Kent: You okay?
Jack: Ehhhhh
Kent: Camper is a good guy
Jack: I'm not upset for the team, Kenny.
Jack: Well, that's not 100% true. I am upset for the Falcs too
Jack: Tater has been a good friend to me. He was the first to really welcome me here.
Jack: But I'm also glad he's going to be there with you now.
Jack: Tater wont let anything happen to you
Kent: Not his job
Kent: I'm sorry for your loss. I cant pretend to be upset that he'll be here though
Jack: Reallyyyyyyy
Kent: Is that you or Bits?
"Kenny!"
Kent looked up from his phone at the boisterous greeting and grinned as Alexei scooped him up into a hug.
"Welcome to Vegas," Kent laughed into the hug as Alexei returned his feet to the ground.
"Thank you. Very impressed with Aces captain so far. Picking me up from airport and offering room in house."
"Well, he is the most impressive captain of all the captains, so lucky you." Kent nodded towards baggage claim.
"I'm tell Jack you say so."
"Go ahead, I'm sure I've told him that before," Kent laughed.
Alexei had barely any notice to pack anything, so he had packed only his hockey gear and other necessities to last a couple weeks. Bitty, Jack, and Snowy had offered to pack up the rest of his things to be shipped later. He wasn't sure if he was going to just leave the furniture and buy new furniture in Vegas. Luckily, Kent had offered to let him stay with him for a while, so he didn't really need to make big decisions quite yet.
He stood now in one of Kent's guest bedrooms and looked around. It was the first time it was really hitting him that he no longer lived in his Providence apartment. He wasn't here for a quick visit before flying home to show up at the Falcs practice rink Monday morning. He wouldn't get to joke with Snowy or Poots or check the nook for pies from Bitty. He hadn't even had a chance to see some of the guys in person to say goodbye. He'd be kicked out of the Falcs group chat soon, if he hadn't been already. He'd been with the Falcs for six years and it was jarring how quickly it ended.
Kent knocked before the door was pushed open and it was then that Alexei realized he hadn't even dropped his duffle bag from his shoulder yet.
Kent's mouth snapped shut where he stood, one of Alexei's suitcases dragged in behind in. Alexei felt bad when he saw the immediate concern on Kent's face.
After a moment, Kent asked, "Can I treat you to dinner? Give me an excuse to go eat at my favorite place?"
Alexei met Kent's eyes and let himself exhale. He dropped his bag to the end of the bed and nodded. "Let me shower off airplane first?"
Kent smiled at the easy agreement. "You've got your own bathroom," he pointed to the attached bathroom.
Alexei met him in the kitchen when he was ready. He found Kent feeding Kit her own dinner and he pet the cat's soft fur as he introduced himself to her.
"Never lived with cat before," Alexei confessed. He smiled, though, as he could not only hear but feel Kit begin to purr under his hand as he pet her. She was perched on a counter and when Alexei pulled his hand away, she immediately meowed in complaint and swiped her paw at him to get him to continue. He chuckled and scooped her up in his arms and resumed petting her. Kit settled immediately and the purring began once again.
"Love how she acts like she's never once received affection every time someone comes to visit," Kent muttered, although Alexei could see the small grin he was trying to bite back.
Kent placed her food dish on a special mat on the floor next to her water dish and when Kit pushed against his chest, Alexei gently lowered her to the ground so she could eat.
"Ready?" Kent asked.
The restaurant Kent introduced him to for dinner was a small place where everyone greeted Kent by name and also immediately welcomed Alexei to Vegas. The food was good, but Alexei thought that it was probably Kent's favorite because the atmosphere was warm, and each table felt like a private area. Alexei had to remind himself that Kent had been feeling a little claustrophobic at home lately, and while Kent was trying to raise Alexei's spirits on his first night in Vegas, he was likely helping to raise Kent's spirits as well tonight, too.
