Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Harsh wind nipped at Roier’s rosey nose as warmed breath left his chapped lips, the heated air instantly disintegrating into hot steam. The brisk December air made his cheeks begin to feel numb, the gentle tingle making adrenaline run through his bloodstream. The colorful duct-tape wrapped around his beat up hockey stick sat comfortable in his gloved palms as he dribbled the puck back and forth. 

Hushed cracks sounded out from the ice below him as he pushed his cheaply bought skates to move faster across the frozen water. A voice in the back of his mind, which sounded a lot like his grandpa, questioned if he should’ve waited until the lake froze over more. He tested the water with a rock and it seemed fine (maybe a little thin) but nothing dangerous. 

He tightened his grip around the sticks shaft as he quickly slid to a stop raising the blade and shooting the plastic puck into the homemade goal his older sister made him. He watched the thin biscuit glide against the white ice and slide perfectly into the net. 

A satisfied feeling wormed itself into his chest as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back towards the blue sky, despite the numbing cold he felt warm and comfortable. Splitting cracks in the ice below his freezing feet turned into loud rumbling and overwhelming cheers; the wooden stick in his hands felt heavy and his body felt almost suffocated as another body grabbed tightly onto his own.

Roier opened his eyes to see his teammate and friend, Missas, face directly in front of him. A large smile was on Left wing players face as he happily tapped their helmets together; beaming spotlights danced around on the pair as the large crowd around them grew louder. He could hear his other teammates' own cheers and celebrations as they passed by him and got ready for the games final period. 

Missa guided them back over to the bench where he was met with multiple congratulations from his other teammates. Roier patted Missa firmly on the back and made his way over to an empty seat on the long metal bench, he took in a deep breath feeling how the ice particles burned his overworked lungs and let his eyes glide through the rambunctious stadium. 

The giddiness of playing for big crowds never went away; no matter how many times he skated around the large rink listening to people cheer his jersey number, he will always feel as if he’s still that small boy with a wild and unrealistic dream. The boy who hated his small abandoned town and longed for something bigger, something where people knew him. 

He tapped his gloved hands against his knee pads as he watched his other friend, Mariana, speed by the glass. A look of frustration yet wild determination on his face. The score was close but with the goal he just shot put them in the lead even if just a hair, possibly enough to keep the team motivated to win the entire thing.

“Mariana parece estar a segundos de matar a alguien,” Missa mumbled, his eyes glued to their aggressive friend as well. 

Roier followed his burning gaze and chuckled, “Lo está haciendo mejor que de costumbre, ya que sólo ha sido sancionado cuatro veces en lugar de las cinco habituales.” 

“Sí, por ahora.” 

A knowing smile melted onto Roier's face but he didn’t choose to speak any further, he and Missa both knew their friend was going to the box within a matter of minutes. The man had some serious anger problems but was also one of Roier’s kindest and caring friends. Weird how that seemed to work with sports. His eyes floated back up to the large scoreboard that hung above the center of the rink, a wide pixelated screen showed close shots of what each player was doing while also representing the score that only grew closer. 

Anxiety began to creep into his mind the longer he stared at the numbers, if they wanted to move forward in their division they had to win this game. He’d be damned if they lost to a team called the ‘Mountback Bucks’. The bench grew near silent as they watched in growing anticipation; they had the puck and were quickly moving towards the enemy goal. 

Each member moved like butter across the ice, controlled passing and silent communication moved through each player as if they were psychically calling shots with each other. He watched as Max dribbled the puck for a moment before shoving past an enemy player and shooting for the goal. The air in the room seemed to still as he watched the puck lift off the ground slightly and fly directly past the goalie.

The puck slammed into the back of the gray net and within seconds the room was in a frenzy; colorful lights and air horns drenched the stadium in celebration. They had won… thank fuck. Roier quickly got to his feet and raced towards the ice where he was met with other celebrating players, throughout the huddle of bodies he found Maxs glowing white Helmet and made sure to hit it as hard as he could.

Rainbow spot lights continued to paint the ice as he began to skate away from the crowd and back over to his few belongings, he stepped out of the rink and grabbed his hockey stick before ducking out of the crowd's eye. The walkway that led to the locker room was always eerie looking; no matter what location or how new the stadium was, the hallways always looked like a knockoff horror film. 

Roier made his way into the large locker room and let out a tired sigh- the final moment of peace that came off of an adrenaline high finally sinking into his aching muscles and creaking bones. He sat on the small wooden bench and went through his routine. Like clockwork he untied and removed his skates, took his gear off and had a slightly questionably long shower before putting fresh bandages on his splitting blisters. He’s gone through this process so many times before that he could practically do this in his sleep. 

While getting dressed more and more people began to filter into the locker room; that quieter atmosphere quickly disappeared the more players entered though, he didn’t mind. His teammates were happy which meant the room was happy, there’s been too many times where he’s awkwardly gotten packed up in a silent and tense room. The air so heavy that even the slightest bit of noise would irk you.

He would much prefer this than silent disappointment. 

“Ey, Roier,” A voice called from beside him.

Roier looked away from his foot he was bandaging and up to lock eyes with Quackity, their goalie. “¿Tienes gasa de repuesto que pueda usar?” He asked quietly.

He nodded and reached into his duffle bag pulling out a fresh roll, “¿Te sientes bien?”

The goalie shrugged and took a seat next to him, “Bloqueé muchos tiros con las rodillas, después de un rato empezó a dolerme.” 

“You need to go easier on yourself man, we can’t have you getting hurt,” He stressed kindly as he lightly bumped his shoulder.

Quackity snorted quietly yet nodded, “Tell that to the players who keep aiming at my head.”

“Well they better watch out, they don’t know who’s coming.” 

“¿Saldrá a jugar el peligroso Roier?” 

Roier carefully put his sock on and playfully winked towards his friend who bursted out into a loud laughter, the sharp noise melted into the rest of the locker room's cheers drawing almost no attention to the pair. He knew his friend was joking but there was a time where he was considered “dangerous”, always getting into fights on the ice and starting unnecessary arguments. 

However, that was a long time ago, that version of himself got tucked away with all his other belongings once he graduated college. With that saying if anybody tried to start anything with any of his friends… he wouldn’t flinch and let that side of him out again. 

As he slipped his sneakers on he couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the other players' conversations around them. Some talked about the game and it’s statistics while others conspired about the next team they were going to be competing with; most had confident guesses while others were just being outrageous. This win meant they moved up in another bracket which also meant that their next opponents will be good players, so good that it’s going to be a challenge to beat. 

The sound of the door being slammed shut quickly caught the attention of the room, Roier looked up from his bag to see their coach, Luzu, standing in the center of the locker-room, a large and proud smile on his face as he glanced at his messy clipboard. 

“¡Caballeros! Felicitaciones por esta victoria, estoy muy orgulloso de todos ustedes,” He paused and licked his lips, “As many of you know we are going to be moving up a fraction however… I’ve been talking with the coach of the next team we will be playing against and we have decided to participate in a hockey camp.” 

“¿Qué es un campamento de hockey? ¿Qué pasa con nuestro próximo juego?” A player asked, confused. 

“Esa es una gran pregunta... En lugar de tu próximo juego, asistiremos a este campamento donde competirás con este nuevo equipo varias veces. Al final de las dos semanas, quien tenga más victorias pasará al siguiente grupo.” 

Confusion filled the locker room as players processed the new information, why would Luzu want to do something different? He was one of the only guys Roier knew who deeply hated change, especially with his team. 

With a frown Roier slugged his duffle bag over his shoulder and stood up from the bench, “Well… then who are we playing against?” 

Luzu's sharp red eyes slid away from the confused crowd and over to Roier’s where his smile seemed to only grow larger, “The Ravens.

Chapter Text

“Roier calm down, you aren’t making any sense.”

“Jaiden, you don’t understand, my life is over,” Roier complained loudly. 

The woman over the phone sighed, “Yes you’ve said, how is your life over exactly?” 

“Luzu said we are doing a two week hockey camp and we are playing against The Ravens! You know who plays for them? My archenemies!”

“What, you mean that kid we went to college with?” 

“Sí! And now he’s back to haunt me like he did back then!” Roier sighed dramatically and flopped back onto his couch, “Jaiden I can’t play against him.” 

“Listen I get it, you’re nervous about playing him.”

“He almost broke my nose! Twice!”

“Which… is understandable but it’s been years, surely you've both grown from that and can maturely play together.”

He stared up at the ceiling while he processed her words of reassurance, the hockey camp was tomorrow and for weeks he’s been feeling nervous. The Ravens were a tough team; if not for their raw strength but for their strong strategic plays, anyone who's played against them has experienced at least one horror story. And here he was having to spend two weeks with the damn team. 

But… Jaiden was probably right, sure, The Ravens were (slightly) terrifying and occupied one of the people he spent his whole college career fighting against but surely things would be fine. Like she said it had been a couple years now, he’s matured and can most definitely handle facing that situation. 

“Roier? Are you still there?” She questioned.

“Yeah yeah, I’m here.” He sighed and pushed himself off the couch, “Thank you for the advice, you’re probably right… it’ll be fine.” 

“It’s no problem, if you need anything I'm here.” 

Roier smiled slightly and hung the phone up, staring down at the bright background picture of him and his friends all way too drunk for their own good, it was almost eight and he still hadn't done any packing. Maybe a part of him was hoping Jaiden would agree with him so he could awkwardly call Luzu and tell him he’s not going. But alas, nothing ever seems to go his way. 

He tucked his phone into his back pocket and made his way towards his bedroom where his empty suitcase sat on his bed. With a begrudging sigh he made his way towards his closet and began picking out clothes that would last for the long two weeks. All of his hockey stuff was already packed up so all he needed to do was his personal stuff, Luzu wouldn’t give them much information about where the camp was going to be held just that it would be out of the city and to dress warm. 

God he hated this, everything about this situation screams ‘Bad idea!’, but he was going to stay positive; he loved playing hockey and he would also get some time to hang out with his friends. As long as he didn’t focus on the obvious elephant in the room then everything would be fine… besides how bad could it actually be? 

    ——————————————————————

This was one of the worst things he’s ever done. Who was he kidding? Rekindling with someone he always had some type of beef with was always going to go bad, how could he stupidly let Jaiden convince him otherwise? His helmet felt suffocating over his head, the freshly smoothed ice seemed too bright and he wondered if he could even skate properly on it without slipping and embarrassing himself in front of everyone. 

They were about to do their first scrimmage with The Ravens and Roier felt as if he was about to pass out; they had arrived at the conference center about a half hour ago leaving almost no prior time to meet up with the opposing team. Which meant after nearly three years their first meeting was going to be on the ice. Fantastic.

Cheerful chatter surrounded him as his friends talked about the upcoming weeks, most seemed excited about the new experience and opportunity to practice so often. Clearly nobody felt  that sense of impending doom that Roier was currently suffering through. A hard pat on his shoulder snapped his mind out of its pathetic state and back into reality, he blinked a couple times only to realize he had been asked a question.

“Sorry, what did you say?” He asked sheepishly.

“I asked if you were alright, you look as white as a ghost,” Bad, one of his close friends, replied.

Roier sighed quietly and looked across the rink trying to spot any of The Ravens, “I’m fine just… nervous.” 

“Ah I get that, we haven’t seen Ce-” Bad began but was quickly cut off by Roier’s hands going over his mouth.

“Shh pendejo! Don’t say his name.” 

“But-”

“Ese idiota tiene orejas lo suficientemente grandes como para oír desde el otro lado del mundo. His name is banned.”

Bad rolled his eyes and removed Roier’s hands from his mouth, “You’re being dramatic.” 

“You don’t know him like I do Bad, I’m telling you that guy is crazy, Incluso psicótico.”

Bad opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the sound of an ear-piercing whistle, Roier flinched at the noise despite being used to hearing it nearly three times a week. Luzu looked confident as he walked across the rolled out carpet that was on the ice and met in the middle with The Ravens coach; a short blonde man dressed in a dark green tracksuit. 

The team quieted down as they all watched the two coaches converse, Roier could see the discussion was light but serious, something that only fueled his anxiety further. Looming shadows hovered behind The Ravens coach as the other team carefully watched their coach- hopefully experiencing the same nerves he was.

After a (painfully) dragged out moment the two coaches shook hands and began to walk back towards their respective sides; almost as soon as Luzu entered the protected bench questions began to fly out, most being important while others being pointless and shamelessly nosy. Roier couldn't blame the team for being curious to who they were playing against, they've never played this team before and would know nothing about them if not having prior connection.

“Bien, no más preguntas.” Luzu sighed and glanced at his clipboard, “The scrimmage is going to last two periods, I want Roier as my center, Missa you'll be Left wing, Mariana Right. For defense I want Fit and Bad, and Quacks you'll be goalie.” 

Roier’s heart sank at the words but he kept his mouth shut, sweat quickly sunk into his clammy palms as the ordered players began to get their gear ready and entered the ice. He picked his hockey-stick up and rolled it in his palms a couple times, the weight of it felt off and too heavy to hold, it felt uncomfortable. He dragged out his routine as long as he could before he was forced to enter the rink.

As soon as his skates touched the slick ice he could feel eyes burning holes into the back of his head, chills ran down his spine and the hairs on his arms instantly stood up. He showed false confidence as he skated around the rink getting a feel for the ice, as he passed by The Ravens reserved bench that sinking feeling grew from ten to a screaming one-thousand. He tried to ignore it as best as he could and quickly went over to one of his friends, his temporary safe haven. 

A few laps around the rink flew by as one of the coaches blew their whistle signaling warmups were over and that it was time to get into position, Roier took a deep breath and begrudgingly made his way into the center of the ice where a Ravens player was already waiting for him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the rest of his team getting into position; two just next to him while two behind. 

The blonde man from before came to the center of the rink where he held the puck that he and The Ravens center would have to fight over. He tightened his grip on his hockey stick and moved closer so he and the opponent were practically head to head. Roier watched with anticipation as the blonde coach looked at both teams before lifting his arm up to drop the puck. 

“É bom ver você, Pequena aranha, ainda com boa aparência.”

The blood in Roier’s body froze and his eyes instantly darted away from the puck in the Ravens coach's hands and over to the player in front of him. Surprised brown met sharpened blue as he realized who was standing in front of him. Before he could respond the coach was blowing his whistle and the puck was on the ice, in an instant both men were moving.

Roier fought against the man's stick as they both battled for the flat biscuit, his breathing was heavy as he forced his skates to move faster and his body to keep pushing through opposing players. It felt as if nothing had changed. By some miracle he was able to maneuver the puck away from the Ravens center and send it over to Mariana who immediately took it. 

As soon as Mariana got the puck over the line the rest of the team began to move, Roier tried to pay attention to the plays that were being executed and who was guarding the biscuit but he couldn't help but seek out those hypnotic blue eyes. It was becoming a problem, he realized as he hadn't seen one of The Ravens defense players coming straight for him knocking him off his feet and sending him sliding straight into the wall. 

His back slammed against the scuffed acrylic and instantly the coaches were pausing the period, he groaned quietly and pushed himself back onto his skates, his eyes scanning the rink in an instant. Most of his teammates were heading his direction, worry in their eyes, but he couldn't get his gaze off that clean black jersey; number 86. 

“¡Jesús! ¿Estás bien?” Missa asked, concerned.

Roier nodded and picked his stick up off the floor, “Estoy bien. Sigamos jugando.”

“Are you sure?” Fit cut in, “That was a pretty hard hit.”

“I said I’m fine. Get back into position.”

He dusted the ice particles off his shoulder pads and skated over to where the puck was last touched; there 86 was already waiting for him, almost as if he knew that Roier would come storming back. He locked eyes with those calculated blue however this time he was prepared for their stare. The coach entered the rink again and blew his whistle. The two were fighting once again.

The rest of the two periods were violent to dirty, The Ravens were not treating it as if they were playing a simple scrimmage but as if they were in a life or death competition. There were multiple situations where one of his teammates was sent into the penalty box for retaliating against The Ravens shady plays. It was starting to get infuriating. 

