Sunny

When one was a child in faerie, there were no rules for one's upbringing. The standards were as follows: keep the child alive, set it free, and make it discover the unfiltered laws of nature. Such as watching a bird be devoured by a predator. Or making them stay around a deer taking its last breath before it was going to return back to nature.

There was no protection for the innocent, the soft, or the curious. All that counted was staying alive.

Fae mothers didn't dote on their children, nor did their siblings. All that family meant here was the continuation of the bloodline for the Greenbriar line. The rest that connected them were honor or scandals tied back to their names.

Many of the fae in the higher court would never know the gentleness of a nurturing family.

However, despite the curious and sly nature fae, there was one other thing relevant to them. Their position in society. The one most guilty of this would be Cardan’s seed donor, King Eldred. It was precisely why the Greenbriar line had to project its influence onto their dynamic.

At least this was the most convenient way to pretend the family had no holes in its tightly knitted rope of power that was to be passed along for any future rulers in the next couple of centuries.

One evening, the king chose to take part in a picnic. The ladies were delighted, even Lady Asha brought her son along, Prince Cardan. It was a chance to smooth the ties with every soul, treating her with indifference, after the prophecy.

Though Cardan was much too young to remember. If it weren't for the royal records he read through, he might have had no recollection at all.

During that picnic, the grown-ups talked, and talked, and talked, and for a child? That was tedious. They praised themselves and paid no mind to any of their elder children except Dain and Elowyn. So boring! When did the interesting part take place? He wasn't sure.

Thus, the young prince wandered around, and the grass divided beneath his small barefoot feet.

Who was he to judge how deep the waters were when he crawled toward the river? The gentle appearing waves splashed against the stones around the riverbank where he knelt. Its current was unknown to the prince; he only knew the cold splashing sensation around his finger that startled his hand.

Cold! So cold, why did it have to be cold? But it was summer…

It was so wet, slippery, and fresh that it made him want to yelp. Any cry of help would go unnoticed; he was too much of a ghost– no more like a duck, quacking and waddling around with its tiny feet, bothering its siblings that wished he would go back beneath the table where they would feed him with the delight of adolescents who received their first pet.

Then he walked further toward the stones, and he slipped; a surprised shriek left his lips.

And before he processed, he stumbled backwards. He braced himself for the cold splash of water, but it never came. Instead, there was warmth as something breathed down his neck.

He turned his head, a dark-looking creature with button-like eyes in the tone of a spider's body and a fluffy mane.

A horse.

|| A/N: || I saw someone on Instagram mention that they wanted to see Ilya Rozanov and Garrett Graham interact during his rookie year at the Bruins as rookie & experienced coworker. The fic is on ao3 too :) I apologize in advance if the dialog or the characters feel clunky I've only written essays for school in the past 6 months and barely had time to write my fluffy fanfics 😭 please be kind ty <3 (I'll take a look if there'll be multiple parts in this, depending on how good I'll get at characterising Ilya and Shane bc this is my first time writing about them)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/85439886

The year Garrett Graham joined the Boston Bruins as the most recent Rookie, his first day became a nerve wrecking first week. If he had to label it, then this was the week where he met his idols on nearly even ground.

On his way home, he walked past the bright colorful billboards that he'd passed during his days at Briar U after walking home with his friends. But back then, he couldn't even imagine his future vividly. He just knew he was going to make it—and be successful without his last name's weight.

Although, in the presence of his captain, it was hard to catch any breath without feeling his calm evaporate. Unreal. That was perhaps the most accurate description.

Despite the fact that he should have been confident, cocky even. Not really. This was what he worked his ass off for. Like fuck, if he ruined that by being stupidly arrogant trying to show off, he could leave a negative impression. And wow, shit, he cared so much it had made his heart race and shorten his breath.

He reached for his phone, unlocking it led to a few unread messages.

Logan: Dude, how has it gone today?

Is the team any better than the Briar U brotherhood? :)

How could he even answer that? He was still trying to sort out his own thoughts. His new team was incredible, they worked together like gears who didn't even need the oil.

Garrett: It was crazy how smooth they worked together like a hive mind ig like there were no barriers between them?

Who knows but my captain has some unresolved tension with his rival…

It was another level of what felt like mind reading? I wouldn't probably have noticed if I weren't the rookie.

He put his phone away, opening his door before he announced his return with a small, "I'm back.”

He didn’t want to freak out Hannah. Not that he could scare her, but one could never know. Not when it's a late evening and turning dark outside.

When he walked in, her eyes lit up in that specific way that made them both feel at ease.

