Post Olympic

Large Rat Emotions

This is a very long scene, so I'm going to have to cut it up into badly sized chunks, but, well, 

Music: with me all along - bronze radio return

Lets get this going, shall we?

-rabid

******************

"Nico," Sauerkraut knocks on my door, and I don't move.

"What do you need?" I ask. I'm desperately sketching practice plans. We're leaving tomorrow morning for St. Louis to play the Blues, then traveling to Winnipeg.

"It's my last night in the rink and I wanted to show you something."

"How long will it take?" I rub my hands through my hair, my leg shakes under the table as I stress.

"Ten minutes? If I cut it short?"

"Can it take less than that? I'm working on practice plans and I'm coming up short for time." I slap my pencil down.

"Yeah, I can cut it down." He sighs from the outside of the door.

"Great, what are you showing me?"

"I kind of wanted it to be a surprise," I pull open the door.

"The hell are you dressed up for." By dressed up, I mean jeans. He's wearing jeans at eleven at night.

"Haven't changed yet."

"And why are you up this late? We have a game tomorrow. Second of the season, fool." I pull my door shut behind me and cross my arms.

"Okay, just walk with me," He starts down the hall and I keep pace with him.

All you do is hurt people. I stare at Sauerkraut, wondering what his fate will be. Cancer? Broken leg? Blood loss?

Death?

I take a deep breath and push the thoughts away.

"Do you need help with the practice plans?" He asks.

"No, it's just me, being frustrated. I have everything I'm just exhausted and don't want to plan it."

"Good, I'm distracting you for a while." He smiles a bit.

"Debatable," I mumble. "You frustrated me a little more by pulling me away."

"Well, after today, I won't bother you while you're working anymore." He sighs. "Being at the rink alone is creepy as hell though. I definitely liked the reassurance of you clanking pots and pans at the odd hours of the day. Made it feel less creepy."

"You too, may I ask why I heard a yell last night?" before I went to bed, before the nightmare, before it all.

He stiffens a bit. "I uh, stubbed my toe."

"I'm sure that was an excuse for screaming at a spider."

"Nope, I actually stubbed my toe." I give him a look.

"Liar."

"Okay, okay, fine. It was a massive spider though."

"I betcha it was itsy bitsy." I pinch two fingers together. "An itty bitty little guy."

"He was the size of a quarter." Sauerkraut laughs. "You would've screamed too."

"Please." I snort. "I've seen rats the size of dogs."

"You've what." He stops walking to stare at me.

"If we play Boston ever, I'll take you behind Brandeis University and show you Timothy." I shake a bit, trying to forget what happened in Boston.

"You named it????" He's horrified.

"Clam down, pickled cabbage. I befriended that sucker."

"Nuh uh," he shakes his head. "I think I'm good. I don't need to meet Timothy."

"He's a friendly boy," I lie a bit. I did name that rat but Liza and I ran for our lives from that thing. It was a goiath of a rat. An absolute unit.

"No, nuh uh, nope, ew agh." Sauerkraut is working through his Large Rat Emotions.

"Yep," I snort.