It wasn't long before it was easier to smile again as he and Kent fell into an easy routine of teasing each other as they ate. But when Alexei began to yawn, Kent quickly asked for the check, thanked the staff who had waited on them for the evening, and guided Alexei back into his car to return to his house.
"The jet lag is going to suck for a while, but we've got a string of home games, with only one away in LA, so that should let you adjust a little better than if we were to suddenly go on an east coast roadie."
Alexei only nodded in agreement as he watched out the window as Kent drove. Kent glanced over at him a few times. The easy light feeling at dinner had disappeared. He'd never seen Alexei this somber before.
When they made it back to the house, Kent dug into a kitchen drawer until he found the set of house keys he'd had made for Alexei, even though he'd likely be shuttling him most places until Alexei had access to a car.
"You said you've never lived with a cat?" Kent grinned as Kit walked into the kitchen and jumped up onto the island countertop to greet them.
Alexei shook his head, curious to know what Kent's grin meant. Kent tossed the keys on the counter, near the edge and somewhat close to Kit.
"Watch her out of the corner of your eyes."
Alexei kept his eyes on Kent and watched Kit in his peripheral. She approached the keys immediately and as soon as her paw lifted to knock the keys to the ground, Kent cleared his throat and Alexei began to laugh as Kit's swiping paw was immediately brought to her mouth to begin to clean it as if that's what she intended to do all along.
"She tries to knock anything she finds near a counter edge to the ground, so you have to be careful, but if you let her know you've caught her in the act, she always acts like she's an innocent angel who would never."
Alexei only continued to chuckle as he reached forward and scratched the nonchalant Kit behind her ears, grateful to have the mood lifted once again.
"I know it feels pretty late to you, so do you want to head to bed or try to stay up?"
"Tomorrow is practice only? Not game day?"
Kent nodded.
"Okay to stay up late and be tired tomorrow and maybe start to adjust to new time zone. Nothing will be as bad as when I first move here from Russia."
"You look pretty tired," Kent sympathized after a moment of staring at him in thought. "How about a compromise? Get ready for bed at least, and we can watch a movie?"
Alexei smiled gratefully and nodded in agreement.
Kent was betting they'd only start the movie before Alexei would fall asleep. Maybe he'd suggest they watch it in his bed, make it easier for Alexei to get rest.
"Kent."
Kent stopped walking and turned back to where Alexei had halted at the entrance. They were barely two steps into the Aces' practice facility. Kent had barely begun the tour.
He raised his eyebrows in question.
"Kent. Is marble floors in here."
Kent turned his attention down to the floors and a smile slowly pulled at his mouth before he looked back up at Alexei.
"You're in Vegas now, Tater."
"Yes, but fancy floor for training center lobby?"
"Oh, it's not just the lobby."
Alexei stared at him.
"I mean, we've got rubber floors in the weight room and obviously the ice is the ice, but, uh…" Kent made a face as if he was pretending to think. "Yeah, everywhere else is gonna be marble."
Alexei stared at him.
"You haven't even seen the gold-plated toilets yet."
Alexei continued to stare at him.
Kent stared back.
"You fucking with me?"
After another few moments of silence, Kent finally broke and laughed. "I guess you'll find out as I give you the tour. But, uh, they did renovate this place after our second cup, and well… it is Vegas, so there's a lot of marble and gold and Aces logo etched into marble and gold."
Alexei shook his head. The Falcs had been a newer franchise, compared to most teams in the NHL anyway, so their facilities hadn't exactly been old and mildewy like some places they visited on roadies. But he had a feeling he was about to be spoiled.
"Oh, and whenever you do have a car here, we have a car wash company that comes out and washes our cars in the parking lot for us twice a week. If you leave your keys at the front desk, they'll even vacuum and detail the inside while we practice. Their contact is with the Aces, so nothing out of pocket for us individually each week."
Yes, Alexei was definitely about to be spoiled.
Jack: YOUR CARS ARE WASHED WHILE YOU'RE AT PRACTICE?
