So we all collectively lost our minds when Ilya told Shane to get on his knees, right? Right?
(Continuing on my analysis of the dom/sub dynamic in HR)
Episode 1 part 2 below [Ep 1 part 1] [Ep 2 part 1]
The fact that this was only their second time hooking up is actually insane. It's the first real taste of this dom/sub thing these two freaks have going on.
And it’s played out so perfectly.
To me it reads as the first moment Ilya realizes just how into that dynamic he is.
Conner and Hudson talked in an interview about this recently and I think they said it perfectly. Ilya likes having control and Shane likes giving it up. (We'll get more into this next episode.) This is the first scene where we see that.
For context I have read the books, but I honestly think they did such a good job on this show that you don't really need to read the books to get a good handle on Shane and Ilya's thoughts.
That being said, this is the moment where Ilya tells Shane to get on his knees just to see what he would do and when he immediately obeys Connor as Ilya does this really subtle (woah/wow) that I love.
Because this is also the moment that Ilya realizes how much Shane loves this too.
He's starting to understand how much Shane wants/needs that dynamic and Ilya being the beautiful service!top that he is is very happy to give that to him. But Ilya doesn’t push more than Shane is ready to give. When he thinks he’s been too forward and aggressive he pulls back.
He asks Shane if he’s even been fucked and can see he’s uncomfortable so he gives him some space. (Have you ever touched yourself here) he asks instead.
Also, building on my earlier commentary that the undressing is a metaphor for their comfort in their sexuality. Ilya almost exclusively undresses himself this episode and Shane either has be asked to get undressed or helps Ilya undress him once they’re already kinda in the act.
Something that I think is interesting about this scene too is that we don't actually see most of the sex go down. It just goes to show that HR isn't just gratuitous sex. Everything that's shown is for a reason.
And then of course there is after when Ilya again pushes Shane because he knows he needs the push. (You have phone. Give.) Something that we start to see in later episodes related to this is that Shane likes to put up a little bit of a fight even though he knows he's going to give in.