By the end of the second period Roier had enough. They were down by five points and they kept getting penalized for stuff that wasn't even their fault. Luzu put him back on his ice and he was already fired up, his skates glided over the rough patches of ice and into the center of the rink where he met up with those blue eyes that have been haunting him throughout this whole damn game. 

The whistle blew and they were off for a final time, his eyes stayed laser focused as he fought for the puck, the pairs shoulders bumped into each other while they glided across the rink. He could feel 86s pressing against his side as their hockey sticks collided with each other making a loud ‘crack’ echo throughout the rink, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest and could smell the husked smell of his cologne. 

His stick got tossed out of his hands and in an instant he was tackling The Ravens center onto the ice, his body moving on its own as he quickly climbed on top of the player slamming his gloved fists against their helmet. The room became a blur as the two players rolled across the ice taking turns punching each other; the sound of surprised shouts and authoritative whistles filled the tense air though it didn’t stop them.

Binding arms wrapped around his waist quickly pulling him off of the opposing center and into the air. Bitter metallic sunk into his tongue as he fought back against the person behind him, a dull pain drummed behind his eyes and he could already tell that he was going to have a bruise. Cold air nipped at his exposed cheeks, he hadn’t noticed his helmet had been removed until now. 

“Chicos! What the hell is going on here?” Luzu’s voice boomed throughout the chaotic rink. 

“¡Él empezó!” Roier shouted angrily.

“Cellbit this isn’t like you at all,” The Ravens coach scolded, sounding disappointed, “What has gotten into you.” 

“Phil, ele me atacou primeiro!” Number 86, Cellbit, accused. 

“Alright that’s enough! Both of you penalty box, Five minutes,” Luzu ordered sternly. 

Roier rolled his eyes at the man and shoved the person who was restraining him away. Now feeling the suffocating arms off him he could properly breath again. In silence he snatched his helmet and hockey stick off the floor and skated over to the penalty box that was on their side of the rink, he threw his belongings down on the floor and took a seat on the cold bench. 

Anger brewed under his skin as he watched the rest of the game from afar; his face ached and his knuckles felt sore. He's gotten in brawls during games before but never quite as serious. His eyes couldn’t help but drift to The Ravens penalty box every once in a while, Cellbit sat there looking just as upset as he did; his blood stained face was pulled into a permit frown while his hair covered his piercing eyes. Despite looking different he acted the complete same… a total asshole. 

He watched the rest of the clock tick down until the scrimmage was officially over: The Ravens beat them by four points. Once the buzzer went off Roier was up and out of his seat, rushing out of the box and over to his duffle bag which sat open on a random bleacher. In silence he untied his red skates and hurriedly put his sneakers back on, some of his teammates came over to ask if he was alright but he couldn’t respond with more than a short answer. 

In a matter of seconds he was slinging his bag over his shoulder and storming away from the rink; his eyes stayed laser focused on the exit until a strong hand caught his shoulder. 

Roier turned around prepared to snap at whoever stopped him but paused when he was met with his coach. “¿Estás bien, Roier?” Luzu began, “Nunca actúas así.”

He sighed, “Estoy bien... Cellbit y yo tenemos antecedentes.”

“¿Esta historia que ustedes dos tienen afectará su juego? ¿O puedes soportar estar en el hielo con él?”

“No señor, todo estará bien. Esto no volverá a suceder.” 

Luzu chuckled quietly and shook his head, “I highly doubt that, go take care of yourself, kid, if you need to talk or anything I’m here.” 

Roier smiled sheepishly and nodded, “Gracias, coach.” 

Luzu patted his shoulder and turned on his heel walking back towards where the rest of the team was still cleaning up, he watched the man go for a moment before turning towards the exit and leaving. 

Chapter Text

Stale Warm coffee sunk into his dehydrated taste buds; pop music played quietly in the background as crowds of people piled into the small cafeteria. Apparently multiple other hockey teams had the bright idea to attend the hockey camp as jerseys in all shapes and colors took up most of the seats. Roier had even recognized some teams that they have played in the past. 

Dealing with Cellbit hadn't gotten easier; since the incident both coaches agreed to give it some time before they played against each other again, meaning most of their time was filled with tiring practices and non-stop training… which would be fine if not for Cellbit trying to rile him up every time they crossed paths.

He’s done his best to ignore the brazilians immature words and has even spit back a few witty comebacks but the pure exhaustion that pulled at his brain everyday was starting to get unbearable. Especially when it causes him to make stupid mistakes that only a rookie should make. 

Thankfully, Luzu had given them the day off to rest from the constant training which gave Roier a day of peace, a day where he wouldn't have to deal with Cellbit and his stupid ass attitude. He set his mug down on the small table and turned his attention to the light snowfall outside; the weather out of the city was much more sporadic which lead to snow in the middle of November. 

The thick brush surrounding the center was coated with a white dusting making everything look gentle and clean, no animals roamed outside minus the brave birds that seeked out food and protection from the ruthless cold. It looked docile, and absolutely heavenly. 

Roier shoved the rest of his blueberry muffin into his mouth and downed it with the rest of his over-sweetened coffee, he knew exactly what he was going to do today. He pushed himself out of his chair and returned his dishes to their respective places before quietly exiting the cafe; he couldn't spot any of his teammates so he didn’t bother sticking around, knowing them, they were probably all sleeping in. 

With purpose he made his way back up to his hotel room and changed into warmer clothes, aka out of his pajamas. He zipped his navy blue parka up and slipped on a beanie before grabbing his practice skates out of his bag. The weight of the shoes sat comfortably in his gloved palms, the feeling being familiar and comfortable. 

Was the day of rest pointless if he was still planning on skating? Maybe, but it's been decades since he's skated for fun and not a requirement. There was nobody expecting anything out of him when he tied his skates on; all that was there was nature and the choice to do whatever he pleased. That thought alone made him rush out of his room.

The doors to the hotel slowly slid open and almost immediately the cold air coated his unprotected face, he took a quick glance around the snowy sight before walking through the empty parking lot. Soft snow crunched under his boots as he ventured further from civilization and more into the small forest, a peaceful silence filling the frozen air around him.

Eventually the snowy pine trees and small covered rocks opened up to reveal a small pond about the size of the one he grew up with, a gentle smile appeared on his face as he hurried over to the edge of the water. Making sure not to slip and fracture a hip bone (that would just be embarrassing.) The ice on top was slick and smooth, it looked to be freshly frozen over as not even the small wildlife had gotten a chance to walk across it yet.

Roier dusted some snow off of a fallen log and set his belongings on the wood, he grabbed a hearty looking stone and threw it at the frozen ice. With anticipation he watched the rock bounce off the ice creating a small crack but never breaking its powerful sheet. It was just about perfect to skate on. 

Like clockwork, he made his way back over to the log and took his snow boots off, careful to not touch any of the freezing snow, and slipped his skates on. The blue and red laces he had on the skates contrasted against the white material nicely, he almost never wore these skates unless he was practicing on his own or his usual ones got too worn down. 

He took the guard off the blades and set them besides the rest of his stuff before carefully walking through the snow and over to the pond. He took a deep breath and stepped on the ice. Like textured sand he glided across the pond listening to how his skates created thin cracks against its freshly frozen liquid. 

Nostalgia warmed his chest as he went in circles around the tiny pond; he could almost envision being that young wild minded child again being afraid to fall however determined to become best friends with the ice. His older sister, Melissa, watching from the sidelines while trying to motivate him. Giving him tips on how to land tricks he was poorly attempting and how to properly land if he did lose his balance. 

A part of him missed that time of his life; a time when nothing truly mattered and there were no expectations held over his shoulders. A time where everyday afterschool he would slip his cheaply made skates on and practice getting faster no matter how many blisters or scrapes he got. Don’t get him wrong, he loves his team, The Polars have become his family and he wouldn't have it any other way… It's just what could've been a reality warmed him so much. 

“Você ainda consegue fazer aquele truque que me ensinou?” An out of place voice suddenly spoke.

That warmth in Roier’s chest instantly blew out and for a moment he had to check to make sure the ice hadn’t split open under him, sending him into the freezing water, “What do you want, Cellbit.” 

Cellbit stood by the edge of the pond dressed in a brown pea coat; he had a bag slung over his shoulder as well as a black beanie on his head, making his normally curly hair look flat. He looked absolutely ridiculous. 

“Hey, I was just taking a walk when I noticed you were here,” Cellbit defended.

“Excelente, you've seen me, you can go now.”

“I dunno… this spot looks pretty nice.”

Roier rolled his eyes and slowly skated towards him, “Te das cuenta de que este es mi día libre, imbécil, lo que significa que no quiero verte hoy.”

“Oh, Pequena aranha, você me machucou.” Cellbit gasped dramatically, clutching his chest, “I thought we were friends, no?”

“We were never friends,” Roier snapped, 

“Now leave me alone.”

Cellbit was silent, for a moment Roier even questioned if the man was still standing there if not for the annoying smell of his aftershave that made his head pulse. “You never answered my question,” Cellbit mumbled. 

“Which was?”

“Could you still do that jump trick you taught me… the spinny one?”

It was Roiers turn to be silent, his eyes felt glued to Cellbits blue irises as examined the man in front of him. The question felt so… raw that it made his skin crawl. They shouldn’t talk about their past, not now, not ever. Especially when it has to do with him teaching the other things. 

Roier let his eyes rake over the other figure for a moment before he was forcing himself away from the man, “Vuelve al hotel, Cellbit.”

Before Cellbit could respond Roier was turning around and skating towards the opposite side of the pond, tension sat heavy in his shoulders as he felt the brazilians eyes burning holes into his back. The once peaceful atmosphere now felt suffocating, the cold air feeling thick as he attempted to swallow down his pride and forget the conversation they just had.

When Roier turned to continue his small laps around the pond he noticed the spot Cellbit had been standing in was now empty; all that remained were footprints for old doc martens that were larger than his own. He forced his eyes away from the markings and continued his mental routine he was going through. 

When he wanted to reminisce on his past he didn't have his college days in mind… with those thoughts he tended to push to the furthest and darkest part of his brain that he could. Especially when it came to Cellbit. 

Roier continued to skate around the pond but eventually gave in when his body wouldn't allow him to relax anymore, he carefully climbed off the ice and walked back over to his belongings where everything was perfectly left in place. Like before he sat on the frozen log and took his skates off; putting the guard on its blades and setting them aside so he could put his boots on. 

Once he made sure he collected everything he began to walk back towards the crowded hotel. As he walked he shoved his hands into his coat pockets for desperate warmth, he sunk his hands into its wooly comfort when something rough brushed against his knuckles. 

Confused, he took the strange material out of his pocket only to see it was a neon pink sticky note with a phone number written on it.  

—----------------------------------------------

“Wait… explain it to me again.”

He sighed frustratedly and leaned across the table so he was closer to his friend, “I said, he left me his number.”

Fit gasped silently, “Are you serious?”

“Yes! What kind of an asshole improperly leaves his phone number after we've had an argument?”

“…An asshole that wants to talk with you?”

Roier scoffed and leaned back into his chair, “Yeah, right. All that idiot’s done is insult me and make me get penalties.”

“I dunno man… you said he keeps appearing everywhere you go right?”

“Pretty much.”

“Well, if you ask me that kind of sounds like-” 

“Oi! Fitche!” A loud voice interrupted the conversation, startling both men.

Roier watched as a short man with black hair quickly approached their table, he furrowed his brow confused until he saw Fits face light up with recognition, “Oh- Hey pac!”

“I haven't seen you all day! how have you been?” The man, Pac, cheerfully asked.  

Fit smiled, a light dusting covering his face, “Very good, uh, this is my friend Roier. We were just chatting.”

Pac's glowing eyes left Fits flustered face and landed on Roier’s where his smile only seemed to widen, “It's nice to meet you! I have heard many things.”

Roier nodded and tried to return the smile despite how weird the situation was, “Yeah… you too.” 

As soon as the words left Roiers mouth Pac was already turning and continuing his conversation with Fit, it was almost comical how nervous the normally stoic man seemed to get. They had only been here for a couple days how the fuck had Fit already found himself a crush? 

Despite the awkward situation Roier sat silently in his chair; if not for the fresh food on his plate and pure wonder for this developing relationship, Pac looked oddly familiar. It was something about the way he held and presented himself that reminded him of somebody, he just wasn't sure who…

“Pac! pare de flertar com o time inimigo e se apresse,” Cellbit’s voice called from across the dining hall.

Hijo de puta-

“Oh! I gotta go! Duty calls.” Pac leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Fits cheek, “Tchau Fitche!”

Both Polars members watched as the cheerful man ran off to meet up with the rest of his teammates, The Ravens were dressed in their usual black practice jerseys and were all heading towards one of the many open rinks. Roier couldn’t help but stare at the entire team as they moved like a flock… Ravens being a very fitting name. 

Before the team left, Roier caught eyes with a familiar icy blue, the two had a short staring contest before breaking it and returning to whatever tasks they were previously completing. How the hell was he supposed to do another week of this. 

Chapter Text

Roier swung his hockey stick back sending the puck flying across the rink, he watched as The Ravens goalie dove to block the speeding biscuit but missed by just a few inches. Cheers echoed throughout the rink as The Polars all celebrated the point. After the first couple of scrimmages both teams held, the coaches decided it was time to start playing actual games. So far, they were going just as well as the scrimmages had. 

The temporary referee blew their whistle, “Number 12, foul, high sticking.”

“Bullshit!” The Raven player shouted. 

The Ref blew their whistle again seemingly arguing back with the player without any words. Their coach sighed and poked his head around the glass, “Charlie, just take the penalty.”

Roier watched as the player threw their hands up in frustration yet obeyed orders, Ice particles spit up on his leg as they angrily sped past him causing him to jump out of the way slightly.

“Sorry ‘bout that!” A different player shouted, number 7, as they quickly skated towards him. “Charlie can be a bit of a hot-head.”

Roier’s eyes raked up and down the approaching player's figure and he couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated; the unexpected tall stature of the player came apparent once he was face to face with Roier, small pieces of black curls peeked out of their helmet framing their glowing face. 

“Oh… it's fine,” He responded, almost hesitating. 

The player smiled widely and held their gloved hand out in front of him, “I’m Foolish, nice to meet you.”

Roier stared at his hand for a moment before grasping it and shaking it, “Roier,” He paused, “Aren't you that player that knocked me down a couple days ago?”

“Yup! That was me,” Foolish chuckled, “Didn’t mean to hit ya so hard, glad you're alright.”

“That’s what the helmet’s for, right?”

“Hah! I guess you're right.”

“Foolish! Get into position,” The Raven‘s coach shouted. 

The man startled at the sudden call out but quickly relaxed into his previous friendly manner, “Duty calls, I’ll see you out there!” Foolish turned on his heel and began to skate back to the opposite side of the rink, though before Roier could respond he yelled over his shoulder, “Watch out for my shoulder, it's hungry!”

Roier watched as The Raven player went back to his teammates and got prepared for the next period, he couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face as he recalled the strange conversation. It's nice to know not everyone on The Ravens was a complete asshole. 

He flexed the tension out of his knuckles and repositioned his hockey stick, his skates naturally glided over to the center of the rink where Cellbit was already standing there waiting for him. He chose to ignore the way the man's eyes seemed to burn thick holes through his skull and instead focused on how hungry he suddenly was- he didn’t get the chance to eat breakfast and was beginning to regret it. 

The referee made his way to the center circle with the biscuit and looked between both teams to make sure they were ready; once satisfied he nodded and dropped the puck. Roier was on the puck within an instant, his shoulder slammed into Cellbits shoulder pad as he forced himself in front of the other, his hockey stick linked onto the biscuit like a magnet going exactly where he directed it to. 

He passed the puck over to Mariana who quickly caught it and dribbled it down the rink, a satisfied feeling filled his chest as he watched his team work- the way they all flowed with each other like smooth water. He pushed himself in front of one of The Ravens players blocking their chances of stealing the puck.

Mariana held protectively onto the puck for a good amount of time and passed it over to Fit who held it before it got stolen. In a flash Roier was skirting to a stop and heading towards their goal where Quackity was waiting to block the opposing team. As they crossed back over the line he began to make his way up to the player that held the biscuit but was stopped by someone shoving him. 

