I Left The Lights On So You Stumble In Devotion

Every winning goal Evgeni had ever gotten in his life didn’t add up to the way he, and the rest of the team, felt when the time had finally run out in game seven against Washington. What was supposed to be a tough game ended up being the easiest game in the playoffs, Pittsburgh managing to pull off a score of six compared to Washington’s two. They’d finally beaten Varlamov,

To no surprise, they were all being bombarded after the game, especially the goal scorers. Of course, Sidney led the team with two goals. Evgeni agreed to give a quick ‘post-game’ interview, something which he rarely did because the press knew he had a very small vocabulary and an even smaller tolerance to using it.

First they asked about Gonchar playing with them after being injured, Evgeni responded with the same answer he’d prepared in his head in case they did ask him. He was happy with Gonchar’s performance, he was happy that the man never let up, even when he would have preferred to have been benched.

“Besides going to the conference finals, how enjoyable was it for you and maybe your captain to eliminate these guys?”

Evgeni paused, waiting for an answer to come to his head. He tried his best to ignore his sudden suspicion as to why they’d ask about Sidney as well as himself. He kept telling himself that it was because Sidney was Sidney-fucking-Crosby and he was the next leading scorer, knowing that it was probably the correct answer.

They would never have guessed that after Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby finish playing on the ice together that they meet up at one of their houses and end up fondling each other until they pass out in their beds. Evgeni stopped thinking, realizing he’d been quiet for a few seconds and he was making a face that caused him to look like he had a small brain cell count.

Not sure of what to say, he just continued to mumble on about enjoying the win. Evgeni continued to answer their questions, sometimes not being able to completely understand them and saying ‘huh’ loudly. It was also a bit awkward with a camera directly in front of your face, he felt like an idiot every time he’d turn to face a different camera. He knew exactly how bad he was going to look in this video when it went up online.

Evgeni grimaced over at Sidney when they’d finally left him alone, feeling a sudden pity for Sidney having to do this every game, before every game and after every game, sometimes even in the middle. Being the poster boy had its perks, but did it ever have its annoyances.

When everything was said and done and it was just the team in the dressing room, that was when the excitement really hit. They’d really done it, made it to conference finals again.

“You really robbed Ovechkin tonight, Flower.” muttered Jordan, grinning over at Marc.

Marc-Andre was completely content with his playing that night. You could tell by the way his smile, only subtly but still visible, played upon his lips. None of them were feeling arrogant about the win, knowing that as soon as they started thinking it would be easy it would get harder.

“What’d Alex say to you, Gonch?” asked Orpik, everybody turning their heads towards Gonchar.

Alexander Ovechkin continuously said how the blow he’d made to Gonchar’s knee was purely accidentally and unintentional, but Gonchar thought differently. To be quite honest, so did Evgeni. He noticed Ovechkin playing dirtily all of the time, normally being one of the guys he picked on.

“He said he was sorry, then said it was an accident.” Sergei paused, allowing people to snort, laugh or make some comment about the incident. “I told him it didn’t feel like it, and then he went on about whatever it was he assures me that happened.”

“It’s possible, I guess…”

“Did you see that hit? That wasn’t an accident.”

“It’s just the way he plays, he gets a bit carried away sometimes.”

“Yeah, but the guy just always plays like he’s fucking reckless.”

“Was he like that in Russia?”

Evgeni looked up, realizing everybody was looking at him. He’d had his head down, listening to everybody’s voices as they loudly spoke in a language that took much concentration for him to understand.

“What?” said Evgeni clearly, looking over at Gonchar.

“Они спрашивают о Ovechkin.” spoke Gonchar quickly.

“Он не грязный игрок, он только чрезвычайно конкурентоспособен. Он не может управлять собой иногда.” said Evgeni, finding himself too lazy to translate his thoughts into English.

“Geno says that he’s not a dirty player, he just gets competitive. He can’t control himself sometimes.” translated Gonchar, everybody nodding slightly.

Evgeni looked over at Sidney, smiling before muttering, “Он очень страстен, как Вы.”

