interlinked

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.

#big tpe vibes here ngl…#the high highs and low lows of rr’s writing#reblog#hr

in addition to these excellent tags i will add: this is the beauty of tpe for them right on the page. because shane is looking for the most restrictive option. he's only gonna have a salad.

when ilya chooses for him, he chooses a very balanced meal, something much more likely to meet the nutritional needs of a serious athlete (and not nothing but there's even simple carbs in there!) he makes a choice for shane that is better than the choice shane was going to make for himself. but he also chooses something that is okay with shane, that he knows will make him feel safe, that's within his limits. and shane can allow himself to be taken care of because it's ilya's choice, but ilya wouldn't make a choice that would genuinely distress shane even if i bet ilya would rather shane eat a burger and fries

Kyle Gallner as Benson