Work Text:
The Metros are stumbling and pushing into the locker room after a brutal practice. They are a mess of practice jerseys, limbs, and sticks, all eager to get home as soon as possible. They are more boisterous than usual and Shane tries his best to tune out the noise.
“Hollanderrrrrr! Who is buying you flowerrrrs?!” JJ shouts above the fray.
“What, no one!!” Shane answers quickly, his eyes darting around nervously. But it seems someone has, as sitting right there with the rest of his personal items is a huge bouquet of red roses mixed with some other red flowers. “They must be for someone else.”
Shane is internally panicking and running through multiple scenarios in his mind as he takes his stick, helmet, and skates to the adjacent equipment room. Is someone sick?! Is HE sick?!
“Lilyyyyyy!”’JJ is holding up a small white card in the air, which Shane slowly pieces together came from the bouquet.
“Hollander! You’re supposed to get the GIRL flowers, not the other way around!” Miitka laughs. Shane feels even more embarrassed that his Goalie who took 3 pucks to the helmet in the last hour seems to be catching on to what is happening faster than he can.
Hayden eventually takes pity on him. “It’s Valentine’s Day, Shane. It looks like Boston Lily sent you flowers.”
Shane, who was already an unusual shade of pink, starts blushing even harder. His teammates holler at and roughhouse him playfully. “Hollander has a GIRLFRIEND!”, several of them tease.
Shane approaches the bouquet slowly, like it might explode or evaporate if he makes one false move. He reaches out and gently strokes a velvety petal. JJ hands the card back. “ILY. Lily” is all it reads.
“What do I do?” he asks the room, but everyone else has lost interest already.
Shane doesn’t know a lot about flowers, but he knows from buying them for his mother every birthday and Mother’s Day that this bouquet must have cost a fortune. He wonders how the Receptionist who would have received it even got it back here without help. It’s a mix of deep red roses and other red flowers, brighter, with dots and those green bits that stick out for pollination he can’t remember the name of. It is a stunning arrangement. The aroma does its best against the 20 sweaty men in the room. Shane sits and looks at it for several minutes, tracing every detail with his eyes, like he would if “Lily”’s face was in front of him instead.
“You doing okay, buddy?” Hayden asks, resting a comforting hand on Shane’s shoulder.
“I’ve never had a Valentine before. I didn’t even realise the date. I. I want to do something back, but I don’t know what.” Shane admits.
“Well what does Lily like?” Hayden asks.
“Me.” Shane responds, for lack of a better idea but a few people crack up, like Shane’s made a hilarious joke.
What does Lily like? She likes gripping Shane’s jaw with a strong but gentle grasp. She likes Shane on his knees in front of her. She likes cuddling Shane from behind after they fuck. She likes Shane’s humour. She will never admit it, but she likes lying around and watching a bonfire slowly crackle and pop its way into darkness. She LOVES Shane’s dad’s cooking and how competitive his mother gets when they play cards. She loves her niece that she may never get to see again. She likes fast cars and she pretends to hate country music. She likes Boston and she loves playing hockey and antagonising her opponents. She enjoys good vodka. She loves Svetlana. But mostly, she likes/loves Shane.
He looks at the card again. ILY. I love you. And also so close to Lily’s real identity.
“I didn’t think these lilies bloomed so early in the year?” Hayden mused, before catching some looks. “Jacki loves gardening!” He defends.
——
Later, after struggling to get the bouquet to the car, Shane is now struggling to get it back out of the car and into his apartment. His view is obstructed when he enters his home and he uses memory and peripheral vision to find his kitchen counter top. He sets the flowers down and takes in a big inhale of their scent.
“Hi.”
“JESUS! FUCK YOU ROZANOV, YOU SCARED ME!”
“Your door code is still 1919.”
“Yes.” Shane grits out, still trying to slow his heartbeat. He closes his eyes and breathes. He slowly opens one, and yes, Rozanov, Lily, Ilya is still sitting in his living room. He doesn’t know what to say first so he says it all at once “Thankyousomuchfortheflowersthey’rebeautifulwhatareyoudoinghere”
Ilya shrugs one shoulder lazily. “Flight was only 2 hours.” Shane knows it’s more than that, it’s getting to the airport, it’s getting through the airport, it’s choosing to do all of this mid-season when Ilya’s probably been on 4 flights already this week, it’s knowing he has a game tomorrow, in Boston, and he’s here in Montreal. He flew internationally for what will only be able to be a few hours together.
Shane feels so inadequate in this moment. He didn’t even think to send a text and Ilya has surprised him twice in a couple of hours. He crosses the room, pulls Ilya into a standing position and wraps his arms around him, nestling their foreheads and noses together. “What did I do to deserve you.” He whispers and he feels Ilya’s arms tighten around him. “I’m so sorry, I’ve never had a Valentine before, I didn’t even think.” “And I’ve had so many.” Ilya quips back. “You’re an asshole.” Shane laughs, lightly shoving Ilya away. Ilya takes the momentum of the shove to pull Shane down on top of him and they fall back onto the couch together.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” Shane says quietly, staring at Ilya’s lips before tracing his eyes over Ilya’s face until their eyes meet. “What about your game?”. “Let me worry about that.” Ilya answers. “Right now it’s time for you to make my trip worth it.” Ilya says with a wicked grin.