once shane gets over his shock they briefly talk logistics. when exactly ilya intends to go to the cottage. how long he'd like to stay. shane distractedly assures ilya he'll come up with an excuse for his parents as to why he suddenly won't be able to see them for an extended period of time. ilya feels slightly bad about it, but not too much. the hollanders have spent a lifetime with shane. ilya's only just found the conviction to ask for two weeks.
"okay," shane says, after their plan has taken crude shape. the details will come later, after they put their phones down. "okay," he repeats, firmer. then soft again, "I'll see you soon."
ilya feels his strings get cut. he leans against a wall. "see you soon, shane."
svetlana is back in the living room when ilya returns. she whips around on the couch, phone in hand, says, "what the fuck did scott hunter do when I left the room? for five minutes?"
it's a rhetorical question. the tv broadcast hasโfor nowโmoved onto highlights of the actual game, but she has her social media open on her phone. ilya makes a vague, loose gesture with his shoulder. "kissed his pretty boyfriend on the ice."
she swears quietly, engrossed again in her feed. "unbelievable. it's your fault I missed it, ilya. your niece's gift is in your suitcase," she adds distractedly. it is. the whale plushie sitting atop the stack of kids' novels sitting atop his serviceably folded clothes. not as neat as hollander's always are. ilya runs his thumb over the edge of his phone case.
"I will not be going to russia."
she breaks from her phone. frowns at him. "what do you mean?"
"I have to be somewhere else."
blinking green eyes. svetlana knows him better than anyone on this planet. he sees her gears turning. there is nothing on the surface of his life that would take him to a place like ottawa, nothing even on the deeper layers svetlana has almost exclusive access to. but there are few things about him that she is completely unaware of. what he has refused to lay bare for her she's deduced the shape of anyway, purely from the nature of his refusals. he sees her eyes flick to the tv. an ad for beer is playing. that's not what she's thinking of.
she says more than asks it. either way ilya responds, "yes."
she lifts her chin, slowly. "montreal jane who is from ottawa." they look at each other, ilya doesn't speak. eventually she shakes her head. "shane hollander, ilya? really?"
ilya sits. she laughs, incredulous, but also triumphant. she'll be annoyed at him later for abandoning her to his family on a moment's notice, but for now there is shane. and hunter. and hunter's surprise boyfriend. and shane. and shane. and shane.
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