#jack laurent zimmermann

[hockey-prose]

smh game night

my brain wouldn’t leave me alone until i put these thoughts down in a post but it’s 4 am and will probably be incoherent. anyway. (woke up this morning to finish this up, tired as hell but i’ll be thinking of this at work today, i just know it.) also i’m tagging @absolutepie because i feel like you’d think of more funny scenarios and as mutuals, i have to respect your craft lmao

so the smh gang are all spread out on the east coast. none of them are very far from one another, but sometimes on the weeks where bitty’s had a lot of trouble with the cook book and the publishing company and ugh!! and jack has been having a rough week with the falcs (not his teammates but sometimes his self doubt gets the better of him. his therapist says healing isn’t a straight line and he feels marginally better) shitty has law school by the throat but when the weekend comes, maybe he just wants to relax on the couch with lardo and her big ass electric sketch machine (he should really learn the name of it so he can buy her a new compatible pen for christmas)

LONG STORY SHORT: they try to have game nights every weekend either at jack and bitty’s or at haus 2.0 with the frogs, the taddies, and even the waffles get an invitation, though they’re still a little occupied with school. ollie and wicks (love them) can rarely make it but always dominate the night. but sometimes work and personal life gets in the way and not everyone wants to put in the effort to travel a couple hours for a game night. it’s reasonable!

so, the smh gang proposes online game nights. they start on skype, which is a disaster.

(“jesus fuckin christ jack, i thought you had the fastest internet known to man and yet bitty is still a minute behind on everything.”

“it’s not my fault, shits. i’m not god of the wifi router.”

“well, you should be.”)

then they migrate to discord for a little bit, but it’s not user friendly for everyone. nobody talks about the summer of 2019 when jack cursed up a storm trying to get the microphone out of push-to-talk mode when it wasn’t even in push-to-talk.

and so it’s not long before everyone is locked inside and forced to use zoom for everything anyway. but it’s better than skype for connection reasons, and easier than discord for technology reasons, so it’s good.

so the game changes every week. sometimes it’s a huge game of uno online that doesn’t make much sense. other times it’s a tense battle of go fish on one of those sketchy websites where you don’t really trust it but when there’s nothing else!

honestly they could just get a couple games for the gaming consoles they have, but then everyone would have to shill out the money for said consoles if they don’t have them and it’s not worth the time. everyone has a computer or at the very least, a laptop that can run both zoom and go fish at the same time.

but one week, it’s bitty’s turn to pick the game they play. and he has a good idea. so good, he doesn’t even reveal what it is until the night of when everyone is eagerly waiting. when bitty shares his screen and starts playing the ‘shark tank’ music, everyone gets hyped. (tv show where small businesses and/or potential businesses pitch their product in front of a panel of judges to see if they want to invest in the product.)

bitty distributes a starter of $10,000 to four people in the call and tells them that they’re the investors (the sharks). shitty, jack, nursey, and holster are the sharks. people lose their shit when bitty asks for certain members of the crew to give their pitches. lardo, chowder, whiskey, and ransom are the people giving pitches.

lardo obviously wins the first round, and then a second one starts up, with a sweeping victory from whiskey. everyone is clambering for a chance to be both a shark and a pitcher, but by then, it’s the end of the set hours for game night and everyone has to sign off. but bitty says that the next time his week to choose the game, he’ll do this again with different people as the sharks and pitchers.

soon there’s a tally in the haus 4.0 group chat about who has the most wins. lardo is first, with dex behind her, ford in third place, then ransom and holster tied for fourth. if ollie and wicks showed up more, they’d be higher on the list. jack is near the bottom, while bitty is directly in the middle.

the people who win the week before get to be the sharks. they decide the winner on who has the most approval from the sharks. there are four sharks, so it’s majority. if only two sharks invest, it depends on what other people have been given. the money that’s decided on is given to the people immediately as a rolling fund so that they can participate next game night.