He quickly stabilized his footing and looked to see who had shoved him; of course it was Cellbit. He locked eyes with the blue eyed man and huffed, if this is how this asshole wanted to play, he would happily comply. Not letting the unexpected shove affect him he began to speed back off to where his teammates were fighting for the biscuit, a little too close to their goal for his comfort. 

Bad came skating up from the back and plowed into one of The Ravens sending him sliding backwards giving Missa the perfect opportunity to steal it and head back. Roier pushed himself so he was skating directly beside Missa; the two passed the puck back and forth to each other, almost playing with it. Once they came upon the line he fell back and let Missa head for the goal. 

He watched with anticipation as Missa weaved around The Ravens' defending players and slammed the puck into the goal, almost running into the unprepared goalie. The whistle blew and cheers coming from The Polars side loudly erupted. They had won. 

“Vamos!!” Mariana shouted loudly as he grabbed onto Roier’s shoulders in celebration. 

The Ravens groaned in defeat but mumbled out congratulations as they slid back over to their respected side. Roier couldn’t help but feel satisfied at the pure disappointment that painted Cellbit’s face, it felt like a warm ray of sunshine shone down and illuminated any unwelcome feelings he was previously harboring. 

Roier 1, Cellbit 0. 

Roier skated off the rink and carefully stepped onto the mat where all their belongings were waiting, he made his way over to the bench and changed into more comfortable shoes before heading towards the small locker room. Loud laughter and chatter filled the locker room as the players all changed out of their jerseys and into some normal clothes. 

He said hello to a couple people as he walked towards his locker putting in the randomized combination, he carefully slotted his skates into his locker and pulled his sweat soaked shirt over his head lazily throwing it inside. As he went to reach out for a new clean shirt he had neatly folded the door to his locker slammed shut.

Startled, he whipped his head to the side to see who had aggressively shut his door when he was met with angry blue, gorgeous eyes. 

“Qual é a porra do seu problema?” Cellbit snipped. 

“Qué-” Roier began. 

“Você sabe do que estou falando,” He continued, lowering his voice, “Você acha que pode simplesmente me empurrar durante um jogo e agir como se nada tivesse acontecido.” 

Roier scoffed, “¿Empujarte? ¡Me empujaste!” 

Cellbit squinted his eyes and leaned his head forward so they were closer, “Doesn’t matter, don’t think this win puts you above me.” 

“Oh trust me I don’t think that, I know it.” 

“Filho da puta-“

“Is everything alright here?” Fit suddenly cut in. 

Roier could almost feel the tension leave his shoulders the moment he heard Fits husky voice. He tore his eyes away from Cellbit’s fuming form and looked towards his teammate who looked moments away from punching said man.

“Everything’s fine, Fit, he was just leaving,” Roier replied firmly. 

“Isto ainda não acabou, pequena aranha,” Cellbit mumbled under his breath.

He remained silent as he watched Cellbit look at Fit before turning sharply on his heels, storming out of The Polars locker room. Once he was out of sight Roier let out a quiet sigh he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, tension began to hum under his skin already forming as a headache. What a pain. 

“Ro, you okay? What was that guy's deal?” Fit asked concerned.

Roier waved him off, “It's just some guy I used to know… don’t worry about it, I’m fine.” 

“You sure? If anybody’s bothering you, don't be afraid to tell me, you're my friend after all.” 

“Thank you, Fit, I appreciate it.”

The bald man nodded and patted his shoulder reassuringly before heading back over to his respective locker. Roier stared at the empty space where Cellbit used to stand thinking, he was used to the Brazilian having a temper but he was never a liar. He was almost certain that Cellbit pushed him, not the other way around. 

He turned back towards his locker and finished getting changed; putting on a clean black shirt and changing into some joggers that’s definitely seen better days. The high-top sneakers he put on felt like heaven compared to the suffocating skates he wore all the time, no matter how many times he puts those things on they will always hurt his ankles.

After finishing up his usual routine he closed and locked his locker tossing his bag over his shoulder. He said goodbye to the few people he knew would be going straight to bed or busy practicing and headed towards the double doors. Just as he began to press against the door he heard his name be suddenly shouted from across the locker room, he let out a silent sigh and began to head towards the source of the shout.

He set his bag just outside of Luzus temporary office and entered the room only to freeze in the doorway; standing in front of Luzu was Phil, the coach of The Ravens, and Cellbit who was holding his bloodied nose. 

“Roier, would you like to explain yourself?” Luzu asked, sounding like a disappointed parent. 

Roier furrowed his brow as he looked between Cellbit and his coach, “Luzu, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

The coach sighed, “Cellbit here is claiming you punched him in the locker room, ¿Es eso cierto?” 

“No!” Roier claimed, “Se acercó a mí e intercambiamos palabras, ¡pero nunca le di un puñetazo!” 

“Você me deu um soco, seu idiota!” Cellbit cut in.

“Alright that’s enough,” Phil interrupted. “We are just about sick and tired of you boys acting out all the time, you’ve left us no choice but to punish you both.”

“¡¿Qué?!”

“O Que?!”

Luzu nodded and crossed his arms, “We’ve discussed this Incase something else happened and of course something did… you two are going to practice together everyday until you learn to get along.” 

“Won’t that cause more fights?” Roier tried to argue.

Luzu shrugged, “If you can’t get over this by the time our official match is, you both will be benched for the rest of the season.” 

“Phil you can’t do this,” Cellbit pleaded almost pathetically. 

“Sorry mate, this behavior is unacceptable,” Phil replied coldly.

Both players glared at each other silently. Anger bubbled under Roier's skin as he looked at the blood that stained Cellbit’s nose and top of his lips, that stupid asshole got them both in trouble all because he couldn’t handle a single loss. He was going to kill him. 

“Alright you’re both dismissed,” Luzu said, “No more skating for the rest of the day, you will begin practice tomorrow.”

As soon as the words left Luzus' lips Roier stormed out of the small office and picked his bag up off the floor. He didn’t wait up to see if Cellbit had any quiet comebacks; he risked mumbling or any glances those eyes would lay upon him. He was angry, no, furious. This is why they weren’t friends anymore; he didn't know when to stop. 

Roier exited the locker room in a heavy silence that seemed to follow him like a plague, the walk up to his hotel room was filled with even more brooding and self pity. The smart thing to do was tell Luzu about their past the moment he heard that addictive gravelly voice, but he didn’t because he’s an idiot. Maybe he thought Cellbit would be different, a changed man, mature. 

Of course he was wrong, and now he was the one paying the price for it. 

Chapter Text

Roier woke up to a loud pounding on his hotel door. The once restful sleep being rudely interrupted by the unexpected noise, he startled awake and quickly took in his surroundings. His heart pounded as he threw the covers off him and stumbled towards the door worried about who was waiting on the other side; was there an emergency? Has someone gotten hurt? What fucking time was it?

In a quick motion he unlocked the door and opened it, not bothering to look through the peephole. 

Standing in the hallway was Cellbit dressed head to toe in his practice uniform, a pair of skates sat under his armpit while he impatiently waited for the hotel room door to open. Roier had to blink the sleep out of his eyes a couple times before he could process who was standing in front of him and more importantly why he was standing in front of him. 

Neither man spoke for a good while just choosing to stare at each in silence; Cellbit looked just as surprised to see Roier as if he wasn’t the one who had initially knocked. The man’s blue eyes widened slightly as he took in the sleepy man’s disheveled appearance, his weighted stare feeling overwhelmingly heavy once Roier realized his gaze kept flicking down towards his exposed chest. 

Roier yawned behind his palm and decided this staring contest was never going to end if he didn’t speak. “What do you want?” He asked. 

Cellbit snapped back from whatever spiral his mind had taken him down and made eye contact with him, “Phil said we have to practice together right?” 

“Sí…. but not at,” Roier turned back into the room and looked over to where the hotels provided alarm clock sat, “Five in the fucking morning.” 

“I always practice at this time… you don’t?”

“No, of course I don't, I'm not as psychotic as you are.” 

Cellbit scoffed quietly, “look, Pequena aranha, we are going to have to work together here.” He paused, “Quanto mais cedo praticarmos, mais cedo não teremos que nos ver novamente.”

Roier squinted his eyes slightly as he processed the man’s words, he did have a point… he would have the rest of the day to do whatever he pleased without having to see Cellbit again. That sounded like luxury.

“Bien, practicaremos temprano,” He agreed reluctantly, “Now go away I have to get dressed.” 

“Ah, vamos lá… eu estava gostando da vista.”

“Fuck off,” Roier snipped and quickly closed the door. 

He let out a slow breath as he gently pressed his back against the cold wood of the door, heat burned at his cheeks lightly and he aggressively rubbed at the warmed skin in an attempt to get the color off of his face. That didn’t mean anything, it was simply a normal reaction to the heat difference of the hallway and the room. Nothing more.

After a moment he pushed himself away from the door and further into the room to start getting ready for the unexpected practice session. Like a zombie he navigated through his suitcase picking out an all black outfit and putting his messy hair back with a blue bandanna he had packed last minute, he didn’t have enough time to shower as he could practically hear Cellbit already bitching about how long he was taking. 

Once he looked decent (enough) he grabbed his bag and his pair of practice skates before heading out of the hotel room, surprisingly he saw Cellbit still waiting for him in the hallway.

At the sound of the door being open the Brazilian put his phone back into his pocket, “Took you long enough.” 

See what he means?

Roier rolled his eyes, “It’s not my fault I wasn’t prepared, I wasn’t expecting to wake up so goddamn earlier.” 

Cellbit’s eyes raked over his figure again making chills run down Roier’s spine, he’s got to stop doing that, “You look… decent.”

“Shut the fuck up and start walking,” Roier instantly snapped back already starting towards the elevator. 

Behind him he could hear quick footsteps trying to catch up with his fast pace, the scrambling sound made a small smile appear on his face. 

The venture down into the center was just as awkward as he predicted it to be; neither player spoke as they stood in the elevator anxiously watching the numbers tick down. A low hum from the old lift filled in the heavy silence clearly replacing what should be friendly or even casual conversation. As the elevator doors opened they were only greeted with more silence. 

The conference center was almost empty, abandoned even. Very few people passed them as they headed towards an empty rink; most being other hockey team coaches or other players that were also crazy enough to get up at Five AM to practice. Roier popped his head into the cafeteria to see if any of the breakfast food was out but of course it wasn’t, so instead he picked up an apple and a granola bar and prayed it would hold him over until later. 

Cellbit guided them through the empty halls and over towards the rink he had booked out for the morning, neither man bothered going into the locker rooms to put their things away as they were both already dressed and ready. As soon as they opened the two large double doors a wave of freezing air struck his body; like a wrinkly prune his body shriveled up as it got assaulted by the icy atmosphere. 

“¿Por qué carajo hace tanto frío aquí?” Roier bit out through chattering teeth. 

“Oh I forgot to mention, the rinks are usually cold first thing in the morning since the janitors leave the side doors open to freeze the ice over better,” Cellbit responded nonchalantly.

He turned his gaze over to the side door and sure enough he could see the gentle  snow as it fell from the darkened sky, “Fantastic.” 

“Você se acostuma rapidamente,” he reassured, “A não ser que você não possa e precise adiar essa prática para mais tarde?”

“No, estaré bien. genial incluso. ¿Ahora vamos a seguir esperando o podemos practicar ahora?”

Cellbit slipped his skates on and began heading towards the untouched ice, “I’m ready whenever you are, little spider.” 

Roier tossed his bag down carelessly and quickly put his skates on as well, “Don’t call me that,” He grumbled.

The Raven let out an acknowledging hum but didn’t speak any further. Roier stretched his muscles quickly before standing up and heading over to the ice. Like glue his skates connected with the slick ice practically melting together, he glided around the rink a couple times enjoying the smooth and easy skate. He tucked his freezing hands into his hoodie sleeves in a poor attempt to warm them up, the gloves that were still in his room would do a much better job but this would have to do for now. 

A couple laps around the small rink went by way too quickly and he couldn’t hold off from this practice any longer. With a sigh Roier skated towards Cellbit who was standing in the center of the rink; two hockey sticks sat in his hands as he watched the brunette come over. 

“So what are we supposed to practice?” Roier asked curiously. 

Cellbit shrugged, “Dunno, we both play center so we could do that.” 

He nodded and grabbed one of the hockey sticks, “Genial, una excusa gratis para pegarte.”

“Oh aranha, eu deixaria você me bater sempre que quisesse,” Cellbit teased playfully. 

Roier smirked over his shoulder, “En tus sueños húmedos.” 

A quiet chuckle escaped the Brazilians lips but Roier didn’t bother turning around to see it. He tightened his grip on the hockey stick and got into the normal ready position. They would most definitely get in trouble if their coaches caught them like this; neither of them had the proper protection including padding or their helmets. If that biscuit flew up and accidentally hit one of them it would leave a nasty looking bruise and maybe even a sprain. 

However for some twisted reason he wasn’t worried, a part of him trusted that Cellbit wouldn’t do anything intentionally dangerous besides maybe punch him (but that was to be expected, hoped for even). Roier had this sickening trust in the man and the realization of it made his stomach ball up into knots.

He keeps telling himself it’s because of their past and their history… definitely nothing else. Maybe the more he says it the more he’ll actually believe it. 

“Ready?” Cellbit asked, his face just inches away. 

Roier flexed his fingers and nodded, “Ready.” 

Cellbit nodded back and tossed the puck down towards the ice, both players watched in anticipation for the biscuit to make contact with the bright floor. As soon as it did they both sprung into action. A loud ‘crack’ sounded out as their hockey sticks slammed into each other, Roier struggled for a moment to get his stick untangled but once he did he felt unstoppable. 

In a flash he was speeding down the rink towards the goal, the puck was firmly in his grasp as he focused on speeding up and ignoring what Cellbit was currently doing. He could hear the man's quick steps as he sped up to Roier’s pace, both of them neck and neck as they began to fight over the puck once again. 

Unlike the first face off this one was more aggressive; elbows and shoulders quickly got inserted into their practice game, any sign of friendly competition instantly out the window. Cellbit managed to weave the biscuit away from him which Roier promptly responded with elbowing him in his exposed ribcage, the man flinched at the sudden attack and Roier quickly used the opening. 

Wind whipped past his head as he started his venture down to the goal once again. A wicked smile painted his face as he took a rare moment to look behind him (To see where Cellbit currently was and plan accordingly of course) although his mind froze when he locked eyes with Cellbits own large wild smile.

The room around him felt as if it spun and instead of staring at grown, adult Cellbit he was staring at a much younger version of him; one that constantly had bandages on his face and crazy split colored hair. The one that always wore Roier’s handmade bracelet on his wrist and had ridiculous colored hickeys on his neck. 

His blood felt ice cold as he hurriedly turned his eyes away from the sight and shook the invasive thoughts out of his already hectic mind. As he came back to reality he realized he no longer had the puck and was barely holding onto his hockey stick anymore- Cellbit slipped in front of him successfully stealing the biscuit from him and heading towards Roier’s unprotected goal. 

In a pathetic attempt to save his ego he chased behind the man not bothering to get too close and letting him shoot into his goal. 

The brazilian let out a loud cheer of celebration and turned towards him with a cocky smile, Roier rolled his eyes, “Congratulations.” 

“Oh? what was that?” Cellbit mocked, “I’m sorry I couldn’t hear you.” 

“I said congratulations asshat, I'm not saying it again.” 

“Não se preocupe, vou pegar leve com você na próxima vez,” He promised.

Roier scoffed and crossed his arms, “Ve a buscar el disco, idiota, hagamos otra ronda.” 

Another smile appeared on Cellbits face, a seemingly genuine one that made Roier’s skin crawl, and quickly went to fetch the puck out from the tangled net. He watched him crouch down to grab the biscuit and let out a silent sigh; this felt wrong… a type of wrong that kept you up all night and made you feel sick to your stomach. 

It had been years and he thought he had gotten over it. Friends fight all the time, they stop talking and never see each other again. It’s a common thing… though they weren't a common thing.

“Aranha? Você está bem?” Cellbit asked, suddenly in front of him.

Roier blinked a couple times before locking eyes with him, “Like you care,” He suddenly snipped.

