Chapter Text
Wyatt pulls into the parking lot at the practice facility with ten minutes to spare. Harris is already outside talking with a cameraman, so Wyatt shuts off the car and heads over.
“Hey man, thanks for doing this,” Harris greets him.
“No problem,” Wyatt grins, “I’m kind of interested to see how this goes, to be honest.”
Fear briefly shines behind Harris’ eyes. “Me too,” he confesses.
The likely source of Harris’ fear pulls into the parking lot in an ostentatiously colored Spyder. The driver climbs out gracefully, swinging the keys on his finger like he’s in an ad. Probably something he’d picked up from actually being in an ad for the company over the summer. The passenger door opens as well, but that occupant stumbles slightly as he exits.
“Good morning,” Ilya calls to them cheerfully, pocketing the keys.
“I don’t know why I let you talk me into taking this car,” Shane says under his breath as he approaches the group.
Ilya grins widely, “because you love me.”
Shane sighs.
“Okay so we’re just waiting for Sherlock then,” Harris says, “and then we can head to the Tim Hortons.”
Ilya claps his hands excitedly. Shane looks vaguely ill. Wyatt just takes in both of their reactions. He’s still trying to suss out their dynamic. Sherlock Watson comes rushing into the parking lot.
“Sorry, sorry! The bus was late!”
“Rookie! No need for bus. We could’ve given you a ride,” Ilya tells him.
Shane throws an incredulous look at him and then the sports car they’d arrived in. “Oh yeah? Where would he have sat? My lap?”
Ilya’s eyes flash with a possessive fire. “Absolutely not,” he says, tone unrecognizable. He softens just a little before he says “is for me only, da?”
Shane rolls his eyes, “I was joking, Ilya.”
Watson looks between the two of them, clearly unsure of how to proceed.
“I’ll drive you home,” Wyatt offers.
“Thanks.”
“Let us know if you need ride in future, da? We can drive Hollander’s boring car.”
“It’s not a boring car, Ilya, it’s practical. And you have an SUV too. We could also take that.”
“I can drive you as well,” Harris offers, “where do you live?”
“I’m staying at the Holiday Inn just down the road. It’s only a fifteen minute bus ride.”
“I know the place. That’s not far at all,” Wyatt tells him.
“If you need any help finding a place, let me know,” Shane offers, “I know the team has resources as well but I’m from the area and I helped Ilya pick out his house when he moved here.”
“Yes, he is Mr. Real Estate,” Ilya purrs.
Share pinks. “I’m sure any of the other guys would be willing to give you advice as well.”
Wyatt nods. “Most players live pretty close. I think we have most of the nearby neighborhoods covered between all of us if you want opinions.”
“Thanks guys, really,” Watson says, “but I’m waiting to find out if I make the team before I get a place.”
“Oh, you will,” Shane says, surprised, “you were a first-round draft pick and your team made it to the frozen four both years after you were drafted. Statistically speaking, most first-round draft picks…” he launches into a spiel about the likelihood that Watson will make the team. At the end of his rant, Hollander blushes a little, “also, the Centaurs traded their backup goalie to afford me. They wouldn’t have done that if they didn’t think you’d be up to the task.”
“Oh.”
Ilya blinks at his husband, looking, for the first time Wyatt has seen since their wedding, absolutely besotted. He files that away in his mental folder of Shane-Ilya interactions. He’s beginning to suspect there’s a pattern to the way they interact with each other, and he’s determined to figure it out.
Harris also is watching the whole conversation with a critical eye. He seems to remember they’re all gathered here for a reason though, because he claps his hands and begins giving them the rundown on how the whole thing is going to work.
“Any questions?” Harris asks when he’s done.
Ilya raises his hand.
“Yes, Ilya?” Harris asks, sounding apprehensive.
“Where is Troy?”
“At home.”
“You did not bring him for video?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Ilya asks as they all pack into the van. They’re being driven the short distance to the Tim Hortons for security reasons as well as logistics. The parking lot had already been full at the Tim Hortons when Wyatt had driven past, people already lined up outside hoping for the chance to get served by one of their favorite players.
“Doing this kind of stuff isn’t Troy’s favorite thing. You know that,” Harris tells Ilya.
