.”

Kent spots Jeff smiling over at him then, and there’s a warmth there that he hasn’t noticed before. Huh. He catches his eye and Jeff glances away quickly. Before he can say anything though, Kent’s got a lapful of cat, one paw reaching over to guide his hand back to her head. He laughs and obligingly scratches between her ears. “I’ll take her.”

[taggianto]

The Aces Charity Carnival

Ladies and gentleman, step right up! It’s time for the annual Las Vegas Aces Charity Carnival!

Born from spitballing in the Parse Posi Posse discord. Love to @rushingsnowy (Linnea) and beaniebaneenie (CJ) for cheerleading and helping with this, and love to the rest of the Posse for all their support and awesomeness in general!

Suddenly I have the image of the Aces doing some sort of fundraiser with a dunk tank and everyone on the team signing up so they can dunk Carl

And like, it's outside in Las Vegas and normally it would be like, super hot so getting dunked in a tub full of water would be a good thing? Except it's stupidly unseasonably cold the day of the fundraiser so by the end of his shift Carl is shivering and his lips may or may not be blue from it

And then it's Kent's turn and everyone who signs up misses on purpose.

Jeff has a line a mile long while he's in the kissing booth.

Mostly because he's out at this point so there's both men and women lined up to kiss him

Kent gets in line with the guise of it being "for charity" but really he just wants to be able to kiss his boyfriend in public with a layer of plausible deniability

Scrappy is actually really good at face painting? So he spends the whole time painting kids faces with Aces logos and butterflies and sharks and abusing his glitter spray liberally

So what if each booth is for a different charity. Like the kissing booth is for HIV testing, the dunk tank is for well drilling in impoverished countries, the face painting is for art education... and each Ace is sponsoring one of the booths and matching all donations by 500%

CJ: What if the only person who dunks Kent is Bitty, because he wanted to see Kent with a wet t-shirt

But it's okay because it's at the end of his shift and then Jeff is there with a big fluffy towel to get him all dry

Jack is super awkward at this whole carnival thing. But he and Kent have started talking again and Kent had invited him and it was the offseason so he really didn't have an excuse....

He asks for a hockey stick at the face painting booth and scrappy paints a super glittery butterfly on him instead because he's still a little petty about how much his Captain got hurt by this guy

Jeff scolds him later because liking butterflies as a guy isn't a bad thing and shouldn't be used as a method of humiliating someone but at the same time he's like but for real I get you, bro

Jeff's just like "next time just like, paint that the Aces are better than the Falcs and then get that shit on insta."

CJ: ....what if Jack offers to get in the dunk tank (also matching donations?)

Bitty talks him into this because the only thing better than jack in a tshirt is jack in a wet tshirt Bitty has a Thing okay?

Linnea: are bitty and jack out in this? does the media latch onto pictures of sparkly butterfly on jack's face and go 'this gay pro athlete out here, being gay' and jack's like 1) i just wanted a hockey stick 2) a sparkly butterfly isn't what makes me gay? i was literally holding my boyfriend's hand and kissing him. why not take a picture of that?

Jack and Bits are definitely out for this.

There's definitely like, a hardest slap shot competition, with two entry levels - amateaur and pro. Because a lot of hockey players show up for this thing and jump at the chance to show off

Bitty actually signs up for the pro side and does pretty damn well for himself.

Jack and Kent end up tying for second. Some nobody fourth liner for the Lightning gets first and a lot of the players in the area are like hmmmmm

One of their goalies is really good at slight of hand, and does magic trick shows for the kids

They call the goalie Houdini. His first name is Harry anyway, the magic tricks were just a fortunate coincidence.

He's like their back-up's back up. But the guys love him too much so even though he's down in the AHL for the moment, he still gets invited to all the team events off season.

There's also a silent auction of course, and there's the requisite signed jerseys and sticks and pucks, but there are also gift certificates to the player's favorite restaurants, and one of the most popular items is a date with a few of the players.

So. Who wins the dates? Let me tell you.