“Hey Wellsy” he smiled, kissing her forehead while leaning down as she strung her guitar as per usual while he was out, “how's the newest project going?”

She scrunched her nose up, “no inspiration struck yet.” Hannah shrugged, glancing at Garrett with those eyes that made him still feel as fuzzy as on the day they first went out.

“How was training anyway?” She lay on the couch, watching him while he put his duffle bag down.

“Mhm… exhausting? But also a bit unusual.” He walked around the couch, and sat down. He couldn’t shake the thought of that conversation earlier off.

“How does it feel now that you don't have to worry about a Captain's responsibilities?” she asked, reaching for his hand. She drew tiny circles on his skin, and he knew she was aware of how serious he took that responsibility back in college. It was his sole goal since he was able to think about joining the Bruins. It was amazing, and it had been his ultimate goal, so why couldn't he simply enjoy the moment in the presence?

“It's something for sure, just different, I guess?” He said, forcing a smile. Though, Hannah knew him inside and out by now. It would be difficult to hide that he was processing that he actually made it.

It had been one thing to hold a contract in your hands, with your name on it. Garrett Graham.

“Ah,” she replied, “how's your Captain then?”

“More… intense than I expected.” Garrett struggled to find the appropriate word, because he respected Ilya from his past and present achievements to call him an odd ball. He had some sort of duality that was hard to pinpoint. While that guy had been an insane center and a welcoming Captain, he also seemed… forward about his jokes? He didn't expect Ilya to be so chatty.

Maybe Garrett just felt awkward because he was the youngest in the team and he had to earn their respect.

Or maybe, he just felt weird because his brain hadn't processed yet that the Bruins were his coworkers from now on.

His mind skimmed past the situation of today.

Like when he first walked into the arena after the team had gotten geared up. And he just froze. So this was it. Wow.

He had proved that he was worthy of this with his dedicated routine, his early morning training and sharpening his natural talent. That he wasn't defined by his father or being his son. He was his own person.

Ilya Rozanov, who was his new captain, walked up beside him, “Garret Graham, right?”

Garret heard the heavy Russian accent during interviews, but hearing him say his name felt unfamiliar.

“Yeah, that's me,” Great fuck why did this feel so awkward. They say never meet your heroes in real life or it'll get awkward, but this guy had a mysterious aura as much as he did in the interviews.

And suddenly Garrett felt like he was the awkwardness personified. No idea where that came from.

Meanwhile Hannah glanced at him with a small smile. “How intense exactly?”

“Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy… just his sarcastic personality surprised me? I thought he'd be harder to approach even if he's known as confident and talented.”

Hannah stood up, holding out her warm hand. He sighed and she gave him a reassuring squeeze, “tell me all about it while we cook some food”

“Can't we skip—” but Hannah shook her head.

And so the pair walked into the kitchen. While Garrett cut some vegetables, Hannah was adjusting the temperature.

For a while they worked in silence, which was nice. At the same time, he wasn't sure how to describe it, because he was looking forward to working with Ilya and the rest of the team.

And so he told his girlfriend more about his eventful day and eventually, it made them both crack a few laughs at the conversations he had with his teammates. In particular the one with Rozanov against the end.

“Not bad at all, rookie, keep it up and we might be able to wipe the floor of our enemies” Rozanov clapped him on his shoulder as they were on their way to leave the ice.

“Enemies?” Garrett raised an eyebrow, stopping in his tracks. He thought he was serious about hockey, but Captain Rozanov took it to a different level.

“That's right, Hollander is the biggest problem. His game is sharp. Where he lacks natural aptitude, he substitutes with hard work—” Garrett had heard of the year-long rivalry between both Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander. It became a topic in his niche every now and then.

“Uh, and his team?” Garrett reached for his water bottle.

“Won't be an issue, we'll wipe the floor with them, especially not Pike. His game is shit”

Okay, so he had a respectful rivalry with Hollander while hating on Pike's game. Or was that even serious?

Garrett was about to say something as Ilya went on, “and don't get me started on that fossil called Hunter.”

Fossil?

Garrett smiled.

“Ah, so you've got humor, great day, very great day.” He said, “come join us for some drinks.”

“I don't drink during the week.” Garrett said

“Even better. Do you drink coke?”

“I drink Dr. Pepper usually.” Garrett shrugged casually, and slowly his tense demeanor was fading away.

It had definitely only been his nerves at first, but he suddenly had a damn good feeling about this.

“Good enough.” He nodded, exciting the rink, “drinks are on me, don't even think about paying, Garrett.”

And for once, Garrett Graham decided to swallow his pride and accept that this drink did come for free.