Could you write a hockey themed Tyrus fic at some point?
Hockey, as a whole, means nothing to Cyrus Goodman. It doesnât matter that his schoolâs team is a part of the Big Ten. He doesnât care that theyâve made it to the Frozen Four of the NCAA tournament three years in a row now. When his friends talk about it (and they talk about it a lot) he mostly just tunes it out. Sports, in general, arenât really his thing, but hockey especially isnât. Itâs violent. It involves shoes with knives on them sliding around on the most dangerous surface possible. It completely goes against all of his pacifistic sensibilities.
Which is why heâs not sure how heâs ended up getting dragged to a game tonight.
âSeriously, would you stop complaining?â Buffy sighs at him. âItâs not even that cold in here.â
âI just donât understand why I have to be here,â Says Cyrus. âYou guys have never cared if I stayed behind before.â
That much is true. Buffy, Jonah and Andi are all regulars at the games. Theyâre avid fans of the NHL in their spare time and that enthusiasm seems to have translated to college hockey too. Buffy is dating one of the third-line forwards, Marty, and as a result, all three of them are currently sporting his jersey as they yell their support from the stands. Theyâve never felt the need to include Cyrus in this before, usually very understanding that heâs allergic to almost all forms of physical activity that do not involve dancing badly to Carly Rae Jepsen when heâs in a particularly good mood, but tonight Buffy had insisted he come.
She rolls her eyes at him. âI wasnât about to let you mope around in the library again. You need a life outside of studying and class, you know that right?â
âI have a life! Iâm part of like three different societies!â
âDo you ever go to their meetings or socials?â She asks with a raised eyebrow.
He grimaces back at her. She has a point. Cyrus is pretty good at socialising when it comes to it, but the idea of jumping in feet first with large groups of new people makes his palms sweat. He prefers to stick to talking to classmates and dorm neighbours.
âExactly,â Buffy says with a smug look. âYou donât talk to anybody!â
âI talk to you guys!â
Dragging her eyes away from the pretty blonde sat two rows ahead, Andi jumps to Cyrusâ defence, obviously having had enough of this bickering match. âAnd he talks to that guy in his American Lit class, donât you, Cyrus? Whatâs his name again?â
Cyrus nods and forces himself not to smile. American Literature has become one of his favourite classes of the semester and itâs not because of the course content. âTJ,â he replies. He tries to keep the dreaminess out of his voice but it must not work as well as he intended as the girls exchange looks of amused exasperation.
âAre you planning to ask him out any time soon or are you just going to keep mooning over him silently?â Buffy asks.
âExcuse me, I do not moon.â
Andi snorts. âNo, youâre right. You drool.â
He smacks her in the shoulder and almost slides right out of his seat trying to avoid the jab to his rib she gives him in return. Fortunately for him, this battle is quickly broken up by the return of Jonah bearing armfuls of popcorn and soda.
âSo apparently,â he says as he sits down and passes out the snacks. âKippen is in tonight.â
Buffyâs eyebrows shoot up in surprise. âReally? I thought he had another game left on his ban.â
âWhoâs Kippen?â Andi asks. She likes the game well enough and will cheer just as hard as the other two when it comes to watching games but she doesnât keep up with the standings or lineups like Buffy and Jonah do.
âOne of our d-men,â Jonah replies. âHe got suspended for like six games for roughing.â
âI thought roughing only gets penalties?â Cyrus asks. As much as heâd like to know absolutely nothing about the game, some information sinks in from time to time.
âNot if you go too far with it. Anyway, the team appealed the decision and the league lowered it. I think they argued he didnât instigate the last fight.â
âHuh. Well⊠canât hurt to have him back. Is he back on first line?â
As the game starts Cyrus learns two things:
He was right. Hockey is not his thing.
Student-athletes are terrifying but their fans are worse.
