Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2001 19:31:01 -0800 (PST) From: NAU Representative Subject: Music Shatters Ice - Part 7 Welcome to part seven. I'm glad that some of you are still reading, I haven't heard much feedback so I'm guessing that my readers are leaving me. But for those of you are thankfully still with me, I'll keep writing for you. Oh and here's an advance tidbit of info...look for things to heat up in the coming chapters. Paws naupres@yahoo.com DISCLAIMER: Remember this story is fiction and is not intended to imply anything about the true sexuality of the celebrities mentioned or any personal knowledge about their private lives. And if you are underage go somewhere else, this is not for you and you should wait a few years. Music Shatters Ice Music Shatters Ice - Part 7 - Brand New Day I awoke in the morning to a dead silent house. Opening my eyes I saw James was still sleeping in front of me. He was giving off soft purring sounds. Very cute, like a certain player of mine. I wondered if I sounded like that when I slept. Carefully and as quiet as I could I climbed out of bed, left the room, bypassed the sleeping duo and headed into the kitchen. Looking at the microwave clock it was eight thirty. I started filling up the coffeepot and turned it on. Waiting for it, I decided on going to the bathroom. Coming back out I took a seat at the dining room table and merely looked at the sleeping ones on the pullout and then turned my attention to the outside. It was silvery outside. The clouds were here and for it to be the end of fall and the beginning of winter, they would be the ones to play the role of trumpeter. Minutes later, Joey woke up and literally stumbled into the dining room. "What's that smell?" He asked. "Coffee." "It smells stronger and fresher." "That's because it's from the Caribbean, Jamaica to be exact." "I thought Canada made the best coffee and beer." "Are you kidding? They do neither justice. For coffee you go to the Gulf and for beer you head to Germany." As time passed we talked more. Funny how much you feel like talking even when you have no clothes on except for your boxers. It was now nine fifteen and Joey had enjoyed three mugs of Jamaican coffee. He started to head to the bathroom when there was a knock at the door. He continued while I went for the door. I opened it without looking through the peephole, after all criminals don't come during the daylight hours, especially around here. Opening it, I was immediately pushed aside. In came none other than my sister, Zelda. "Hi Jace. I just came over to tell you how much fun I had last night." Please tell me that this was not happening. "Do you know it has been a good while since I have seen that good of a concert? I mean it was fantastic." She continued. Great. All she would have to do is get a closer look and get an even better show. "Zee, keep your voice down." I whispered. "Oh sorry you have one of your guys staying here?" "Actually I have five of them here." I said, but I failed to mention that they were not on the team. "Did you have the room?" "Yes. Two in the guest room and two on the pullout." "And the other one?" "Slept in a sleeping bag in my room." "Well I don't want to disturb any of them, seeing how they have another game tonight. I was happy after I heard on the news that you guys won, congrats." "Still got one more to go." "I better be off then." But as luck would have it, she did not leave soon enough. Joey came out of the bathroom and stared at the woman in the foyer. Zelda did her own staring up and down she looked him over then turned to me. "He looks familiar. What position does he play?" She asked. Little did I know that Joey decided to play the role of smart ass. "Normally I play the role of entertainer, singer, and..." He began. Joey was unable to get the last parts out as I knew what was coming and immediately put my hands over her mouth so that only muffled sounds came out. I saw her eyes dart around the room. God only knows what or who she was looking for, but somehow I could take a guess. "Would you please be quiet?" I loudly whispered into her ear. It seemed as I wasn't getting through to her. "Do you promise not to scream if I take my hand away from your mouth?" I asked once again. She nodded slowly and hesitantly I withdrew my hand, but was ready to put it back at any second. Immediately she came after me and started choking my neck. While applying pressure to my neck she was able to whisper out angry words. "Why didn't you tell me you had them staying with you? When did they get here? How long have you known them?" At this point I was losing consciousness very quickly and my face was changing to a crimson red as my cells were searching for oxygen anywhere they could get them. I was glad at that moment Joey noticed my position and dragged my sister off of me. Standing up I breathed deeply and calmed myself before speaking to Zelda. "First, I didn't know 'till last night. They got here this morning, and I have known