ilya entering that hospital room sick to his stomach teeth ground to dust spirit crushed under the weight of their circumstances prepared to have an extremely difficult conversation and shane immediately hitting him with this
Ilya is chronically online so of course he saw this trend on tiktok and it's ridiculous and a bit cheesy but despite himself he has to snort in amusement whenever he sees another video of it. he knows the exasperated look Shane will give him and that alone is reason enough to try it out.
it's too easy really, the next time they go shopping (yes, occasionally these divas go shopping especially since Shane found comfort in a better style), Shane instinctively grabs one bag after the other form the cashiers. they walk through the streets vaguely back to their car but Ilya really is in a splurging mood and gets more and more bags with toys for Anya, a new watch he will never wear, a hair care gift set for Sveta, you name it. each bag he presses into Shane's already full hands and dashes off to find another thing to buy and hand over to his dutiful husband.
as usual when they are out in the city, Shane doesn't say much. he doesn't complain about the 15th bag to hold, he just takes it with a stern face and an increasing eagerness to get back to the car.
Ilya falls a few steps behind, stealthily starts recording a video of Shane marching infront of him, packed like a mule. Ilya manages to sound relatively miserable when he finally asks: "Solnyshko, why are you not holding my hand right now?"
Shane immediately stops in his tracks to turn around, Ilya is so ready to get laserbeamed with the hollander glare of annoyance and a devastating quip, but... but instead a frowning Shane looks genuinely alarmed, as if he would have forgotten something important. "Oh, right", he mutters and immediately pushes the bags over his forearm to reach our for Ilya with his left hand. fuck. after all Shane is just too good for this world. Ilya is too stunned to speak for a moment and glad to take his husband's hand and let himself be guided through the streets.
of course Ilya needs to try again. his husband is a total bitch and ilya just loves it so much when he gets Shane to show it. why must shane ruin a funny video by being so sweet and caring and genuine and just so shane?
A few weeks latery, the Cens are due for a roadtrip and Shane and Ilya arrive at the training center for the bus that will shuttle them to their plane. Shane unloads their suitcases, as he always does, and is suprised to see as Ilya begins to grab a few bags from the backseats. PlayStation for team bonding, new skates he might wanna try, extra bathrobes, and some things more, Ilya casually explains. Shane just hums and grabs their two suitcases. Ilya shoves another bunch of full bags towards Shane, which he wordlessly accepts and stacks on the suitcases. They make their way over the parking lot, and Ilya, basically baggage free, sneakily angels his phone to start recording another video. "I can't believe your not holding my hand right now", he sighs dramatically. That surely must get a rise out of Shane. He can almost see these useless bags flying in his face. He should have known better. Shane immediately shifts the suitcases so he grabs both handles with one hand, and offers his free hand to Ilya with a little smile. "Sorry."
Fucking hell. He even said sorry. Goddam polite canadian husband. Ruining Ilya's evil plans and his sanity at once. When Shane's fingers wrap around Ilya's, Ilya is actually grateful to have something to hold on to.
For his next attempt, Ilya tries to be more sneaky. If he wants to rile Shane up, he has to take the game to the only place where Shane won't let him get away with any nonsense. And he needs backup.
Ilya chooses the next training and Luca Haas as his secret camera man, who is the only one gullible enough to obey his captain's ridiculous demands without asking any questions. Ilya makes it clear that he doesn't care how Luca sneaks the phone inside the rink just that he has to be ready and discreet ones Ilya gives the sign. And sure as hell he is.
Shane just sets up to fire some warm up shots at Wyatt from the blue line when Ilya smoothly skates next to him and lightly swings his stick around.
"Don't you like holding my hand?", he asks woefully and in great expectation of Shane hissing at him, telling him to stop distracting him at work.
Shane turns towards him slowly and cocks his head. "Why would you say that?"
"We are not holding hands right now", Ilya pouts.
"Oh." Shane nods and looks down at his gloved hands at his stick. "Yeah that is a problem."
And before Ilya can grasp it, Shane drops the glove of his left hand and lays it on top of Ilya's right.