The crowd is so loud they might actually blow the roof off the arena. He sits, a little afraid, in a sea of blue and gold as people scream over one another in anger every time a referee makes a call. It doesnât seem to matter what the call actually is, theyâre all mad about it each time. He feels a little bad for the officials - it canât be fun to be the guy that makes all the tough decisions. Especially when people threaten to fight you every chance they get. He decides to distract himself from the frenzy around him by actually focusing on the guys on the ice. Theyâve got pretty good seats, low in the stands and close to the glass because âMarty is a blessingâ according to Jonah. He keeps an eye out for him, as heâs the only player he knows he figures he might as well be ready to get excited if he scores or something, but another guy catches his eye too.
âKIPPENâ reads the back of his jersey as he barrels into an unsuspecting member of the opposition, squishing him against the boards like a bug. Oh. So thatâs who the others had been talking about. Heâs not close enough for Cyrus to make out his face, helmet obscuring his features somewhat, but something about him rings a bell in Cyrusâ mind.
Five minutes later, he figures out why.
One of Kippenâs teammates gets cross-checked and goes down hard. It takes nought point two seconds for Kippen himself to come flying in, drop his gloves and grab the guy responsible for the check. At some point in all the chaos, Cyrus finds himself caught up with the rest of the crowd stood up and screaming. Fists are flying. The officials canât get near enough to pull them apart. Kippenâs helmet comes off.
He gets the takedown, the crowd cheers jubilantly, and as he straightens up a shock of recognition floods Cyrusâ system. He smacks Andi on the arm.
âThatâs TJ!â He exclaims.
âTJ? As in American Lit TJ? As in American Lit TJ who youâve been crushing on since classes started?â
That just about sums it up.
TJ Kippen is the softest, funniest and sweetest guy Cyrus has ever met. Except, heâs not apparently. Apparently, this whole time has been wandering around thinking he was some sort of coffee shop poet heâs actually been skating around throwing hits and earning the ire of several opposing teams while drawing the adoration of half the school. Cyrus isnât sure what to do with this information.
âCyrus, Cyrus! Hey!â A voice breaks through the hustle and bustle of the crowded parking lot. Theyâre hanging around waiting for Marty so they can go and get pizza to celebrate the win. It seems like half the teamâs fans are waiting outside for the boys to emerge too. Cyrus wonders what thatâs like, to have fans while at college. He turns and sees TJ jogging over to him. He mustâve moved at the speed of light to get showered and changed so fast. He looks so soft in his button-down shirt, wet hair flopping into his eyes.
âHey,â TJ pants slightly, stopping next to him and leaning one hand on Jonahâs car. âI saw you in the stands⊠I didnât realise you came to our games.â
âI donât usually,â Cyrus explains. âIâm not really good with sports. Iâm friends with Buffy? Sheâs dating one of your teammates-â
âOh, Martyâs girlfriend? Yeah, sheâs cool. Sheâs on the basketball team, right?â
âAwesome,â TJ grins at him, goofy and wide. Itâs almost enough to distract Cyrus from the bruise forming around his eye, but not quite.
âAre you okay?â He asks, starting to reach out to touch it then aborting the gesture last minute. âMaybe you should go see somebody about that.â
TJ waves him off with a casual hand. âItâs fine, I already got it checked. Itâll be okay. Thanks for the concern though⊠Iâm glad youâre here. I wasnât expecting to see you until Monday.â
âThat makes two of us,â Cyrus laughs. âI didnât know you played hockey. Congrats on the win, though.â
âThanks, I guess thereâs a lot we donât know about each other, huh?â He rubs the back of his neck and smiles. Cyrus feels warm to his toes. âActually, I was wondering⊠could we fix that? Would you maybe like to grab a drink with me or something? To get to know each other? No old white American authors or anything. Just the two of us.â
âThat sounds great⊠but I already agreed to go out with my friends-â
âWeâll save you some pizza,â Andi cuts in suddenly, then turns to TJ. âHeâd love to go.â
Cyrus looks at her, wide-eyed, and she gives him a stern look in response. Well, sheâs not wrong. He looks back to TJ.
âIâd love to,â he confirms.
The winning smile he gets in return is more than enough to make up for being dragged out to a sports game. Huh, maybe hockey isnât so bad after all.
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