Fairest In All The Land

The sex itself is slow and thorough and Shane is running his hands all over Ilya, touching him everywhere he can reach, moaning praise Oh oh baby that's so good you're so good to me oh fuck baby thank you thank you, and the fervor of Shane's praise makes Ilya's mouth twitch, makes him murmur You're feeling noisy tonight because he knows when Shane is putting on a bit of a show for his benefit, but Shane just kisses him all eager and sweet, so Ilya lets him off the hook.

And in the aftermath, when they're lying tangled together, spent and sweaty, Shane tracing random patterns up Ilya's spine with one hand, stroking through Ilya's hair with the other, THEN the apologies begin - baby I'm sorry / no I'm sorry,,,

i would go crazy. that would become my new reality. literally nothing else matters after that.

i would raze empires. i would burn nations to the ground and rebuild them brick by brick. anyone looks at him funny, i'd have them assassinated. i would bribe every single Canadian government official to get him citizenship. i would physically fight his depression. i would learn how to astral project to enter his subconscious and choke out the ghosts of his childhood trauma with my bare hands. i would make him teeny tiny and crack open my ribcage and put him inside the chambers of my heart to keep him safe.

Ilya: ok hollander now touch yourself and I will watch from this cuck chair and I won't touch you.

Shane: ok. *30 seconds later* this is boring, can you fuck me?

Ilya: Ok! :)

*after*

Ilya: fuckkkk.... i let myself be dragged into his web again..... i can't keep letting him get close to me, it's too dangerous... after all that, still, all i want to do is kiss him.... but i can't drag him down here with me... he doesn't deserve this, he doesn't know what an awful and broken person I am... the enormity of my desire disgusts me

"Fuck, Rozanov, did you send me a box of rocks?" Shane complained, holding his phone to his ear with his shoulder as he carried a package into his Montreal home.

"Yes," Ilya deadpanned from the other end of the line, so flatly that Shane could nearly hear him rolling his eyes. "Rocks from Boston beaches. A gift from me to you, Hollander."

Shane snorted. "Your beaches are rocky as shit. But what is it, really?"

"Yes, you need me to tell you, because you cannot...I don't know...open box and find out?"

Grumbling, Shane wrenched the tape off and opened the box, revealing what looked like some sort of bedding. "A...blanket?"

"Pick it up, solnyshko."

He let out a little grunt as he did so, taken off-guard by the weight. It wasn't heavy, especially for someone who regularly spent hours lifting weights in a state-of-the-art gym, but it was certainly not light and airy like a normal blanket, and Shane frowned as he flexed his arm, testing it. "It's...heavy."

"Yes. Twenty pounds. Internet said to do a little over ten percent of your weight," Ilya explained patiently, as if waiting for Shane's approval.

But Shane still wasn't sure what was happening. "Um..." he lifted the blanket completely out of the box, "what's it for, though? Besides, like, warming?"

Ilya chuckled. "Go sit on your couch and put it on your lap or around shoulders."

Feeling a bit silly, Shane obeyed again, gathering the slightly-stubborn blanket in his arms and plopping on the couch, spreading it on his lap.

Instantly, tension he hadn't realized was in his neck, his back, his shoulders, released. He let out a sigh of relief as he relaxed, body sinking into the cushions, eyelids fluttering a little. The stubborn ache that seemed to never fully leave the spot behind his eyes after a long day disappeared. 

"Fuck," he murmured, groaning. "That's..."

Quickly, he put his phone on speaker and cocooned himself in the blanket, smiling.

"Is good?" Ilya's voice asked, a smile in his tone.

"Yeah."

"Good. Teammate's son sometimes gets upset like you. When there is loud noise or bright lights. He said that this helps, so I sent it to you. I will get one for my house, too, and send one to cottage," the other man explained softly.

"You don't have-"

"I want to. You sound sleepy now, sweetheart. Go rest. Call me later."

"M'kay. Love you."

"So," Yuna said a little stiffly, obviously struggling to land on a neutral topic of conversation as they sat around the table. "How have you been enjoying the cottage, R–Ilya? What've you and Shane been getting up to?"

It was a testament to both of their desires to make a good impression that neither of them so much as smirked at the other...though Shane cleared his throat rather loudly. "Uh..." Ilya nodded, swallowing his mouthful of pasta. "Yes, is very nice. Shane gave me tour. He showed me indoor rink, told me about well, all of these things. Very...impressive."

Shane kicked Ilya's leg under the table, suppressing a smile.

"Did he take you out on the lake yet?" David asked conversationally, loading a second helping of pasta onto his plate. "The weather's been great, perfect to get the kayaks out."

Ilya looked over to Shane, unsure about the word 'kayak.' "Um, no, not yet. Maybe we will do this soon."

Furrowing his eyebrows, David looked to Yuna, then back at Shane and Ilya. "Wait, how long have you been here?" he questioned, sounding a bit confused now.

Shane, who had yet to take a bite, sighed. "Like a week, Dad. Why?"

"Because usually you're out on the lake the second you get out here! What else have you two been doing for a whole week?" he asked bemusedly, eyes wide and ridiculously innocent.

Immediately, both Yuna and Ilya spoke at once.

"I think is time for another drink, yes?" Ilya said, reaching for the vodka.

"I'm going to get the dessert!" Yuna announced quickly, at the same time.