Short Stories (Multifandom)

Sochi Pt. 1

Out of all of the 230 athletes that consisted of the United States Olympic team, Tyler Joseph knew only a few. He made a deal with himself that he would try to get to know all of the athletes representing his country, but after making his way through the alpine skiers, he actually gave up for once in his life. He knew the speed skating team already and made friends with the figure skaters then the biathlons. He deemed himself friendly enough but with his coach and training, he was limited with time.

"Tyler! Arm length, keep that left behind your back."

"Yes, sir!" Tyler was on the ice at the moment, perfecting his strides and practicing as much as he could before the opening ceremony tomorrow night.

He had his ankle wrapped after having spent the entire morning icing it. It wasn't swollen but he didn't want to take his chances with the tiny, tiny ounce of pain he had.

"That's it for the rest of the day and tomorrow. Eat, rest, and make sure you properly store your skates this time!" The coach looks over at Dallon Weekes, one of the skaters and one of Tyler's good friends. "Other than that, enjoy the ceremony tomorrow." They were dismissed.

"You headed to The Village? I'm thinking about walking around the stadium, see how it looks so far." Dallon skates next to Tyler, resting his hands on his knees.

"Yeah I'm gonna change into something more comfortable. We can walk around afterwards, yeah? Let's invite Hayley and Tay," Tyler and Dallon take their skates off, tying the laces together the putting them into their bags. After sliding on sweatpants, they grab their things and begin to make their way out of the oval.

"Y'know, I think it's colder inside than it is out here. How the hell," their noses were still red and their cheeks were still puffed. "Maybe we could grab lunch? I think they've got something out."

"They always have something out," Tyler rolls his eyes as they step onto the transportation bus. "I'll call up Bren and Ryan, see if they want to hangout before tomorrow."

The rest of the ride to The Village was quiet. Other athletes aboard speaking softly to one another. Tyler let out a breath as he watched the scenery outside, so incredibly happy that he could experience this for the first time. Amongst his friend group, this was all their first time experiencing the Olympics.

"Let's go," Dallon stands and adjusts his bag on his shoulder just as Tyler presses his cell to his ear.

"Hey! Bren, you and Ry wanna get something to eat? Me and Dal are leaving the transport now and headed inside The Village."

Brendon Urie and Ryan Ross were one of the couples the Olympic committee and its fans talked about the most. They were going onto 2 years being together and already had a place for themselves for a Gold medal.

"Hi Ty! Sure, we're just finishing up at the rink. How was training?"

"Oh you know, the usual. My ankle keeps pinching so I've got it wrapped right now."

"Are you taking anti-inflammatories?"

"Yup, they've got me on Celebrex. We're about to enter the west wing, we'll meet you guys in the cafeteria?"

"Sure! Hey, do you mind if we bring a couple people?"

"The more the merrier." Tyler hangs up shortly after.

The Village was made up of two parts; one in the mountains for the athletes competing in the snow and one down by the stadium for the athletes playing in arenas, such as the hockey players and figure skaters. The coaches and other personnel along with news broadcasters had their own Media Village. The buildings were 15-story high-rises with views that'd take your breath away.

The Village, speaking up for its name, acted as a home away from home. Both locations are like fully functioning little towns. Featuring cafeterias with cuisines and others fast food. 24-hour gyms, banks, post offices, laundry facilities, media centres, convenience stores and houses of worship. There's WiFi, game rooms with foosball, air hockey and video games, a relaxation room and a salon. Tyler appreciated the comfort of The Village, being stressed outside of the building, but as soon as he stepped foot indoors, it all washed away.

"Bren said he's inviting some other people; great..." Tyler, him being honest with himself, he wanted nothing more than to lift weight off of his ankle and rest as much as he could. He'd be standing for most of tomorrow and walking the parade with his teammates. He was anticipating the emotional ride, though.

After an hour of showering, changing then walking to the cafeteria, Tyler and Dallon sat at a table with Brendon and Ryan. Bradie Tennell sat opposite of Tyler, chatting with him, smiling as brightly as she wanted. She was one of his figure skating friends and she was talented as all hell. She already had a Bronze medal to her name and was in the running for a Gold. Beside her was Gus Kenworthy, prideful and flaunting his LGBT+ jacket and sporting the USA beanie. He was a freestyle skier and earned himself a silver medal the last Olympics. Next to him were Red Gerard and Josh Dun, two snowboarders and first timers, both from Westlake, Ohio. Tyler didn't know them.

"So Tyler! Bren told us you had ankle problems?" Bradie leans forward a bit, her ponytail flying forward onto her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm afraid it's gonna swell up. I race the day after tomorrow and the entire day leading up to it I'm gonna be training." Tyler takes a sip of his water, grabbing his fork to take a bite of his pasta. They all got pasta, in desperate need of the extra carbohydrates.

"Josh is headed to take an ice bath after lunch, why don't you go with him?" Red speaks up.

At that, Josh looks up from his phone, looking from Red and around at the table. "What?"

"Can Tyler tag along with you to the ice baths?" Bradie asks, leaning forward enough to look at Josh.

Brendon and Ryan make eye contact, looking back and forth between Dallon, sending him knowing looks then they all look over at Tyler. They knew the boy needed a companion and that Josh was 'secretly' still in the closet but his friends and family already knew. Dallon desperately wanted Tyler to have somebody he could lean on, even though his shoulder was always open, he didn't have feelings for him and that was broken to Tyler a year before.

They all knew Bradie was a matchmaker and she often had help from another figure skater Vincent Zhou, who was an absolute sweetheart and had a heart of gold.

"Uh- sure, yeah that's fine. I'm finished, if you wanna head out now." Josh replied.

"Yeah!" Tyler was freaking on the inside because he's seen Josh around only a few times but never went up to say hello. He stayed clear of the snowboarders out of rumors that they were all BMX tricksters and had heads full of lead, only wanting to perfect themselves and their... tricks.

Tyler took a few more bites of his food and downed it with the rest of his water, standing and walking with Josh to throw their trash away and place the dirty plates and silverware onto the conveyor.

"Alright, ready?" Josh asks, patting Tyler on the back. Harshly, might he add.

"...yeah," Tyler looks back at his friends still sat at the table, all conversing and laughing. Bradie was wiggling Gus' fuzz ball on the top of his beanie. Tyler, deep down, wanted to stay with them but he also was a huge 'body and health first' advocate.

As long as this ice bath helped with his muscles and aching ankle, he'll have to learn to deal with Josh Dun.