Chapter Text
The very next day already brought an excellent excuse for Wyatt to text Troy again.
Bood informs the team he was going to hold another BBQ the same evening. He sends a message in the groupchat that includes all the players and the staff. Everybody, and their partners, is invited.
Troy had been added to the chat, the day he officially arrived, but he seemed to never check it and definitely never wrote anything.
Leaving the hotel room he was stuck in and talking to people would probably do Troy some good and it’d be a shame if he were to miss the barbecue just because he wasn’t informed, so Wyatt very graciously and with great haste took it upon himself to let him know.
Lisa sadly wasn’t at home so she couldn’t help this endeavour.
The first text was simple, but inviting.
BBQ at Bood’s tonight. You should come.
After a moment he followed up with the address, assuming Barrett had no clue where any of them lived.
He didn’t have to wait long for the answer.
Is everybody going?
Not exactly what Wyatt had desired, but he didn’t expect Troy to be on board right away. This at least left the options open.
Most of the guys, probably. And partners. Bood and Cassie are great hosts.
He wrote back. It was really easy to sing praises to the BBQs, because they just really were that great. Wyatt loved them. Spending extra time with people of ice, getting to know them better, it made them feel more than just a team.
Troy takes a few minutes to reply and it’s not the most definite of answers.
Maybe.
It is not a no, so Wyatt takes it as a yes and immediately starts planning further. It was snowing outside, so maybe Troy didn’t want to drive in a city he didn’t know well. Maybe if Wyatt asked Harris to take him, it would be easier to convince him, also then he could hardly say no.
Do you need a ride? Harris said he’s going there straight from the arena so he could probably drive you.
Wyatt immediately followed it up with: I’ll get Harris to text you. Bring beer, just to cement everything further.
He was pretty proud of himself. Now, Troy practically had to come and he’d spend the entire ride hanging out with Harris, which would likely do him good.
Wyatt’s phone pinged, Troy had answered his latest text.
I didn’t say yes.
Wyatt smiled to himself as he wrote back; there simply was no way he was letting him get out of it.
Get out of that hotel room, Barrett. Get to know your teammates.
Troy didn’t write back after that and Wyatt knew he had won this battle.
The update text that Harris sent him a few minutes later that simply read: success, only confirmed it.
Wyatt sat back content and started folding the freshly dried laundry.
Some hours later Wyatt was slightly anxiously sitting on Bood’s sofa, strategically placed to see anybody who steps through the door first, waiting for Harris and Troy to arrive.
Troy hadn’t yet interacted much with the team outside strictly work related things and Wyatt hadn’t talked about his worries with anybody but Lisa, although he suspected Roz knew, because that man read people like a book.
If the rest of the team found out about his concerns they would probably try to help, which sounded wonderful in theory, but a gigantic mess in practice. He knew Troy well enough to know he wouldn’t appreciate being pampered and while this team was capable of many things being subtle did not make the list.
Finally, Wyatt spotted Harris coming through the door. As usual, he was wearing a bright smile, but this time he also had a moody anxious shadow following him.
Dykstra noticed the arrival too and cheerfully greeted Harris first.
“You brought the good shit,” he said excitedly when he saw Harris carrying their family cider, then he noticed his companion, “And you brought Barrett,” he added with considerably less enthusiasm.
Troy shifted uncomfortably.
Shit Dykstra. This was exactly what Wyatt was afraid of. They couldn’t exactly expect Troy to open up and become a part of the team if they basically told him they don’t want him here to his face.
He almost stood up to try and save this situation, but before he actually made a move Dykstra seemed to get back to his senses.
“I’m just joking, man. Good to see you. Rule one of being a Centaur: if Bood invites you to a barbecue you go. Wait’ll you taste his shit. Fucking incredible.”
Troy seemed to relax the tiniest bit and just said “Cool,” before lifting his case of cider and asking “Where should I put this?”
Dykstra led him to the patio and Wyatt followed them with his eyes. He decided to trust the process, Bood was unlikely to create a stressful situation, and remained seated at least for the time being.
He did keep an eye on Troy though. it was very clear he was uncomfortable and he freezed up multiple times during his conversations with Bood and Dykstra, but there appeared to be no rudeness and Troy was yet to run away. He even took some food until planting himself into a quiet corner, not far enough to look weird but also not quite close enough to the others to be perceived as a part of the group.
Next time Wyatt looked over he was pleased to see Harris had joined Troy and while Troy didn’t seem exactly elevated with joy, he looked slightly less miserable than before.
Wyatt turned his full attention back to Lisa as they migrated to the fire pit to join a discussion about an upcoming exhibition at the Aviation and Space museum. Wyatt hoped his sister and her family would visit soon, so they could all go to see it together.
At some point he looked up just to see Harris approaching, basically dragging Troy after him.
It was nice to see somebody else was also making an effort to socialise their new teammate.
Wyatt decided to use the opportunity “Harris! Come sit,” he called loudly with a smile and added “Hey, Barrett,” after to make sure Troy knew he was also welcome.
Harris didn’t wait a bit to take his seat, but Troy seemed to be more contemplative about it and even after sitting down he appeared to be ready to bolt at almost any second.
Bood decided to try and include Troy in the conversation right away.
