#77343

Xユーザーの野島高彦さん

rory had stared down men with broken noses, missing teeth, and fists already curled inside their gloves; he had been chirped by guys TWICE his size, shoved into glass hard enough to make the crowd howl, and once took a puck to the face without dropping until the whistle blew. somehow, none of that made him feel half as thrown off as standing in front of devon vanek. maybe it was because this wasn’t hockey. there were no boards here, no refs, and no clean rules for what counted as interference. just noah’s brother across from him, carrying a HISTORY rory only knew in fractured pieces — wards of the state, old losses, years of silence, and the kind of hurt noah joked around until it had nowhere else to go. rory knew better than to act like he understood all of it. he didn’t. he only knew what it had looked like when noah showed up at his apartment and fell apart in the doorway, all that panic spilling out of him because of a trade rumor that wasn’t even true. “so,” he started, then hated immediately how careful he sounded. careful made him sound fake. rory shifted his weight, shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and tried not to look as NERVOUS as he felt. “i’m not trying to get in the middle of, uh—” his mouth twisted. “whatever olympic-level family bullshit you two have going on. i swear. but noah came over the other night, and he was…” the joke waiting on his tongue didn’t quite make it out. for once, he let it die there. “he was NOT okay. and i know he probably wouldn’t love me saying that, because he likes pretending he’s made of concrete and spite, but he was scared. about me getting traded, mostly. which, for the record, is bullshit until someone with an actual office tells me otherwise.” his eyes lifted back to devon’s. “i guess i’m asking if you know what’s going on with him. because i love your brother, and he’s doing that THING where he acts like he’s fine right up until he’s standing in my doorway looking like the whole world finally caught up to him.”