Jeff's date is bought by this older gentleman who takes Jeff out to a celebrity restaurant in Vegas and then to a bourbon bar afterwards and they bond over talking about trains - Jeff loves model trains and the gentleman's father was an engineer.

Scrappy goes out with a woman whose husband bought the date for her. She's middle aged and super self conscious about her looks, but Scrappy is a total gentleman and treats her like royalty the entire night. They go swing dancing and she turns out to be really good once she gets the hang of it.

CJ: What if scrappy got her a corsage, bc that's what people did for dates when this woman was in the dating world

Kent's "date" is bought by the parents of a ten-year old kid who's on the spectrum and idolizes Kent. Kent takes him out onto the ice and shows him how to shoot the puck and gives him a jersey and one of his old sticks and shows him all around the behind the scenes of the arena, and also gives him box seat tickets to a game with his parents. It's a private box so if it gets too overstimulating for him he can take a break. Kent keeps up with the kid, sending him emails and eventually helps him pay for college when his parents go through a rough spot.

No one buys Carl's date.

CJ: bitty also definitely paid to kiss swoops

Kent gets Ideas when he sees Jeff and Bitty kiss. Because he's over Jack by now, he has no desire to start up any sort of sexual relationship with him ever again. But. He just might be convinced to sit and watch their boyfriends.... >.> this isn't an NsFW chat but you get the idea.

CJ: ...maybe Kent gets it in his head to kiss bitty?

And is v. disappointed when Bits doesn't get in line for his shift at the kissing booth. But then again he isn't out so Bits may just be trying to respect that? But then again he IS Jack's fiancé. And Kent is Jack's ex. Maybe that would be weird? But maybe it would be hot... fuck.

All I know is they def go out for a double date after the carnival except Bitty isn't aware it's a double date at first because he doesn't know Kent and Jeff are together, except Kent thinks he does because he definitely told Jack about them and he just figures that Jack will have told Bitty but he hasn't? Because he didn't want to out Kent if that's not what he wanted? And Jesus Christ Jack, since when did you get to be so thoughtful?

Fuck, yes of course you can tell your fucking fiancé that I'm in a relationship with my teammate but thank you for not assuming.

CJ: "Hey Eric, Swoops and I need you to settle something for us... We keep fighting over who is the better kisser... We need you to be the objective scorer. For science."

Bitty: But I'm not a girl? Kent: wait, what? Bitty: you're both straight, right? Or well, I know Jeff is Bi but... Jeff: Eric, Kent and I are together. Kent: And you know Jack is my ex. Bitty: Right but like you'd never actually come out to me or anything and I didn't want to assume I just thought maybe you were trying to get comparisons between how you both kiss different people and Jeff: Dude, breathe.(edited)

CJ: Jeff: also Zimmermann? [Bitty] is a good kisser. Out of your league, definitely. Way to go.

Jeff: *holds out a fist for a bump* Jack: Uh.... Bitty: No, babe he's totally right. I am so out of your league. *kisses his cheek*

Meet me in NSFW.

They go back to Kent and Jeff's place after dinner and Kent is definitely quite a bit tipsy on wine and Jeff is pleasantly buzzed and Bitty is too and Jack's the only one who's fully sober.

Jeff: So Kent and I were talking. Kent: *giggles* Jeff: And he'd totally like to watch you fuck me, Eric. If you'd be up for that. Bitty: :flushed: Jack: :no_mouth: :thinking: :flushed: CJ: Bitty: looks at swoops and sees tall muscle-y brunette Bitty: i.....could be persuaded

Bitty: glances at Jack Jack: subtly tries to hide the bulge that's appeared in his dress pants Jack: *looks at Kent* Would that mean we...? Kent: Oh, no. Sorry Zimms, you know I love you bro but that'd be weird I think? But I'm totally cool with watching them while we jack off to it. Admit it, it'd be hot as fuck. Jack: :tomato: Jeff: I'll take that as a yes?

CJ: Ngl i love bitty/parswoops bc  A) Kent gets two bfs B) swoops has two smol blond boyfriends

I don't see Jeff getting with Jack tho. TBH, I don't think Jack would be down for sharing himself with someone else? But he's totally on board for Bitty being with who he wants.