them for several days now." I whispered at her. "Now would you please apologize to Joey at the way you acted." Immediately she apologized and sat quietly in a chair. Seconds later I heard movements come from all corners of the house. They must all get the same amount of sleep I thought, unless this was a first. Justin was the first to infiltrate the kitchen he quickly bypassed Joey, myself, and Zelda, and headed to the coffee. At first glance I thought he was still asleep, maybe sleepwalking. JC and Chris came out of the guest bedroom next. They both looked awake and ready to begin the day. As the dining room/kitchen was starting to fill up, it was beginning to look like an underwear and boxers commercial. "Good morning." Chris said cheerfully to everyone. "Shhh." I commented. "James is still sleeping." "Ah, gotcha. And who might you be?" Chris said turning his attention to my sister. "My name is Zelda. I'm Jace's sister." She said. JC looked around counting heads with his eyes, "Where's Lance?" "He's still sleeping." I said. "Oh ok." "Jace?" Zelda questioned. "Where did you put the guys up? You don't have that much room." "Um, Joey and Justin were on the pull out sofa, JC and Chris took the spare bedroom, and James slept in the sleeping bag in my room." I was not going to tell them that he slept in my bed. What would the reaction be, not only from my sister but from the rest of the guys. "Well I hope you had a good night's sleep. Its like a bed and breakfast here at times, although most of the time it's been Terry that has been sleeping over. He doesn't like the parties that the rest of the guys throw." My sis said. "Oh really?" Chris asked eagerly. "Yeah, parties are definitely not his thing. He's much too shy and soft spoken." James picked that moment to come out of my bedroom. "Jace, I have to admit. Last night was one of the best nights of sleep I've had in a long time." Most everyone looked at him in wonder. JC was the first to chime in, "Since when is a sleeping bag a good night's sleep." "Who's talking about the bag, I'm talking about that bed. It's so soft, I felt I was in an actual German bed, like they have in their own houses. The feathers made the blanket warm, yet not so that it was tight." I think most of the guys didn't hear the entire speech, they were too busy caught up in that bed. I know I was. "Man Scoop you have never moved that fast on someone before." Chris said. "Oh grow up Chris." James said getting what they were thinking of. "It was cold and I asked if I could get a warmer place." "Naturally." Joey said sarcastically. It was at this moment that I turned away as if to be amused by something else in the room. Zelda saw me and immediately moved in for the kill. "Jace!!! You better tell me everything you did last night." She said. I then noticed that not only her, but Joey was also closing in on me. "Um it was nothing. Nothing happened at all." I said meekly looking away. "Liar." Joey said and then pushed Zelda out of the way so he could jump on me. It was at this moment that I knew that Joey had two sides. I quickly found myself on the couch with someone's hands against my throat. Why was everyone trying to get at me, and such an early time in the morning. "Tell me the truth!" Joey screamed at me. "That is the truth." I hoarsed out. I tried to get up but his entire weight was pressed against me, keeping me from escaping. James quickly came over and jumped on Joey trying to get him off. Joey was too filled with anger to be uprooted from me. Chris eventually came over and pried Joey off me. "Nothing happened." James said finally getting through to Joey. "It was freezing last night and the sleeping bag did not provide enough warmth." "Oh. And how do we know he didn't give you the sleeping bag on purpose? Hmmm..." Joey said looking at James directly in the eyes. James wasn't backing down. "We know because we made our own sleeping arrangements, remember." "Ok, so why didn't he just get up and get another blanket for you." He came back with. Silently I pointed over to a closet in the living room. "Inside is the linen and blankets and if I were to get it. I would have to climb over the couch bed." "Check and mate." Chris said trying to lighten the mood. "Ouch, I guess I jumped to conclusions a little bit." Joey said looking pathetic and sad at the same time. "Sorry Jace, but I just gotta watch out for my brother here." "What about Justin?" I asked. "Oh he knows what I can do to get any secrets out of him, but he cannot hide any secrets anyway, so he's not a problem." Joey responded. Zelda during the chatter back and forth had taken a seat on the kitchen counter sitting and watching like a raven. Justin saw this and went over once the talking was over. "So are you getting a good eagle-eye view from this point." He asked. "Uh, yeah. But now I really think I ought to be going. I think I wasted enough of Jace's time and got him into enough trouble." She said as she jumped off the counter and headed towards the door. One