#puckthisanswers

[puckthisshift]

Mattdrai and 15 for the ask game please. Thank you!

things you said with too many miles between us

"So, Florida?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"I know you're not chatty this time of day, but you could give me a little more."

"You want me to be pissed?"

Matthew stops. He tries to tuck his hair behind his ear even though it doesn't work, but it gives him time to put himself together and maybe stare at a sleepy Leon a little bit longer.

"No?"

"That sounds like a question." Leon laughs softly. "Matthew, I knew what I was getting into. Or... what I'd like to be getting into."

"Don't innuendo me right now."

"But I mean it." Leon stifles a yawn. "I didn't think you'd pick the team furthest away from Alberta, but I knew."

"So that's it?"

"I'm not getting in your way."

"So you're bailing?"

"You're an idiot."

But Matthew was going to be his idiot. Maybe. They never actually said the words, just in case. But that's what Leon meant. It's what they both meant. And now... It's too far.

Matthew didn't pick Florida for the distance. He picked it for the team, and he kind of picked it to be closer to his mom, but Leon probably knows that. He knows Matthew. He knows this choice wasn't about him, it was about Matthew.

But... a part of Matthew is eagerly awaiting the result of his little test. It's cruel and it's manipulative but...

"I bet Florida is a really nice place for a first date."

Leon sounds like he's already decided, and Matthew's heart is pounding in his throat because... Because.

"Anyone in particular?"

"Just some guy. Kinda cute when he's trying to play it cool."

"Only then?"

"If you're gonna angle for phone sex again, you can at least take that hideous shirt off."

For once, Matthew decides to pick his battles and take the shirt off. It's nice to get a preview of what their life together is going to be like.

"We should practice our phone sex. Practice makes perfect."

Matthew's innocent look doesn't fool Leon one bit. But it doesn't need to. Leon gets to see right through him.

#mattdrai #kairos44 #puckthisanswers

[puckthisshift]

For the fic ask game: ✦ (what was your easiest fic to write & your hardest?), please😊

Accidental Pup Acquisition might actually be the easiest fic to write. Like, it almost felt like it wrote itself. Kat is partially based on my adorable (yet savage) niece, which helped a lot, but also the MattDrai dynamic was so damn fun to write. The banter, the smut, the... all of it, really.

In contrast, I think the hardest fic to write was either the magical medieval MattDrai or part of the Promises verse. The magical fic because it was so outside of my normal frame of reference and I had to be so clever about the curse and the progression of it. I mention Promises mostly because it was such a huge undertaking and at times I wasn't in a great place and putting a lot of pressure on myself to get the writing perfectly right. I'm so proud of it, but it was a beast to write.

#mattdrai #puckthisanswers #puckthiswrites #sarahs rambles

[puckthisshift]

For the ask game: 3 & 29 😊

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Okay, this changes all the time. I love all of my babies (stories) for different reasons but I think right now it has to be either the fic I'm working on (omg it's gonna be so good just ask @whatsaboomlakalaka she knows), or my siren/werewolf fic. But tomorrow it might be the magical fairy tale.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

(from the sequel to Matthew Does Mallorca that I didn't finish in time for the holidays and scrapped)

The entire Tkachuk family is in town for the holidays, but somehow Matthew has argued and bartered so that he and Leon have the entire house to themselves. He’s heard Matthew muttering about the amount of favors he now owes Taryn, and he is impressed and slightly terrified. Leon hasn’t even met her - what if she thinks he’s not worth it? 

“Some people know how to communicate,” Matthew brags as he drags Leon over to the couch. “You know what they say when you assume your family isn’t at your house…”

“Fick dich.”

Leon loves him so much. It’s annoying. 

And he knows Matthew, knows exactly what kind of stupid response he can expect to any hissed German curses that Matthew takes as a genuine offer every time. Perhaps because they usually are. It’s not just Matthew who’s insatiable. 

“Right here? You are feeling adventurous.” Matthew is smiling ear to ear. 

“Remind me who dragged who into the trainer’s room?”

#sarahs-rambles #puckthisanswers #mattdrai

[puckthisshift]

From the fanfiction writer ask meme:

M: What’s the weirdest AU scenario you’ve ever come up with?  Did it turn into a story?

Honestly, I come up with a lot of weird AUs. Just ask @ladybirddoes or @whatsaboomlakalaka - I tend to see a pic and a description and I'm off to create an elaborate AU that I will never actually write.

Not beyond chat fic anyway. OMG, there's so much chat fic. Anything from really dystopian NHL breeding programs to soppy romance where Matthew is a children's librarian.

So many AUs, and so few of them actually see the light of day...

