Bucking Up Since The 90s

Shane: you don't know what state the Carolina Hurricanes are in?

Ilya: Well I know from name is one of them.

Troy: I don't think its East and West Carolina, that doesn't sound right...

Ilya: No it is East and West, like East Virginia and West Virginia. Trust me I lived in United States for 8 years.

Dykstra: You never hear about things happening in East Virginia.

Shane/Ilya (Hollanov) has ranked first for most new AO3 works from July 2025-2026. Additionally, the ship has set a new record for the highest number of works gained by a relationship in a single year period since these stats began.

Shane heaved a sigh as he stepped into the dining hall. He usually avoided eating here, but he’d forgotten to grab his lunch that morning. It wasn’t his fault that he was… distracted. His eyes scanned the limited options he had available to him. They had a salmon and rice bowl that didn’t sound too bad, so he got into one of the ridiculously long lines. 

His mind wandered as he stood there, circling back to where it was that morning. The previous night he’d gone to one of the university’s hockey games. He liked hockey, but he didn’t usually go to the games there. He preferred to watch the professionals. But something had drawn him to the game, anyway. Well, not something. Someone. The game had been good. The university had won. But that’s not what he kept thinking about. No, he kept thinking about—

A loud, familiar laugh interrupted his train of thought. His gaze snapped to the source of it, brown eyes meeting icy blue. Rozanov was already looking at him. He was laughing, from across the room, but his attention was on Shane. He felt his ears grow hot as he looked away. 

The line’s pace was agonizingly slow. The bowls were all pre-prepared. What could possibly be taking so long? All they had to do was hand them out. 

Now that he knew where Rozanov was sitting, he couldn’t help glancing back there. He had a popsicle. Shane didn’t know they gave those out at this time of year. Or maybe he bought from one of the little snack shops on campus. Rozanov was still looking at him. Shane couldn’t look away as his tongue darted out, flicking against the tip of the popsicle. Then, it licked a long stripe up the length of it. His mouth went dry as Rozanov wrapped his lips around it and sucked, cheeks hollowing out, eyes still locked on his. Fuck. 

Shane looked away, heart pounding. That was incredibly inappropriate. And hot. He could tell Ilya seemed to be flirting for him for weeks. He wasn’t that dense. But he was willing to brush it off because Ilya was a hockey player. Now, however, there was no denying what was going on there. 

Finally, he was able to grab his lunch. Unfortunately, he still had to sit down somewhere and eat it. He found a little table for two in a corner and sat there, hoping it was out of the way enough that no one would bother him. 

“Hello, Professor,” a Russian accent purred from behind him. Rozanov stalked around the table and took a seat across from him. “I’m surprised to see you here. Thought you brought boring lunch with you.”

Shane rolled his eyes, trying not to show how affected he’d been just minutes ago. Luckily, Rozanov didn’t have his popsicle anymore. “Usually, I—I don’t have a boring lunch, first of all—but yes, usually I bring one with me. I forgot today. I guess I was just tired.”

“Mm,” his eyes scanned him carefully. “Long night? Something keeping you up? Or,” he smirked, “someone?”

Rozanov on the ice, eyes sparkling, grinning wildly after a goal. Rozanov slamming a guy into the boards, taunting him. Rozanov throwing down his gloves— “No,” Shane lied, reply too clipped, “and that’s none of your business.”

He chuckled, “Wow, you are really bad liar.”

“Hey, Rozanov! You coming?” A gruff voice, probably one of his teammates, called out. 

Rozanov got up, leaning in a little too close, “Hope you enjoyed the game last night.” He gave him a parting wink, then left Shane alone with his lunch. 

after dick and kisses

“this isn’t true because the ex-friendship that traumatized me ended explosively after they were mad at me and never told me why” that’s not good. they shouldn’t be doing that

“i don’t think this is true because my current friend group is constantly icing me out until i figure out what ive done to upset them and properly apologized without being told” hey thats not good. they should not be doing that

What's the first "big news story" you remember from when you were a kid?

It's something I love to ask mixed-aged groups sometimes because I think it's really interesting to see the responses. I've gotten answers from the Olympics of [whatever year] to Watergate to more recent stuff from my niblings.