Kent: Zimms. We live in the desert
Kent: Dust storms
Kent: Sand everywhere
Jack: I cant believe how pampered you guys are
Kent: You should be able to appreciate that we can focus on hockey instead of how the sand is eroding the paint off our vehicles every day
Jack: What's your excuse for the gold toilets?
Jack: Wait please tell me Tater was fucking with me about the gold toilets
Kent: [photo of a gold toilet Kent had quickly found on the internet]
Jack: KENT
Kent: They have slow close lids too
Kent: Hey actually this one is only $445. That's not bad.
Jack: You're ridiculous
Alexei fits into the locker room like he's always been there. Kent is zero surprised by this. Tater smiles and chirps and he's an amazing two-way player on the ice. But it's still nice to see the guys not only warmly welcome him but also to watch the little defensive rookies stare up at Tater in awe and begin to follow him around.
They're forced into overtime in their first game with Tater on the ice, but instead of losing steam and immediately losing the game, Tater pumps up the D-men so much they hit the ice as if they've just started the game. Kent is even a little wide-eyed as he watches his guys check, chirp, and steal the puck from the other team. He's on the ice with Tater and Spoons when Tater lobbies the puck off the wall and up to Kent. Kent scooped it on his stuck, faked a shot that had the Dallas defenseman lunge in the wrong direction, and then sent the puck under the goalie's blocker.
Tater and Spoons slammed into him first, but soon the entire team leapt off the bench and joined them in celebration. After so many OT losses in a row, this was exactly what they needed and it was the best kind of welcome for Tater, who was handed the game puck in the locker room afterwards.
Jack: Congrats on the win tonight
Jack: Gonna need you to send Tater back now though
Kent: Thanks!
Kent: And no way in hell. No takesies-backsies
Kent: I do have a question for you. Captain to captain.
Jack: Yes?
Kent: Do you think the team would ALSO focus more on hockey if our cars were kept in a temperature controlled building while we practice?
Jack: You're the worst
Kent: The Vegas sun is harsh on leather interior Zimms
Jack: I'm disowning you
Considering he's never lived with anyone before, he finds that Alexei meshes easily into his house and routine. They have the same gym, practice, and game schedule anyway, but at home Kent never feels like he'd like time on his own. He's always happier with Alexei in his space.
Neither have thought to discuss how they spend a lot of free time watching TV in Kent's bed. Every night. And how Alexei falls asleep there. His belongings remain in the guest bedroom, but he hasn't spent a single night in there since arriving in Vegas.
Honestly, Kent has never slept so well. He wonders if there's science behind sleeping better with another person in the room.
He woke up one morning and found Alexei already awake. He'd obviously rolled to his stomach at some point, though, which had allowed Kit to settle between Alexei's shoulder blades to sleep.
"Don't want disturb Kit but need to get up," Alexei murmured quietly.
"Oh, so you want me to me the one to disturb her?"
Half of Alexei's face was smooshed into the pillow, but Kent could still see his sleepy smile as he nodded. Instead, Kent grinned as he took a picture of them and then showed Alexei how comfortable Kit looked while Alexei called him an ass in Russian. He watched Alexei's silent laughter shake his upper body, which disturbed Kit anyway before he gently pulled Kit to lay on his own chest to free Alexei.
They arrived home from practice one day to the UPS man unloading several boxes. Kent recognized Jack's handwriting on some of them and knew they were more of Alexei's belongings. He helped him carry them up to his room and left him alone to go through them. But that night, when he stripped the sheets off his bed to swap them out, Alexei timidly poked his head in Kent's room with his own sheets "made with love by Russian grannies" and Kent made grabby hands to pull the new fitted sheet into place on his side.
They'd already made it through the entire Matrix trilogies, among other movies, and had recently begun watching Schitt's Creek. Kent settled onto the new sheets with a smile. They were seriously softer than any sheets he owned. And although he'd only spent one night at Alexei's old place in Providence, Kent thought they smelled like Alexei's old home.
"Is good thing I'm not trying to learn English from Moira."