thing I will say about Zelda is that she hates to get me into trouble. Chance used to get me in trouble with my parents and would blame his failures on me and so I would always get slapped around and was forced to take the blame. Zelda knew all of this, but our parents never believed her. I opened the front door for her, "Zee, you will come to the game tonight? Won't you?" She looked back at me, "Well I was going to stay home." "Please." I said. "Alright, I'll come. I'll see you there." She said and left me alone to my guests. Justin called me back from the living room. "Jace come on in here. I want to talk to you." I shut the door and returned to the living room and sat down on one of the chairs. "Ok Justin what do you want to talk about." I said. As I said that everyone had grabbed a coffee or some fruit from the kitchen and come to the living room to listen to Justin speak. "When we go to the game tonight, what will we need to expect?" "You should expect to have a lot of fun with drama and hysterics wrapped into one." I replied. "Ok, that's part of it. But what about the hockey fans they won't try to mug us and get at us will they?" He asked again. I used their collective name. "Nsync, you will have to understand that in a hockey arena, there are no boy bands. There is no pop music. There is anger, joy, fear, anxiety, drama, and everything else. Its like going to a wrestling match and Limp Bizkit is performing. Hmmm...remember that song you did Bringin da Noise?" "Yeah so?" JC asked. "Think of that. Play the song in your head, think of the lyrics, and now amplify it twenty to thirty fold." "Wow." Chris said softly replaying the image in his head. "You're telling me that a hockey game is as exciting as one of our concerts?" JC asked. "I'll let you decide that." I said. "And you are playing North Dakota right?" James asked. "Yep." "You really think we are going to have a good time there?" Chris asked cautiously. "I think so." Justin said. "So what does everyone feel like eating?" I asked settling in what could be a hard day. * * * It was an hour and a half before game time and there was no audience in the arena like always. Nsync was on my heel following me into the arena. "Guys you've seen arenas before, but have you seen this?" I asked pointing to the grand sheet of ice. "Normally I try to avoid icy surfaces, but I may have to make a few exceptions now." Chris said gazing at himself in the mirrored ice. Just then I heard several people entering the skate lobby. Turning to look I saw that it was a few of my guys with Terry in tow. The guys gave me a wave and Terry came over. I didn't get to say anything to Terry as he was pulled away from just getting to the group by Chris who was eager to see him. They quickly disappeared from my view. Justin looked up toward the rafters, "So how many people does this place hold?" "Ah not that much only 4500. Its just perfect for university activities." Joey came from behind me while I was looking up and put me in a headlock. "Come on, let me go." I said coughing feigning choking. Little did I know that Devon would come from behind. Joey continued talking. "And where would you like us to sit? Up top in the belfry so we aren't noticed." Squeaking out, "As I said earlier, no one cares about you. They are here to root for Central Michigan." "What exactly are you doing to our Assistant Coach?" Devon asked getting near enough to see the situation. Once again Joey had the wrong answer, "Just making sure he realizes who's in charge around here." That's all that Devon needed and in a flash I was out of Joey's headlock, and Joey was out on the ice sliding around trying to get back towards the skate lobby isle. Devon said nothing but went back to the locker room. JC was the first to act, "I guess I'll get ice boy." Justin was no where to be seen. I looked around, absolutely no where. "Now where did Justin go?" I asked James. "I don't know. I was watching Joey when he left, I guess." "Well we still have some time, so let's go to the locker room." We entered to find several of the guys poking and prodding something on the trainer's table in the main area. "What have we got here?" I asked my guys. Davis spoke up, "We caught this guy lurking around back here and decided to question him. You came in before he could say anything." I broke up several of the guys so I could get through to see who this person was. Yep, it was... "Justin!" James called out. "What? I was doing some exploring." He said as an excuse. "You know this guy?" Devon asked. "Yes I know him and the guy you threw out on the ice. They are several of my friends." I responded. "They sure are..." "Rambunctious?" I said. "Yeah. Like I found out that this one on the table here, is chalk full of energy." Devon said. "Um Devon, Davis, could you do me a favor and take James, here, on a quick tour of the penalty boxes and the benches. I want to talk to Justin in my office for a minute." I said. They both agreed and ushered James out and I hauled Justin into my