Well, he didn't fully dart away to the hockey game, he isn't that spontaneous. He went to his room and ruffled through his closet, finally, he found what he was looking for. He changed clothes, he put on some black pants and a Belleville Senators holiday jersey, and he debated between wearing a hat or not. He'd probably be fine either way so he went without because hats mess up his hair and make it extra frizzy. Grabbing his keys he hollered to Kuma, "I'm going out to a hockey game! I'll bring you something when I get back."
"Salmon!" Kuma growled from his spot on the couch, the tv remote in his hand, which brought a smile to Matthew's face. If he was anyone else the sight of a miniature polar bear, holding a tv remote and flipping through channels, finally settling on a slasher movie…The Winnie the Pooh horror movie. "Seriously you are watching that?" Mathew asked ludicrously. "I thought you were leaving and I thought we didn't judge each other." Matthew conceded and left. The drive went quick enough and Matthew reached the hockey stadium and saw a generous crowd standing outside the door. Matthew went and joined the line, he felt jumpy and he kept fiddling with his hands and jersey. The line was moving a bit slow and Matthew was getting agitated when he heard some people talking behind him, "Do you see that guy's jersey? I think it's limited edition or vintage!"
Matthew felt a smile quirk on his lips, people were talking about him. He debated between turning around and talking with them, engaging with people. Or should he just keep staring ahead and fiddling with his fingers?
He took three deep breaths before turning around, he saw a group of people and made eye contact with them. "Oh sorry were we too loud?" A girl from the group asked, she had a Benville Senators shirt on and a themed scarf as well.
"No, you weren't too loud. And yeah, this is kinda limited edition I suppose."Matthew responded, thinking for a second, when did he get the jersey?
"What season is it from?" An eager man from the group asked, stepping a bit closer to Matthew.
A beat of silence passed as Matthew tried to recall, "It's the 20xx holiday edition." Variations of 'woah' and 'that's so cool' said the group of five and Matthew smiled. It felt nice to kinda brag and show off his cool items, some of the few pros of being a personification. Matthew chatted with the group and found out they were fresh college graduates and they hadn't been able to go to a hockey game as a group together since before college. They had been a group of childhood friends and all ended up going to the same university. Finally, they reached the ticket booth and Matthew was able to subtly flash his phone with a QR code for a hockey game fast pass for government officials. Matthew decided to sit by the group so he wouldn't be totally alone but even if he was alone he wouldn't have minded at a hockey game. Matthew felt himself getting hyped up as the anticipation in the crowd began to grow.
"Hey," the guy next to him whispered nudging Matthew with his elbow. Matthew turned to look at him, he hummed in response. The man next to him had been the quietest in the group, he had a black beanie on, a black Benville Senators shirt, and black ripped skinny dreams. He had a slight emo look to him, Matthew tried to recall his name as he waited for the guy to say something.
"Do you know how much a Zamboni weighs?"
Matthew chuckled, "It actually depends on the model but the 520 Spec model weighs-" Matthew stopped himself from continuing as the man facepalmed. "What's wrong?"
The man removed his hand from his face, slouched a little, and bit his lip, his face was crimson. "I was going to say, not enough to break the ice but makes a great surface to start the game."
Matthew stared for a second before bursting out laughing, he had not been expecting that answer! "I've never heard that one before!" Matthew had thought he heard every hockey pun or joke but it seems he was very mistaken. "That's a good one."
"You think so?" The guy asked turning to look at him.
"Yeah definitely! Where did you hear that one?"
The guy broke eye contact and looked away, "Look they're coming out!" The man said pointing at the teams skating onto the ice. Matthew stood up and loudly whooped along with some others, and Matthew felt his blood pumping from excitement. Matthew somewhat tuned everything and everyone out, much to the chagrin of the guy next to him. The first period ended and Matthew turned and looked around, trying to find the best way to leave and get to the aisle, he wanted to get some snacks during intermission.
"You really like hockey." Matthew spun around to look at the guy who was sitting down and looking slightly traumatized. "Yeah." Matthew sheepishly said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "If you'll excuse me," He said as he shuffled past the guy and others in this row, he hustled to the concessions stand and ordered a slushie and a basket of soft pretzels. He slinked his way through the crowd and back to his seat, the guy had remained there and was mutely staring at his phone, the group he was with chatting amongst themselves, two of them were missing, probably getting snacks.
"Got some good stuff?" The guy asked and Matthew nodded smiling.
"How long have you been into hockey? Or have you always been into it?" The man shifted his body to turn to Matthew.
"I've always been into hockey for as long as I could remember." Matthew smoothly responded, not like he could say 'When I first found out about hockey I fell in love with it instantly and would play on the teams until it became obvious that I couldn't age and so then I would play hockey in the street but my officials haven't been thrilled at that so I've mostly been watching the games instead of playing.'
"How long have you been into hockey?" Matthew asked to make conversation.
