by me
Rating: R
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 3.4
Summary: Bates, Erik, and Roddy watch Game 6. Sort of.
Notes: My room is all empty and stuff. Since all my bags/boxes are in the hall. ::sigh:: I'll miss my hall. That has nothing to do with this story except that I was writing this when I should have been packing...And Bates said in an interview that if he wasn't a hockey player he'd want to be an actor. Hence the imitations. And Erik's favorite players growing up were Gretzky and Lemieux. Which means it would make more since for him to have a crush on, say, Ronnie the former Penguin as opposed to Stevie, but that wasn't convenient to the plot.
Erik was giggling when Bates plopped back down on the coach beside him. "What?"
"They said it again," the rookie said.
"Oh, you mean 'Congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes, Eastern Conference Champions'?" He dropped into a perfect imitation of Gary Thorne's incredulous tone.
Erik giggled more. "Yeah." His smile widened. "It's an unbelievable feeling. To get this far."
"Yeah, but we're not done yet. We've still got something to prove."
"We've got to prove we aren't the '96 Panthers..."
"Yeah, and that we can stand up to these guys." Bates gestured at the screen, at the furious and spirited battle taking place on the ice in Denver.
"I want Detroit to win."
"Um, ok. Any specific reason?"
"I want to be defended by Chris Chelios."
"That will be a fun experience for you, I'm sure."
Erik shrugged. "Maybe. But at the end, just think of how many people's hands you'd get to shake...Steve Yzerman and Brett Hull and Brendan Shanahan and Chelios and Lidstrom and Hasek and-"
Bates cut him off with a groan. "God, rookies."
"Oh, come on, don't tell me you don't want to meet them."
"I bet you had crushes on all those guys when you were little, didn't you? Yzerman and Hull and Chelios..."
Erik blushed and elbowed him in the ribs. "Shut up."
"Yeah, that'd be great, if we played them. I can see you now." He raised his voice into a falsetto imitation of Erik, complete with accent. "Oh, Stevie, that was so sexy how you just blocked my shot-"
He had to cut off as Erik tackled him and started tickling him. They wrestled around on the floor for a few minutes. "Bastard," Erik sighed, when Bates finally pinned his hands against the floor. "There's only one guy I'd call sexy anyway, especially when blocking my shot."
"Oh, really? Who's that?"
Erik easily freed his hands from Battaglia's grasp and leaned down so his mouth brushed his lover's ear. "Batesy, you're sexy."
Bates smiled as his linemate's lips moved closer to his own. "Colesy, you're sexy, too," he whispered, just before Cole's lips covered his own.
"Geez, I can't leave you two alone for any length of time, can I?"
Erik looked up at his third linemate. "He started it."
"Somehow, I knew you were going to say that. Come on, get up, I came over here so we could watch the game as a line. You know, since we as a line are playing one of these two teams. So you're going to watch the game instead of each other for a change."
Sighing dramatically, Erik picked himself off the floor and pulled Bates with him, and the two of them sat beside Rod to watch the rest of the first period.
"Well," Rod exhaled as Barry Melrose and John Saunders came on signaling the end of the first period. "That was interesting."
"Man, I'm just glad to see the guy's human," Bates commented, shaking his head at a replay of Brendan Shanahan's goal.
"Great play by Yzerman, too," Erik said.
"Yeah," Bates replied, smirking at him. "Wasn't it?"
Brind'Amour looked between the two of them. "What?"
"Oh, Colesy has a crush on Steve Yzerman."
"I do not!"
Rod laughed. "That's cute."
"I don't have a crush on any Red Wings," Erik protested futilely.
"No? Not even Dominik Hasek? He's really flexible, you know."
"You suck, Bates," Erik mumbled. Bates raised his eyebrows and grinned.
Rod didn't miss the look and buried his face in his hands, groaning. "Please let the second period start soon."
"Wow, what a game," Erik sighed as the final seconds ticked down.
"It was," Bates agreed, stroking his neck. They'd seemed to migrate closer to each other as the game went on.
Shaking his head at the two of them, Rod stood up. "All right, I'm going home. See you tomorrow."
"What time's practice, Roddy?"
"Noon," the alternate captain sighed. "Which you would know if you ever paid attention to anything Paul says."
"I listen," Erik protested. "Just not on planes."
"Night, Roddy," Bates called, and he heard the door close behind the center. He turned slightly and kissed Erik, feeling the pleasant stirring in his groin as Cole deepened the kiss and pressed closer.
"I think we should go to bed, too."
"Do you?"
"Yeah."
"So you can fantasize about Steve Yzerman?"
"Fuck you, Bates."
"Ok," he laughed, standing up. "Let's go, then."
"Only if you promise to not make any more jokes about Steve Yzerman."
"You're making me choose between sex and teasing you?"
Erik raised his eyebrows, then kissed him again deeply. "Yes," he said against Bates' lips.
"Ok, ok. I promise."
Smirking, Erik pulled him to his feet. "Promise what?"
Bates sighed dramatically. "Promise not to make any more jokes about Steve Yzerman."
Pressing another soft kiss to Bates' lips, Cole turned for the bedroom. Bates chuckled to himself and uncrossed his fingers.