Hollanov 😊

(referencing this post)

this is so cute and so funny and i am enjoying shane's embarrassment and despair at the hands of his concerned and loving family so much

david very helpfully volunteers that "the tilapia, uh.... cheated on you? since last time? they said they changed the recipe for the breading and now it has almonds."

shane puts his head in his hands like "maybe anaphylaxis would be better than this. i'm not even that hungry."

"shane! there's no need to be so dramatic," yuna says.

ilya, ever the helpful menace, has a suggestion. "lyubimyy, we ordered loving appetizers for the table to share. you and i could split a main dish as well? it will be like a threeso—"

shane stands up, tells the waitress "i am so sorry for the delay. i'll have the salmon salad without croutons," and goes to use the bathroom for A Moment Of Peace, Please God Above

There's one name though, one that Ilya pulls out when he wants Shane's attention, when he feels fond but knows Shane is in that mood that won't let Ilya be gentle with him. Shanya.

It's the closest thing to a Russian diminutive Ilya has come up with, and when he realizes it's one of the only names he can get away with on public, boy does he take advantage of it.

The Centaurs notice. Of course they do. They notice how Shane's jaw clenches when they call him "Holly" or "Holzy". They notice, and some guess, just how many comments, how many "jokes" the Metros had to make to get Shane to react like that to what should be an affectionate nickname.

And so, when Ilya starts calling him Shanya in practice, and Shane gets this not-quite smile in his face, the rest of the team catches on quickly.

Surprisingly, its Luca who tries it first, the vowels clear and precise just like Ilya does it. Teasing, but fond with it. Shane starts a little, and they all hold their breaths, subtly waiting for the downturn of Shane's mouth, the tightening of his shoulders. And then Shane rolls his eyes upwards, that half smile that talks of fond exasperation, and everyone sighs in relief. It's fair game after that.

"Damn Shanya, what a fucking shot!"

"Shanya, how the hell did you manage that?"

"There anymore water, Shanya?"

"You okay, Shanya?"

significantly, after ilya accepts that he is lactose intolerant and stomachaches are not just the price everyone pays for milk, shane is INSUFFERABLY smug about still being able to eat dairy.

"wow, this ice cream is SO good, do you-oh, no, sorry. dairy is too much for you. i forgot. :3"

Anyway, I'm just imagining Ilya with this meticulous presentation, codesigned with his mother-in-law the executive manager of his charity Yuna Hollander.

And once Shane IS at team events (between the outing and officially joining the Cens), Ilya lets them know WHY this is a big thing for him...

So the first Cens event Shane attends, he bears witness to an all-out ARGUMENT between like five of his future teammates over whether the cake has any airborne allergens that means it needs putting in the specially designated 'SHANE DO NOT GO HERE' area, or if it's just a problem if Shane ingests it...

Crucially, this argument started BEFORE he and Ilya arrived. Just the Cens standing there having this argument as Shane and Ilya walk into the room, overtaken by every emotion all at once that their team are being THIS accommodating before even OFFICIALLY meeting Shane.

i see this and raise you that ilya didn't actually tell them it was for shane specifically. they know that allergies are apparently Very Important to ilya so yeah, sure, buddy. maybe this is important to him in his family or something. whatever. doesn't matter. sure the peanut butter cookies can remain in a sealed container away from everything else. why not.

which means that shane arrives to this event to find five grown men arguing about whether this cake is A Bad Cake and needs to go to jail or not, and shane fully thinks he's having a stroke for a second. he knows all of those words but NOT in that order. and he's like ?? um?? and the guys fucking GRAB HIM and are like, "you are married to roz. you would know. he would want this cake to go in jail, right? it has hazelnuts in it." and shane is just "i don't even know what you're asking me." and gets the explanation that team events have sections for food and the main one is no common allergens and then there's "hey, if you're allergic, stay tf away" in another area, and it's just a team bit to call it jail now. so if someone forgets and is like, "this has lemon in it," they can get a verdict on jail or not jail.

and shane is?? oddly touched??? yeah, send the cake to jail for sure. :)

first of all "Training Peanuts" made me fucking CACKLE

second of all, SO funny to imagine shane deciding to use the summer to start doing this so it won't have an impact on his performance if it goes badly (*ilya voice* and what about impact on your husband? no concern for this?), which means ilya's stress levels are flipping WILDLY over the course of the summer.

the idea of shane who denies himself SO MUCH and optimizes SO MUCH OF HIS LIFE and is SO focused and SO dedicated

but who cannot resist the siren call of Forbidden Mangoes

it ends up being his end of season treat

he did a whole season, he did a great job, he stayed focused and On It the whole year. other people celebrate with champagne. shane celebrates with an allergen.

shane who has one last photoshoot to knock out before he's free and is just oh no :) it conflicts with my husband's schedule :) guess that means ilya can't go with me :) so sad :)

why are you so happy

i'm not :)

then he does the photoshoot and has knocked out the last thing he has to do in front of a camera for a while.

now it is Mango Time.

he facetimes ilya with the lights down WAY low later and ilya just ?? shane??? i can barely see you, malysh. turn a light on.

uuuhh, no thanks. it's sexier like this.

what? i want to se-

...

shane is it the fucking mangoes

...no

SHANE

YOU GET TO SMOKE SOMETIMES. I GET TO EAT MANGOES.

