Plot Bunny: [Insert sexy dancing here] (Hockey, Alex Galchenyuk/Brandon Prust, 900 words, Teen)
Before Nikita Scherbak got sent back to Juniors, I wrote some snippets about him being around. This is one of them. Warning for homophobic attitudes by a character whose actual values I know nothing about.
Brandon's hanging out in the lobby of the hotel waiting to see if anyone wants to do something when Alex, Brendan, and Nikita come through. They're all dressed to go out, but none of them look very happy about it.
Brandon waylays them and asks if he can go with them wherever they're going. They exchange some looks, and then Alex says, "You can come, but you can't chirp or tell anyone about it."
That definitely sounds like they need supervision, so Brandon gets into the cab with them. They end up at a gay bar. Brandon sends the kids to get a table and goes to the bar to get them drinks.
Nikita looks uncomfortable, Brendan a little unhappy, and Alex determined.
"I'm going to dance," Alex says after an awkward ten minutes.
Brandon stays at the table for a few more minutes, trying to figure out exactly what's going on with the kids, although his best guess is that Alex and Nikita are having an argument and Brendan's stuck in the middle of it, before he gives it up as too uncomfortable and goes to join Alex on the dance floor.
"What are you doing?" Brandon asks when he finds Alex, sliding in close to talk to him.
"Corrupting young people," Alex says, mouth turned down in a frown.
Well, that probably explains what Alex and Nikita are arguing about.
"Are you just making a point?" Brandon asks. "Because you're not going to get any attention unless you look like you're having fun."
Brandon pulls Alex in and they dance for a while in a way that shows Alex off more than anything else. [Insert sexy dancing scene here.] Brandon heads back to the table after Alex moves on to dance with someone else.
It's still awkward, and Nikita scowls and asks, "Can we go?" when Alex comes back to the table for his drink.
So they leave, and everyone is silent and a little grouchy in the cab ride back to the hotel. Once they hit the elevator, Alex and Nikita start sniping at each other, which Brandon can tell from the tone even though they're speaking in Russian.
They get loud when they get up to their floor, loud enough that both P.K. and Plecky poke their heads out of their doors.
"I got this," Brandon tells them, and he steps between Alex and Nikita. He sends Nikita down the hall toward his room. "You too," he says to Alex. But before he makes Alex go, he wraps him up in a hug and says, "There's nothing wrong with you, kid."
*
Things are awkward. On the ice, Alex and Nikita are holding it together, but off ice, things are obviously strained, to the point that P.K. pulls Brandon into a meeting room with Plecky, Patch, and Marky.
"This thing with the kids," P.K. says. "Coaches are going to get involved if this keeps up, and no one wants that."
"I don't know exactly how it started," Brandon says, "but Alex isn't the problem. I can't tell you any more. I promised, and this isn't a confidence I'm willing to break."
"Can you give us a hint?" Patch asks.
"It's not personal, not directly," Brandon says. "I think it's cultural." It wasn't that long ago that Russian politics were all over the news. It shouldn't be that hard for them to figure out.
"Like he's having trouble adjusting to the decadent West?" P.K. says it like a joke.
Brandon doesn't say anything, lets that hang in the air. They can figure this out.
The captains exchange a look.
"I'll talk to him," Marky says.
Whatever he says to Nikita works enough for him to warm up to Alex a little. Things aren't fixed, but they're better.
*
Somehow it becomes a thing that Alex and Brandon go out and Brandon shows Alex off and helps him pick up and whatever. [Insert sexy dancing montage here.] Sometimes Brandon hooks up with someone, but not as often as Alex does.
The whole team goes out at some point to a club where they get shown into the VIP section on a balcony of some sort, and while there are a lot of straight couples in the place, there are also quite a few gay couples. The team is checking out the scene and looking at the dance floor, maybe a couple of guys go to dance, maybe they're just all talking about the dancing.
Alex looks at Brandon, who gives him a "whatever you want to do" shrug. Alex finishes his drink and stands up. "Come on, Prusty. We will show them how it's done."
Brandon grins and follows Alex down the stairs to the dance floor. They dance for a bit, and instead of the usual showing Alex off to other people who might be into him, Brandon mostly directs that up at the guys on the balcony.
"Chucky's got moves," P.K. says when they go back upstairs.
"I spend the summer in South Beach," Alex says. "Of course I have moves."
Brandon slings one arm around Alex. "Don't I get any credit here? That was at least half me making Chucky look good."
