#o'knutzyweek2023
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Last minute decision to do @oknutzyweek2023 because FUN!! Decided to add a little twist.
So: O’Knutzy Week (Taylor’s Version)
Day One: Summer Vacation (all that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing)
Two times Logan had a cold and was a BABY about it.
Harvard
There was a flood warning. The whole locker room’s phones blared to attention at once. Finn saw the coaches frowning. Someone flipped the news on. The roads were gone, frigid wind rising from the spray of cars passing through puddles that were as good as small lakes. Blurry red lights and reporters barely hanging onto their umbrellas, sleet stinging their eyes.
Finn caught Percy’s eye and could almost taste it in the wink Percy dropped him. There was no way they were making it to this game.
Max slapped him on the back, short light brown hair sticking up in every direction from his post-practice shower. “Looks like we won’t be line mates after all, Captain.”
Finn sent him a half-smile. “Hm? Oh, yeah, man. Another time.”
It wasn’t good. It wasn’t healthy. It wasn’t anything he was proud of, but the idea of going on a roadie without Logan had been enough to get Finn down for days. A strange ache huddled in his chest, confusing him until he remembered the sight of Logan, feverish and red-nosed in his bed. Max was great. They would have been great on a line together. He was fast and he kept bodies away from Finn. But Max wasn’t Logan.
“All right, boys, you called it,” Coach sighed, hanging up his phone. “Game’s off. Let’s all get home safe now. Keep a close eye on these roads, it’s a river out there.”
At least the guys had the good sense not to cheer, but Finn knew they were all glad for the break. Exams were coming up fast and called for late nights in the library. Finn was exhausted. The games had been hard. They’d been missing Logan on the ice more than any of them cared to admit. He filled gaps that Finn never even thought to look for.
And it wasn’t good. It wasn’t healthy. But Finn felt stretched thin, brittle and sullen, when Logan wasn’t near.
Among the rustle of guys packing up and leaving, Finn hid a small smile, shoved his earbuds in, and pressed call.
The five rings it took for Logan to answer felt like the distance laughing in Finn’s face.
“Hm,” came from the line.
“Did I wake you?” Finn asked.
“Non,” Logan rasped, but Finn could hear it in his voice. He looked down at the call-screen, brushing a thumb over Logan’s contact picture: Grinning, half rolling his eyes maybe. From one of the boys’ pre-season road trips. Finn could just see his bare shoulders, and maybe no one else knew, but Finn had memorized the way his body had looked that day. Golden and strong. Hidden curves of muscles that Finn had mapped out with his thumbs, that one time. Once.
“Finn?” Logan’s voice asked, accompanied by a harsh cough.
“Oh, sorry, hi.” Finn rubbed his eyes. “Hi, I’m here. Just calling to say game’s cancelled.”
“You’re coming home?”
Finn laughed softly. The hope in Logan’s voice was unmistakable. “You’re such a baby when you’re sick.”
“Bring me soup.”
“I will, I will.”
Finn wished he could make Logan soup, the real kind that his dad got from the deli around the corner when he and Alex were sick. Slight crunch of carrots, soft celery, thick egg noodles, bayleaf and rosemary. He wanted Logan to be better.
Finn zipped up his backpack. “Can you get better already?”
All he got in return was a disgruntled scoff. “I’m trying.” Then, after a moment, “You miss me?”
Finn smiled. He didn’t care who saw. It was Logan’s voice in his ears and his ears alone. “You know it.”
“Yo,” Percy said when the door to OKN slammed behind them. They were all freezing, knuckles tucked under the straps of their backpacks. “You going to check on the gremlin?”
“Yeah,” Finn said. “Kitchen first though. Gotta heat up some chicken noodle.”
Percy snorted. “He knows the stairs still work the same, right?”
Finn dropped his bags and laughed. “Oh, he knows.”
He went to the cupboard and found the cans of chicken noodle he’d picked up. The sink was a mess but he scrubbed a pan clean then stood close to the hot burner while it boiled. The rain was turning to snow outside and he, honestly, couldn’t remember the last time he’d been actually warm. He held his palms over the soup, beginning to bubble, and tried to rub some of the rawness out of his knuckles. He put it in a mug, easier for Logan to hold. Silver, Percy’s dog, came in and sniffed at his ankles, whining until Finn fished a piece of carrot out with the spoon and gave it to her.
How long did this storm give him to relax? A day or two. He still had to finish his Romanticism paper. He needed that book from Kelsey in his theory class. Logan’s soup was getting cold, Logan was sick, Logan was falling behind on his reading and there was only so much Finn could do to help. Logan, maybe, would let Finn spoon up against his back again while he shivered through his fever.
When he opened Logan’s door, he was hit with—well, the only word Finn’s brain supplied was summer. Logan had the heat in his room high, blankets wrapped tight around his shoulders. He was a half-visible lump in the bed, the darkness as good as humidity.
“Jesus,” Finn said as warmth began to seep back into his fingers. “Lo?”
No reply. Finn shut the door softly, then sat on the edge of Logan’s bed, setting the soup down. He put a hand on Logan’s back.
“Got your soup, baby,” he said—and then snapped his mouth shut. He’d meant it as—no, he’d meant—He’d meant here’s your soup. You big baby. But he hadn’t—had he? Baby. I just want to take care of you, and read all of your books to you and I want you to feel better, I miss you, I don’t know how to play without you—
Slowly, Logan rolled onto his back and blinked up at him. Finn stared back and had no idea if he’d heard or not. Baby.
“Raining?” Logan asked.
“Snow,” Finn said. He tapped a fingernail on the mug, making a soft clinking sound. “Soup.”
“We have to study.” Logan groaned and turned into his pillow before pushing himself up on one elbow. His hair was a mess. Needed a wash, too. When the blankets fell down, Finn swore he felt another wave of heat roll off of Logan’s bare chest and sink into his very bones.
“Don’t worry about that now,” Finn said. “Little vacation first, maybe.”
After a moment, one green eye peaked out at him. “Vacation?”
“Feels like the Bahamas in here, that’s good enough for me.”
Logan groaned. “I feel like the Bahamas.”
“So you are feeling better.”
“Non, ugh.”
Finn laughed, but at the frown that settled between Logan’s eyebrows, he quieted. It was a small risk, but he didn’t think Logan would call him on it—He pushed Logan’s sweaty hair off of his forehead. “I know, Lo. I’m sorry.”
Logan closed his eyes. “Oh, your hand is so cold.”
“Oh, sorry.” Finn made to pull back, but Logan gripped his wrist and kept him there.
“Non. Non, it feels good.” Logan dragged Finn’s hand to his cheek and let out a breath. “Fuck.”
Finn could only watched, lips parted, as Logan pressed Finn’s hands against his own neck, his chest, his forehead and cheeks. Finn didn’t dare move on his own. He let Logan put him where he wanted.
After what felt like an hour of Finn holding his breath and trying not to enjoy this too much, Logan let him go and sat up for his mug. He made a face that was something between relieved and dissatisfied.
“This soup is terrible.” He gave a shiver and sank back down into his blankets.
“I know,” Finn said, still caught on the soft roll of the R in Logan’s mouth. His lips were red, chapped. His eyes were vividly green against his fever-bright cheeks.
“What can I do?” Finn said softly. He needed to do something.
Logan looked at him for a long moment. Finn wanted him to say get in. Pull those heated, Logan-filled blankets back for him and let Finn sink into his favorite universe. The one where they might be each other’s.
“Nothing,” Logan whispered.
Nothing. That word out of Logan’s mouth could send him any which way. What could Finn do? Nothing. Nothing is what this seemed, sometimes. But it was everything. Finn was hopelessly trying, pushing and pushing himself to keep up with Logan. To try and figure out what Logan wanted from him. What more could he do?
Logan reached out and grabbed Finn’s hand again, bringing it back to his forehead. It startled a small laugh out of Finn.
“I’m glad you’re home,” Logan said. “D’accord?”
Finn sighed, but nodded. “Okay.”
Present Day
“My poor baby,” Finn said, trying to hide his laugh as he pushed the hair off of Logan’s clammy forehead. “Poor baby boy.”
Logan just tucked his nose up against Finn’s neck and grabbed at his hand until Finn was holding him even tighter around his waist, rubbing cool fingers up and down his spine.
“You are such,” Leo said from the doorway, where he had appeared with a tray of soup and ginger beer. “a baby when you’re sick.”
“Non.”
“Yon,” Finn said. “Always have been.”
Leo set the tray down on the other side of the bed and picked up the mug. He propped himself up against the headboards and Logan, slowly, rolled over and into his arms instead. Leo wrapped his arm around Logan’s shoulders so he could still reach the spoon. “Am I feeding you, is that what’s happening?”
“Yep,” Finn said. “Looks like it.”
Leo just shook his head, but let Logan lean up for a spoonful of broth.
“Merde,” Logan swallowed, his cheek smushing back against Leo’s t-shirt. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my life.”
Finn met Leo’s eyes to catch his grin. “Thanks, sweetheart.”
Logan accepted a few more spoonfuls before sitting up himself and taking more eager sips. His eyes flashed disgruntled. “I just want to get better.” He looked wistfully out the window. “It’s summer, we’re supposed to be on vacation.”
“Hey,” Finn held up a hand. “What more would I rather be doing on my vacation that stay holed up with you two?”
“Same,” Leo said. “Lo, you’ll feel so much better in a few days.”
“I know but…Yeah. I know. Just ugh.” He took another long sip. “This soup is really the best thing I’ve ever had.”
Leo laughed. “I’ll get you some more.”
Finn watched Logan’s eyes follow Leo out through the doorway. He had that same feverish flush to his cheeks. Glassy green eyes, red nose.
“Remember the snow storm?” Logan asked suddenly.
Finn nodded. “Mhm.”
“Me too,” Logan said.
When they smiled at each other, it wasn’t all that sad.
“What do you need, baby?” Finn asked, rubbing a hand over his bare chest. “What can I do?”
“Be here,” Logan said. He pressed a kiss to Finn’s neck. “I need you two.” He smiled, eyes darting towards the kitchen. “Do you need anything?”
Finn shook his head, watching as Logan brought up his hand to cradle against his own cheek. “Just you two.”
After Logan fell asleep again, Finn found Leo in the kitchen, humming softly to himself. He was stirring the big pot on the stove and Finn settled his hands on his hips.
“Smells so good, Le.”
“You want some, too?” Leo asked, holding the spoon up for Finn to taste. “Need anything?”
Finn accepted it gratefully, but he turned his head and kissed the corner of Leo’s mouth. “No, nothing.” Nothing. It was the fullest word he’d ever used. “Just you humming in the kitchen.”