Ilya's brain is melting into a puddle of goo and he is so annoyed by it. And by Shane. But mostly there is just warm fuzzy goo.
He swears he can hear Luca say "aww" which pretty much sums it up.
Shane's eyes catches Ilyas gaze again and smiles so softly and Ilya wants to sink into these deep pools of brown- when Shane's smile turns a bit lopsided, an eyebrow arches up.
He barely breaks eye contact when he quickly adjust his stand, swinging his stick with his right hand and slapping the puck right between Wyatts skates into the goal.
"Fuck", Ilya whispers, suprised and more than half horny in under a second. "Did you just-"
He looks at where Shane's left hand still rests on his.
"Score a goal, one handed? Sure I did", Shane grins smugly but lya can feel Shane squeezing his own gloved hand.
"Holy shit, Hollzy", Wyatt hollers, "Thats cheating, by the way. Can't shoot while being all cutesie with your husband."
"That's so cool!", Luca skates closer and waves his phone in Ilya's face. "I got it all on video!"
Shane's gives Ilya a puzzled look and Ilya knows he has a lot of explaining and probably even more apologising to do. After that he will give Shane a mind-blowing blowjob the very moment they are alone. Probably two. Shane definitely earned it.
Later he cuts all three videos of him asking Shane to hold his hand into one edit and uploads it with the caption "If he wanted to, he would 😌💅"
(Harris gets inspired by the video and convinces Wiebe to let Shane and Ilya do one training session where they hold hands the entire time. Noone is suprised they still manage to score more goals than anyone else. Harris is delighted to have some excellent footage for the Cens Instagram channel and captions it with "Why aren't you holding your teammates hand right now?")
Ilya realising Shane is comforting himself on his cock. Walk with me walk with me. It’s been a busy week, Shane is exhausted, they both are, exhausted from in season, the usual fatigue of it all. It’s been a particularly busy day, maybe they’ve been out for most of day, at a social outing with the team and it’s been lovely and fun but Ilya can tell Shane was feeling drained. He’s gone quiet and soft eyed by the end, anchored himself to Ilya’s side, hands tangled together and then eventually his cheek pressed to Ilya’s shoulder, soft slow breathing.
And Shane’s explained it to him before, how the days filled with heavy social interaction, with so much input from people, noises, places, just so much for Shane to filter- wear him out. While Shane is more himself with the cens than he’d ever ever ever been with the metros, he still has a bit of a mask up, a more social version of himself. It’s different when it’s just him and Ilya alone at home, and he doesn’t have to remind himself about eye contact and handshakes and smiling when someone talks be he is interested he just forgets he needs to show that sometimes. Anyway.
They get home and Shane has been yawning the whole drive back, his hand heavy and tired on Ilya’s thigh, thumb rubbing and playing with the seam of his jeans. They stumble inside and Ilya expects showers and sleep, they go about their routines, sleep heavy and with little words between them and when they are clean climbing under the covers Ilya doesn’t expect a lap full of Shane. He sits himself on top of Ilya and wraps his arms around his neck and nuzzles in to find his mouth. They kiss hot and warm and slow and Ilya shoves his hands up the back of Shane’s soft worn sleep shirt, his most favourite, best for days like this when everything else feels harsh and sharp and cold and horrible.
Shane doesn’t ask, doesn’t say much he’s quiet but fussy, squirmy little thing like he always is when he wants it, wants Ilya, when he’s a little shy about it for whatever reason. He’s just all grippy and hot touches, hands like honey gripping and pulling and dragging all over Ilya. Ilya lets Shane guide him, take what he wants, grips and pulls and helps his hot rutting hips down against him, but he doesn’t pull his clothes off, he lets Shane take and show him. Eventually Shane takes Ilya’s hands and pushes them to the waistband of his boxers. And then Ilya’s searching fingers find hot slick soft wet and oh, his sweet Shane had gotten himself ready in the shower for this, pink cheeked twisted and looking over his shoulder as he fit his fingers into himself to get him open for Ilya. Oh his baby. His needy love, frustrated and overwhelmed and seeking. Ilya knows then for sure it’s one of the nights where Shane needs more more more.
