that little hotel role-playing bit with shane calling ilya sir and pretending to be the bellboy or something was soooo good, one of my fave bit of the whole episode - because they get to have fun sex, they get to be light and smiling now. they have so much fun together, they're so playful (I mean they literally play a game for a living and yes, the game they play is very intense and competitive and technical and hard but it's a game and they're the best at it so of course they're good at playing together wether it's hockey or not) - the cottage gives them time to do a lot more than sex and they're basically always playing (in the water, with the football or the video game...) and to relax and tease each other but they can also be playful while having sex now because they know and trust each other so well and it's not all intense stolen moments anymore. and seeing them fall so easily into role-playing and teasing each other (also not role-playing but them actually making a deal and then all the slaps during the hayden call was so funny lmao) was so heartwarming - especially when you think about how they have to text under false names for the outside world but when it's just the two of them they can use their real names but also play around with that and bring that into their hot sex life. and they're both very funny people and they make each other laugh so of course they'd have fun sex.
and the hotel setting is a great callback to them often having sex in hotel rooms (ilya says he knows how the staff likes to be treated after all these years) but now they're in love and they're actually at shane's private house!!!












