Chapter Text
The crowd roared against the blowing wind. The Thorns were playing against the Tectonics in Peak City, and the cold air combined with the high elevation had been pushing everywhere. A freak cold snap had arrived just after they did, and while it wasn't something they weren't used to from training, it still slowed their reaction times. Despite all that, and the fact that Modo was benched for most of the game because of said cold, they had managed to tie up against the Tectonics. Thankfully, Will had been cleared to play for a while now, so with him as their fifth player they hadn't had to forfeit.
Now though, with less than a minute left on the clock and both teams tied, they needed to find a way to get at least one more point before it went into overtime. If that happened, all it would take was even one air ball making it through the hoop for the other team to win and they'd be back against the Shadows in Sunken City.
Jett was quick to signal for a timeout, the team heading to their bench to figure out what to do next. "We need to end this before the game goes into overtime. Modo, we could really use you now, you gonna be okay?"
"Modo try, need use hot packs." Special little hot packets he could snap and store in a vest under his jersey, it wasn't something that was used often but with the current weather...yeah, didn't wanna take the risk of him passing out on the court. He completely ignored the look Will gave him, a slight side eye. His lung still wasn't 100%, and the cold was irritating it to the point he was breathing harder. "Down last four."
"We'll make them last. Anyone got any ideas for plays? Hyena 62? Pelican 3?"
Shivering when a hard wind blew against them, Will moved himself to better block Modo from it, scanning the court before an idea clicked. Humming, he turned and looked full on at the slightly curled up lizard. "How do you feel about Flipping the Script?"
Snapping his jaw shut, Modo looked Will up and down before looking out at the court himself, claws clicking as he did a mental play in his head with narrowed eyes. It COULD work... Chuckling, he grinned widely and licked an eye while pulling out his last four hot packs. "Modo is here for this!"
"You sure you're up for that kid? We have practiced that move much." Jett was worried and rightfully so. The way this court was set up, there was a risk of falling off the one side or through the hole in the middle of the court. And after everything Will had gone through, the last thing anyone wanted was for him to get hurt again.
Will knew what was going through their heads just from how their bodies reacted. Jett had her tail curling up over her left leg, the one that had been hurt in their final game last season. Olivia was fluffing up her feathers, a few fluttering down from worry...and frankly, she had no poker face but no one ever told her that. Lenny had his head lowered to be level with Will's own and Archie was gripping his hands with enough force to turn his knuckles slightly white. "Just get me a clear shot to the other side of the court. When they throw the ball, that's when we'll make our move." He shot Modo a grin while he finished cracking and putting the hot packs in place. "I trust Modo and all of you with my life, I know you'll keep me safe. Now lets do this!"
With a cry of "Roots Run Deep!" they headed out onto the court, Olivia sitting out for the play. Taking different points, Archie, Jett and Lenny were on one side of the court while Modo and Will on the other. Making sure to stick close to Modo for the play to work, Will stayed on all fours and scratched at the ground with his left hooves, head tilted when Wolters, the Wildebeest player snorted and did the same. "You're going down goat!"
"Everyone keeps saying that yet here I am! If death couldn't stop me then you can't either!" Before anything else could be said, the ball was tossed up into the air, the ref flying for their life less they be caught. The two teams scattered for it, Jett jumping up with her still powerful legs to swipe at the ball, intending to pass it to Archie only for Johnson to grab it first. From there, while avoiding the rhino rampaging towards him, he tossed it to Pozo. When the elephant nearly ran Jett over, trunk pulling back to throw it across the hole in the middle of the field to where Wolters was running, that's when Modo and Will made their move.
From their position across the field on the other side, they started running on all fours, Modo laughing in his way that made other teams nervous. As one, they both twisted around, Modo planning his right hand firmly on the ground, claws digging in and scraping while his tail wrapped around Will's own right arm. Using the momentum of the turn, he snarled and swung Will into the air, over the hole and flying towards the now airborne ball.
"ARE YOU SEEING THIS CHUCK!? MODO JUST THREW HARRIS OVER THE FIELD!"
"I'm seeing this Rusty! This hasn't been done before in the history of Roarball! It's a huge risk, one wrong gust of wind and it's a long way down!"
It WAS a risky move, but it was too late to change their minds now. But as Will flew through the air, doing everything he could not to stare down the hole that went all the way down, he reached out and grabbed the ball while the other team scrambled to start running back. Holding the ball with his right arm, he twisted his body to roll when he landed, wincing hard when his left shoulder stung at the rough landing. As he came back up onto his feet, he threw the ball to Jett and with a quick dodge around Greenblum, slammed the ball through the net just moments before the timer sounded.
