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dandelion sun~

"oh god," shane says. he takes ilya's face in his hands and leans their foreheads together. "I'm—"

"no, don't apologise. it was joke. I shouldn't have said."

"no, I'm glad you did." shane skims his thumbs under ilya's eyes. "even if you've forgiven me for it, it doesn't mean the memories will just... go away." ilya hums, tilts his chin up to kiss shane softly. shane lets him, then pulls away to look him in the eye. "but I'm here now." and to illustrate this he presses himself down harder into ilya's lap. ilya fake-groans under his weight and shane grins, then softens again. he firms his grip on ilya's face. "I'm not going anywhere this time," he says clearly. "or ever again."

ilya's eyes get shiny so fast. he looks away from shane, hands moving over and squeezing shane's hips and thighs like he needs something to do with them. to let something out. "good," he says finally, and shane smiles, nods.

"good," he says. he smushes the tips of their noses together, which makes ilya smile and push back. "do you still wanna have sex here?"

"oh. yes." ilya nods, face suddenly serious. shane grins giddily. "I will not let this one thing stop me from enjoying my couch. mm? I will—how do you say—take it back."

"reclaim it." shane is laughing.

"yes, i will reclaim it. by making new memories." he gives shane a little shake. "with you."

does the hit still happen? Do the reactions change?

hi anon ! thank you so much for the ask 🫶🏻

back to the start au

During the 2016-17 season, they’re both playing for the Centaurs. The team already know about them, most of them were at their wedding, and they’ve gotten used to having the Hockey Gods as their captain and alternate.

They’ve been steadily improving, especially since management traded for Wyatt Hayes the previous season. With the two best centers in the league, a fantastic goalie, and practices dedicated to team cohesion, they start winning games, which means they’re now on other teams’ radar. There are players tagging Shane and Ilya every game, the checks are more aggressive… nothing new for the both of them, really, it was the same when they played for Montreal and Boston. It does take some time for the rest of the team to get used to it.

There was quite a lot of speculation online after Shane’s move the previous year and by now, most people believe that they both deliberately planned to move to Ottawa to play with each other (they absolutely did). Which means there is bad blood with some of Montreal and Boston’s players, and these games tend to be more rough than the others. So the hit happens, just a bit differently.

During a Centaurs vs Raiders game, a Raider rookie checks Shane, hard. This time, Shane wasn’t looking behind his shoulder, the rookie came at him from behind in a dirty hit. The guy had never even played with Ilya in Boston, but fell to the locker room gossip of “Rozanov abandoned us for Hollander and now our team sucks”. He gets his ear chewed off by Marleau and Connors before being sent to the penalty box.

The Centaurs don’t go and fight him because they’ve garnered around Shane’s still body on the ice, unconsciously shielding him from the public’s view. The small whimpers of pain let them know Shane’s alive, but the way he flew off was terrifying. Ilya is right by his side, face as white as the ice. It’s the second time he’s seen Shane like this, this time up close, and it feels even worse. His voice has a panicked edge when he asks Shane if he’s okay, can you move, where do you hurt.

Shane groans his name weakly, which should reassure Ilya but not really, since Shane tries to open his eyes but closes them off immediately, face contorted in pain. Thankfully the medics arrive quickly, taking Shane’s vitals, putting a medical collar on his neck before transferring him to a stretcher. Ilya has to let go of his hand as they begin to move Shane. He starts to follow when his favorite voice stops him. “I’m okay.. finish the game..”

And Shane is obviously not okay. But he’s alive, and lucid enough to know where he is and what’s happening. So Ilya stays on the ice, asks the medics to call Yuna so she can go to the hospital with her son while Ilya wins this game. For Shane.

The third period is a blood bath, there are a few teeth flying, mostly from Raiders’ mouths. Ilya manages to spend only a few minutes in the sin bin, too intent on humiliating Boston through the scoring board. It’s a testament to the excellent work the whole team has been doing with the coaching staff, Shane and him, that they manage to win this one, even with their best player down. Ilya’s so proud of them. He’s so grateful for them too, when, the moment the game is over, they throw his street clothes at him, tell him to go to his husband as fast possible, they got the press. “Just shower first, you don’t want to stink up the hospital.” “Fuck you Bood.” Ilya does shower, before meeting David at the door, who came to bring him to Shane.

He gets a quick update in the car, Shane is okay, nothing life threatening. He has a broken collarbone, a dislocated vertebrae, and some mild concussion. He needs a small surgery for the collarbone and lots of rest after that, but he’ll make a full recovery. Ilya sighs with relief.

Seeing Shane in the hospital feels like déjà vu, the sling, the gown, his dopey expression from the good meds they hooked him up with… Ilya lived it before. It also makes it obvious how different the situation is, this time around. David and Yuna are there, hugging Ilya. Shane asks for his husband to come closer and the nurses don’t look surprised (Shane has been talking about Ilya for an hour). They wink at Ilya, saying they take HIPAA laws seriously. There are texts from Sveta, Rose, all of their friends, their teammates popping up on his phone, asking if Shane’s okay, if they’re both okay.

So Ilya sits next to his love, holding his non injured hand. This time he gets to stay, listen to the doctor talk about Shane’s recovery plan. Shane won’t be back in time for the playoffs, which, Ilya thinks, means the Centaurs will probably get kicked out in the first or second round. He relays the medical intel to their teammates who reach the same conclusion he did. The texts are a mix of “We’re going to the playoffs for the first time, I don’t care how many rounds we last” “Centaurs’ cup win in 2018 !”, “I’d rather get kicked out early and Holly being fine” “Please tell him we love him” “When can we visit? Are we allowed to bring food?”

Shane being hurt is still the scariest thing in the world, to Ilya. But this time, he gets to be with Shane, take care of him, love him while Shane gets better. Sveta comes to the Hollanders when Ilya has to leave for the playoffs. Shane insists he doesn’t need extra help, but he’s glad to have a friend around. The both of them watch the games with Yuna, analyzing every single detail of them. They have a blast, Shane says to Ilya on the phone when they call at night. “I’m proud of you and the guys. I wish I was on the ice with you.”, he adds. Ilya smiles tenderly at him. “We miss you too. They’re already planning for next year’s win.” And here comes Shane’s laugh, Ilya’s favorite sound on this planet.

Ilya’s prediction comes true and the Centaurs get kicked out in the first round. Of course they’re a little sad about losing but they’re mostly proud to have defied expectations, gone that far. On the plane back to Ottawa, everyone’s giddy to go back to their families and friends. Their social media intern often jokes that the team is powered by love. As he texts Shane about being home in less than two hours, Ilya thinks the kid is onto something.

_______

“did you eat the last of my frozen dark-chocolate covered raspberries rozanov?😡”

“wanna go to costco today with me? 🙂”

“hey, sorry for waking you up again but i had another idea”