Ghost

So he works to get the pronunciation down, and finally springs it on him one day when Ilya’s just come in from the lake, hair air dried and floofy and he’s all open limbs and soft edges.

The moment the words fill the space, Ilya goes silent, and tears start to fall. Shane panics, and closes the gap between them to hold his husband close with a crushing grip.

‘What’s wrong? Did I not do it right? Did I say something bad?’

Ilya stays quiet for a moment, trying to control the inevitable break in his voice when he speaks. When it comes out, it’s wet, and wounded, like blood seeping out the mouth of an injured animal.

‘No, no. It’s ok- my mama, she-’ another small sob. ‘She used to call me that. I have not heard it in a very long time.’

Shane knows he doesn’t need to reply, or to fill the following lull.

He just needs to stand there. Solid and unyielding.

Because I’m putting out in the universe what I want to see more of 😉 and according to my recent post, a lot of y’all are like me and want to see more of these too!

This one is a slow burn… but second half gets much more desperate!

He makes an offhanded comment to Shane about it during dinner one night and Shane says something like "Oh I didn't even know it said that. You can submit a correction and edit it to delete that sentence if you care so much since you're so whiny and jealous" and Ilya is like "I'm not whining, I'm just making boring conversation about boring people on boring website." Then promptly excuses himself and whips his phone out to do the very thing that Shane has just inadvertently taught him.

And Ilya is getting more and more frustrated that it keeps getting edited back to say Shane dated Rose. He can never mention this to Shane because then Shane will know that Ilya is still jealous AND still checking his Wikipedia page.

This goes on for weeks. Wikipedia eventually restricts Ilya. He makes a second account and the same thing happens. He eventually takes the L.

Specifically that in the series K/ip and E/lena always go "thank you, K/yle" in that singsongy voice.

“Um…M?” Ilya asks questioningly, his voice muffled and quiet as he lays facedown on the mattress. 

“Yes,” Shane nods, continuing to trace letters into Ilya’s stunning back, trying not to get distracted by the way his muscles flex a little. “Now?”

“O?”

“Mhm.”

“N…T…B…no, R…Oh, Hollander, you asshole.” Ilya rolls over, flashing a grin at Shane that makes his stomach swoop a bit. “Montreal? What, next word will be Metros?”

Shane smirks back at him. “Only time you’ll ever have the name of the best hockey team in the league on your body, so–”

Muttering in Russian, Ilya tackles him, kissing him heatedly, then pins him facedown on the bed. “My turn,” he announces, mischief in his tone.

So, not one to back down from a challenge, Shane closes his eyes, locking in to the feel of Ilya’s finger tracing over the knobs of his spine, determined to guess the word Ilya gave him faster than Ilya had.

Of course, he’s a bit distracted by the other man’s lingering touch, but he shivers for only a second before refocusing. “Um…O?”

“No.”

He furrows his eyebrows, shifting his head as he pillows it in his arms. “Ilya…that really feels like an O. Or…maybe a U? Or a P?”

“Nope.”

He’s irritated now, frustrated that Ilya was better at this than him. “I…again?”

The finger traces, and he concentrates hard.

It comes to him in one moment of dawning realization.

“Rozanov…are you drawing a dick on my back?” His tone is flat and annoyed, but he can’t stop himself from smiling.