"THORNS WIN!"
XxX
"Little goat okay? Land hard."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Shoulders are a little stiff again." A lie, flat out. Both shoulders were yelling but his left was screaming. He wasn't sure if they'd ever be back to normal after the whole 'incident'. They were back at the hotel, walking over to their penthouse room after having some much needed food at the private restaurant downstairs. While not having any bugs on the menu, they DID have some meat that both Modo and Jett could enjoy, tastefully served up in a way that the others wouldn't have any idea what it was.
Save for Will.
He knew by now.
Unlocking the door with their key card, Will stepped into the dark room first, only to freeze when he saw a letter on the floor. It was nothing, it was most likely nothing... He bleated as Modo was quick to wrap his arms around him, pulling him back while growling lowly into the room. "What wrong?" While things had been more or less back to normal, any change in pheromones coming from Will had Modo on high alert. Tasting the air with his tongue, he found nothing wrong. No danger or anything off, but he did tilt his head to study the letter when Will pointed down towards it. Licking at his eye, he reached out to pick it up between two claws, flicking his tongue over it several times before rumbling and nuzzling at Will's face to try and sooth him.
"I'm okay..."
No. No he wasn't but Modo wasn't going to push. Tearing it open, he pulled out the paper inside and briefly read it over. Sighing once, he crumbled it up and threw it easily into the small trash can by the TV, nuzzling Will again when he still threw off worried and tense vibes. "No danger for Modo's mate. Talk to hotel, no letters in room for future."
"What was it?" He leaned into the affection, eyeing the trash like it could catch fire at any moment.
"Offer letter to buy team. Modo no entertain."
The moment it was explained, Will felt the unease leaving followed quickly by embarrassment. "I shouldn't be freaking out over a letter."
"Mate have trauma, not even half year since. Time to heal." He purred, easily picking Will up and grinned down at him when he let out a yelp then a chuckle, nuzzling against his neck. He gave several licks, his own mind flashing back to when he'd been told Will had been strangled and quickly stamped that down. Now wasn't the time to be thinking of such things.
Flopping them both onto the bed, Modo got comfy on his back with Will resting on his chest and stomach on top of him. Moving his tail up, he started to rub at his little goat's back, watching those eyes drift to half mast before reaching over and picking up the claw polish he had laying out on a side table. "Touch up!"
It was something that became part of their normal, everyday routine. While fixing up the polish on his claws, Modo would touch up any polish that had peeled away from Will's hardware. It also gave him the chance to look over the healing horn, make sure it was on track to getting better. And after today, he wanted to make sure nothing came loose during the hard landing Will had. He'd never hear the end of it from his mother if he allowed such things to happen during a game.
"What time is the plane leaving tomorrow?"
"Eh, Modo think it leave around...2? Why? Little goat want go do something?"
"If we have time...I thought we'd take a quick walk downtown. Last time we were here, we landed, played then left all in the same day." That had been rough, only getting downtime on the plane itself. That should have been the first sign Flo had something up her sleeve, pushing them to play more and more with less time in between for proper rest and training. Hell, the only reason she stopped doing that for a bit was because Modo had given her a look from hell after half the team had gotten sick from playing against the Landslides.
Finishing up with the hardware, Modo capped the polish and put it back on the side table...he'd be sure to pack it away in the morning...before placing his clawed hands on Will's shoulders and started to massage them. Between that, his tail rubbing at Will's back and those claws lightly scratching, he was COMPLETELY enjoying the sounds coming from his little goat. "Can make time. Want all team?"
"Mmmmm...just us...the others will understand..." His eyes drifted shut completely, relaxing fully at all the positive touches. When Modo started purring, the vibrations rippled through Will's body and he felt like he was melting in the best of ways. They stayed like that for several minutes, enjoying the contact of each other before Will slowly moved his hands up and under Modo's shirt, cracking open an eye to watch him. Smirking slightly as he felt Modo arch his back, Will felt his tail stop rubbing and moved to wrap around his own tail, squeezing and making him have a full body shudder. "Cheater..."
Enjoying the breathless gasp, Modo squeezed Will's tail again, flicking his tongue out to lick at his mate's nose, teeth and metal flashing in the lights. "Modo know what make mate tick. Does want more...?"
Swallowing hard and smirking, Will moved himself closer to Modo's head, whispering something that had the lizard's eyes going wide before a wide grin broke over his face. Easily flipping them over, he reached over with his tail and turned off the table light as Will grinned back at him.
"Modo will deliver..."