pri

roz hasn’t brought jane up in months. the breakup had seemed so anticlimactic that the team had worried that eventually roz would blow up on them and immolate the team from the playoffs.

“what’s got you smiling?” cliff asks as he shuts his locker door.

“have pet now,” roz says.

“huh, no shit?” cliff says. who would have thought that roz would take on the commitment of a pet? sure, he had enough money to make sure any pet of his could be taken care of, but the commitment of it all is shocking for a man who seems to have no roots—always chasing something.

“da, very cute, very needy,” roz says in a voice more defined by his russian accent than ever.

“yeah, growing up, my family’s dog always hated being alone,” cliff says idly, scrolling through his own phone before he sets out for the evening. he swipes his notifications away.

a soft huff escapes roz and cliff looks at him.

“is kitten,” roz says. then, he slams his locker door shut and slings his bag over his shoulder.

“i thought you liked dogs,” cliff says. the team’s collab with the local animal shelter had always had a 100% roz appearance rate. even hungover, roz would come to pet a dozen barking dogs until their tags wagged so quickly that roz couldn’t help but laugh and talk softly in russian.

roz readjusts the bag on his shoulder and he says, “dogs are loyal. very easy to tame. kitty is harder; is more fun.”

and—

the “jane” smile on his face turns into something unfamiliar. cliff just nods and watches roz walk out of the locker room, leaving cliff the last person standing. it is just another of roz’s moods, cliff thinks.

sometimes, talking to roz is like walking on lake ice with hidden cracks. once, as a kid, cliff had fallen clean through and had thought he would die at the age of seven years old. he had lived, of course, but he had never forgotten the experience. lake ice is dangerous. and roz—

—

ilya comes home. his house is now a home; home is when he is alone with his pet. he comes home and he shakes his head as he sweeps up broken glass in his bedroom.