Chapter Text
Practice was pretty normal. No one treated Ilya that weirdly, though he did catch a few guys looking at him maybe a bit longer than normal. But it was better than he expected.
In the locker room after, as everyone showered and changed, Ilya clapped his hands together. “Okay. All of you are invited to my house at 6pm. I will answer your questions for a bit and then we can watch my boyfriend destroy the Admirals together, yes? I can order pizza.”
“Wait, so you can eat food?” Boyle asked, squinting.
“Dude, you’ve probably eaten like 200 meals with Roz. Of course he can eat food,” Dykstra tells him.
“What if he was like throwing it up after or something?” Boyle countered.
“I can eat food, Boyle, okay? No throwing up. Now, you each get one question. So choose carefully.”
“One question about you and Hollzy, or about the vampire thing? Or one for each?” Young asks.
Ilya thinks for a moment. “One total.”
The guys groaned but nodded. Ilya finished getting dressed then ducked out of the locker room before someone could start the interrogation early.
Later, the team slowly arrived at Ilya’s house.
“I can’t believe we’re finally at your house, Cap!” Wyatt said when he got there at the same time as Bood.
“Yeah, what were you hiding it for? You got a coffin in your bedroom or something?”
Ilya raised an eyebrow. “Is that your question, Bood?” Zane’s eyes went wide before he realized Ilya was messing with him. “No, there are too many pictures with Shane. Too many of his things. It would be sad to have to put it all away to host, you know? Was just better not to have anyone over.”
The guys nodded in understanding as Ilya ushered them in. A few more guys trickled in, remarking on how nice his house was. “There are beers in the fridge and pizza should be here any minute,” Ilya said, gesturing for the guys to help themselves.
“There’s not gonna be, like, blood bags in there, right?” LaPointe asked as he reached for the handle. Ilya just rolled his eyes in answer and stepped in front of him, grabbed a few beers, and passed them out.
“That wasn’t a no though,” LaPointe whispered to Young, who just shrugged. Both of them were a bit too scared to actually check inside the fridge though.
Once everyone had arrived, plates stacked high with pizza and wings, they all take their seats in the living room. Some of the guys are looking curiously at the pictures on the wall—snapshots of Ilya, Shane, his parents, the Pikes, and Sveta over the years—in a bit of a trance. Maybe the Cens had guessed Ilya was with Shane but seeing it was a whole other thing.
“If any of you spill on the rug or couch, you will have to face the wrath of Hollander yourself, okay?”
“Yes, Cap!” a few guys said. Holmberg hastily spread a napkin over his lap.
Ilya finished the bite of pepperoni he had taken. “Okay. Who is going first?”
“I’ll go,” Bood said. “How old are you?”
“Three hundred and seventeen,” Ilya answered with a sigh.
“WHAT?”
“No way!”
“How is that possible—“
“Calm down, I’m fucking with you,” Ilya said a moment later, laughing maniacally. “No, I am actually thirty. For real.”
“Okay, phew. You’re barely mature enough for thirty let alone three hundred,” Bood grumbled.
“How did you become a vampire?” Luca asked, raising his hand like a schoolboy.
“I was born this way; most vampires are. My father was a vampire and my mother was human. You can be Turned but it is not as simple as it is in the movies. It is . . . a whole process, and sometimes humans do not survive it.”
“Fascinating,” Wyatt whispered in awe, the true nerd of the group.
“Wait, did your mom know your dad was one when they got together?” Luca asked.
“I will only answer this bonus question because it is a very good one,” he told Luca. “She did….I do not know for sure but I think my father threatened her into the marriage. She was probably scared he would kill her if she said no, or told anyone anything.”
“Damn, Roz, that’s horrible,” Boyle said.
“Yes. It is.”
“So….Is that a thing you guys do? Kill people?” Young asked awkwardly. “Cause I’m all good having a vampire captain but I think I gotta draw the line at a murderer.”
“Dude—“ LaPointe whispered, scolding him for such a blunt question.
Ilya ran his hand over his face in an exhausted moment, muttering something in Russian.. “Do not worry, Young. I do not kill people, never have.”
“Cool. Sick. I mean I thought so but had to check,” Young said.
“We have laws in place, too. If we kill, we could be discovered, and it would ruin everything.”
“So no vampires kill? I find that kind of hard to believe,” LaPointe said.
Ilya tilted his head from side to side. “Some do, yes. Just like humans do too— it would be impossible to monitor everyone. But it is very frowned upon in the community and if we find out someone is doing it repeatedly, we could kill them.”
“LIke you specifically?” Luca followed up. The whole ‘one question’ thing had basically been abandoned, but Ilya never really believed they’d stick to that anyways.
“No, no. We have….government, basically. They would be judge of that.”
“Holy fuck, that’s some real Volturi shit,” Bergy said.
“Yes. Is annoying they got that part kind of right,” Ilya said rolling his eyes. “We do not sparkle, though. That was stupid.”
“Okay - wait, the sunlight thing. We’ve seen you outside. So that’s also a myth?” Dykstra asked.
“Kind of. It doesn’t burn us but it stings if I’m outside too loo long, or there are no clouds. But is manageable, no big deal.”
“Is that why you turned down the beach trip with us last summer?” Bood asked.