lardo has been a shark almost the entire time, but she greatly enjoys critiquing nursery’s work in particular because he has such fantastical ideas with no way to execute them. dex always goes to simple. chowder is a good player and he’s been a shark a couple times, but he really, honestly, enjoys pitching a lot. bitty likes being a shark, but he invests in everyone so his money is always so low. jack invests in no one besides bitty and sometimes shitty. ransom and holster invest in each other’s things. shitty has been a shark maybe twice because his products are batshit crazy. (love you shitty)

shitty likes to think he’s a good persuader outside of being a lawyer but it never works out in his favor. dex, chowder, ransom, and lardo are the best pitchers for their products. bitty is a close one, but sometimes his products are more just what he dreams up that he needs to assist him in the kitchen. nursey, holster, and shitty go for the humor route.

because they’re all friends, they can rag on each other’s products and ideas so much without getting any feelings hurt. i’m thinking the smh gang works much like the jenna julien podcast when they play this game where if it’s shitty pitching to lardo, she’ll automatically say she’s out before he can even finish because his product is either a pun or just bad. the zoom is overrun with yelling and arguing, but at the end of the night, everyone says they had a lot of fun.

i have no conclusion to this. but i think i got all my thoughts out. if i have more, i’ll reblog this and add on but for now, thank you for your time lmao.

#zimbits #omgcp #check please #jack zimmermann #eric bittle #jack laurent zimmermann #check please fanfiction #omg check please #nurseydex #larissa duan #shitty knight #justin ransom oluransi #adam holster birkholtz #derek nurse #william poindexter #chris chow

[onesleep-twopie]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK LAURENT ZIMMERMANN 🎉🎂🎈💕

#omgcheckplease #omgcp #jack zimmermann #my darling dingdong jack laurent zimmermannn

[cricketnationrise]

Shitty and Jack, 4:15 PM, Jack's room in the Haus

MY BOYS (sobs in hockey bro friendship) thank you thank you thank you for this prompt - i loved the excuse to write for them for the first time in a while! 💜🦗

want your own ficlet? TWO DAYS LEFT rules here.

🏒🏒🏒🏒

jack's room, 4:15pm

When Jack frowns his forehead goes all scrunchy and Shitty has a hard time not reaching out and smoothing the lines out like a human iron. Jack has a lot of frowns, from Frown #1: Get Your Shit Together On The Ice I Swear To Gretzky to Frown #46: I Do Not Understand That Reference And I’m Not Sure I Want To and everything in between and beyond. He’s currently wearing Frown #34: That’s Not OSHA Compliant. 

It’s fucking adorable. What a goober.

“Seriously, Shitty, that can’t be safe,” Jack says, all earnest concern. 

“Jack. Jackabelle. Jackabaloo,” Shitty says, throwing an arm over his shoulder. “Let me paint you word picture, okay? After classes and practice, you and me, snacks, a drink if we feel like, out on the roof, surveying our new domain. You could even study like the giant fucking nerd that you are. We’d be kings of all the light touches, et cetera. You feel me? Plus, generations of SMH team members have been out on the Reading Room before us, and many will after us. It’s tradition.”

Jack crosses his arms. “The fact that so many people have been out there only worries me more, honestly.”

“It looks fine to me,” Shitty shrugs. “And Johnson says it’s structurally sound.”

Jack snorts. “Oh well if Johnson says it’s safe—”

“His dad’s an engineer or something. He checks the Haus over every summer.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh, now get that big beautiful but of yours in gear and help me get it set up.”

Frown #12: I Think I Missed A Pertinent Segue

“Set up?”

“Chairs, lights, cooler, blankets, tarp – for a start. We’re gonna trick this place out.”

Jack sighs, frowning down at the pile of gear Shitty gathered earlier. (Frown #19: I’m Thinking So Hard It Hurts Sometimes.) “You’re going to keep badgering me about this until I say yes, aren’t you.” 

It’s not a question.

Shitty beams at the hint of acquiescence in his tone. “You know it brah! It wouldn’t be the same without you out there with me. What kind of a kickass hang out spot could it be without my kickass best friend?”

Jack freezes in shock. It breaks Shitty’s heart how Jack still doesn’t think of himself as important to other people sometimes.

“We should get this ready before dark, then, eh?”

And that— That’s not a frown. That’s a fucking smile. 

Jack has fewer smiles than frowns, but the number of smiles that he lets Shitty (and sometimes the team) see are slowly but steadily increasing. Smile #1: Gooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaal, but it doesn’t matter if Jack is the one to score it or not.