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O'Knutzy week day 1
character credits to @lumosinlove, prompt credit to @oknutzyweek2023 . Also thanks to the wonderful beta @boredbook .
Prompts: Tomato Soup/Bucket hat/Mail/Gardening/Treat
“See, honey bug? That’s our first strawberries.”
“The ones from the plant?”
“The very ones.”
“How?”
Leo suppressed a laugh. Tristan was in full ‘why, how, who, when, and where’ phase. All the previous shyness that had made them think he was a quiet kid had disappeared but, Leo couldn’t bring himself to mind. He readjusted the bucket hat on the kid’s head, a sky-blue thing and with goldfish and carrots floating around. Just like Finn, one minute too long under the sun would have resulted in cute, but nevertheless tomato red, cheeks. Freckles were already spreading on his nose, and Leo had to restrain himself from scooping the kid in his arms and drown him in kisses. I’m a big boy now, Dada, he’d insisted that morning, as he tried to put on his shoes on his own. On the wrong feet. Leo limited himself to cleaning the little chin from soil -he didn’t know how it had ended there.
“Well, we planted the seeds, gave them some water and sunlight, and they grew into fruit.”
“Sunlight like you?”
It took a few moments for Leo to understand what the toddler said. He let a delighted laugh out. “Oh. Oh, my baby.” Tristan’s lower lip fell into a pout, looking away with blushed cheeks. Leo had to lean and kiss him on the head, right in the middle of the little hat. “Honey, sunshine is a name your Daddy calls me. The plants need the sunlight from the sun to grow.”
“Oh. But how?”
“Because sunlight gives them nutrients.”
“Says who?”
“The circle of life.”
“Like the movie with Simba?”
“Yes.”
“But we don’t have lions, or birds, or zebras, or…”
“I know, but-”
“No, Dada, lemme finish please.”
“Yeah, sorry. Go on.”
“Thank you. Lions, birds, zebras, elephants, antelopes, cheetahs, gnus…” Tristan continued to list all the animals from the movie, counting them on his little fingers in a focused frown. He’d been obsessed with the movie for weeks. Leo let him ramble as he finished covering the freshly transplanted herbs with new soil.
“Did I get them all?”
“I think you did, honey pie. Good job.”
“But how does the circle of life work?”
“Huh, everyone has a role to play and it doesn’t work if you don’t do your part.”
“Oh.” The answer seemed to satisfy Tristan, who nodded seriously, and leaned in to poke one of the small, newborn berries.
Leo thought he looked unbearably cute like that, crouched in front of the plants in his overalls. Leo could scream, cry, and sing of happiness while watching Tristan with his small fingers stroking the leaves with big, curious eyes. That was his kid, their kid, to love and raise and take care of. He wanted a picture of him like that. He’d send it to his mother for her birthday. Where was Finn with his camera?
Leo got back on his knees, cleaning his hands on his gardening jeans, and looked around for him. He’d been right there with them, videotaping everything for the memories, Peanut, just a second ago. Leo squinted his eyes in the sun, scanning their yard, and shook his head affectionately when he found his husband. Finn was leaning on the fence, some envelopes in hand and the old camera in the other. He was chatting with Ryan, the new neighbor- probably about golf again.
Leo nudged Tristan gently. “Are you gonna show our new strawberries to Daddy?”
That seemed to do the trick. The next second, the toddler was scrambling to his feet and sprinting. A series of Daddy, daddy, filled the yard, and Leo got to treasure the moment Finn turned around, already smiling radiantly at the name, and bent for the impact. Tristan jumped at full speed into open arms, which lifted him with a little hop, before he was eased on the redhead’s hip. Finn chuckled, adjusting the bucket hat again. He pointed at Ryan, and the kid politely said hi, before filling Finn in with the gardening news. Leo sat back down into the soft grass, taking a moment to look at them. He watched Finn lean down for Tristan to whisper something in his ear, watched the way he looked down at their son with that heart written all over his face. Leo should have taken the camera, he thought. If only he’d kept his own hands clean. Every interaction his husbands had with Tristan was a wonder. A treasure to behold, protect, and replay forever.
“I hear we have strawberries in our lands.”
Leo looked up at Finn, a shield in between him and the sun. He smiled.
“This way, Daddy!” Tristan took Finn’s finger to make him sit with them –which he did, without worrying about his good pants getting dirty. Finn looked the right amount of amazed and curious as their kid pointed at the little berries and explained to him his very own version of the circle of life. And when he turned to Leo for confirmation, the blond made sure to look serious enough while nodding.
Finn let out a low whistle. “Well, that’s impressive, little man. That was all you and Dada, hmm?”
“And the sunshine and the water and the circle of life,” Tristan clarified. “But not the sunshine like Dada. It’s a different kind of sunshine.”
“Oh, got it. Thanks, bud, I won’t get confused now.”
Finn glanced at Leo as the toddler threw himself into a conversation with the little strawberries. They shared a sun-warmed smile. And, damn, if in his twenties, Leo had thought that Heartthrob O’Hara couldn’t get any more charming, he hadn’t considered Finn as a dad. The light in his eyes every time their kid called for Daddy, and the energy he put to make Tristan feel listened to, loved, and to play with him until they got him a sibling. The more pronounced lines at the corner of his eyes, mixing with his lopsided smile, that Leo knew existed for the sole purpose of making him melt.
Finn nudged at the front door behind him. “Why don’t you go inside for a bit, baby? Drink some water, see what’s for lunch. I’ll stay here with our garden gnome.”
“Am not!” Tristan called out from his spot next to the plants.
“You sure?” Leo whispered. Finn nodded.
“I don’t wanna lose the third explanation of the circle of life. Or the fourth. Oh, here-” he added, leaning to push the envelopes into Leo’s jeans pocket. “Just bills. And the thing for the charity event.”
“Did you call Noelle to ask if they can babysit that night?”
Finn’s smile faltered for a second. “I…said I would.”
“You did.”
“I will.”
“I know. Possibly before the charity night, darling.”
Leo was welcomed by the chill air inside and low music coming from the kitchen. It was some old, French song about love and spring. Leo could relate. He wasn’t surprised to hear Logan singing along as he would’ve been fifteen years ago, but it was always a welcomed melody.
He quietly stepped into the open space that was their kitchen and first dining room and stopped for a moment to take it all in. Logan’s shoulders were still broad and strong, even years after his retirement. His edges were softer, both in his body and his temper. But the fire was always there, warming their home like he always had.
•••
Logan was busy stirring the pot, mumbling the song to himself, when long arms circled his waist and a head rested on his shoulder. He smiled as he added cream to the mix. For the next song, they didn’t move at all. Leo adjusted himself so his back wouldn’t be so crooked, and Logan fetched a spoon to taste the red, boiling soup.
“Ah, ouais,” he nodded, satisfied, lifting the spoon to let Leo take a sip. “You’re in for a treat, mon amour.”
Leo hummed. “Tomato soup, the fanciest lunch of them all.” He received a weak, affectionate slap on the shoulder, accompanied by a chuckling sound that vibrated against his chest.
“It’s made with love. Secret ingredient that makes it fancy. It’s a treat.”
“It’s always a treat if you’re making it.”
Logan had to tilt his head for the next kiss.
•••
Leo changed out of his gardening clothes to help Logan fix lunch. He’d taken a sense of pride, in the last few years, in preparing meals for Leo, Finn and now Tristan. He wouldn’t ask for help, so Leo always made sure to stick around. Just in case. But Logan, with his romantic music and the recipe book neatly displayed next to Leo’s spices, was doing a good job.
Once they were all sat down, Leo watched Logan’s satisfied smile being kissed by Finn, thanking him for lunch. Finn told them about the mail, and about Ryan inviting them to golf next weekend, and all the neighborhood’s gossip he’d heard. Then, Tristan decided it was time to go through the circle of life one more time. Papa still hadn’t heard it, after all. Leo nodded along as he placed peas in Tristan’s plate, which immediately summoned a pout capable of melting Logan. He intercepted it with a raised eyebrow.
“I don’t wanna hear it, young man. We need the peas to grow. Just like plants need sunlight.”
Tristan seemed to consider the idea. “Is sunlight the veggie for plants?”
“Sure is.”
“Then why isn’t it green?”
A few beats of silence followed. Finn, mouth full, lifted his spoon towards the kid, in a mock toast. “Valid point, kiddo.”
•••
“…And when your strawberries will be ready, we can pick them and make something yummy with them,” Leo explained.
Tristan gasped. “For dinner?”
Logan swiped off some tomato soup at the corner of his mouth. “They need to grow, mon ange.”
“Tomorrow’s dinner?”
“Maybe in a few weeks.”
“Aw, man.”
Logan turned fast enough to catch the pride in Finn’s eyes at the exclamation. He saw Leo do the same and smiled even more. It was the most wonderful thing to see little bits of them mixing in their child. Logan wanted more than a lifetime of this.
“But they’ll be so good, mon cœur,” he added. “Then we can use them for baking.”
“Yeah, there’s so much you can do,” Finn backed him up. “Jam, pie, cheesecake…”
“Strawberry shortcakes.”
Leo and Finn looked up at him. Logan smiled, involuntary and sweet. A flash of tangled, young bodies on a boat, and the golden sunset in the bayou surfaced. His smile matched theirs. Sweet and not quite nostalgic. Remembering. No matter how many times Leo had prepared that dessert over the years, they’d always associated it to their first night in New Orleans.
“Yeah,” Finn breathed. “That’s a good one.”
Looking up at the clear night sky, drunk on love and pleasure and adrenaline, the Finn from all those years ago would have never dared to imagine a future like this. Made of strawberries in the garden, a fourth chair at the table and wedding photos in the hallway. He remembered the first kisses, soft and hard, because they’d all needed kindness, but also a tangible proof of being wanted and needed. The utter wonder in seeing his hand tangled with the other two. But he hadn’t pictured this. Not back then.
“And you know what? Whatever you make, it’ll be extra good because it’ll come from you,” Leo added with a wink.
Tristan giggled, and Logan rubbed a hand through his soft curls. Finn was amazed to learn that his hair would turn lighter during summer. And a thousand other things, all about a little human being they were raising together. He watched Leo smile at them as he rested his chin on a fist. He had to blink fast a few times. Take a deep breath. Just to take it all in.
Sometimes he’d still get that lump in his throat from all the love and wonder he felt for his husbands. And the little fireworks in the eyes of his younger self at the word husbands. Oh, if twenty-five-year-old Finn could see how good they had it coming. How a rookie entering his frat house and another one in his big, empty apartment would end in this. Sometimes he wished he could talk to younger Finn. Just to let him know that the silence, the tears and the keeping it all inside would be worth it. As Logan had written in his vows, they’d met so many bumps along the way that could have split them out. Fights, trades, the intricate webs that were their minds. But they’d chosen each other over every single issue. And they’d continue to do so.
