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Nolan showed up at Nico's house that morning, completely unannounced. The second Nico opened the door, he practically leapt into Nolan's arms. They hadn't properly seen each other in months. Sure, Newark and Philly were close and their teams played each other a lot but with everything going on, it made it hard to make time for each other.
Nolan had insisted on tagging along to Nico's practice. Nico agreed immediately even though it was probably a bad idea to have a Flyer at a Devils practice. He couldn't be bothered to care because it meant more time with Nolan before he had to leave for Lake Tahoe.
Once they got to the arena, they were whisked into Lindy’s office. Nico seemed nervous but settled down when he saw the smile on his boyfriend’s face. Nolan grabbed Nico’s hand as they each took a seat in the chairs in front of Lindy’s desk. Nolan squeezed the hand when he felt some nervous energy pulsing through Nico’s veins. Nico relaxed a little, dropping some tension from his shoulders.
“What’s this about?” Nico asked, looking anywhere but at his coach. “Am I being traded? You’re trading me right after I get back from the protocol list…?”
“What? No,” Lindy said, crossing his arms over his chest. “What gave you that idea, kid?”
“What other reason would I be in the coach’s office for?”
Instead of answering, Lindy turned his computer monitor around. There was a video cued up and it was freeze-framed on an image of Scott Stevens. Nico blinked as he looked at Nolan, the monitor, and then Lindy. Lindy pressed the play button and Scott’s image sprung to life and started speaking directly to Nico.
“Hey, Nico,” Scott smiled and waved. “First of all, I’d like to say I’m glad you made it back safely. I can only imagine what you had to go through to get back to the game. If you aren’t at one hundred percent right now, I hope you get there soon. Secondly, I’d like to say it’s a great honour to be doing this for you. You’ve worked your ass off in the short time you’ve been in the league and fought through a lot of stuff to get where you are. You are definitely deserving of this honour. Congratulations, Nico. You’ve earned it.”
Nolan looked at Nico and noticed that he wasn’t showing much in the way of emotions. His face was blank and his eyes were trained on the monitor. Nolan squeezed Nico’s hand. When Nico squeezed back, Nolan let out a breath he hadn’t been aware that he had been holding. It was a good feeling to know that Nico was still tuned into his surroundings.
When Nolan looked back at the monitor, Scott Stevens’ image had faded away into an image of Scott Niedermayer. Nolan felt Nico’s heartbeat increase through the pulse point in his wrist. Nolan took his thumb and carefully smoothed it along the bone, hoping that it would calm Nico down some. It had somewhat of the desired effect because Nico released a breath and dropped his head on top of Nolan’s head. Nolan let go of Nico’s hand and slung his arm around his shoulders, pulling him in closer. Nico hummed and dropped his head into the crook of his boyfriend’s neck.
“Nico, hey,” Niedermayer said, smiling and raising his hand in greeting. “I’m really proud of you for persevering and making it out of the other side of the protocol in one piece. It couldn’t have been easy to have to handle all of that. That being said, perseverance is exactly why you’ll fit this role so well. You know how to give hockey your all and that’s exactly what this role requires. Guys on the team already go to you for guidance so this decision was practically a no-brainer. Good luck, kid. You’ll do great.”
Nolan glanced at Nico and saw that he was trying his best to hold his emotions inside. Nolan brought his other hand up and ran his fingers through Nico’s hair, stopping briefly to rub Nico’s temples. Nico mumbled what Nolan thought was his thanks but it was so jumbled and Nolan couldn’t decipher whether it was English or French that he was just as certain it could’ve been his grocery list for the week. Nolan pressed a soft kiss to Nico’s temple before directing him to look back at the monitor where Scott Niedermayer’s image had faded away into an image of Andy Greene.
“I know you’ve figured out what’s happening already,” Andy said, chuckling. “But, it’s my honour as the previous captain of the New Jersey Devils to officially declare that you, Nico Hischier, are my replacement. I knew right from the very first time I played a game with you that you’d be the next captain whenever my time there was over. I’m proud of how far you’ve come as a player. That doesn’t mean I’ll take it easy on ya whenever we play in the future. Still. Congrats, kid. This is well deserved.”
When Andy’s image faded, so did the video. Lindy turned the monitor back around and looked at Nico. Nolan looked down and saw that Nico had his head buried as deeply in his neck as he could manage at his current angle. Nolan carded his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair, whispering soft encouragements in French. Nico lifted his head and looked between Nolan and Lindy. That’s when Nolan noticed that there were tear stains down Nico's cheeks; his eyes were also the slightest bit red and puffy. Nolan brought his thumbs up and wiped away the stains. He caressed Nico’s cheeks and pressed a kiss to his forehead before pulling back. Nico smiled weakly as he dropped his head back into the crook of his boyfriend's neck. Nolan slung his arm over Nico's shoulders again, pulling him in as close as he could manage.
“Thank you, sir,” Nico said, voice muffled by Nolan's neck.
“You’ve worked your ass off for your entire career. I’m the one that should be thanking you for being so dedicated,” Lindy said, chuckling. “Now, there was one other video I wanted to show you.”
Lindy clicked the mouse a few times before he turned the monitor back around. Nolan felt his heartbeat speed up when it was displaying a freeze-framed image of P.K. holding a piece of bristle board. He knew what that meant and it was only a matter of time before Nico did as well.
Lindy looked at Nolan and Nolan nodded. He pressed the play button and P.K.’s image burst to life.
“Nico, my man,” he said, lifting the bristle board higher. “How about you read this and let Patty Cakes know what you think?”
“ ‘You’re the captain of my heart. Will, you marry me?’ ” Nico read.
“Yes. Holy shit. Yes. A million times over,” he said without missing a beat.
Nolan smiled as he lifted Nico’s face and kissed him. Nico hummed happily and grabbed the front of Nolan's shirt, gripping tightly. When they pulled apart, Nico was out of breath and Nolan had hair stuck to his forehead. Nico smiled and dropped his forehead against his boyfriend's forehead. Nolan softly kissed his nose and caressed his cheek. Nico rubbed Nolan's shoulder and huffed a hot breath against his lips. Nolan shivered and pulled his head back, dropping it against Nico’s shoulder. Nico carded his fingers through his fiance's hair and whispered against his scalp.
“You’ll make an amazing captain,” Nolan mumbled. “I love you.”
Nico smiled and brushed Nolan's hair out of his face. He pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, squeezing his cheek.
“And you’ll make an amazing first mate. I love you, too.”