So then it’s Shane kicking off his boxers (his shirt is staying ON because when ilya had pushed a curious hand under it he has shaken his head) Ilya’s fingers pushing inside, the slick of lube to make him wet and open and he’s trying to push Ilya’s wrist away after just a couple opening thrusts of his fingers and Ilya manages to kiss him into a few more before Shane is pulling Ilya cock out of his sweats and sitting himself down with not so much as a pause. It makes Ilya breathless and his hands are all fisted up in Shane’s soft shirt and then Shane’s body goes so lovely and soft, he curls himself around Ilya, legs around Ilya’s body, arms around him and his head curled into his neck. He’s nuzzling his mouth in almost ticklish soft circles against the soft skin of the side of Ilya’s neck. His thrusts are tiny little things, ruts of his hips that keep Ilya deep deep deep as he rocks back and forth back and forth gently. It draws Ilya close and keeps him there, hovering in the tight unrelenting grip of Shane’s body. And Shane is just soft soft happy sighs, his whole body warm and relaxed and a lovely weight in Ilya’s arms. He doesn’t even seem to be working towards orgasm, content to squirm and be filled like this, where he can’t physically take anymore. His hips pushing down down down to make sure he’s stretched to the full weight of Ilya’s cock. He’s dragging his fingers all over Ilya’s back, touches reverent and hot and he’s making soft hums when Ilya grips a strong hand at the back of his neck, squeezing gently.
Shane rides him like that till they are both shuddery and Shane is hiccupy with it, breaths stumbling as he pushes his face into Ilya’s chest, simpers and turns his sweaty face into Ilya’s palm when he cups his face. He takes Ilya thumb into his mouth quickly when it’s offered, eyes glassy and loving and gazing at Ilya big and wet long lashed and he looks so loose, strung out and safe, safe looking at Ilya, anchored on him, hard and taking taking taking Ilya, feeling him breathing him tasting him. Ilya cooes when Shane’s movements get messy and tired, uses the hand not taken by Shane’s mouth to help pull his hips in in in in and whispers “it’s okay sweetheart I’ve got you, make yourself feel good, it’s ok, I’ll help” and then shane is coming wet between them with a soft sound and the pinch of his nails into Ilya’s bicep and he all but sobs when Ilya adjusts them, a blind quiet “no no no no” pushing himself back down on Ilya shaking at his own sensitivity, rocking down on him like he’s convincing him to stay.
Ilya shushes him, gathers him to his chest and rolls them over, fixes them till Shane is on his tummy, Ilya thrusting into him in soft slow drags as Shane cuddles Ilya’s pillow to his chest, cheek rubbing against the soft fabric and Ilya can feel Shane’s feet bumping against his ankles, his feet doing their happy little motion do when he’s completely content, comfortable. Ilya kisses and loves over the back of his neck and his ears and whispers “my comfy little bunny, just need my cock to feel all better don’t you huh? Just me filling you up like this, makes it all better doesn’t it?” And Shane’s nodding and whispering “yeah yeah yeah” and then “wan’ your cum” and then Ilya is giving him that too, filling him and then Shane is turning his head looking for Ilya’s mouth, kisses him and asks him to stay inside and they fall asleep like that, Ilya softening and still rocking inside him telling Shane “it’s yours bunny, all yours, nice and comfy on my cock my dirty little thing, what you needed all night huh? Just this, to be mine, perfect home for my cock”
okay so there’s this trend (there isnt, but for the sake of this post walk with me) that famous duos from teams do a how in sync you are to each other test, and it’s usually the center + wing/power play duos. jj and hayden did one, hunter and vaughn did one, most of them didn’t do really well because the scope of their synchronisation only maintains on the ice and off it they are entirely different.