Finn leaned back on his chair, watching Tristan use Logan’s fingers to count all the animals again because he’d run out of his own. He felt a gentle thumb on his cheek. Leo’s smile warmed him like the sun in the garden.
“Where did you go just now, cher?”
“You’ll teach him how to make the shortcakes?”
Leo’s eyes softened, and the thumb on his cheek pressed a little harder. “Sure thing, strawberry.”
Finn noticed Logan glancing at them with a dopey smile, and had to nudge his feet under the table. He let Tristan pull his hand closer so he could continue his counting as he leaned to rest his head on Leo’s shoulder and exhaled.
“Cheers, sunshine.”
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o'knutzy week day two!
a little angst, a little tremblay sibling bonding, a little emotional hurt/comfort. @oknutzyweek2023 && @lumosinlove cred4ever
(note: vaincre spoilers! set sometime after logan's move)
Sydney wasn’t Logan’s first choice sister for emotional support. She was his first choice sister for lake days and horror movies and practicing shootouts but not usually affairs of the heart. Noelle was better at that, or even Aubrey. Sydney was maybe a bit too much like Logan.
But she was the one in Manhattan, the one who had called him, interrupted his usual pastime of laying in his empty apartment being sad, telling him that she was in town for one night because a game got rescheduled and she wanted to check on her little brother. The little brother in question might have gotten choked up a little just hearing her familiar accent, the slight nasal in her voice, the clack of her nails when she put the phone on speaker and typed in his address.
And then she was there after practice, like they were kids and they’d just finished up practice on the same rink.
“Lolo,” she’d yelled, sounding the same she’d always sounded, waiting outside for him to finish getting changed. She was so much the way she always was that it almost made Logan cry again. He stayed choked up even while he shushed her, gave her a tight hug, and knocked her beanie askew just to make her scowl.
He was drained, from practice and from not sleeping and missing Finn and Leo every second of the day. She was tired too, her season just as much underway back in Canada as his was. And Logan knew she didn’t really need to come into town, could have gone up a day early for her next game. She came to check on him because she loved him, because he could try not to call his boys but he couldn’t ever hold back from calling his sisters.
They got coffee from the place just around the corner from Logan’s apartment, ordering the same drink that Finn had been calling sugar-water for years. Two iced mochas with cinnamon, almond milk. Lo and Syd, same as always.
Logan even thought he had done a good job playing host, even just showing her the blue walls of the Rangers facility and the few restaurants and cafes the team had shown him. It wasn’t like it was her first time in the city, but still, it felt good to show her his little life there. To prove, maybe, that he was hanging in there.
It got harder to keep his spirits up later in the day. By dinnertime, Logan’s phone had blinked up a few notifications from the boys, wrenching his heart a little each time. Outside the city was lit up but inside felt cold as ever. It felt silly to hang things on the walls of the apartment that was so not home, but that didn’t mean it felt good looking at all the blank, anonymous walls, the way that the space still looked exactly like it had when he toured. Dirty shoes and some duffels by the door, ready for practice, but that was about it.
“Ouais, Lo, I’m making dinner.” Sydney clapped her hands, interrupting his moping, sliding into the open plan kitchen on her socked feet. “I know you must have something in this fancy apartment of yours.”
Logan pulled himself off the couch and slid across the room to stand next to her by the cabinets.
“I can make soup- for sure, I can make you some tomato soup.” Sydney pulled out the can, and turned to the fridge to see what else there was. Logan was almost sure there was some cheese, maybe some veggies. He planned to go to the store after practice the day before-- or two days earlier? But it was so easy just to order in, pick something up on the way home. And that was if he was hungry anyway. Sometimes his stomach just hurt too much in his empty apartment, and he just made tea and got into bed and tried to sleep.
“Lolo, you really don’t have much here do you?” Sydney’s voice was soft when she looked over. The fridge was empty, just some condiments and half a burger growing mold in its styrofoam to-go container.
Logan’s chest felt tight. There was his sister and his empty fridge and he couldn’t even make it to the grocery store to pick up some essentials. He was an adult and he didn’t even have milk on the shelf.
“Your big boy NHL paycheck and you don’t even get some fruit?” Sydney was teasing him in her familiar way, but she must have been able to tell that something was suddenly wrong because her voice was soft, and then she was moving across the kitchen to wrap her arms around him.
Logan tried to answer but all he got out was a kind of whimper. Sydney tightened her arms, shushing him gently. “I know, leaving Gryff has been hard on you, I know.” She was the same height as him- which Logan would deny, of course-- but just then he felt tiny, tucked into her side like a little kid. “Lolo, c’mon, it’s okay.” she shushed him gently, running her hands through his hair.
He tried to breath slowly, calmly, but all he got out was another little sob. Logan didn’t know when he’d started crying, only that he felt suddenly unmoored, totally adrift. What was he doing in New York City, playing at being okay on his own? He wished he was in Gryff, of course, sandwiched between Finn and Leo on their couch, or even at home in the house he’d grown up in where nothing was ever more wrong than Sydney taking the last biscuit or running late to a practice.
Sydney rubbed his back back comfortingly, one hand still in his hair as she guided him over to the couch and pulled him down so he was curled against her. “They shouldn’t have made you come here,” she said finally, when Logan finally caught his breath.
“Ouais,” Logan sniffled. “They shouldn’t have, we were so good together.” He wasn’t sure if the ‘we’ was the lions, or Finn and Leo, or the Dumais kids clambering over him. It was all so good.
Sydney understood, of course: Hockey was hockey, and they were lucky enough to have beaten the odds to play the game as a career. That meant giving up some security, though, accepting that a call could come from way up and change everything.
Sydney paused in stroking hair hair, the way she did sometimes when she was deciding what to say. “You know,” she said slowly, “we never talked about it but I had to- when I got traded to Toronto Amber was still in Montréal. It was... a year, I think? Maybe two?”
Logan sniffled, distracted for a second by what he thought Syd might be trying to tell him.
“Amber your? Your friend from college?” He remembered Amber, he thought- all his sisters had been popular, bringing back friends for weeks in the summer and ski trips in the winter. Amber stood out, Sydney’s closest friend. She was taller than Logan and even more muscular that Sydney, with short hair and smooth dark skin.
Sydney snorted out a laugh. “Lolo, my... friend? My friend from college?” She pulled away to raise both her eyebrows at him, speaking slowly like he was a toddler.
Logan was confused. “You missed her when you played in different cities?” That made sense, it was always hard to go from sharing lines to facing someone across the ice. Logan hadn’t even really needed to do it until this, until now, but it loomed over the season.
“Lo, you are so smart sometimes but also so dumb...” Sydney massaged the corners of her forehead, cracking up as she shook her head. “Amber my girlfriend? My girlfriend who I also had to do hockey long-distance with?”
Logan blinked back at her. “You’re gay?”
Sydney sighed exaggeratedly and flopped backwards on the couch. “Yes I am gay Logan I thought that when I brought my girlfriend of multiple years to our house for holidays that made it clear? Maybe when we lived together in Montréal? Maybe now that we literally own a house together I thought you would realize?”
Logan sat back, considering. Parsed out like that, it did seem a little silly that he didn’t realize. But living together? He’d thought they were roommates, and he hadn’t actually spent more than a few hours in that apartment when he was visiting. And the house that they bought? That was harder to understand, but Logan had assumed it was like, a townhouse? Something with multiple apartments that they co-owned? Everyone talked about the high cost of housing, sharing didn’t seem too crazy. Once, he and Finn had talked about buying some house under the stars on a lake they could skate on. He and Finn... Logan sighed. It was coming together.
“I guess I just assumed you were like me and Finn, really close friends?” Logan chewed his lip thoughtfully.
Sydney threw her hands in the air. “Yes, Logan,” she said still speaking slowly. “Just like you and Finn. For example, together!”
“You mean- this whole time, you’ve been gay?” Logan couldn’t believe it. He’d felt so alone, so broken, for so long. Even telling Noelle, telling his sisters about how he felt, it was a dark secret, a burden to be shared. Never did he think that he could have another queer sibling.
“This whole time, Lolo,” Sydney rolled her eyes. “You were just too worried about your boy to think about it I guess. You think you all are the only queers in hockey?”
“Sorry about that...” Logan felt bad as she said it. Of course he hadn’t noticed anything, he did spend all of college and most of his first year in the NHL obsessing over Finn, or obsessing over how to stop it.
“Oh, shh,” Sydney laughed, slouching against him as she pulled out her phone. “Aubrey and I were betting on if you had noticed anything last summer. She owes me a favor, I knew you weren’t paying any attention.”
“Ugh,” Logan sighed. “I can’t believe you guys placed bets.” He’d been thoroughly distracted from his feelings by Sydney’s revelation, and now he felt embarrassed to be such a baby, not to mention for being clueless. Also, hungry. “So, dinner?” He imagined Leo, what Finn and him were no doubt sitting down to eat at home. It didn’t hurt as much as it would have an hour earlier, though, not with his sister splayed out on the couch next to him, making fun of him.
“How about we order dinner, what about that?” Sydney was already scrolling through options on her phone. “Neither of us is really a cook, huh.”
That made Logan snort out a laugh, even if he still had tears drying around his eyes. They’d burnt plenty of toast (and soup, and pasta, and...) together growing up.
“There’s good sushi here,” he said, leaning over to tap Sydney's screen when she scrolled past.
“Bet,” she said, making him laugh with her exaggerated American accent.
“Bet,” he parroted, “Ouais, let’s order, I’m hungry.”
Later, they would talk about everything. About first crushes and first kisses, glances in locker rooms and hands held on busses to roadies, about feeling alone and then the magic of feeling alone together with someone special. Eventually, over the course of years, they would talk about what it meant to be queer kids growing up in hockey, about the women’s league and how things were different from the NHL and how things were the same.
That night, though, they ate sushi, and slept side by side on Logan’s bed, curled around his laptop playing French cartoons from when they were kids. For the first time since he moved in, Logan fell asleep easily, the familiar sound of his sisters breathing reminding him that he wasn’t alone.
#o'knutzyweek2023#o'knutzy#logan tremblay#finn o'hara#leo knutty#sydney tremblay#tremblay siblings#sweater weather lumos in love#liv fic
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O'Knutzy week 2023 - Day 2
Character credit - @lumosinlove
For @oknutzyweek2023
Prompts: Proposal, cooking mishaps, advice, laundry, new
Leo is going to propose to Logan and Finn, and it is going to be perfect. He's just a little nervous about it.
