ballet anon here. one thing you need to know about me: i fricking love dancing with the stars. idk how known it is outside the us but just in case, it’s basically a competition show where celebrities get paired with trained ballroom dancers etc etc. if you’re curious i can send you links to my favs. idk how i didn’t think of this before but. trained ballroom dancer ilya who gets paired with hockey player shane after shane comes out (idk under what circumstances, but it’s groundbreaking ofc). they’re butting heads for the first, like, two dances which the judges are commenting on, shane holds so much tension and it just looks like they’re fighting while they dance.
so then maybe for the third dance ilya choreographs it to purposefully look like they’re at odds with each other, and they get their highest scores yet (maybe highest of the night but that would depend on who else is competing) so obviously they have to fuck about it and obviously they fall in love
(if you have any dwts related questions pls let me know)
omg!! i do know dancing with the stars, the german version is called let's dance. feel free to send me links to your faves though!! i used to watch it too and several years ago, an early 2000s talent show winning guy (who went and became a successful musical actor) participated and started out weak and then worked his way up to winner. he did a paso doble with his partner that rewired my brain chemistry which made me think of hollanov paso doble but im getting ahead of myself.
ANYWAY!!! okay. im pretty sure shane goes into it, again, thinking it can't be that hard. he looks at past seasons and he sees ilya and is like. oh. okay. and he's cool, it's fine. yes, ilya is hot and he's an incredible dancer, shane is mesmerized by the way he moves, but. that's just an aesthetic appreciation, his competency kink, and sure, he can acknowledge now when he finds another man attractive. and it's not like he's doing it publicly. he'll see him at the shows probably and that's gonna be fine. this doesn't have to mean anything. he didn't specify in his contract but he fully expects to be matched up with a female pro.
and ilya is maybe a fairly new on the roster of pro dancers? maybe this is only his second season and he swept his first one, quickly became a fan fave with his cheeky comments, his charm, his choreographies and his ability to whip his partner into shape and into a skilled enough dancer to win the thing. and ilya is competitive, he has to defend his title, he WANTS that back to back win. he hears about shane participating in this season and perks up a little. he's from russia, hockey is a big thing there and it's a big thing here, everyone knows shane hollander, and ilya is interested enough in the sport that he follows it, too, has seen him play, has seen his countless ads and campaigns, he has not been able to escape shane fucking hollander. not that he really wanted to but. well. he doesn't mind looking at a pretty face and body of the best hockey player out there.
they get matched up and shane FREAKS. he freaks harder the first time they meet because ilya is even hotter in person. ilya finds he has his work cut out for him in terms of form and skill because, as it turns out for shane, he is terrible and ballroom dancing isn't as easy as he thought. it's not helped that he locks up whenever ilya touches him which is always. and while ilya is having the time of his life flustering shane, he's getting a bit frustrated with how little shane listens to him and is able to execute what ilya instructs him to do.
their first two dances get really low judges scores but shane (and ilya) are fan faves and shane is aware he's coasting by his popularity into the next rounds. and they both hate it, shane does not want to move on just based on how popular he is with fans and viewers, he wants to get on by his own merit (and ilyas). and they do get the feedback that it looks like they're fighting when they dance, but also that shane looks stiff, his footwork (HIS FOOTWORK) leaves things to be desired, yaddayadda. plus, i think shane is very much in his head about having to be "the woman" in this match up, you know, classical shane internalized homophobia.
and the thing is, ilya can't choreograph shane out of being tense and standoffish and stiff. he's disappointed about it because shane is always so free and precise and coordinated on the ice. but then they get a paso doble for week three and, well. if the judges see a fight, ilya can give them a fight. he certainly can pester shane into being annoyed enough with him to sell it. and shane IS annoyed and frustrated because ilya is needling him, pushing him, chirping him, constantly commenting on his form (that's less than ideal). but shane is picking up the choreography faster now, slowly become familiar with the new way he needs to coordinate his body, with the movements. what he is still not getting used to is ilyas hands on him, watching ilya move Like That right in front of him, being flirty and sweaty and so hot and competent, having his scrutinizing eyes on him, and it's A Lot and shane doesn't know what to do with it. and while he can follow the choreo, it's not coming together still in terms of them dancing TOGETHER, and maybe, after ilya roasts him again, maybe less friendly and with actual frustration, shane snaps and shares his thoughts and how uncomfortable it makes him to have to be "the woman" and stuff. and ilya sits down next to him, softened a little, and is quiet for a while, thinking about how to ease some of those worries in a way that would resonate with shane. and shane mistakes it as idk resignation or quiet frustration or thinks ilya thinks he's being overdramatic, but then ilya makes an analogy about dancing being like hockey, about how ilya is his captain and leading him (pulling stuff out of my ass here lol), something something, that its not about someone being "less".
and something about this DOES click with shane, a big part of that being also that ilya listened to him and talked to him in a way that made sense to shane without making fun of him, taking him seriously.
and their third performance gets a better score. it's not the best, not even anywhere near the top but they're not scraping the bottom of the barrel by far.
shane "if im not perfect immediately i need to be put down like a hurt horse" hollander still thinks he did not deserve to move on because that was still subpar, he can't really celebrate this win, he thought he was doing better, he thought THEY were doing better, it should've been better. ilya finds him in the dance studio after, going through the choreography again, all worked up, and he can tell shane is frustrated and unhappy and wound so tightly. and when shane snaps at him to stop staring and fucking tell him what he's doing wrong, what he needs to do better, ilya walks over to him, puts his hands on his hips and tells him to fucking relax, knowing it will only wind shane up further, and follows it up by saying shane needs to get laid. and shane huffs and wills down his flush and mutters "YOU need to get laid" under his breath. ilya looks him over carefully and then asks, "when was the last time you had sex?" and shane chokes on air. he gets all defensive and huffy and asks, "why? are you offering?" with a roll of his eyes and a snort and expects ilya to laugh and tell him no, but instead, ilya pulls him closer and shane sucks in a breath and his heart is stuttering, and ilya looks at him like he might eat him. which shane wouldn't mind. they end up fucking up against the wall of mirrors, and it blows both their minds.