ARE YOU FORGETTING PART WHERE ALLERGIES CAN GET WORSE WITH EXPOSURE?

THEN I SHOULD ENJOY THEM WHILE I CAN

"I know I am not what you wanted for him."

Ilya says this as a statement of fact, rather than a question. He's not laboring under any delusions that Shane's parents looked at their child when he was small and wished for him to be with a Russian asshole who can't keep his mouth shut. Especially one that is a man. It bothers him, not a small amount, but he also knows that it can't be helped. 

But Yuna, who is sitting with him in front of the television as David and Shane stand in the kitchen, pointing to a cabinet that is concerning them for some reason, both of their monotone voices low as they stand with identical stances, hands on their faces and eyebrows furrowed, just gives Ilya an unreadable look.

Her eyes, which remind him of Shane's, pierce his soul for a long moment. Then, she says, "Ilya. Has Shane told you about what used to happen when he'd get overwhelmed as a child?"

He frowns, struck once again by the fact that though he feels like he knows Shane better than anyone else in the entire world, there is still so much more to learn. "No."

"When something bad happened, or things were too loud, or scary, or big changes happened...he would...well, you saw," she explains gently, obviously referring to how Shane had shut down at the table at Yuna and David's house the day before. "He'd stop talking. Hyperventilate–breathe really fast, that is–or start to cry. Shut himself in his room, or even try to bang his head against the wall." Her voice cracks a little at the last phrase, and Ilya's heart breaks a little as well, picturing a tiny Shane with tears in his eyes, trying to get ahold of emotions he couldn't even explain. "It used to take us hours to calm him down."

"That is...I am sorry. Must have been difficult. For everyone," he murmurs, because he can't find the words to explain his urge to travel back in time and scoop that small child into his arms.

"It wasn't easy," Yuna relents, giving him a tight smile. "But the point is, even as he got older, it was still hard for him. Still is hard for him, when he gets upset. He just…stops talking. Gets overwhelmed. David and I have tried everything to help. But when he gets like that, it’s....But Ilya, seeing you calm him yesterday in a matter of seconds?"

He blinks, thinking back again. Yes, he had calmed Shane, but it hadn't been some difficult puzzle. It'd just been a firm touch, a few simple words. Instinct, really. "Was not a big deal," he murmurs, flushing.

"It was. And that is the only thing we've ever wanted for Shane. Someone who understands and loves him enough to be there for him like he needs. We don't care about anything else," Yuna says, smiling softly.

"Hollander! Rozanov!" Harris shouted, gaining the attention of the two men, who were standing on opposite sides of an old gym, floor-hockey equipment in hand and glaring at each other challengingly. "You know the rules! Same team, or you can't play!"

Both men grumbled, glaring at Harris, before Ilya moved across the floor towards Shane.

"Wait, I don't understand," Tommy, one of the newer children at the rec center, frowned as they all continued to divide into teams for a scrimmage. "Why do Hollander and Rozanov have to play on the same team? Isn't that, like, completely unfair? They're beasts."

Adam, who had frequented the center since he was small and had experienced the Centaurs visiting many times, grinned. "Yeah. But you don't want to see what happens if they're on opposite teams."

But, of course, Tommy was a curious 12-year-old boy who could not mind his business, so he grinned and asked, "What happened?"

"Rozanov checked Hollander so hard, he fell onto a kid. Kid was fine, just a little banged up but then Hollander went back with a shot to the goal so hard he broke the net," Adam explained, laughing. "That redheaded guy over there, Harris? He freaked out and got all huffy. Made a rule that the two of them have to be on the same team, or they can't play. Said they're bad influences to us."

"That's insane!" Tommy replied, grinning. "So now they work together? Because they're, like..." he searched for the word, unsure of what was appropriate. "They're like...gay married, right? So they must get along a little?"

"Yeah, man, they're married. But I don't know if 'get along' is the word I'd--" Adam started, only to be interrupted by Rozanov, who approached him with a determined look in his eyes. 

"Hey. Hey, Adam," the man hissed under his breath, like he was making some sort of illicit deal.

Adam smirked. "Yeah?"