office. "Justin. You could have at least asked to go into the locker room." He just sat there not saying anything. "Hmmmm...let me put it to you this way. What if some one came into your changing area during one of your concerts? How would you act?" "Like there was a crazed fan out to find us." He said. "Exactly and believe it or not. Hockey has its crazed fans as well." "You mean either have you come in with me or get to know the guys better." "Exactly. Remember there can be as many as 29 people in this room all at once." "Don't worry I won't stand in the line of fire." "That's all I'm asking. Now let's see where Devon and Davis has dragged James off to." We quickly exited the locker room and went rink side to see that they were playing with James on the ice. They were sliding him back and forth across center ice. I waved them over. "I can't get up." I heard James shout out. Devon and Davis slid James over to me. "Here comes the blue plate special." I whispered to Justin. James was soon on the boards trying to get off the ice. "Come on you can do it." I encouraged him. Eventually he had a death grip on the boards and pulled himself off the ice. "If you really wanted to learn how to skate, you could have just asked me." I said to James only to hear Justin snicker from behind me. "Devon, Davis, why don't you go do some early stretching in the back." I said. They complied and left me, Justin, and James. "Now what were you snickering about Justin?" I asked. "I was taking a look at the love birds." I looked around and Justin was pointing at the corner of the arena. And in the far corner, in the upper part of the mezzanine, there was Terry and Chris. I continued scanning the crown of the arena and found JC and Joey in another corner walking along the seats pointing towards the sound system speakers which hung above the ice. I suddenly remembered that I had a few things before game time to get through with. Not wanting to leave the guys by themselves... "Guys I have a few things to take care of in my office. If you want to talk with any of the players and ask them questions go ahead, they won't bite. I shouldn't take too long." Justin took off, but James stood firm. "Would you mind if I tagged along?" He asked. "No, if you won't be bored." "I don't think so." "Well come on then." We went to my office to find it as messy as I had left it from the previous night: Pre-game line ups, inter period stats, and score updates from the rest of the league. Taking my arm I just plowed all of the papers onto the floor and took out a new line up sheet to try and arrange. While placing it in front of me and getting out past statistics, I saw James pick up a few of the papers and started to look them over. "Do you go through this every game?" He asked. "Yes." I answered. Tapping my pencil on the line up sheet, I found myself unable to make up my mind about who I should start with on the defense. James picked up on this being that my tapping kept growing louder. "What is the problem?" "I'm just having trouble choosing a d-man to start for us." "How about if I choose?" "Sure, go ahead. I cannot make up my mind, might as well take anyone else's opinion." James looked over the list of defensemen very closely. His actions indicated a detective-like mind going over the evidence with a fine tooth comb. But in a complete follow-through of the Three Stooges in dizzy detectives, James came up with the most bold answer that he could. "Got it." He said proudly. "Who?" "Trout." He said as if he had found the medicine to cure all illnesses. "Trout?" I questioned. "Vince Trout?" "Yes." He said beaming. "Alright," I said and circled the name on the sheet, "but would you mind telling me why?" Then it happened, all that confidence came crashing down. "Um..." was all he could squeak out. "Let me guess," I closed my eyes and leaned back in my tilting chair, "you chose the name because it reminds you of fish. And both being fish, you thought of him being a guppy because of his 5'6" height and then you thought of yourself as a red hot snapper, for obvious reasons." When I reopened my eyes, he was right in front of me nose to nose, looking directly at my eyes. "Actually, I thought of myself as a shark hunting my prey." He said continuing to stare. "Well, we'll see how well you hunt. * * * During the game, the five were spread throughout the arena in three different locations: Justin and JC were sitting in the lower box seats, Joey and Chris were sitting in the mezzanine after Joey wanted to see all the ice, but didn't want to sit alone, and James sat two rows behind the home bench. * * * "Justin would you sit down. Stop bouncing around." JC scolded. "I can't see everything." Justin whined. "You can see everything if you just sit down." * * * "If you take your hands away from your eyes you could see what is happening." Joey said trying to wrench Chris' hands back to the armrests. "I don't want to see him get hurt. You heard what happened the other day to him." "Come on they are used to