Humble Opinions
#38 of Hockey Hunk Season 3
Cowboys and indians.
Hehhey, and welcome to the Hockey Hunk!
*
"I have known Rory for ten years and I have had sex with him a thousand times, so I might not be a very innocent party in saying this, but in my humble opinion, Rory Gliese is not a love rat."
There we go. I hoped that the Doberman had enough sense in him to take that correctly. My words were now given, and I ended with a small smile, before I grabbed my refreshing glass and took a hearty sip.
Sluuuurp.
I wasn't sure which one of the two tensed more. Whether it was Rory, whose paws clenched into fists around his utensils, and I am sure his tail was catapulting itself around between his legs, or perhaps the Dobie, whose neck displayed a whole lot more veins within a couple of seconds of my statement. It looked like he was biting his teeth together, to keep back a growl, or maybe a bark.
Big dogs and big barks.
I put my glass down and gave Rory a look, to snap him out of that frozen state, with his muzzle half-open and his eyes fixed on mine. It wasn't me he was supposed to look at now, it was the Victor guy, to assure him that what I had said was much more innocent than it sounded. Rory and I knew the details very well. It was up to my lion to tell it all, though.
Victor kept looking at Rory sideways, obviously expecting to hear from him, and the time seemed to roll on slowly in silence. I picked up my fork and applied it through a particularly juicy-looking piece of chicken on my plate. No point in letting the food go cold, especially since there still seemed to be a chance that the crockery might be flying across the room soon.
Go on, Rowreeh, I thought. Don't keep Prince Charming waiting.
He obviously didn't take onto the news well. Doubt he was surprised, though. It's a small city, after all. Everyone in the know knows each other, so to speak, especially among the more stable population of tail chasers. Not too sure about the current student population, though. That was for Nicholas Gaye Jr. to find out.
My fork clicked against the plate and made Rory's ears jump. It almost looked funny. If Charles Chaplin had done it, he'd made millions with it.
Come on...
Nice chicken. I think I got the chili pepper just right this time. Made me want to lick my tingling lips a little. Maybe I should have served some milk with this meal, to take off the edge.
Rory let out a deep breath that made his whiskers shake rapidly. That seemed like a good sign. Victor flicked an ear at him now, too. The worm-like veins crisscrossing his neck were still visible, though. Guess he wasn't too happy yet.
My lion gave me a look before he turned to face the Dobie, and from then on, only had eye for him.
"We met in college and we've been friends ever since, Victor," Rory mumbled. "And when we haven't been with others, we've..."
Go on, lion...say the word...
"Screwed," Victor the Doberman hissed and seemed to sag in his chair when he let the air out of his lungs along with some of the tension, I saw.
Rory's ears jumped, but he seemed to stay otherwise in control of his faculties, because he nodded meekly.
The Doberman's big eyes snapped past mine briefly before he went back to staring at the lion.
"I see," he growled.
I snorted. Victor bared his teeth in my direction. I sat fast.
"It's exactly the way he says, Victor," I replied, my voice steady. "We've only done it when there aren't complications, such as significant others, and as far as I know, we've always understood it like that."
The Dobie huffed. Rory seemed both alarmed and dejected at the passive aggressive gesture.
"And if you are thinking about asking Rory whether we've been screwing even now that he has stayed with me, I can tell you that we haven't. In fact, when it comes to fidelity, this lion here didn't come over to his favorite and as far as I know only friend-with-benefits even when his by all means lousy and cheating boyfriend Graham told him that it'd be okay to do it with others as long as Rory would go back to banging that liar's loose slutty ass and call that love."
I fell silent after that, and for a reason, too. I knew that saying that was just a little bit...well, it wasn't the nicest thing to do, really, considering the shitload of trouble Rory had had with Graham and how private that piece of information was. I doubted that Rory had told everything about his stupid ex to the Doberman, and I knew that I had spilled a lot of beans at him very fast. If Rory was going to be angry with me for telling that, I would accept it.
I let out a little rumble and looked over at Rory's wide eyes.
"I'm sorry, Rory," I said, needing to let it out. "I just refuse to play any kind of games here and if that's what it takes to make the truth seem more truth-like, then I'm not holding anything back. No matter how private. I'm sorry."
I felt my cheeks burn a little, out of the excitement of my nerves, and some embarrassment, too, at having to inflict pain on my Rory. I was practically quoting his own words back to him, after all. Especially in front of someone who obviously mattered to him now a great deal.
I'm glad I felt the pain, too. The absence of it is always the freakiest thing.
Rory gasped, and a deep rumble rose from his chest. I could see the tension growing in his body while that in the Doberman's seemed to vane a little. That seemed promising. He was looking Rory in the eye, too, with a small frown on his brow, but no scowling. Rory seemed much worse off, now.
Now it was up to them, I decided, and watched.
The big guy still appeared decisively unhappy, and Rory's breaths seemed to quicken. I sure hoped he was going to keep it all together now. It looked all too much like a possible freak-out scenario here.
"Rory?" the Doberman's voice was raspy and low.
My lion's whiskers twitched. His paws were probably twitching as well, tossing and turning on his lap where they'd disappeared from the table. Probably didn't want to give too much away from them, I presumed.
Rory sighed and shrugged.
"That's how it is. I don't know what else I could say, Victor."
The Dobie's brow furrowed into an even bigger frown. Worry, hopefully.
"All of it?" Victor rumbled.
Now it was Rowreeh's time to huff tiredly.
"About me and Peter and me and Graham, yeah," the lion muttered. "All of it. Every single bit."