“Shane doesn’t like it either, and he is here,” Ilya says matter of factly.
“You don’t?” Watson asks, “then why are you in all those commercials?”
Shane shrugs, “my mom and my agent find them for me. At first it was mostly about having a nest egg, if things didn’t work out with hockey. Now, I guess it’s just habit.”
“Nice of you to come today then,” Wyatt says.
Shane shrugs again. “Ilya was going to be insufferable about it if I didn’t. And it’s important to connect with fans.”
“I thought it was, like, a team bonding thing,” Watson admits.
Harris laughs lightly, “I think it will be! Sorry if we gave you the wrong impression and you thought more of the guys would be here.”
Watson shrugs, “oh, no. I think it’ll be fun. Plus, it’s not like I have anything else to do.”
Ilya nods sagely. “Ottawa is very boring.”
“Hey!” Shane exclaims.
“Sorry, moya lyubov, but is true.”
“Some of the younger guys meet up and play video games pretty often,” Wyatt tells Watson, “if that’s something you’re into.”
“What do you guys do on your days off then?”
Wyatt shrugs, “chores. Sleep. Bood sometimes has a barbecue. If my wife’s days off overlap with mine we like to do something together. Sometimes I play DnD at a store downtown.”
“Chores and work out, mostly,” Shane says.
“We cook also,” Ilya says. “And I sleep in. My husband gets up at 6 am to run, like usual, because he is a crazy person.”
“Troy and I like to take Chiron for walks,” Harris volunteers.
Watson nods.
“Like I said. Boring.” Ilya grins.
“You’d be better off asking the younger guys, really,” Wyatt smiles at him. “We’re all married men here.”
“Harris you count,” Ilya interjects before Harris can even speak, “you and Troy are…what is word? Not ever apart?”
“Inseparable,” Shane fills in.
“Da. Inseparable,” Ilya agrees.
Harris just shrugs. If he had planned on saying anything to disagree with that statement he never gets the chance because the van pulls into the Tim Hortons parking lot. They all clamber out and are ushered quickly into the building. The actual staff is initially fairly starstruck, but the manager on duty is decidedly not. Maria looks them over once, hands them aprons and gives them a thorough rundown on what to expect. It’s essentially the same as Harris’ instructions from earlier, but the men all nod along anyway as if the information is completely new. After that they film a quick intro to Harris’ video and then get started.
Wyatt and Ilya get assigned in-store customers to start while Shane and Watson take the drive through. Wyatt can’t decide if it’s better to split the couple up or not. Is it easier to compete with each other when they’re doing the same job or are they going to fight over which service has more customers? It’s hard to say. Both seem equally likely to Wyatt right now.
Wyatt’s fears are ultimately unfounded. Shane and Ilya don’t even really have the time to talk to each other, both busy with the hordes of customers the Centaurs’ presence has drawn. Ilya is a natural, passing out coffees and timbits boxes that he glibly adorns with his autograph. His husband, working the drive through, has to be asked every time of maybe he’d add his signature on the coffee cups he’s handling out. Watson, too, seems awkward as well. It doesn’t help that the customers seem to not know who he is. Nearly three fourths seem to think Watson is actually just an employee. Only the more diehard fans know he is one of the new rookies. Watson doesn’t seem too bothered by that from what Wyatt can tell. He’s pretty busy scribbling his own signature on what he’s handing out. He’s following Ilya’s method: scribble down signatures without being asked. 90% of the clientele is in Centaurs merch, so he thinks the assumption they want an autograph is a fair one.
They spend the first half of their shift in the original pairings before Shane and Ilya switch places, Shane coming up to the front with Wyatt.
Wyatt endures the back and forth of Shane handing customers their order and then them asking for it to be signed three times before he suggests Shane should maybe just sign all the bags, cups, and boxes he is handing out.
“Oh. Really?” Shane asks, “that’s not presumptuous?”
A nearby fan overhears that reaction. “No, man, we’re here to see you! Of course we all want your autograph!”
“Oh. Wow. Thanks.”
It’s then that Wyatt realizes Shane Hollander doesn’t know he’s Shane Hollander. If he wasn’t so busy taking orders and signing every style of to-go container present at a Tim Horton’s he’d have thought about this realization a bit more and wondered exactly what the hell was in the water up in Montreal, but as it was he barely had enough time to process what was happening around him.