#may the puck be with you #puckthisanswers

[puckthisshift]

14 with Mattdrai please. thanks!

things you said after you kissed me

"Why do you taste like sour candy?"

Leon makes a face, trying to get the taste out of his mouth. It's not his usual reaction to kissing Matthew, but then again he isn't usually trying to punish Leon for some perceived slight.

"You know what you did."

He has no clue.

"Is this about..." Leon trails off on purpose.

Sometimes Matthew will reveal his issue that way, by Leon distracting him from the fact that he doesn't know what he did.

Does that make him sound like a thoughtless dick? Yeah, it probably does, but Leon knows that there are extenuating circumstances. Matthew is more prickly these days, and Leon cannot blame him for going stir-crazy without hockey or training.

Plus the summer Florida heat isn't helping.

"Yes, it's about you getting the wrong ice cream." Matthew pouts.

Leon would kiss him again if it wasn't for the taste. Somehow it's worse than anything else Matthew has tried so far. Probably because he still had some sour candy in his mouth while they kissed.

Maybe Leon should question his taste. His own.

"Sweetheart, they didn't have your favorite, I told you that." Leon smiles softly. "I promise I looked for it and asked the clerk. I want to take care of you. We can go look somewhere else if you want? I bet it would be nice for you to go outside for a bit."

Matthew's been hiding, not wanting the world to see him the way he looks now. He's not ashamed, he tells Leon. He's nervous. Worried about being recognized and losing his precious privacy.

And Leon gets it. It's nice having something that's just for them.

"Ugh." Matthew puts a hand on the curve of his belly. "She says yes."

"But what do you say?"

"Can we swim?" Matthew cuddles as close to Leon as he can. "I feel so huge and... We can get the ice cream delivered."

The pool is perfectly comfortable, leaving Matthew with an easy way to get some movement in. He's been struggling so much with the doctor's mandate that he take it easy in these final weeks. He keeps pushing his limits, and Leon knows he doesn't handle being idle very well. He's been taking the brunt of it. Of course, he knows.

"Excellent idea."

"Kiss me?"

"Wash your mouth with something better and I will."

Matthew accepts the ultimatum, having some Gatorade and leaning in eagerly. Leon can't help but kiss him again, once, twice, a third time.

"Much better." Leon ducks down to kiss Matthew's belly too. "I'll order an extra pint of ice cream."

#mattdrai #puckthisanswers #otter core #idk this just happened I blame otter

[puckthisshift]

WIP?? What is it about 👀👀

I swear I’ll get better at answering asks, but… I’m like 10k into a new fic that’s promising to be an epic.

It’s a biological Dom/sub fic (I know, what the fuck happened there?) where Matthew is on the panthers and Leon is not a hockey player but… he works for the panthers.

I want to write a whole world of it but… progress is slow atm

#mattdrai #puckthisanswers #puckthiswrites

[puckthisshift]

Hello! 7, 15 and 18 for the ask game please!

7. How many ideas for fics do you have right now?

I'm actively working on 2 WIPs (both MattDrai), but with very different vibes. An epic that'll be more complicated, and a shorter (35-40k) fic I've been referring to as Accidental Pup Acquisition. And I have a couple more ideas in the back of my mind because I love writing fics for friends and the spring is birthday season, so.... But those are more along the lines of "ship + trope/one line idea".

15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters?

Spotify? I usually use song lyrics for songs I listen to while writing or a song I like that works with the vibes of the fic. Though sometimes I will DM my friends to be like "these are the vibes, do you have a song suggestion?" Thanks Anna for the current WIP

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

“Can I take your brother from you?” Leo is polite, for once. 

“I don’t think he’ll mind if you do some taki-”

Matthew has to cut her off right away. “Taryn!” 

from: this night is sparkling (don't you let it go)

#kairos44 #puckthisanswers #mattdrai

[puckthisshift]

WIP word game: wrist(s)

I fought Google Docs for this and won

Tkachuk holds out his arms, bare wrists up, pale skin on display in an ancient form that Leon hasn’t seen beyond pictures. Okay, perhaps it isn’t ancient, but it is not the done thing and hasn’t been in a long time - so it’s odd for someone as young as Tkachuk to do it. 

Not that the sight of those vulnerable wrists, paler than the rest of Tkachuk’s skin, doesn’t awaken something in Leon. He is being given something precious, something that isn’t easy for Tkachuk to give up. Something not without risks for Tkachuk, and… It’s like Leon’s dog baring his belly to Leon, trusting him to take care of Bowie’s needs. 

“Is this how you want it?” Leon has to make sure. 

It earns him an eye roll. “I’ll tell you if I don’t. Can you just… Oh.” 

