choose style
black
grey
white

He decided that if anything, he was only lucky that Reyn didn't go to school with him as well. That boy unnerved him so, that no doubt it would've killed his ability to study, or do any work at all. He made great pains to concentrate on the puck and nothing else during a match, not letting his mind wander to Reyn for even a second. His singlemindedness helped him score an extra goal here and there, helped him block more passes, but..

"Tavir? What's gotten into you lately? You're so.. serious about your hockey." Shurik swung his rollerblades idly about, not looking up. He hated to question anything Tavir did, but he was starting to worry about his friend. He felt eyes on him, and finally he looked up, meeting Tavir's gaze. Those intense, blue-black eyes.. they never failed to make his heart skip. But he was pretty good at hiding it by now.

"What do you mean, Shur?" Tavir's gaze was serious. Shurik sighed, fingering the wheels on one of his skates.

"It's just.. you don't seem like you're having fun anymore. And that was the whole reason we joined the hockey team, right?"

"To have fun." Tavir agreed, his smile lighting up his too often serious face. "And to relax. And to let off steam. And to stay fit." He grinned at Shurik, who couldn't help but grin back.

"But mostly to have fun." Shurik reminded him. Tavir nodded, reaching up to brush his hair back from his eyes, a sure sign that he was thinking seriously about the question. Shurik marvelled, as he always did, at how Tavir managed to take such good care of that long, silky auburn hair. He'd grown his own hair long, in fair imitation of Tavir, but his was, at least to him, a plain, boring shade of darker brown, and usually tangled into an incomprehensible mess.

"Reyn." Tavir said finally, softly. Shurik started in surprise; he'd been silent, letting Tavir do his thinking thing, but his own thoughts had distracted him.

"Reyn?" How did Reyn fit into the picture? Though now that he thought about it, Tavir had started being so serious ever since that boy had arrived. But why? "Why Reyn? Is something about him.." He trailed off. Could Tavir be jealous, thinking he wasn't the best in the team anymore? No, that wasn't his style. He was too easygoing.

"I.. I have to concentrate on the puck so I don't concentrate on him." Tavir admitted. He looked rather miserable about having said anything at all, and it slowly dawned on Shurik. Tavir was interested in Reyn! Yet he didn't want to say anything that might upset Shurik. The boy sighed inwardly. Tavir was so thoughtful! Another reason he loved him so much. But he put aside his jealous twinges and offered a smile.

"Well, why don't you do something about it?" he suggested. Now it was Tavir's turn to blink.

"Do something? Like what?" He was confused. Shurik's smile widened. If he himself was naive when it came to love and lust, Tavir was even more so.

"See if he feels the same, maybe?" Tavir's mouth opened wider in surprise, then snapped shut.

"I.. can't do that."

"Why not?"

"He's.. I'm.. damnit, I don't know." He shook his head. "The finals are in two weeks, and we're this close to winning. I don't have time to worry about it now." Yet he was. But Shurik just nodded. Having Reyn on their team was tipping more of the matches in their favour, but the finals would be hard, and everyone was nervous.

"So concentrate on hockey and find out after it's all over?"

Tavir chuckled, ruffling Shurik's hair into even more tangles. He'd been doing it teasingly since Shurik had grown it past shoulder length, and though Shurik would never admit it to anyone but himself, it was one of the main reasons he didn't just cut all his hair off again.

"We'll see, Shur, we'll see."

Tavir skated furiously towards the goal. Time was running out, and Reyn was somewhere behind him with the puck. If he could just..

"Tav!" The gorgeous voice cried out to him, and he spun, just in time to see Reyn pound the puck in his direction. A member of the opposite team collided with Reyn, knocking both of them down, but Tavir had eyes for the puck alone. It skidded towards him, and with a deft flick he caught it, turned, and spun it straight for the goal, even as another opposition rammed into him. Tumbling to the ground in a tangle of legs and skates and hockeysticks, he lost sight of the puck as the final whistle blew.

<Please, please let it have gone in..> he begged silently, trying to sit up and untangle himself.

"Goal!" cried the referee's voice from afar, and he forgot about tangles, skates, hockeysticks, everything.

"We won!" he screamed, even as Shurik and another team mate dragged him to his feet.

"We're the champions!" Shurik yelled at him, dragging him around in a delighted circle, even as the rest of the team converged on them.

"We won!" "Thanks to Tavir!" "Tavir and Reyn!" "We're the champions!" The entire team was ecstatic, and Tavir found himself thrown from one team member to the next, as they hugged him, each other, and everyone else in sight.

Suddenly, he found himself flung into Reyn's arms.

"Congratulations," came the mellow voice, and then those soft lips were pressed against his, firm and wet. Without thinking, he responded to the kiss, his lips parting, tongue seeking to part Reyn's lips as well.. and then Reyn pulled back, one eyebrow raised.

"A kiss for the winner," he said, easily, and then was lost in the crowd again, leaving Tavir blinking in confusion, even as someone else grabbed him for a hug.