Chapter Text
Shane and Ilya were preparing for Shane’s upcoming signing to the Ottawa Centaurs. The news wasn’t public yet, but there had been rumblings that Shane was not going to be resigning with Montreal. Shane had been struggling with the idea that Montreal no longer wanted him, knowing that it was as a direct result of who he had chosen to spend his life with.
The truth was, the locker room had cooled on him when he had come out years earlier, but once Shane and Ilya had chosen to make their relationship public, the atmosphere had frozen. Hayden and J.J. were the only members of the team who would speak to him more than a few perfunctory words out of necessity. Shane had ended his season with a personal best for points, but they had been knocked out of the playoffs after round one, simply because he was practically playing alone on the ice.
He’d played the previous season on a contract year, and Farah had spent the majority of the season negotiating terms with the Voyageurs management. Almost as soon as his Instagram post went live, the negotiations ceased.
It broke Shane’s heart, as he’d always planned on spending his whole career as a Voyageur, but he knew he shouldn’t be hung up on a team who couldn’t accept who he was and who he loved. The Voyageurs management (and the world as a whole) didn’t know that Shane had never played a professional game without being in love with Ilya Rozanov, but Shane knew. The court of public opinion in Montreal had decided that Shane and Ilya couldn’t possibly play a fair game against one another, and they simply couldn’t see past their bigoted ideas.
So, they’d strategized. He’d spent many an hour with his mom, Yuna, and his agent, Farah, talking about options, and the only thing he kept coming back to was Ilya. Ilya had moved countries to be with Shane, to be near enough that they could see each other more than 4 times a year. He knew he needed to leave Montreal, but the thought that he would have to move further from Ilya was the most painful part.
There was only one option that would make them both happy.
Until Farah had brought it up, he’d not let himself entertain the idea that Ottawa could be an option. It didn’t make financial sense, as with Ilya’s massive salary, they couldn’t afford to pay Shane’s current expectation. But they would be a two-income household, and their coming out post had only increased the number of sponsorship opportunities. Yuna had made sure that Shane had multiple income streams, almost like she had spent his early 20s planning for something to happen.
So, they’d reached out to the Centaurs management and made their intentions clear: Shane wanted to play for them, Shane was willing to take a pay-cut, Shane didn’t need to be captain anymore, Shane wanted to come home.
And they’d bitten.
Shane and Ilya couldn’t believe their luck.
---
Ilya wanted to introduce his team to his fiancé. Of course, they’d all met before, on the ice, but they only knew Hollander. Ilya wanted them to know Shane.
Of course, there was the ulterior motive of wanting Shane to meet the team he would be spending, hopefully, the rest of his career with. But the team didn’t know this yet.
---
Captain’s Chat
Ilya:
Bood!
I want the team to meet Shane
Bood:
We know Shane…
We play the Voyageurs regularly…
Ilya:
noooo
you know Shane Hollander, the hockey player
not Shane, my fiancé
Bood:
Fair
What were you thinking?
Ilya:
well…
…you throw better a better party
Bood:
I don’t think that’s right
I throw a better get-together
An Ilya party is legendary
You remember Halloween
Ilya:
I was being nice
buttering bread
please throw bbq
Bood:
🙄
fiiiinnneee
how’s a week tomorrow?
Ilya:
perfect!
🍖
thank you Bood!
love you Bood!
❤️
Bood:
Hmmm 🙄
---
As soon as Bood had agreed and shared with the Centaurs team chat, Ilya brought it up to Shane. He’d thought that a week’s notice would be good for Shane, but he realised quickly that he’d fucked up.
Shane was retreating into himself. He’d been getting paler by the minute and had barely touched any food all day. And honestly, Ilya didn’t think it was possible for the kitchen to become any cleaner. Every time Ilya tried to talk to Shane, he had his head bitten off. He knew Shane didn’t mean it, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. Even Anya had noticed that something was off.
Maybe he shouldn’t have tried to force something. Maybe the stress of moving, of leaving his team was too much. But he only wanted to help Shane, make the new season easier. Ilya would move heaven and earth for Shane if he’d let him, so maybe he needed to be sneakier.
Before his fiancé completely shut down, he suggested that Shane took Anya out for a run. Once Shane had agreed and left the house, Ilya settled onto the couch with his phone.
Time to make a plan.
---
Centaurs 🏒 (+ Harris)
Ilya:
team
I need you
Shane is stressing
he wants to meet you but he is panicking about meeting you all at once
Harris
I get that
You’re all a lot (said with love ❤️)
What were you thinking?
Wyatt:
Rude…
But true 🤣
Yeah, Roz, what’s the plan?
Ilya:
I think we trick him
not mean tricks
but he meets you “by accident” before the BBQ
Harris:
Oh like a meet-cute!
Cute! 🥰
Bood:
Oooh I like this
Ilya:
what is cute meeting?
Harris:
Meet-cute
So it’s a thing in romance movies
Like a cute situation where the two leads meet before they fall in love
Ilya:
no
you will not love meet Shane
I will kill you all
🔪
Wyatt:
Dude!
Chill!
No one is stealing your man!
Ilya:
good
I will not hesitate
🔪
Barrett:
lol
Who knew Rozy was so possessive?
Bood:
I feel like we could have guessed 👀
Dykstra:
You don’t check your phone for 5 minutes and come back to death threats
Cool
Happy to help with anything though Roz
Ilya:
is good idea though
set up meetings
no pressure and all “by accident”
Luca:
Will he be okay with this?
Ilya:
yes, is good idea I think
maybe we try 1 meeting and see how it goes
Holmberg:
dibs! ✋
LaPointe:
dibs! ✋
Young:
dibs! ✋
Ilya:
what is dibs?
Holmberg:
we want to go first!
Harris:
Sorry boys, I think that’s a terrible idea
Barrett:
Yeah, we do NOT want to terrify the poor guy
Wyatt:
Yeah it should definitely be someone more chill…
I think I have a good idea…
🐶🐶🐶