Something I think could be really interesting either as a crack fic or a more serious work, is Shane getting seriously concerned by Ilya relaxing his English around him.
By this I mean that a lot of people, when speaking in their second language, will relax how careful they are being to say everything right when they are in a very safe environment around people they trust. I do this around my friends with things like leaving verbs un-conjugated if it’s not necessary for comprehension, reverting to my native sentence structure, and using much more basic sentences and vocabulary than I would in a more formal setting.
This does not speak to an inability to properly speak the language, simply that in a relaxed environment, it can be really nice to just be able to talk to someone without putting too much thought into making sure your words are accurate.
This, coupled with that fact that they are hockey players, makes me think it could be really funny for Shane to start to notice Ilya’s English worsening slightly around him, leading him to start panicking that Ilya got a concussion or has some other head injury.
Shane doesn’t want to bring it up directly, because he doesn’t want to insult Ilya or drive him away, but he is quietly driving himself crazy with worry, all the while Ilya is living his best life knowing there is someone he does not have to worry about performing for.