He sounded so damn hurt that I really wanted to do nothing but give him one of those big hugs that had always pulled me through hurt feelings, but I knew that at this time, it was this Victor guy who was supposed to provide that service, should it happen. I could give mine later on, probably with a heap of apologies and with no apology sex.
Victor breathed out deeply and rubbed the side of his muzzle with his knuckles. He growled unhappily.
"Victor..." Rory started.
"It's none of my business really," the Doberman replied as he dropped his paw onto the table wearily.
"Of course it is, if you feel uncomfortable about it!" the lion replied.
The Doberman snorted.
"I don't know what to feel about it, and my plate's pretty full at the moment so maybe I'll think about it," the Dobie rumbled, his un-bandaged ear flicking hard.
"Well you do have a full plate right there and I'd hate to see all that chicken go to waste," I let out.
The Doberman gave me a look and frowned. He bared his teeth and grunted. Rory looked scared for about a second, but eased off when the growl waned and my face didn't even twitch. Victor gave up and snorted instead.
"Are you always an ass to Rory's friends, Peter?" the Doberman inquired.
I flicked my ears softly and pursed my lips.
"Only when I feel like I need to," I replied sweetly.
Victor let out a one-toothed breath from the corner of his muzzle and chugged down half of his glass of water in one go. Rory just sat there and seemed to be in danger of swallowing his own tongue. I gave him a look and flicked an ear.
"You're doing great," I said.
Rory's brow rose high towards his ears.
"What?" the lion muttered.
Victor's glass splashed a few drops of water onto the tablecloth as he put it down. I watched the dark patches grow for a brief moment before I looked at him and Rory directly again.
"You're doing fine arguing," I said. "I've seen many failures in arguing, and I think you're doing alright. Keep it up."
"I wish I didn't need to argue," Victor snorted.
"I don't want to argue with anyone," Rory mumbled.
I clapped my paws together.
"That's the starting point, but you still have to," I mused.
Victor growled.
"Why do I get the vibe that you're trying to play some sort of a counselor here, Peter?" the Doberman replied in a 'nobody asked you to!' tone.
I decided to allow one more bite on that big dog's fleshy haunches before giving it up. Just one more.
"Well my boyfriend died and I am trapped in my own home, so of course all I have left is to live my life through my only friend Rory here," I said dryly, even if it...hurt somewhat, to speak about it in such terms.
Then it was definitely time for me to stay quiet. I might've been acting like the ass Victor said I was, but I knew my limits. I know that can be trouble to some people. I like to think I knew mine. Hopefully I hadn't tripped the Doberman's, yet. I don't think I could've trusted Rory to be much of a help in a fist fight at the moment, even if he used those crutches as makeshift weapons.
Victor's ears jumped and he looked at Victor with a puzzled expresson on his face. Rory gave me a quick look before he whispered.
"Last November..."
The big Doberman let out a dejected sigh.
"I must seem like an insensitive bastard now," he muttered, shaking his head.
"Not particularly," I replied.
"Victor..."
The Doberman shook a paw to silence my Rowreeh, and looked at me instead.
"Let me apologize, Rory."
"Accepted," I said immediately. "And please accept mine, too, Victor. I know that my answer to you was unduly cruel. But I am sure you understand."
He snorted.
"I suppose I do."
I picked up my nearly forgotten fork again and speared some lettuce onto it.
"Good," I said, eying my plate instead of the duo in front of me.
I forced myself to chew calmly, even if I didn't feel particularly calm. Chew, chew, chew. Then take a sip of water. Pretend it was alright. Take the time to curse my swift tongue later on. Bringing this onto myself.
"I am very sorry for your loss, Peter."
And then the pity mode.
I swallowed my salad and gave him a look.
"I am very sorry too, Victor," I said.
Rory gave me a worried look, but I flicked my ears at him.
"I am fine, Rory," I replied. "Victor has a point, too. I shouldn't be the one telling you how to handle things. I simply found myself swept into this business due to my remark and I suppose I kind of...couldn't help myself."
"It's alright," Rory said meekly.
I snuffled.
"It's not really very much alright, but things aren't always all rainbows and sunshine," I replied. "Isn't that true, Victor?"
"Yeah," the Dobie rumbled.
"Just that you know then that I don't want any trouble to you two," I said. "I really want you guys to sort yourselves out, and I freely confess my own selfish interest in that as well, of course. Don't like seeing my loved ones in pain."
Rory's eyes seemed so torn when he looked at me, I wasn't sure whether to feel amused or sad. Victor kept on looking at me, mostly. Maybe he was sizing me up or something. Rory had made him seem like a pinnacle of masculinity. I wouldn't be surprised.
"I know I've caused a lot," Victor said.
"So have I," the lion replied, looking into Victor's eyes. The Doberman looked back, and even put his paw onto Rory's arm and gave it a squeeze.
So he was a sweetie, too.
"Don't let your food go cold," I said when their mutual staring seemed to pass the time mark from 'cute' to 'melodramatic'.
The two blinked, looked at me, and the magic was now gone. Shame, almost. But there were non-magical things in the air now, including the smell of chicken, spices, and the heavily hanging tension we all had contributed to.
I smiled a little at their guilty expressions, and waved my fork at them.
"And when we're finished, I'm going to defrost some low-fat chocolate muffins, then I'll make coffee for you guys, and we can start discussing this Jacob J. Holden who seems to be a most fascinating character, and I have a feeling that there will be no peace in this border town before Sheriff Gliese settles his score with him."
Bang! Bang! Bang!