Sidney blushed a little before smiling back, nudging Evgeni on the shoulder. Nobody noticed as Gonchar grinned and rolled his eyes. As soon as they stopped their short flirting session they looked up to realize most of the team had been eyeing them curiously and closely. Sidney coughed, continuing to put away some of his hockey equipment into his bag.

“So, where’s the party?” asked Max casually.

Everybody continued to look around, hoping that they didn’t look too eager if someone else caught their eye. The truth was, nobody wanted to agree willingly to host this party at their own house. Every time they threw a party as a team, they completely wrecked and trashed whoever’s house they were occupying.

“I think that means it’s your turn.” suggested Jordan, Max shrugging his shoulders as if to say ‘alright’.

The tension eased up then, everybody returning to their normal, pre-awkward state. The conversation broke up into miniature conversations, Evgeni trying his hardest to catch onto someone’s words. They were all speaking too fast though.

“Geno”, Evgeni turned around to see Letang sitting next to him in Jordan’s spot, “You gonna come to Max’s?”

Evgeni shrugged his shoulders, glancing to his right to look at Sidney. Sidney was too occupied with setting everything down in an organized manner into his hockey bag to notice.

“Maybe.” muttered Evgeni.

“What about you, Sid?”

Sidney looked up, making it apparent that he hadn’t been listening to the conversation. It was understandable, though, the volume in the dressing room had increased dramatically.

“What?” asked Sidney.

Evgeni looked between Kris and Sidney before settling on observing Sidney. His hair was wet, dangling against his ears; it was getting long in the playoffs. His eyes held a very stern look. If anyone was going to celebrate, Sidney would probably be last one the list.

“Are you gonna come to the party tonight?” repeated Kris. “At Max’s?”

“Oh.” said Sidney simply, turning back around. “I’m not sure. Are you, Geno?”

Evgeni took notice how Sidney never called him ‘Evgeni’ around the team, it was always back to ‘Geno’.

“He says he doesn’t know.” Evgeni was satisfied that Kris would speak for him, enjoying every extra minute that he didn’t have to talk himself. “Come on, Sid, we just won six to two in game seven.”

“And you can cut all of the bullshit, I know you’re every bit as happy as I am that we won.” added Jordan, returning from wherever he’d been.

“The Ovechkin vs. Crosby thing is over, finally.” said Kris, smiling at Sidney.

“For this year.” corrected Sidney, folding his arms into his chest.

“You never go out with us after.” mumbled Jordan, giving in to defeat from Sidney.

“I go out all of the time.”

“With Geno, here, but not with us.”

Sidney and Evgeni looked at each other, quickly breaking eye contact once it was made. Evgeni fidgeted around, trying his hardest to occupy himself at something.

“Fine, you fuckers, I’ll go.”

***

Evgeni was usually stereotyped by the rest of the guys for being Russian. They all expected him to consume twice as much as they did and then sit there stone sober. When really, he wasn’t that much of a drinker. He could handle his liquor, but he wasn’t a frequent drinker; he was thankful that he could say that he wasn’t a lightweight.

Sidney, however, was a lightweight. He had an occasional beer every now and then, but get him on hard liquor and he’s giggling and blushing like a teenybopper chasing after a Jonas Brother.

This is why it was easy to tell that he’d drank too much. Evgeni had been watching him from his chair in the corner, sitting between Max and Cooke. He didn’t pay much attention to what they were saying, his eyes had been on Sidney as he fidgeted around with Max’s stereo. The volume would get really high, then really low, then the music would change as Sidney dropped a load of cds to the floor of Max’s patio.

“Sid, what the hell are you doing?” Max got up, walking over to help Sidney pick up the fallen cds. “You are extremely drunk, go eat a burger or something to sober up.”

Evgeni smiled, watching as Sidney wriggled out of the grasp Max had on his shoulder. Sidney smiled sloppily at Max, grabbing his arms and trying his best to make him dance. Evgeni wasn’t sure if anyone else was aware of the situation besides himself, but he assumed he was slightly biased.