#little-magicpuff #puckthisanswers #mattdrai #this is from the epic i should get back to #after i finish the supposedly short fic that's now over 15k

[puckthisshift]

Happy 1,000,000 words of mattdrai (wouldn’t it be so embarrassing if that’s the wrong number of zeros)!!! Maybe you could do like a little ‘send me an emoji and I’ll respond with a snippet from a WIP or a piece I never posted’ thing or a ‘send me an emoji and I’ll write a little Mattdrai blurb around it” thing. Those are always fun.

Hey nonny,

Thanks so much for this message. You got the perfect number of zeroes, don't you worry.

I definitely have a WIP (and a couple fics I might finish, and even a couple I might not)... If people are interested, I'd be happy to do some snippets from things that might or might not get published.

Of course, people are always welcome to send me an emoji or one-word prompt for MattDrai. I'll get my shit together and make up a nice post about it at some point...

#puckthisanswers #mattdrai #a million words of mattdrai

[puckthisshift]

Time after Time: how are the -you're kinda sexy but you're not really special-guys doing in like 10 years?

Okay, so they'd be in their early/mid-thirties.

I like to think that Matty has worked his way up to becoming an assistant coach or mentor of some kind for the Edmonton Oil Kings, helping teenagers with a world of pressure on their shoulders deal with the challenges of trying to go pro. He's getting to a point where the kids are more likely to call him Matt than Matty, and he's feeling some kind of way about it.

Leon is still working for the Oilers as some kind of athletic therapist, often traveling with the team. He and Connor are still friends, which is something a lot of new teammates are confused about. As he's gotten older, people have started to forget about third overall Draisaitl, and he just gets to be Leon.

Matthew and Leon have a house - not huge but with a yard big enough for Bowie. There's a guest room that mostly gets used by Yamo when he's in town, and there's a box hidden underneath the bathroom sink that's waiting until Leon finds the right moment. He's been waiting a year or so.

Matty has known of its existence for nine months and he's getting impatient.

They have had sex in every single room of their house at least three times, and in various parts of Rogers Place. It's considered an Oilers right of passage to find them making out or fooling around somewhere. They save the bondage and kink for their bedroom.

Bitte still works.

#puckthisanswers #fic: you're kinda sexy #mattdrai

[puckthisshift]

would you ever write mcmattdrai

Short answer? No.

I have zero interest in getting Davo involved in my MattDrai, and shipping Davo and Leon, or Davo and Ratthew together doesn't interest me on any level. It doesn't hit my buttons, so I don't read it and won't write it.

I'm more into other narratives for Davo.

#puckthisanswers

[puckthisshift]

OBSESSED with your new fic! I looked again the tags first and i got so excited real quick lol did you have plans to write a sequel? Maybe when they have their baby? I would do just about anything for kidfic!

Hey nonny!

Glad to hear you loved the fic - at the moment I don’t have plans for any sequels. I did recently write a MattDrai kid fic and I’m not sure I’d be able to top that 😉

#mattdrai #puckthisanswers

[puckthisshift]

WIP guessing game: dismiss

From a long fic I’m working on…

Even after everything that has happened to Leon’s family, the queen still treats him with respect. Even though there is no need for her to do so, since she has always greatly outranked them - even more so now than she did before. It would have been so easy for the queen to dismiss Leon outright and let a higher-ranking noble find her daughter.

Did she know of her daughter’s plans too?

#missanniewhimsy #mattdrai #puckthisanswers

[puckthisshift]

do you know if there's any pics out there of matthew with a cat, dog, whatever animal? i need them so bad :(

I've been thinking about this but I don't think I've seen any.

Can the Panthers do a zoo photoshoot like the Oilers did please and thank you?

#matthew tkachuk #puckthisanswers

[puckthisshift]

what's your fave sibling dynamic to write for matthew? and why??

As much as I love Braeden (lol, I can't) I probably will pick Taryn. She's so fun to write, giving her brothers shit and being just as competitive as they are, but also having more of a normal life and normal experiences. She's a great perspective outside of the NHL to write into fic, and it's just so obvious that Matthew loves her and thinks the world of her.

#puckthisanswers

[puckthisshift]

For the writer ask meme: E please😊

E: What character do you identify with most? Is there a certain fic of yours that captures these qualities particularly well?

Honestly, I tend to find an aspect of a character I identify with in most of my stories. I really get Matthew's tendency to brush off compliments, I get Leon's sarcasm that can get misunderstood as being an asshole...

Though I probably tend to go with Matthew a little bit more. Maybe it's the oldest child of it all? I don't know

#sarahs rambles #puckthisanswers