Shane is not an animal guy at all. Ilya knows this. He's reached an understanding and level of affection with Anya, but beyond that he doesn't seem to have any interest in any other creatures.
Except, sometimes, between all the hockey videos Shane gets on the rare occasions Ilya sees him scrolling through Instagram, he'll get a video of otters. And to Ilya's surprise, Shane almost always sits through the whole thing.
This seems so out of left-field that Ilya ends up texting Yuna about it. He'd ask Shane about it, but he's scared that he'll get embarrassed and stop watching them when Ilya's around. Yuna immediately texts back like, "Oh yeah, Shane loves otters. Always has. He hasn't told you about Wa?"
And Ilya's heart immediately beats faster in that way it does when he learns something new and unexpected about his husband.
"No he has not. What is a 'Wa'?"
He gets sent a photo a few minutes later of what was probably once a very cute otter plushie, but is now squashed beyond all recognition and missing an eye and an ear.
"Sorry, it was hidden in the back of his closet so I had to dig it out. This is Wa. Or Otter-Wa. David called him that as a joke and it stuck. We got it because Shane was upset we couldn't take the otters home with us, and it became his favorite toy. He wouldn't go anywhere without it."
Ilya is, of course, delighted to learn this and immediately begins plotting.
A few months later, on Shane's birthday, Ilya leads him blindfolded to the surprise he's organised for him.
"I hear water. Baby, you didn't just drag me to a pool after hours, did you? Because I've talked to the contractors and we can install a pool if that's what you want."
And Ilya laughs as he undoes the blindfold, revealing the otter enclosure.
"After all these years I hope that my surprises are a little bit better than that."
And Ilya watches as Shane's eyes fill with tears as he realises where he is.
"Otters?" he asks, looking at Ilya in wonder. "But how did you... I've never told you about the otters."
"You didn't need to," he says with a shrug. "I pay attention to my beautiful husband when he does things. I thought you might like to actually meet some."
"Ready for introductions?" asks one of the zookeepers, and Ilya nods, following them over to the pool.
"But how... Ilya this must have cost a fortune."
And Ilya laughs again at that, pressing a kiss to Shane's cheek.
"Lucky you married someone rich and famous then."
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