He buys the rings. That part goes great. 3 simple white gold bands. Logan and Finn's are inscribed with ' L x' That's the way Leo always signs off his notes to them. His own is inscribed with "Yours always,." Nothing else about the run-up seems to go right. He can't decide when or where to do it.
Finn and Logan are getting worried because Leo seems to be super distracted and making silly little mistakes he didn't usually. Including a few cooking mishaps - a very flat cake, a burnt chicken and a chilli that nearly kills Logan. ("How is it?" Leo called from the kitchen. He knows Logan and Finn will have started even without the sour cream and cheese he was currently holding. A little taste test, they called it. Except he didn't get the usual plethora of compliments. Then he hears the coughing. Was someone choking? "Guys! What's happening?!" His heart pounded in his chest as he rushed back into the dining area. Nobody was choking, but Logan was pushed his chair back from the table, beads of sweat pilling at his forehead and breath now coming in short little pants. "Is it bad?" Leo asked sceptically. He didn't make bad chilli; his ancestors would disown him. "Just a little hot," Logan said.)
The next time he phones his dad, he asks for his advice. He'd proposed to his mom so surely he must have tips, right? His dad is less than helpful with ideas, but he does calm him down. "Most folk that propose are nervous, son. But let me tell you something. If those boys of yours want to say yes, then they will say yes no matter what. And there ain't no perfect time or place that's going to turn a no into a yes. If you ask me though, they'll say yes. Be stupid not to."
In the end he does it on new year's eve. They'd decided on a quiet one this year. They'd just moved into a new place and had literally finished unpacking the last box - or at least those that didn't include those ones that would sit in the garage for the next two years before being donated - the day before. It's 4pm in the afternoon and the three of them are folding a pile of laundry. "I don't remember wearing this," Finn said, as he folded an old Harvard hoodie. "It was me," Logan shrugged, plucking a t-shirt from the pile. That one was Leo's. "This one too. But you can have them back, they won't smell like you any more." "Marry me." The words slip out of Leo's mouth before he even realises. He blinks. Logan blinks. Finn blinks. Leo is the first to recover. "Fuck. This wasn't supposed to go like this. I have rings and everything. Wait here," Leo said. He doesn't wait for a reply as he jogs to the spare room where he's hidden the rings. "Spoiler alert, I'm going to say yes!" Finn laughs.
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It's @oknutzyweek2023 ??? *screaming, etc etc*
So here's the start of a series of drabbles in my attempt to both get back into writing more again and use the whole board because why not? Anyway, without further ado...
Monday, Row 1 – Getting Ready
“I have a proposal I want to run by you…” Leo said to his boyfriends as he got ready. “Should I wear this bucket hat to the festival?”
“My honest advice? Yes. One thousand percent yes, you look adorable Peanut. Please wear it. Right, Lo baby?”
“Oui, s’il te plait, mon amour. Très mignon,” Logan said, walking over to give him a quick kiss.
“Mm, okay, hat on. Finn, rouge, honeypie, please put the toys away, it is time to get on the road if we’re going to make it to Talker’s to pick him and Noelle up.”
“They are not just toys, they. Are. My. New. Pocket squares. I’m a pocket square man now, Nut, get used to it!” Finn declared as he folded the last one and tucked it into his sock drawer.
Leo and Logan shared a look, and the blond stage whispered, “This is going to last all of a few days, right?”
“And then it’ll come back full swing middle of next season, mark my words,” Logan agreed with a chuckle.
#o'knutzyweek2023#o'knutzy#finn o'hara#logan tremblay#leo knut#sweater weather lumosinlove#drabbles#stay tuned#I am gonna bring back arabella!
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Day two (late) of @oknutzyweek2023 !! <3
Migraine (dark jeans and your nikes look at you)
(Taking place a month or so after Leo came to the Lions and moved in with Finn.)
It pushed at the back of Leo’s skull and prodded at his deepest corners. It pounded at him like summer rain. It made him reach for himself in the small hours of the morning, awake too soon. It rose with the steam of his morning coffee and made his tongue thick like cold ice cream. It dug into his muscles and made him rub his eyes. It made him tired. It kept him awake. It could have been mistaken as a headache, a goddamn migraine that his dad got sometimes, if he didn’t crave the feeling so much.
It was Finn O’Hara, too good to be true.
Finn was holding court, easy and bright and gorgeous. Leo knew he shouldn’t be thinking that last one, but Finn was. In every way, and ways that Leo hadn’t even know he could appreciate. His fingers around a frosted whiskey glass. The way he rubbed his jaw and nodded (maybe too much nodding) while he listened to someone. He had elbowed someone behind him more than once while telling a story. Leo had watched him put a bit of product in his hair before they left the apartment, and the red looked soft and messy on his forehead.
Finn got around the world easy. He made people smile. He made people comfortable. Leo wasn’t sure he knew how incredible that was. It was too easy for him to sink into the feeling that he had said something wrong, that he had been too loud, or too quiet. Finn never let those thoughts get even close. He had the perfect response to any sentence. Even when Leo wasn’t speaking, sometimes Finn would catch his eye and give him a little grin. Leo was still trying to figure out what those meant. He spent far too much time riddling them out, trying to imbue them with the meaning he wanted.
He should have known he was in trouble from the moment Finn had offered to carry his bags inside.
“Anyone wanna put a song on?” Finn said to their small group. He was fishing out his wallet, not paying attention to the nods from Thomas and Olli around him. Without even looking up, he said, “Knutty?”
Leo looked up from where he’d been slowly stirring the ice around his tonic and lime. Finn finished off his whiskey, soft stretch of pale throat and flash of a strong wrist, then grinned and jerked his head towards the jukebox.
Leo followed him, trying to comprehend how, just over a month ago, he’d had none of these small gestures in his life. The sound (every evening, like clockwork) of Finn tripping over the dishwasher and cursing. The little chin nods. The way he tapped the side of his glasses while he read.
One month in, Knut, he thought to himself. After all his promises, he’d lasted one month before falling asleep thinking about the way Finn’s hands looked while scrubbing a pan clean.
“What’ll it be?” Finn spent a moment squinting at the song titles before pulling out his glasses case from his back pocket. He smiled at Leo as he slipped them on. “I can never see the songs, it’s so dark in here.”
And the first time those glasses had happened. He’d come this close to calling his Mom. “Came prepared, huh?”
“Guess so.”
The frames caught the light, but Finn only scanned the titles for another second before stepping aside. “You choose. I can never decide.”
Leo bit his lip, filled with the distinct desire to impress.
Finn was older than him. Not by much, but enough. Leo worried that Finn might see him as nothing more than the newest Lion. Someone who didn’t know as much as he did—about being a Lion, or about being out in the world. He wouldn’t be wrong, but Leo didn’t like the feeling of hoping to be his equal.
Leo held his breath and pressed two digits.
“Ah.” Finn grinned as, slowly, the first three plucky guitar notes filled the bar. “Brown Eyed Girl.” He quirked an eyebrow. “You looking for one?”
“Oh.” Leo nudged a fallen lemon wedge across the floor with the toe of his sneaker. His drink was too watery now, bitter and luke-warm. He set it down and tried to play off wiping his hands on his jeans. Brown eyes looking at him openly, kindly. Pressing on all of his tender edges without even realizing it. “Yeah, whoever.”
Finn hesitated, not quite looking at him, then nodded (maybe too hard). “Mhm. Hey, I’m getting another drink, you want something?” He nodded (again) to Leo’s glass. “You can have something stronger if you want. You’re with us. They won’t mind. That’s kind of how this place works. I’ll get it for you.”
Leo raised an eyebrow. “You could get in a lot of trouble for that.”
“You seem worth the trouble,” Finn said, and Leo put a hand out against the jukebox. He might need to lay down. Maybe this really was a headache and he was coming down with something. It really really shouldn’t be allowed to have something this light and airy feel so close to panic.
“I’ll surprise you,” Finn said, taking a few light backwards steps. The dim lights flashed against his glasses as he took them off, folding them into his shirt. “I like trying to see if I can guess someone’s drink.”
Leo swallowed. “What if I don’t have one yet?”
“I’ll think of something.”
Finn’s next smile made Leo suddenly desperate to know what Finn had looked like growing up in New York. He’d seen his older brother Alex on TV of course, and in the photos Finn had stuck to the fridge. In a few of them, Finn was closer to his age, arm flung around Logan in a messy, overgrown backyard. String lights. A grill going. The blur of a football passing through the frame. Mirrored sunglasses on foreheads and worn t-shirts. College. Leo resisted the urge to reach up and rub at his temple. Just another thing he would never understand.
Finn’s back looked broad as he leaned against the bar. Leo could only imagine the look he was giving the bartender by her soft smile and the way she tucked her hair behind her ear.
Slipping and sliding
All along the waterfall with you
My brown-eyed girl
“Let me guess,” said a voice from behind him. “He went to guess your drink.”
Leo turned in time for Logan to stop at his side, leaning against the jukebox.
Leo shrugged. “How’d you know?”
Logan just shook his head and raised his beer to his lips. “You have no idea how much he picked up with that trick.”
Leo felt himself flush. “In college?”
Logan nodded, but didn’t say more. Leo was still getting used Logan Tremblay. Especially compared to Finn. He’d watched his press interviews, of course. Maybe for more than just the hockey content. He was thick muscle and long-eyelashes and slow, lingering movements. He was also quiet. Guarded. His smiles were rare. Leo didn’t quite understand how he and Finn were as close as they were. He’d never seen two people who were so different spend so much time together. Most weekends they were home, Finn was walking out of the house with Logan on the phone. I’m coming, I know I’m late, stop Frenching at me. He invited Leo every time, but Leo didn’t always want to feel like a tag-along. Tonight had felt better. Olli was here, and Thomas, Pascal and James. It was more than FinnandLogan-and-Leo-sometimes-too.
“I’ll be surprised, I guess,” Leo said softly, trying to piece out the look on Logan’s face. He was watching Finn intently as he laughed at something the bartender said. If Leo didn’t know any better, he would have said those green eyes of his were flavored jealous.
Leo frowned and put a cool hand on the back of his own neck. This was a headache. Definitely.
“He ever guess yours?” Leo asked.
Logan looked at him sharply. “What?”
Leo nodded to Logan’s beer. “Your drink. Did he guess your drink.”
“Please,” Finn called as he walked back up to them with two glasses, one of which he handed to Leo. “I made his drink into his drink.” He held the other one out to Logan. “Isn’t that right, Ten?”
Logan just narrowed his eyes at him as Finn stole Logan’s beer bottle away, grinning as he tilted his head back to drink.
Leo looked between them. Headache. Blooming. Bruised.
“What…” Leo cleared his throat. “What is it?”
“Rum and coke,” Logan said.
