Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

August 2015

Shane walks towards Coach Theriault’s office for a meeting just before the start of training camp. It should be a routine meeting; the captain and coach setting targets and identifying goals for the coming year. Shane already has a list based on roster changes and management decisions from over the summer.

He wants another Cup.

More than that, he’s feeling actually relaxed coming into it. Relative to how he normally is, at least. The team has been super happy since the Cup win.

Hayden and Jackie just had their third kid. Gil got married to his fianceé Val. Andy moved into a new house. Mitty got a new girlfriend. J.J. has been partying it up. Lots of happy milestones.

And of course, Shane proposed to Ilya. Not that he’s telling anyone about it just yet, but still.

It’s been a good summer. Everyone is excited. The team group chat has never been this lively.

He wasn’t sure it was going to be okay, back at the start of the playoffs in March when they looked at him like his head was on backwards for being friends with Ilya.

Rozanov.

Captain of the Boston Bears.

The Russian Menace.

Russia’s Greatest Rage Machine. Alternatively, Russia’s Greatest Fuck Machine.

It didn’t get better until they played Boston in the Conference Finals and all of them watched his every movement, trying to see if he would trip up.

He didn’t. Better yet, he swapped jerseys with Ilya on the ice, and then let them see Ilya in the crowd, cheering for him as they won the Stanley Cup.

God, he can still barely believe it.

But as soon as the bet was made clear, that Shane being friends with Ilya meant that they would occasionally see the menace made into a man, they relented. For the most part. Hayden is still mad about the mouse thing.

Shane hopes he can convince them it hasn’t changed him. He’s trying to do better. Trying to be more engaged with them. Make sure that they can’t accuse him of preferring to spend time with Ilya, even if he does prefer it.

He wants his team to trust him.

So Shane walks into the meeting with a list of notes and goals in mind. He has his phone in the pocket of his jacket, recording the meeting so he can listen back and take notes on anything he might have missed later.

“Hollander,” Coach Theriault says as he walks into the office. “Take a seat.”

“Coach Theriault,” he returns, sitting straight and looking at the spot right between his eyebrows.

“Thank you for coming in. Glad to see that you’re committed.”

“I’m glad to be here, Coach.” Shane opens his notebook to one of the earlier pages from his summer tape reviews. “I had some thoughts–”

“This meeting isn’t about that, Hollander,” Theriault interrupts, his voice having a harsher edge, the one it takes on during hard practices and after lost games.

“Oh,” Shane says softly, closing his notebook.

Theriault closes his eyes and takes a deep inhale through his nose. “I appreciate the work you’ve put in,” he grits out. “Don’t get me wrong. I know you are the high caliber player that helped lead this team to a Cup. But I need to know that you can be professional.”

That’s a surprise, given that Shane is generally nothing but professional in front of Theriault.

“I’m not sure I’m understanding your point here, Coach,” Shane says slowly.

Theriault waves his hand impatiently. “This whole thing with Rozanov.”

Logically, Shane knows this has to be about him and Ilya being friends. It has to be that. They’ve been so careful about everything else.

It has to be that.

Theriault continues, “The owners and league higher-ups are getting concerned about what it means for the brand if you continue to associate with him. You’re the face of the Voyageurs, Hollander, like it or not.” From the way he says not, Shane is starting to feel like Theriault doesn’t like that fact. 

“Oh.” Shane tries not to fidget. “I discussed the details with the media team last season—”

“Damn it, don’t you think I know that, Hollander? This is about the integrity of the game. We need to know that you aren’t sharing confidential team information or risking our chances in any way. They're in talks about expansion as we speak. You handing over strategy to Boston would blow that out of the water.”

Shane's first thought is, Expansion?

His second thought is, Risking our chances?

“I would never,” Shane says adamantly. 

“We’ll need to evaluate that,” Theriault says with a sneer. “Any email correspondence with Rozanov needs to be shared with the media team, immediately. We’ve already done a tape review of games you’ve played in against Boston. It doesn’t look like there was any tampering, but we need to be sure.”

They think Shane is cheating.

They think Shane is cheating. 

“Coach, I can assure you that I have never shared information about the team with Rozanov. Frankly, I don’t think he could recognize the names of half the roster. I can show you proof.”

“Good. Have it sent in by the end of the week.” Theriault sits back in his chair, looking a little less tense, since Shane is going with what he’s saying and not talking back. “The other thing, Hollander, is that the team has gotten rowdy, and I need you to get a handle on it.”

Rowdy?

The season hasn’t even started. When would they have gotten rowdy? The Cup parade was months ago. No one's had any scandals over the summer, surprisingly. It’s been an ongoing celebration, but nothing out of the blue.

“I haven’t noted any changes, coach,” Shane says, trying to keep his voice level.

Theriault snorts. “Of course, you wouldn’t notice any changes. You’re half the reason for it, Hollander.”

Shane controls his breathing. “I have been playing and training as I always have, Coach.”

