graveyard smash

Gryffindor, November, 2019

Leo knew he had dropped too early the second he did it. He grunted in frustration as the puck flew off of James’ stick and sailed above his shoulder into the net. There was an approving comment for James from one of their assistant coaches, Danielle, which James accepted with a nod before skating over and patting Leo's helmet.

“Hey, rookie,” he said, his eyes kind. “It was a good effort.”

“Thanks,” Leo panted.

James nodded with a smile and skated away. Leo rolled out his shoulders and pushed his mask back, reaching to squirt some water in his mouth. Kasey came over, decked in his own goalie gear, and patted him on the back with his glove. “You okay, Nutty?”

Leo swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, I’m alright. Thanks, Bliz.”

“You’re just butterflying too early. But you know that.”

“Yeah.” Leo hung his head back and closed his eyes. He could feel them starting to sting with tears. “I don’t know what’s up with me today. I’m just…”

“Hey.” Kasey nudged Leo’s shoulder to force him to look at him. “Shit days happen. It’s okay. I know because you’re a rookie that you think one bad practice day is the end of the world, but it’s not.” He laughed and thumped Leo on the back. “You don’t need to prove yourself anymore, rookie. Your poke check scares the hell out of everyone.”

Despite himself, Leo smiled and let out a sheepish laugh. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Kasey nudged him. “You’re done for today, my turn. Let Pots and Cap work out their energy with a few more shots on net.”

“Yeah, are they always like that? Because they haven’t stopped, like, since we finished drills.”

Kasey rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Sirius keeps shooting because he can’t stand Pots getting more shots on net than him. Pots is like a dog and needs to wear himself out, plus I think he just likes working Sirius up.”

Leo laughed with furrowed eyebrows. “They’re kinda weird.”

As if on cue, there was a shrill whistle. “Hey! I need to beat Sirius in points today, can we have a few more minutes!”

“Non, you will not!”

Kasey raised his eyebrows at James and Sirius, who were waiting like eager kids at center ice, then turned back to Leo with a dry expression. “Tell me about it.” He tapped his stick to Leo’s pads. “Go, Leo, go get changed and go home.”

“See you later,” Leo said, then grabbed his water bottle and skated towards the tunnel to go to the locker room. 

Most of the other guys were shuffling through. Remus was standing by the entrance with the goalie coach, Trinity, and they both smiled as he approached.

“Hey,” Leo said, raising his stick in greeting.

“Hey, Nutty,” Trinity replied. “I got some notes for you, but they can wait until tomorrow. Mostly dropping too early.”

Leo winced, the sinking feeling back in his gut. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry, I-”

But Trinity just shook her head. “Don’t you be sorry, we can work on it. Go get some food, okay?”

“How’s your groin feeling?” Remus asked. “Lots of butterflying today.”

“A little tight,” Leo said honestly. “I’ll stretch it out before I go and again at home.”

“Good.” Remus clapped him on the back. “See you tomorrow, Nut. Food, water, stretch, sleep, okay?”

Leo nodded and smiled. “Have a good one,” he said, then continued his trek down the tunnel.

The locker room was rowdy with 80’s pop music when Leo got there- Thomas’ choice, likely. Leo could hear the showers already going as he began to strip off his pads. He hummed under his breath to the music as he sat to pull off his skates, flexing his sore ankles and toes with a wince. Finn had some tennis balls at home that he could use; and sometimes, lately, Finn would take Leo’s ankles into his lap and begin to massage them. Leo blushed at the thought, still unsure what to do about these feelings that had been pooling in his stomach recently. 

“Salut,” a voice said from in front of him.

Leo snapped out of his concentration and looked up. Logan was standing above him, freshly showered and with just a pair of Adidas pants on. From his seated position, Leo was level with his toned abs.

Leo sucked in a breath and shifted his gaze to look Logan in the eye. “Salut.”

“Ça va?” Logan asked, sitting down in his stall next to Leo’s. “Fish invited me over for video games.”

Leo nodded, stretching his ankles again. “That’s good. I’m making pot roast for supper, if you want to stay for that, too.”

Logan’s smile was sweet. “D’accord. I will, Nut, merci.” He furrowed his eyebrows at Leo’s wince. “Your ankles?”