Cellbit was silent for a dragged out moment before he shrugged, “I don’t, I was wondering if you spacing out was going to affect our practice because if it will then you should just leave.” 

“Great, I’ll leave then.” Roier turned on his heel and quickly moved towards his stuff, not bothering to turn back around, “Don’t expect to see me again tomorrow.” 

“Sounds fantastic, You’d be a waste of my time anyways.”

With that Roier suddenly stopped, “¿Qué carajo acabas de decir?”

“I said,” Cellbit began skating towards him, “Você seria uma perda do meu tempo.”

In a slow motion he turned back around to face him, their eyes locked onto each other like a violent storm. Roier swallowed down his feelings and nodded, processing the words that made his chest sting. He felt like he was back in college all over again. 

He took a deep breath and suddenly slammed his fist into Cellbits nose. The man let out a yelp of pain and clutched onto his nose in surprise, Roier shook out his hand as he watched the scene in satisfaction.

“Oh pequena aranha... você realmente quer começar isso?”

“Ven a mí, hijo de puta.”

Cellbit threw the puck onto the floor and linked the blade of his hockey stick around Roier’s waist pulling him closer only to punch him back. Roier quickly grabbed onto the man's fist as it came barreling towards him a second time, he pushed back against the man and slammed his head forward to create more space.

Just as he predicted Cellbit retracted his fist and stumbled back slightly. Roier spit a mixture of blood and saliva out of his mouth and raised his fists in front of his face protectively. Unfortunately Cellbit recovered quickly from his head-butt and stormed towards him, anger storming deep behind his blue eyes.

Punches and hits flew as both men ruthlessly attacked each other, Roier managed to shove the Brazilian into the wall giving him a short moment to breathe. Pain encompassed most of his face as he struggled to identify what was maybe bruised and or broken, his chest heaved desperately for fresh air though he remained in place, carefully watching the man's next moves.

Cellbit wiped away the blood that leaked out of his nose and leant back into the wall, “That all you got?”

“Oh we're just getting started, Gathino.” 

Cellbit smiled and gestured for him to come forward, Roier licked his lips and charged forward. He dug his nails into Cellbits shoulders lifting him up from the wall before slamming him back down into it, the brazilian groaned and hooked his leg behind Roier’s thigh making him lose balance and fall to the ground. 

Pain shot through the back of Roier’s head and for a moment he saw small stars. Cellbit maneuvered himself out of their human pretzel and straddled his waist keeping him pressed firmly against the freezing ice, Roier moved his hands in front of his face in a poor attempt to protect himself from The Ravens attacks. 

The hits bounced off him like rubber, the actual pain taking a while to process due to the high levels of adrenaline pumping through his blood stream. He waited until Cellbit had his hands raised to get the man off him, in a quick motion he swiped his hands down and dug his nails into the man's thighs digging as tight as he could into the skin. 

As if he had been burnt with hot lava Cellbit instantly flinched and practically threw himself away from Roier. He watched the man stumble over and land on the ice in a similar position. Roier stared at him for a moment before resting his head back down on the ice, the cold relaxing his burning muscles. 

“I swear to fucking god if you get back up,” Roier panted.

Cellbit chuckled tiredly, “You've gotten better, dare I say I'm impressed.” 

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Só se você me obrigar, aranha.”

Roier rolled his eyes and slowly pushed himself onto his hands and knees, grumbling to himself. Aches traveled through his body making it a struggle to stand on two legs properly, even if this fight was a long time coming it still sucked ass. Cellbit followed his actions  and slowly sat up, not bothering to go into his feet yet. 

“Will I see you at practice tomorrow?” Cellbit asked curiously. 

Roier looked at him and let out an exhausted sigh, “Don’t come knocking on my door again.” 

“Only if you’re late.” 

He shook his head in (mild) disbelief and forced his feet to start moving, unlike before his motions were slow and dragged out. His body barely made it off the ice threatening to collapse once he finally sat on one of the bleaches and took his skates off. Almost robotically he slipped his regular shoes back on and packed away his few belongings he had brought with him. 

As he begrudgingly stood up he saw that Cellbit was still on the ice; the bruised man was seated comfortably against the gray wall as he watched Roier get prepared to leave. He did a final once over of the man’s conditions before heading towards the exit, the thought of collapsing into his bed and never moving again sounding absolutely heavenly. 

In his opinion, the practice was a success. 

Chapter Text

“Your dribbling is weak.” 

“¿Disculpe?”

Cellbit rolled his eyes and skated towards him, “Seu lado esquerdo está completamente aberto, posso entrar lá e roubá-lo.” 

Roier looked down to his current stance, Cellbit was right, he wasn’t guarding his left properly. Bastard. “Great, thanks.”

He repositioned himself and began to dribble again when he was stopped by a hand tightly grabbing his shoulder, “Jesus- How is it somehow worse than before?” Cellbit shook his head and set his stick on the ground, “Deixe-me mostrar a você.” 

He felt frozen as Cellbit skated behind him and leaned over his shoulder putting his hands in the proper position of the hockey sticks shaft, heat flooded into his face as he felt his chest be pressed against his back. 

“To guard this side better you need to keep your hands like this,” Cellbit grabbed onto his hands and moved them, “And your body like this… understand?” 

Roier swallowed thickly and nodded, he kept his gaze firmly on the hockey stick and ice in front of him, trying his best to listen to the rare advice and remember it. To his dismay Cellbit didn’t back off as he began to dribble the puck again, he could practically feel the raw heat radiating off of the Brazilians body as they moved across the large rink together. 

He took in a deep breath and moved Cellbit’s hands allowing him to lift the blade up and shoot a goal, like butter the biscuit slid across the ice and went into the goal. He nodded in satisfaction and turned around to face Cellbit only to freeze once he realized how close the two of them suddenly were. 

Light breath painted his face as he stared up into Cellbit’s cold eyes, their noses practically touching. He expected himself to suddenly shove the man away or to maybe punch him again but he found himself not minding the close proximity. The realization of that made him stumble backwards as if he had just gotten electrocuted. In a sick sense he did. 

Cellbit widened his eyes in surprise and reached out to catch him, “Que porra foi essa?” 

Roier inhaled sharply as he felt Cellbit’s hands grab onto his waist, he quickly removed the familiar feeling hands and shook his head, “I- um, I’m gonna go grab a jacket.” 

Without another word he hurriedly skated away from the confused man, his heart slammed against his heaving chest as he raced away from what was a bad idea. He quickly stepped off the ice and over to the staircase that led to a locker room, not bothering to take his skates off he rushed down the thin staircase and into the silent locker room. 

As soon as the door slammed behind him he was sinking to the floor and gasping for air. The concrete floor of the locker room was almost numbing, the icy chill of its unused surface reminding him of what and who he just ran from. He ran a hand down his clammy face and gently rested the back of his head against the metal door, what was wrong with him? They hated each other, hell he’d even call Cellbit his rival. 

Why did the contact feel good? Hypnotizing even. Years later and he still became like putty under the Brazilians touch. God, he was so fucked. 

…̷̧̄…̷͉̒…̵̲̄…̷̧̄…̷͉̒…̵̲̄

“You call that a shot?” Cellbit teased Playfully. 

Roier scoffed, “Like you could do any better?” 

“I’m the one who’s on varsity, Pequena aranha, plus you asked me for help.” 

“I’m practically on varsity! Las pruebas finales son en un mes, ¿sabes?” 

Cellbit skated towards him and gently patted the top of his head, “Eu sei, você é tão fácil de se irritar.” 

Roier struggles to push the smile that tugged at his lips away as he shoves Cellbit’s hand off his head, “Are you gonna help teach me or what?” 

The man nodded and slowly skated behind Roier wrapping his arms around the brunettes waist, “Então você vai começar assim,” He began, “e você vai colocar suas mãos aqui assim.” 

Roier nodded, not caring to actually listen, he leant back into the man’s chest basking in the feeling of him being pressed tightly together. Cellbit continued to talk him through the motions of setting up a perfect shot and sending it flying into the old goal they were borrowing. He watched as Cellbit lifted his hands along with the stick, sending the puck across the rink and scoring a goal. 

“See, like that,” He nodded, satisfied with himself. 

Roier hummed in understanding and leant his head back slightly so he was looking up at Cellbit, “What if I told you I couldn’t remember almost any of that?” 

Cellbit let out a sigh but Roier knew he wasn’t actual upset, “Bem, então acho que terei que te ensinar até que você se lembre.”

He nodded and bit the bottom of his lip slightly, “Intentemos de nuevo.”

…̷̧̄…̷͉̒…̵̲̄…̷̧̄…̷͉̒…̵̲̄

Roier rubbed at his eyes aggressively and let out a slow exhale, he had no idea how long he had been sitting on the floor of this grimy looking locker room but it had been long enough where his feet had begun to fall asleep. There was no way he could continue this practice, not today, not when his thoughts were more polluted than the damn ocean. 

In a slow motion he pushed himself off the floor, groaning as his bones cracked  from prolonged unuse. He carefully shook his legs out and fished his phone out of his pocket, he mindlessly scrolled through his contact list before he found the person he was searching for. 

The phone let out an annoying ring as he anxiously waited for it to be picked up, he paced back and forth going through a backup plan if the call went to voicemail… It was ridiculously early. Just as he thought it wasn’t going to get picked up, the ringing stopped and he heard that glorious voice.  

“Hola?” Quackity’s raspy voice called out. 

“Quackity!” Roier shouted in relief, “Necesito ayuda, estoy en una situación desesperada.” 

“¿Qué? ¿lo que está sucediendo? ¿Qué hora es? ¿Estás herido?” Quackity began rapidly asking, seemingly wide awake all of a sudden. 

“Es demasiado pronto y no, no estoy herido ni nada... Necesito que me llames en unos dos minutos y finjas que ha ocurrido una emergencia.” 

“Mmmm... ¿vale? ¿dónde estás? Iré a verte.” 

“Meet me at the cafeteria, ¿Bien? Llámame en dos minutos, adiós.” Roier said, hanging up before Quackity could respond. 

He let out a slow sigh and tucked his phone back into his pocket. Okay, this was fine. He was going to get out of this nightmare of a situation and forget all about this and move on like nothing had ever happened. Great. With a shaky hand he twisted the doorknob and stepped out of the locker room, taking his time to walk up the small staircase. 

Once he surfaced back into the stadium he saw Cellbit leaned up against the entrance of the hockey rink typing rapidly on his phone, at the sound of footsteps he instantly looked up.

“Você está bem? Por que você demorou tanto?” Cellbit asked. 

“Ahah, So once I got down there I realized I didn’t have any of my stuff down there so I began to look through the lockers to see if there was a spear jacket- not in a creepy way or anything- um,” Roier stuttered out. 

Cellbit was silent as he processed the strange words, “Okay… well if you’re still cold you could just borrow mine.” 

“No!” Roier shouted, startling them both, “I mean.. no I’m not cold anymore, all that searching worked up a sweat.” 

The Brazilian stared at him as if he had three heads, however he didn’t question his odd behavior and just slowly nodded along. After an awkward moment of silence he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the loud sound of Roier’s phone going off. Thank fuck, those two minutes couldn’t have come any sooner. 

Roier took his phone out of his pocket and acted confused looking at who was calling, “disculpe, I need to take this.”

“Oh yeah, no worries,” Cellbit nodded. 

He picked the phone up and pressed it to his ear, “Hola?” 

Loud shouting came from the other end of the phone as Quackity practically screamed a bullshit story into the microphone, Roier struggled not to flinch at the obscene volume and did his best to sound concerned about the towns local goose that fell down the well and was now polluting the water system with its eggs (That was his idea of an emergency?). 

Thankfully Cellbit couldn’t seem to hear Quackity’s ridiculous story but could only tell it was serious by Roier’s face, after a few more minutes of bullshit and playing pretend he hung the phone up with a promise of coming straight over. 

“I am so sorry,” Roier began, “There’s an emergency with one of my teammates I need to go help.”

Cellbit shook his head and waved him off, “Oh no it’s fine, go and help we can continue practice later.” 

Roier nodded and quickly pulled his skates off, getting his belongings together, “Sí... ¿te veré mañana?” 

He nodded back, “Estarei aqui.” 

Roier did a quick wave goodbye and headed towards the exit, he heard Cellbit mumble something as he practically sprinted to leave but couldn’t be bothered to turn back around and interrogate the man about his words. If he had to guess it was probably just an insult about his leaving… at least he hoped it was. 

The silent hallway welcomed him happily; the air feeling fresher and more clean as he navigated the empty corridors. His footsteps echoed off the tiled floor making an annoying tapping sound bounce throughout his ears, his senses were still in overdrive so it felt as if every little thing was driving him insane. Thankfully the sign for the cafeteria came into view and not much later he was walking into the quiet dining room.

He spotted Quackity almost instantly; the man was standing while pacing back and forth, his eyes were glued to his phone as he kept anxiously checking the clock. 

“Quackity,” Roier called out, instantly grabbing the man’s attention.

“Roier!” Quackity sighed in relief, he quickly jogged over to the brunette and pulled him into a tight hug, “Me tenias preocupada.”

He patted his back gently, “Lo siento, no tuve tiempo de explicarlo. Yo sólo... tenía que salir de allí.”

Quackity pulled away from the hug and did a once over his figure, as if he was checking for any sign of injury or distress. “¿Qué pasó?” He asked.

Roier rubbed at his tired eyes, “¿Podemos volver a mi habitación antes de que me explique?”

The goalie nodded and gestured for Roier to take the lead guiding them back to the hotel, he flashed a small, grateful smile, towards his friend and forced his feet to begin moving again. 

———————————————————————

“Wait… so you guys used to date?” Quackity questioned.

Roier sighed, “We never had any official titles but… basically.”

“And earlier you guys shared a moment that felt similar to that and it freaked you out?” 

“Sí…”

“Entonces, ¿por qué no lo invitas a salir?”

“¡¿Qué?!” Roier shouted, “Are you insane? We hate each other!”

“From what you’re telling me it sounds like you almost had a make out session on the ice, that doesn’t sound like hate.” 

“Literalmente pasamos casi una hora golpeándonos el otro día, todavía tengo moretones por eso.”

”and how did that make you feel?” Quackity asked. 

“Fine? I guess… it was nice punching his stupid face,” Roier responded defensively.

He chose to leave out the detail where honeyed nicknames got involved and how butterflies filled his stomach once he saw those glowing adrenaline filled eyes land on him. It’s not like it’s important anyway… just a normal reaction to being in a fight. That’s all. 

“Roier,” Quackity sighed, taking a moment to collect his thoughts, “It’s okay to like him again… you realize this, right?” 

Roier shook his head and hugged his pillow closer to him, “I don’t like him. Además, aunque me agradara, sé que él no siente lo mismo.”

“¿Cómo sabes esto?”

“Oh, trust me, he made that loud and clear the last time we saw each other.” 

Quackity ran a hand down his face and sighed, “Well what do you plan to do then? There are only a couple more days until the game and I can tell you won’t be able to play with him like this.” 

Roier closed his eyes, he could feel dread creeping into his mind the more he thought about Quackity’s words. He was right, there was no way in hell he would be able to play in a match against the Brazilian. Not when he could barely handle being in the same room with him. Maybe he did like Cellbit… 

“I don’t know… I’ll figure it out,” Roier murmured. 

Quackity nodded silently and rested his hand on top of Roier’s, “If you need anything, Estoy aquí para ti.”

“Gracias Pato… Realmente lo aprecio.”

“Ningún problema.” The goalie peeled himself off the bed and groaned as he stretched his back, “I’m going to try and get some more sleep, coach will kick my ass if I pass out on the ice.” 

Roier chuckled, “I’d pay to see that.” 

Quackity flipped him off and made his way out of Roier’s hotel room leaving the man in silence. He rubbed at his eyes again and glanced over at the alarm clock that sat on the nightstand: ‘6:20’ still too fucking early to do anything. Roier slowly changed into more comfortable clothes and tucked himself into bed hoping this new wave of sleep will get the image of icy blue eyes out of his head. 