so harris jumps on the trend and compare hollanov’s telepathy on and off the ice and half the internet is fully convinced they can read each other’s minds. they can literally close their eyes and point at the exact spot the other is standing, they do the same gestures at the same time, it’s almost witchcraft. it also drives the other teams insane because how are you supposed to compete against two motherfuckers who not only read the ice and predict the game and have strategy to their pestering AND can read each other’s mind. it is unfair
yes ofc shane 'in perfect fucking french' hollander is bilingual (reaching for trilingual) but I think out his ass ilya pulls out a passing amount of german, polish, and finnish one day with zero explanation. when pressed about it, he just kinda shrugs n goes 'I remember being alone in a strange country. I remember what it was like to miss home.' and shane smashes his face between his hands and almost sobs bc 1 ilya is first n foremost shanes baby n 2 ilya is and always has been one of the kindest men shane has ever known and every new piece of it he finds makes shane emotional also 3 the competency kink goes brrr
in a reasonable canon, shane would simply have THEE most dependent and intimate relationship with the montreal team nutritionist. like, he has her on speed dial. they text multiple times per day. she spends 60% of her work hours adjusting meal plans for his texture issues and aversions. nobody else really sees how intense their connection is.
when he was crashing out about trading to ottawa, he said, "You know, it's just gonna be really hard to leave melissa," and hayden was sitting right there like. "melissa?? it's gonna be hard to leave MELISSA??"
but i think we can probably convince melissa to move to ottawa with him, don't worry.
among the reasons i love shane goes to boston as an idea is that cliff marlowe is a fucking GIANT of a man, and i have the very funny idea in my head that being ilya's boyfriend means shane gets auto-included into the Bro Manhandling that i KNOW that man gives out to his friends.
and like. LISTEN. shane is a tough, strong dude, okay? he has played a heavy contact sport since he was an itty bitty. he is no shrinking violet. he can take a hit and get back up and keep going. he's no stranger to like. grabbing shoulders and a little playful jostling. but i also feel like his vibe on the team with the metros made him a little untouchable (first with respect that still made him "other" and then with. well.) beyond things like shoulder punches from jj and helmet taps with hayden.
and now he's gotten tossed into this locker room where he is accepted and welcomed but ALSO maybe getting fucking whiplash on the reg from cliff's affection. like hey! thank you for including me! but also you just fucking RAGDOLLED me the SECOND i walked in here today and i am a little turned on and ALARMED about it. just a little.
like hits on the ice? yeah. shane understands those. gets 'em and deals 'em all the time. no big. a little bro shoulder tapping/shaking? yeah sure.
but cliff just fucking. 🗣️HOLL-ZY! MY GUUUY! 🗣️ and that is shane's ONLY warning that he's about to get borderline shaken adult syndrome. everyone else in the locker room including ilya knows to brace or dodge by this point, but shane is still adjusting.
and like!! it's nice!! thank you for including me!! but also jesus fuck!!! i have a new empathy for anya's favorite toy when she death shakes it!! oh my god!!!
After they're out, Shane and Ilya record a lifestyle video together for ESPN. ESPN is chomping at the bit: no one can imagine Racecar Rozanov and Hockey IQ Hollander's life behind closed doors, and they want the exclusive.
The crew shows up totally unsure of what to expect, charmed but surprised when it's Ilya opening the door in a tank and sweats and dramatically sighing, "Is meal prep day."
They spend hours filming the couple navigating the kitchen, arguing over how much salt to put in their egg cups, talking about how they learned to cook together when they first made a real go of their relationship.
Shane keeps his hands busy and his eyes focused on his prep work, and that makes it easier to talk about the murky grey area between healthy food choices and disordered eating. Ilya just rubs his back and mocks how he's dicing the bell peppers and keeps calling what he's wearing his "unlucky sweatpants" until Shane hits him in the face with a spatula while mumbling something about tuna melts.
Surprising exactly no one, the video goes viral when it drops on YouTube. It explodes on socials, with thousands of people stitching together Ilya saying "is meal prep day" with videos of their own meal prep, their healthy habits, sharing their own journey to loving food and treating it as fuel and not punishment. They use the tag #eatlikehollanov and it trends immediately.
Ilya's favorite part is when fans start to battle over #eatlikehollanov - the food posts get overtaken with videos and photos of them out at social events, serving cunt and generally looking like top designers battle it out for who gets repped by The Gay Wonder Twins of Hockey (which they do, and stop calling us that, we're married you perverts).
