*dumbest ficbunny I have ever had last night after m'itunes shuffled to a pitched-down version of a Disney song that makes it sound like a bass/tenor male duet + me thinking 'if it turned out Hudson Williams can do all that and sing as well I think I'd actually have to kill him' *
The Metros and Raiders are delayed together at the same airport and have to kill an hour or two before boarding.
The teams discover that a bar in the airport is having a Disney Karaoke evening.
They of course decide to compete against each other, and let the other people in the bar decide which team has the best singers.
It comes down to a tie-break.
The last two singers to sing are, of course, Ilya and Shane.
Ilya smashes a rendition of 'You're Welcome' where he replaces 'Maui' with 'Ilya.'
(Takes the cordless mic out into the crowd so he can half-drape over Shane, as if he's just doing it to annoy him, and acts like it's Shane who is star-struck at meeting him. Shane is glaring.)
The crowd loves it. They all think Ilya has clinched the face off.
But... the last person to sing is Shane.
He has been insisting he doesn't want to, that he can't remember song lyrics, but his team whines until he finally accepts.
And he gets up and picks a credit-song that was cut out of the movie and only included in the re-release that nobody's heard of.
Now, the guys, they're not expecting anything great from Mr 'barely speaks in social situations unless you approach him first.' (Shane Hollander singing? What would that even sound like? ) And all the other guys haven't really been trying to sing well, they've been goofing around and making a show of it rather than actually doing the job.
Well. He's autistic. If he's asked to do a job he's going to do it properly.
So Shane opens his mouth.... and absolutely bodies this song, even though it's supposed to be a duet.
He can sing so well that the guys are actually too shocked to even heckle, because of course 'Mr Perfect' Golden Boy would have the voice of an angel on top of being amazing at hockey. Why is he even playing hockey when he could be doing that for a living?
But what's worse is: the lyrics.
'If I never knew you
I'd be safe but half as real
Never knowing I could feel
A love so strong and true
I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you...
There's no moment I regret
Since the moment that we met
If our time has gone too fast
I've lived at last...
I thought our love would be so beautiful
We'd turn the darkness into light
And still my heart is saying we were right.
And if I never knew you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Empty as the sky
Never knowing why
Lost forever
If I never knew you.'
And of course Shane only realise mid-song how Horrifically Apt the lyrics are for his current situation but, still, he has a Job to Do, the song is going to be sung like his life depends on it. (Even if he is now fighting the urge to make direct eye contact with Ilya.)
Ilya, who is really choking up because, fuck, it's only the world's most beautiful boy singing a beautiful love song to him in front of his dumbass team-mates and he can't go and kiss him at the end like he wants.
By the time Shane finishes, his entire team and the rest of the bar give him a standing ovation, the Raiders are either shaking their heads or brushing their eyes ('Seriously, Marly?' 'What? He got to me, okay!') Hayden is screaming, the clip is already on the internet, going viral, the sing-off is considered a hands-down Mets win. ('Mets Beat Raiders Twice In One Day?')
Shane puts the mic neatly back in its stand, gets down from the little stage and a harassed airport staff member is yelling that 'Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Your flight is boarding!' and the Raiders have to go.
In all the chaos Shane and Ilya briefly get smooshed together in the scrum. Shane, shyly eyeing him, trying to clock whether Ilya approves or not, notices the wet in his eyes, says 'are you crying?' delightedly. And Ilya is like 'No. I am Russian. We do not have water in our eyes. Only ice.' And Shane just has time to say, 'well... I think your ice is melting.' 😏 And smile at him before they have to go.
(In the distance he can hear Ilya yelling, 'Okay boys! Let's go before Hollander starts making horrible noise at us again! Is like dying cat, yes?' 'Hey fuck you Rozanov!' 😘)
Before the Raiders' flight takes off he gets a text from Ilya saying: 'Even I never knew how talented your mouth is.' 🤩
And that's the last time they see each other for months.