There really is something so incredibly compelling about the dynamic of a man who has never experienced open desire learning to let go and finding out he's actually a downright slut for it in the right circumstances with a specific man who happens to be an absolute whore but who grows obsessed with this quiet, unassuming, secret deviant to the point that literally nothing else matters. And they're rivals. Like, wow, no wonder this show has me in such a chokehold.

Ilya prescribing Shane kisses- he sees him stressed or grumpy or sad or over thinking or simple it’s been two hours since they’ve kissed and the Ilya is walking over grabbing Shane’s face in his hands and being like in a low quiet serious voice ok this is very bad you need at least- hmmm (he squints at him) like twenty kisses right now and kisses all over his face like mwah mwah mwah mwah until Shane gives in and smiles or kisses him proper

Shane is never gonna see that flannel again btw. It’s going straight in Ilya’s suitcase and back to Boston with him. He wears it when he’s missing his man. Which is constantly. He wears it on flights sometimes. Maybe a lot of the time. Several years down the line the cuffs are frayed and several buttons are missing and Shane finds it in a drawer and barely remembers that it was once his. The only reason he remembers is because one of his most revisited memories of that first cottage summer is seeing Ilya wearing that shirt and the triumphant, roaring animal it awoke in his chest to see Ilya Rozanov wearing fucking plaid and knowing he was the reason.

shane and ilya have a frequent coffee shop in ottawa, and when only one of them show up the barista asks “where’s the rest of ya?”