“He’s sad, too,” Elliot says.
Blake pinches the bridge of his nose. He’s not going to cry again. “I’m a bad cat dad,” he says. He doesn’t like the way his voice sounds, but it’s not like this can get any more embarrassing than their last phone call.
“I’m sure you’re doing your best,” Elliot says. “Just don’t feed them any chocolate. Or is that dogs? I don’t know.”
Blake snorts.
“See, I’d be a way worse cat dad. But I’d love to say hi. To Angus. And the… other… How many other cats did your grandma have? I just know Angus.”
“She got another one not too long ago. His name is Squid. He’s… orange.”
“Can’t wait to meet him.” Elliot clears his throat. “You wanna have dinner at some point? I don’t mind coming to Newark.”
It takes them a few minutes to go through their schedules and find a date at the beginning of January when they’re both in town and both have the evening off. It’s not that Blake didn’t know how hard this can be. He’s constantly doing this with Noah, comparing schedules, setting up secret meetings. Although with Elliot it’s not much of a secret, they’re literally just two old friends meeting up for dinner. Well. Exes, too. But that doesn’t matter. That was years ago.
“Thanks for calling, Blake.”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll see you…”
“January 12th.”
“I’ll find us a place for dinner.”
“Send me the address,” Elliot says. “And we’ll– What?”
Someone says something in the background on Elliot’s end.
“Can you give me a few more minutes?” Elliot says, clearly not to Blake.
“Hey, if you need to go…” Blake says.
“No, it’s fine,” Elliot says immediately. After a pause, he adds, “Where are you right now? Winnipeg?”
“Yep,” Blake says. “It’s cold. I chose being warm over going out for dinner with the guys.”
Elliot laughs.
Blake laughs, too, because he’d forgotten how much Elliot’s laugh used to make him laugh. It’s not even… He’s not being mean about it. It’s endearing, the way Elliot laughs.
Elliot chirps him for being cold, even though Elliot, who’s actually from Canada, is a big baby when he gets too cold. Or at least he used to be. That was years ago, too. Blake almost forgot how much time has passed since they last had a proper conversation. For a few minutes, they talk about the games they both have coming up and Elliot is actually excited about playing against the Mariners. Blake isn’t surprised; the Ravens will probably have tons of their fans invading the Mariners’ arena. Blake isn’t too worried about the game against Winnipeg, but they’re going to Montreal next and they’ve been strong this season.
They wish each other good luck before they hang up.
They’ll save the animosities for when they’re on the same ice again in March.
#
Elliot swings by his place before he heads to Newark to meet Blake. He’d be early if he went straight there and he ended up spilling half a of a smoothie over his shirt after practice, so he’ll find himself a different shirt.
He says hi to Natalie, who’s on the couch, reading something law-related that makes Elliot’s brain hurt when he looks at it, kisses the top of her head and then points at his shirt to indicate that he needs to change. He throws the stained shirt in his laundry basket and wanders into his closet and on any other given day he’d grab another shirt and be done with it, but today he sort of lingers in front of his pile of shirts, not sure which one to go for.
Blake told him that the place he picked for dinner is pretty lowkey, so it’s not like he needs to worry about that. He just doesn’t want to show up in a Ravens shirt or something. He eventually pulls a blue-and-white striped shirt out of the pile and grabs a pair of jeans, because no matter how lowkey that restaurant is, Elliot isn’t going to wear sweatpants.
“You look nice,” Natalie says when Elliot wanders back into the living room.
Elliot hums and plugs in his phone.
“Wanna go watch a movie later?” Natalie asks.
“Oh, I’m meeting a friend for dinner.”
“What?”
It’s not a sorry, I didn’t catch that kind of what. More of a what the fuck did you just say kind of what. “I told you, I’m having dinner with a guy I used to play with.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Elliot, you didn’t.”
Elliot did tell her, but she was sort of on her way out the door and she was a little frazzled, so maybe she forgot. “I’m sorry, okay?” Elliot says, because maybe it’s his fault for not telling her at a different time.
Natalie gives him a look that tells him that the apology is not accepted.
“Why is this such a big deal all of a sudden? You go out with your friends. And I can’t?”
“I go out with my friends while you’re on the road.”
“Okay?” Elliot doesn’t get it. Does it matter when exactly they meet their friends?
“Are you just acting dumb now?” Natalie says. “I bend over backwards to make sure I’m around when you’re in town so we can see each other and you… make plans with your friends without even talking to me about it.”
“Why…” Elliot still doesn’t get it. “Since when do we need each other’s permission to see our friends?”
“Oh my God, Elliot.” Natalie throws her book on the table and it lands with a thud. “This is not about either of us asking permission for anything. You’re never home to begin with and now you’re running off again?”
“When the hell am I supposed to hang out with my friends, then?”
Natalie purses her lips, which means he has a point and she doesn’t like it.
“So what