“They’re a bit sore,” Leo admitted. “And I have to do some groin stretches right now and later tonight.”

“D’accord.” Logan rummaged through his bag for a T-shirt. “We’ll wait for you.”

Leo felt his cheeks heat up. “You don’t have to do that. I can just give Finn my bags and take the train-”

“Non, non,” Logan insisted with a wave of his hand. “Non, we’ll wait.” He nudged Leo’s knee with a playful smile. “You play better music than he does.”

Leo let out a surprised snort. “What, you don’t like his showtunes?”

“Non, not really.” Logan gave him another nudge. “Allez, go stretch. You don’t want your muscles to get too cold.”

Leo nudged him back with a smile, but stood to put some shorts on over his thermals and a sweatshirt before making his way to the weight room.

***

“Does it hurt?”

“No.” Leo gritted his teeth, letting his head fall back against the apartment floor. “Just tight.”

“D’accord.” A warm hand pressed on the back of his knee. “Relax your knee for me, ouais? I’ll add a bit more pressure.”

Leo couldn’t help the soft grunt that escaped him. He was on his back in his and Finn’s apartment, his right leg bent up and out. Logan’s hands were gentle as they guided Leo into the stretch, providing a bit more pressure to help loosen the tightness in his groin muscles. Leo tried not to look too long at the way Logan’s wavy brown hair fell over his concentrated face.

“Found a tennis ball!” Finn called, coming into the living room from his bedroom. He held the green ball up in his hand. “It’s the last one. I don’t know how I keep losing them.”

“That’s because- shit.” Leo sucked in air between his teeth as his muscles tried to resist the stretch. “It’s because you bring them to the park to throw for random dogs.”

“And their owners love me for it.” Finn was standing beside Logan now, a small frown on his face. “Shit, peanut, is it really that bad?”

“Yeah.” Leo let out a deep breath from his belly. “Ow, fuck, I’m really sore.”

“D’accord,” Logan said. Leo felt the loss of his hands on his skin acutely when Logan dropped his right leg. “Let’s do the other side for a bit.”

“Can I check on my pot roast first?” Leo asked, raising himself up onto his elbows.

Logan breathed out a laugh. “Of course you can. Allez.”

Leo stood and went to open the oven and check the meat with a thermometer. He sang softly under his breath to the music Finn had put through the speakers- not showtunes, per Logan’s request. 

“Why do you think your muscles are so sore, Le?” Finn asked from his place on one of their counter stools.

Leo shrugged. “I went into the splits a lot today, I think.” He laughed self-deprecatingly, feeling the heat in his eyes welling up again, which he tried to will away. He shut the oven and turned to face them, crossing his arms over his chest protectively. “Yeah, it was… I don’t know, a bit of a rough practice, honestly.”

“We could tell.” Finn took a sip from the glass of water he had poured himself. His eyes were gentle and warm. “We all have bad practice days, Le.”

“Ouais,” Logan said. He sat down beside Finn and nudged him. “Ask Fish about his first practice back after his second concussion in college.”

That made Leo smile. “Oh?”

Finn groaned and ran his hands over his face. “It was awful. My cardio was so fucking bad, Nut, I just couldn’t handle it.” His cheeks were flushed when he peeked out at Leo through his fingers. “I broke a stick on the boards.”

“You broke a stick?” Leo asked incredulously. 

Finn just groaned again, so obviously embarrassed. Logan laughed and elbowed him lightly. “He was tired and stressed. He had a lot of homework to make up, too, he was just frustrated.”

“It was awful. Worst practice ever.” Finn brought his hands down and threw an arm over the back of Logan’s chair casually. “Tell Leo about your debut practice your rookie season.”

“Oh, merde,” Logan huffed. He glared at Finn playfully with red cheeks before turning to Leo. “I tripped on my own skate and knocked Cap, Dumo, and Talker over in a scrimmage, right into Bliz’s goal.”

“Fucking hilarious,” Finn laughed. He ruffled Logan’s hair. “We thought it was the funniest thing, but shorty pants here was embarrassed as hell.”

“It was my first day.” Logan shoved Finn gently with his shoulder before looking at Leo. “What we’re trying to say, Le, is that it's okay. To have bad practice days.”

“Yeah.” Finn was nodding rapidly. “Besides, we already know about your killer poke check, it’s annoying as hell.”