The rest of the shift passes in a haze of coffee and donut orders and then they are blissfully alone in the van heading back for the player’s parking lot. No one talks much on the ride back, save for Harris who is exclaiming over the excellent footage he’d gotten. He leaves them with a promise to send them the final version before it’s posted and then heads off to his office to work on editing it.
“You still need a ride?” Wyatt asks Watson.
“Sure, thank you.”
“Take care of our new rookie, Hazy,” Ilya grins at him, “and try not to bore him to death with your weird comic book stuff.”
“Hey!”
“See you tomorrow!”
Wyatt rolls his eyes and turns back to Watson. “C’mon, I’ll drive you to your hotel.”
Wyatt leads the way to his car and they both clamber in.
“So, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Wyatt says as he pulls out of the spot, “are your parents big fans of British mystery novelists?”
Watson groans, “and they think they have a sense of humor. I mean naming your kid Sherlock is bad enough. Do you know how bad it is to be Sherlock Watson? The kids at school never used to let me live it down.”
“Sorry.”
“But actually, this kind of brings up a subject I was curious about. Do any of the guys prefer certain names or nicknames? All my teammates and friends call me Watson exclusively and I prefer that. But, I don’t know, what guys are more of the first name type? Or are there any nicknames I should know about?”
Wyatt laughs, “everyone calls everyone everything. Most people use first names off the ice and nicknames or last names on it, but we all really just use everything interchangeably. As far as nicknames, uh, the guys call me Hazy, Roz or Rozy for Rozanov, Bood for Boodram, D for Dykstra. He’s trying to make Big Dyck happen, don’t feed into it. Uh, who else? Oh, Haasy for Haas, Bergy for Holmberg, LP for LaPointe, Shoe or Chewy for Chouinard, Young is just Young, Dills or Dilly for Dillon, Boyle is just Boyle, oh and Barrett we sometimes call Bear, but only when we’re chirping him because he hates it.” Wyatt takes a breath, “I think that’s everyone. But don’t feel too worried about it. Everyone here is great, seriously. They won’t care what you call them as long as it’s not anything hateful. It’s a good group here. You'll fit right in.”
“Thanks,” Watson says sincerely. “I know it’s a weird thing to be nervous about. I haven’t been on a new team for a long time now. Four years.”
“Trust me, I know. I was traded here after thinking I’d spend my whole career with Toronto. Same with Barrett and Hollander. But like I said, this is a good group of guys.
“Yeah, but kinda crazy going up against Hollander and Rozanov every day in practice, right?”
Wyatt laughs. “Just be thankful it’s only in practice and not in games. The nightmares Hollander used to give me…”
Watson gets a haunted look in his eyes, “I can only imagine. Thanks for the ride,” he adds as they pull up to the hotel, “and, you know, the team advice stuff.”
“Yeah, of course. Let me or any of the guys know if you ever need anything.”
Watson thanks him again and gets out of the car and then Wyatt drives home to rest and relax a little.
A few days later the video goes up on the official Centaurs page. It opens with Ilya, grinning madly.
“Hello YouTube! I’m Ilya Rozanov, captain of the Ottawa Centaurs, and today our team will be serving customers at our local Tim Horton’s because we are very Canadian.”
“Everyone else introduce yourselves too,” Harris says from off-camera.
“I’m Wyatt Hayes,” Wyatt-in-the-video introduces himself, “and I am the Ottawa Centaurs goaltender.”
“I’m Sherlock Watson, also a goaltender,” Watson says.
“And I’m Shane Hollander. I’m a forward with the Ottawa Centaurs.” Wyatt appreciates once again the smooth use of ‘forward’ instead of one of the more specific positions. There’s been a lot of speculation both within the league and online about what positions exactly Shane and Ilya will be playing this season. Most people think Hollander will be their second line center, others think he’ll play left wing, and still others think he’ll play first line center and Ilya will move to wing. So far they've mostly been practicing with Hollander as the second line center and Haas and Dillon as his wingers, but Wiebe has been testing a few other combinations.