"I only got into it before college when I finally agreed to tag along to a hockey game with my friends."
Matthew nodded in response and began to twiddle with his hands again. "What do you do in your free time?" The guy asked and Matthew was about to respond when the game began again, Matthew hopped a little in his seat as skates quickly went across the rink, the puck being passed at the speed of light. The game was currently tied 1 to 1 but that could and would quickly change.
The visiting team scored a point and Matthew along with the rest of the crowd 'boo-ed'. The second period was intense, the game was heating up, a few hip checks, an elbow to the face, a tooth knocked out potentially. The Benville Senators were behind by three points. Intermission began again as the hockey players skated off to recuperate and rest up for the last period. Matthew sat down and relaxed as people got up and began to mill around, Matthew felt some eyes on him and turned to look at the guy next to him, who then looked away bashfully. Matthew found that a bit odd but shrugged it off, he began to zone out and think about his future travels, the drive and flights with Kumajirou may be rough, the polar bear gets anxious and antsy after being in a confined space for more then 3 or 4 hours which makes sense, he is a polar bear after all. He was excited to visit the Rideau Canal for the first time, he remember when it was being designed and built but he never actually went to it. Also a few years back one of his official's told him it's now one of Canada's world heritage sites.
The thought of revisiting Old Montreal and Old Quebec brought a sense of nostalgia and anticipation to Matthew. Anticipation to see how those parts of those cities didn't change but the areas surrounding them have. It'll be amazing seeing how things were and then how things have grown and improved, but Matthew reflected, it'll bring back memories that were unpleasant. Matthew was hoping that by going there now with Kumajoe would overwrite those bad memories.
The crowd's noise level began to grow in volume as the intermission was coming to a wrap and the final period was starting. Matthew's eyes scanned the rink, looking at players from both sides, the funny thing though is that Matthew couldn't pick a favorite team, he actually liked both teams. But when one is at a hockey team you have to cheer for the home team. At today's game, Matthew actually preferred and admired more of the players on the visiting team. Matthew's train of thought came to an abrupt end as the puck began to fly across the ice. The center of the Benville Senators had the puck and was making his way across the ice but then he iced it. Matthew shook his head, and sucked his teeth, it's so easy to not ice, the team is already behind and now this penalty. Matthew kept his eyes on the players as they continued to play after the penalty occurred, and the visiting team scored another point. Towards the ending you could obviously tell the desperation from the Senators was increasing as they did more and more outrageous and aggressive plays. They did manage to get another two points in this period, but they still lost by one point, 5 to 4.
Matthew stood up, his legs a little stiff from where the stadium's seats cut off the circulation in his legs. He shook his leg to get rid of the pins and needles, the guy next to him chuckled at Matthew. "Did your legs fall asleep?"
Matthew sighed, "Yeah", he hadn't stood up to cheer as much in this third period, the team didn't do as well as in previous periods. "I was wondering," The man shakily said, "can I have your number?"
Matthew's eyes widened and Matthew didn't know what to do, he hadn't really had this happen before. He never had someone ask for his number before, is that guy asking to be his friend? "Sure," Matthew said shrugging, his eyebrows were raised as he reached into his pocket for his phone. Matthew felt a bit bad for not remembering the guy's name despite them talking during this hockey game. "Would you be open to going on a date with me sometime?" The guy asked, and Matthew's eyebrows went so high they almost reached his hairline. Matthew thought the guy wanted to be friends not uh flirting, wait had the guy been attempting to flirt with him? Matthew felt like smacking himself, he felt once again a bit bad. Wait, why should Matthew feel bad? He didn't do anything bad. "I'm sorry I'm not comfortable with that." Matthew said looking down and rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh," and with that the dude and the group of friend's left and Matthew was alone. Matthew felt awkward from that experience and wanted to get that experience out of his mouth. He made his way out of the hockey stadium and sat in his car for a few minutes. He felt a bit conflicted, he wanted to have a good time but didn't want to make anyone, especially one of his citizen's upset. Matthew shook his head to try and rid himself of that experience and feelings, he turned on the radio and pulled out of the parking lot. He began to mindlessly drive around, his music blaring. After a while he got onto the highway, he rolled down the windows and his hair blew around him and the music echoed in his head. He wanted to stop feeling bad for others and focus on himself and put himself first. If tonight was anything to show, he'd have to work on that and probably work on his social skills. It had been so long that he talked and interacted with so many people that he got into that uncomfortable situation. Matthew pulled off the highway and drove further until he reached a grassy field, he pulled his car over to the side of the road. He walked in the waist height grass of this unkempt lot until he reached the center and with that he turned his head upwards. The stars were shinning brightly down onto Matthew, the light pollution was barely non-existent in this spot, reminding Matthew of all the times he looked up at the stars throughout the years. The past century the stars were harder for Matthew to see as the light pollution grew, but here out by himself, it was once again just him and the stars. The skies were his company tonight, and they along with Kumajiro will always remain with him.