That made Leo smile, cheeks hot. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Finn clapped his hands. “Up, let’s go, Nutty, let’s get your groin stretched out.”

Logan winced. “Ugh, Fish.”

“Well I didn’t mean it like that.”

Leo just shook his head fondly at Finn’s red ears and went to lie down in the living room.

***

Gryffindor, October, 2027

“Bien, mon coeur?”

“Ouais,” Leo grunted. “Ah- merde.”

Logan clucked his tongue. “Sh, relax your knee for me, soleil.”

Leo nodded and took a deep breath in as Logan pressed on his thigh to stretch him again. “Fuck, my muscles don’t recover as easily as they used to.”

There was a scoff from the kitchen. “Says the man who’s not even thirty yet.” Finn’s head appeared from where he had been crouched in front of the oven. He turned to smile. “Pot roast is almost done reheating, lovers.”

“Thank you, honey- ow, fuck.” 

Like a spring had been released, Leo finally felt his muscles give into the stretch. Logan massaged his fingers into Leo’s inner thigh. The muscles were twitching, but they felt better, and Leo let out a deep breath as Logan let his thigh down gently. 

“Ça va?” Logan asked, resting a hand on Leo’s lower stomach. 

Leo smiled and nodded. Logan was kneeling on the carpet, in between Leo’s thighs, and Leo thought back to his rookie season, the first time he’d asked for help to stretch out his groin muscles, sore from going into the splits. Back then, Logan had been almost nervous, and had stood stiffly as he waited for Leo to direct him exactly what to do. Now, he was closer, and his hands were warm on Leo’s bare skin as they touched mindlessly. Without knowing it, Logan had rucked up the bottom of Leo’s gym shorts and was caressing the stretch marks on his inner thigh.

“Hey,” Leo said. He jerked his chin with a grin. “Viens ici.”

Logan looked confused, but he was smiling, too, and shifted to straddle Leo’s waist. He leaned into the hands Leo placed on his hips. “Quoi, mon mari?”

“Nothing,” Leo shook his head. He leaned up for a kiss. “Do you remember the first time you helped me stretch? My rookie season?”

Logan blushed sheepishly. “Ouais. I do. Why?”

“No reason,” Leo whispered. He kissed Logan again. “Just love you.”

Logan’s knowing eyes crinkled at the edges with his smile. “Je t’aime. You played well today.”

“So did you.” Leo pressed their foreheads together. “I love having you back on the team, sweetheart.” 

They were leaning in for another kiss when there was a banging sound and a curse. They pulled apart and looked over the back of the sofa and into the kitchen.

“Fish?” Leo called.

“All good!” Finn’s back was to them and he waved his hand. “I’m good!”

“Do you need any help, rouge?” Logan asked, moving to stand.

“No, no, you stay. I’m just getting the serving dishes.”

“Finn,” Leo laughed. “Honey, we can just serve from the stove.”

“Nuh-uh, I’m making you a whole fancy spread. I’ve got a long weekend off from school, and you two just had your last game for four days, so it’s going to be special, I-” Finn had spun around and stopped talking when he saw them. His face softened and his head tilted in that way it only did for them. “Oh, hi. Hi, beautiful boys.”

Leo patted the carpet. “C’mere, teach.”

Finn set the serving dish down and came to sit on the ground beside them. “I just wanna do something nice for you. It’s going to be a few days of just dedicated ‘husband time’.”

Logan’s laugh was pleased. “Ouais?”

“Oo-ways.” Finn leaned in to kiss him. “Just us and snuggling, how’s that sound, ten?”

“Bien.” Logan patted Leo’s ribs. “Allez, mon amour, we need to stretch out the other side.”

Leo groaned. “No, I don’t want to.”

“You gotta, baby,” Finn said. He leaned down to kiss Leo’s forehead and brush his hair back from his face. “We want those legs nice and flexible.”

“Shut up.”

“Nuh-uh.” Finn cupped his jaw gently and watched as Logan knelt back up and away to take Leo’s other leg in his hands. Finn looked contemplative for a moment. “Hey, you remember the first time we helped you stretch?”

Leo smiled and kissed Finn’s palm, only wincing slightly as Logan applied pressure to spread his leg. “We were just talking about it.”

