a selection of photos taken by other people from their first year of marriage:
towards the end of their wedding reception, sun setting, looking rumpled and tired, Ilya kissing Shane's palm while Shane is very seriously talking to Scott Hunter
the two of them with a fan, taken at the dog park, Ilya holding Anya and Shane with one arm around his husband's shoulder and the other trying to prevent Anya from licking the fan's face
Shane Hollander sitting on the Centaurs bench with blood on his face, mouth wide open, Ilya Rozanov gripping his chin and glaring at the gap where Shane's bottom canine used to be
Ilya Rozanov with his fist in the air after a goal, a smear of red in the corner of his mouth
sitting next to each other at team tape review, heads bent together, Ilya's hand on Shane's thigh, Shane's hands sketching out a play in the air
Ilya Rozanov leaning against his car in the airport arrivals line, a coffee in one hand and a forest-green smoothie in the other
Shane Hollander giving his husband the middle finger after losing the shot accuracy competition at ASG by half a second
piggyback racing across the yard with a Pike twin each clinging to their necks
Ilya Rozanov, outraged, with a face full of snow, as his husband doubles over with laughter
wearing identical blank expressions the seventeenth time a journalist asks about their "off-ice chemistry"
Shane Hollander throwing his head back and cackling in a booth at a random dive bar in a random city, Ilya Rozanov grinning into his drink
asleep on the team bus after game 5 of the conference finals, Ilya curled into Shane's shoulder
Can't stop thinking about how the only times we've seen Armand lose control over his facial expression is when he is being rejected, and how he tries to force a smile each time 😭😭
something i really really love about this scene is while yes, shane is laughing along with ilya, he's so much more subtle about it. he's trying his best to keep his composure because he knows how important this shoot is and he wants to be professional. and ofc ilya also knows that but he's just. so. flustered. by. shane. his crush on shane is SO big. and being so close to him, looking in his eyes like this...like ilya is just totally unable to keep his composure bc wowowowow this really hot hockey player who i've been crushing on since saskatchewan is looking directly into my eyes and smiling Like That and my heart is pounding so much and his freckles are so cute and my cock is twitching in my jockstrap and how the fuck am i supposed to keep my composure when all i wanna do is kiss him over and over...
and ilya turning his face away, that's not just because he's trying not to laugh. it's because he's embarrassed. he's flustered. he knows he's being Obvious, he knows he's being unprofessional, and i think that's part of why he just says fuck it when they're in the showers bc he's like....well surely this man knows how i feel now. surely he saw how flustered i was getting. surely he knows that i'm gonna make a move. but ofc shane is completely clueless and confused and that makes ilya feel even MORE flustered (and horny) lmao
basically ilya is just so head over heels for this man from the very beginning and it's so sweet to watch. he was smitten from the start.
it must’ve been so embarrassing for everyone on game of thrones when they fumbled the ending so bad after black sails managed to achieve everything they were trying for two years earlier with a much smaller budget. like well lit fight scenes, intricate politics, morally gray characters with shifting alliances, sea battles, epic stories told on a focused character level, waxing poetic on the nature of stories and storytelling and the way they shape reality… like damn y’all really are just out there reheating jonathan steinberg and robert levine’s nachos
shane hollander - "who are you when you aren't performing?"