Leo frowned at his clearer glass. “Doesn’t look like…”
“Nah, that’s his,” Finn said. He wrapped an arm around Leo’s shoulders. He was warm. He smelled good, something soft and herbal. “The fucking sweet tooth’s got a bite to him. Yours, Peanut, happens to be a little something called a Dark and Stormy. Figured you’d like Bourbon, and we both know how much you like a little kick to your food. It’s got ginger beer in it.”
Leo took a sip and hummed. “It’s good.”
Logan didn’t quite smile at Leo. There was something vaguely unhappy about the way he took a sip of his drink.
“What’s up, Lo?” Finn asked the question in a way that made it sound like he was well and familiar with whatever look was in Logan’s face.
“Nothing,” Logan said simply, and then pushed up from the jukebox and began to walk away. Leo didn’t catch all of what he said, but it sounded something like, “Don’t like storms.”
“Is…” Leo began to say. “Is he okay?”
Logan set his full glass down on a random table and more or less whipped his coat off of the back of a chair. He leaned in and said something low and fast to Pascal, and then he was out the door.
When Finn didn’t answer for a minute, Leo looked over at him. That unhappy something had transferred cleanly over to the brown eyes Leo had been admiring all night. Finn, however, sent Leo a smile that felt real. He shook it off, whatever it was.
“He’s…Logan,” Finn said. Then he clinked Logan’s beer bottle against Leo’s glass. “C’mon. Choose another song.”
#o'knutzyweek2023#lelo#finnlo#sunfish#o'knutzy#sweater weather lumosinlove#Logan tremblay#Leo knut#finn o'hara
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O'Knutzy Week (late) day 4
O'Knutzy Vacation! In Italy!
So, this was meant to be for O'Knutzy Week (which has been over for a week now, but what is time anyway?) It's the first of two parts (pt2 is close behind!) and also a present for sweet Harzy! Happy bday bud. Have some love and be a lit nerd with me. Chraracters credits to the wonderful @lumosinlove, prompt and hosting credits to @oknutzyweek2023.
Prompt: Summer Vacation
“Lo, tell me that I’m a genius.”
“You’re a genius.”
“And that you love me.”
“I love you so, so much.”
“Yeah, you do.”
Logan raised an eyebrow at Leo. He was sitting on the couch with a proud grin on his face, his iPad close to his chest in the way Finn held his books after finishing them. He looked like a kid too excited not to speak, Logan noted. Cute. “You know that I love serenading you, but that grin tells me there’s something else. What is it?”
“So, we’ll be in Nice in August.”
“Ouais.”
“Did you know Nice was part of Italy once?”
Logan’s eyes widened in alarm. “Look, it’s better if it doesn’t come up while we’re there, or with my mother. People don’t like to…”
“No, Lo, I mean. It’s close. Literally so close.”
“Yeah, I went there once or twice as a kid. You…wanna go?”
“Could we?”
Logan went to sit on the armrest of the couch and left a kiss among soft curls. “We can do whatever we want, Peanut.”
Leo’s smile almost blinded him. “Great. Because I found something our Harzy will love.”
Logan let himself slide next to Leo, circling his shoulders with an arm. “Tell me everything.”
“Did he enjoy studying Romanticism in college?”
Logan laughed. “Butter, I distinctly remember him crying over Romanticism in college. More than twice.”
“Perfect."
•••
They spent two weeks in Nice, rediscovering the bliss of taking their time. They started their slow, quiet days with the sun high in the sky, rolling over in bed to find each other despite the heat. Nice was a constant flow of colors, sounds and touches that Finn never wanted to forget. It was the smiles and kisses shared for the pictures, and Logan showing them little villages on the coast and immense lavender fields. It was Leo’s hand dragging them around colorful markets, and it was Logan ordering meals in a quick and slightly different flow of French.
It was everything.
It was…a car?
Finn blinked. And not just some car. It was an old-style, red Chevy that shined under the sun, convertible roof and elegant lines. Finn swore had come out straight of an old movie. Leo and Logan were there, leaning on the car with two pleased, smug smiles plastered on their pretty faces. At their feet, their bags were packed.
“Hop on, sweetheart,” Leo smiled, rolling the slow vowels in his mouth as honey dripping from a spoon. “We’re goin’ on an adventure.”
Finn blinked again. “Guys, what…” The flight home is in a week. That’s not our car. Why are our bags packed? Did I forget something we had planned? Did something happen?
“We,” Logan interrupted his thoughts, opening the backseat’s door for him , “Are taking you on a trip.”
“We are on a trip,” Finn mumbled absently, but he stepped forward. He peeked inside. A pile of books was neatly displayed on the cream leather backseat. He gasped and launched himself, making the car creak eerily.
“Harz,” Leo laughed. “The car is as old as it looks, hun.”
But Finn didn’t pay him any attention, as unusual as it sounds. He was busy studying the various books. A quick scan of the titles made him frown. The Greatest Romantic Poems. Romanticism in Italy. The Gulf of the Poets: inspiration for immortal verses.
“You guys,” Finn breathed. He passed a reverent hand on the book covers, as if he’d just found a treasure.
Logan squeezed his shoulder lightly. “Allons, mon rouge. We have a reservation for dinner.”
The road was a wonderful, continuous landscape of coasts and alps. Finn remembered it all like a dream the moment you wake up. Confused flashes and big emotions you can’t quite put a finger on. He remembered Leo’s tanned arms on the steering wheel and Logan’s hair dancing wildly in the wind. Hands reaching blindly for his knee and flipping the books’ pages and photos to understand what was happening. At one point he caught Leo’s smiling eyes in the review mirror. We can surprise you, too, Harzy. He guessed he’d turned pretty insistent at some point, too, because they explained him everything.
“There’s this bay with the cutest little villages,” Leo said as he raised the convertible roof and silence replaced the roaring wind. The sun was high in the sky, and Finn had gotten plenty of sun in the last few weeks. “And that’s where some of your favorite poets lived for some time. Shelley, Byron, others. And it was pretty close, you know?”
“So, Leo thought we’d make a little surprise trip. He looked it all up.”
“Well, Logan found the car and the books.”
“And,” Logan smiled, “A cooking class on how to make authentic focaccia, tomorrow night.”
Leo gasped without looking away from the road. His hand found Logan’s and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “Sweetheart, you didn’t.”
“It’s a cooking class with aperitif. We’ll have spritz with an Italian grandma.”
“I love you so much.”
“Yeah, you do.”
They laughed, but Finn just smiled and leaned back in his seat. He didn’t trust himself with words just yet. He focused on the group of colorful, crumpled houses that were getting bigger and bigger instead, wondering how did the stars align so perfectly that he’d ended up with two boyfriends like that. Two people that knew him so well, and cared so much to make all that fuss just for him. He leaned forward to take Logan’s hand and squeeze Leo’s shoulder, and received a squeeze back and a quick kiss to his hand. They must have understood what was going on with him, because they didn’t say a thing. They always knew what Finn was thinking- even when Finn himself had no idea.
They soon reached their destination, a white villa that looked directly on to the sea and stood regally against the deep blue. Next to the big entrance, a marble plaque. Finn squinted to read it, and his eyes widened. He remembered thinking fuck it as he let the grip in his throat, that had kept him on edge since the beginning of the trip, loose into watery sobs.
“Guys, what the fuck,” he cried. Leo hopped down the car and cooed him into a hug as Logan quickly made his way over and took his place under Finn’s chin. They just held him there, in between them, as he stared at the big house. “The Shelley’s villa. Shelley’s. They lived here.”
“It’s a hotel and museum now,” Leo explained, a smile in his voice and against Finn’s forehead. “Couldn’t let it pass.”
Finn held them tighter. “Of course you couldn’t.”
•••
The next few days passed in an enchanted haze. It was the crashing sound of the waves that woke them up, and later rocked them into gripping bedsheets and each other hard. They explored villages lost in time, enjoying their slow rhythms and careless calm. They kept themselves off the beaten path that the area had traced for tourists, and the villa itself was located out of the nearest town. No one would recognize them. Their days on the Italian coast were full of brighty colored houses that spied the sea, and midnights jump into the dark water to escape the heat.
As it turned out, Leo had kept one last surprise to himself just like Logan. Where the steps of the villa met the sea, a white motorboat was waiting for them. Finn let himself be guided onto the passenger seat as Leo took them far from the rocky shores, and Logan pressed smiles and kisses on him.
But it was on the third day that Finn’s own personal catharsis came to a peak.
He was more or less shoved into the car by a too excited Leo and an amused Logan for a short drive to a village close by. It was beautiful and colorful like the many others they’d seen, but it was at the top of a cliff that the magic was revealed. Old walls stood timeless and climbed up to a little church that faced the sea on its own; and behind the walls, a narrow passage on the side of the rocks went down.
Finn squinted in the sun to read the plaque above the passage. ‘“This grotto was the inspiration of Lord Byron. It records the immortal poet and daring swimmer…’” he trailed off, eyes widening. He turned, looking at the other two with an alarmed frown. “You guys are fucking with me. You… you’re just putting on these plaques in random places. To kill me.”
Logan laughed at that, patting his shoulder. “Ouais, Harzy, that’s exactly how things went. You didn’t notice Knutty slipping out of bed this morning while I was riding the life out of you.”
Finn opened and closed his mouth a few times, even more at loss of word. At least he could pretend the redness on his cheeks was sunburn.
“Stop thinking of this morning, Harz,” Logan called. “Allez, it’s Byon’s cave. You love him. This is the core of your Italian adventure.”
Finn studied the plaque a moment longer, before glancing at the passage with a sudden urgency. “So, this…this is where he composed his most important poems.” His voice trembled a bit.
Leo handed him the tote bag he’d been carrying around with a smile. “Inside there’s a notebook and your favorite pen, some music and a towel.”
Finn frowned. “You’re not coming with me? No, you two are my Italian adventure.”
Long fingers squished his cheeks around a kiss. “We thought we might give you some time, and then come and get you.”
“Come on, Rouge,” Logan came at their side. “We know you’re dying to have your poet moment. We’ll be right here.”
Finn stared at them for a second, disbelievingly, then drew them both into a hug, squeezing as hard as he could. “I love you so much. I love you, love you, love you.”
Carefully, he started to go down the steep passage. Only a slim railing kept him from the risk of falling, but Finn found he couldn’t slow down as he jumped from rock to rock, ignoring Leo and Logan telling him to be careful. After a sharp turn, the cave appeared. Finn kept his breath as he wandered inside, nose up to the dark walls and the landscape the grotto framed.