Then Shane and Ilya are spotted at a bar making out in a dark corner and everyone remembers these two probably spend 30% of their waking hours eating each other alive, and suddenly it's #eatlikehollanov munch munch munch yum yum yum.
The Centaurs jump on the trend, sharing their own food prep videos with increasing innuendo. Luca Haas turning bright red while eating a glazed donut gets 3 million views, but Troy really breaks the internet by eating a banana while maintaining eye contact with the camera the whole time. Harris threatens to replace the Kiss Cam at games with #eatlikehollanov and Shane tries his hardest to crawl into a corner and die because he just wanted to share how he protein loads, you guys, why did you have to make it so weird.
Scott Hunter helps not at all by making blueberry and banana smoothies with Kip. Shirtless.
Shane has been sitting on the couch in the family room, staring into space, for over an hour. Ilya, at first, tries to leave him be, but then he becomes increasingly concerned.
After ten more minutes, Ilya finally allows himself to approach.
“Shane?” Ilya says lightly.
Shane just hmms back in acknowledgment, but he doesn’t turn his head or make eye contact. His gaze stays fixed entirely on the black tv screen in front of him.
Ilya takes this as Shane not having an emergency needing medical attention, so he backs off, moving to the love seat on the other side of the room. He wants to stay close in case Shane needs him, but still give him his space.
So Ilya sits. And he plays Candy Crush on his phone. And he taps his foot. And eventually he starts pacing around the house, counting five hundred steps before he allows himself to go back and check on Shane. Every time he finds him in the same state.
Twenty minutes later, he’s calling Yuna in a panic.
“Ilya, honey. I’m sure he’s fine. What was he doing before this?”
“He just got back from media day. Photos, interviews, a few TikToks. He didn’t even have practice.”
Yuna laughs, and Ilya immediately furrows his brow in annoyance. He doesn’t like that Shane’s mother isn’t taking this seriously. “That’ll do it! Shane just needs a minute to decompress. Leave him be.”
Ilya wanders deeper into the house, making sure Shane can’t overhear the conversation. He whisper-yells anyways. “But, he’s been in this … stupor! for almost 2 hours.”
Yuna laughs again, and Ilya does not like that she’s laughing at his concern for her son. “Ilya. He is fine. He gets like this sometimes because of his autism.”
*****
Ilya does know what autism is. There was a kid at camp this past summer, Harlow, who had autism. Ilya read up about it a bit at the time, and read through the camp intake forms from Harlow’s psychologist with his plan of action.
Ilya spent a lot of time with him at camp, sometimes practicing away from the other players to give Harlow some space. The other counsellors praised him for how naturally good Ilya was with him, especially considering he had no experience.
But Shane? Shane didn’t have autism. Did he?
But then. Then, Ilya is thinking about it.
Suddenly Ilya is remembering the reading he did on autism in the summer. And then he’s thinking about Shane.
Trouble making eye contact? Yeah, sometimes Shane avoids looking at him, and Ilya has to guide Shane’s eyes to his by grabbing his chin. But that didn’t mean anything?
Hyperfixations? Yes, Shane loved hockey. But doesn’t every NHL player love hockey? Maybe not to the extent of Shane, with his savant-like memory of stats and past players. But Shane was just smart?
Trouble reading cues in social situations? Yeah, sometimes Ilya had to ask Shane a question a few times before he understood what he meant. Or avoid using sarcasm. He generally tried to keep his words direct and to the point with Shane, which was natural for Ilya who didn’t always know the english words for things. But that didn’t mean Shane had autism?
But when Yuna says it, everything clicks for Ilya. It’s like he’s unlocked a closet of flashbacks in his head, and all of the memories are coming out dressed differently.
Shane has … autism?
*****
After wrapping his head around that, he asks Yuna some more questions about what he can do to support Shane when he’s like this.
His mom basically says to leave him and let him come out of it on his own, but of course Ilya is too stubborn and too much of a caretaker for that. So he takes whatever advice Yuna could give him and sets off to the family room.