Chapter Text

Has Roier been purposely avoiding practicing with Cellbit because he can’t get near the man without thinking of what his lips might taste like? Yes, yes he has. It’s pathetic, really, his mornings are filled with crippling anxiety as he watches his alarmclock roll onto 5 AM. The anticipation of waiting for a loud knock to come from his door where he’ll be forced to face his ever growing problem. 

Today was no different; he woke up minutes before his (old) alarm went off and waited as the time ticked by. 5:01… 5:03… 5:15. Another morning with no knock, another morning of high blood pressure and a silent sigh of relief. His toast he overcooked tasted bland on his taste buds, the orange juice he paired with it making the bread go down like a thick rock. 

Loud chatter filled the cafeteria as he was surrounded by his friends and teammates, everyone seemed to be in high spirits as they were scheduled to practice with a team they’ve never heard of before. Luzu said they were called The Fed’s, apparently the team was up and coming and was desperate to practice with anyone and everyone. 

An elbow dug into his side snapping him out of his thoughts. “You good?” Bad asked quietly. 

Roier swallowed another bite of burnt toast and nodded, “M’fine.” 

Bad nodded back and turned back to Mariana who was complaining about how cold his room got the previous night. What a drama queen. 

“Bueno, ¿intentaste subir la calefacción?” Missa asked. 

“Sí!” Mariana claimed, “The buttons wouldn’t work! ¡Incluso se quedaron atascadas un par de veces!” 

“Why don’t you talk to the front desk about switching rooms?” Fit suggested.

Mariana sighed and leaned back into his chair, “Eh… the view is very nice.” 

Oh my- 

“¡Buenos días chicos!” Luzu greeted cheerfully. 

The team let out a mix of happy hellos, the conversation about Marianas dramatic night quickly got overlooked. Luzu glanced down to the clipboard that sat in his palms and began going over the plan for the day; they were scheduled for a game against The Fed’s that would last three periods. After the game they will have a break until later in the day where they were invited to a restaurant for dinner with two other hockey teams. 

Roier listened to the list of information that never seemed to end, he could feel dread well up as he realized he would barely have any time off today. His social battery would be screaming by the time nightfall came. Fantastic.

“Does anyone have any questions?” Luzu finally asked.

Everyone shook their heads and the coach nodded, “Te veré en un par de minutos.” 

Luzu said his goodbyes leaving the table in a peaceful silence, one by one people began to throw their trash away and return their dirty plates. Roier stayed back for a little trying to prolong the day as long as he could and watched as his friends began to exit the cafeteria. When there were only a couple people left he decided he’s stalled long enough and returned his singular plate to the hotel staff. 

His footsteps clicked down the quiet hallway as he walked, the noise echoing off the empty walls slightly. The loud chatter from the cafeteria only grew quieter the farther he went, the eerie feeling of being alone starting to set into his bones. 

Thankfully the prop open door came into view relieving him from the growing discomfort of being alone. He pushed the open door wider and slipped into the large rink already spotting the opposing team warming up. Their dull gray uniforms barely held any reflection from the normally glistening ice, the whole team held a look of boredom on their faces. Almost making them look like robots. 

Roier shrugged the weird behavior off as nerves and entered the locker room where the rest of his teammates were getting ready; loud chatter filled the small room as everyone joked around and messed with each other. The energy felt so much lighter in here compared to out there. 

He weaved in between bodies and made his way to his locker; like clockwork he put in the combination, got undressed and put his gear on. It had been a couple of days since they played an actual game so his hands were practically itching to hold a hockey stick. He finished tying his skates up and made his way to Luzu who patiently held all their hockey sticks. 

The coach gave him a respective nod and handed him his stick, Roier nodded back and followed the rest of his teammates out towards the ice. 

The Fed’s players all stood in a straight line on the ice, as they patiently waited for the other team to come out. Roier’s eyes slid across the robotic looking line in caution; none of the players had any expression on their faces besides blank stares, he couldn’t even hint a sign of competition. Red flags immediately rang off in his brain the longer he watched the strange scene. 

After a minute of awkward silence, Luzu came out of the locker room and met up with The Fed’s coach who looked just as blank as the team. He couldn’t hear the coaches conversation but he could tell it was clearly one-sided, Luzu attempted to be cheerful and friendly as he talked but barely got anything more then simple answers. It was as if The Fed’s was a looming tidal wave and The Polars was their unaware victim. 

“The hell is their problem?” Mariana whispered to him.

Roier glanced at his friend before looking back at The Fed’s, “No lo sé, pero no me gusta.”

Mariana hummed in agreement, “No seas estúpido, tengo un mal presentimiento sobre esto.”

“Lo mismo ocurre contigo.”

The brunette patted his shoulder reassuringly before going back into his previous position. Time seemed to tick by slowly as both teams stared at each other in a tense silence, thankfully it didn’t take long for Luzu to walk away from The Fed’s coach and over to them.

“Alright, Chico’s, I know things look.. grim but we are gonna try our best.” Luzu glanced at the other team, “Te quiero en nuestra posición normal, mantente alerta y buena suerte.”

The coach quickly sped through the rest of his motivational pep-talk before walking off to the bench. Roier let out a deep breath and made his way to the center of the rink, a nervous sweat coated his gloved palms as he gripped tightly onto his hockey stick. The Fed’s center didn’t portray any emotion as they made their way in front of them, their face set like carved stone as they waited for the puck to be placed on the ice. 

His eyes filtered through the bleachers surrounding them, all the seats were left empty and abandoned, almost as if everyone knew a tragedy would happen and nobody could bear to witness it… He was being dramatic, it was just another game of hockey, nothing more and nothing less. 

The referee made their way onto the ice and verified both teams were ready before releasing the puck, as soon as the biscuit touched the ice and the referee blew into their whistle, Roier was fighting for it. The Fed center’s body felt like a brick wall as his shoulder slammed into their side; his eyes stayed glued onto the puck as they did their normal song and dance. 

The Fed player was able to steal the puck away from him and pass it to one of their teammates who immediately took it up the rink. Roier watched as the player weaved through both their wing players and head straight towards their defense, Bad came barreling towards the player knocking into them and throwing their path of determination off. The Fed player tripped into the wall and almost immediately the whistle was being blown.

The game stopped, The Fed coach yelled out a penalty, Bad was sent to the penalty box. They reset their position (Now short of one man) and got ready to start another round. Like an endless loop of hell the game kept getting stopped and penalties were getting called left and right, each time they began to fall into a rhythm the match would stop and they would be forced to snap out of it. It was a nightmare… but it was smart. 

The Fed’s coach knew how to get into their heads; he knew that repeatedly calling penalties would start to affect their performance and would cause them to lose. It’s no wonder nobody else wanted to practice with them, they played dirty as fuck. 

Roier swallowed down his water and cracked the tension out of his neck, he was currently on the bench watching the soon to be short lived game. Luzu was scrambling for straws as he desperately tried to keep everyone under control, it seems he also noticed The Fed’s tactics and was struggling to not explode as well. The air in the room was so thick a blazing knife could easily cut through it. 

He watched from the sidelines as a Fed player shoved Fit out of the way and scored a goal, the puck flying just past Quackity’s foot. A loud buzzer rang out as it marked a point on the large scoreboard. They were so fucked. 

“Alright, Roier, I want you back in,” Luzu ordered. 

Roier nodded and put his helmet back on, he set his water bottle down on the bench and walked over towards the smaller gate. As soon as his skates touched the ice he vowed to make this round different, to either score a point or send one of The Fed players home crying. He skated to the center of the rink and tried to analyze how every player was acting, the goalie seemed relaxed as if they weren’t expecting to defend their goal. 

Both of their winged players looked fidgety and uncomfortable, they both played with their hockey sticks and constantly repositioned their stances. Their defensive players looked similar to the goalie but more attentive while their center looked haywire. The players' eyes wouldn’t stop darting across the room as they constantly looked to their coach, their hockey stick had thick white tape wrapped around the top of its shaft almost as if it was hiding past damage. 

Roier snapped his mind out of its rabbit hole once the referee entered the rink yet again, he tightened his grip on the hockey puck and held his gaze firmly with the biscuit. He followed the puck as it seemed to slowly fall through the air and land against the cold ice, the second he heard that piercing whistle he was moving and shoving the other center out of his way. 

He dribbled the puck as he ran from The Fed’s hungry player before passing it over to Missa who took it down the rink, he followed closely behind his friend while keeping his gaze on The Fed’s player that rushed towards them. Missa passed the biscuit to Mariana who quickly swerved around a player. 

One of The Fed’s defenders knocked into Mariana successfully stealing the puck from him, his friend slid into the wall while the other player belined for Quackity. Roier came to a quick stop and turned on his heel, beginning to chase the player down, out of the corner of his eye he could see Missa going over to Mariana to help him up. Fit and Bad stood protectively in front of their goal getting ready to stop the slippery player. 

Roier pushed himself faster, the bland color of the players jersey practically in his face. He knew you weren’t supposed to grab onto other players but at this point he didn’t care, this whole game has been filled with shit and sneaky plays that were borderline illegal. Plus on top of that the coach for The Fed’s had practically refused to speak to Luzu. 

To say he was fed up was an understatement. 

He set his hockey stick into his non-dominant hand and got ready to latch onto the back of The Fed players jersey, the spot just at the base of his neck basically calling his name. Once close enough he reached his hand out to stop the player when everything around him suddenly spun. 

Flashes of colors filled his eyes as wind whipped past his ears, he felt his hockey stick leave his hands and the hard impact of the ice as it slammed against the back of his head. Everything went black. 

Chapter Text

“Cell, what exactly are you saying?” 

“I’m saying we can’t… we can’t be around each other as much anymore.” 

“¿Qué?”

Cellbit rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, “As pessoas estão começando a questionar as coisas e isso está ficando fora de controle.”

“Getting out of control?” Roier repeated incredulously. “What the fuck does that even mean.” 

“It means this has to stop,” Cellbit responded firmly. 

Pain curled deep in his gut as he stared at Cellbit, trying desperately to catch his fleeting blue eyes. Staring at him now he looked so… different, he wasn’t that kind and sweetly compassionate man he once knew but one who held shame and insecurity. One who was disgusted by them.

“Right, because god forbid people start to question what we are.”

“Sim! People can’t do that! It will…” Cellbit trailed off. 

“It will what?” Roier snipped, “¿Arruinar tu reputación? ¿Hacer que la gente te mire de manera diferente? Dios no permita que te guste alguien del mismo sexo.” 

Cellbit let out a frustrated sigh and ran his fingers through his frizzy hair, the lack of answer alone feeling like a knife stabbing through his crumbling chest. Roier shook his head in disbelief as he tried to gather his racing thoughts, was this really happening right now? Were they seriously having this conversation? 

“Se eles descobrirem, vão me expulsar do time,” Cellbit argued weakly, “Eles vão me chamar de aberração.” 

“Oh, so I’m a freak then?” 

“Aranha, that’s not what I meant-”

“No, Cellbit, I hear you loud and fucking clear. I’ll take my freakishness and leave you alone.” 

Roier took a final look at the man in front of him before turning around and walking away from him. Tears stung his eyes as he listened to Cellbit weakly call out his name but do nothing to actually chase after him. If heartbreak was a physical feeling he would feel the small sharded pieces stabbing at his weak lungs. 

He wiped his watering eyes with his hoodie sleeve only to realize it wasn’t actually his but Cellbit’s. Anger and sadness bubbled under his skin the longer he stewed over the cutting conversation, he should’ve seen the red flags the moment they started talking. He should’ve known he wasn’t good enough for public display. 

Cellbit was a goddamn coward. A coward he stupidly fell in love with… if they couldn’t be together then he would make sure everyone knew how much he hated him. 

——————————————————————

Roier let out a quiet groan as he attempted to peel his eyes open, the blinding lights above him burned his pupils making him instantly close them. The last thing he remembered was skating towards The Fed’s goal… from there it’s all blurry, and painful. Where the hell even was he? 

“You shouldn’t move too much, that was a pretty bad fall,” A disembodied voice spoke. 

Roier furrowed his brow as he tried to connect the voice to the face, he took in a deep breath before attempting to open his eyes again. The room around him was blurred; he could see colorful shapes in place for where objects (probably) were but couldn’t identify anything specific. One thing he knew was that he was laying down and that somebody was trying to have a conversation with him. 

“The fuck am I?” He mumbled.

The person chuckled quietly and shifted in their chair, the seat letting out an irritated creek, “You’re in the Infirmary, have been for a while now.” 

He hummed and attempted to push himself up, his arms shook as they attempted to pull up his body weight. Warm hands quickly assisted his movements, carefully grabbing onto his back and hip. The once solid medical bed felt like unstable water as the room began to spin, he clutched onto the edge of the bed tightly as he stared down at the moving floor.

“Easy there,” They tightened their grip around him holding him upright, “You have a concussion… nothing too serious.”

“Esos malditos Fed’s,” He grumbled under his breath, leaning into the stranger slightly.

Roier could feel the Vibration of their chest as they let out another chuckle. The room fell into a peaceful silence, at some point he let his eyes fall shut in an attempt to calm the dizziness that wasn’t going away. Despite not starting up a conversation he could tell that the stranger kept checking on him, he could feel their hand as they rubbed soothing circles into his back and could practically feel their stare against his scrunched up face.

The feeling was nice, despite him not actually knowing who it was and that it could totally be a serial killer or something. After an uncertain amount of time he opened his eyes and took a quick glance around, the room had stopped spinning (thankfully) but some things still had a blurred tint around them. He carefully rubbed his eyes and turned his head to look at who was next to him. 

Oh Great, it was worse than some damn serial killer… it was-

“Cellbit?” He questioned, unsure if he was hallucinating this or not. 

“O primeiro e único,” Cellbit responded. 

Roier blinked a couple times as he stared at him, “¿Qué estás haciendo aquí?”

“…I happen to see them wheeling you into the infirmary and… I just came to see what happened.” 

“Aww,” Roier reached out and lightly pinched his warm cheek, “Worried ‘bout little old me?” 

Cellbit rolled his eyes and gently pushed his hand away, “Tanto faz, idiota, pelo menos não sou eu que estou com uma concussão.”

“It adds character development.”

The Raven player was silent for a moment, Roier could feel the man’s blue eyes carefully watching his movements. “Look...” Cellbit began.

Roier held his finger up, “I don’t want to hear it.”

“No, let me say it,” He argued desperately, “Por favor.”

“Si realmente lo dices en serio, dímelo cuando sea coherente.”

Cellbit sighed but reluctantly nodded. He had a feeling what the man was about to say, he didn't know if it was a good feeling or a bad one. With Cellbit the feeling was mostly bad. At least… it usually was.

The room settled into another silence, neither hockey player attempting to start up a conversation. Roier’s eyes felt heavy as he stared at the dirty tile below his feet; the hand that still rubbed at his back creating a soothing rhythm that was threatening to put him into a deep sleep. The pattern feeling familiar and comfortable, as if he’s done that same motion thousands of times before. 

Minus the concussion, his brain felt scrambled. Mixed emotions danced around his gut as he struggled to determine how he felt about the current situation, how he didnt mind (and maybe even liked) Cellbit sitting next to him. Them both just enjoying the peaceful silence without any arguing or hitting each other for once.

It felt old yet so rich. He had gotten used to the feeling of bitterness and pain that he forgot what it felt like to enjoy the person he used to know so well. It was strange, it made him feel sick.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” He asked quietly.

“Hm?” Cellbit questioned.

Roier cleared his throat and tore his eyes away from the tile and up towards Cellbits face, “I asked, why are you being so nice to me?”

Cellbit was quiet for a moment, “Eu... eu não sei... Você prefere que eu seja mau com você?”

“No lo sé, tal vez... Los sentimientos serían menos confusos.”

The Raven player chuckled humorously and nodded, “Sim, eles fariam.” He paused for a moment, “You really scared me.”

Roier furrowed his brow, “¿Qué?”

“Seeing you knocked out and so… pale looking,” Cellbit Swallowed thickly, “Fico feliz que não tenha sido nada sério.”

Roiers eyes scanned the man’s face taking in detail to how his lips were downturned and the wrinkles that formed between his eyebrows, “Don’t say that… people might think you actually care.”

