They had all agreed to meet on the team floor's common room once they had reached the dorm. One reason so that they could talk about where they were headed that night and another so Frankie could hand out the rest of their Team USA gear.
"How did you manage to get all this gear up to the second floor?" Mac asked, eyes wide with curiosity as his gaze roamed over the numerous boxes that now littered the common room.
"I'm Wonder Woman," she replied dryly.
"How come you're not in a swim suit?" Verchota mused.
"Don't make me hit you, man," Buzz called out from across the room.
With a roll of her eyes, Frankie explained how she got help from the two delivery guys, the dorm manager and Aaron Broten. "I think they only allowed me to carry one box up."
"Aaron?" Neal piped up. "My little brother was here?"
"Yep," she said with a nod. "He came to say hi and tried to convince me to go back to the Gophers and leave you to your own defenses with Herb. Obviously he wasn't so successful. I'm still here and he's still dateless."
Laughter rang out from a few of the boys, jokes going around about how Neal's brother had been shot down so many times in asking Frankie out for a date. A few expressed their disbelief that the younger Broten was yet to give up despite the number of resounding no's he received.
"Even Verchota gave up after being told no thrice," Janny said in between chuckles.
"And let's not forget how they met," Baker added, hands clutching his stomach as he dissolved into more laughter.
Frankie snickered when she caught sight of how red Phil was getting from all the teasing and inquiries from the rest of the boys about the story of how they met, before deciding to come to his defense. "All right, that's enough. Leave the poor boy alone. We still have your gear waiting in boxes and we still haven't decided what we're doing later."
The group of hockey players decided to stop their teasing, but only under Mac's promise of telling the story at a different time, before they helped open the boxes to start distributing the various hockey gear, jerseys and jackets to their respective owners. There was still one box that was left untouched, a smaller one that sat right by their team manager, leaving them wondering why she had yet to start handing out whatever it contained.
"What's in that one?" Mac asked, his brows furrowed in curiosity at how Frankie's eyes seemed to be glued to what was in it.
"I know how the uniforms are supposed to be patriotic and all that," she started to say. "Red, white and blue will always be a given because of that. You have the white dress shirts and the blue jackets, why couldn't have they just given you a red tie?"
"What?"
"Because seriously," she continued, turning an incredulous stare towards the boys as she picked up a tie from the box beside her. "This is the most ridiculous looking thing that I have ever seen."
"That looks like those swirly things you see at barber shops."
"Or a candy cane."
"That's just wrong."
Dropping the offending piece of cloth back into the box, she passed it over to Mac who took one out before passing the box along to the rest of his teammates. "Now, where to go later," she trailed off.
Several suggestions were thrown out, mostly from the Minnesota boys since they knew the place best. After a short discussion, the boys had agreed to go to Rally Point, a mix between a dance club and a bar and grill that served snacks, full meals, drinks and played good music.
"Now that we've got that settled," Frankie began, slapping her palm against her knee as she stood up. "You boys get some rest and I'll see you later." She started walking towards the door, planning to go up to her room and relax for a bit before stopping in her tracks and turning back around. "If any of you boys plan to have any extra fun tonight, please don't forget to buy condoms."
With that, she spun on her heel and left the common room, shaking her head at the image of OC sputtering in shock, Johnson snapping awake and Silky actually falling out of his seat while her boys from Minnesota hooted in laughter, knowing the story behind her strange request.
"You know we all said that this night out was also to celebrate your graduation, right?" Verchota asked, eyeing the drink in her hand. "So why are you only drinking a soda?"
"Well, we need designated drivers," she replied. "And before you can say that someone else can take that job, it's fine. I need to wake up early tomorrow anyway."
"It's Saturday," OC stated. "Why would you need to be up early?"
"I need to go home," Frankie said simply.
"Do you mind if I ride with you?" Mac asked. "I wanna visit my parents before we leave."
"Me too," Buzz piped up. "I figured I need to check in with Gayle, even if it's just to see her for the few hours she's home in between shifts at the hospital."
"Or I could just take you home with me tonight," a female voice interjected.
Several people turned their heads to look at the blonde who had walked up to their table in confidence. Whatever curiosity they held for her being quickly dispelled at how Buzz's face lit up before he jumped out of his seat to give the woman a hug and a kiss. Just by the show of affection, they immediately figured out that the girl in their teammate's arms was none other than Gayle Schneider.
"Hey Gayle," Frankie greeted.
"Hey Colt," she replied, leaning down to press a kiss to the younger girl's cheek. "Thanks for giving me the heads up."
"No problem," she waved off dismissively. "Buzzy was starting to look a little pathetic the longer the days went. It was kinda depressing me so I figured you needed to see each other soon. I'm just glad you managed to trade shifts with someone else."
"You know, I'm really starting to hate you," Buzz said dryly.
She feigned a look of hurt, clutching a hand over her chest. "Break my heart, why don't you?"
After being introduced to the guys on the team, Buzz had taken his wife out on the dance floor while a few of the other guys wandered off to play a game of pool, but most still staying at the table just enjoying the music and talking about various topics.
Looking at the faces of the company she kept and given where they were, Frankie started counting in her head before someone mustered up enough guts to sidle up to their table and strike up a conversation. She hadn't even reached the count of 20 until three girls came giggling and pushing at each other slightly, one purposely tripping on her feet to bump into OC who was standing just behind Silky's chair.
"Oh, sorry," the short brunette said in between giggles.
"Why must there always be giggling?" Frankie muttered under her breath. Mac and Rammer, who sat on either side of her, started chuckling at hearing her grumble. No one paid them much mind, however, as OC struck up a conversation with the brunette and her friends before getting into introductions.
As the three girls settled in the seats left vacant by the guys who left to play pool, Mac leaned over to Frankie and whispered "It's a good thing you reminded everyone about condoms."
Rammer snorted, grateful that he wasn't currently taking a sip of his beer, knowing that he would have choked or, worse yet, end up spitting it across the table and in some poor guy's face. Frankie buried her head against the defenseman's shoulder, muffling her laughter at the small quip, the sight of his two friends leaning onto each other making Mac chuckle himself.
The laughing trio soon caught the attention of some of the guys though none of them were able to get any answers even when they asked what was so funny.
"It's an inside joke, don't worry about it," Mac dismissed.
"Come on Rammer," she said, tugging at the boy's arm. "Let's go dance before you get corrupted."
"I think you've already taken care of that!" Mac bellowed jokingly.
AN: I'm not exactly satisfied with this but I figured I'd post it nonetheless. I know it's a filler, but there are some tidbits here that would be referred to in the future, trust me.
Also, I know Rammer's only 19 (turning 20) around this time, but the legal drinking age in Minnesota didn't get raised to 21 until a few years later so I found it alright to put him in this scene drinking a beer.
In the next chapter - Norway!