First, he turns off the overhead lights in the room, and opens the curtains just a bit to let in some natural light. Then he gets to work in the kitchen, preparing Shane a snack (ants on a log) and filling up his water bottle. He had to hunt around the house for Shane’s bottle, because he only likes to drink out of this one brand (god he can’t believe he didn’t realize his boyfriend had autism).
Finally, he sets a blanket and Shane’s headphones in reach, in case he’d prefer them.
Then Ilya parks himself back on the love seat, book in hand. He plans to stay nearby Shane in case he needs him.
Ilya gets really enthralled by his book, and is able to disengage from his worry for a while. He doesn’t know how long it’s been when he finally hears Shane’s voice.
“Ilya?” he sounds raspy, like he just woke up from a nap.
Ilya gets up immediately, blanket falling on the floor. He walks over to Shane, who has his arms extended out to embrace him.
Ilya, of course, goes willingly into Shane’s arms as the other man tugs him into his lap. Ilya rests one knee on the outside of each of Shane’s, and lets himself be pulled into his chest.
Shane holds him tightly, so Ilya mimics the gesture and wraps his arms firmly around Shane’s back and shoulders.
Shane presses a kiss and then a bite into Ilya’s shoulder, holding it for a moment. It’s not terribly hard, but it probably still leaves a bit of a mark after he removes his teeth from his skin a moment later.
Shane seems more alert now, so Ilya decides to start to talk, just a little.
“Better?” Ilya asks softly.
Shane nods into his shoulder. “Yeah, sorry. Haven’t gotten like that in a while.”
Ilya holds him silently a while longer before speaking again, working up the courage. “Your mom said you get like this because of your autism, yes?”
He feels Shane stiffen in his arms a bit, but doesn’t let go. All he gets in response is a small nod that he feels more than sees.
“Why did you not tell me you had autism?”
Shane shrugs. “It’s not something I advertise. Nobody in the NHL knows. I couldn’t exactly tell my arch rival,” Shane puts on a light teasing tone by the end, but Ilya can see right through it.
“Well sure, but we have been boyfriends for over a year now.”
Shane squirms in his hold, but doesn’t say anything.
“You know I do not care, right? You’re still My Shane no matter what,” Ilya reassures.
Shane sighs. “I know you don’t care. I thought about telling you when we had Harlow at camp this summer, but how was I supposed to say it? ‘Hey, I have that too!’”
“Well … yes?”
Shane pulls away from Ilya’s embrace so he can frown at him.
“It just got out of hand. The longer I put it off, the weirder it felt to mention it. I’m so used to not sharing the diagnosis with people because I don’t want them to treat me differently. Or make it seem like I’m a worse hockey player because of it.”
Shane had frustrated tears on his lower lash line now that Ilya wiped away. “I get why you do not tell everyone. But I love you and I want to know so I can support you and not make it worse.”
“You don’t!” Shane is adamant. “You, like, know me really well.” Shane tucks his face back into the side of Ilya’s neck. “Can we please stop talking about this now? I’m fine. Thank you for the water and the snack.”
Ilya smirks and rolls them over so Shane is underneath him, Ilya still straddling his hips.
“Yes, we can stop talking about it.” He presses a kiss into Shane’s neck, sucking a little. “For now. We are not done on this subject.”
Shane rolls his eyes but agrees.
“Good, now eat your ants on a log.”
*****
Later, in bed, Ilya is asking an unwilling Shane every single question that’s come to his head since his phone call with Yuna earlier.
“Is that why we have to eat the same meal at least two nights in a row?” “Probably, yeah.”
“Is that why you have earplugs you sometimes wear on the bench between shifts?” Shane nods.
“Is that why sometimes you won’t look at me when I’m sucking your dick?”
Shane turns bright red. “I don’t know Ilya! Maybe! Please can we stop—“
Ilya interrupts: “Is that why in every single one of your baby photos you are wearing a t-shirt with a hockey stick on it?”
ilya entering that bathroom in vegas: funny meeting you here😜wasn’t it hot how all those people were just looking at us and they don’t even know that we fu-
One of the best defensemen at McGill. Absolutely a beast on the ice. Very much of the old school style of hockey and we could even throw some absolute knockers of foul language and aggression. Imagine Shoresy back in the 80s. What an absolute pest he would have been. Shoresy is essentially what I imagine David Hollander to have been like in his college years at McGill.
