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5 times Ilya falls asleep on Shane
-*-*-
“I hate this. I miss you.”
Shane smiled at the screen in front of him. On the other side of the continent, and the other side of the screen, was his husband-to-be. Way too far for his liking too.
“Same,” Shane echoed with a sigh. “I miss you so fucking much.”
“When will you be home,” Ilya asked. Shane knew Ilya knew the answer just as much as he did.
“I’ll be in Ottawa two days after you come home.”
Ilya nodded against the pillow where his head rested. “Five days.”
“Closer to four, really, it’s pretty late.”
“You are right. I should let you sleep. Do not want you to fall asleep on me again.”
Shane couldn’t help but laugh. “That was one time! You must be more tired than me. You’re the one who played tonight, and with the time zones, it’s way later for you.”
“Game was easy. Just Vancouver.” Ilya still yawned on the other end of the call, and Shane’s heart lurched a little at not being able to brush the stray curl on his forehead. “What did you do today?”
“Not much. The usual.”
“Exciting,” Ilya deadpanned.
Shane always hated these long stretches where they only got to speak on the phone. It sucked to have to repeat the same old things while all he wanted was to hug his fiancé.
“You want the play-by-play?”
“Unless you do not want to talk.” There was something in Ilya’s tone that made Shane pause. He sounded… worried?
“Hey, no. I want to talk. I’m in no rush to hang up. Just didn’t think you’d find this interesting.”
Ilya looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. Shane smiled at him and started recounting his day. The flight in, the practice, his dinner out with Hayden and a few of the other guys. He recalled as many details as he could, making Ilya laugh and smile. At some point Ilya had yawned, and kept his eyes closed even as he kept up the conversation with Shane.
“Oh, Farah sent me an email,” Shane added. He flopped on his back, stretching a bit. “She’s had a few teams reach out and ask if I wanted to move. Weird huh?”
There was a soft sound from Ilya, an agreement Shane guessed. He rubbed his hand over his face. “I never thought of changing teams. I don’t want to think about it, you know? It’s not like I have a reason to want a trade or to sign somewhere else. I mean, other than you. I’d consider Ottawa, but I don’t think that’s an option. Can you imagine us playing together at home?”
Shane turned to look at Ilya, and his face softened. There was no doubt Ilya had fallen asleep, even through a video call.
Shane kissed two of his fingers and let them linger over Ilya’s cheek on the screen.
“Good night,” Shane whispered, not letting his mind wander at the idea of playing in the same city and getting to actually kiss Ilya good night every night instead of being on video calls. “I love you.”
-*-*-
The fire was crackling and warm even as low as it now was, a contrast to the cool night air surrounding them. Around them, it was calm and quiet interrupted only by the occasional loon calls, the lake so still and mirror-like it looked like a skating rink.
Shane and Ilya were squished together in an oversized chair Ilya had insisted they needed when they saw it while doing groceries. It turned out to still be a tight squeeze given their size, but they liked cozy. Ilya’s arms were wrapped around Shane’s waist, and their legs were twisted together awkwardly under them. It was heaven in Shane’s opinion.
Around the fire, there was nothing but quiet. Shane was laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face.
“I’ve heard that story so many times and I still laugh,” Troy Barrett – Shane's new Ottawa teammate – said when he’d gotten his laughter under control.
“How have your sisters not gotten payback on you yet,” Shane asked Troy’s boyfriend.
Harris just shrugged. “They can’t prove it was me.”
Troy poked his boyfriend. “Between the bed full of apples and the skunk, I think it’s pretty obvious who the troublemaker of the family is.”
Shane would need to ask Harris about the skunk situation tomorrow. It was getting late, and they’d stayed outside pretty much all day. Their dogs were curled together between their chairs, already asleep themselves.
“I have no idea what time it is, but I am absolutely exhausted,” Troy announced as if reading Shane’s mind after he finished his beer.
“It’s almost midnight,” Harris told them. “Definitely bed.”
Anya popped her head up, familiar with the word herself.
“We should head up too.” Shane turned to look at his husband and his lips pulled up in a soft smile. Ilya was asleep at his side. How he’d managed that while they were all howling with laughter, Shane had no idea.
“We’ll bring Anya in with us,” Troy offered. “Worry about Ilya.”
“Thanks. See you guys tomorrow.”
Harris and Troy wished him a good night and hustled two sleepy dogs up to the cottage.
