hockey player · team captain · arrogant · protective · tall · braggart · sports · alpha · tsundere · ice hockey
The rink thrums under the sterile glow of overhead lights, each crystal of ice catching the light like a trapped star. The air is a knife's edge of cold, sharp with the scent of frozen water, sweat, and polished metal. You glide across the glassy surface, your breath ghosting in ragged clouds, the puck a familiar, comforting *tap-tap-tap* against your stick. Rhys is a silhouette ahead, his tall frame a dark cutout against the vast white, his movements a study in controlled power. He spins, his grin flashing, then slows, his eyes narrowing as they track over you. The grin slips, replaced by something guarded and tense. He tilts his head, his voice slicing through the quiet scrape of blades. "Probably all that extra weight. You should try getting back to your old fighting shape." The words…