Max walked back to the table, shaking his head while he glanced at Evgeni. Evgeni shook his gaze from Sidney and stared at the glass in front of him on the table.

“You okay, Geno?” asked Max, nudging him on the shoulder.

“Tell me you’re not as drunk as Sidney.” said Cooke jokingly.

So it wasn’t just Evgeni who noticed Sidney.

“I am fine, just tired.” It wasn’t a complete lie, he was tired.

“How much has he had?” Cooke asked Max, pointing his finger over at Sidney.

Sidney was no on the ledge of Max’s patio, in between what could be considered dancing and stumbling. Luckily it wasn’t too high, so Evgeni doubted he would injure himself if he fell. Evgeni watched closely for a sign of danger- he knew he’d have his chair kicked over in seconds, flying over the table with his long legs beneath him- just to catch him.

“Couldn’t have been that much.”

Evgeni stood up quietly, making his way to the bathroom in Max’s house. He eyed Sidney on his way, trying not to grin when Sidney waved at him and winked. Everybody patted him on the back as he passed, watching as he awkwardly would smile and say ‘good job’ back to them.

“Geno, hold up!” Evgeni turned around, seeing Jordan standing up next to a tall, brunette woman.

“Okay.” And there goes his safe word as he stares at this girl in full curiosity.

“Do you know where Sid is?” asked Jordan curiously, winking at him. “Jenny’s a really big fan, and she wants to meet him.”

Evgeni narrowed his eyes as Jordan mouthed ‘she-wants-to-fuck-him’. Evgeni grunted, trying his hardest to act as though this wouldn’t bother him. She was just a fan, Sidney wouldn’t do anything.

“Sidney is… uh, he is out.” said Evgeni bluntly. “I mean, outside.”

“Thanks Geno, Sidney’ll probably be thanking you later.”

Evgeni tried to smile at Jordan as he grabbed his shoulder and led himself out the back door, but it didn’t work. He was nervous now. This wasn’t like the kind of nervous he got before games, because in hockey he knew that his team was talented enough that they had good chances all of the time. But this time, it was just him, and he wasn’t too sure of how much skill he would have compared to some tall, beautiful woman.

“You don’t look like you’re having a good time, Evgeni.”

Evgeni glanced over at Ruslan Fedotenko, noticing him standing there for the first time. Had he been there for the whole conversation? Why did it look like he had read everything in Evgeni’s mind?

“I’m okay, honestly. Why does everybody keep asking me things like that?” asked Evgeni, glaring over at Ruslan.

He instantly felt guilty, knowing that Ruslan meant nothing by it except curiosity.

“Sorry.” blurted Evgeni.

Ruslan bit his lip a little bit, shifting his eyes a lot. Evgeni thought that he looked nervous. Ruslan had very boyish features, making him look much younger than his actual age.

“I’m going to ask you something- you don’t have to answer it or anything-, but… I’m just curious.”

Evgeni raised his eyebrows, shrugging for Ruslan to continue.

“I couldn’t help but hear what you were saying to Sergei today at practice, in Russian.”

“So? I only said Ovechkin was a competitive player, it’s true.” said Evgeni defensively, his words becoming sharp.

“What about the part where you told Sidney how passionate he was?”

Evgeni’s breath stopped for a second, waiting for his mind to process what to say. He didn’t even think about Ruslan being able to hear him, the room was so loud then.

“I only meant it as, hockey.” said Evgeni, his voice rushed.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s just- you know, I know people think you’re quiet, but I know it’s just because you can’t understand what most people say here. I hear you joke around with Sergei all of the time. But I’m quiet because I’m an observer, and I’ve seen you and Sidney when you think nobody’s looking.”

Evgeni stood there, mouth open and eyebrows raised; he must’ve looked like he was blown away. Ruslan wasn’t being overly vague, he kind of reminded Evgeni of Sidney with his straight-forward manner. Evgeni and Ruslan weren’t close, despite their use of the same language.

“I don’t know what to say, but I’m denying it.” Evgeni wondered if that would hurt Sidney, the fact that he denied their relationship.