it." * * * During the game I found it hard to concentrate on the game. I kept finding myself looking in James' direction. But every time I would get back on track, my mind was like a trap setting and resetting to go off. But I couldn't really complain. We had held our own in the series against North Dakota winning the first game, and tonight tying them at 1. I was in the locker room watching the last of my guys leave, while the other guys were in my office. Once the last had left, I retreated back into my office to find six faces. "So what do you guys want to do now?" I asked. "We usually celebrate by heading over to Phil's." Terry said. "Phil's." I said with a huge grin on my face that only Terry knew about. "Sounds good to us." Lance said already aware of how the food was. "Alright let's go. I'll take James, Justin, and JC. Terry, you take Joey and Chris." "Sure thing." I called out to Dean. "Dean, be sure to lock up." "No problem." * * * When we arrived at the Diner, I opened the door to the 'Night Effect,' the club that Phil's turned into at night. The club was loudly pumping out music by Christina Milan. Leading the guys in, I led them past several players, girls, groupies, and other creatures of the night partying. I saw Phil serving drinks and he pointed to the back and got the hint. I continued towards the back to the private room, reserved in part for only me. As we got in, we took seats around the table. "I like this place. Comfortable yet cozy." Chris said getting closer to Terry. "Well I'm going back to the dance floor." JC said taking off his jacket. "I'm coming with you, hold on." Joey stated. The two left rather quickly leaving Justin the odd one out. "So Justin, did the games live up to your expectations?" I had to ask. "Oh yeah, it was terrific. Although, JC keep telling me to sit down and be quiet." "This is an arena to have fun, scream, cheer do what you want." I said. "Say Jace you wouldn't happen to know when there will be any good games coming up?" Justin asked. "Sure just look up college hockey on the internet and you will see tons of stuff." I said. Soon afterwards Phil came in excitedly. "What's up Phil?" I asked. "Something you have been waiting for has just come in, or rather I finally went and got it." He said. "Oh what is it?" James asked for me. Phil said, "Its the big brother tv theme from Australia." "Excellent. Are you going to play it on the loudspeaker for everyone to dance to?" I said more of a statement than a question. "Sure." He said and ran to the back. Quickly I heard the beginning of that all too familiar tune... "I know you can dig this..." The song began. "Shall we dance?" I asked James, literally dragging him out of his seat. Immediately we started to have fun and I'm sure everyone on the dance floor in the other room was having fun as well. "I can't believe this is happening." The song spoke again. 'You're telling me.' I thought to myself. And we danced through the rest of the song. As it came to an end I went to one of the kitchen doors and shouted in. "Hey Phil can you put on some soft dancing music!" "Of course!" Came the shouted response. The sound speaker began spitting out Shaggy's "Angel." As the music played, James and I rocked back and forth slow dancing to the beat. I closed my eyes enjoying every beat of the song with someone who I felt comfortable with. Slightly opening my eyes I could see Chris and Terry nearby dancing as well, but they were staring into each other's eyes. I could only wonder what they were thinking about, but I so wanted to know. I grasped onto James a little tighter and he responded the same. Pulling my head off his soft shoulder I looked at his eyes and tried to read them. There was nothing there to read that I could tell, rather no underlying feeling, all the emotion he was feeling was upfront and reflecting in his eyes. He was hiding nothing. Unlike my hideous brown eyes which I believed were boring. "You know I'm a little jealous." I said softly to him. "Why is that?" "Your eyes. They're bright. Look at mine dull and brown. Later if they advance genetics, I'm having them changed." "No don't. I like them brown. They're part of your personality and more importantly, just one of the many parts of you that I love." The song ended and we went back to our table to talk, order, and eat. I enjoyed the evening thoroughly. We danced through a few more quick songs before we had to leave and head back to the house. They had a huge traveling day for themselves on the bus and they wanted to get all the sleep they could at my place. * * * We got into the house and everyone quickly found their own place to sleep. I was amazed at how quickly they had fallen asleep. I came out of the bathroom to find he entire house silent and dark. I quietly made my way to my bedroom, where I groped to find the bed and ease myself and not to disturb the already dreaming James. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Well what are you waiting for this Chap is over, drop me a line.