rosemary

So Ilya knows that Shane doesn't want kids. And that's fine. Ilya thinks he does want them, but not so badly that he couldn't live without them if Shane didn't want them. Their family is already perfect, just the two of them. And Ilya gets to help look after Pike's kids sometimes, and he adores those kids, so that's good enough.

That's why Ilya is completely blindsided one day when Shane turns to him after settling all the Pike kids down for their afternoon nap, and says, "Do you think our kids would be this easy to settle if we ever had them?"

And Ilya's so shocked that his brain has to buffer for a moment. He's just staring at Shane, whose cheeks are now flushing with colour. Ilya can't figure out where to start with this conversation, and the longer he's taking to reply the more awkward Shane is getting, until eventually his eyes drop to his hands. "I mean, uh, nevermind. Forget I said anything. I just thought... nevermind."

This snaps Ilya out of it. "Where is this coming from? I thought you didn't want kids?"

And Shane has a little confused frown on his face. "I've always wanted kids. I thought you might not want kids. You always get a little weird when anyone brings it up in conversation. I can't ever get a good read on what you want."

And this is truly not how Ilya thought this conversation was going to go if they ever had it.

"But what about all those interviews where you avoid the question? All that 'the cup is my only baby' stuff...?"

"That's because it's a stupid fucking question and none of their business," Shane laughs. "And also because it's not something I thought I'd ever be able to have. Not when I couldn't imagine ever being happy with a woman. Not when I thought I'd never be with someone I actually wanted to build a life with. But with you? Yeah. Yeah one day when hockey is done, Ilya Rozanov, I'd really like to have kids with you. But only if you want it to."

And Ilya smiles Tampa-bar bright, and swoops in to kiss Shane all giddy and messy, following it up with at least a dozen more peppered all over his face.

"Of course I want to have babies with you. They would be the most beautiful babies in the world," he says. And then he looks around the living room. "How mad do you think Hayden would be if we made our first one right now?"

He's waggling his eyebrows, and Shane laughs and shoves him.

We don’t talk about this enough. With all the big romantic gestures in The Long Game, this, to me, is one of the most romantic moments.

We know Ilya isn’t a fan of Shane’s restrictive diet. He teases him about it, but Ilya is an expert ragebaiter who knows how to tease the people he cares about when they feel safe and in ways that never really hurt.

Shane is “frantic” in this scene. Ilya has the perfect opening to say something about his diet, and he doesn’t take it. He sees that Shane is panicking, steps in and fixes it. He was looking at that menu thinking about Shane and Shane’s fuckass diet that Ilya doesn’t even like. But he knows this is important to Shane. He knows Shane is already nervous about being on a date with Ilya in public and being with another queer couple. So he meets Shane’s needs without Shane ever having to ask, and he does it quietly, without drawing any attention, so that Shane can save face.

Of course he’s gonna tease him about it a little bit later because that’s what they do. But he only does that AFTER Shane’s had a chance to catch his breath and feel safe again.

Simon watches from his seat on the toilet seat. "What's the next step?" He rumbles as Kyle opens up a new container of moisturizer.

"This is for dark spots and blemishes. It's the last lotion for the night." Kyle explains as he carefully dabs his face. Simon scoffs at the word blemishes. There was no such thing on his beautiful lovers face. He was perfect. Kyle playfully wrinkles his nose at Simon, smearing some leftover moisturizer onto his cheek. "I can hear your thoughts."

"Can you?" Simon teases, leaning into Kyle's thumb when he massages the product in.

"You're thinking that I'm the most handsome man you've ever seen." Kyle teases, his tone dripping with playful sarcasm. Simon turns his head to softly kiss Kyle's palm.

so yuna and david show up to every Centaurs game wearing Rozanov jerseys instead of hollander. they had to buy so many new ones and ended up donating a bunch of shane’s they never wore anymore.

david always calls and asks Ilya what he’d like for family dinner, but never asks shane. shane will pull out frozen meal prep without complaint if he doesn’t like ilya’s choice, while ilya marvels at whatever david cooks up for him. “what is this you say? marriage chicken” ilya asks. “Marry Me Chicken,” david answers. “this is gravy, yes?” Ilya says, shoving half a chicken breast into his mouth

at christmas they have to get new stockings made, because the hollander’s traditional stockings are too old to buy a matching one for Ilya. Ilya cries fat tears when he opens them on christmas eve. Shane pouts because he’s going to miss his Santa stocking from childhood, and Yuna smacks him upside the head until he shuts up. They also have a stocking made for Anya <3

when both ilya and shane come down with a nasty flu at the same time (one in montreal one in ottawa), yuna and david camp out with ilya to help him through his convalescence instead of shane. because they know ilya is a big baby when he’s sick while shane will refuse any help and would prefer to be left alone

when ilya goes through a particularly bad depressive episode, yuna and david call up Galina and ask for advice on how to care for him, and pull out every trick in the book. ilya is too raw and embarrassed to thank them but cries into shane’s chest every night because he feels so loved but also so guilty

the difference in downtime activity, like watching TikToks and playing video games with Frank vs kneeling in front of Robby while he reads business monthly or something

UGH YES :’)) this is def why i love it, getting the mix of young vs old energy and activities would be soooo fun… going to the gym with frank, playing video games, laying between his legs on the couch and him watching your fyp over your shoulder…..

dare i say…. doing a crossword with robby…. sitting in his lap in his chair and him reading the clues aloud… he literally bans your phone when you do it because if you have it on you you always end up scrolling and giving him dead air when he asks for your input. he’ll grab it and toss it away to the couch and be such a grumpy old man about it— “There’s this little thing called quality time, honey. You should try it, I think you’d really like it.”