This one is Smile #4: Shitty Called Me His Best Friend – unsurprisingly, it’s Shitty’s favorite.

#cricket writes #ficlet fest 3 #omgcp #jackshit #check please #pre canon #the many expressions of jack laurent zimmermann #set at the beginning of Jack and Shitty's sophomore year #GOD THEIR FRIENDSHIP MAKES ME EMOTIONAL #ficlet #gentleindigo #okay last one for today probably

[wrathofthestag]

I love how we often write Jack as having 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner in his condo, much to Bitty’s dismay and horror.

Please. That boy's mother is a former supermodel. You know his bathroom is full of MALIN+GOETZ and Le Labo products.

2-in-1? Jack Laurent Zimmermann has never.

#jack zimmermann #omgcp headcanons #'i like how they smell bittle' #when he's in NYC he stocks up on Santa Maria Novella soaps #the sandalwood and violetta ones

[omgauplease]

It's Graduation Day!!! We hope you enjoy the final set of wonderful works from our Day 6 creators!

Dream of the Pale Blue Lobster - Rated T - 3,567 words (Chapter 1/7)

Featuring: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter

Summary: Nursey writes a bestselling novel that features a unique pastel-colored lobster that lives in a New England public aquarium. As part of a Netflix series based on the book, Nursey tracks down the lobster boat that caught and provided the specimen to the facility. Captain Dex has no time to spare for all of this artsy nonsense, but Nurse is unexpectedly charmed by Dex. And quite persistent in his quest to know more about him. Why is his boat named that? Why does he always wear this particular hat? How uniform is the distribution pattern of his freckles? What does he look like when he smiles?

These are important questions that Nursey really needs answers to.

.🍎🍎🍎.

Et Cetera - Rated G - 4,857 words

Featuring: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann, Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter, Kent "Parse' Parson & Jack Zimmermann, Alicia Zimmermann/Bob Zimmermann, Richard "Coach" Bittle/Suzanne Bittle

Summary: A collection of letters from the royal archives detailing, among other things, the beginnings of the courtship between Princes Jacques Laurent Zimmermann and Eric Richard Bittle.

.🍎🍎🍎.

out of tune - Rated T - 4.463 words

Featuring: Kent "Parse" Parson/Jack Zimmermann

Summary: Kent Parson is leaning against an open doorway, looking out at the stage and watching the girl working the lights adjust settings on her control desk. He’s scheduled for soundcheck in half an hour, but he’s always early. It’s a remnant from his days playing only these kinds of venues, the sketchy basement clubs with malfunctioning lights and dirt-cheap vodka sodas. The ones where you have to show up on time, or they’ll just shrug and let the next band play instead. The kinds of venues even a scrappy college-dropout kid from Buffalo with too many feelings he didn’t know what to do with except channel into guitar riffs and angry breakup songs got to play in.

.🍎🍎🍎.

Samwell Acres - Rated G - 2,525 words

Featuring: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann, Adam Birkholtz & Eric Bittle & Larissa Duan & Shitty Knight & Justin Oluransi & Jack Zimmermann,

Summary: Denice Ford is excited for her new job at a retirement home. The residents on the floor she's in charge of are a little more... energetic than one might expect.

.🍎🍎🍎.

And I'd choose you - Rated G

Featuring: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann, Larissa "Lardo" Duan/Shitty Knight, Adam "Holster" Birkholtz/Justin "Ransom" Oluransi

Summary: In which we get to see a bit of Samwell's Men Hockey Team on an universe with Daemons (external physical manifestation of a person's soul that takes the form of an animal)! Inspired by the book series "His Dark Materials".

.🍎🍎🍎.

A reminder to all creators whose works are revealed today to please update your publication date to today so that your works are shown at the top of the feed on AO3.