Shane didn’t wake Ilya up right away. He selfishly waited, enjoying the view of his husband in the low golden light of the fire, looking so peaceful while he slept. His hair was a bit longer than usual, due for a haircut was an understatement for him now, and flopping low over his brow. Shane carded his fingers through Ilya’s curls, both because he loved playing with Ilya’s hair, and because he wanted to see more of his face.
“Ilya.” Shane knew he’d said his name too quietly to wake him up, but he didn’t mind. They had all the time in the world. At least for a few more weeks. He kissed Ilya’s forehead, smiling at the soft little sound Ilya made.
“Wake up, sleepy head,” he tried again, a bit louder this time.
Shane kept up the game. Running fingers through Ilya’s hair, brushing down his cheek, grazing his jaw. His lips alternated between gentle kisses to Ilya’s sun kissed skin and whispering gentle words to rouse his husband. He had no clue how long it took, but eventually hazel eyes met his and he smiled brightly at Ilya’s confused expression.
“Did I sleep?”
“You did. Harris and Troy just went inside.” Ilya swore to himself and buried his face in Shane’s shoulder. “They weren’t upset, don’t worry. We’re all exhausted after a day out.”
“We should go to bed.”
Shane kissed Ilya’s head. “Give me a minute to put this out, and we can go?”
Ilya nodded against his shoulder, and loosened his grip on him. Shane made quick work of putting out the fire, and storing the various things he kept by the fire pit in their storage box nearby. He held out his hand and Ilya followed him easily. He wrapped an arm around Shane’s shoulders, Shane doing the same around Ilya’s waist.
“I’m shocked you slept through Harris’s story time. We were all laughing so loud.”
Ilya chuckled, like he knew a thing or two about what that must have been like. “Apples or the skunk story?”
“Apples. He’s told you the other one?”
Ilya kissed his temple as they reached the door to the house. “Yes. Ask him tomorrow.”
-*-*-
Ilya woke up slowly. Begrudgingly. There was sun coming through the curtains, bright enough that he knew he’d slept in later than usual. Shane’s side of the bed was cold, which was his second clue. And there were no critters present based on the lack of additional noise or weight near his legs, which sealed the deal.
He didn’t move except to grab Shane’s pillow and hug it tightly.
When he opened his eyes again, the sunshine was brighter still, and there was a distinct pitter-patter coming up the stairs.
“Was wondering if you were awake,” Shane said. He lay on the bed and kissed Ilya’s forehead.
“Heard Anya in the stairs,” Ilya replied quietly, still not moving.
“Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to wake you.”
Shane hugged Ilya tightly for a few moments, and Ilya buried his face in Shane’s neck, trying to will himself to want to get out of bed. He was absolutely exhausted though.
“Are you hungry?” Shane ran his fingers down Ilya’s back in long, slow movements.
“Not a lot.”
“Want me to make you a smoothie?” Ilya was about extricate himself from Shane’s grip to look at him, but his husband just chuckled. “Not a weird one, just a regular thing with some protein powder. I can even use chocolate milk. Promise, it’ll barely be healthy.”
Ilya nodded. He would have smiled if he felt like his body was capable of that today. “That sounds okay. I can go downstairs.”
“Nah, you look comfy. Stay here, I’ll bring it up.”
Shane kissed him again and slid off the bed. Ilya felt himself doze off. Not completely this time, but enough that he felt a bit disoriented when Shane came back with two smoothies, one looking decidedly more green than the other.
“What time do we have to leave again,” Ilya asked when he’d finished his drink, leaning back against the headboard. He resisted the strong pull of his pillow to just lie back down and sleep some more.
Shane gave him a fond smile, his own green concoction finished. “Already texted Mom. We’ll reschedule. You look like you can use the rest.”
Ilya wanted to object but he couldn’t. He physically couldn’t muster up an objection. He knew they should take advantage of the nice weather, spend time outside with Anya before the season started in a few weeks. Go have dinner with his in-laws. Not spend a day in bed sleeping instead of any of the other activities that involved staying in bed all day with his husband.
His body and his brain were both sabotaging all that.
“Thank you,” he murmured instead.
“No problem. Kinda like the idea of a quiet day in.”
Shane leaned in, but didn’t push. Ilya closed the distance and gave his husband a soft kiss. He was thankful Shane seemed to understand the headspace he was in so he didn’t have to explain.
Shane put on his glasses and propped himself against a mountain of pillows against the headboard. He picked up his book, called Anya to the bed – the only time she was allowed to get on was when they told her.
