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Alex stood in front of the door to the large house. It was a nice house, with a nice door and windows. It was quite a large house so it made sense so many people lived there.
He learned that the Penguins were all staying at Lemieux’s house in November. It wasn't that hard to look up, but the Pens flag also gave Alex a big flashing light that this was where they were staying.
He inhaled before he knocked on the door.
Anywhere from thirty seconds to a minute passed before the door was opened. The person who opened the door was a little taller than Alex. He had a mustache, a little hair at the bottom of his lip, and some hair on his chin. His eyes were big and expressive and Alex recognized them from the first game they had with the Penguins this season.
The goalie- Silovs? If Alex remembered correctly- squinted his eyes as he recognized who was standing in front of him. They stood staring at each other for a good minute before Alex said, “Hello” in English.
A skeptical “Hello” was released from Silovs’ mouth.
They continued staring at each other before behind him, Alex heard Zhenya’s voice call out in Russian, “Who is it, Arty?”
Arty- Arthur maybe? No that wasn’t it- turned back to yell “Ovechkin.”
He turned back to deadpan Alex before being lightly pushed out of the doorframe. The door became more ajar as Zhenya stepped into it with a large, lopsided smile.
“Sasha! What are you doing here? The game’s not till tomorrow” He leaned out of the door, pulling Alex into a one-armed hug, before stepping back to let him into the house.
“Well I thought I would see if you guys would let me stay the night. I assume you have an extra room in this very large house?” The Russian rolled right off his tongue as Alex entered the house.
With a quick look around the entrance room, he could barely tell more than twenty people lived there. The dark oak supports matched well with the dark blue patterned wallpaper. The room was nicely furnished with more dark oak benches with light cream cushions. The goalie seemingly left as the room was empty besides him and Zhenya were the only ones there.
“We should have an extra room, yeah. Oh- take your shoes off” Alex looked down at his shoes to see he was standing on a large doormat. To his right there were two shoe racks with various pairs of tennis shoes placed across the rows. He kicked off his shoes and placed them on the top of the closet rack.
A smile creeped across Alex’s face as he thought of the first time he went to their captain’s house. Pretty much the same front door setup, only here it was much larger to accommodate everyone.
Turning back to Zhenya, he couldn’t stop his smile from growing more. Alex remembered crashing for the night at his house after they had beaten the pens. So many memories from throughout the years came flooding back.
Zhenya looked like he was going to say something, but before he could a voice came out of the hallway in English, “Arty told me we had a guest.”
Looking toward the very recognizable voice, Alex was met with Sid. He wore a smile and a bittersweet look in his eyes, one that Alex was sure he had as well.
Alex grabbed Zhenya’s arm before dragging him over to where Sid was standing. He then pulled them both into a hug.
There was only a moment before the two penguins returned the hug.
They stood like that for a comfortable while. Alex’s mind started to wonder again.
It wandered back to a time when he went to Sid’s hotel room early in their careers. They played hard and won the game, but the pens played hard too. He got some drinks before remembering Sid told him what hotel room he was staying at. The room was tidy, unlike when Alex stays at hotels. Sid had just showered, as the room was pretty steamy. He remembered laying on the hotel bed next to Sid. It was just them, comfortable, warm, and secluded. It was nice.
It then wandered to him breaking into Zhenya’s house after a game in Pittsburgh. He had fallen asleep on the couch before he got home. Zhenya had some sort of team meeting or maybe he even went out after the game; Alex didn’t know how long he was asleep. All he knew was that Zhenya had thrown his own bag at him to wake him up. After they had some fun together, Alex was resting with Zhenya in his arms. It was calming, sweet, and relaxing. It was nice.
Sid’s voice pulled him back to reality, “What are you doing here, Ovi?”
Alex pulled back slightly so he could look at the two men in his arms. A large sigh escaped his mouth, but his smile somehow grew bigger. “I’m going to miss this.”
A ping of sadness flashed across Sid’s face, “Don’t say that stuff, Ovi-”
“Sid,”
“Alex.”
Their eyes didn’t break contact. Years of playing each other, facing off against each other, loving each other, hating each other, all maintained through their- at this point- staring contest.
Zhenya squeezed both their shoulders and said, “Hey, conversation with mouths not eyes.”
“Sorry G” Sid pulled away from the embrace, “Let’s go to the living room, it’s more comfortable there.”
Sid turned to walk down the opposite hall he came out of before and Zhenya trailed him. Following the two penguins players down the hall, Alex looked at his surroundings. Sid’s almost obsessive disposition had clearly made every room in the house nice and tidy; the plethora of people who lived in the house could not be easily seen at all.
They finally turned into a room with two sofas, a handful of cushioned chairs, some small tables with nice lamps, and a coffee table. There was a TV on one wall with various scenic paintings on the other walls.
Alex made himself comfortable on one of the sofas. Sid sat on the sofa next to where Alex plopped down and Zhenya sat in the chair in between the two sofas.
“…So,”
“So.”
They sat in silence for a few moments before Zhenya spoke up, “We should address the elephant in room, yes?”
“Yeah probably…” Sid glanced between the two Russians. He seemed pretty anxious to say what was on his mind.
Zhenya on the other hand seemed anxious to say what was on his mind. He turned to Sid, “Me and Sasha have slept together. We haven’t done it in some years but still happened.”
Alex giggled a little, this is what they were anxious about? Sid still looked pretty hesitant to say what they did, so Alex said, “Zhenya, don’t worry, me ‘n Sid also have sex. This is funny though, next thing you guys tell me is that you are sleeping together.”
Sid and Zhenya stared at Alex like he discovered a big secret. …Wait-
“We are. Sleeping together,” Sid said firmly.
Ah.
How funny.
A large laugh escaped Alex’s chest.
“Well if we all slept together, why not do again? All three. Same time.”
Sid’s face turned a bright red as Zhenya shook his head and laughed.
“Sasha, you have game tomorrow and we’re resting for playoffs. I don’t think sleeping together is a good idea.”
Alex squinted his eyes, “You mean you two are not playing tomorrow?”
A guilty expression appeared on both of the penguins players. “…Yeah we’re resting for playoffs so we’re not playing tomorrow” Sid repeated, “Some other guys are sitting out too. We’re calling a lot of guys up from Wilkes-Barre.”
Alex takes a second before speaking again, “Will you sit out the game in Washington, too?”
Sid’s eyes locked with Alex’s again, “No.”
Alex looked at Zhenya and he started shaking his head. The corner of Alex’s mouth reached up a tiny bit. It then grew as he came up with a plan.
“Okay, so, if you want to rest ‘till playoffs then how ‘bout this: after Capitals beat you in playoffs we all sleep together, yes?”
Sid snorted, “The Caps aren't in a playoff spot?”
Alex smiled, “You will see! We win out and I curse the Flyers!”
Everyone in the living room bursted into laughter.
Eventually, Zhenya said, “Well what if the Caps are not in playoffs or we beat you?”
“Those things never happen. No need for plan.”
“Well… just in case,” Sid added on, “How about you stop by after playoffs?”
Alex smiled, “Okay.”
He leaned back, more relaxed, and said, “Well, you two should show me my room,” A grin appeared on Alex’s face, “Unless you don’t have any extra and I have to sleep with you.”
A glance is shared between Sid and Zhenya, “Aw man, I guess we don’t have any spare rooms for you, Alex” Sid said with a shrug and a grin.
“What a shame.”