Please also remember to show love through kudos and comments to our creators when you enjoy their work! ❤️

#omg check please #omgcheckplease #omgcp #check please #omgauplease #day 6 reveals #check please fanfic #check please fic #check please art

[omgcpausandstuff]

The True Test of Civilization

Imagine if you will, that Bad Bob has this old teammate; a goalie, but one who is even weirder most goalies. He’s got a Russian accent and he claims to be from this little fishing village that no one has ever heard of and Bob hasn’t been able to find on any map, even when he tried to look it up. Other Russians have never heard of it, or if they have they say it’s a place from a fairy story - like saying your hometown is Camelot. If you get a few drinks in him the stories he tells about it are wild but in a weird way; like, if Bobby was going to tell some made up story where he met a vampire the whole point of the story would be that he met a vampire, he wouldn’t just casually mention halfway through the story “now you have to imagine all this taking place at night, seeing as he is vampire and sensitive to such things” and continue like this is a totally reasonable thing to say. Sometimes there are talking rats. One time his family’s fishing boat caught an octopus the size of a whale.

Anyways, funny guy, demon between the pipes and won Bob several Stanley Cups so he loves him. Goalies, eh? He vanishes back wherever it is he came from and sends a Christmas card every year. Bob doesn’t see him in person again until his retirement party and he’s just as weird as he ever was, if not more so, and ends up staying later than everyone else catching up with Bob.

Jack, who is still young enough for such things, comes down and says that he can’t sleep and asks to be told a story. And Bob is so grateful that he didn’t completely miss this part of his son’s life and so overflowing with love that he turns to his old teammate and says; “I bet Jack would love one of your rat stories.”

Everyone seems amenable to this, so Bob carries Jack upstairs and gets him settled into bed and his old goalie starts explaining how in the town where he grew up, a long time ago the rats there woke up; how they talk and wear clothes and have a king. How they train with swords and wander the rooftops and sail the lake looking for adventure.

Jack takes all that in in the quiet serious way that a stranger might mistake for simple tiredness but Bob knows is just how his son is; chews over a civilization of heroic talking rodents and asks the most Jack Laurent Zimmermann question he possibly could.

“Do they play hockey?”  

#omgcp #check please #alternate universe #chuubo's au #if it got cold enough in Fortitude for it to freeze on a regular basis they absolutely would but it almost never does

[somethingnurseywoulddo]

sometimes to have peace of mind you need to think about jack laurent zimmermanns tits in hazeapalooza

#think of like an early 2000s shimmering screen wobble flashback moment #omgcp #check please #omgcheckplease #check please! #jack zimmermann

[ohyoufool]

FINAL FOUR

MOVE OVER STANLEY CUP. We have a new hockey event in town. It's the fabled rivalry between Providence Falconers superstar Jack Laurent Zimmermann and SUPER HOT Providence Falconers General Manager and/or Literal State Georgia Martin!

Our favorite gay hockey robot with a perchance for spitfire blondes defeated the Haus Ghosts in the first round and past teammate Justin 'Ransom' Oluransi in the second round.

Everyone's favorite casual jogger and/or home of Senators Jon Ossoff (hot) and Reverend Warnock (hot, in respectful way) knocked out Shitty B Knight in round one and William 'Dex' Poindexter in round two. If you ask our experts (me), no one ever stood a chance against her impeccable ponytail. Slay.

Don't forget to vote in the rest of the Final Four (Lardo vs One of Bitty's Pies)

Masterpost

#omgcp thumb war #omgcp thumb war final four #omgcp #omg check please #omgcp polls #jack zimmermann #georgia omgcp

[bookgeekgrrl]

Ten Characters, Ten Fandoms, Ten Tags

I was tagged by @mycupofstars - thank you, I love shit like this!

(in no particular order, except how they popped into my head)

James Buchanan Barnes, Marvel/MCU

Steven Grant Rogers, Marvel/MCU

Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell, The Mummy

Steve Harrington, Stranger Things

Eliot Spencer, Leverage

Leia Organa, Star Wars

Jack Laurent Zimmermann, Check Please!

Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach, Our Flag Means Death

Phryne Fisher, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

Harriet Vane, Peter Wimsey universe

#not like i don't have at least three dozen more that i love almost as well #but these were the first 10 to come to mind when i framed it as 'if i could only take these to the desert island...' #anyway #do the thing if you want #while i love it when people tag me‚ it stresses me tf out to tag other people #fandom i love you #forever faves #i do love shouting facts about myself into the void

[zimbittys]

“you’re not doing this by yourself, okay? we’re a team.” 