Ilya wrapped himself around Shane as best he could with Anya sleeping between their legs and Shane sitting. Between Shane’s fingers in his hair and the rhythmic sound of the pages turning, Ilya fell asleep easily.
-*-*-
“Back-to-backs are the absolute worse,” Zane Boodram announced for the fifth time that night.
Shane just laughed into his beer as all the younger players around them agreed. Which only made Bood grumpier.
“When I was your age-“
“Oh fuck, you’ve done it now.” Their goalie, Wyatt Hayes, shook his head.
“Bood, why are you making it sound like you are 50-years-old,” Ilya grumbled on the bench where he sat beside Shane. He sounded like he was feeling that old himself right about now.
“I sure feel like I’m 50 right now. Why did we decide to come to the bar anyways?”
“’Cause even with your old ass on the team, we won both our games,” Ilya reminded Bood, which had everyone cheering. Not very enthusiastically, or loudly, but glasses were raised and a chorus of yays were heard.
“Both games went to overtime, though,” Luca Haas chimed in, trying to be helpful from his barely 21 years of age.
“No, the toddler does not get an opinion,” Ilya said, snuggling closer to Shane.
“I am not a toddler!”
Wyatt clapped Luca on the shoulder. “It’s an upgrade. You used to be Baby Centaur.”
“What?!”
While the rest of the team continued to bicker about their age, or perceived age in Haas’ case, Shane turned to his husband. He rested his hand gently on Ilya’s knee, not squeezing.
“How bad?”
“Doesn’t hurt right now.” Ilya tried to move his leg and winced. “Maybe a bit.”
“We have a few days off, I’ll take care of you.” Shane kissed Ilya’s nose.
Ilya’s brows shot up. “My own sexy nurse?”
“Don’t even think about it.”
Ilya kissed Shane’s shoulder and rested his head where his lips had just been. Shane got back up to speed with the conversation, sipping on his beer, and enjoying the time with his new teammates.
“Our place is too small for the team,” Haas said, and Shane remembered they had talked about having a little New Year’s eve party as a team.
“I don’t mind hosting, but it means you have to deal with the kids,” Nick Chouinard chimed in from the other end of the table. They’d all heard some of the stories about life with three kids. It sounded… hectic. Selena was a saint for putting up with it all.
Bood nodded. “Same at our place.”
“You say that like Milo’s a handful,” Shane chuckled. “Cassie keeps raving about how he’s spoiled her for any future kids you have because he is the perfect baby.”
Bood raised his hand in defeat and then shot Shane a smirk. “He’s about as hard to deal with as yours.” When Shane gave him a questioning look, Bood nodded to Shane’s right, where Ilya was.
The confusion disappeared quickly, replaced by a soft smile instead. Ilya had managed to fall asleep on Shane’s shoulder in the middle of a loud and hectic bar.
Shane had no clue how he could sleep in such loud situations. Maybe he was more like Milo than they all realized.
“You’re right,” Shane agreed evenly. He kissed the top of Ilya’s head and turned back to their teammates. “We definitely can’t host. Mine’s worse than yours.”
“Party at Bood’s then,” Luca asked, while everyone agreed.
“Cass’s gonna kill me for having you lot over again.” Bood stood and looked around. “Grabbing one last beer, anyone in?”
Shane turned to Ilya, rousing him just enough to ask him if he wanted to leave.
“Five more minutes,” Ilya mumbled into Shane’s shoulder.
“Grab me a ginger ale?”
“Whatever you want. This round’s going on your tab for throwing me under the bus.”
Shane laughed, having fully expected it.
-*-*-
“Do you need another drink?”
Shane picked up his pop can and realized it was already quite low. “Might as well. Won’t have to get up again later that way,” he called back to Ilya in the kitchen.
He placed the bowl of chips on the table and moved some pillows from the chairs to the couch. He made sure the throw was close by too, just in case. It was one of those odd late winter, early spring days where they’d had a freak snow storm and the temperature had dipped again. The perfect time for a quiet afternoon in, watching TV, before the madness of the playoffs began.
“That is too many pillows,” Ilya teased, setting down their drinks and a bowl of popcorn on the table with the rest of their snacks.
“No such thing.”
Ilya wrapped him in his arms and pulled him close. He kissed Shane lazily, slipping his tongue in as soon as Shane gave him an in. It was indulgent and Shane loved every second of it.
“Ilya,” Shane pulled away enough to speak. “If we don’t stop soon-“
“Is that such a bad thing,” Ilya smiled against his lips.
