Virtual Trick-Or-Treating
Oct. 31st, 2013 07:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rsadelleHappy Halloween! Welcome to the fifth annual edition of virtual trick-or-treating.
Knock or ring the bell by leaving me a comment, and I'll reply with a treat of some sort. It might be a fic snippet, a picture, a song, or something else I come up with in the moment. I will be virtually handing out treats until around eight PM Pacific Time, but if I don't get to it by then, I'll give you a treat tomorrow, or by the end of the day Saturday at the latest. Lurkers and anonymous trick-or-treaters are welcome! (But if you want a treat specific to your interests, let me know something about why you know me.)
(Not my actual door. Photo by Flickr user derekskey, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.)
Knock or ring the bell by leaving me a comment, and I'll reply with a treat of some sort. It might be a fic snippet, a picture, a song, or something else I come up with in the moment. I will be virtually handing out treats until around eight PM Pacific Time, but if I don't get to it by then, I'll give you a treat tomorrow, or by the end of the day Saturday at the latest. Lurkers and anonymous trick-or-treaters are welcome! (But if you want a treat specific to your interests, let me know something about why you know me.)
(Not my actual door. Photo by Flickr user derekskey, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.)
Gimme Shelter (1/3)
Date: 2013-11-02 03:39 am (UTC)Also on AO3.
The need to get the fuck out of the house and do something that isn't getting roped into charity work with Segs' teammates' wives and girlfriends is what drives Tyler to volunteer at the animal shelter. There isn't much point to getting a job when Segs makes millions and they both want to see each other when they can, but volunteering is different. He doesn't need a resume for that, and they're pretty flexible about his hours.
He's been doing it for a couple of months when someone drops off a box of kittens. They're tiny, six impossibly small bodies, and Kathryn, the shelter's vet, shakes her head when she has Tyler help her give them all checkups.
"Are they going to be okay?" Tyler mostly works with the dogs, but he sometimes hangs out with the cats, and they haven't had any this small since he's been there.
"They're on the edge of being too young," Kathryn says. "They should stay with the mama cat for at least twelve weeks, but they'll be okay even though they're only ten." She checks each one out carefully, Tyler handing them to her one at a time and carefully petting the ones she's not working with. "At least they've already been spayed and neutered, so whoever dropped them off was somewhat responsible with them."
All six of them yowl when Kathryn gives them shots, and Tyler shushes the other ones, running the back of one finger down their backs. "Shh," he says. "It'll be okay. This is to keep you healthy."
Kathryn smiles at him when she hands him one of the kittens and takes the next one out of the box. "You're good at this," she says.
Tyler shrugs. "I'm better with dogs."
"You must be great with dogs, then."
Tyler shrugs again, and keeps petting the kittens.
After Kathryn's checked out all six of them and declared them healthy, Dan, the shelter director, has Tyler put them in their own enclosure.
"We'll keep them on their own for now," Dan says. "Just to make sure they're okay before we put them in with some of the other cats. Some company would be good for them if you want to spend the rest of your shift in here. They're already starting to know you."
Tyler has to be careful with his knee, but he can sit on the floor with his leg stretched out. Once the kittens discover that, they seem to think it's part of their play space, and they claw at his jeans while they try to climb over his leg. Tyler is more of a dog person, but it's still pretty cute.
*
Segs is on a week-long road trip, so Tyler spends more time at the shelter, and Dan has him take care of the kittens. Mostly that means cleaning up after them and making sure they're fed, but it also means sitting down with them to make sure they're socialized enough to be adoptable, and, after a few days, introducing them to potential adopters.
"Kittens go fast," Anna, the adoption director, says when three of the kittens get adopted in the first two days. "They're cute, and sometimes it's easier to take in kittens than older cats that already have attitudes and personalities." She smiles at Tyler. "We screen people pretty carefully before they even get to see the kittens. Your babies are going to good homes, and they're not going to get brought back because they're not kittens anymore."
"They're not my babies," Tyler tells her, and then Segs when Segs laughs at him when Tyler tells him about it later.
"I'm just trying to imagine you as a cat lady," Segs says.
"Oh, fuck you," Tyler says. He tries to keep it joking, but it stings a little. He's still not quite used to what his life has become now.