Kent snorted. "You should start saying crack-AH. Wait, say that with your accent."
"Crack-ah."
"No, with the accent."
"I said with accent. I'm always having accent."
Kent snorted again and Alexei hit him with a pillow.
Later, he watched Alexei fall asleep on his own sheets in Kent's bed. Alexei was a big guy. Hard with muscle. But right now, he looked soft in his worn t-shirt and his brown hair curling around his ears. The gold chain he always wore was outside his shirt collar and reflected what little light was in the room. His face was free of any worries or concerns, and his chest moved slowly with each breath. Kent fell asleep matching his breathing to Alexei's.
As captain, Kent wasn't required to have a roommate on road trips, but Jeff had been rooming with him since the Providence trip scare. Shortly before Alexei's trade, Kent had begun to complain about the roommate.
When Alexei asked if they'd be roommates on the trip to LA, Kent quickly agreed. Jeff side-eyed him for it, but thankfully kept his mouth shut.
Honestly, rooming in a hotel with Alexei is a little weird because they have two separate beds to sleep in.
When Alexei finished getting dressed and met Kent downstairs, Kent exhaled a sharp breath through his nose at first glance. He'd seen Alexei in game day suits before, but this…
He bit his bottom lip as his eyes trailed over Alexei. "Is that new?"
"Yes," Alexei nodded. "Never had fitted tuxedo before. Hope I got all pieces in right places," he added with a laugh.
"Looks good to me." Kent praised.
"Have to be looking good to walk in with great Kent Parson."
"Shut up," Kent scoffed with a shake of his head as he fought the urge to playfully push or elbow Alexei. He didn't want to wrinkle the tux.
"You look good, too," Alexei commented as he let his eyes linger over Kent. While he'd picked out a black and white tuxedo, Kent's jacket, vest, bow tie, and pants were all a royal blue that somehow highlighted his gray eyes.
Kent met the quiet compliment with a small grateful nod. He remained still as Alexei got close to him and soon realized it was because Alexei was adjusting his bow tie for him. He breathed in Alexei's cologne and lifted his eyes to watch Alexei's look of concentration as he fiddled with Kent's tie.
Kent was pretty sure his tie had been perfect, but he wasn't about to voice that and chase Alexei away. He bit his lip again and watched Alexei's gaze snap up to his lips before he released Kent's tie and took a small step back.
"Ready?" Alexei asked.
Kent nodded.
Kent drove them to the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which was hosting this year's Hearts for Aces Gala to benefit the Aces Foundation. Once they entered the hotel, there was a long hallway down to the banquet hall, which was lined with their team's PR folks, as well as a few other sports reporters, who were all taking photos and videos as if they were walking a red carpet.
"Oh, man, my mom is going to be kicking herself for missing this," Kent laughed. "She loves this shit. Hold on." He stopped and turned to take a selfie with the row of cameras behind him. Alexei popped into the corner of the screen with a grin, which widened Kent's own grin.
He quickly sent the photo to his mother while they stood in the entrance.
"Say they asking where she is," Alexei suggested as he leaned over Kent's shoulder to see the photo.
Kent huffed a laugh and added the text before tucking the phone into an inner jacket pocket so they could finally begin their walk towards the banquet hall.
"Just remember your main task tonight," Kent murmured so the photographers couldn't hear them.
"Yes, yes, don't leave poor captain alone with any donor for too long."
Kent stopped in his tracks. "What?"
"Yes," Alexei nodded. "Javi said you should not talk to anyone for too long. You not know how to say no. Said at last year's event, you almost agreed to go to two weddings, a baby shower, a t-ball game, and host a graduation party at your house."
"I -" Kent stared ahead as he thought back to last year.
Alexei smirked. "Javi say I'm on Parse Duty. Will say no for you."
"I was just being nice. Javi is being dramatic," Kent muttered with a frown. "Anyway, I was gonna say make sure I get some of the little catered cheese quiche things because I never get any. But – fine - go with that, too."
