I still think it’s so funny that shane was assigned gay by rose landry and his reaction was WHEW! thank god someone else decided that for me. anyway I’m off to get my man I can sense that he’s making bad decisions in a club somewhere
rose: do you want me to set you up with my friend?
shane distractedly: what? no I’m obviously already embroiled in a years-long situationship with a disaster bisexual who is physically incapable of expressing a feeling out loud. and I’m positive he’s off being a nightmare somewhere so now that I’m gay for sure I need to track him down and greet him with such awkward but well-meaning compassion he ends up sobbing in my arms
Ilya buys Shane a bottle of cologne during the situationship era. He doesn't admit that, of course. He would never admit to how long he spent spritzing scent strips, the long conversation he had with the sales associate about top notes, heart notes, and base notes, the amount of money he spent on that one bottle. He tells Shane it was part of some endorsement he did but that he thinks the scent doesn't really fit him; that it would work better on Shane. He convinces Shane to let him try it on him and the open desire, the hunger in Rozanov's eyes makes the world feel like it's tilted ever so slightly on its axis, like Shane's balance is a little bit off. He fucks him with an animalistic sense of urgency, nose buried in the crook of Shane's neck when he comes, teeth clamping down on the muscle of Shane's shoulder. Honestly, Shane is pretty sure he would have heard about any cologne brand deals Rozanov has but decides not to question it; he accepts the bottle anyway. He starts wearing it every day and the thrill of secretly wearing Rozanov's mark on him while going about his everyday life is nearly overwhelming. It feels like ownership and Shane doesn't know what to do with how much he loves that. Every time he meets up with Rozanov, he can see the exact moment he smells it on him and delights in how it drives him wild every time.
He starts rationing it more carefully when he sees the contents of the bottle dwindling. He dreads the day he will find it empty. Sure, he could buy another bottle but it wouldn't feel the same. It would feel like a poor imitation of the mark he's been proudly wearing in secret, right under everyone's noses.
The first time he meets up with Rozanov without wearing it, the reception is cold. He can feel the anger simmering under every word. He doesn't address it until he's pushed Shane to his absolute limits and it comes out in mean and harsh and accusatory comments that try to cover up how affected he is by Shane not wearing it; the worries about what it means that he's stopped. Shane is far enough gone by then that he admits he's been saving it; that he's close to running out. It comes out in oversensitive whimpers and half-swallowed whines as Rozanov's punishing thrusts punch the pathetic confession out of him. They don't discuss it further but, after that, Rozanov starts gifting him colognes with increased frequency.
By the time they're in a relationship, Shane has a whole shelf in his bathroom dedicated to his extensive collection. Whenever they go anywhere, Ilya will select a scent for Shane to wear. He will lovingly spritz him with it, breathing him in before they leave, and Shane preens under the attention. He can see it in Ilya's eyes, every time he catches a whiff of it, he can feel it in the way his arm tightens around Shane's waist. The quiet mark of ownership that lingers on Shane's skin without anyone else knowing that he bears Ilya's brand at his pulse points.
One night after a tough game, JJ convinces Shane to go to a bar with the rest of the team. He tried to turn him down bc he's beat and just wants to go to his hotel room and get some sleep before an early flight tomorrow, but JJ had already anticipated this and got Hayden in on it so he wouldn't let Shane into the room. They end up going to the nearest bar they find "Come on Cap just an hour or two and we'll let you go it's right around the corner" and said bar happens to have a mechanical bull riding machine (no clue where these exist in Canada just dw bout it). Shane's competitive ass sees everyone there including his teammates fail miserably, so he decides to give it a shot to show them how it's done. Everyone is like haha until my boy is up there and lo and behold Captain Hollander is... really fucking good at bull riding? They all know Shane never half asses anything in his life but where the fuck did he learn to ride like this!? And Shane deadpans "It's about balance and relaxing your hips to move in rhythm with the movement instead of fighting it" and everyone's like ok sure??? Anyways, someone in the bar is a hockey fan and recognizes Shane and takes a video of him bull riding. In less than 15 minutes the clip is blasted all over social media and everyone is collectively losing their shit over Hollander wearing a backwards cap moving his hips in a way no human should be allowed to and riding like his life depends on it under dim sexy red lighting.
Cut to Ilya Rozanov hundreds of miles away up at 3 in the morning almost breaking his phone screen from how hard he's gripping it after replaying the 7 second clip for the 200th time and he's never been more hard in his life.
And he's the only one who knows where Shane Hollander learned to ride.
I fully believe, to the depths of my soul, that if one of the Metros said “I bet Rozanov has a tiny dick”, Shane “maybe he’s sick” “he’s not” Hollander would instantly say “he doesn’t” and then walk into the ocean
I do think that whenever Ilya calls Shane and Shane doesn't pick up, Ilya leaves a voicemail. And the voicemail can be anything from, "Come find me," because they got separated at the mall, to "Hello hello, I miss you, oke bye" because Shane has been out of the house all day. There's also, "Coffee shop says they don't sell your tea anymore. Tell me what you want instead. I leave in three minutes. Bye-bye." and "I will not be home when you get here. Running away to join circus. Maybe will be back with Thai food. Mwah mwah."