"Same thing as always, yes? You do not pass to Hollander. Only me. I will score more than Hollander. If you do this, I give you money."

"Sure, sure." He smirked at a gaping Tommy.

"Good man," Rozanov beamed, clapping him on the back.

But before Tommy, whose eyes were bugging out like a fish, could comment on this, Hollander sulked up to Adam. "We have a deal, right?" he muttered, avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah," Adam grinned. "No passes to Rozanov."

"Right. I have some free merch on the bus for you," Hollander nodded uncomfortably, then walked away.

Tommy stared at Adam in awe, eyes wide. "Did you really just–?"

He shrugged, grinning. "They're rich hockey players, man! I'll take what I can get!"

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.

which means maybe the centaurs have picked up on the fact that hey, sometimes when shane wants ilya to stop doing something, he taps his arm twice. or if ilya wants shane to move one way, he taps him three times. or if he just wants his attention, its a squeeze. which is all relatively normal, and they probably think its cute that they have an unspoken language for communicating with one another.

So is Troy, who seems equally enthusiastic, so at least Shane isn't alone.

But he still worries when he sees Ilya all decked out in a rainbow tank top that has to be at least a size too small. He glances down at his own outfit, something he'd wear any other day, and asks,

"should I change?"

Ilya cocks his head and goes "do you want to?"

And Shane doesn't have to answer he very clearly does not want to.

"I just worry that-"

"that people will not know you are gay? I think I can help with that." Ilya smirks and grabs Shane's ass. Shane shoves him away but he's smiling.

They meet Harris and Troy in a parking garage a few blocks from the parade and Shane comes close to laughing because Harris is wearing a flag as a cape and Troy is wearing jeans and a centaurs t shirt.

"see?" Ilya says "you can wear whatever"

"I actually have something for you," Harris says, and hands both Shane and Troy a baseball cap with the terrible centaurs pride logo.

"they were a limited run and they didn't sell well," he explains. Shane gets why. But he likes the hat. It feels manageable.

The parade still doesn't quite feel manageable. He can already hear the crowd, and he knows, just KNOWS that in just a few minutes, for better or worse, all of their attention is going to be directed at HIM. That's where it always ends up.

"Shane?" He hadn't realized he was staring off into space until Ilya brings him back to earth. "We do not have to go"

"you really want to," Shane says.

"yes," Ilya shrugs, "but if you turn this around," he starts to turn Shane's baseball cap backwards, "I won't be able to resist taking you home and fucking you."

"Ilya! This is what does it for you?"

"You do it for me, Hollander"

Shane turns the cap backwards and grabs Ilya's hand. "Let's go see a parade"

"you are trying to kill me?"

"maybe!" Shane laughs.

There is something so joyful and endearing about Connor and Hudson laughing with each other ✨️:

There is something so tender and fond about them watching the other one laugh:

There is something so incredible soft about them laughing and smiling while looking at the other one:

And there is so much happiness in the air when they make each other laugh:

Its such a joy to see them laughing and smiling together and in a world where there is so much darkness lately, these moments are like a little light and a glimpse of hope♥️✨️

shane and ilya are lounging on the couch, the day after the game. in a few days they’ll have to pick themselves up to head to the nhl awards, but for now, ilya is letting shane wallow. he reallllyy wanted that cup against toronto and dallas kent.

they open up netflix to find something to watch, and come across a carousel of pride month recommendations. ilya is taken aback, as he sort of forgot about Pride month. with all the chaos of the playoffs, he just hadn’t been paying attention. now that he’s out publicly, ilya usually likes to make an appearance at a pride parade, sometimes riding on a float for charity. but this year he doesn’t have anything planned.

Shane doesn’t care what they watch, so Ilya puts on this little teen show that Svetlana recommended to him years ago, called Heartstopper. The show is about these two high school boys, Nick and Charlie who fall in love and go through the usual high school tribulations together: bullying, an absentee father, mental health struggles.

they binge the show in two days, stopping in between to eat and ice their sore muscles. by the middle of the third season, ilya has silent tears running down his cheeks.

the realization came to him all of of a sudden—shane is charlie and ilya is nick.

Ilya sees a lot of similarities between shane and charlie- the anxious demeanour, the trying so hard to be perfect all of the time. but he sees even more of himself in nick— always trying to be the happy, fun loving friend and teammate, but never really feeling extremely close to anyone enough to open up. well, until Shane that is. watching nick struggle in silence hits somewhere deep inside ilya.

shane notices quickly that ilya is crying, and pulls him into his lap immediately. usually shane is the one on top of ilya in this position, but today ilya sits on top of shane’s thighs and leans into him. they don’t say anything, but once both of their tears have slowed they look into each others watery eyes and just know they both had the same realization at the same time.