Alexei grinned at him and Kent turned his face away so Alexei couldn't see his smile as they finally entered the main hall. There was a stage on one side of the room with a live band playing and a stage on the other side with a podium. The in-between was filled with circular tables covered in flowers and lights. One of the Aces' event organizers quickly attached herself to Kent upon his entrance and began to lead him directly to the biggest donors to begin his rounds. Alexei dutifully followed behind.
The first couple of donors were just happy to meet Kent. But Alexei almost laughed when the third donor group began to hint at an open bed available for Kent at their family's upcoming Alaskan cruise. The next group needed a groomsman at their wedding because the bride had too many bridesmaids. Then came the lady who had a granddaughter Kent just had to meet. Another offered snorkeling lessons via their beachside Caribbean vacation home.
Alexei understood it. Kent is one of the hockey greats and universally considered a generational player. But off the ice, out of his pads, with that crazy cowlick gel can never tame, the freckles, and the shy smile? He looked like the boy next door that you wanted to either adopt or claim as your best friend. With each offer, Alexei would steer Kent away by the elbow while exclaiming he saw someone he'd promised to introduce to Kent.
Javi, Jeff, Spoons, and some of the other Aces would laugh or smirk at him as he followed Kent around the room. He probably got Parse Duty because he was the new guy, and he was arriving with Parse anyway. But he wonders what the others would think if they knew he was more than happy to be on Parse Duty and hang out with Kent all night.
He left Kent's side to go search for food only when Abbey, their head PR person, had a line of people who wanted photos with the captain. They hadn't managed to snag any food from the people wandering around with trays of it yet, as Kent had predicted.
Searching for food was at least where Kent hoped he was going as he saw Alexei escape away from the cameras. Kent made quick small talk with each person in line before they turned to smile at the camera. He froze, though, as he turned and found that the next person was a man that sent a chill down his spine.
"Nice to finally meet you, Kent," the man with the scar that cut through his left eyebrow said.
He extended his hand, and Kent eyed it and wondered how much trouble he'd be in if he was caught being rude to a donor. And this man must be a donor, because the tickets to this gala were not cheap. And maybe he didn't know a ton about tuxes, but he could tell when a tux was fitted to a guy versus rented. There was even a flashy-looking cufflink visible around the guy's extended wrist.
Finally, Kent shook the man's hand and tried not to flinch his way through it as he felt his hand squeezed.
"Feel like I've seen you around," Kent hedged to say as he pulled his hand back. "What's your name?"
The man shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm just a big fan of the Aces, although their captain is certainly my favorite."
Kent waited, but when it was clear the man wasn't going to offer his name, Kent turned towards the camera, indicating to his PR team that it was time to take the photo and move this along. He didn't smile, but he did want this photo as proof that the man was here. Surely the Aces could identify the man because ID had to be provided when the gala ticket s were bought. One way or the other, this man was about to be banned from Aces events.
"I'll be seeing you around, Kent," the man murmured through his smile as the photo was snapped.
Kent didn't make eye contact again. He focused on his breathing so that he would continue to look calm and turned his back to the man. He murmured to Abbey that he needed her to follow him, abandoned the remaining line of people, and then quickly made his way to their GM, Quinn Weathers, so that he could alert him to the man's presence. He had Abbey show Quinn the photo he'd just taken and soon there was a flurry of phone calls as security found the man and escorted him to the lobby so he could be questioned by the police.
Alexei had circled the room three times to find the hors d'oeuvres waitstaff who had the quiche on their tray. Then another slightly frantic circle before he found Kent again, seated at a table in the corner.
"These are my favorite," Kent stated as he picked up a quiche, although he didn't manage to eat it, just hold it. His hair was falling out of the gel that done its best to tame the cowlicks, his jacket was off and wrapped around the back of his chair, and he was once again pale and shaky.
Alexei demanded to see the photo Kent had taken with this man as well. He'd seen him via his Providence apartment's security cameras, but this new photo was very high quality, and Alexei was committing this face to memory.
