Alright guys, bear with me because this one has done Actual NHL Lore, but I think it’s cute.
Ilya has been wearing number 81 since he was 13. It’s his lucky number. He gets to Boston, and a veteran already has 81. Management suggests that he use number 18, and he goes with that, but secretly it makes him just a little sad.
At the first All Stars game, he wears 81 on his All Stars jersey and Shane mentions it off-hand after their hook up. “Oh hey, you wore 81 again. That’s nice, you were always 81 in Russia.”
Ilya is so surprised that Shane followed his pre-professional career closely enough to notice that he says something unexpectedly vulnerable. “Is for my mama. Her birthday. 8th of January.” He shrugs. “Is okay, 18. Still her birthday. North American way. Still works.”
Shane looks at Ilya with those big brown eyes and just says quietly, “Did you ask for your number when you got to Boston?”
And Ilya just blinks at him. “Ah, no. Office said unavailable, gave me 18. What do you mean, ask?” Shane gets out his phone and sends off a quick email. “Hollander?” Shane puts up his pointer finger: one second.
“Okay. I emailed Rolex. They’ll deliver a watch to McKay next week. That’s the traditional gift when you ask for a number. I asked them to include a card saying you’d like to wear 81. I didn’t explain why, but you can tell him that when he gets the watch if you want. I bet he’ll say yes.”
Ilya blinks again. “Hollander, you don’t have to do this. 18 is fine.”
“You like 81. This is a normal thing, Rozanov. Happens all the time. Not your fault no one told you the protocol.”
“Like, the way things are normally done. It’s standard. Like, unspoken rules.”
“Figures that Golden Boy Hollander would even know the rules that aren’t written down.”
“Thank you. I will pay for watch.”
“Don’t worry about it. I get a couple free ones every year.”
McKay says yes, Ilya starts wearing 81 again, and years later when Ilya tells Shane his mother is dead - and then later when he tells him how she died - Shane understands even better why 81 mattered. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Shane’s first tattoo is a small 81 right over his heart.
And this is one of the moments that Ilya will look back on years later and realize that he really fell in love so early, and maybe Shane loved him way back then too.
origamiaround
tangentwithtanner
gummygunk
gamechangershow
romaincrisis
theartofmadeline