He sighed, “Aranha, I can’t-”

Before Cellbit could finish his sentence the infirmary door slammed open, “Roier!” Two loud voices shouted.

He whipped his head away from Cellbit and towards the door just to see Missa and Mariana stumbling into the room, both of them almost tripping over the other. 

“¡¿Estás bien?!”

“¡Estás despierto!!” 

They both spoke at the same time as they hurried over to him and began checking him for injuries.

“What are you guys doing here?” Roier asked, slightly overwhelmed. 

“None of the staff would let us inside but when we heard talking we figured it was you!” Mariana told him. 

Missa nodded, “How are you feeling? You’ve been out for a couple hours.” 

He shrugged weakly, “Well if you ignore the minor concussion and bruises I’m just peachy.” 

Both of his friends physically deflated as they let out sighs of relief. They must’ve been really worried… How bad was his accident? 

“Hey, what happened after I got hit?” He asked curiously.

Mariana scoffed, “Bueno, al cabrón que te pegó ni siquiera parece importarle y fue a por el gol, pero por suerte no contó.”

“Luzu instantáneamente detuvo el juego y todos corrimos hacia allí... Dios, fue una vista aterradora,” Missa continued on, the tone in his voice seeming grim. 

Roier felt bad for scaring his friends this much… he had heard how it shook Cellbit up but he couldn’t  imagine what it was like for the people that were actually there. He’s seen bad hockey incidents in his time and they never got easier to witness. 

“Lo siento amigos,” He apologized.

“It's not your fault,” Missa quickly reassured, “Nos alegra que estés bien.” 

Roier thanked them both and suggested they pulled up some chairs so they could continue their conversation more casually. Both of his friends chatted happily as they quickly moved away from the topic of the game and onto their normal chaotic discussions; new Tv shows and overhyped celebrities. Although throughout their usual (loud) banter he realized that Cellbit hadn’t left. 

The man sat comfortably next to Roier on the medical bed and was leaning back against the wall, his hand still rubbing soothing circles into his back as he silently listened to the trio's conversation. Neither Missa or Mariana paid any attention to the man and didn’t even seem to acknowledge his presence. He would’ve been convinced that Cellbit was a hallucination if it wasn’t for the way both of his friends looked when they first entered the room. 

Anxious, excited, and guilty as if they had been doing something they weren’t supposed to… like eavesdropping. 

Though despite the slightly strange situation he found himself in, he didn’t mind Cellbit’s presence. He found himself leaning into the man’s touch as his friends continued to ramble on, the warmth radiating off the man’s form acting as a magnet to his healing body. While Missa and Mariana flew into a debate about something he took the opportunity to readjust his position and move closer to the Raven player. 

Like a missing puzzle piece he slid perfectly against Cellbit; his back leaning against his chest slightly. As he moved closer he could hear the smallest inhale come from the man behind him though it quickly went away. Was he being oddly bold? Yes, but he has a concussion, Cellbit is warm, and he isn’t all there yet so who cares? 

“Oh! We forgot to tell you!” Mariana spoke up, his tone filled with mischief. “Because you’re our only current center and you got injured… Luzu extended the camp! We're gonna be here for an extra week!”

Wait- what?

Chapter Text

Dim moonlight peeked through the thin curtains in his hotel room; the glowing planet painted his face in a gentle light. He buried his head further into his pillow and let out a slow exhale, the attempt to get any sleep was becoming futile and the longer he laid here the more his mind ran. He couldn’t get Cellbit out of his head. 

Roier propped himself onto his elbows and picked his phone up off the nightstand, it was 2 AM. His tired eyes danced around his lockscreen as they looked for any new notifications or messages, however he saw nothing but the cute photo of his cat, Bobby, he had taken one early morning. He rolled over onto his back and unlocked his phone, staring at the similarly blank open home-screen.

He mindlessly scrolled through his Instagram for a while: liking any new posts he had recently missed, apparently Jaiden had gotten a new cat while he was gone. At some point he had clicked on his own account and began scrolling through his old posts, looking closely at each image and reminiscing on the memories they brought. 

As he reached the bottom of his account he began to see more photos of when he was in college; most of the photos were him completely blacked out and partying, while others were large group photos. One specific photo caught his attention; it was his old hockey team he used to play for all sitting at a table in some restaurant, everyone was looking up at the camera and smiling. He stared at the nostalgic photo and couldn’t help but zoom in on certain people’s faces. 

He almost dropped his phone once he realized that Cellbit was in the photo and that they were sitting right next to each other. His strained eyes stared at their younger faces as he tried to put a name to what he was feeling, nostalgia? sentiment? homesick? They both looked so happy in the picture; he was dressed in a dark black hoodie while Cellbit was in a bright red one… clearly each other's clothes. 

Roier turned his phone off and gently set it on his chest. He stared up at the ceiling in silence and tried to get the image out of his head. The feeling he felt wasn’t sadness… it was yearning. 

Just as he was about to roll over for the hundredth time this night a quiet knock came from the door, he lifted his head up from his pillow in confusion and looked to the door. Who would be awake at this hour? He sat up and turned on the old lamp that sat on the nightstand before getting out of bed. With anxious steps he made his way towards the door and unlocked it, he cracked the door open slowly and peeked his head out but opened it wider once he saw who it was. 

“Cellbit?” Roier asked, confused. 

The Brazilian looked nervous as he stood in the empty hallway, “Olá, não consegui dormir e vi você online, então…” 

He tilted his head slightly, a small smile on his face, “¿Me estás acosando o algo así?” 

A bright flush appeared on Cellbit’s face, “Não! I- um-”

“I’m just messing with you,” Roier teased. He opened the door wider, “Want to come in?” 

“Actually, I had a different place in mind… if you’re willing to go?” 

Roier didn’t respond for a moment as he thought about the offer. Did he really want to go and hang out with his ex boyfriend? It was late and he had a busy day tomorrow… plus it was much colder out here then it was in his bed. Though it wasn’t like he was going to get to sleep any time soon…

“I’ll get my coat,” He agreed, turning back into the room and closing the door behind him. 

He moved around the hotel room like a bullet, going through his suitcase and messy clothes to find his winter jacket and boots. He slipped the articles of clothes on and shoved his gloves into his coat pocket before stopping by the floor length mirror that was attached to the bathroom door and fixed his messy hair. Once he deemed it okay (enough) he reopened the door and stepped into the hallway where Cellbit was waiting. 

“Lidera el camino,” Roier prompted.

Cellbit stared at him for a moment before smiling and nodding, starting the walk to the unknown location. Strangely the walk was peaceful as the pair made their way out of the elevator and through the hotel's empty lobby, occasionally Cellbit would look over his shoulder to make sure Roier was still following him though neither pointed it out. 

As soon as they made their way out of the hotel an icy chill attached itself onto his skin, Roier rubbed at his hands and quickly took his gloves out of his coat pocket. 

“Do you feel okay enough to do this?” Cellbit asked. 

Roier flexed his fingers in the warm wool and nodded, “If I wasn’t okay I would‘ve told you no.” 

 “Promise?”

“You know I don’t lie.”

“Sim, e também sei como você se esqueceu de pensar em si mesmo.”

“Cállate y empieza a caminar.”

Cellbit huffed quietly and began walking again. The man led them through the snow covered parking lot and onto the sidewalk where they followed the road for a good amount of time until they reached civilization, a peaceful silence filled the small town as nothing but glowing Christmas lights filled its empty space. 

“Isn’t it a little early for Christmas decorations?” Cellbit pointed out. 

Roier shrugged, “I mean it’s almost December so… I don’t think so.” 

“Well yeah, you always decorate early, I remember you used to have a small Christmas tree in your room.” 

He let out a loud laugh at the sudden memory, “¡Ay dios mío! ¡¡Me olvidé de eso! That tree had gone through so much.” 

“I’m shocked they let you keep it, it was so against the restrictions.” 

“What can I say? The spirit of Christmas can do anything.” 

Cellbit let out a hum but didn’t respond further. They fell into another silence as they continued their walk through the small town square, occasionally making quick jokes and pointing out some of the oddly shaped fairy lights. Before he knew it they were leaving the town and entering what looked to be a small park, the pine trees that sat in the entrance were covered in fluffy snow and thin icicles. 

Light snow crunched under their feet as they followed the poorly shoveled path; glowing string lights were wrapped around nearly every tree making the normally dim park look like something out of a fairytale. 

“I’m curious,” Roier began, “Why were you up so late? Don’t you go to bed super early?” 

Cellbit shrugged, “Dunno, my brain wouldn’t stop thinking.” He looked at him, “What about you?”

Roier shoved his hands into his pockets and looked back at him, “Same here.” 

The Brazilian nodded but didn’t stop staring at him, their steps slowed down until they reached an eventual stop in the center of the park. Roier’s eyes danced around Cellbit’s face, noticing how his normally pale cheeks were a glowing pink.

He swallowed thickly and looked down to his feet, he couldn’t ignore the elephant in the room any longer, “Why did you bring me out here?” 

“Eu... eu não sei.” Cellbit paused, “Por que você concordou em vir?” 

“No sé.”

Roier waited for the man to say something but the words never came, he kept his eyes glued to the tops of his snow covered boots in fear for what he would see once he looked back up. He didn’t know if he could handle seeing those familiar softened eyes. 

He was shocked out of his fear filled thoughts by a hand reaching down and gently grabbing the side of his face, he allowed the hand to guide his head back up instantly locked eyes with Cellbit. A faint blush sunk its way onto his face though he was convinced it was because of the cold air and not the current situation. 

“Roier I,” Cellbit began, he chewed on his bottom lip anxiously, “I’m sorry.” 

His eyes widened slightly in shock, “¿Qué?”

“Sinto muito pelo que disse há tantos anos, fui estúpido e inseguro e você não merecia isso.”

“Cellbit…” 

The man shook his head, cutting off his sentence, “I was afraid of what I was feeling and instead of realizing it was okay I let people get into my head and I… I pushed you away because I’m a fucking idiot but I can’t not apologize anymore. It’s killing me.” 

Roier’s eyes darted around the man’s face as he tried to grasp what he was hearing, it almost felt like a dream. He has waited years to hear this apology, yet now that he was actually experiencing it… it felt strange. Sour even. 

“no se que decir,” He confessed quietly.  

Cellbit brought their faces slightly closer, “Você não precisa dizer nada… I just want you to know that I’ll never stop apologizing to you because losing you was one of the worst things I’ve ever done.” 

Roier swallowed thickly and grabbed onto his shoulder, he stared at him for a moment before leaning forward and gently pressing their lips together. Almost instantly the action was reciprocated as Cellbit quickly slid his hand from Roier’s burning cheek onto the back of his neck pulling him closer. 

Sweetened cinnamon coated his tongue as he deepened their kiss, the feeling of fingers playing with the nape of his neck sending goosebumps down his spine. Years later and they still fit together like glue. 

After a moment Cellbit pulled away and gently leaned his forehead against Roier’s, “Você é o único homem que amei e se não me perdoar, eu entendo... Só saiba que estarei aqui sempre que você o fizer.”  

Roier eyes began to sting as he stared up at the man that’s been haunting his mind for the past two weeks. He felt sick to his stomach yet filled with so much adrenaline it made him dizzy, his knees were seconds from collapsing though he wanted to do nothing but feel those soft lips pressed against his own again. 

“You don’t know how many times I’ve pictured this exact conversation,” He confessed quietly. 

Cellbit rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “I hope it lived up to its expectations…” 

Roier rolled his eyes and pressed a quick and gentle kiss to his lips, “You’re an idiot.” 

“Eu sou seu idiota.” 

He ran his hands down Cellbit’s shoulder and landed on hips, “No creo que esté preparado para hablar de cómo me dolieron esas palabras... pero creo que estoy dispuesto a seguir adelante.”

“Realmente?”

“Sí… Desde el momento en que te vi en la enfermería conmigo supe... ¿Es una locura decirlo?” 

Cellbit shrugged, “I knew from our first practice.”

“You mean when you pretended that I punched you and caused us to fight, that time?” 

“Yeah that was… sorry.” 

Roier shook his head and laughed quietly, causing Cellbit to join in. The sound traveling through the still air around them and surrounding them like a warm blanket. They were just as messed up as they were in college. 

He pushed a strand of hair out of Cellbit’s face and nervously bit the inside of his cheek, “Do you maybe… want to come back to my room?” 

Cellbit stared at him for a moment before grabbing his wrist and gently pressing a kiss against his beating pulse, the action causing butterflies in his stomach. “I would love nothing more,” He confessed. 

Roier smiled softly at the sweetened action feeling his already rosey cheeks darken more, Cellbit pressed a final kiss in the same spot before linking their fingers together, they stared at each other for a quick moment before the Brazilian began to pull him along the path. He let out a surprised laugh as he stumbled slightly though he quickly found his footing and fell into the quick pace. 

Gentle snow fell around them as they made their way back through the lush park and onto the main center, cars getting buried in snow sat idle as they walked through the empty streets not worrying about any oncoming traffic. He felt like he was in some cliché romcom, the plot finally coming together and relieving the viewer of the past tensions. 

Despite all the hatred and anger he previously portrayed towards Cellbit he didn’t feel so embarrassed to admit that he was still in love with him anymore. The conflict and frustration he went through for so long all seemed worth it now that he had the man right by his side. 

Yes… they still had a lot to talk about and work through but the idea of that didn’t seem so impossible. Just maybe… they’ll be ok. 

Chapter Text

A comforting warmth surrounded Roier as he buried his face deeper into his soft pillow, glowing sunlight shone through the half-opened curtains basking the room in a warm color. He peeled his tired eyes open slowly and let out a silent yawn, what time was it? 

He stretched and went to push himself up when he felt a sudden breath on the back of his neck, almost instantly he froze. In what felt like slow motion he turned his head to look behind him; pressed against his back was none other than Cellbit, the man’s arms were wrapped tightly around his waist and his face was buried deep into the base of his neck.

A hot flush latched itself onto his cheeks…. right, that happened last night. 

Instead of immediately shoving the man off of him or slowly trying to maneuver himself out of his deadly grip, he instead took the chance to lay back down and actually enjoy the moment. Cellbit’s brown hair was frizzy and laid out in random positions making it look like he got electrocuted. Roier carefully rolled onto his side so he was facing the sleeping man, he bit back a smile and gently ran his fingers through his untamed hair. 

This was such a surreal feeling, never in a million years did he picture himself with Cellbit again, forget basically naked and in bed. Despite what his brain wanted to tell him he had to believe that the man’s apology was sincere and serious. He’s always been a bit of a troublemaker but he’s never been an outright liar. 

It was baby steps… that’s all he could hope for right now. 

A light kiss was pressed against his jaw instantly snapping him out of his silent spiral. He blinked a couple times and looked down to meet sleepy blue eyes. 

“Buenos días,” Roier whispered. 

Cellbit hummed back a response and continued to kiss along his jawline, eventually making his way down his neck. Roier chuckled quietly and tried to move his head away once the man got to certain ticklish parts. 

The Brazilian tightened his grip around him, “Pare de fugir de mim,” He whined quietly, “Acabei de ter você de volta.” 

The blush on his face deepened causing him to scoff playfully, “You’re so stupid.” 

Cellbit chuckled quietly and placed a final kiss at the base of his neck before pulling away, “How are you feeling?”

“Fine I guess”, Roier shrugged. “I don’t feel like passing out or throwing up so that’s better.” 

He nodded and gently grabbed onto Roier’s face, his brows pulled together in concern, “Good, are you hungry or anything? Need water?”

A soft smile appeared on Roier’s face as he listened to the man anxiously ramble on, tilting his head down slightly he pressed his lips against the Brazilians, cutting him off mid sentence. The action was immediately reciprocated despite the intentional interruption. Their gentle and soft kiss quickly turned into something more heated the longer they stayed connected. 

Cellbit’s hand snaked from his face down his shoulder and finally landed on his hip, Roier linked his arm around the base of Cellbit’s neck pulling him closer and deepening their kiss. Heat quickly rose in his body as he felt the Brazilians hand leave his hip and slowly travel below the thin blanket that was covering them both. 

Roier pulled away from the kiss and pressed their foreheads together, “Esperar,” he breathed, “¿No tienes práctica pronto?”