He felt his eyes burn. He remembered reading again and again poems about that place- so much that it felt a bit like coming home. Hell, he’d done it all; he’d read, recited, written essays and annotated every line of those pages. Of those clouds at the horizon. The fact that he remembered everything so vividly was infinitesimal compared to the realization that Logan remembered, too. Quiet nights in their Harward room, only a small light in between them for Finn to read to him. And Leo…oh, Leo. So careful to everything Finn as much as breathed on. It was easy to picture him putting that trip together in silence, without leaving anything to chance.
He took a seat on a rock, taking it all in. The rocky cliffs, covered by the lively green of pines, ended abruptly into the sea. The gentle rocking of the waves arrived at his ankles. Finn understood what the poets were so desperately trying to communicate through their bleeding lines. What they’d been lacking before they found that paradise, and why their lives and poetry would forever be tied to those shores.
But the only thing Finn could think of was them.
Logan’s smile that morning. And every morning before. And every morning forever.
Leo jumping into the crystal blue water, and his smile resurfacing before anything else. He looked like a nymph appearing from the waves. His own personal muse. His hero that would not end in tragedy.
Finn closed his eyes and breathed.
When he exhaled, messy ink had filled pages on his lap, and the sun had lowered a bit.
“Wow.”
Finn turned, to see Leo and Logan staring mesmerized at the sea, holding hands. Leo raised his free one to him, mouth still half open. Finn got up, and squeezed it as he joined them, keeping quiet as if not to disturb the waves.
They breathed together. Finn’s eyes were wide and a little red. He licked his lips. “I wrote some poems for you."
•
•
•
Notes: this was a pretty self indulgent piece, more fluff will come in pt2! Hope you enjoyed!
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O'Knutzy Week Day 2
character credits to @lumosinlove , prompt and hosting credits to @oknutzyweek2023 .
Prompts: Toys; Bondage; Phone; Daddy; Migraine
It was one of the first days of autumn in Gryffindor. The dry heat had finally left place to cool, crispy air, and the sky was nicely cloudy. It was the perfect weather for a book club meeting, Finn thought as he looked out of the window from Sirius’ and Remus’ house. Some of the team had met to discuss the book they’d decided to start reading together, “Under the whispering door”. Remus was sitting on one of the armchairs, and on the couch there were Thomas, Adam and Evgeni -to improve his English, he said. Finn, from his place on the window nook, ate another cookie and listened to Remus.
“…I’m not saying it was a bad opening, but the book does get more interesting after the first chapters...”
Evgeni tilted his head. “Yes, but have to build scene first. Explain situation.”
Adam nodded. “He’s right, it’s not the kind of book you can start mid action.”
Finn lifted a finger. “I think it’s a good opening. It surely catches Wallace’s flow of thoughts. The confusion, the anger. But I get what you’re saying, Loops. It does sound a bit…elementary.”
A wave of disagreements filled the room as Finn got up, hands raised, and made a quick jog to the kitchen to get another cup of tea. He decided to check his phone in the meantime -something they’d agreed not to do during the club meetings. He scrolled to see what was new. A meme from Alex, a few messages in the basket group chat…oh. A video from Logan. It was only a few seconds long, and Finn decided to watch it quickly before joining the others again.
He’d left the house to Leo napping -he could have joined the book club, but they’d decided together it was something Finn could do on his own. Logan had been showering, pouty about Finn not joining him because of the book club. To be fair, both his boys had been acting quite…demanding, since the end of summer. It was probably because of the jump from having all the time to themselves to going back to their routines. It had been a promiscuous summer, Finn could say that. There had been sex on a beach, sex on a boat, sex in fluffy hotel beds, sex in a pool, in a tent...anyway. Both Leo and Logan had not taken well the sudden change of pace under the sheets, teasing Finn to whole new level. It started at breakfast, leaning too much on the kitchen island, and went on till bedtime, scooping their backs too close to him.
Finn, being the gentleman he was, never left his boys hanging in there for too long. But the horny levels in their house had never been so high, and keeping two horny men at bay was no joke. Especially since the little game they’d started a few months ago. Finn’s cheeks flushed the second he thought about it.
It was for all these reasons that Finn decided to check the phone’s volume and to be alone before watching the video. Just for precautions. But nothing, nothing could have prepared him for what he saw next.
The video was taken in their bedroom, curtains closed. The camera quietly approached the bed, where Leo was…holy fuck, Leo was.
He was lying on their bed, resting on his belly. Pink leather laced and stilled his tan, toned body in all the right places. His legs were tied and bent so that his heels almost touched his ass, and the wrists were tied behind his back, limiting his squirming and moans.
“Holy fuck,” Finn breathed, voice cracking at the end. A flush hot enough to make his head spin overwhelmed him. He had to readjust his sweatpants and boxers to make the sudden ache less evident.
In the video, Logan’s hand appeared into frame, stroking Leo’s ass appreciatively a few times. He traced the pink lines cutting in half his perfect, toned cheeks, and Finn almost cried at how the goalie tried to lean up towards the touch. Logan let out a low chuckle, squeezing the muscle before lifting his hand and leaving a loud spank on the same spot. That made Leo moan loudly his name, and a series of “please, Lo, please”. Logan made a disapproving noise at that.
“Oh, mais non, mon chou. You know it’s not me you have to beg for. Who is it you want here?”
“Daddy,” Leo immediately sighed, quite desperately, as he tried to move for some friction. Logan grabbed one of the leather strands around his wrists to keep him in place and tugged. That earned him a groan. “Daddy, daddy, please. Come home now.”
Finn let out a shaky breath -it would have been a moan, had he been in the same room as his boyfriends. The hand in between his legs was vital now to alleviate the pressure he felt at the nickname. He watched open mouthed as Leo raised his head as he could to look into the camera and bat his gorgeous eyes at him. The bastard knew the effect they had on him.
“Daddy, I want you now,” he sighed. “Please.”
And when Finn thought that heaven couldn’t look any better -or hell any worse- Logan’s hand lowered again, down and down and down. He stroked Leo’s ass gently a few times before cupping one cheek to spread them apart. Finn felt his soul leave his body. Logan’s grip revealed the little vibrator that Leo loved, set on a medium speed. It was long and narrow, a opaque black with golden circles around. And now barely visible, so deep into the trembling, obscene mess that Leo was. He shined with sweat and lube, like the most beautiful and obscene angel from a Renaissance painting.
“It has been like this for a while, now,” Logan’s voice returned, low and accented. “It must be driving him crazy.”
“Sweet Jesus,” Finn muttered to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Holy fuck, holy fuck, holy fuck.”
He needed to go home now. He needed teletransportation -why wasn’t teletransportation a thing in the 21st century?
Finn stared at the wall in front of him and blinked, waiting for his brain to start again.
The book club could wait until next time. Until Finn and Leo and Logan…no, he couldn’t think those things with his teammates in the other room. But he needed to go, and they were, in fact, in the other room. If he acted quickly, it would take twenty minutes top to reach his apartment. Thirteen if he considered speed limits speed suggestions.
“Okay, O’Hara,” he whispered to himself. “Get it together.”
He quickly lost the Lions’ hoodie, folding it onto his arms to keep it in front of his pants, and took a deep breath. He could do this. He would do this. He just had to be quick, and unsuspicious, and not sound as horny and desperate and on the verge of tears as he actually was. Easy peasy.
Finn quietly stepped back into the living room, car keys in hand and moving on his feet a little. He made a point to look sad and agonizing, fishing the expression he’d used so many times to soften his mother and skip school when he was little. The boys were still talking about the book, Adam rambling about the mysterious encounter in chapter six.
It was when Finn shook his keys a bit that they looked up at him. Remus frowned. “Harzy, you’re leaving so soon?”
“You feeling alright, man?” Thomas asked, turning to look at him. In a second, four pair of eyes were on him, confused and concerned.
Finn swallowed. “Yeah, uh, no. Migraine. Fulminating. Awful business. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go home to lay down a bit.”
“Oh, jeez. Sorry to hear that, Harz. Do you want to go lay down in the guests’ room? I can get you a painkiller…” Remus started, closing his book and getting up.
Finn suppressed a whimper. “Oh, thanks Loops, there’s really no need.”
“You sure man? You have a PT here with you.”
“Yeah, but uhm. I really want my bed right now?”
Evgeni sent him a sympathetic smile. “Yeah, let him go Loops. I’m sure Cubs will take care of him just fine.”
Oh, you big Russian bear, you have no idea, Finn thought. Stopping himself from jumping on his spot was getting harder.
Adam raised an eyebrow. “You do look a bit red and hot, man.” He opened and closed his mouth, maybe to tell Finn not to make puns. But he must have decided Finn looked miserable enough. “Hope you’re not coming up with a fever.”
Finn nodded some more. “I’ll check the temp at home and let you know. Thanks guys, er, don’t worry. Sorry about leaving. See you at practice, bye!”
“Do you want me to drive you-”
“Bye!”
Finn got into his car in record time. He cursed as he lifted the sweater from his legs, making his dick ache for the waiting. He typed a quick “on my way” to the group chat with Leo and Logan. And if he snapped a picture of the poor state oh his pants, well that was his business and his business only. A few seconds later, Logan replied with a “good ;)”. Those little, little shits.
“Little, little shits.”
One last ping from his phone made the screen light up as he turned the keys and the car turned on. He checked quickly before cursing some more and putting on his seatbelt.
“Drive safe, Daddy ;)))”
•
•
•
We stop here for today! But who knows, there's always space for a pt 2 in the future :))
#o'knutzyweek2023#o'knutzy week 2023#o'knutzy#lumosinlove#finn o'hara#leo knut#logan tremblay#lou's writing
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O'Knutzy Week day 3
character credits to @lumosinlove, prompts and hosting credits to @oknutzyweek2023 .
Prompts: Cooking Mishaps; Dance; Smiles; Cookouts.
“What if we just leave them here?”
“Finn, no.”
“What if we leave me here?”
“Finn. Go put on your socks.”
A long, suffering sigh.
Finn detached himself from the wake of the muffins on the counter and disappeared into their bedroom. Leo stared at the them a moment longer.
He appreciated the effort. He sure did. When he’d started taking out the ingredients for the muffins, Finn had immediately jumped to help. The fact that he’d compromised the whole recipe was only marginal to Leo. Just like the wobbly form of his poor, poor pumpkin muffins.
They could almost pass as cute. Almost.
They’d tasted one together before leaving, just like his Mama always did. And now Finn didn’t want to leave the house with them.
Leo knew deep in his heart that there was something fundamentally wrong with those muffins. He didn’t think Finn could mess up that much, honestly, but there they stood. But they were also the muffins for team dinner, and Finn had helped, how cute was that? Leo wouldn’t say a thing about them.
He hoped the team wouldn’t notice and pester him too much.
