Very nice sandbox you've got here I've been playing with the runaways au in my mind all day you're seriously a genius. In any au surrounding hollanov I tend to think about how it's received by social media and this one is so particularly good so many options I'm thinking of the conspiracy theories the hockey world would come up with.
Actually I think this whole thing becomes so big that it breaches containment into mainstream media but like mostly in Canada probably, and big hockey towns in the US. A topic that fed the masses for ages every few months someone comes up with a new theory and the debates get heated again, the people try to find answers, theres none, and there's always one side telling the other to just let them rest but alas it's a mystery that literally everyone wants to see solved.
"You're telling me Hockey Jesus and his archnemesis since day one decided to retire early in the same season at 36 years old and immediately vanished off the face of the earth since then?"
"Well the general consensus is that Shane Hollander killed himself, they found his car empty in the middle of nowhere"
"Then why is it such a debate?"
"The debate is because they haven't found a fucking body. To this day the only thing we found was his car and a pack of cigarettes. Everyone who has ever been in Hollander's circle knows he didn't smoke. Who did those cigarettes belong to? Where the hell is he"
And Ilya probably gets the same treatment because their names are tied together forever but people usually agree that he's probably somewhere on drugs in Moscow, and since he's like such a big star and inspiration in russian sports theres definitely people on the lookout for him there. It spreads to St Petersburg and all over Russia, people start wondering if hes in fucking Siberia, they don't have much to work with because Alexei refuses to speak about anything.
I ruminated over whether or not Alexei would spill anything to the media for money but ultimately I think he wouldn't. Is it because he thinks it brings him great shame? Or because maybe, just maybe Ilya's disappearance worries him harder than he thought it should have?
In my heart of hearts Alexei has the most complex image of Ilya in mind. His foolish ridiculously talented little brother who's nothing like him, as sensitive as their mother, who he resented more often than not. I think Alexei was in charge of Ilya after their mother's death because of course no one else would look after him, and I have this headcannon that Ilya would follow him to the same parties he snorted all that crack in and that's where Ilya tried a a different kind of drug.
But Ilya got out and succeeded and left Alexei all alone, he had money, fame, their father's interest, and he was in the headlines every single day and suddenly he just dropped off the face of the earth, and people are calling trying to feed their curiosity and find out where he is and he's so mad because he should have an answer but he DOESN'T.
Everyone is assuming he should be the closest to him, Alexei you should know, Alexei does he live with you, Alexei do you know where he is? And he doesn't, he's mad as hell about it, that Ilya hasn't spoken to him since their father's funeral years and years and years ago, his daughter doesn't even remember meeting her uncle anymore, and Alexei doesn't want to think about why that matters to him. He doesn't have to, ilya left him a house and enough money to drink himself to death every day until the second coming of Christ. So what if he never calls or answer his calls anymore? It doesn't matter, Alexei has all he needs from him.
Until a lawyers come knocking to tell his daughter a month after she turns 18 that Ilya Rozanov, her uncle, has left her a huge trust fund that she can now access. For a few days his daughter moves in silence and then she's gone too, leaving only a message that she got accepted in a university in idk France, germany, the US or something, and Alexei is sick.
Fuck it, he misses little ilyusha that was unconsolable for ages after their mother's death, trailing after him everywhere, sleeping in his bed, he misses that little shit, he worries about him and where he went, and it took his daughter leaving just like Ilya once did to realise that he still cared, that he still wanted Ilya to call and argue with him just like the days where they still had one last thread tying them together.
I imagine at this point he starts to cope à la David Hollander, looking for clues everywhere, trying to contact Svetlana who won't respond to any of his calls, Sasha who knows nothing, Ilya's past friends that are surprised Alexei doesn't know. At some point he contemplates moving to Canada or the US to try to find something but he gives up a lot earlier than David. He won't go that far, because he feels just as bad as Yuna does, he feels like it's not his place to try to find him because Ilya never wanted him to have any closure anyway. So maybe, a bit too late, he tries to amend by becoming a better father, getting sober, and generally not wanting to repeat the same thing twice.
Alexei is so interesting to me bc I have a sibling who I have a rather complicated relationship with and I sometimes hate that fucker but I can't imagine not being devastated if something ever happened to him, I am always looking around for news about him and always worried about what he's doing. I want to hear him mad as hell as long as it means I can still hear him. I'd love to hear what you think about his place in the au!
I loved reading this so much. You've captured the spirit of the AU so well. Everyone read and indulge in this! The online space is sooo true. that IS how they would talk OUGH.
Alexi my sweet broken boy, I'm sure he is stewing everyday about the brother that he lost. In my AU Ilya did still go to his father's funeral, and did still tell Alexei to never contact him again. For all Alexei knows Ilya is in moscow, avoiding him, so close but so out of reach. He can never reach out without risking his lively hood, god does he wish he could just reach out.