Cellbit was quiet for a moment as he thought, “eles podem esperar.”

Like a magnet, as soon as the words came out of Cellbit’s mouth his lips were already re-attaching themselves to Roier’s neck and his hand was gripping his thigh tightly, pressing them impossibly closer. Roier let out a surprised yelp which quickly turned into a loud laughter, he let the man have his way for a moment before pressing his hands against his chest and pushing him back slightly. 

“Cellbo,” He began, “Go to practice… I’ll be here when you’re done.” 

Cellbit’s eyes locked with him and he could practically see the man having an eternal battle with himself, a moment passed before he let out a defeated sigh and nodded. “Tá bom…” He grumbled quietly. 

Roier pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek and whispered, “Si ganas tu juego de práctica... incluso podrías obtener una recompensa.”

“Don’t tease… your teasing is torture, amor.” 

He chuckled quietly and kissed Cellbit a final time before pushing himself off the bed. As if it was second nature they got ready in a peaceful silence, Roier picking out a new outfit from his messy suitcase while Cellbit changed into his clothes from the night before. More steamed make-outs filled the time where they probably should’ve been getting ready for the day but neither really cared. 

Cellbit tossed his bag onto his shoulder and grabbed Roier by his hips stopping his movements towards the door. “Cellbit…” Roier warned lightheartedly.

“Just one more kiss,” Cellbit promised. 

He sighed dramatically but proceeded with the request, he rested his hands on his shoulders and leaned up to give the man a final kiss. Cellbit lips locked onto his hungrily and immediately took charge of the exchange, teeth playfully nipped at his bottom lip asking permission to be let in which he denied. The action caused the taller man to let out an annoyed groan. 

Roier pulled away from the kiss and smiled softly, “Practice.” 

“God, since when did you get so responsible and so… hot.” 

He laughed, “Me being responsible is hot?” 

“Fuck yes,” Cellbit stole another quick kiss before taking a step back, “Alright, I’m going now.”

Roier crossed his arms and leaned against the wall watching him head towards the door and unlock it, “I’ll see you later.” 

“You better,” Cellbit teased as he opened the door, as the man went to step out he suddenly froze. 

Roier's eyes left Cellbit’s suddenly pale face and moved to the hallway where he instantly felt his stomach drop into his ass.

“Roier?” Both Mariana and Missa questioned at the same time as their wide eyes stared at both men. 

Oh Fuck-

“I- uh- ¿Qué están haciendo ustedes aquí?” He quickly stuttered out. 

“No hemos sabido nada de ti en todo el día, así que vinimos a ver cómo estabas,” Missa informed, his eyes glancing between Roier and Cellbit. 

“Bueno, ahora sabemos claramente por qué,” Mariana muttered under his breath, causing Missa to slap him in his chest. 

Cellbit stared at the trio in silence for a moment as they bickered back and forth, eventually he turned around and gave Roier a single nod, “Vou sair do seu caminho... claramente há muita coisa acontecendo.”

Roier nodded back and gave him an apologetic smile, “Lo siento, te veré más tarde.”

Cellbit only smiled back and exited the hotel room, ignoring how both Polar players' eyes were practically glued to him. Once the man was out of ear shot both his friends piled into his hotel room, slamming the door shut as they forcibly pushed him backwards. 

“Tell us everything,” Missa demanded eagerly. 

Roier rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and let them guide him to a seat, “We just… we were hanging out.” 

“Hanging out?!” Mariana Scoffed, “El niño tenía más moretones que un plátano.”

“Okay… Maybe we did a bit more than hang out.”

“Are you guys together?” Missa asked, stars practically dancing behind his eyes.

He shrugged, “No sé… we didn’t really have time to talk about it.” 

“So you’re telling me you had plenty of time for sex but not that?” Mariana depanned. 

Sudden heat rose to Roier’s face causing him to quickly punch his friend in the arm, “Mariana!” He shouted embarrassed. 

Missa took a seat next to him on the unmade bed and rested a hand on his shoulder, “Por más estúpido que sea... tiene razón.”

He sighed and looked to his two friends, “Mira, acabamos de volver a estar juntos después de cinco años... tenemos tiempo para discutir títulos.”

Both of his friends let out noises of skepticism but thankfully didn’t push the matter any further. 

“¿Fue bueno al menos?” Mariana suddenly asked. 

Roier’s face flushed hotter, “Pendejo!” 

The tall man let out a loud laugh as Roier leapt out of his seat to smack his friend, despite the embarrassment he couldn’t help but chuckle a little as well. The situation was entirely fucked up but also quite funny, what were the odds of his friends catching that happen? 1 in a million that’s what. 

“Since we’re apparently so open to talking about relationships, how about you and that glasses guy from the Ravens?” Roier challenged. 

Almost instantly Marianas carefree face dropped into something hot and bashful. He hadn't brought it up to his friend but it was painfully obvious that he was attracted to the Ravens defense player, whenever the man would pass by their group Mariana would get this love sick expression on his face. 

Missa let out a loud laugh at the change in atmosphere causing Marianas red face to glow brighter. “¡Oh, no te rías, idiota! ¡Veo cómo miras al entrenador!” He accused, pointing a finger at Missa. 

Roier’s jaw dropped to the floor and he whipped his head towards his other friend, “¡¿Qué?!” He shouted, “¿El entrenador de los Ravens?”

Missas wide eyes darted between both his friends' faces, “He- He’s nice to me!” 

The room fell into a silence for a moment before all three men fell into a loud fit of laughter. Roier clutched at his stomach and fell back onto the bed, his shoulder trembling from the amount of laughter. How had something directed towards him spiraled into something much more personal and invasive? 

Apparently the Ravens had all of them stuck in their claws, literally and figuratively. An uncertain amount of time passed before the trio calmed themselves back down, Roier wiped the tears out of his eyes and prompted himself back up. 

“What the fuck just happened?” He questioned nobody in particular. 

Mariana shook his head and pushed himself away from the wall, “No hablamos de lo que acaba de pasar en esta sala.” 

Missa quickly nodded, “I agree.” 

Roier smiled and pushed himself off the bed, “Alright everyone get out, I’m exhausted and need to get some more rest before our next practice.” 

“Aww kicking us out?” Mariana teased lightly.

He put his hands on his hips, “I mean unless you want me to mention this new information to Cellbit?” 

“Right, we’ll be leaving.” 

Another chuckle escaped out of him as he watched Mariana drag a bedruging Missa off his bed and towards the door. He followed the pair down the small Corridor and out into the hallway where he said a quick goodbye to his friends. After a couple hugs and promises to meet up later, he was now back in his hotel room, only this time alone. 

He pressed his back against the closed door and took a look around his messy room; clothes and blankets were thrown around making it look like a ruthless tornado had blown through. He gently bit the inside of his lip as remember his promise he had told Cellbit. He should probably clean up before the man comes back over. 

Chapter Text

“You look stressed,” Bad pointed out as they got ready. 

The locker room was bustling as The Polars got ready for their official and final game against the Ravens. Luzu could only postpone the game for so long until the threat of disqualification came up, Roier’s head injury was almost completely healed if not for the occasional headaches that were still popping up. 

The doctor said he was okay to play but to be cautious of any extra injuries so for the first half he would be on the bench. He tightened the padding on his arms and slipped the bright red jersey over his head, making sure none of the pads got caught on the thick fabric. 

He propped his foot on the bench and sighed, “I’m not stressed just… nervous, it’s a big game.” 

Bad closed his locker and hummed in response, “That’s true, but you know we’ll beat them, we always do.” 

Roier tightly tied his skates laces and glanced over to his friend who wore a confident yet reassuring smile, he nodded in agreement with his friends words but chose not to open his mouth to respond further. 

“If Cellbit gives you any issues on the ice, we’ll take care of it,” Bad promised. “I already warned Fit.”  

“Oh, Bad you don’t have to do that.” 

“Nonsense! You’re our friend, we’ve got your back.” 

Unfortunately before Roier could respond Bad’s name was being called from across the locker room and he was being dragged away from their conversation. Roier watched his friend quickly walk over to another player and closed his mouth with a quiet ‘click.’ Has he not told anybody about his and Cellbit’s new relationship? …Maybe. 

But it wasn’t like he was intentionally  keeping it from everyone, if somebody came up to him and asked he would gladly tell them that they had made up. However it’s yet to come up in conversation so he’s kept his mouth shut; which would be perfectly fine if not for the fact that everyone thought that they still strongly despised each other. Well, everyone besides Missa and Mariana. 

He tied his other skates laces and stretched out his muscles. This game meant everything to his team, it was the game that decided if they moved on to the finals or would be put out for the rest of the year. To say he was anxious would be an understatement. 

Roier closed his locker and picked his helmet off of the wooden bench behind him, he made his way through the crowded locker room and did a once over on his appearance in one of the many large mirrors in the room. He could hear the faint muffle of loud music as it echoed through the large stadium, unlike their previous practice games this one was open to the public eye. 

His stomach turned at the thought of how many people would be attending tonight. All those eyes.

“¡Reúnanse todos!” Luzu yelled, his powerful voice quickly gathering everyone’s attention. 

Roier tore his eyes off his reflection and over to the crowd that began to form around their coach, he quickly made his way over and squeezed into a spot next to Quackity. 

“I know everyone is stressed and worried,” Luzu began, “This is a big game for us, pero sólo porque sea un gran juego no lo hace diferente de lo que ya has hecho cientos de veces… You've played against the Ravens many times in these past weeks, I want you to take what you’ve learned and try your best.” 

An enthusiastic cheer echoed throughout the room as everyone yelled in agreement. A large smile appeared on Luzus face, “¡Tengamos un gran juego!”

Each player put their hand in the center of the messy circle they created, a short countdown sounded out before a loud “Go Polars!” was shouted. 

The group of hockey players dispersed just as an ear deafening buzzer sounded out, the noise signaling that the game was going to be starting soon. Roier grabbed his hockey stick off of the wall and made his way out of the locker room. The hallway that led to the ice felt impossibly long; cold air filled the concrete tube as players piled out of it in a signal file line.

What was a brewing anxiety grew ever-powerful the closer he got to the exit. Excited chants and screams could be heard from the crowd above as colorful lights began to paint the hallway in a mix of rainbow. This was actually happening. 

The line of players stopped and the sound of a loud rumble began to start; Roier stared down at his hockey stick while he listened to the announcers introduce the Ravens players. The song Barracuda began to play over the speakers as what he assumed was the team's walk out song. He could see the shadows of the players quickly dim the hallways light as they skated by the door they were waiting behind. 

His fingers tapped along to the song, he listened to the powerful roar from the crowd and sighed. He had a gut feeling that it was going to be an interesting game. 

The rock song began to quiet down instantly making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He held his breath as he heard the announcer's voice come through again, it was almost as if the air in that small hallway stilled. It was finally game time. 

Just as the announcer introduced their name Luzu let out a loud shout signaling it was time to go out on the ice. Almost instantly a rush of adrenaline hit his body, bright red colors painted the ice as they piled out onto the freshly smoothed rink. Roier eyes scanned the large crowd in disbelief, there was a lot of fucking people here… and half of them were here for them.  

The loud voice of The Runaways played over the speaker, people in the crowd singing along to the words of Cherrybomb. He waved to a couple fans he spotted wearing his jersey number but mostly kept his eyes on the player in front of him, the feeling of thousands of people staring holes into the back of his head feeling (slightly) overwhelming. 

After a couple of laps they made their way to their side of the rink and stood in a single file line directly across from The Ravens, he skated up to his marker and looked up to the Raven player in front of him. Of course he happened to be placed in front of Cellbit. 

Like a magnet Cellbit’s blue eyes instantly locked onto his own; however instead of that deadly intensity he was used to, he was instead met with an excited yet soft expression. Roier’s brown eyes danced around the man’s face before he flashed him a small smile, the look instantly being reciprocated. 

Once again the music died down and the announcer began to speak, their dull voice instantly making him zone out as they quickly spoke about the game and its statistics. He couldn’t help but stare at the man in front of him. 

“Be careful,” Cellbit silently mouthed to him. 

Roier stared at him for a second as his brain struggled to register what he said, after a moment though he understood. With another gentle smile he held his gloved hand up and showed his pink, a promise. The Brazilian nodded seemingly reassured enough. 

The game's announcer finished their speech and riled the crowd back up, filling the stadium in cheers once again. Both teams were forced to separate and go to their respective sides of the rink. Roier stepped off of the ice and set his hockey stick against the wall, finding a seat on the bench where he’ll be positioned for who knows how long. 

He watched as both Polar and Raven players went onto the rink, the players instantly getting into their positions. His gaze floated through their side as he watched his friends mentally prepare themselves, he could practically feel their nerves radiating off their bodies. Once his eyes moved to the opposing team he instantly noticed that Cellbit was out on the ice already and stood in the middle of the rink. 

A pang of jealousy struck him as he realized he probably wouldn’t be playing against the man until later in the game, that is if he plays against him at all. 

“You good?” Fit asked him.

Roier glanced over to him and nodded sharply, “I’m fine.” 

The bald man nodded but didn’t say anything more. He hoped his friend assumed he was frustrated about not being able to play and not the fact that he was acting like a petty high schooler. This was fine, he was fine. 

The referee made their way out onto the ice and stood in between both teams, they held the puck tightly in their hands as they waited for the moment to drop it. Roier felt as if he was on the edge of his seat as he waited for the biscuit to touch the ice. The referee took a slight step back and dropped the hockey puck, as soon as it touched the ice a loud whistle was blown. 

The game had begun. 

Almost instantly The Ravens had the puck; Cellbit instantly took possession of the puck as he slammed his shoulder in their temporary center. The Brazilian controlled the puck as he made his way down the rink and passed it to the Ravens left wing player. The short player, one who he recalls as Pac, took the puck down the rink and maneuvered his way through their defensive players. 

Mariana hooked his hockey stick against Pac’s throwing the man off balance slightly, his friend pushed himself in front of The Raven player and stole the hockey puck back. Loud cheers echoed throughout the stadium as Mariana sped down the rink, Roier watched as he quickly passed the puck to Bad who took it towards The Raven’s defense players.

Roier’s hands began to sweat once he saw The Raven’s defense start to swarm Bad like a pack of hungry dogs. Like butter the man swerved around the determined players and stayed stable as they knocked into him, before they could steal the puck back Bad quickly sent it back over to Mariana who instantly shot it into the goal. 

The Ravens goalie dove for the biscuit and landed on the ice milliseconds after the puck flew into the net. Screams filled the stadium and a loud buzzer rang out, they got a point. Instantly Roier was out of his seat and cheering for his friends as they passed by him, pride filled his chest, he loved his team. 

While the crowd continued to celebrate their team got back into position, Luzu substituted Fit in before going back to his overflowing clipboard. Roier watched Fit get into position and couldn’t help but look at what the Ravens were doing, everyone from before was still on the ice. 

Like clockwork another round started; this time The Polars instantly had it. Their team sped down the long ice rink with determination, Roier was practically sitting on the edge of his seat as he watched them battle for the hockey puck. Unfortunately a Raven player was able to weasel their way into their offensive wall and steal the puck away. 

The polars attempted to do a quick turn around and chase the stealthy Raven player but was settled futile as the Ravens quickly gained a point. 

Luzu made his way around the bench and crouched down in front of him, “¿Crees que puedes jugar?” 

Almost instantly he was nodding and picking up his helmet, “Por supuesto.”

“Si pasa algo o no te sientes bien, dímelo inmediatamente y te sacaré.” 

He nodded, “Prometo.”

A confident smile appeared on Luzus face and he patted his shoulder before standing up and heading to his previous spot. Roier adjusted his helmet and locked it into place, the announcer's voice came back over the speakers as the two teams made their necessary substitutions. He grabbed his hockey stick and carefully stepped onto the slick ice. 

There’s nothing that could compare how different the feeling of being on the ice was to sitting on the side lines; like a shot of espresso was injected into his bloodstream, his adrenaline was immediately up. His brain cycled through each play that they had previously practiced and he thought about which was the best move for their current situation. 

