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At first Sidney didn’t notice the poster. She was too busy with warming up, skating around the Wells Fargo Center and getting used to the ice. It had been a long time since she’d skated on this ice - on any ice besides Consol - so she had been spending most of the warm up time getting used to the ice at each arena again.
It was one of the Flyers rookies, laughing and pointing that made Sidney notice the poster. It was the tall, gangly kid that pissed off Geno - Couturier - and he turned to look at Sidney briefly before laughing with another one of them. A Schenn. She couldn’t remember which one played for the Flyers. So she looked at the poster.
‘Welcome Back To Philly Cindy’ complete with pink blush and red lipstick on the picture. She thought there was blue eyeshadow but whoever drew it on, put it on her eyebrows. It wasn’t really anything new to be honest. Sidney had been called Cindy for years. There was a list of names she wrote down at some point, but she wasn’t sure where she left it. Cindy wasn’t even that original.
The makeup hurt though. In a weird, twisting kind of way. Obviously it wasn’t anything anyone out there knew about, how it made her feel better when she could hide some of her masculinity behind makeup. She rubbed her glove against her face before pushing away from the boards and skating again.
Geno caught up with her, matching her stride for stride. “Stupid poster.”
“It’s nothing new,” Sidney said as they both slowed to a stop near one of the goals. “Those aren’t even good colors for me.”
Geno cracked a smile which she matched even if hers was a little shaky. “Blue eyeshadow always bad.”
Sidney laughed, pushing at Geno lightly. She felt better though, nodding her thanks to Geno before skating away again.
In fact, once the game started, she was pretty much able to push it out of her mind. It’s not like the fan kept the poster up since it blocked the view of the game. And it was an ugly game. There was a lot of fighting and chirping between both teams. Three games back, she wasn’t stupid enough to get involved in the fight even if she wanted to punch Hartnell in his face.
They held the lead going into the third on a goal by Adams in the first and a beauty by Geno in the second. And the Flyers held her back, not letting her do much of anything. It was frustrating as hell, especially when Timmonen scored on the power play at the beginning of the third and Hartnell tied it not long after.
Sidney skated up to take the face off against the Giroux, who smiled at her, his stupid gap tooth showing. So far she was 6-5 on face offs against him, but that didn’t keep him from chirping her constantly.
“So Cindy,” Giroux said as he leaned down. “How’s it feel to be playing second fiddle to Malkin? You’re not the queen anymore.”
Sidney gritted her teeth, her eyes on the ref’s hand and the puck. “How’s it feel to be Briere’s boy toy? Sucked any cock lately?”
The ref dropped the puck and Giroux lunged for it, sweeping it away and back to Read. Sidney growled and took after him, slamming Giroux into the boards hard. She took off after the puck a moment later, stealing it away and heading down the ice before passing it off to Jordy who took the shot and missed. Fucking Bryz.
She skated off the ice and sat down on the bench, breathing heavily. Jordy slapped her back firmly. “Good steal, Sid.”
Sidney nodded and took a drink of water, watching Geno and his line on the ice. Giroux was still on the ice and he blew her a kiss as he skated past.
Tanger whistled lowly. “He’s just trying to piss you off isn’t he?”
“The hate is mutual,” Sidney muttered. “We got to buckle down and win this shit.”
They didn’t win. Fucking Hartnell scored with 0.9 seconds left on the clock before they would have gone to a shootout. Sidney could taste that shootout. Everyone in the league knew that Bryz was shit at shootouts. She slammed her stick against the box before heading back to the locker rooms.
Everyone was quiet, absorbing the loss and the snap of their eleven game winning streak. It was only a day shy of a month since the last time they lost. And of course it was to the fucking Flyers.
Sidney gave a post-game speech almost by rote, her voice quiet in the already quiet room. Afterwards she talked to the press and scowled and tried not to curse Claude Giroux’s parentage and his stupid ginger curls.
“We saw the Cindy poster,” one of the press guys said, shoving the microphone in her face. “Typical Philly welcome.”
“Is that a question?” asked Sidney, glaring at him. “It sure didn’t sound like one.”
“This is the first time you’ve played here since December 2010. How did it feel to be back on the ice in front of the Philadelphia fans?”
“Look, every game between our teams is going to be tough. They hear it at Consol, we hear it when we play here. It’s nothing new.” Sidney said, standing up. “And about the poster, I’d like to think I’m smart enough not to wear blue eyeshadow. My sister would kill me.”
Sidney smiled at them tightly and walked away, grabbing a towel. She finished stripping off her Underarmor in the shower before stepping under the water. She showered quickly, getting the sweat off of her enough so that she didn’t stink up her suit. She would shower for real back in the hotel where no one would see.