And one day, they’re playing a final round match. The pressure is on to succeed. Someone managed to land a punch on him which knocks his canine and a bottom tooth out. His mouth is full of blood.
He’s pressed against the plexiglass. Yet when he opens his eyes, there’s a beautiful but fiercely shouting Japanese girl in a McGill sweatshirt shouting at him to get the guy in the first row. Knock his ass out. He clenches and fist. And roundhouse punches the guy out. The ref pulls him away and he’s in the sin bin for 5 minutes. Damn bullshit. However it gives him an absolutely amazing view of her straight on shouting at the referee. He’s never seen a gal more passionate about hockey.
5 minutes later, he’s back out on the ice. He heads toward her. Completely ignoring the game.
“What’s your name?” He shouts as everyone is shouting at him to get back in the game.
“What?!” She shouts back.
“What’s your name?!” He shouts again.
“Yuna! And get your ass back out there Hollander!”
“Yuna?! That’s a pretty name! If I score one tonight, will you go out with me?” He hopes she will.
“If you win the championship, I’ll marry you!” She shouts, urging him to get back to the game.
“I’m going to hold you to it!” He grins, mouth bloody and missing teeth.
He skates back into the game smoothly and tosses an assist to their center. He glides across the rink, focused, like never before.
He plays the best game of his life right on that rink.
As his teammates cheer and celebrate, he skates back to where she’s sitting with her girlfriends. They’re all excitedly screaming and jumping.
“Hey” he waves.
She comes up to the plexiglass, closer. God she’s pretty.
“Hey Hollander. You played a great game even though your backup line was terrible. Can they even spell puck?”
“We’re hockey players. Some us were simply born in the ice rink.”
“Uh huh.” She raises a suspicious brow.
“So you did say if we won the championship you’d marry me. We got three games till our wedding I suppose.”
“You know I was just joking.”
“I wasn’t. I’d treat you so well if you let me.”
“Steady on Hollander. I think your concussion is affecting your brain.”
“What can I do in the face of true love but want to see where it goes. You ever look at someone so incredibly beautiful that you just want to strip naked and skate across the ice?”
She laughes. Thats an incredible sound.
“I'd French kiss a toaster if it meant i could wake up next to you every morning.”
“Hold on lover boy. You barely got my name and you don’t even know my last name.”
“Well I know Yuna is probably my favorite name in the world as of 15 minutes ago and whatever your last name is, I’d change mine to yours. I’d be so good to you I’d swear. I’d lick a puck if it meant I could walk you to your dorm.”
Yuna’s friends snicker behind her.
“Sure Hollander. You can walk me to my dorm.”
He excitedly shouts in excitement, skating in loops around the ice.
And that was the story how the McGill University Hockey Team won that year’s championship trophy and how David Hollander met the love of his life.
Funny enough, the local A/V club who was broadcasting the game managed to record the footage of that encounter on the ice and were kind enough to send it to the Hollanders as a gift when their son was drafted into the NHL.
Aging Scott up in the show has had some interesting unintended consequences.
In the show, Scott being a veteran player that Shane grew up admiring (to the point of calling him Mr. Hunter lol) adds an extra layer of emotional weight. Seeing a role model come out is powerful. And by making Scott push 40, his coming out feels bittersweet because you can’t help thinking about everything he gave up and all the years he spent hiding. This is his prize after a very long career, a cup and Kip
But I also think something gets lost when people act like that version is automatically better.
In the books, Scott is only 28. He’s not at the end of his career. He’s still in his prime. His story isn’t about finally getting to live authentically after a long career. It’s about choosing authenticity while he still has everything to lose. There’s something powerful about that too! A peer coming out can be just as impactful as a role model. So I don’t really see one version as superior to the other. They’re emphasizing different things.