“I remember being so freaked out. Like, watching Logan help you just made me…” Finn let out a huff of a breath. His cheeks were flushed. “Made me something, that’s for sure.”

“You are something, sweetheart.” Leo hissed as his muscles tried to resist the stretch. “Ah, shit.”

“Relax, mon soleil, I’ve got you.” Logan’s thumb rubbed gently on the tender tendons of Leo’s knee. “Almost done.”

“Yikes, Le,” Finn said. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern. “You want to ice it after dinner?”

“Yeah, probably.” He hissed again. “Jesus, it never gets any less awful stretching them out. The only good part is your hands are warm, Lo.”

Logan huffed out a laugh and looked up at Leo through his lashes. “Good, mon amour.”

“We love your hands, baby,” Finn said. “They’re the best hands. So strong.”

Logan squeezed Leo’s inner thigh, as if to prove his point. He wasn’t looking for anything more, touching just to touch. Leo hadn’t known how much he valued that closeness until he started dating two boys that always wanted to have a gentle hand on him. He closed his eyes as Logan applied some last pressure and sighed in relief as his leg was guided gently to the floor.

“D’accord,” Logan murmured. He kissed his way from Leo’s lower stomach all the way up to his mouth. “Hungry?”

“Always.”

“And that’s where I come in.” Finn kissed each of their foreheads and stood. “Leftovers alla Finn.”

Leo snorted. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Not if you don’t use your imagination.” Finn reached his hands down to pull them up. “A game well played deserves a dinner well made.” He sent Leo a look. “Even if it’s just your leftovers. I did get fresh bread from the bakery this morning, though!”

Leo bit his lip, smitten, and drew Finn in by his waist to kiss him gently. “Thank you, honey. I love you.”

“I love you.” Finn kissed him firmly again before turning to Logan and picking him up around the waist. “And I love my grumpy boy. Who I’m very happy is back in Gryff.”

Logan’s hair fell towards the ground as he tilted his head back in a laugh, allowing Finn room to press kisses to his neck. “Allez, rouge, rouge, dinner.”

“Not until you say it back.”

Logan laughed again at Finn’s teasing, then took his face between his hands to look him in the eye. “Je t’aime.” He pressed kisses to Finn’s cheeks. “Je t’aime, je t’aime, je t’aime.”

Finn gave Logan another squeeze before setting him down. He tapped Leo’s hips gently as he made his way into the kitchen, and Leo felt Logan come over to press his smile into his shoulder.

In the cubs' future house, Finn wallpapers an entire wall of the office with bookmarks from different places they go (dating all the way back to the Harvard roadies)

In a similar vein, he collects bookmarks from every city they visit while Logan collects coins. Crow4crow, we love to see it.

Sirius does laundry and Nobody Else Is Allowed To because they do it Wrong. The second he learned how to wash his own clothes, it became a thing. It's literally the only chore he's picky about.

Remus has a rhyme song for his hockey superstitions that nobody knows about, except the night janitor at the rink, who heard him sing it quietly when he was still a PT at least three times a week.

Leo owns one pair of socks that he has never washed. They're the fabric skeletons in his closet and he will never say a word about them. (if he washes them, he's convinced he'll never make another save again)

Natalie saved the first guitar pick Kasey ever gave her and keeps it in her wallet

Talker has to do "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" before leaving the locker room to check his pads and can't bring himself to do another order

Lily is a scrapbooking fiend. She has like eight different books in various degrees of completion and uses them to de-stress, especially after Harry is born.

Kasey keeps a piece of the net from every game he gets a shutout

James can smell popcorn on someone's breath from ten feet away

Sirius and Remus are both staunch believers in the ten five-second rule. It's a very good thing they keep their kitchen floors clean.

Lily has accidentally dropped yogurt on baby Harry's head and then licked it off. #girlboss.

Noelle swapped her hockey pads with Logan's pads once in middle school and he didn't notice for a full summer.

Leo is working on a cookbook of his recipes, written on notecards and put in a photo album for easy access. It started because he hates dripping things on his phone/ exposed paper recipes, but then became a hobby.

Sirius doodles on anything in reach. Paper. Tables. People. All's fair in love and anxiety.

Kasey drums on the steering wheel even when the radio is off

The only time Remus isn't anxious while driving is when he has Jules with him