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Macklin is sprawled across his couch like a cat who’s declared sovereignty over soft furniture, one too-fluffy blanket smothering most of his body as he stares at his phone.
On screen, Leno is sitting up on his own couch, eyeing his cell's camera with a wry look. His freckles are super visible even like this, cute as ever. If they weren’t currently twenty-five hundred miles apart, Mack would take the time to kiss every single one.
“Say it again.” Mack grins, voice all honey and trouble. “What were you wearing exactly?”
Leno exhales like he’s already regretting every life choice that led him here. “It was for the kids.”
Mack’s eyes sparkle dangerously. “Uh huh. And what was that?”
Leno drags a hand down his face. “Baby, c’mon, you already know.”
Mack kicks his feet against the couch cushions, delighted. “I wanna hear you say it!”
There’s a long pause. Then, slowly, resigned, he mumbles, “...An Easter Bunny suit.”
Mack absolutely lights up, cackling loudly. “God, I can’t believe Stromer talked you into doing that!” Even knowing it was for Stromer’s children and Leno would never say no to anyone’s kids, the mental image of Leno dressing up in such a ridiculous costume is still one that nearly sends Mack over the edge with laughs. “Like a full bunny suit with ears and a tail? Please tell me there was a tail.”
Leno groans. “I hate you.”
“Was it one of those little cotton-ball tails?” Mack presses, leaning so close to the screen like he might crawl through it. “Or like, a proper fluffy situation?”
“It was part of the suit,” Leno mutters, refusing eye contact now, which only fuels Mack further.
“Did the kids pull on it?”
“They did not—”
“They totally did!”
“They absolutely did,” Leno says, scowling. “One of those little munchkins even tried to yank it off.”
Mack laughs so hard he nearly slides off the couch. “Oh my god, I wish I was there. I would’ve paid good money to see that.”
“You’re not allowed to make fun of me,” Leno complains, but there’s a smile fighting through it now. “You’ve worn worse.”
Mack gasps. “Name one thing.”
“Princess, you know you have the closet of a grandmother, right? Actually, I’m pretty sure my grandma has better style than you. You just rotate between the same three styles of baggy pants and sweaters in various stock colors and call it a day.”
Mack pouts. “I like to feel small and comfortable! What’s so wrong with that?!”
“Nothing,” Leno soothes. “I love that you dress so terribly. Means no one can ogle your ass as much as I do.”
“...I’m gonna wear spandex short-shorts during sewer ball tonight now, just to piss you off.”
Leno’s eyes go wide. “N-now hold on a minute!”
After they joke around a bit more, there’s a soft moment of silence, quiet and easy, the kind that settles comfortably between them, like they’ve known each other for years. Like they’ve been dating for much longer than the few months since Will gave his permission.
Leno’s expression has grown impossibly tender. Like Mack, he’s a wears-heart-on-his-sleeve kind of idiot. It’s almost no wonder they ended up tangled together like this. “You feeling okay?” Leno asks, voice gentler now. “Maintenance day not driving you insane yet?”
Mack shrugs, though his mouth tilts. Since Mack returned from the Olympics, Warso has all but banned Mack from skating most mornings to help manage his body during this condensed schedule, considering Mack plays more minutes than any other forward and most defensemen on their team, and Mack didn’t have time off during the Olympics, like most of them did.
Mack understands Warso’s reasoning, but it’s still frustrating. Mack is not above admitting he did not take the suggestion well at first, but he’s learned to accept it. And if Mack were being honest with himself, it does help. He’s so sore most days that he’s glad his home doesn’t have any stairs, because after particularly physical games, the mere thought of having to climb any is enough to make him whimper.
“Little bit,” Mack sighs. “I hate not skating.”
Leno nods. “I get that, but your body probably appreciates the break.”
“Traitor,” Mack says, though it’s half-hearted. “You sound like our trainers.”
“Because they’re right.”
Mack narrows his eyes. “You’re taking their side over mine?”
“I’m taking the side of you not running yourself into the ground,” Leno says simply, and Mack can’t help but soften, just a little bit.
God, Mack still can’t believe he ever thought Leno would be less protective than Will when they got together. Leno may be more outwardly playful, but he’s a lot sharper with his concern for Mack’s wellbeing, sterner, more blunt. Will is subtler, usually trying to manipulate Mack into taking better care of himself through sidestep methods that Mack doesn’t even realize until much later.
Leno will actually tell Mack straight-up, “I’m worried about you and want you to be safe.” Mack can’t help the way it makes his heart melt.
“Yeah, okay, fine.”
Before Leno can respond, the front door clicks open, and Mack glances up automatically then grins, slow and fond.
“Think of the devil,” he murmurs.
Will walks in with the ease and swagger of someone who always knows how good he looks, no matter what. Gear bag slung over his shoulder, hair still damp from his post-practice shower, the slightest bit of fatigue clinging to his shoulders—but the second his eyes land on Mack, something in him relaxes. Relief first, then suspicion.