#jack zimmermann #check please #omgcp #do it for him #jack laurent zimmermann #i am in love with you #and your droopy love eyes #and especially your Gigantic Ass #lmfao

[kiss--me-please]

It's missing Check, Please o' clock again.

#i miss them so much #omgcheckplease #omgcp #check please #eric bittle #jack zimmermann #zimbits #eric bitty bittle #jack laurent zimmermann #shitty knight #lardo duan #ransom and holster #justin oluransi #adam birkholtz #william poindexter #derek nurse #christopher chow #providence college #samwell men's hockey #samwell university

[onesleep-twopie]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK LAURENT ZIMMERMANN 🎉🎂🎊🎈🎁💖

#happy birthday to The Best Boy #loml #jack zimmermann #omgcheckplease #omgcp

[cricketnationrise]

4:24pm jack's apartment tater

:D

okay for some reason my instinct is to write sad tater but i battled against that bc i didn't want to be sad today. thanks for the prompt, hope you like it!

want your own ficlet? TWO DAYS LEFT rules here.

🏒🏒🏒🏒

jack's apartment, 4:24pm

“But consider this,” Jack is saying, as Bitty pushes him towards the door, “I could stay here instead.”

“You are just the sweetest thing, aintcha? But we both know you’ll melt if you’re away from ice any longer you big Canadian moose. Go skate with Shitty – I know you’ve missed him somethin’ fierce since he was here after the Cup.”

Tater sniggers into the couch cushions at the sight of Jack Laurent Zimmermann – college graduate with honors, top five for the Rocket Richard and Art Ross, runner up for the Conn Smythe, Calder Cup Winner, and Stanley Cup Champion – pouting at his boyfriend.

“Bits—”

“Get out of here, Mr. Zimmermann,” Bitty laughs. “We’ll be just fine on our own, and we’ll be here when you get back.”

“Fine.” Jack leans in for one more kiss and Bitty pushes up into the contact so easily that Tater actually looks away, feeling a little like he’s intruding – only looking up again at the sound of the door closing.

Bitty collects Tater’s evening meds and a slice of pie for both of them before making his way back into the living room, shaking his head fondly. “Never thought I’d see the day when Jack Zimmermann was whining about going to the rink. Somewhere pigs are flyin’.”

“Seem to me like good reason to pout: Little B staying home.”

“You’re sweet as all get out.”

“Am best,” Tater confirms before shoveling blueberry pie into his mouth with a groan of pleasure.

“How’s your leg today? Still sore after PT today?”

“Da. But feels stronger. I��ll be back to start next season I’m thinking.”

Bitty does a little dance in his seat in celebration. “Tater, that’s fantastic! I’m so pleased for you, hon.”

“Is rough, no skate, no running, only bike and swimming sometimes. Feel с ума – not sure what English is – like not wanting to sit still, but forced to.”

“Oh, stir-crazy?” Tater nods. “I totally get that – I got a bad concussion my frog year, couldn’t do anything with impact until the start of the next season. I didn’t think I would miss running in the Georgia heat, but Lord, I would have given anything just to go for a jog, I was so bored.”

Tater lifts his plate and waggles his eyebrows. “Pie helps lots. Would be sad without.”

“Well we can’t have that,” Bitty says, mock seriously before sitting up straight. “Now, to business. Jack will be gone for at least two hours, probably closer to three since Shitty will drag him out for dinner after.”

“We have time to finish Drag Race?”

“We do indeed.”

“Was wrong before. Little B is best.”

Bitty doesn’t say anything, just smiles at Tater fondly, grabs the remote and settles himself against Tater’s side, tucked safely under Tater’s arm. His leg is sore, he’s itching to get back to the ice and conditioning, but Bitty has a way of making all his frustration melt away. 

#cricket writes #ficlet fest 3 #omgcp #check please #tater #seriously this almost went so angsty #WHY is that my instinct with this giant teddy bear man #sweatersinthesummer #ficlet

[atlasthemayor]

I knew what had to be done as soon as i saw the original meme.