•••
The Dumais’ house was welcoming and vibrating with life as always. Logan would always look back with affection at his bed in the basement, the nights on crumpled couches for movie night and constantly having four kids to play with. But he sure wouldn’t complain about his current situation. No sir, he though, Leo’s hand pressing against his lower back as they entered the house.
They were met by cheers, various yells of “Cubs!”, and a few sloppy kisses on the cheek. The off-season hadn’t been long. The team had met under every pretext, from basketball nights to vacations together. Falling back into routine, together, felt good, and right.
The kitchen was filled with pots and bowls coming from every family of the team. Everybody brought something, that was the only rule for team dinners. Leo had, for once, given up his salty dishes position, sticking to desserts with Lily, Chris and Evgeni.
As soon as Leo placed the muffins on the kitchen isle, Finn disappeared, muttering something about setting the table. Leo couldn’t blame him.The muffins were immediately under attack by a crowd of hungry hockey players and kids. Sirius happily took a bite, only to start chewing less and less confidently after a few times.
“Leo…what happened to your muffins?”
“Finn happened!” Logan called.
Leo rolled his eyes. “Finn tried to help but put baking soda instead of baking powder. And…some cheese fell in. I…yeah.”
“It’s not…bad,” Remus tried, studying his half-bitten muffin with indecision.
“Y’all can hide them,” Leo sighed. “Just don’t let Harzy see.”
Celeste put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll try to mask the taste with chocolate frosting.”
“Merci, Celeste.”
The backyard, their designated dinner place, was impeccable. A long, long table ran under a series of string lights, filled with baskets of bread and unmatched chairs. People were moving around to set the table, turn on the barbecue and catch up after summer. Katie was carefully putting vases of flowers from the garden in the already crumpled place in between the plates. Leo had missed all this. The moments outside of the rink that strengthened the bond in their team.
Somebody put music thought the speakers Pascal was so proud of installing on his own, and the smell of the barbecue began to fill the air. Dumo had announced it would be him and his garçons to take care of the grill that night. It was heart warming to see him explaining to Sirius, Logan and Cole how everything worked. But it was even cuter to see three grown hockey players following his every move with big eyes, nodding quickly and asking questions.
Soon, the long table in the garden was soon filled with chatter, laughter and hands passing plates and bowls. Leo tried to distract Finn from all the teasing about the muffins, and Logan smiled proudly every time they took a bite of the meat and vegetables grilled by him. He seemed to remember every single piece.
After dinner, the music in the yard turned slower and softer. Pascal was the first to pull Celeste in the middle of the cleared grass, making her laugh and spin. The others were quick to follow. A grinning Thomas, letting Noelle lead. James and Lily, smiling and chatting softly. Remus was melting against Sirius in a gentle rocking back and forth.
It was the kind of hopeless romantic moment that would have had Finn standing up in the bat of an eye, ready to dance with his boys under the gentle eye that was the moon. And he was. As soon as the sweet notes of a love song filled the yard, he was smiling and tilting his head at Leo. But the blond simply smiled back and pointed at something behind Finn’s back. Finn turned, perplexed, only for his eyes to widen in surprise.
Logan rolled his eyes around a smile too big. He stood straight and composed, an arm behind his back and the other still in the air, in front of a shocked Finn. He kept it up and visible, not faltering in the long moment Finn only stared at him. But it was alright. He’d wait eras for Finn.
“Mon rouge,” he smiled, feeling heat travel up to his cheeks. A wonderful kind of exposure and wait filled the space between them. The kind of adrenaline of asking out on a first date, or a school dance. He felt at the edge of a cliff, at the mercy of wind and waves. But it would be alright, because he was looking at Finn. And Finn had always been his lighthouse. “Shall we?”
Finn’s smile always lighted his nights.
Their eyes never left each other as Finn took his hand and stood up, letting Logan bring them to the middle of the improvised dance floor.
Finn was an elegant, old-fashioned boy at heart. He knew how to mix them cocktails and read poetry with the right stops and rhythms. And of course, he knew how to lead Logan in a slow dance. He eased a hand on his waist, gently moving them in well-practiced steps. The other hand was clasped to his, and his head tilted to the side. But Logan could see his eyes, sparkling with happiness. A happiness that, he knew, would turn into a vacant, distant stare for just a moment during their dance. A brief but inevitable thought of the past. And then Finn would return to him, dopey smile and wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. The past was something they could talk about anytime, now. And they’d understood and forgiven each other. It had all turned out in the end. But Logan also understood that in a little corner of Finn’s wonderful mind, there were scars that wouldn’t fade.
Logan was doing best to be visible lately. Taking their hands during their walks, choosing fancy, romantic restaurants for dinner instead of a nameless pub, where the world would only see them as friends. Restaurants where he could hold their hands on the table and feed them bits of his dessert. Finn was loving it as much as Leo did. Both Finn and Leo presumed that, together with the love, there was an effort to compensate for the wait, the lack of before. Both had reassured him multiple times that there was no need, no need at all, because they’d been happy before and they were happy now. But Logan was on a self imposed mission of romanticism, and Finn wouldn’t be the one to stop him.
Logan was quick to fall into Finn’s flow. It was after a twirl that he nudged their noses together. “You know, I used to be so scared of people seeing and watching,” he said. “But now…the only thing I want is to show you and Leo all over the place.” Finn left a gentle kiss on his lips before letting him continiue. “I’m still nervous around people, I guess that’s just who I am. But here…I know that these people want to see us happy, and together. I love being that with you.”
Finn had to rest his cheek against Logan’s temple after a deeper kiss. He looked around. The string lights hanged around the garden shined in soft lines that framed the night sky. Leo was looking at them and smiling even more brightly. He’d surely taken a few pictures of them. He’d show them lately that night, while getting ready for bed, like he always did. Logan shifted, maybe so he could get a snoop of Leo, too -Finn wouldn’t blame him.
Around them, the atmosphere sweetened the edges of people. James and Lily went back to their seats. Sergei made his wife laugh. Kasey and Natalie were dancing in a quiet corner, a phone balanced on a glass pointed at them. A video, Finn realized. For Alex.
Logan shifted a little, pressing a hand into his lower back. “Hey,” he whispered, without stopping the gentle rocking. “I want this song at our wedding.”
Finn stopped.
“What?” he breathed faintly.
Logan just shrugged, without letting the hand on Finn’s back falter. He smiled, a devastating half-smile that was melted gold in the low, warm light of the garden. Unaware of the turmoil those words had caused in Finn. “Ouais,” he nodded. “I like this song.”
“Logan.”
He heard Finn’s breathing breaking into smaller, quicker fits. Logan frowned, but what he feared would be the start of tears was followed by Finn’s laughter. Low in his chest, vibrating against the hand steady in between his shoulder blades. Two hands were grasping Logan’s shoulder and shaking him before he knew.
“Logan. You can’t just say that to me.”
“Non?”
“Nom.” Finn passed a thumb on his cheek, eyes wide and a little glossy. “You can’t.”
“Dommage.” Logan kissed him. “Because I will.”
They let the next song pass in a gentle hug. Finn’s arms circling Logan’s neck, temple drawn together. Logan could feel Finn breathing against his neck. He never wanted to move.
“Hey. We should do it more often,” Finn whispered, as if afraid to disturb their little bubble of bliss. Logan nodded. They swung around the grass some more, and then decided that they needed Leo to dance.
They didn’t find him at his seat, but he came back a moment later with a beer. He turned to look around, a hand on his hip.
“Y’all, we need a yard. I want to host these cookouts.”
Logan laughed, nodding. Finn took Leo’s hand, pulling him close.
“Sure, baby. We’ll get you a big yard. Come here.” Finn guided him on his lap, lacing his arms around the goalie’s waist. He sniffed a little. “All the yards you want.”
“Finn, were you crying?”
A knowing smile from Logan made his frown disappear. “I told him I wanted to dance the song from before at our wedding.”
Leo’s expression softened. He cupped Finn’s face with his hands, leaving a soft kiss on his temple. “Oh, honey. Yeah, that’ll do it.”
For a while, they just watched the rest of the team dance and talk. “Yeah,” Leo repeated after a while. “I want a yard. A big yard. Like my parents’.”
“Oh, that’s a really big yard,” Logan said. Leo raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t like my parents’ yard?”
“No, I’m just saying. That’s a lot of space. It’s not a yard that you find in the city. Rimouski’s yard is optimal.”
“That’s not as big.”
“Hey, it’s not big, but there’s plenty of space to have fun. Size isn’t everything. It depends on how you use it.”
“Please stop making erotic references while we talk about our future yard.”
“What do you want in our big, big yard, Peanut Butter Better Butty Baby?” Finn song singed.
Leo tilted his head. The way his eyes shined with the string lights did all sort of things to Logan. “I want a place for the barbecue. A big patio so we can read outside when it rains and a garden to grow our own veggies. And, you know…place for some sort of playground, one day?”
Logan’s eyebrows shot up. Finn groaned, hiding his blushing cheeks into Leo’s shoulder. “Did you two decide if was Let’s make Finn cry night? Was this premeditated? You should be thankful I’m not wearing any mascara.”
“Finn, you don’t own a mascara.”
“And thank God for that. I’d be a mess by now.”
Logan sighed, leaning in for a kiss. “You’re so weird. Come here.”
•••
The yard gradually turned less and less crowded as people began to call it a night. There were pats on the back and, finally, a lot of “see you on Monday”’s. But three chairs hadn’t moved in almost an hour, and three pairs of eyes were staring at the night sky. Three pairs of hand were busy holding each other, or stroking gently a leg here or a strand of curls there. Low laughter came from three sleepy smiles.
“…And we also need a pool,” Logan yawned. They’d been talking about sweet nothings all night, but the mental image of that yard, one day, big and filled with love, and people, little people he hoped, hadn’t left him all night. “Because I like swimming and I like seeing you two in swimsuits.”
He didn’t add that he’d build a big slide so their kids could have fun in said pool.
Leo nodded, suppressing a yawn of his own. “I rectify: we need an outdoor pool for the fun, and an indoor pool because I like you two even more without swimsuits on.”
“Oh, ouais. I like that. Let’s just get pools.”
“Yeah,” Finn nodded against Logan’s shoulder, a hand passing through Leo’s hair. “I’ll get you two all the yards and the pools you want.”
Leo sat starigher to cup th eback of Finn’s neck. Soft lips met his. “I know, sweetheart.” And Leo knew. Finn always had that sparkle in his eyes, that pressing hand against his back. That veneration that made him remember about a starless balcony, and the promise to light up Leo’s nights in every way he could.
And he had.
He brought Finn’s hand up to place a gentle kiss on it. “Harz.”
“Mh.”
“We’ll get you everything you want, too, baby. Everything.”