The polars huddled into a small group on their side of the rink, he squeezed into a spot and leaned into the circle, “Alright, everyone’s plays looked good, we need to do the ‘Gummy Bear’ play to take the lead again.” 

The group let out a synchronized noise of approval before quickly separating. The ‘Gummy Bear' play was something he came up with one sleepless night; it primarily focused on the offense and their disadvantage for being at the front line. As the offense players ran sporadically at the opposing players the defense would sneak up from behind and either support the puck or take it back.

It was called Gummy Bear because it was what he was eating at the moment he created it… though he liked to tell people it was called that because it made the opposing team's brain feel like gummy from the unexpected attack. 

Roier skated into the center of the rink and met up with Cellbit who was still out on the ice, he got into position and locked eyes with the man. “Você não deveria estar aqui,” Cellbit scolded. 

“Cuando mi equipo me necesita, aparezco... sin importar cómo me sienta,” He responded confidently.

The Brazilian rolled his eyes, “Você é um idiota.”

“Soy tuyo.” 

“Jogue com cuidado.”

Roier couldn’t help but smile at the man’s grumpy yet caring tone. The referee made their way out onto the ice with the hockey puck and stopped just between them, Roier’s eyes were glued to the shining biscuits as it waited to get dropped. 

The air around him stilled as he watched the puck fall through the air and hit the ice. Like a magnet his hockey stick was immediately on the puck, he forced his body in front of Cellbit causing the man to quickly stumble out of the way. He had a feeling that the Brazilian was going to be playing more cautiously around him and was going to use that to his damn advantage. 
 
His skates glided across the rink like a flaming knife, ice particles kicked up under his feet as he weaved his way through the blockades of Raven players. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he felt one of the Ravens defense players slam into his side, he glanced at the player and quickly stabilized his footing before sending the puck to one of his awaiting teammates. 

The influence of the crowd was intoxicating as they reacted to every little thing that happened, they passed the puck, the crowd cheered, somebody got hit, the crowd erupts into chaos. The serotonin he felt never got old, it was like a drug. 

The hockey puck is swung into the Raven goal gaining them a point, the crowd is filled with mixed cheers and disappointment. Like clockwork they reset; Roier could feel sweat drip down the side of his face as he watched the referee play with the hockey puck. The two periods go by in a blur of noise and colors: the Ravens were able to score three goals putting them in the lead by one point. 

You could feel it in the air that it was a close game, everybody was on edge and acting more spontaneously to normal harmless taunts. Roier could see it in Luzus' shoulders; how he was in a constant state of tension as he directed and called plays. It was the final period and they had to score two more points or else they wouldn’t be moving onto the finals. 

“Roier! I want you back on the ice,” Luzu ordered, his eyes never leaving his clipboard.

Roier set his water bottle down on the bench beside him and put his helmet back on. He quickly stood up from the bench and made his way back onto the rink, he took the chance to stretch his already tired muscles out in hopes of them gaining a second wind. It had been a bit since he’s done any training and he was starting to feel the effects of it. 

As he made his way into the center of the rink he gave a couple of motivational pats on the shoulder to his friends, hoping the silent gesture was enough to motivate them further. 

He found his place in the center of the rink and fiddled with his hockey stick as he waited for the period to start, out of the corner of his eye he saw a Raven player skate towards him. He glanced up from his hockey stick and locked eyes with a dark green gaze, it wasn’t Cellbit. 
Almost instantly he looked back down to his stick and continued to mess with the equipment.

The announcer's voice came over the speaker, alerting everyone that this was the final period, as the man’s charismatic voice came on the referee made their way into the ice. He watched the Ref stop between the two players and scan the ice as if making a mental note of everybody currently on the ice. 

The announcer (finally) finished their speal about the tension on the ice allowing the period to start. The referee blew their whistle and dropped the puck. Roier darted to the puck at the same time the Ravens player did, their shoulders bumped into each other as they fought for the flat biscuit. 

The Ravens player was strong, they maneuvered their hockey stick in front of his making it jolt back into his hands slightly. Startled by the sudden action he attempted to stop his hockey stick from flying through the air causing the Raven player to steal the puck from him. Once he realized what had happened, and gained control of his hockey stick again, he was immediately after the player. 

He could hear the uproar of the crowd as they slammed into their defense line, Bad was fighting with the Ravens center for the puck and managed to steal it for a moment before it was taken back. Roier attempted to chase after the center but was quickly blocked by one of the Ravens players. 

He felt himself stop breathing as he watched the scene in front of him; the Ravens center managed to get past bad and win a fight against fit, both defensive players were left stumbling as the Ravens center practically rammed through them. Despite the screaming crowd and hockey players the air grew quiet, he couldn’t do anything but pray that Quackity would somehow be able to block the sudden attack.

In slow motion he watched the Ravens center pull back their hockey stick and swing it; the puck flew through the air like an out of control bullet, ice particles and dirt flew off his center as it barreled towards the goal. Quackity’s eyes locked onto the flying puck and the goalie dove towards where it was headed. 

Roier watched as Quackity reached his arms out and slammed into the ice, he held his breath and desperately searched for where the puck was. Just as his eyes landed on the hockey puck he heard ear-deafening screams and a loud buzzer. The Ravens made their goal, they had lost. 

His eyes stayed glued to the goal as he heard the Raven players behind him let out cheers of celebration. Everything around him felt so quiet… they had really lost. All that effort, just to lose before the finals.

He felt a mix of emotions, sadness, anger… However, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief. The season was over, he didn’t have to wake up early anymore or deal with the constant ache in his muscles. He could finally rest. 

The polars exited the rink in a heavy silence, one by one each member made their way over to the bench where Luzu was waiting for them with a look of pride yet disappointment. Roier followed his team off the ice but was stopped before he could officially step onto the mat, he furrowed his brow and turned around to see who had stopped him when he was suddenly wrapped in a suffocating hug.

His body tensed up as the person pulled him closer, he was about to shove the stranger away from him until he smelt the familiar stale coffee mixed with husky cologne. Almost instantly his body relaxed and he was returning the tight embrace. 

“Eu realmente sinto muito,” Cellbit apologized, his voice borderline a whisper. 

Roier shook his head and pulled away from the embrace, ”No te disculpes.” He cupped the man’s face, “You won amor, you won! Celebrate!” 

Cellbit’s eyes darted around Roier’s face as if he was looking for the true emotion he was pushing down. He may have lost but it would be selfish of him to ruin this moment for Cellbit… he knew how much the man worked for this moment. 

“Pasan cosas, es sólo un deporte, ¿no?” He reassured, quietly. 

“Você investiu tanto tempo nisso, me sinto tão mal,” Cellbit went to continue but was cut off by Roier pressing his lips against the Brazilians.

Cellbit let out a noise of surprise but quickly reciprocated the action, after a moment Roier pulled away and flashed him a large smile, “Go celebrate with your team, we will meet up later, I’m proud of you.” 

The Brazilian stared at him for a moment before letting out a long sigh and reluctantly nodding, the two shared another quick kiss before finally separating. Roier watched the man quickly skate over to his teammates and officially stepped off of the rink, he turned around to head towards his stuff where he was met with his entire team staring at him. 

He looked between his teammates knowing and teasing looks and rolled his eyes, of course they saw the whole interaction, “Si alguien dice una maldita palabra, te daré una bofetada.” 

“¡Aye Roier! No me di cuenta de lo serios que

He held his breath as he heard the announcer's voice come through again, it was almost as if the air in that small hallway stilled. It was finally game time. 

son ustedes dos,” Quackity teased.

“Yeah Ro,” Fit joined in, “Since when were you two talking?” 

Roier took his gloves off and quickly untied his skates before standing back up and rushing towards the two men. Both players let out a surprised shout as they ran away from his attack. Laughter filtered through the small group of players as everyone watched the comically looking situation. 

They may have lost their final game but that would never stop them from being a team. This was his family, no amount of losses or wins would ever change that… and who knows, there’s always next year. 

Chapter Text

Salted butter coated his tongue as he shoved the overly-priced popcorn into his mouth, loud chatter surrounded him as everybody anxiously waited for the second part of the game to begin. A sneaking hand came into his vision forcing him to look away from the colorful Jumbotron.

“Hey! Get your own popcorn!” He scolded as he moved the box away from the sudden thief.

Jaiden rolled her eyes and popped the couple pieces of food she managed to steal into her mouth, “We bought it to share.” 

“Oh did we? Because I remember paying for it.” 

“Compartir es cuidar,” Mariana prompted as he snatched the popcorn bucket out of his palms.

Roier let out a dramatic gasp while he watched his friend eat the food he paid for. They were a bunch of animals, all of them. 

“¡¡Cállate!! los juegos a punto de comenzar,” Quackity shouted as he peeked his head out from behind Mariana's shoulder. 

In disbelief his eyes flicked in between both men before he (begrudgingly) gave up and turned his attention towards the hockey rink in front of them. They were at the final game of the season and Roier could practically feel the anticipation buzzing under his skin; it was The Ravens vs The Witherskins. So far The Ravens were in the lead by three points, the tension that was on the ice was palpable.

The stadium lights dimmed slightly as the announcer overhead came on, their loud voice echoed off the tall concrete walls of the stadium as the players came back out onto the ice. Roier’s eyes were instantly searching for that familiar numbered jersey as The Ravens skated into their positions, he could almost imagine what was going through Cellbit’s mind. The amount of rotating noise was probably headache inducing. 

The referee made their way out onto the ice and blew the whistle making both center players dive for the hockey puck. Loud cheers left his mouth as he watched Cellbit take the lead of the puck and guide it down the hockey rink, the crowd around him was deafening as people let out their mixed opinions throughout the performance. 

Cellbit passed the puck to their defense player, Charlie, who quickly weaved in between two oncoming Wither players. At the sight of the glasses-wearing man holding the puck, Marianas' cheers seemed to double in volume. The popcorn (his popcorn) got thrown up into the air as the brunettes launched out of his chair to loudly cheer.

Roier couldn’t help but chuckle at his friend's sudden shift In attitude. Apparently the two had started hanging out more after their final game against The Ravens but had been “secretly” seeing each other throughout the whole training camp. The man always got embarrassed while talking about their relationship but it didn’t take rocket science to figure out they liked each other. 

He moved his gaze away from his lovesick friend and back to the game where he caught the end of the puck being stolen by one of the Withers players. Charlie stumbled backwards as the player swerved in front of him and captured the hockey puck, instantly taking it down towards their goal. Roier was on the edge of his seat as he watched Cellbit pick up the pace in his movements and attempt to catch up to the slippery player. 

The Brazilian moved in between the oncoming Wither players like a spider weaving a web, ice particles spit up behind his skates as he tore through the ice. Eventually he caught up to the hockey puck and shoved his shoulder into the thieving player; the two got into a small fight as they pushed each other struggling to throw the other off course. 

The Wither player pushed him into one of the walls while yelling something that was inaudible to the crowd, of course Cellbit instantly reacted by fighting back against the sudden shift in violent behavior. Before anything serious could happen the referee was blowing their whistle, stopping the game, a penalty was called and Cellbit was sent to the box. 

He let out a frustrated groan and fell back into his seat, “He didn’t even do anything!” He argued with nobody. 

Jaiden patted his shoulder in sympathy, “They’ll be fine, they’re playing great either way.” 

“I know but still,” He crossed his arms and looked between the players that were on the ice. 

The Ravens coach looked frustrated as he shook his head and argued with the referee, the whole team looked agitated. The Withers had this radiance of cockiness about them, the way they skated around the rink like they owned the place really pissed him off. If he was on the rink he would’ve made sure that asshole didn’t walk away with at least a bloody nose. 

A brief intermission passed and the game was starting up once again, only this time a member short. The Ravens seemed to have gained a new passion, their passes were more strategically and thought out, their movements so smooth that he could hardly keep up with where the hockey puck was. Before he knew it they were scoring another point putting them further into the lead. 

Time seemed to be flying by as it was going into the final period. Roier could barely believe that the game was almost over, such an important event flew by as fast as a chaotic storm. A part of him was almost thankful that they weren’t standing in the center of the hockey rink but relaxing in the stands, the pure stress would surely turn his hair an ugly gray. 

Excited chatter floated through their small group as they all anxiously waited for the final period. Bad and Quackity argued who would win the match and even started making bets on certain players, of course he had to add his input and ended up bidding $50 on Cellbit. It was his boyfriend, what else was he supposed to do? 

During the small pause Mariana ended up leaving and bought him a new bag of popcorn as an apology for spilling the previous bag. 

Happiness bloomed in his chest as he watched his friends laugh and joke with each other, he was so thankful for the people in his life. Looking back at his time in college and remembering how close he was to quitting the sport seemed like a distant memory, as if it wasn’t even him. If he could go back in time and tell his past self about everything… he would do it in a heartbeat. 

The flashing neon lights dimmed signaling the final period was about to begin. Roier shoved a handful of his new popcorn into his mouth and instantly turned his attention to the hockey rink. Cellbit was back on the rink and looked angry, he could practically see how his shoulders were pressed to his ears and the amount of strength he was holding the hockey stick with. 

The referee blew their whistle, the final match had begun. A loud ‘crack’ sounded out as the two center's hockey sticks slammed into each other, Cellbit pushed his way in front of the Withers center and instantly stole the hockey puck. Loud cheers erupted around them as the Ravens moved in sync; like a leader going to war Cellbit stood confident in front of everyone. 

The Ravens defense came up beside him giving the extra support, the three of them passed the puck between each other making sure to avoid any of the Wither players that tried to steal their spot light. As they grew closer to the opposing goal Cellbit ended up falling back allowing one of the defensive players, Eotlies he believes, to take the lead. 

Tension hung heavy in the air as everyone seemed to hold their breaths, the defense player pushed his feet faster towards the goal making the Withers goalie turn fidgety. Roier clutched onto his seat as he watched Etoiles lift the hockey stick up and slam it into the puck, the flat biscuit lifted up from the ice and soared through the air like a bird gaining its freedom for the first time. Like a Raven. 

The hockey puck flew towards the Withers goalie and missed them by an inch. The room was silent for a moment before exploding into cheers, loud lights danced around the hockey rink. The Ravens had won.

In an instant Roier was jumping out of his chair and making his way down the concrete staircase that led towards the hockey rink. As he ran the noise of celebrations only grew louder, his breathing was heavy as he quickly scanned ice for the players, he only had one man in his mind. 

Nobody stopped him as he slipped his way into where the players were waiting and privately celebrating with each other, he weaved his way in between players trying not to bump into anybody. It wasn’t until he saw him did he finally stop. 

“Cellbit!” He shouted. 

At the sound of his name the Brazilian was turning away from the person he was talking to and looking to who called him, the two made eye contact and like a firework the man’s face lit up. Roier took in a deep breath and hurried over to the man, almost instantly he was being scooped up into the man’s arms and being spun around. 

Roier let out a loud laugh as he clung onto the man’s sweaty body, eventually Cellbit stopped spinning them around allowing them to finally get a good look at each other. The room around them seemed to dim, the deafening noise of cheers and screams of affection quieted into nothing but their heaving breaths. It was as if it was only them in the room. 

He cupped the man’s cheeks and connected their foreheads together, “¡Ganaste el amor!” 

Cellbit was silent for a moment before he quickly pressed their lips together, Roier let out a surprised noise but instantly reciprocated the gesture. He slid his hands to the back of the man’s neck and pulled him closer deepening their passionate kiss.

Just as quick as the kiss happened it was ending. “Eu te amo,” Cellbit confessed, out of breath. 

Roier’s eyes widened slightly, his breath seemed to leave his body as soon as the words left the man’s mouth. A large smile melted itself onto his face, “Yo también te amo.” 

Cellbit’s slightly nervous yet awestruck expression quickly turned into one of sweet relief and joy, the man let out a loud laugh and tightened his grip around him. Just as before the two were suddenly spinning again causing Roier to let out an unexpected shriek. As he clung onto the beaming Brazilian he couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotion. 

Yes they may have lost their hockey game, and yes, he might’ve experienced three of the most stressful weeks of his damn life… but there was nothing that wouldn’t make this moment worth all that anxiety. All the sleepless nights, the aches, the tears… it was all worth it if he got to spend the rest of his days with the man he’s never stopped loving.