“Wyatt was talking our ear off about his nephew,” he said turning to their newest teammate.
“Yeah. Because he’s amazing,” Wyatt quickly defended his monologue about Isaac. His little nephew saw some of Wyatt’s comics and tried recreating them in his own toddler like style; Wyatt had never been prouder.
“How old is Isaac now?” Harris asked.
“Three. Cute as hell too. I can’t wait to see him again, but it won’t be for a long time. Kristy and Eve, too. But mostly Isaac.”
While talking Wyatt noticed, Troy was getting more uncomfortable, which was the exact opposite effect they were going for.
He couldn’t understand why. He was pretty sure Troy wasn’t entirely straight, so he probably didn’t have issues with his queer sister? Despite his previous statements back in Toronto.
To be quite honest, Wyatt couldn’t really hold Troy’s old comments against him anymore. Toronto’s locker room was toxic. Wyatt could barely handle it and he was a straight married man, there was no reason anybody would suspect otherwise.
He couldn’t imagine how it must have been for an eighteen year old Troy coming into that cesspool. It was probably easier if he just wrapped himself into a fake persona, so nobody could suspect anything. Just so he could stay safe.
Sure Wyatt would had preferred it if Troy were braver and stood up to Kent’s bigotry sooner, but he understood why it took that long and knew it wasn't necessarily his place to judge.
“You’re from Vancity, right, Barrett?” Nick asked, apparently deciding he also wanted to help drag Troy out of his shell.
“Uh, yeah.”
“Did your family go to the game?”
“Yeah.”
Troy didn’t look pleased to be discussing his family situation, he looked kind of traumatised really as he was staring at the fire and everybody was staring at him.
Catching on, they redirected the conversation, allowing Troy to lose himself in his mind for a bit.
The next person to speak to him was Bood. Wyatt was seriously considering recruiting him for his cause, he was already one of Wyatt’s best agents in the field without even knowing it.
“Oh, shit Barrett. You haven’t met my wife Cassie.”
Oh, yeah, they actually forgot to introduce Troy to all of their spouses.
Cassie waived at Troy with a smile on her face “Hi, Troy. Welcome to Ottawa.”
“And this is Selena,” Nick hurried to introduce his wife too.
“Hi,” Troy sounded almost shy.
“Nice to meet you,” she nodded at him, “We know how hard being traded can be.”
“At least you don’t have kids, Barrett, easier to move when it’s just you,” Nick filled in.
“Are you with someone? Wife or girlfriend?” Selena asked, clearly just trying to be friendly and get to know him better, but a dark shade passed Troy’s face.
“No one right now.”
To Wyatt, that sounded like there used to be somebody, fairly recently, but it was obvious Troy wasn’t ready to spill his heart about it.
Instead Wyatt decided it was time to show off his wife.
“You remember Lisa, right?”
“Of course. Yeah. Hi, Lisa,” his words were affirmative, but still seemed unsure, like most of what came out of his mouth. Wyatt was sure Troy and Lisa had met before, but he also mostly tried to keep his wife away from his teammates in Toronto, afraid of how they would treat her.
The conversation soon turned back to the trades.
“Are you still living at the hotel?” Lisa asked despite suspecting what the answer would be.
She knew how concerned Wyatt was about Troy and appreciated her effort to help infinitely.
“Give him the details of that building we lived in when you got traded here. You’ll love it, Troy. Fully furnished ...”
Wyatt remembered his trade well. He was excited, because it meant more playing time, but also incredibly nervous. He knew the Centaurs weren’t doing best standings wise and he worried about their locker room culture. He wasn’t sure how long he could take it if the situation was similar to the one in Toronto.
But the team turned out amazing and they wanted him long term, so Lisa and him bought a lovely house and started properly settling down that summer.
Wyatt also didn’t miss Lisa using Troy’s first name. Most of the guys on the team were called by either their first names or nicknames. They should really stop calling him Barrett, it was probably only making him feel more like an intruder.
“I’ll email you about it. You should definitely check it out,” Wyatt said aiming for maximal warmth in his voice.
“Okay. Thanks. Sounds good.”
And it almost sounded like he meant it.
Then Bood started talking about hockey, the safest topic they had. He managed to compliment one of Troy’s goals last season, while also not making it to obvious.
At some point they had to pause to make sure Luca wouldn’t drink too much.
It was a cozy atmosphere. Wyatt was having a great time surrounded by his team and his wife tucked safely in his arms.
He noticed Troy’s face going through a series of emotions until his gaze met Harris’ eyes.
Their social media manager smiled at him and then something interesting happened; Troy smiled back, it was small, but purposeful.
Counting the interview this was the second time Wyatt saw Troy smile since Toronto and both times involved Harris. This truly was becoming rather fascinating.
He almost felt like David Attenborough observing a nervous cheetah slowly relaxing next to a friendly dog.
Eventually, the evening turned into night and it was time to leave. Wyatt would be driving home, because Lisa had basically fallen asleep and he had no desire to wake her any more than necessarily needed to get to the car.
As he was collecting their coats he couldn’t help but overhear Harris asking if Troy wanted a ride home.
And while he knew Harris was mostly just being nice, like he usually was, he couldn’t help but harbour high hopes for these two.