"Can Tater and I just take him home?" Alexei heard Jeff ask the group behind them.
Alexei turned to watch the group and frowned when one of the event organizers actually hesitated as she glanced behind them at the ongoing gala.
"Yes, of course." Thankfully, Quinn was the one to respond.
"Yes, please," Abbey added. "The police have cleared the lobby and they already finished talking to Kent. Please take him home. We'll get some of other guys to fill in for him tonight."
Jeff glanced at Kent and then nodded towards the exit. Alexei picked up Kent's jacket and Kent silently stood and walked with them, as well as Jeff's wife who joined them, towards the exit. The three of them circled around Kent as they walked, shielding him from anyone there who might've wanted to stop Kent for more mingling.
"Did you guys drive?" Jeff asked as they made their way outside.
"Kent drove."
"I'm driving you home," Jeff announced, squeezing his wife's hand as they split up so she could go to their car and Jeff could stick with Kent for now.
"Any excuse to drive my car," Kent murmured as he obediently went to the passenger side of his own vehicle. "You know you could buy yourself one of these, right?"
Alexei knew, as he climbed into the backseat, that it was a good sign that Kent was still willing to chirp Jeff.
"Yeah, like, Erin would totally let me buy something that wouldn't fit all four kids in it," Jeff lamented.
The drive was silent for the first few minutes before Jeff quietly said, "You need to call your lawyer. Make sure the order of protection is in place, especially now that we have this guy's name."
"Yeah," Kent sighed. "The police said they'd email him their report with all that information as soon they finished typing it up tonight."
"And I guess I won't move in, since you've already got Tater staying. Unless you need me there?"
Kent shook his head. "No way. I'm not going to be responsible for leaving Erin alone with four kids. It's bad enough that Alexei has to babysit me."
"Not babysitting," Alexei muttered. His phone vibrated from his pocket and when he checked the notifications, he found that he'd missed several texts from Jack.
Zimmboni: What's going on?
Zimmboni: Bits says people are posting from the Aces gala that Kenny was talking to the police and then disappeared.
Zimmboni: Kenny isn't answering me
Alexei: He's okay. We're on our way home now.
"Zimmboni is worried," Alexei announced. "Lots of texts. He call you?"
Kent groaned and pulled out his own phone. A few seconds later, Jack's voice rang out from the car's speakers.
"Kenny? Tater says you're okay?"
Kent pressed the back of his head into the headrest and sighed. "Yeah, Zimms. You're hooked up to the car now with Alexei and Jeff, too. We're going home."
"What happened?"
"The guy showed up to the gala, but, like, as a ticketed guest. Good news is that we have his name now and they're setting up a protection order and banning him from Aces' events. It was creepy but everything's okay. I'm talking Jeff out of trying to have a slumber party at my place tonight."
"Not a bad idea."
"Don't encourage him," Kent griped.
"Only because Tater will be there."
Kent glanced back at Alexei and found him with his face turned away to watch out the window.
"You're sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, Zimms. I think it'll be better now. It was definitely worse before when we didn't even know who this guy was or where to find him."
"What's his name?"
"Zimms."
"His name, Kenny."
Kent sighed and looked over to Jeff.
"The cops said David Smith," Jeff responded for him, "which is just… super generic."
"Tabarnak."
Alexei nodded in agreement with Jack's curse. Jack had likely had the same thoughts as Alexei – that once they learned the guy's name, they could do a deep dive into his history. Track him down themselves. Good luck doing so with that name, though.
They said goodbye to Jack as they pulled up to Kent' house. Jeff's wife, Erin, had followed behind them in their car, and she and Jeff walked them inside. Alexei watched Jeff glance around the kitchen and living room, although he wasn't sure what Jeff was expecting to find. It added an extra layer of eeriness to the already rough night.
While Erin cooed over Kit with Kent, Jeff grabbed Alexei's arm and said, "I'm glad you're here, Tater. Take care of him for us," before they said their goodbyes and went home.