But, when Evgeni thought about it, was it a relationship? They’d never really decided on anything, and Evgeni couldn’t quite bring himself to call Sidney his… boyfriend.

“Just tell me the truth. It doesn’t bother me, I know a lot of hockey players that date other hockey players.”

Evgeni was thankful that Ruslan hadn’t called him a ‘homosexual’, because Evgeni probably would’ve turned blood red and punched him. He wasn’t as comfortable as he should be yet.

“I don’t know what to say.” repeated Evgeni. “I am going to assume you came over because you just heard Jordan and me?”

“Yeah, and you looked angry.”

“Stay out of it, okay? Just, please.” Evgeni spoke softly, not sounding threatening or paranoid, mostly just desperate.

“I’m here if you ever get tired of talking to Gonch.” stated Ruslan, patting Evgeni on the back before walking back to wherever he’d come from.

Evgeni made his way back to the patio, feeling much better to notice Max talking to the girl Jordan had brought out to meet Sidney. Jordan and Sidney appeared to be having an intense conversation when Evgeni passed them.

“Geno!” called Jordan, grabbing Evgeni’s shoulder again and hauling him in between himself and Sidney. “I need your help.”

“Okay.”

“Sidney refuses to go home with that girl.” stated Jordan, eyeing Sidney in confusion and anxiety. “Tell him he’s an idiot.”

Evgeni looked nervously at Sidney. Sidney looked beyond drunk, holding on tightly to the ledge on the patio to keep himself up. He gave Evgeni a look that said ‘help’, so Evgeni decided he’d reply to Jordan rather than walk away.

“Sidney does not date in playoffs.” said Evgeni clearly.

“What?” Jordan turned his head towards Sidney. “I thought you stopped that?”

“Nope.” slurred Sidney, smiling at Jordan.

“It doesn’t matter, she’s not looking for a boyfriend, Sid.” reminded Jordan, tilting his head back to her direction. “Just do it, it’ll loosen you up for round three. I promise.”

“I’ve got other ways of loosening up, Jordan.” groaned Sidney, his hands letting go of the ledge to clutch onto his stomach.

“Are you okay, Sidney?” asked Evgeni suddenly, not realizing that his arms had slid around Sidney’s waist to hold him up.

“I’m going to-” Sidney turned abruptly to the edge of the patio, letting all of the contents of his stomach fly out onto Max’s lawn.

Evgeni heard Max yell at Sidney from across the table he was sitting at, knowing it was only jokingly. Evgeni felt Sidney shiver in his arms, trying his hardest to rid his body of the alcohol. Once he’d finished, he turned around and leaned his head on Evgeni’s shoulder. Evgeni smiled, throwing his arm around Sidney and ruffling his hair with his other hand. It was like a normal habit to Evgeni.

“Geno…” Jordan’s voice trailed off, his blue eyes staring in curiosity.

“Evgeni, I need to go home.” moaned Sidney, rubbing at his face with his sleeve.

“Okay, I call cab.” Evgeni noticed Jordan’s eyes on them, and he quickly removed his arm from around Sidney. He hoped that Sidney could support himself.

“Sorry.” muttered Evgeni to Jordan. “Sidney is sick, must go home.”

“Are you- are you going with him?” asked Jordan.

“Yes, he is.” said Sidney quietly, his head leaning back onto Evgeni’s shoulder.

“You guys sound like fags to me.” said Jordan, holding his hands up in defeat. “I’ll take Jenny home, you take Sidney.”

Evgeni gently pushed Sidney off of his shoulder, hoping that he wouldn’t fall or hurt himself. He stared into Jordan’s blue eyes for a moment to contemplate before lunging forwards to punch Jordan in the face as hard as he possibly could. He knew he could feel a crushing beneath his fist, and that there would be a huge price to pay for his actions.

He grabbed Sidney, throwing his arm around his waist before Sidney could stumble any further. They passed through their silent teammates, an occasional extra guest.

“Я люблю этого человека.” muttered Evgeni to Ruslan, pushing past him roughly as he held Sidney's waist as tight to his own as possible.