"Sorry," Segs says after a second.
Tyler closes his eyes. Why does this have to be so hard? "It's okay," he says. He might even be telling the truth.
Segs sighs, and then he says, "I love you."
"I love you too," Tyler says. It doesn't fix things, but it helps.
Gimme Shelter (2/3)
Date: 2013-11-02 03:39 am (UTC)Tyler looks up at her, and the last kitten takes that opportunity to pounce on the toy Tyler was holding out of his reach. "We have a dog," he says.
"Cats and dogs can live together," Anna says.
Tyler tugs the toy out of the kitten's paws and waves it at him. Marshall would probably do okay with the kitten, and Tyler has gotten attached. "I'd have to talk to Segs."
"Think about it," Anna says. "I'll give you a couple of days before I let anyone else adopt him." She leaves, or Tyler thinks she does, because he turns his attention back to the kitten. He has to be lonely, now that he's the only one left and no one's adopted him yet.
It's the last day of Segs' road trip, so Tyler says goodbye to the last kitten and leaves the shelter mid-afternoon to go home and take a nap before he watches Segs' game. He could make it through the game without the nap, but the flight from Phoenix isn't that long, and he wants to be up when Segs gets home.
The nap works, and Tyler is lying on the couch with Marshall watching Comedy Central when Segs gets home. Tyler has waited up for Segs after every game and road trip, even the ones where he had to go to sleep and wake up again later because Segs was getting in so late, and Segs still looks surprised every time.
"Hi."
"Hey." Tyler turns off the TV and gets up to greet Segs. He has to wait for Segs to stop lavishing attention on Marshall before he can get a kiss. "How was your flight?"
"Okay." Segs leans into Tyler's hug. "I didn't really sleep."
Tyler kisses his temple. "Do you need to eat, or do you want to go to bed?"
"I ate on the plane."
"Bed," Tyler says. He has to pry Segs off of him to get them both up the stairs.
"I'm too tired for sex," Segs says as they go up to their bedroom.
Tyler chuckles. "There's always tomorrow. Do you have practice?"
Segs shakes his head. "Complete day off."
"Then definitely tomorrow." Tyler gropes Segs' ass for good measure.
They let Marshall into bed with them, and once they're settled, Segs rubs his cheek against Tyler's shoulder and says, "Tell me about your kitten babies."
"They're not mine," Tyler says, and then he tells Segs about the kittens and potential adopters until Segs falls asleep.
*
Tyler wakes up before Segs and takes Marshall out for a walk, then leaves him outside the bedroom when he gets back into bed with Segs.
Tyler gets up again after they have slow, lazy sex and makes breakfast that he brings back to Segs in bed.
"I fell asleep last night," Segs says when he's eaten most of his breakfast and is picking at the end of his eggs. "Did all your kittens get adopted?"
"All but one," Tyler says.
"Does no one want the last one?"
Tyler must be quiet for too long because Segs hmms and asks, "Did you want the last one?"
"Yeah, kind of," Tyler says. "I've spent a lot of time with him. But we already have Marshall."
Segs hmms again. "We could have a dog and a cat."
"It might be too much."
"I think we could handle it, and you could handle it when I'm not here. It can be practice for having kids."
Tyler doesn't know exactly what kind of look is frozen on his face, but it's one that makes Segs put the tray they've been eating off of onto the floor and turn to fully face Tyler.
"We're headed there, one day," Segs says, not even a question because they are, most likely, headed there one day. "Baby-"
Tyler holds up his hand to stop Segs. They both know that Tyler's never going to play hockey again and that he's going to be the one taking care of the kids if they figure that part of it out before Segs retires; he doesn't need Segs to actually say any of it.
"This was supposed to be getting me out of the house," Tyler says instead.
Segs shuffles forward and puts his arms around Tyler. "Can we go see your kitten today?"
"Yeah," Tyler says. "We can."
Gimme Shelter (3/3)
Date: 2013-11-02 03:39 am (UTC)"No," Tyler says. "We're here to see the last kitten. This is Segs." Tyler tenses a little, but no one here knows anything about hockey and won't know who Segs is.
Anna shakes Segs' hand. "Nice to meet you." She smiles at Tyler. "You know where you're going. Come back up here if you want to sign the adoption paperwork."