Shane groaned, making Ilya laugh. Ilya gave him one last quick kiss before pushing Shane down to the couch.
“Fine.” Ilya gave Shane enough time to situate himself on their oversized couch, mound of pillows and all. “What was the last one we watched again?”
“The last one I watched, or the last one you watched?”
Ilya glared at his husband for a beat, then rolled his eyes. “The last thing I remember was the blond guy and the hot girl going to save the people in the plane.”
Shane’s jaw dropped and he just stared at Ilya. “That’s the last thing you remember? You missed two and a half whole episodes!”
Ilya just shrugged and Shane did his best to fill in the blanks, which wasn’t easy to do given how intense the new superhero show they’d started on Wyatt’s recommendation. It was interesting but very intense.
Ilya settled next to Shane on the long edge of the couch, outstretched legs tangled together, his head on Shane’s chest. It was awkward and restricted their movement, but Shane loved the closeness of it too. He never thought he’d be able to make up the lost years they didn’t get this whenever they wanted.
“We should probably sit normally, so you don’t pass out on me again.”
“It was not my fault. We’d had that game.”
“Mmhmm,” Shane hummed, knowing very well that had been an afternoon game and they’d napped as soon as they’d gotten home. “If something doesn’t make sense, you might need to talk to Wyatt.”
“Just start it.”
Ilya made it through a whole episode before Shane noticed he’d gone quiet. He was still watching the show, but the colour commentary had all but stopped. Shane got too engrossed in whatever the heck was happening before their eyes to comment much himself.
Before long, Shane was hiding behind one of his pillows. “Fucking hell, why does Wyatt like this? Did he just make her explode?”
Ilya didn’t answer.
Shane moved the pillow enough to look down where Ilya was resting, and his eyes were closed.
“Ilya?”
A soft sleepy sound was all he got from his husband.
Shane patted around blindly for the remote, turning the TV off. No point watching much more of this since he had no clue how to explain that one.
He gently slid himself a bit lower on the couch, gently soothing his husband back to sleep when he seemed to stir. He pulled the throw from the back of the couch down over them, and was rewarded with a content little sigh by Ilya. Shane grabbed his phone and let Ilya sleep. There would be lots of time to watch TV when they’d be on the road soon.
1 time Shane falls asleep on Ilya
-*-*-
Ilya closed his eyes. He rested his head against the seat and couldn’t get rid of the grin on his face no matter how hard he tried. This would no doubt be the longest flight of the season, and he knew there was no way he’d fall asleep for this one. It was all worth it.
They’d just won the Stanley Cup.
Game 6 against Colorado had been hard fought but they’d done it. They’d managed to hold off a 2-1 lead for a whole period, and they had won. They were on their way home as Stanley Cup champions.
“Roz,” he heard and opened one eye to smile at his favourite goalie.
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask.”
“Fine,” Ilya replied as annoyed as he could muster, which wasn’t at all. “Yes Hazy? What can I do for you?”
Wyatt chuckled and shook his head. “Harris is figuring out where we need to be tomorrow. It’ll probably be something at the arena for a bit with fans and media, but he’s wondering if we wanna make a reservation somewhere? He offered to plan it for us since he has minions he can get to help with that now.”
“We all knew the power would go tonhis head.” Ilya didn’t even have to think about it. “No, come to our house. No need to go out.”
Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you need to check in with the husband first?”
“We already talked about it. It is easier.”
Wyatt didn’t ask more questions, instead leaving Ilya to go let the rest of the team know the Hollander-Rozanov house was where the party would be.
Ilya closed his eyes again, and let his head drop to his left, resting on top of Shane’s. His husband, who’d fallen asleep faster than he ever had before during a flight, pressed tightly against Ilya in the back of their charted flight back home. Ilya still pulled him a bit tighter into him, kissing the top of his head for the hundredth time that night easily. On his other side, he pulled the Stanley Cup a bit closer as well.
“You look way too cozy,” another voice chimed in, pulling Ilya’s smile wider again.
“I am a happy man right now, Harris.”
“You look it. Need me to get anything for tomorrow?”
“Nah. Mom already got the food sorted out for us. Maybe cider though? “
Harris mock-saluted. “Can do. Anything else?”
“Can you take my phone. For a picture?”
Harris grabbed Ilya’s phone from the pocket of the seat. “Only if I can take one for our account too.”
Ilya just laughed and posed while Harris took pictures of him and his sleeping husband, and what they’d been working towards achieving together all year.