Will’s gaze flicks to the phone. Sees Leno. Sees the smile on Mack’s face.
His face twitches, but of course he never gives anything away.
“Oh,” Will says, dropping his bag a little harder than necessary. “Here I was worried you’d be bouncing off the walls after being banned from practice, but you look just fine to me.”
Mack’s grin widens, because he knows that tone. “Well, hello to you, too.”
Leno, on the screen, perks up immediately. “Hey, Smitty.”
Will nods once. “Leno.”
There’s a beat, and Mack has to smother a laugh as he watches Will like he’s watching a show he’s already seen but still loves. “I was just making fun of Len because he let the Stromes talk him into cosplaying as the Easter Bunny for a day,” Mack says cheerfully. “Practice go okay?”
“Yeah." Will toes off his shoes. “Normal. You know. Some of us are still in a playoff hunt, so we gotta put in the effort.”
Leno snorts at the dig at the Caps’ unfortunate skid, and Mack laughs. “Youch, you’re grumpy.”
Will’s eyes flick back to the phone again. Then to Mack. Then back again. He tries to play it off. He really does. But it fails spectacularly.
“I’m not jealous,” Will says, completely unprompted, which is exactly how Mack knows he is.
Mack tilts his head. “I didn’t say you were.”
“Good, because I’m not.”
“Yes, because totally non-jealous people feel the need to stalk into a room and announce that they’re not jealous,” Leno points out, clearly enjoying this now.
Will shoots him a look. “No one asked you.”
“Oh, I’m definitely part of this.” Leno leans back with a grin. “This is a shared experience.”
Mack bites back another laugh and pats the couch beside him. “C’mere, drama queen.”
Will hesitates, just for a second, but then he crosses the room anyway, like gravity’s doing half the work for him. He drops onto the couch next to Mack, close enough that their shoulders press together immediately, but his eyes are still on the phone.
Mack nudges him with his knee. “You okay?”
Will shrugs, gaze flicking away. “Yeah. I said I’m not jealous.”
Mack hums, unconvinced. “Mm.”
Leno watches them both, something softer creeping into his expression now. “He’s getting better,” he says, not unkindly.
Will bristles. “I was always fine.”
“Willy,” Mack says gently, bumping his shoulder again. “You literally wouldn’t even speak to Len like two months ago.”
Will groans. “Okay, that was—different.”
“You called me ‘that guy’ for weeks,” Leno adds helpfully.
“You were flirting with my omega!” Will defends.
“You and Mack weren’t even dating then! We started dating him at the same time.”
“Yeah, and that makes it so much better.”
Mack laughs, leaning into Will now, resting his head briefly against his shoulder. It’s a quiet reassurance, a soft tether.
Will melts a little despite himself. His hand comes up, almost instinctively, settling at Mack’s waist. Possessive, but gentler than it used to be. Will is the one who struggled with this shared relationship the most at first, but Leno is right. Will has gotten so much better. It’s not uncommon for alphas to share one omega since omegas are so rare these days and alphas pretty much defer to anything their omega needs, desperate to make them happy. But it can be harder for some alphas’ instincts than for others.
Leno was up to share Mack from the start, just happy to be included. It’ll probably take Will a little bit longer to settle down.
“You’re still not allowed to flirt with him right in front of me,” Will mutters.
Mack lifts his head, eyes dancing. “Oh? Is that a rule now?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, c’mon,” Leno groans.
“At least in this apartment,” Will shoots back.
Mack grins. “So if I go outside—”
“Don’t push it.”
“—or like, hypothetically, if I just—” Mack leans toward the phone, lowering his voice theatrically. “—told Leno he’d make a really cute bunny rabbit—”
Will makes a noise that’s somewhere between a scoff and a wounded huff. “I hate this,” he mutters.
Leno laughs outright now. “You’re impossible.”
“You dressed up as a bunny,” Will fires back.
“It was for children!”
Mack dissolves into laughter again, and this time Will can’t help it. He smiles too, even if he tries to hide it. The tension dissolves a little, and Mack reaches for Will’s hand, threading their fingers together without making a big deal out of it, giving a reassuring squeeze. Will squeezes back.
“Hey,” Mack says softly, glancing between them. “We’re good, yeah?”
Will exhales, shoulders loosening. “Yeah.”
“And you know I’ve never been anything but absolutely fantastic this entire time,” Leno says, bordering on a gloat.
Mack laughs, warm, a little smug, entirely fond. “You’re both so ridiculous,” he says. Then, immediately ruining the sincerity, he adds, “Anyway, Len, I still need photographic evidence of the bunny costume. For personal reasons, of course. Potentially blackmail reasons.”
“Absolutely not.”
“I’ll pay you.”
“No.”
“I’ll ask Stromer.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
Will perks up at the possibility of embarrassing Leno for once instead of the other way around. “Wait, yeah, let’s ask Stromer.”
“Traitor!” Leno crows.
Mack just grins wider, already leaning into the chaos again, both his alphas orbiting him in different ways, and somehow, slowly, learning how to share the same sky.