Paul Butler, “Untitled (Two with Puck – Red)” - Collage, 2018 / Detail from Kazuo Nakamura, Suspended Landscape, 1967 / Heated Rivalry 1x01 / Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man / Detail from Kazuo Nakamura, Suspended Landscape, 1967/ Heated Rivalry 1x04 / David Hannan, Falling from Grace, 2024 / Paul Butler, “Untitled (Two with Puck – Blue)” / Detail from LEE U-Fan, From Line (1976) / Rebecca Bellmore, At Pelican Falls/ Heated Rivalry 1x02 / Heated Rivalry 1x01 / Sally Prasch, Neon Series / Ocean Vuong, Night Sky with Exit Wounds / Robert Matta, Bleuêtre, 1993 / Heated Rivalry 1x04 / Kazuo Nakamura, Blue Reflections, B.C., 1964 / Heated Rivalry 1x02 / Sally Prasch, Shattered Shell / Heated Rivalry 1x02 / Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House / Heated Rivalry 1x02 / Kazuo Nakamura; Blue Morning / Detail from Rebecca Bellmore, At Pelican Falls/ Jennifer Walton, Frozen Lake Series / Heated Rivalry 1x04 / John Steinbach, East of Eden / Koichi Nabatame, Morning Mountain Range
the real fantasy of heated rivalry isn’t that the hot cocky sex god will fall in love with the uptight socially awkward virgin… the real fantasy is that you can be sooooooo fucking annoying & avoidant & allergic to intimacy and someone who is securely attached will nevertheless doggedly pursue you, make you feel your feelings, and then marry you
they're laying in ilya's bed post-fuck, shane all cuddled into ilya's side warm and sticky and pliant....(they're falling in love but they don't know it yet).....and ilya begins his usual routine, reaches over to his nightstand and lights a cig. and shane cuddles in a little closer, wrinkling his nose with a groan, burying it in ilya's skin to avoid the cig smell. and ilya just chuckles and brings it to his mouth, takes a puff, ruffles shane's hair.
"i really just don't see the appeal," his voice is muffled against ilya's pec, "it smells, it makes your teeth yellow, it messes up your fingernails, it can give you lung c-"
"and it tastes so fucking good after sex," ilya interrupts, and shane watches as he holds the smoke in for a brief moment before expending it from the corner of his mouth, angled away from shane - polite.
"there's just no fucking way," shane turns his head a bit, "you're just addicted to it so it tastes good to you now."
"same difference," ilya takes another puff, smiling down at shane's frown, "you want to try?"
"a cigarette? are you joking?" shane sits up incredulously, brow furrowed, "no, i like being in peak athletic form, thank you very much."
ilya rolls his eyes, reaching over to tap the tip of his cig against the ash tray at his bedside, "one cigarette is not going to do anything, hollander," he says matter-of-factly, "and i am also in peak athletic form by the way, if you had not noticed."
shane scoffs, "that's what you think. who knows what your performance would be like if you weren't inhaling those death sticks every hour of every day."
"is not that much."
"coulda fooled me."
ilya raises an eyebrow, "hollander, you're not actually mad about this are you? i will not force you to smoke a cigarette. you are fine."
"i know," shane grumbles, beginning to ease off the bed, eyes searching for his underwear discarded somewhere on the floor, "i just think you're being stupid, that's all."
"oh, that's all?" sardonic as always, ilya takes another puff, this time not bothering to exhale in the opposite direction. smoke trails past his lips and hovers over the center of the bed between the two of them.
shane stares. "seriously, what's the appeal? what was ever the appeal, before you started?"
ilya shrugs, lips downturned, "i don't know. is what everyone was doing. my friends, my brother. just seemed like normal thing."
"how old were you? when you had your first one?"
"twelve."
shane blinks. once, twice. his brow furrows even more, which ilya didn't think was possible. "you were twelve years old when you started smoking," he states.
another shrug, "was normal."
"that's crazy, rozanov," shane is staring at the cigarette now, and ilya sees something in his eyes that he can't place. he looks focused and yet far away, like he's debating something in his mind.
"why? because i was having fun while you were watching mickey mouse?"
"because you- your body should not be in the condition it's in if it's been over ten years since you started. that doesn't make any sense. i don't think i've ever even heard you cough." shane seems to be spiraling a little, and ilya's not really sure why.
"why does it matter?" he asks with another shrug, "i am healthy, so no big deal."
"but it won't always be that way," shane is still halfway off the bed, one leg next to ilya's under the sheets while the other rests naked on the edge, like he's not sure if he wants to get up or stay seated, "it'll catch up to you eventually, it always does."
another shrug, "then i will quit."
"just like that? easy?"
