the widening gyre

Ilya does love seeing old photos of Shane. Fat Baby Shane™ in all his forms, toddler Shane in his little hockey gear, Shane in elementary school with a big missing-teeth smile, Shane blowing out the candles on his 10th birthday, Shane holding up his brand new driver's license at 16. The list goes on.

One day Yuna finds an old disposable camera. The expiration date on it says 2009. She tells Shane about it; it might have some old photos from his graduation on it or something. She'd gotten a digital camera around that time so she can't remember what she used this one for. Shane is pretty indifferent about it.

Yuna sends the camera off to some company that still develops old camera film. It's about 15 years old at this point, though, so whatever is on it might not even develop correctly.

A few weeks later Shane and Ilya are over for dinner. Yuna tells them she got the photos back and they actually turned out ok. She hands over the stack of 10 photos. Shane rolls his eyes, but Ilya grabs the photos and starts flipping through them. The first two look like they are from some school event; there's Shane surrounded by similarly aged kids in an auditorium. There's one of the three of them on Thanksgiving that year and another of the three of them with Yuna's parents at the same dinner. Two of David asleep on the couch with the family dog clearly taken on different days. One of a Christmas tree in the Hollander's living room. The next two are Shane on the ice in a rink that Ilya recognizes as the one in Regina. The one from their first World Juniors Tournament.

And Ilya freezes. The last photo in the stack is a close-up of Shane. He's in a white hoodie with a black coat over it. He has on a dark green beanie and he's standing next to the door to the rink. He's smiling for the camera and his freckles are crinkled near his eyes. It's the Shane that so awkwardly and so confidently introduced himself to Ilya the first time they met. The Shane that had tried so hard to talk to Ilya then. The Shane that Ilya could admit to himself now that he'd had a bit of a crush on already. His Shane.

Moodboard: The Cottage

He's also so, so jealous of the faceless women that he knows Ilya is meeting in clubs during this playoff push. Even with those bruised ribs--it's never stopped Ilya before. Shane HIMSELF has fucked Ilya when Ilya had a kneecap the size of a softball or a shoulder that had to be popped back into the socket days earlier. He knows that even with two weeks of private Alone Together fun on the horizon, they've made no promises. And Shane doesn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. So he isn't expecting anything.

is this a safe space ermmm.... (Shane version too maybe 👀👀)

I saw this photo posted by autoerot.ca on Instagram n I just thought it was sooooo Ilya

enjoy 🫶

And that’s just the front. How and wHY. What is you doing Steve. WhAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THESE EXTRA FIDDLY THINGS

Then there’s this angry weirdo:

First I thought maybe this was some heavy duty bra but he doesn’t have boobs so maybe its purpose is to provide some sort of strap onto which things can be attached to? Like backpack straps without … a backpack.  Because YES THAT MAKES TOTALLY SENSE.

Friend: “hoLD UP that could come in very handy indeed.” Me: “How tho” Friend: “Imagine him checking in at the airport lol”

And then she came up with THE BEST ™ explanation:

You know how Steve and Bucky always freaking manage to lose one another? Either one of them falls down somewhere or jumps into different timelines or falls down again somewhere and loses an arm or whatever.

SO

SEE WHERE WE ARE GOING WITH THIS?

updated: 2026-06-30

chapter length: 32:12

story length so far: 10 hours 51 minutes

chapters: 25/30

AO3 tags:

Alternate Universe - Modern Setting | Alternate Universe - No Powers | Alternate Universe - Activism | Activist Steve Rogers | Pre-Serum Steve Rogers | Protective Bucky Barnes | Appalachian Bucky Barnes | Direct Action | Meet-Cute | Meet-cute while locked to the same piece of construction equipment | Fluff and Smut | just a little angst | Happy Ending | Big Brother Bucky Barnes | Appalachia | Slow Burn | Probably too much description of how to lock down to a piece of construction equipment | But Also Pining | Pining | Eventual Smut | Virgin Steve Rogers | Not that it's any of your business he's kind of shy about it ok? | He's good at a lot of things but romance isn't one of them | Poor Bucky | Kid Fic | But the kids don't show up till chapter 11 | But then there are definitely kids | Southern Gothic | I meant to write a meet cute but this is actually a sprawling southern gothic | Sorry Not Sorry | Once things get smutty they get smut-tay if you know what I'm saying so just head up | Idiots in Love | schmoopy love stories | swimming in a sea of fondue level of cheese | bring your bread | the bread is to dip in the fondue | it's a romance novel | podfic

Author's Note: ZenaidaMacroura

... a meet-cute where boys meet while chained to a backhoe. Why are they chained to this backhoe? Well. I spent wayyy too much time thinking about that! I decided they are fighting a pipeline. There are a lot of pipelines people are fighting the construction of around the US and in other countries around the world. The specific pipeline for this story is fictionalized, but also, it is more or less the Mountain Valley Pipeline (aka MVP) (it's pictured in the moodboard)

Podficcer's Note: E_Greer

This novel caught my heart with its positive depiction of Appalachia, and the people who live here. As a native Appalachian who grew up a couple hours northward of the location in this fic, I heard my accent in this fic and I wanted to share the way I heard it with everyone. So yes, this is way I speak at home. A couple things may wobble as you listen—I speak with a slightly different "r" and though I've tried to represent ZenaidaMacroura's accent writing accurately, I might miss it on occasion. Also, this is a massive work, and if I tried to record only when I was well, it would not exist—I apologize in advance for those chapters where my voice is a little weaker. I'll try to post every other week, and in the end, my plan is to post the whole thing as an audiobook

In which Steve, Becca, and Natasha bring home something unexpected.

This one took me longer to edit because @zenaidamacrouras1 is so funny—I had to edit out all my giggles!

[link to chapter 25]