So when they all get together Bitty, Jeff and Kent go have their fun while Jack sits out on the porch reading a book and getting the quiet time he needs, and then Bitty sleeps with him in the guest room at night

CJ: And on nights where Jack needs to breathe, bitty and Jeff cuddle with Kent In the middle

Yes. And it takes so long for Jack to admit that some nights he just needs to be alone because at first he feels like that's rejecting bitty? But then they have Jeff and Kent in their lives and Jack can get what he needs and so can Bitty and it's perfect

CJ: Jeff also approves of this because it's easier to lavish attention on kent with two

CJ: And overstimulated, wrecked Kenny is beautiful

And like, before they got to this point Bitty and Jack's relationship was kinda on the rocks because they were fighting all the time (surprise surprise Jack couldn't communicate what he needed)

But now it's just so peaceful? Like yeah they still fight but it's just normal couple stuff.

CJ: Swoops would probably be good at getting them to cope better

Oh yeah. He would be super no nonsense about it too.

Like just. Sit them down and be like look, you're both idiots. Figure this out, Kent and I are going to the movies.

The end <3

[taggianto]

7 + any pairing of your choice

“I can’t stand you right now.”

Jeff doesn’t look up when Kent finally speaks. They’re the last two left in the locker room after practice - even the rink staff had told them just to lock the doors on their way out. Jeff’s not even out of his skates yet.

Kent continues. “I don’t even - Like, I can’t even really look at you right now, do you understand? Do you have any idea what you– how you made me–” His voice finally breaks.

The sound sends a white hot spike of shame down Jeff’s spine. This was his fault. There’s no one to blame but himself. He opens his mouth to try and say… something, anything, but nothing comes.

Memories from last night flash through his mind. Alcohol, dancing, arguments, yelling, a stranger, a bathroom, regret. Bitter and hot and angry and cold.

Kent shakes his head and shoulders his gear bag. “Don’t even bother coming home,” he says, and leaves.

[taggianto]

U for Kent/jeff please! -pwoops ;)

*narrows eyes*

—

U. Coming Home for PARSWOOPS.

—

The plane’s wheels had barely touched the tarmac by the time Kent started poking at Jeff’s arm.

“Jeff. Jeff, wake up. Jeff. Jeffrey. Swoops.” Kent punctuated each word with a poke.

“Wazzzafuck…” Jeff mumbled, blinking his eyes before squinting at Kent. “S'going on?”

Kent pointed past him to the plane’s window. “We’re here!”

Jeff groaned and turned his head to look. “Plane’s still moving, Parse.”

“Yeah, but we’re here!” Kent was practically bouncing in his seat as the plane made its way to the terminal. Jeff was abruptly reminded of a video he’d seen of a cockatoo dancing to music.

“Dude, chill.”

“We have been on this plane for over sixteen hours, I am literally out of chill, come on, help me get our bags.”

Jeff sat up, rubbed at his eyes, cracked his back, and let out a soft, “Christ.”

Kent busied himself with packing away their various electronic gadgets and chargers, folding up the blankets they’d used to nap, and throwing away any stray wrappers and garbage.

The plane finally stopped at the terminal and the flight attendants gave their farewells. Kent literally dragged Jeff out of his seat and up into the aisle so they could disembark.

“I don’t know what you’re in such a big hurry for,” Jeff said. “We still have to wait for the people in front of us to move.”

“You don’t know why I’m in such a big hurry,” Kent said, deadpan.

That caught Jeff a little by surprise. “Uh… no? I mean, I know you’ve missed Kit while we were in Russia but…”

Kent leaned in so close to Jeff’s ear his lips were practically brushing it as he whispered. “Because you just won a gold fucking medal for Canada and as soon as we get home I am going to give you the treatment an Olympic gold fucking medalist deserves.” He punctuated the last sentence by biting at Jeff’s earlobe before pulling away.

“Oh,” Jeff said, suddenly a bit breathless.

Kent simply winked at him and hitched his carry on bag over his shoulder.

It was good to be home.