"easy."
shane shakes his head, a smile playing at his lips, "you're unbelievable."
"thank you," ilya grins and taps the cig again, "and the offer still stands."
"...offer?"
"if you want to try, just ask."
shane breathes out through his nose, part laugh part huff, and finally pulls himself out of the bed. ilya watches, cigarette in hand, as shane nakedly crosses the room to pick up his briefs.
"no shower?" ilya asks; it's not a tease.
"nah, i promised hayden i'd get dinner with him and jackie at four," shane tugs his underwear on, "and if we get a shower i'm gonna end up blowing you." ilya doesn't think he'll ever be over the nonchalance of shane hollander saying things like blowing you in his bedroom at three o'clock on a weekday. he twitches under the sheets.
"are you sure? can be quick."
shane laughs, grin wide and beautiful as he reaches for his t-shirt, "we can not be quick. you know that." and the crazy thing is, ilya does know that. because this has been going on for so long now that they just know these things. shane just knows he'll want to take his time with ilya's cock, he knows he'll be on his knees in the shower until his skin gets wrinkly and uncomfortable, he knows ilya will want to return the favor as soon as he's done.
ilya sniffs, the scent of smoke beginning to permeate throughout the room. he watches shane tug on his sweatpants. "tell hayden i said hi."
shane rolls his eyes, walking back over to the bed to grab his phone from the other nightstand. he unlocks it and skims his notifications briefly before stuffing it in his pocket and turning his attention back to ilya.
"two weeks?" he asks, a confirmation.
"two weeks," ilya echoes back with a nod, "c'mere."
shane flushes a little, ilya's favorite thing, and then he's kneeling on the bed to press a soft kiss to ilya's lips, eyelashes fanning gorgeously over his freckled cheeks. ilya kisses back with a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, fingers tightening on the cig so it doesn't drop.
"you taste like smoke," shane mumbles against ilya's lips, but he doesn't pull away. instead he deepens the kiss a little, hand coming up to cup ilya's face tenderly.
"you like it," ilya murmurs, slipping his tongue into shane's mouth. shane groans a little, breath shaky, pulls away to peer down at ilya hazily. ilya nudges his nose against shane's, chasing his lips, "admit it."
"mmm..." shane's response is soft, light, thumb stroking the apple of ilya's cheek as they continue to kiss unhurriedly, like suddenly they have all the time in the world. ilya brings his hand up, cigarette still burning between his fingers, and holds it in front of his face, in front of shane's.
"you want to taste it, hollander?" he asks, voice low and hushed, "i won't tell."
shane's eyes are lidded and droopy, gaze falling to the cigarette growing smaller the longer he dawdles. he does seem to be thinking about it, and ilya figures he'll make the decision for him before he chickens out.
"come here," he murmurs, bringing the cig to his lips and his other hand to the back of shane's head. he cradles it, fingers scratching through shane's dark hair as he takes a slow puff. he uses his pinkie finger to tap shane's bottom lip.
shane doesn't move away, doesn't say no. instead, he closes his eyes and ilya watches as he opens his mouth. just enough to kiss. just enough for ilya to lean in and softly press their lips together. for him to carefully blow the exhaled smoke into shane's mouth. shane's eyelashes flutter, nose crinkling a bit - but he doesn't cough. he breathes slowly, precisely, like he somehow knows exactly what to do, inhaling obediently, taking it all into his throat and his athletic lungs.
"good?" ilya murmurs when he pulls away, and shane slowly opens his eyes. he's going to that place again, ilya can tell. that place ilya takes him so often. soft. docile. pliant.
"mhm," shane nods, blinking slowly. he's looking at ilya's lips.
"let's shower," ilya says softly, reaching behind him to press the remainder of the cigarette into the ashtray, dropping it from his fingers. he turns back to shane and strokes his cheek gently, thumbing his freckles, "hm? don't go yet." he's not usually this needy. or this obvious. but shane needs him now, they both know it.
"okay," shane mumbles, and a small tendril of smoke slips past his lips alongside the word.