Finn was aware of his inability to accept words and acts of kindness in a normal way. He felt a need to earn them, otherwise the guilt would take over and he had to scroll them off. It took a lot for Finn to believe he deserved good things. But he was finally feeling like he could let go a little. The ropes they used to build their relationship would not get loose if he relaxed into Leo and Logan as he so ardently wished them to do with him.
They’d build the good things together.
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@oknutzyweek2023 #o'knutzyweek 2023 day one!
a soft and silly little beach day ditty for the cubs
By mid-July, Finn’s shoulders were dense with caramel-colored freckles.
He was also pink. Very pink.
“Aw, honey-” Leo was sympathetic but he couldn’t not laugh when Finn came in from the beach red as a lobster. His face seemed to have gotten the worst of it, lightly scorched across his cheeks and up to his eyebrows. “You fell asleep on the beach, didn’t you?”
“Don’t laugh at me” Finn protested, but he was cracking up too, sheepish as he ran his fingers across the red expanses of his cheeks.
They’d all been out at the O’Hara’s Hamptons place for a week, enjoying the sprawling house and private beach and crystalline pool all to themselves before Alex, Kasey and Natalie arrived with Ramsey and Haley for a week all together. There was certainly space for all of them-- The O’Haras had built a house to share with the people they loved, and they’d all always loved deep-- but there was something special about how it was just them.
Leo knew Logan and Finn had spent time there together in college, knew it was a place that brought them joy, and pain, to think about. It didn’t have any of that bittersweetness for him, though, it was just a sweet-ass house with his boyfriends.
“Aw, rouge...” Logan emerged from the kitchen, drink in hand. He was smiling too. “Rouge for real, huh?”
Finn came up close and flicked him before setting a kiss on the top of his head. “Not my fault I don’t end up like a glowing bronze sculpture like you.”
Leo had to agree that Logan looked great. The off-season suited him, the sun made him glow and his hair was longer than ever, made curlier too by the salt water and ocean air. He was a little softer around the middle, too, still as strong and solid as ever but with an added hint of a squish that Leo couldn’t get enough of. It made him think about life without hockey, about what it might be like getting older, changing together. Those weren’t thoughts that were important or urgent, but they were fun. Something to put on a shelf and take down another day.
“I’ll just put on more sunscreen tomorrow,” Finn was grousing, holding Leo’s mirrored sunglasses out in front of him and peering at his distorted reflection. “I know my mom has, like, a whole skincare horde somewhere in this house.”
“Yeah, and she’s looking amazing,” Leo added. Whatever Hayley O’Hara’s skincare routine was, it was working for her.
Finn just rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he wandered off in search of some aloe vera.
Logan and Leo managed to hold off on making too much fun of Finn’s sunburn for the rest of the night. Not that they didn’t make fun, but. Logan did tan an easy bronze and for all his light hair and blue eyes, years of running around in the hot NOLA had more than prepared Leo for the northeast. It wasn’t Finn’s fault he had the most sensitive skin in the universe, even if it was his fault for falling asleep in the afternoon sun.
It certainly wasn’t his fault that he had two boyfriends with zero chill between them.
The next day, as they settled down on the beach for another day of brilliant cerulean blue skies and the deep indigo of the Atlantic and the crisp pink of Finn’s shoulders, Leo made eye contact with Logan and pulled something from his tote bag. Nestled in with the two paperback books (What if him and Finn both finished what they were reading? What if, heaven forbid, Logan wanted to read?) was a balled up bit of garishly bright fabric.
Logan grabbed at it as soon as Leo had it out of the bag, shaking out the neon-pink-and-rainbow-stripped bucket hat and smushing it over Finn’s dark red hair.
“Hey,” Finn protested half heartedly, even as he adjusted the hat so it sat straight on his head, brim pulled out over his eyes. “This looks silly,” He pouted.
“Nope, this is adorable, you will be keeping that hat on,” Leo insisted, sitting back to admire Finn’s new accessory.
“Also, sun protection, mon rouge,” Logan added, reaching out to gently poke Finn’s (now covered in sunscreen) burnt cheek.
“I don’t know,” Finn said, “I don’t know where you two even found this hat, I feel like I would have noticed this somewhere.”
“No worries,” Logan responded, cracking up a little at the Americanism, at the same time as Leo said, “Don’t worry about it.”
Finn laughed hard at the way they spoke at the same time, so in synch and yet so much themselves. Leo snapped a picture, and then turned the camera to take a selfie of the three of them.
The camera reflected back the huge joy that Leo felt. The beach behind them, empty, just sand and sky and water and grasses swaying on the dunes that rose up toward the house. Their faces, pressed together, sun-kissed and freckled and relaxed. Faces soft in the sleepy way of the summer, bodies warmed by the sun.
And the hat, of course, charmingly tacky and undeniably bright, clashing awfully with Finn’s hair but somehow matching perfectly with his deliciously tiny bright blue swimsuit.
“Missing y’all” Leo typed into the team groupchat a few hours later, sending the selfie of the three of them to the group. “Hopefully Harzy doesn’t get too sunburnt now.”
+
A few hundred miles away, Kasey Winters screenshotted the picture and sent it to Alex.
From: Alex
To: Kase <3
Guess they found your hat after all ;)
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O'Knutzy week - Day 1
For @oknutzyweek2023. Character credit goes to @lumosinlove <3
Prompts used: Festival, bucket hat, tomato soup, migraine, borrowed.
Content warning: Drunkenness (not excessive and no violence), medication and side-effects of medication.
Leo, Logan and Finn go to a festival. Some of the rest of the team go too including Regulus and Layla. ("You taste like cherries," Logan said, pressing a second kiss to Leo's lips before letting his flop back onto the pillow. "Shots," Leo hummed. "Blame Layla.")
Prior to going, the three of them have a conversation about accommodation in which Finn says he doesn't want to camp because he's too old for that shit. (Leo laughed, moving to wipe the coffee that sloshed over the side his mug before it stained the wood. "Alright Grandad. You're 29, not 92." "Tell that to my knees, sunshine," Finn said, his bones cracking, as if to prove a point, when he pushed up out of his chair.) They end up compromising on one of the fancy bell tents in the bougie section.
Ultimately Leo is glad for the luxury because he ends up getting a wee bit drunk and Finn gets a migraine pretty early into the first day. Finn's been getting the migraines since the last concussion they are prepared, if disappointed he couldn't escape one this weekend.
The story starts with Leo's return to the tent for the night. Logan has stayed behind with Finn. He attempts to sneak in without waking anyone, but is being much louder than he thinks and wakes Logan up - not that it's difficult. Leo asks how Finn is doing. ("He's better than he was. Managed to eat some tomato soup from the truck earlier." Logan chuckled, and Leo raised an eyebrow. "He was very passionate about the fact your soup is better. I learnt a new word...ambrosial.")
Eventually Finn wakes too. Finn is a bit loopy from the medicine has taken. ("Hey," Finn protests. "That's my hat." Leo pulled the hat from his head, running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to tidy the curls slightly. "Just borrowed it for the day. Thought it'd like the trip out while you were incapacitated." Finn squinted slightly as if considering something. "You stole it," he said. Logan's lips were pressed together, curling slightly at the corners and a funny breath of air escaped his nostrils. "I borrowed it," Leo repeated, placing the bucket hat on Finn's chest. The bold orange and blue was bright against his pale skin. Finn gave a satisfied grunt, and tugged the hat closer to him before closing his eyes and promptly falling back to sleep.)
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Please reblog this so all who want to participate can see it :)
I have made a new side blog for O'Knutzy week (which will be 31st July - 4th August).
It's @oknutzyweek2023
I'll be reblogging all content there that uses the #o'knutzyweek2023.
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Late snoop: Summer Vacation
the work that was meant to be my last O'Knutzy Week day is still in progress due to me being sick. but I'm excited to share a snoop, even if, at this point, it might be considered a separate thing from the Fest, since it's over.
enjoy!
They spent two weeks in Nice, rediscovering the bliss of taking their time. They started their slow, quiet days with the sun high in the sky and rolling over in bed to find each other despite the heat. It was a constant flow of colors, sounds and touches that Finn never wanted to forget. It was the fireworks of the 14th of July mirrored by the sea, and Logan showing them little villages on the coast and immense lavender fields. It was Leo’s hand dragging them around colorful markets, and it was Logan ordering meals in a quick and slightly different flow of French.
It was everything.
It was…a car?
Finn blinked. And not just some car. It was an old-style, red Chevy that shined under the sun, with a beige convertible roof. Finn swore had come out straight of an old movie. Leo and Logan were there, leaning on the car and proud, smug smiles plastered on their pretty faces. At their feet, their bags were packed.
“Hop on, sweetheart,” Leo smiled, rolling the slow vowels in his mouth. “We’re goin’ on an adventure.”
Finn blinked again. “Guys, what…”
“We,” Logan opened the backseat’s door, “Are taking you on a trip.”
“We are on a trip,” Finn mumbled absently, but he stepped forward. He peeked inside and gasped at the pile of books neatly displayed in the backseat, launching himself and making the car creak eerily.
@oknutzyweek2023
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/ snip of smth for #oknutzyweek2023 /
The off-season suited him, the sun made him glow and his hair was longer than ever, made curlier too by the salt water and ocean air. He was a little softer around the middle, too, still as strong and solid as ever but with an added hint of a squish that Leo couldn’t get enough of. It made him think about life without hockey, about what it might be like getting older, changing together.
/
#o'knutzy#advancing my silly little agenda#sweaterweather lumosinlove#o'knutzyweek2023#leo knut#finn ohara#logan tremblay
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Ok. So. Umm... I am super interested in participating in Oknutzy week but have like less than no idea how and tumblr isn't helping bc all I'm getting is pieces of info when I search it. Help? Maybe like... an abridged tour of the events for the newbs like me?
(Please and thanx and hug and smoochies and other such things bc you're awesome!)
Hi, you can find the info on the blog @oknutzyweek2023. But the basics are:
I've made a bingo board of prompts (which you can find on the aforementioned blog).
Each day you post something to do with O'Knutzy - can be visual art, writing, headcanons, anything you like to fit the prompt you are filling.
Tag your work with #o'knutzyweek2023 so I can find it. All tagged work will be reblogged on the oknutzyweek2023 blog.
To pick your prompts, you have options:
- pick any random prompt that you vibe with that day.
- Try to pick your prompts so by the end of the week you have a line, row or diagonal.
- Combine prompts so you get a blackout by the end of the week
Really it's just about having fun and celebrating the cubs.
Hope that helps! Let me know if you have more questions.
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Okay, I'm going to post these over a couple of days so as to not spam y'all (and to intersperse some other work) if people want to finish up over the next few days too.
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