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This was the most comfortable Shane had felt in any interview. He was sat right across from Evan, both of them sinking into their individual lounge chairs. This is the coziest sofa ever, he thought to himself. He absentmindedly rubbed the material between his thumb and index finger and made a mental note to ask Evan what brand his furniture was.
He’d caught himself doing that a lot lately. He’d see something nice, and immediately start picturing how that would fit into their future home when he and Ilya finally came out and moved in together.
They’d been chatting for a little over half an hour, and had just gotten to a section of the interview where people could call in with questions specifically for him, and he would have to answer as honestly as possible.
“Our next caller is a little unexpected, well to the fans maybe, but not to you.” Evan started and Shane immediately frowned. Unexpected?
“After being pitted against each other as rookies, and spending the better part of your very impressive careers as rivals,”
Oh, Shane realised who the call was from and the widest grin started to take form on his face.
“ the two of you matured and grew out of the MLH toxicity. Now you two are good friends and even co-founded a charity. I had you call in when I interviewed him, and I think it’s only appropriate that we close the loop. Our next caller with a question for you, is Ilya Rozanov.”
By this point Shane’s cheeks were hurting. Was he blushing? What the fuck he was blushing. He hoped he smiled this wide for the previous caller. Who even was the previous caller? He vaguely remembered it was a big celebrity who had a question about his team colours or something. Yeah, no. He definitely didn’t smile this hard for them. He hoped no one noticed. He made a mental note to dramatise his reaction to the next caller to balance things out.
“Hey Hollzy. What’s up?”
Shane cringed. Ilya never called him “Hollzy”. It was either Hollander or Shane. That nickname was used by his teammates and a few other hockey players he was friendly with. He guessed that was what Ilya was going for. He was trying his best to portray their relationship as that of friendly hockey players who were just that to each other and nothing more. Still, it felt weird hearing Ilya call him that.
“Uh I am going to ask you a question the way that you asked me one. I am currently wearing our Irina Foundation merch, " Ilya paused and gestured to his hat, “and that inspired me to ask you something related to the foundation.”
Oh brother, Shane’s smile immediately dropped, what kind of question was he about to ask? Shane was cozy and had enjoyed his time so far with Evan. In fact this was the most open he had ever been in an interview. But still, he wasn’t planning on getting vulnerable about something as close to his heart as the foundation and definitely not in such a public way. He readied himself mentally and started thinking up a vague, PR perfect answer for whatever Ilya planned on asking.
“When we were in the planning process of starting the charity, and designing the merch and whatever, you decided to be in charge of the merch production. Why was that important to you and what was one thing you wanted to be included no matter what?”
Shane sighed in relief. That was an easy question. He didn’t even know why he thought Ilya would put him on the spot. Ilya knew him well enough and understood Shane’s struggles with anxiety and being overly perceived. Unfortunately, however, now that the slight panic he felt at the start of Ilya’s question was gone, his face-splitting grin was fully back. The grin and the blush and the- why the fuck was he breathing deeper now? He was fidgeting with his finger and blinking way too many times to look relaxed.
Shane Hollander, calm the fuck down.
He looked up at the ceiling because looking at Ilya’s face on the video was simply too much. He hadn’t seen him in weeks, and the chemicals in his brain seemed unable to understand that Ilya was only present digitally. He needed to get himself under control. He focused on regulating his breathing and tried to stop blushing so hard.
“Say hi to Evan for me. Bye.” Ilya ended the call with a kissy face and Shane hoped viewers would assume it was just the Russian’s typical way of being annoying.
It wasn’t annoying to him though. Seeing Ilya’s pouty lips completely unraveled him. He tried to take the smile off his face. He licked his lips in an attempt to reorient his face, and then immediately realised how that might look from an outside perspective. He covered his face with his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, willing his blush away. He hoped he looked like he was seriously contemplating an answer to the question. He actually was thinking of the question, trying to remember it in fact. That kissy face Ilya made at the end completely threw him off his bearings.
Fuck he was so down bad for Rozanov.
He took a deep breath, swiped his hand over his mouth to wipe the grin away, and tried to look as unaffected as possible while answering the question.
“Um, there are a few things I was very hellbent on. I wanted to be in charge of production because I wanted to ensure that the factory workers specifically were well compensated and had optimum working conditions. I made it clear that regardless of the cost, I wanted the merchandise to be produced in a safe factory with workers who were paid and treated well. So our clients can rest assured that your merch was not produced in a sweatshop.”
He propped his chin on his hand, and hoped he sounded as serious as possible. He couldn’t even make eye contact with Evan. God he really hoped no one noticed just how flustered Ilya made him. He realised his other hand on his lap was twitching and stilled it immediately. Then his pinky finger kept tapping. He couldn't even fully control his own body when it came to Ilya Rozanov. Fuck this. Now he was angry at his pinky. Still, he needed to give Evan his answer.
“I also visited the factories to make sure of the kind of material being used. I don’t really care what clothes look like, but what they feel like is very important to me. The texture of my clothing can make or break my day. So I tried to make sure that the fabrics were tested and approved by myself and other clothing professionals.”
Shane didn’t even realise the kind of material he had given to the media with that statement about fabrics and textures. Combined with his reputation of having the highest hockey IQ and not being very sociable, rumours about him possibly being on the spectrum would start to circulate in a few days.
He wouldn’t notice though. He never noticed. Paranoid as he was about him and Ilya being found out, he tried to stay away from social media as a way to sort of bury his head in the sand. If he never saw any speculation about his life, he could continue to pretend no one knew. It had worked so far, and would hopefully work until Ilya and him decided to come out on their own terms.
“Well that is very admirable Shane, ” Evan responded. “I am sure your fans are very happy to know how involved you were in the entire process of starting this foundation, including even selecting the specific fabrics that the merch they wear everyday was made out of.”
Evan introduced the next caller, and Shane forgot to exaggerate his reaction. All he could think about was flying back to Canada as soon as they finished filming this interview. His flight landed in Ottawa and not Montreal, and he hoped any fan who met him at the airport would simply assume he was visiting his parents before the season started.
Over the next ten minutes, he answered Evan’s questions to the best of his ability, distracted as he was. Thank God the call-in section was close to the end. By the time the interview was over, he was buzzing with excitement at seeing Ilya later that day.
“Okay that’s it everyone! " the producer announced and Shane all but shot out of his seat.
“Thank you for coming and being so open with me.” Evan expressed his gratitude.
When Evan was contacted to interview both Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, the two biggest names in hockey worldwide, he was honoured, but also extremely nervous. He knew from watching their press conferences that Ilya Rozanov was more open to the media and an overall fun person to interview. For Shane Hollander, well he would just say that he did not expect the interview to be as interactive as it was. Even though he did notice Shane getting antsy towards the end, a full 40 minutes of dialogue with Shane Hollander was more than he could ask for.
The interviews would be released in the next month, both coming out within a week of each other. He was excited for the new eyes it would bring to his show and the almost guaranteed promotion he would get at the network. He got Shane Hollander to open up. He was definitely getting that promotion and raise.
“It’s no problem. Ten years in this sport is huge and so I understand the need for this deep dive into my life and Rozanov’s.” Shane quickly shook Evan’s hands, said something about needing to catch a flight and got out of there like he was being hunted. He’d email Evan about the furniture later. He needed to get on that flight and see Ilya as soon as possible.