Pact AU ft. one of our rookies discovering one of his new Pact-Holder's... quirks.
not super happy with it but! it be like that sometimes lol
"Easy, Chucky," The words barely register over the ringing in his ears, the smells of ozone and burnt flesh mixing together in a way that makes Charlé's head spin. "Take it slow."
He's not sure he'd be able to take it fast if he wanted to, but he still offers a slight nod despite the way it just makes him even more dizzy. Vision slowly begins to filter back in, only able to make out the blurry images of his teammates' legs at first before everything suddenly sharpens. Too fast, too sharp, it makes Charlé cringe and screw his eyes shut briefly. It takes him way too long to realize the groaning noise is coming from him, and even longer to realize that someone is sitting behind him, carefully gently rubbing his back.
"What happened?" He barely manages to get the words out, slurred and clunky.
"The Lightning happened," The person behind him--whose voice he can finally parse as belonging to Heddy--says. His voice is steady, grounding, and Charlé can't help but relax a bit. "You got your first NHL goal tonight, and uh, it wanted to do a celebration."
"Celebration?" Slowly, the memory is returning to him. He had just gotten the picture with his puck, settling in, it's all a bit of a blur tinged by the smell of ozone until--
He sits up, Victor supporting him with a steady hand at his back, and he blinks. The smell is slowly dissipating, but it's instead being replaced by a tingling sensation going up his left arm, starting at his palm, so he has the natural reaction of looking at it.
He blinks. "What the fuck?"
He's met with a chorus of suppressed laughter, which is quickly suppressed when the captain clears his throat.
"It's how It shows It's happy with you, if it helps."
He had seen them on his teammates before, both here and in Syracuse, but it's still startling to see it for himself. The Lightning shows Its happiness by striking Its players and scarring them with odd, branching marks that glow with a faint opalescence. He has no idea how far up the mark extends, but if he has to guess based on the way it feels, he's guess it's about to the crook of his elbow.
Once he's able to stand on his own, business continues around him as usual, as if he hadn't literally just gotten knocked out by their Pact-Holder, but considering how long It's been doing this sort of thing... he guesses he shouldn't be shocked.
A hand claps on his back they're getting onto the bus. "Congrats, man. Welcome to the Lightning."