"I don't know if we're taking him," Tyler says.
Anna laughs. "Sure. Go on back."
The kitten rubs up against Tyler's ankles as soon as he goes into the room. Tyler gets down on the floor carefully, not looking at Segs while he does it. Segs still tends to get a pinched, worried look on his face when he gets reminded of how careful Tyler still has to be with his knee.
Segs sits down with him, close enough that he's a warm weight against Tyler's shoulder. "How do we do this?"
Tyler picks up the kitten from where he's trying to climb his way over Tyler's outstretched leg. The kitten, used to Tyler, only meows a little at being taken away from his game, and he calms right down when Tyler brings him to his chest and pets him.
"All right, little guy. This is Segs." He carefully transfers the kitten over to Segs, who's careful, in exactly the same way all the little kids who came to see the kittens were.
"Hi," Segs says.
The kitten freezes, like he can't decide what he's going to do, and then he tentatively butts his head against Segs' chest.
Segs looks up at Tyler with a smile. "I think he likes me."
"Yeah," Tyler says, even though he's looking more at that smile than at the kitten. "We probably smell kind of the same, and he already knows me."
The kitten gets tired of being held after a minute, and squirms around until Tyler takes him from Segs and puts him down on the ground where he can go back to climbing on Tyler's outstretched leg.
Segs hooks his chin over Tyler's shoulder to watch the kitten. "We're taking him home with us, right?"
Tyler leans against Segs. "You don't think Marshall's going to freak out?"
"Nah, he's pretty calm." Segs rubs his chin against Tyler's shoulder, like one of the cats. "That's your cat. He should come with us."
Tyler stops watching the kitten to look at Segs instead. "I love you," he says. It's still not going to fix everything, and neither is taking the last kitten home with them, but both of those things are going to help.
"I know." Segs presses his lips to Tyler's shoulder. "Me too." He stands up and holds out a hand to help Tyler up. "Let's go adopt your cat."
Re: Gimme Shelter (3/3)
Date: 2013-11-02 08:15 pm (UTC)Re: Gimme Shelter (3/3)
Date: 2013-11-03 02:54 am (UTC)I had a whole backstory for this and I was going to do maybe a five times pieces of the story thing, and then I just got focused on the cat. All of which is to say: I still make no promises, but it might happen someday. (One of the problems is figuring out why TBrown isn't playing hockey anymore. I googled career-ending hockey injuries, and it's mostly concussions and their aftermath, which I do not want to write.)
Re: Gimme Shelter (3/3)
Date: 2013-11-03 03:16 am (UTC)Well, things I have experience with!
I fucked my knee over and had to quit soccer at college. I can't tell you much about the technicalities, but I can walk you through rehab and what I can and can't do now. I have no idea how hard/easy it would be to hurt your knee in hockey, but I hurt mine in a car accident, so.
Also, I am super aware of why you wouldn't want to write Post Concussion Syndrome, as I also get to deal with that! Most it effect my night vision and causes migraines and neck issues and stuff, but it's awful and it would be no fun to write (watch, now I totes will).
Re: Gimme Shelter (3/3)
Date: 2013-11-04 06:44 pm (UTC):((( I can't even think too much about how common head injuries are in hockey because then I won't be able to enjoy it at all.
One other idea was for TBrown to only be the househusband temporarily. His contract is up at the end of this season, so what if he got injured at the end of the season? Presumably no one would want to sign him to a new contract until they knew he was going to be able to play again. If recovery/PT for whatever the injury was takes the whole summer and then some, then Segs invites him to come stay with him in Dallas. By the time TBrown is better enough to be signed, it's so late in the season that no one's going to/it's not possible. (Uh, this would require a little research into injuries and contracts and whatnot.) He still has to wait until the next season, so he stays in Dallas with Segs until Segs' season is over, and then they're together in Toronto, and then TBrown gets invited to development camp(s) over the summer. (And then possibly TBrown signs with the Stars since they've seen him work hard during his recovery in Dallas, plus they think he's a good influence on Segs and he's worth the money for both his work ethic/playing ability and for keeping Segs happy. He's still in the AHL, but the Texas Stars are in Austin, which is close enough that he and Segs can work in occasional visits.)