Putting on the suit was easy. Piece by piece she used it as armor to block herself from the rest of the world. As soon as her tie was done and her gear was stowed in her bag, she went over to sit next to Geno who was slipping on his shoes.
“Come to my room tonight?” asked Sidney softly, trying not to sound needy. Geno liked space after losses, especially bad ones, and this was going to hurt for awhile.
Geno sighed and looked at her. “Not in same bed.”
Sidney nodded because that was fine. She wasn’t really up for him being too close. She just didn’t want to be alone. He grabbed his bag and she grabbed hers, heading out of the locker room. They walked down the hall in silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts of the game.
“Sidney,” a voice called out and Sidney turned to look. Danny Briere was hurrying down the hallway, knotting his tie at the same time. “Wait a moment. Please.”
Sidney sighed heavily, stopping to wait for him. Geno stopped as well, his expression stormy. Danny smiled at them quickly, before holding out a hand to Sidney.
“Good game,” he said and she took his hand, shaking it briefly. “Look, I want to apologize for Claude. He’s a little shit at the best of times and he likes to work you up.”
Sidney stared at him. “You’re apologizing for Giroux?”
“He says things that are out of line, even out on the ice. And that kiss was uncalled for,” Danny said firmly. “I’m glad you’re back. Having you on the ice is good for hockey, even if I don’t like playing you.”
Geno snorted. “Nice apology.”
“Max says you’re a good guy and you’ve had it rough the last year,” Danny said, glaring at Geno which was kind of funny since Geno had a good five inches at least on Danny. “And the four of us might have more in common than Claude knows. Not that I’m going to tell him.”
Sidney looked at Geno briefly before looking back at Danny. “So he really does suck your cock?”
Danny made a face at that. “Is that what you chirp at him?”
“Sometimes,” Sidney shrugged. “I thought you had better taste.”
Danny sighed, exasperated. “You can’t make anything easy, can you?”
Geno laughed at that, grinning. “Nope.”
Sidney shoved him for that, shaking her head. “Thanks for the apology. Good luck with Giroux. I still think you should have better taste than him.”
“He makes me laugh,” Danny said with a shrug of his own. “Haven’t you ever been stupid in love before?”
Sidney swallowed thickly and looked at Geno, giving Danny all the answer he needed. She nodded because yeah, she knew what that was like. Geno pressed a hand to the small of her back. “We go now. Bus leave for hotel.”
“See you in a few weeks,” Danny said before heading in the other direction again.
“That was weird,” Sidney said after a moment. “Did he just come out to us?”
“Think so. Max tell him we together,” Geno sighed as they stepped outside. “I talk to Max later.”
“I doubt Briere is going to say anything. Just tell Max to not tell anyone else,” Sidney looked at him. “I’m stupid in love with you.”
Geno smiled and nodded. “Me too. Never let you go now I have you.”
“Good,” Sidney bumped him with her hip. “Let’s go. I need to shower for real and get into something comfortable.”
“Sweats and t-shirt?” Geno asked hopefully. “Not red thing?”
“I thought you liked those pajamas?” Sidney frowned a little. He always seemed to like when she wore the red silk shorts with the camisole top.
“Like too much,” Geno said firmly. “Not at home so can’t do anything about it.”
“Wow, the rest of us so don’t want to hear this conversation,” Flower said as he bumped past them, elbowing Geno in the side. “Get on the bus, losers.”
Sidney flushed, not realizing that the other guys were all around them. “Sorry.”
“Whatever,” Duper said with a wave. “We’re all glad you’re getting laid, but we really don’t want to know about it.”
“I kind of want to know about Sid’s sexy pajamas,” Kuni chirped, grinning.
Sidney slunk in her seat, her cheeks burning in embarrassment. Geno laughed and reached over to smack Kuni on the ass. “You not get to see. I tell you at Halloween, I tell you again now. Be sad about what you can’t have.”
Flower sat next to her and knocked his shoulder with hers. “We’re just teasing.”
“I know,” Sidney said quietly. “Still not used to being teased about my sex life.”
“We’re all glad you finally have one. Even if it is with Geno.”
“Settle down everyone,” Bylsma called from the front. “Don’t make me come back there.”
“Sorry Dad!” Jordy called out as everyone else laughed. “I swear it was Marc’s fault!”
Sidney was just glad the attention was off her. She could kiss Jordy for that - except no. It was Jordy. Flower knocked her in the shoulder again and grinned at her. She smiled back, leaning against him briefly.
“I’m glad you’re happy, Sid,” Flower said quietly. “Really glad.”
Sidney looked at Flower, smiling at him in return. “Thanks. Me too.”