Chapter Text
Ilya was no stranger to empty apartments and new cities. Between constantly shuffling around in his youth in pursuit of finding the best hockey programs and moving to America to join the NHL, the echo of empty walls was a sound as familiar as the ambiance of an arena.
In his previous moves, he had always been moving towards greatness. Becoming a better hockey player, trying to gain his father’s approval, moving to play in the biggest league in the world - he was always striving for bigger and better. This time though, this time he was deviating from that path. This time, he was moving for himself. Not for his career or for outside approval. No - this time, he was moving for him. For his future.
For his and Shane’s future.
Before, the echo of footsteps off empty walls hadn’t bothered him - it was a sign to pull out his credit card and surround himself in the luxuries he had earned with his blood sweat and tears on the ice.
When he stared at the blank canvas of a condo in front of him, bearing only a few chairs and a table that the previous owner had left and his temporary air mattress still in its delivery box, he didn’t feel the need to go to the nearest luxury furniture store. No, when he pictured what he wanted in this space, he pictured something lived in. Something cozy. Something like David and Yuna’s cabin.
Something belonging to a family.
And maybe with a dog.
Sighing, he wiped a hand over his face and dropped the keys on the table. It would be a few days before he could start furnishing the place between starting to train with a new team and the Irina Foundations summer camps planning starting to ramp up.
All he wanted to do was order some mediocre food delivery, inflate his mattress and go to bed, but his plans were foiled by a sharp rap on his door.
Ilya heaved a sigh - he hadn’t been expecting anyone and next to no one knew where he lived. If this was some welcome wagon effort from the Centaurs, he would have a hard time wrangling his stony attitude.
And his resting bitch face, as some of his former teammates had loved to remind him.
Doing his best to paste on a neutral expression he crossed the room and braced himself before opening the door.
His shoulders relaxed instantly when he saw that instead of some busy body front office staff member or junior coach standing on the other side of the threshold, it was two of his favorite people in the world. He could admit to himself that they easily rounded out his top four favorite people, even if he never acknowledged it aloud.
“Ilya! We come bearing sustenance!” David declared, hefting a heavy tote bag up.
Ilya stood, stunned. It was all he could do but stare as they both smiled back at him. The image of the Hollanders standing on his brand new doorstep, smiling at him was unexpected. Jarring almost. The two of them here, without Shane, their person in common.
Come to think of it, Ilya realized the three of them had never been together without Shane.
“Can we come in?” Yuna asked gently.
That shook Ilya out of his surprise and he stepped out of the way, “Yes, come in.”
“Hell of a place you have here, Ilya.” David said over his shoulder as he headed towards his very empty kitchen.
“Yeah - close to the arena and the building gym is great.” Yuna told him as she started pulling containers of food out of the bag.
Seeing the surprise on Ilya’s face, David called over to him, “She already looked your place up on Redfin, kid. She wanted to make sure you were getting a good deal.”
Warmth filled Ilya’s chest. He knew that if Yuna had found even one thing wrong with a place Shane was looking at, she would have told him. Knowing that she was applying that scrutiny to Ilya’s home? He wasn’t sure he had experienced that level of care from anyone aside from Shane in a very long time.
Ilya closed the door and tentatively walked towards the table.
He stared at the table, suddenly not just laden with food but laden with warmth and family and care. He wrung his hands in front of him, unsure of where he fit into this picture of family.
Even though the picture in front of him was exactly what he had pictured the space to look like when he allowed himself to really get his hopes up.
David helped Yuna finish unpacking the massive array of food, complete with drinks, plate and cutlery. “Come on, kiddo. We should dig in before the food gets cold.”
Ilya closed the distance and took in the table up close. There was far more food than three people could consume. He settled into a chair and tried to wrap his head around what was happening and how he had lost control of the evening.
Yuna rubbed her hands and started gesturing at the various containers, “Ok, we have salad, spaghetti, garlic bread, borscht, pelmeni, and chicken katsu.”
He was gobsmacked at not only the amount of food in front of him, but also that everything seemed to be home made. The amount of effort this would have taken was staggering.
All of this? For him?
At Ilya’s silence, Yuna glanced at David before continuing, “I know you enjoyed the spaghetti in the summer, but I wasn’t sure what you’d be in the mood for so I made a bit of everything. I’m not sure how the borscht or pelmeni turned out, you’ll have to let me know. Comfort food for your first night in Ottawa.”
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the homemade Russian food in front of him. It had been many, many years since anyone had made comfort food from home for him. The best he had was mediocre restaurant versions or his own poor attempts at replicating his mother’s recipes.
And here was Yuna with perfect looking homemade borscht and pelmeni, acting like it was no big deal.
It hit him - Shane must have sent them. He was tied up with team business in Montreal and sent his parents to coddle him. “Did Shane send you?”
Yuna and David exchanged a surprised look, before looking back to Ilya.
“No? Now that I think about it, we didn’t even mention we were coming.” Answered David, giving Ilya a curious look.
“Then why are you here?” Ilya cringed at the way that sounded, even to him.
“It’s your first night in a new city, in a new country. Of course we wanted to come and bring you a taste of home.” Yuna reached across the table and gently touched Ilya’s hand.
“Yeah, son. We wanted to make sure you got the full welcome wagon and were settling in ok.” David added.
The word son struck him straight in the chest. David had said it so offhandedly and probably didn’t mean anything by it, but it still ricocheted around his brain. It had been at least a decade since anyone had called him their son.
He could feel a telltale prickle of emotion behind his eyes.
“Dig in! Whatever you don’t finish, you’ll have leftovers to get you started until you can fill your fridge.” David wielded a serving spoon in one hand and an empty plate in the other. “What can I dish up for you?”
After they had each loaded their plates with the eclectic mix of cuisines, the sounds of cutlery on plates filled the space.
“So Ilya, are you excited to get started with the Centaurs?” Yuna asked, leaning in and looking ready to talk hockey.
Ilya wasn’t sure how he got so lucky that these two wanted to come and warm his house with him, and he wasn’t even sure that he knew how to be part of a family, but this impossibly perfect one seemed to be adopting him. He wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve them, but he was going to savor it as long as he could.