*
And then I don't know exactly what would happen. Probably Nikita gets over his "homosexuality is bad" upbringing and he and Alex make up. And somehow the thing where Brandon helps Alex hook up with people eventually turns into Alex and Brandon hooking up.
Brandon's hanging out in the lobby of the hotel waiting to see if anyone wants to do something when Alex, Brendan, and Nikita come through. They're all dressed to go out, but none of them look very happy about it.
Brandon waylays them and asks if he can go with them wherever they're going. They exchange some looks, and then Alex says, "You can come, but you can't chirp or tell anyone about it."
That definitely sounds like they need supervision, so Brandon gets into the cab with them. They end up at a gay bar. Brandon sends the kids to get a table and goes to the bar to get them drinks.
Nikita looks uncomfortable, Brendan a little unhappy, and Alex determined.
"I'm going to dance," Alex says after an awkward ten minutes.
Brandon stays at the table for a few more minutes, trying to figure out exactly what's going on with the kids, although his best guess is that Alex and Nikita are having an argument and Brendan's stuck in the middle of it, before he gives it up as too uncomfortable and goes to join Alex on the dance floor.
"What are you doing?" Brandon asks when he finds Alex, sliding in close to talk to him.
"Corrupting young people," Alex says, mouth turned down in a frown.
Well, that probably explains what Alex and Nikita are arguing about.
"Are you just making a point?" Brandon asks. "Because you're not going to get any attention unless you look like you're having fun."
Brandon pulls Alex in and they dance for a while in a way that shows Alex off more than anything else. [Insert sexy dancing scene here.] Brandon heads back to the table after Alex moves on to dance with someone else.
It's still awkward, and Nikita scowls and asks, "Can we go?" when Alex comes back to the table for his drink.
So they leave, and everyone is silent and a little grouchy in the cab ride back to the hotel. Once they hit the elevator, Alex and Nikita start sniping at each other, which Brandon can tell from the tone even though they're speaking in Russian.
They get loud when they get up to their floor, loud enough that both P.K. and Plecky poke their heads out of their doors.
"I got this," Brandon tells them, and he steps between Alex and Nikita. He sends Nikita down the hall toward his room. "You too," he says to Alex. But before he makes Alex go, he wraps him up in a hug and says, "There's nothing wrong with you, kid."
*
Things are awkward. On the ice, Alex and Nikita are holding it together, but off ice, things are obviously strained, to the point that P.K. pulls Brandon into a meeting room with Plecky, Patch, and Marky.
"This thing with the kids," P.K. says. "Coaches are going to get involved if this keeps up, and no one wants that."
"I don't know exactly how it started," Brandon says, "but Alex isn't the problem. I can't tell you any more. I promised, and this isn't a confidence I'm willing to break."
"Can you give us a hint?" Patch asks.
"It's not personal, not directly," Brandon says. "I think it's cultural." It wasn't that long ago that Russian politics were all over the news. It shouldn't be that hard for them to figure out.
"Like he's having trouble adjusting to the decadent West?" P.K. says it like a joke.
Brandon doesn't say anything, lets that hang in the air. They can figure this out.
The captains exchange a look.
"I'll talk to him," Marky says.
Whatever he says to Nikita works enough for him to warm up to Alex a little. Things aren't fixed, but they're better.
*
Somehow it becomes a thing that Alex and Brandon go out and Brandon shows Alex off and helps him pick up and whatever. [Insert sexy dancing montage here.] Sometimes Brandon hooks up with someone, but not as often as Alex does.
The whole team goes out at some point to a club where they get shown into the VIP section on a balcony of some sort, and while there are a lot of straight couples in the place, there are also quite a few gay couples. The team is checking out the scene and looking at the dance floor, maybe a couple of guys go to dance, maybe they're just all talking about the dancing.
Alex looks at Brandon, who gives him a "whatever you want to do" shrug. Alex finishes his drink and stands up. "Come on, Prusty. We will show them how it's done."
Brandon grins and follows Alex down the stairs to the dance floor. They dance for a bit, and instead of the usual showing Alex off to other people who might be into him, Brandon mostly directs that up at the guys on the balcony.
"Chucky's got moves," P.K. says when they go back upstairs.
"I spend the summer in South Beach," Alex says. "Of course I have moves."
Brandon slings one arm around Alex. "Don't I get any credit here? That was at least half me making Chucky look good."
*
And then I don't know exactly what would happen. Probably Nikita gets over his "homosexuality is bad" upbringing and he and Alex make up. And somehow the thing where Brandon helps Alex hook up with people eventually turns into Alex and Brandon hooking up.