Page 166 of No Line Change

I’ve had the statement drawn up for years you know

The version where you choose to come out and the version where you get caught. I’ll keep them on standby.

I bet you thought you’d only ever use the one where I get caught huh

Kind of

But I always hoped it’d be the other one

When you retired or something, I don’t know

Maybe sooner

Maybe

CHAPTER 65

abqturkeysnhl (March 23, 2024): Impromptu Pride Night here in Albuquerque! Turkeys players take the ice for warm-ups with pride tape in support of @larsnilsson14 and our local LGBTQ+ community!

↪ gobblegoals: this is fantastic!! and also very pleased to note that ALL players participated. last thing i wanted was to have to side-eye my own team for not showing support in the most basic way imaginable…

↪ turkeytalk: Did you see Everett’s post to Nilsson? It started a whole domino effect of Turkeys showing up for Nilsson. The big guy made it clear: the Turkeys are Allies. I think Everett throws them out of the locker room if they step out of line on this one.

luc-henri-sourit (March 23, 2024): Look at that pride night smile!! 10/10 smile

turkeytalk (March 25, 2024): I know I focus primarily on the Turkeys. Our team, our players, that’s what I talk about (it’s literally in my name…) BUT in the wake of Nilssongate, my attention has shifted a tiny bit to a few other corners of the league. Since Nilsson’s rather infamous outburst…

↪ turkeytalk: The Blue Crabs have secured a playoff spot for the first time in years. Both Nilsson and the Crabs have gained a few million followers. Because they’re in the East, I can safely cheer for them without feeling like a traitor.

↪ turkeytalk: The Portland Prowlers are tanking hard. They have lost a lot of games since Baltimore. No one feels bad for them. I do want to put in a slight caveat that I feel bad for the players who seemed unaware of Nilsson’s issues with a problematic management. But they were kind of assholes to him all season so…I can’t feel that bad.

↪ turkeytalk: After the Turkeys started the trend, several other teams hosted impromptu Pride Nights to show support. With it being so close to playoffs, I’m not surprised it hasn’t caught on more—team focus might be elsewhere rn and I get it—but I’m glad to see that this isn’t just getting ignored and Nilsson isn’t getting pushed out.

↪ gobblegoals: i know this isn’t really related, but can we also take a moment to point out that the storm are also sucking rn? this dates back to the turkeys visiting them before the all star weekend, so it’s not related to nilsson. i just like talking about how they’ve dropped dangerously low in the standings and might not even make playoffs.

↪ turkeytalk: The Storm are falling and the Turkeys are rising in the standings. Can’t say I hate it.

Henri saw the roll of pride tape in his stall before every home game and felt it in his gut. He’d loved that moment on the ice when the whole team had used the tape. The smiles and kind words of support.

For someone else.

Not for their own captain or their newest center. The people right in front of them.

They would support him and Dylan, he thought. But it was easy to go through the motions when it was a distant thing. A gay man in Baltimore they saw twice a year. Not two men they saw every day. Hard to tell what was performative and what was genuine.

Because he hadn’t been genuine either, had he? Henri had lied by pretending he was someone else. He’d used the tape and kept it, but he wasn’t proud. He was proud of Nilsson, he supposed, but he couldn’t really feel it while he hid. So he stared at that roll of tape, the beautiful rainbow so bright and comforting, and hoped he’d get the chance to use it properly some day.

“Listen up, babes.” Dylan came into the locker room from whatever interview and clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “I just promised a hundred reporters that we’d make the playoffs, so don’t make me look like a chump.”

“LET’S FUCKING GO!” Novak screamed. He stood up and chest-bumped Dylan, who responded with an even harder chest bump. They continued getting into each other’s space, chest-to-chest and yelling nonsense at each other like cavemen. Henri watched with the kind of bemused resignation everyone must feel when their partner did something so embarrassing in public.

When they were done—and they were only done because Krzysztofek poked his head into the locker room and told them to shut the fuck up and get dressed—Dylan caught Henri’s eye. He had a huge smile and looked so fucking handsome. He winked at Henri before going to his stall to put on his gear.

Henri bit back his own smile as he turned back to his own stall. He reached past the pride tape, let his fingers brush it, and grabbed the black tape behind it.

abqturkeysnhl (March 29, 2024): PLAYOFFS HERE WE COME! After beating the Gliders, the Turkeys have officially secured a playoff berth! They’re fourth in the Central Division and will have at least a Wildcard spot. With seven games left this season and a very tight race, it’s possible for them to move up to second in the division.

↪ turkeytalk: Fuck yeah!! I’m going to need everyone who doubted me, Baptiste, and the Turkeys to get in line and apologize.