#bubble!!!

Guys who didn’t play college hockey complain about the bubble like it’s so bad, but Zach has never really thought about it like that. Now, mostly the reason he was wearing it was always worse than actually wearing it - a busted nose or jaw or cheek hurt way worse than the slight inconvenience of remembering to work around the extra plastic. If he remembered how to breathe right, it didn’t even fog up.

That is, until Nic scores in overtime. Zach’s pretty far back in the line - he went to hug LB first after the goal, just like he always does - but once he gets up to Roysie, he forgets that he’s in the bubble. He tries to put his face in Roysie’s neck - wet and sweaty and smelly as it is - but the bubble gets in the way.

Nic pulls back, his eyes warm and fond. His hands come up on Zach’s shoulders and Zach stops pulling back. Nic leans forward and quick as a flash, hugs Zach, like everything is normal. But he presses a kiss to the hard plastic of the bubble, right where Zach's cheek is supposed to be.