i love your pa ilya au!!!! aus where one of them isn't a hockey player can be so juicy and i love the idea of ilya seeing shane acting like an understimulated big cat in a zoo but also overwhelmed with Everything and taking charge, expecting a little pushback...maybe? except shane just hands over all the keys to himself like :) ♥️yay♥️
Sorry I don't think this was what you were looking for but this is what happened.
Like at first Ilya is impressed by Hollanders work ethic. He knows how hard the man works as an athlete but seeing how hard he's going for the Olympics and his whole brand. He really is a golden boy all the way down.
But it takes him barely a handful of days to see the cracks in Hollander, which makes him feel a little bit insane cause how can he see them so clearly and no one else seems to care.
They may not see it cause Hollander peppers his sentences with "what do you think?" "Is that okay?" in a way he doesn't do with anyone else. He has opinions, but any time Ilya asks him for one, Hollander turns his big wet brown eyes on Ilya begging him for help.
The 3rd time Hollander tied himself up in knots over an invitation, this one to a charity gala, Ilya decided enough was enough.
"I'll let them know you're sending a check but you can't make it."
Hollander blinks, looking almost disappointed he wasn't able to work himself up into a full panic attack now. "What?"
"You have a game next day, you need to prioritize that. All they want is the check anyways."
Hollander's shoulders dropped and he looked almost content, which makes Ilya think he might almost be ecstatic. He was starting to understand what made Hollander tick. He did not want anything that might interfere with his hockey, he wanted to impress his team and the Canadian Olympic coaches, and oddly enough the lead photographer on Hollander's Rolex campaign. Ilya did not think a photographer needed this many meetings with the talent. Ilya is pretty sure Hollander keeps saying yes because it makes him excited when the photographer is visibly annoyed by Ilya's presence.
Hollander doesn't mind photoshoots or sets that require him to stand on a mark and say a line. Ilya knows that Hollander will only do interviews if they give him the questions in advance and allow to to decline to answer. After game media is not an interview in Hollander's mind, he tells Ilya that it's just a part of hockey.
But Hollander will start to puff up and pace if he thinks that he will have to have unscripted conversations with strangers. The more conversations he thinks he's going to have to have, the harder he puffs and the more he paces. He always says yes, which irritates Ilya because he obviously does not want to do it and most of the time they just want Hollander's money.
Which is why Ilya had expected at least the pretense of a fight but Hollander just relaxes, seemingly startled out of his anxiety.
"I'll go get my checkbook, you can send the money back with with our rsvp" he frowns, "How much do you think I should send?"