On-screen the Centaurs begin tying on their aprons. Ilya struggles with his for a moment before Shane steps up and ties it neatly for him, which then prompts Wyatt and Watson to get him to tie theirs as well. At the time Wyatt had just thought it would be funny, but watching the playback it’s actually just kind of a cute moment. Ilya goes to repay the favor with his husband, but is swatted away, Shane turning to Wyatt instead. Wyatt had missed the pouting face Ilya had made when it had actually happened, but it’s the focus in the video. The pouting face morphs quickly into excitement when Shane is given a headset. Something Wyatt hadn’t missed in real-time: Ilya whips out his phone and takes a few covert photos of his husband. Shane and Watson don’t seem to notice, but video-Wyatt fixes Ilya with a knowing smirk, which the other man just shrugs off, not looking one bit guilty.
They then all head to their stations and the video splits into two, divided by a white line down the center. On one half of the video Wyatt and Ilya are chatting easily with Olivia, who was one of the actual Tim Horton’s employees and their designated backup in case anything got too complicated. She had ended up doing most of the actual ringing up. Shane and Watson in contrast were shown on the other side of the video hovering nervously near Simran as they awaited their first customer. In retrospect, Wyatt and Ilya probably should’ve been separated so each team had one more outgoing member.
The video goes back to full screen, showing just Watson and Shane working the drive-through. Shane gets his first customer. “Hello and welcome to Tim Horton’s. What can I get for you today?” Shane asks awkwardly, stumbling over the words a little. The video switches to Wyatt and Ilya, also greeting their first customers, a family of three. “Hello!” Ilya greets them enthusiastically, and then clocks the Rozanov jersey on the little girl. “You have excellent taste in hockey players,” he tells her, smiling widely. “Free donuts for you, I think.”
“Ilya, this is for charity,” Harris says, off-screen.
Ilya waves him off, “I will pay charity. Good taste must be rewarded, da?”
The little girl just stares at him with wide eyes, clearly starstruck. Ilya asks her what kind of donut she wants and her mom answers for her, ordering for her and her husband too. Ilya slips the donuts into bags he scribbles an autograph on and then gives the little girl a fistbump. Meanwhile, Wyatt is helping two college-aged kids who quiz him on his comic book knowledge. Wyatt grins a little fondly seeing the interaction back. They’d been almost as wowed by his comic knowledge as they had been to meet him. Wyatt has signed both their bags with a reference to each of their favorite characters.
The video flips back to the drive through where Watson is struggling to open the window. Wyatt had vaguely registered this happening in the background; a goalie sees all, but seeing it clearly is undeniably funny. Hollander is eyeing him with a conflicted look, still speaking to someone over his headset about a coffee order. Simran comes to Watson’s rescue and opens the window.
The video hits some of the highlights of the day: Wyatt and Ilya goofing off a little and playing a game where Ilya threw TimBits into a box that Ilya moved around to try and catch them, an entire peewee hockey team in full gear, Ilya nearly falling out the drive-through window in an attempt to pet a dog, and then being sent to go wash his hands after petting said dog. They also captured Watson’s face the first time someone recognized him, and Shane’s look of befuddlement when a fan just started regurgitating his stats at him, as well as Ilya’s call of “NO! Do not seduce my husband with hockey facts!” from across the restaurant.
It’s a good video. Wyatt watches it shortly after the release and it already has accrued several thousand views. The comments below are mainly positive. People are befuddled and charmed by Shane Hollander seemingly being unaware that he’s Shane Hollander. People are also supportive of Watson, who they call ‘adorably awkward’. Wyatt has many supportive comments as well. People are complimenting his speed with the coffee machine and saying he could have a backup career as a barista. The comments about Ilya are…well Wyatt supposes the word people would use to describe it is ‘feral’. Or possibly just horny. Him fist-bumping all the kids had gone down very well with a specific type of fan. A lot of the comments were just regular ones also. Fans excited to see them out and about and getting pumped for the coming season.
Wyatt was getting pumped for the season as well. Training camp was wrapping up this week and the team was looking strong. Watson had secured his roster spot, as had another one of the promising rookies. The veterans were clicking and the Haas-Hollander-Dillon line was rivaling the Bood-Rozanov-Barrett line. Dillon was simply clicking better with Hollander than he ever had with Rozanov or the other centers on the team. The Centaurs were going to be a force this year. Wyatt couldn’t wait.