(sidenote: Freckled Bitty is CANON IN MY HEART. Thank y'all fic writers that opened my eyes to the truth)

#zimbits #omgcheckplease #check please fanart #jack laurent zimmermann #fanart #traditional art #omgcp fanart #omgcp bitty #meme #Beyoncé #gay #lgbt art #artists on tumblr #eric bitty bittle #my art

[hockey-prose]

Boyfriend with A Side of Wings

Summary: Based on the prompts “help I keep ordering pizzas to see the cute pizza delivery guy"/"I asked for the cutest boy they had on hand and they delivered”. (Cross posted to AO3. Prompts sent to blog poindextears, sent by @tired-ray)

It all started because of Tater. Jack had been on a FaceTime call with his teammate and friend when the buzzer for his apartment went off. It startled him, obviously.

“Better check, Zimmboni!”

Tater sounded far too smug for Jack’s liking. As Jack clicked the com, he grew confused. In front of the camera was a guy around his age, maybe a few years younger. He was wearing a bright red shirt and a matching red baseball cap, the logo on it says ‘Knight’s Pizza”.

“One large pizza for a Mr. Jack Zimmermann?”

A Southern accent floated through the com, and Jack heard Tater let out an honest to god giggle.

“Uh, yeah. Come on up.”

Jack released the button and turned to his friend, who looked positively overjoyed.

“Tater, what is this?”

“You tell me other day about how you want to date again. I order you a boyfriend. Plus he bring you food. I put in special request for him to be cute.”

Jack, despite his normal neutral face, can see his cheeks turn pink in the upper left corner of his phone screen. A knock at his apartment door makes his heartbeat skyrocket.

“Go answer door, Zimmboni, your love awaits!”

“Shut up, Tater.”

Jack hangs up the call. He turns towards the door. He debates opening it up at all. But he knows he should. How terrible would it be for this guy to come all the way and only be left standing out there for who knows how long until he had to leave? Jack heads for the door, already pulling out his wallet.

The guy from before, now deposited in front of him, is small. Not terribly small, but definitely smaller than Jack. And exactly his type. Blond, compact, and all kinds of soft and kind. Damn. How did Tater know?

“I have a large pepperoni for you, Mr. Zimmermann!”

That Southern accent. Damn.

“Euh, thanks. How much do I owe you?”

The pizza exchanges hands. For a brief second, Jack’s fingers brushed against the delivery guy’s, and he felt a zing.

God. Maybe Tater was right. Order a boyfriend. Hah.

“You don’t owe me a thing. It was already paid in full.”

The delivery guy ends his statement with a little bounce on the tips of his toes.

“Oh... well, here. A tip,” Jack says lamely, pressing a twenty into the guys hand.

“Oh! Thank you so much!”

“Yeah. No problem. Thank you too.”

“You have a lovely night now!”

The guy retreats, a bounce in his step. Jack watches him walk down the hall of his apartment complex to the elevators. Jack looks down at the box and sees the special request scrawled across the top.

‘Send cutest delivery driver.’

Later, after half the pizza is consumed and stored in the fridge, Tater texts.

Tater: How was pizza ;)

Jack: Good. You didn’t have to pay for it though. I would’ve done that.

Tater: No no!! No price for getting you boyfriend

God. Okay. Just how lonely did Jack come off?

Jack: Thanks, Tater. Pizza was really good.

Jack: I might order again.

******

Three days later, Jack takes himself up on his word. He’s just arrived home from practice. There’s nothing really in his fridge that he feels like eating and nothing can easily be prepared. He should really go shopping soon.

The pizza box on the bottom shelf of the fridge calls to him. There’s only one slice and even Jack isn’t that much of a jock to eat three day old pizza. He decides to order from the same place. As he dials the number, he wonders how he would be able to get the same delivery guy as before. Tater gave them that special request.

Whatever. Even if he didn’t get the same delivery guy, he would still get great pizza.

Jack finishes his order, adding on a side of wings and sits down to wait. He can’t watch TV or anything else, so he just sits in the quiet. His stomach rolls with nerves.

That same buzz from before alerts him and he quickly approaches the com.

It is the same guy!

“One large pizza and a side of wings for Mr. Jack Zimmermann?”

“Euh, come on up.”

Jack hurries to the door, but realizes he still has to wait. As soon as the delivery guy knocks on the door, he opens it.

“Large pepperoni and wings?”