“No. That’s because summers are for Shane and I, at our cottage. Only time we get to see each other without interruptions.”
“That’s really sad,” Luca murmured. The other guy echoed their agreement and Ilya could do nothing but shrug. It was sad, but that was their reality.
“Okay, wait, you said our cottage. That sounds pretty serious….How long have you been together?” Nick asked.
“Finally, a question about me and my beautiful boyfriend!” Ilya smiled happily, like a golden retriever. “I do not know how much Shane wants me to say but . . . we have been official since 2017.”
“TWENTY SEVENTEEN?”
“What the fuck!”
“I’m actually losing my mind right now.”
“Yes, yes, is very exciting,” Ilya said, trying to calm them all down.
“That’s crazy, man. I kinda thought it started after the foundation. Like, after you guys started hanging out together more,” Nick said.
“No, it is opposite. We started foundation so we could see each other more in public. To help get rid of rivalry narrative.”
“Wow,” LaPointe just said, before taking a long sip of bear.
“Does he know? That you’re a vampire?” Boyle wondered.
“You think my boyfriend of 4 years does not know I am a vampire?” Ilya asked, incredulous.
“Hockey players are never beating the dumb allegations,” Bood mumbled to himself.
Boyle elbowed him in the side. “Okay fair point. Can I get a redo question?”
“Yes, fine,” Ilya said.
“So….like….you drink blood, right? How does that work?”
“I am surprised it took so long for someone to ask,” Ilya said, once again grinning a bit manically. “Yes, I need blood, but not as often as in movies. Once or twice a week, but I can go longer if needed. I drink from animals, mostly, or . . . willing humans”
“Willing humans?” Bergy asked. “Like, reverse blood banks with volunteers?”
“Oh my god,” Bood groaned, putting his face in his hands. “This is embarrassing.”
“I thought it was a valid question!” Bergy defended himself.
“No, dear Holmberg. Many vampires feed during sex.”
Holmberg’s eyes went wide. Bood put his head in his hands.
“So that’s why you slept around in Boston so much?” Dykstra wondered.
“Well, yes, but also the sex part. That was always fun,” Ilya said, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Wait—so you and Shane—does he—do you,“ Luca stuttered, putting the pieces together.
Ilya just shrugged. “What can I say? My Shane is irresistible in many ways.”
Young cackled at that and Bood just shook his head.
“Wait, so if you and other vampires drink consensually from humans, how is it that the secret hasn’t gotten out?” Wyatt asked, looking like he was legitimately bout to start taking notes.
“Ah, another good question. We can compel them to forget it happened.”
“Holy shiiiiit.”
“Compel? Like mind control?”
Ilya nodded. “Yes, but only a little bit.”
“Only a little bit of mind control is still MIND CONTROL!” Wyatt said, properly freaking out now.
“Yeah I gotta be honest that’s kind of freaking me out, Cap. Have you, like, used it on us before? To do drills or something?” Nick wondered.
“No, no, never. I promise. I have only ever used it when feeding. It is easy to make them forget a few seconds of a hookup, yes? They have other distractions and it is …. a nice feeling for them anyway.”
“So you finish hooking up and you’re like, what, ‘hey forget the part where I bit you and drank your blood’?” Troy asked, skeptical.
“Yes, basically,” Ilya shrugged. “Now I do not do that anymore, but it was best way to survive for a long time. Not as much wildlife in Boston, so I had to rely on humans more. But here, it is much better.”
“Wait can we see you do it? The compulsion thing?” Bergy asked.
“I don't want to feed from you, Bergy.”
“Why, does my blood smell bad or something?” Bergy whined.
“Wait, does everyone smell different?”
“What do I smell like?”
“Is Shane’s scent what, like, drew you to him?” Troy said, maybe a tad bit disturbed.
“Stop, stop!” Ilya called, quiet the crowd. “You all ran out of questions. I will tell you more later but the game is about to start. I’ll grab more drinks.” Ilya stood up , grabbed empty beer bottles and went to the kitchen.
“I still think we should ask him to do mind control on Bergy,” Young smirked.
“Why me?” Bergy asked.
“You’re the one who asked to see it!”
“I know the vampire thing is groundbreaking but I still can’t believe we were right about him and Hollzy.” Boyle said.
“Yeah I’’m dying to know how that happened. Maybe we should have asked more questions about that,” Dykstra wondered.
“Yeah, like how did Roz even bag Hollander? Like, I love Harris, but that man is a perfect 10 out of 10 on every scale,” Troy added.
“Yes, he is, yes, I am very lucky, and if you talk about my boyfriend like that again, I will kill you,” Ilya said, returning from the kitchen with an armful of beers. He distributed them to waiting hands and settled back on the couch and turned on the TV.
“Calm down, Cap, no one is stealing your boyfriend.”
“I don’t think we could if we tried.”
“You definitely could not,” Ilya said. "I am also a 10 out of 10."
“How does Hollzy even put up with your ass? Cocky as fuck and literally a leech?” Bood jokes, and Ilya just rolls his eyes, already too distracted by the TV to even form a comeback. The game is about to start and the players are all warming up, the camera lingering on Shane’s face as he skates laps.
“Damn, you’re down bad, Roz,” Young teases.
“Yes. But I am right where I want to be,” Ilya shrugs, taking a sip of his beer.