The problem is that once Scott gets aged up, I think people start taking Ilya’s humor way more literally than the books ever intended.
In the books, Scott is only three years older than Ilya, which means all the “old man” jokes are exactly that: jokes. He’s chirping a guy who’s basically his peer. Once Scott is almost 40, the joke starts reading like a factual observation instead.
Ilya says Hayden is the 15th best player in Montreal. A lot of fans have accepted that as fact. Meanwhile Hayden is playing on Shane’s line, keeping up with the best player in the league, and leading the team in assists. The books are clearly showing us that Hayden is one of Montreal’s better players. Ilya is just being a hater. 😭
The same thing happens with Shane. I read fanfiction all the time where people genuinely seem to believe Shane has a weak backhand because Ilya made one joke about it. If Shane is anything like his spiritual father Sidney Crosby, he probably has one of the best backhands in the league. But even setting the Crosby comparison aside, you do not become the best player in the NHL with a glaring weakness like that.
Ilya is talking shit.He exaggerates. He chirps. He ragebaits people for fun. Half the humor of his POV comes from the fact that he says ridiculous things about people he actually likes. That’s a huge part of his character that I feel like people are missing.
tell - hollanov - @hollanovmicrofic - word count: 325 - click here for my hollanov microfic archive on ao3
Shane, as always, was absolutely unshakable as he sat at the table surrounded by his new teammates. Though the cards in his hand were almost as awful as he was with women, he wasn't about to give up hope. Eyes roving around the group, he decided to go in for the kill. "I raise you all two hundred," he said calmly, throwing chips into the center of the table, trying not to smirk as, predictably, the guys began to let out hisses and sighs.
"I fold," Boodram announced, throwing down his cards and shaking his head frustratedly.
"Same. Fuck you, Hollander."
"Menace at hockey and poker, not fair..."
Shane held his stoic expression as everyone gave in, until only one man was left.
Ilya Rozanov glared at Shane as if he was trying to decide if he'd committed an egregious crime.
Shane held his gaze, blinking calmly, refusing to back down under his husband's pressure. Everyone around the table looked on eagerly, like they were spectating a particularly intense tennis match, heads snapping back and forth between the two men, waiting for someone to speak.
Then–
"You are lying. I–what is word? I call you, Hollander."
Cursing under his breath, Shane slammed his cards down on the table and grimaced, the table of guys catcalling and laughing.
"How the fuck do you always know?" Shane muttered, rolling his eyes as Ilya gloatingly grabbed the sizable amount of chips in the middle of the table.
"You have tell, malysh," Ilya murmured back, beaming. His hand moved to trace between Shane's eyebrows. "There is line, here. Shows when you say 'I hate you, Ilya. You are asshole, Ilya.' And, back...before, when you would say, 'I do not like you Ilya.' Shows when you lie, Hollander."
Shane felt himself blush. "When...did you figure that out?" he whispered.
I think that in their rookie season Ilya popped a skate blade and gets towed to the bench by Marlow's stick, both laughing. He makes a joke about giving him 5 stars as a taxi driver in his post game interview and everyone thinks its hilarious, cue gifs that get used for years.
Cut to two weeks later Shane loses a skate blade and the commentators are wondering how he's going to deal with it - no team mates nearby to give him a lift. Will he do an undignified hop? Crawl? The opposing team start to attack bc Shane's on the other side of the rink from the bench so they think they have a 5-on-4 while Shane scrabbles his way back to the bench. Shane executes some flawless single leg power pulls and gets to the bench in record time, surprising their opponents and leading to a Montreal goal.
This gets held up for years as an example of their differing techniques and how seriously they take the game. Commentators say it shows Shane's dedication, his focus on every tiny bit of skill that could help him. They also use it as proof of Shane's hockey robot persona and that Ilya is more of a people person, he builds camraderie, his team mates love him etc.
Years later they talk about it and Shane tells Ilya that while he did know the technique, he purposefully practiced it to death in the two weeks between the games so he wouldn't get caught out like Ilya.
Because he already knew then that the way his teammates viewed him wasnt the same as how Ilya was viewed in Boston.
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