“Yup. How much? This time I ordered by myself, so my friend didn’t pay for it.”

Nice, smooth way of getting that in there.

“It’s $25.53.”

Jack reaches for his wallet.

“So last time your friend put in that order?”

“Yeah. He thinks I need to start dating again. I did tell him that I wanted to try, so he immediately tried to set me up in the strangest way possible.”

Jack hands over the money, realizes what he said, and immediately begins stuttering an apology.

“I mean, not that you’re strange, but what did he say? He “ordered me a boyfriend”, so it’s a little unconventional. Honestly, he’s a good guy though.”

The pizza delivery guy laughs as he totals Jack’s change from the twenty and ten he gave to him. When he attempts to give it back, Jack pushes that, plus an extra ten into his hand.

“Thank you, Jack.”

“Of course...”

“Eric.”

“Eric. Well, I guess I’ll see you around, Eric.”

“I hope you do.”

Jack closes the door, hot food in hand and heart racing.

******

It’s been two weeks. Within those weeks, Jack has ordered Knight’s pizza five times. Every time he’s talked to Eric. They’ve crossed into the realm of flirting now. At least, Jack thinks they’ve crossed into flirting. He’s never been able to tell with that sort of thing.

Tonight, he swears to himself, he’s going to ask for Eric’s number.

Jack places his order online and waits. As he waits, he thinks about how George and his nutritionist haven’t been too thrilled about his new diet. Jack could never lie to them about his food intake. It’s literally almost impossible, but he’d also feel so bad about it if he lied. If he got Eric’s number, he would order less pizza now. He promised.

The com buzzed, and Jack let Eric up without even issuing a greeting. Man, he was a little nervous.

“Hey Jack, how are ya doin tonight?”

“I’m doing well, Bittle. You?”

“Oh just dandy. I’m sure you know the total by now.”

Jack hands Eric $30.

“I know this might sound strange, but I was hoping I could ask anyway.”

“Go ahead.”

Eric finishes counting his change, and Jack pushes his tip into his waiting hand.

“What does a man do that allows him to eat so much pizza and never even look like he gains any weight.”

Jack laughs, and the smile on Eric’s face makes his stomach flip.

“I play professional hockey. Providence Falconers.”

Jack flicks the brim of the cap he’s wearing.

“Oh! Of course! I knew I recognized your name. Since I graduated college, I haven’t been keeping up with the hockey world as much. I need to try and find a league or something. I’m getting a bit out of shape,” Eric finishes with a laugh.

“You play too?”

Eric waves his hand.

“Well, I played in college. I was captain my senior year. ‘First openly gay NCAA captain’ was my official title.”

Nice.

“Oh that’s awesome!”

“Thank you for saying so. You have a good night now.”

“Yeah, you too!”

It’s only after the door is closed that Jack panics. He forgot to ask Eric for his number! Well, there’s always next time. Jack opens his pizza box and a grin takes over his face.

There, on the inside of the lid, is a message scrawled across the top.

“Eric R. Bittle. 401-XXX-XXXX”

The end of the message is punctuated with a heart in red sharpie.

Jack doesn’t even bother plating his food or anything. The first thing he does is pull out his phone. Once Eric’s contact name is saved, he composes a message.

To: Eric Bittle :)

Dinner? -Jack Zimmermann

Jack sets the phone on the counter, attempting to wait it out. Before he can even reach for his cabinets, his phone buzzes.

From: Eric Bittle :)

As long as it’s not pizza. I’m free next Friday night! :)

To: Eric Bittle

It’s a date. :)

#omgcp #zimbits #check please #eric bittle #jack zimmermann #eric richard bittle #jack laurent zimmermann #omgcheckplease #omgcp fanfic #omgcp fanfiction #my fic

[xifoe]

it is ZIMBITS missing hours and everyone else can shut up and LEAVE only ZIMBITS STANS are allowed in the HAUS

#check please jack #check please bitty #omg check please #check please #omgcp #cp #zimbits #jack x bitty #bitty x jack #i'm missing them #i love them so much #i love them so so so much #ngozi ukazu #samwell #haus #eric bittle #jack zimmermann #eric richard bitty bittle #jack laurent zimmermann