: )

“I looked it up, you know,” Shane offers one morning as they sit in the kitchen of the cottage, both sipping on stemming mugs of coffee and gazing out the windows to the stunning view beyond. “In Russian.”

Ilya’s suddenly transported back to a different conversation–this one in Florida, about the word ‘compatible.’ “Looked what up?” he asks, feeling suddenly tense. He’s said a lot in Russian over the years that he probably shouldn’t have–emotions he’d tried desperately to quell and secrets he’d really wanted to hide. Yes, they’ve agreed to be honest now but that doesn’t mean he has to approach Shane with his beating heart on a silver platter.

But Shane just glances over to him for a half a second, his watery, dark, knowing eyes looking directly through Ilya like a goddamn x-ray. “Solnyshko.” 

Ilya’s heart flips. It’s a pet name he’s slipped into during the past few days, quite without his own consent. It’s just…Shane is his sunshine. The world is so much fucking brighter whenever he’s around, and there are no words to describe how good it feels to be able to look at him and smile without feeling like he’ll be eternally damned for it.

Still…

“Means ‘asshole,’” he grunts almost shyly, eyes on the lake outside, where he can see a loon floating menacingly. 

Shane’s chuckle makes something terrifyingly warm go molten in Ilya’s chest. “Yeah? That’s not what Google said.”

“Google is liar.”

“Google said my boyfriend’s secretly a romantic, I think,” Shane pushes, and Ilya can feel him staring.

So, brave as he can be, he makes eye contact. “Maybe,” he hedges, but he can’t stop his lips from curling upward at the edges.

Shane looks ridiculously pleased. “Good,” he murmurs, sipping his drink again.

it makes me want a 5+1 story with 5 times shane went to a centaurs event as a "friend" of ilya's and the +1 as either him attending as ilya's partner or as a centaur himself.

the first time would be at the end of summer, right after the end of the ottawa summer camp. wyatt asks shane how long he's going to be in town for before he heads back to montreal, and he says it'll be a few more days, and hayes says bood is hosting a pre-season bbq and shane should totally swing by. he's hesitant, but the fact that it's wyatt who invites him and confirms with bood that it's cool vs him clearly tagging along with ilya that makes him risk it.

the boxing day party would probably fall as time 3 or 4? i haven't decided what the others are yet.

but through these 5 parties, shane slowly gets to know the cens and their partners, sees how different the culture is from montreal, gets to know these people ilya talks about for himself, and slowly lets his guard down.

for their part, the centaurs get to know shane as a person better and not just The Shane Hollander™️and they also can't help but notice that their captain, who's always so busy on their days off, is conveniently always available if hollander is also around.

by time 5, most people have figured out that something is going on between them. everyone has pet theories about if it's serious or exclusive or new, but they're trying to tip-toe around it and not let shane or ilya know that they suspect something. it doesn't help that ilya brings anya, and she seems very familiar with shane.

myilya for those who believe