This is also how Shane ends up getting into his car, seeing that Ilya left a voicemail, and unthinkingly playing it through the speakers of the car only for the deep voice of Shane's Russian-accented husband to boom, "Answer your fucking phone. Slut." with both the windows and moon roof open.
The missing sex scene in Tampa haunts my dreams. The fact that it happens after their first real and honest conversation, the fact that Ilya is desperate for validation that Shane still wants him, not only after leaving him in Boston and going on to date Rose Landry but also after seeing him emotionally vulnerable. The catharsis that took place in that bed is beyond anything they have ever experienced before and it is, at times, the only thing I can think about.
imagine being ilya rozanov and this polite sweetheart of a boy introduces his freckles to you shakes your hand twice and he's so focused and skilled and determined but you just know he would look so pretty moaning on your dick
so you tease him and you poke at him and you find ways to get him alone so you can finally finally have him. you're gonna hook up and keep hooking up untill he lets you see all the ways you can ruin him. you're gonna make him cry, you're gonna know what those pretty lips look like around your cock, you're gonna mess this good boy up
and then you do but guess what he messes you up right back and you're gonna spend the rest of your life undone at his feet
“You still want?” “I still wunnt.” leads me to believe that once shane drops masking a little more, he starts feeling comfy letting himself echo ilya from time to time. it starts out with words and phrases that conveniently double as an answer to whatever they’re talking about. like above, ilya asks him something and shane answers using the same words and same inflection, just with his monotone little drone. “You have remote?" "I hayve re-mote."
he fucking loves the was ilya says “probably.” ten out of ten times if ilya’s saying probably, shane’s bringing up the rear with a deadpan but delighted “prah-bubly.”
ilya doesn’t say anything at first bc shane’s kind of always done this? it’s just much more frequent now. but then shane starts quietly echoing stuff even when he’s not being asked something. like he’s literally just repeating random words that ilya says, even in the middle of his sentence. and finally ilya is like hey what the fuck. why are you being an asshole? like he knows his english pronunciation is still not great with some things after all these years, but it’s kind of a dick move to point it out so much!
and shane is first and foremost confused by this! it was never about roasting him or being mean and he has to sit him down and explain to him that no no. since the day they met there has never been anything more satisfying to his ears than ilya speaking. his brain likes the way the words sound coming out of ilya’s mouth and shane needs to feel them in his mouth too. it’s an echo of delight, not derision.
once ilya understands that he’s not being hate-crimed by his own boyfriend twenty times a week, he’s all good with it. maybe even a little endeared, because that must mean shane feels comfortable around him, right? eventually, it doesn’t even register as strange to have a one-note parrot within his vicinity, occasionally repeating bits and pieces of his sentences when it suits him. that’s when shane really starts to let the echo flag fly.
he doesn’t even need to be talking to shane specifically anymore. if it’s coming out of ilya’s mouth, shane’s brain is latching onto that shit and trying it on for size. like when they’re on the road for a game and tensions are midwest-hellhole-green-sky high. ilya’s trying to calm down a particularly antsy group of coastal rookies like “Yes we all have alerts on our phones. Is tornado probably - just keep an eye out.” and the rookies are like, shitting their pants and stuff and meanwhile Shane’s in the background muttering “Ees tornaydo prah-bubly” under his breath, attention otherwise focused on zipping up his travel bag.
they’re out with some of the guys and marlow is purposely being a pain in the ass about leaving just to stress ilya out/get him back for years of ilya foolishness and ilya is standing at the curb about to crash out like “Marly I will leave your drunk ass here if you don’t get in stupid uber right now!” meanwhile, mumbled from the safety of the sidewalk: “Stoopid oo-burr…”
sometimes he'll be on the phone in the living room and can't even make out shane's exact repeat from where he's meal prepping. so it's kind of like soothing background noise, ilya speaking freely while there's this lowkey undercurrent of shane murmuring in the kitchen, happy as a clam to get his brain scratched when they're not even in the same room.
idk i just think ilya's got a very brain-petty voice and pronunciation of things, and i like to live in a world where shane lets himself enjoy that.
Can you imagine how angry Ilya "Summer Before" Rozanov was when he heard about Shane's own teammates accusing him of throwing a game against him? Sure, the idea that Shane would need to throw a game in order for him to win is offensive in and of itself but the notion that Shane Hollander would voluntarily lose at a fucking egg and spoon race, never mind a deciding Playoffs game is so beyond insulting that it cannot be borne. They all suddenly think of him in a binary, sort him in his mind as "Shane before Ilya" and "Shane after Ilya", view them as two separate people and it's ludicrous because none of them have ever even met a Shane Hollander before Ilya Rozanov. Before Shane's skates ever touched NHL ice, he touched Ilya. Before the puck hit the back of the net on his first NHL goal, his cock hit the back of Ilya's throat and he's not allowed to tell them that?? What do you mean???
what shane means: i can never love a woman in any way resembling the way i love you and when i tried she called my shit IMMEDIATELY so what im trying to say is i can't sidestep whatever we are the way you can, i will never ever love anyone but u
what ilya hears: somewhere along the line of our multi-year situationship that began with me immediately sucking ur dick, i have determined that i like men.