N you scowl at him and roll your eyes. “I was spending quality time.”

“No, you were watching some stranger rate what they ate in a day.” He presses his thumb into the irritated wrinkle between your brows and massages it out while he mockingly mirrors your pout. “Now gimme a ‘succulent plant’ that’s four letters.”

“….aloe.” you mumble

it’s not weird to love it and comment and leave kudos because the author will probably still see it someday and it will make them happy.

it’s not weird to like said author’s work so much that you want to go look for other fics from them.

it’s not weird to go through the authors profile and look for other fics from the ships you like (or maybe some that you’ll give a chance because you liked the author) and maybe bookmark them for later.

it’s not weird to read these other fics and like them too and comment on them because you actually like them and you want to let the author know.

it’s not weird to read fanfiction from 5, or 8, or 10 years ago and actually enjoy and engage with it because it’s perfectly normal to relate to something that’s less than a decade old!

let’s stop treating fanfiction like they’re instagram posts that stop being interesting in 24 hours! fanfiction is NOT social media, fanfiction is art!!! and art doesn’t get old in one day, one year, or even a decade!

You spend so long in that little cave, tucked into the shadowy corner whenever the big mer swam by. He was just so big! And spiky in places you aren't, and all the wrong colors!

After awhile he leaves you alone, instead swimming laps in the giant pool, chirping...something. you still don't understand him. It was easy to calm down in your cave, knowing he couldn't fit. It was harder to ignore your growing hunger.

You don't know how you'll get food, it's too scary to swim up and do the tricks! Just the thought of doing your usual splashing and flying from the water with the big mer around....no. best not to.

So you hunker down, tuck your tail over your arms and open you vents for the long night. It's not the first time you'll go without food but it never gets easier.

Something thunks outside your cave entrance, startling you out of your half-sleep.

A....crab? It's definitely a crab! Oh, wow! You didn't know there were any in the pool! Excited, you swim out to say hi. chest brushing the rock so you can be eye level, you chirp "hai!!! Helloooo!!! Hi!!"

The crab doesn't move. Hrm. Strange. You bat at it, churring in curiosity when it simply floats away a bit, still not moving. You paw at it, inspecting it, worried it might be sick and—

A loud rumble above you— the mer! You go to dart back into your cave only to realize it's so far away. He rumbles more, reaching a giant hand down to pluck the crab from its place, and instead place food down!

Ah. He must be helping the crab out.

You eat the food, making sure to save some for the big mer because even if he's scary he's helping the crab so you suppose he should eat too. He brings more and more, and you eat your fill for the first time in...a long time.

no bc this is so cute and i see it.

you're already on the sofa, hot water bottle cold from how long you've been holding it against yourself. but its better than trying to swallow pills you know you'll end up throwing up.

you're utterly pathetic when he walks into the room. groaning and reaching for him. "andyyyyy," you cry and hold out your hot water bottle.

he grabs it, fills it and brings it back to you. nice and hot, soothing against your killer cramps. a sigh leaves your lips and you settle back down. andrew sits down, his back straight as he focuses on the documentary. seahorses. he knows it's your favourite.

your foot prods his side. he turns to you, his eyebrows up. "yeah?" he asks.

"lean back," you say. "I wanna put my feet in your lap."

and, just because it's you and you love him so damn much, andrew sits back. you put your feet in his lap and he freckled hand immediately settles over your calf. thumb rubbing soothingly while you hug your hot water bottle.

its the way you stand up with an oh my god and rush to the bathroom. he's right behind you, like he's ready to pull back your hair for you to throw up. but you're not throwing up, you're shutting the door in his face so he can't see it when you pull down you lazy shorts and underwear, and inspect the damage.

"oh my god," you say again. andrew begins to open the door but you shout before he can open it fully.

"whats wrong?" he calls and there's a concerned edge to his voice. you hate it.

you hate that you've made him this worried about something that happens every month. "nothing," you say and change your equipment (personally, i'm a pad girlie). a breath leaves your lips as you clean your hands and pull open the door.

"andy." you hunch over as another wave of cramps hit you. "fuck, you need to put a baby in me."

18+ mdni wait this is so cute… he’s desperate for some quiet girl time with how crazy and chaotic the house is :’) it’s nearing the evening and you guys are almost totally out of food, so it’s time for a store run and robby insists you and him hang back to tidy up the house while frank and jack are out…but he ends up settling on the couch and pats his lap for you to come sit with him… you guys chat and joke and giggle while he rubs his hands over your back and thighs… you totally think you’re pulling a fast one on him as you yap to keep him “distracted” so he doesn’t remember the chores you two are supposed to be doing, but this is exactly what he wanted :’)