He waves his hand again, dismissively. “I’m not concerned about that. I know you’re competent enough, Hollander. This is about being professional. The little rituals, Hollander. The high fives. The jersey swapping. Dancing around each other on the ice during fights. The social media. It makes us look unprofessional.”

As far as Shane knows, these are all things that literally every other team does regularly and gets no flack for. So either there’s something Shane’s missed, or Theriault has a different reason for trying to get Shane to stop the Voyageurs from doing them.

“We discussed a need for team synergy leading into the playoffs,” Shane says carefully. “Increases in camaraderie correlate to better performance.” He’s not lying. He could pull up the statistics if he has a minute.

“Team synergy on the ice, Hollander, not this fiddle faddle about making nice, especially with other teams. It makes us look soft and weak. You’re the captain, Hollander. You need to lock it down. Keep it off the ice. You should know better.”

So it is about Shane. 

It’s about Shane doing it. It's about Shane having friends.

It's about Shane being anything more than the hockey he plays.

It’s about punishing Shane by punishing the team, because nothing he’s done is illegal, nor out of the ordinary. 

It's just not shutting up and playing.

Making Shane tell them makes Shane the bad guy. The no-nonsense, boring captain who takes all the fun off the ice. Cutting him back down to size when he was just bridging the gap.

“I will discuss it with the team,” Shane says woodenly, “and tell them to cut down on it.” Not that he thinks they'll listen.

Frankly, Shane barely understands where Theriault is coming from right now. They can play a fast and aggressive game without actively hating the other players. It's transparently clear that this isn't about how they're playing.

“Good.” Theriault says. “I don’t want any of that faggotry in my locker room. I need a team that is a well-oiled machine. Am I clear?”

I don’t want any of that faggotry in my locker room.

That faggotry in my locker room.

Faggotry.

Fuck.

It's fine. It's fine. It has to be fine.

Because if it's not, then this really isn't about having friends on other teams.

“Yes, we’re clear,” Shane says, his heart pounding heavily in his chest. He keeps his hands as still as he can as he reopens his notebook. “Would you still like for me to review what I put together for today.”

Theriault gestures lazily, as if to say go ahead. 

Shane takes a deep breath and starts to speak.

He doesn't turn the recording off until he steps out of the office.

September 2015

The Voyageurs are acting weird.

Ilya skates up to the red line, scanning for Shane. All of the Voyageurs are clustered as they do their warm up stretches. Very quietly, too.

“Hollander!” He shouts, and the volume of the crowd in TD Garden gets louder.

Shane looks up quickly, before turning his head back down like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

These English idioms are so silly. Ilya loves whenever Shane has a new one for him.

He watches as Pike slaps Shane on the back and says something in a low voice. Shane gets up from his knees slowly and skates over to meet Ilya, but it seems a little reluctant.

What happened? Ilya wants to ask. I thought we were friends in public now. That is why we did it.

Are you regretting it?

But he doesn’t ask that. Instead, he cocks a finger gun at Shane and says, “I have a surprise for you, Hollander.”

“What surprise, Rozanov?”

Ilya just grins, running his tongue over his teeth and wiggling his eyebrows.

“What surprise, Rozanov.”

“It would not be surprise If I tell you now,” Ilya explains, very reasonably.

Shane gives him a look, the one that always means we’ll talk about this later.

God, Ilya loves him. He feels the weight of the ring strung on his chain, next to his mama’s cross.

“Well, if that’s all you have to tell me, I’m going back to warm ups.”

“Have fun losing, Hollander!” Ilya calls out as Shane turns his back and starts to skate away.

“No way,” he gets in return.

Midway through the first period, Ilya scores off of a breakaway.

Surprise time.

Ilya motions for the Bears to give him space as Rasputin starts playing over the speakers.

He only has time for a few seconds of it, but nonetheless, he launches into his figure skating routine on his way to the bench.

He makes eye contact with Shane as he claps his hands and revels in the suppressed rage. But unfortunately, Shane just stays where he is, contained and controlled.

Shame.

Ilya can’t wait for when Shane gets back to his house tonight.

“Did you like your surprise?” Ilya asks as he opens the door to let Shane in.

He doesn’t get an answer to his question for a little bit because they both get distracted by kissing.

When Shane finally pulls away from him, his face scrunches up into adorable outrage. “You violated our bet! Yuuri won at Worlds!”

“But солнышко,” [Sunshine] Ilya wheedles, dragging the pet name out, “it was so funny! And I know you like it when I dance for you. Like one of those tropical birds.”

“A bird-of-paradise?” Shane says as Ilya pulls him back in to start kissing his neck. “Fine. I guess I can forgive it.”

“More importantly, why was your team acting so dull tonight? Not boring like usual, but dull,” Ilya asks, a little bit curious but more trying to poke at Shane’s buttons a little bit.

Shane makes a face. “Probably shouldn’t be telling you this,” he mutters before steadying himself. “Coach doesn’t want us getting too excited. No cellys, no dancing.” He looks a little downtrodden. “Met with me before training camp to tell me to get the guys to cut it out.”

“That is ridiculous,” Ilya says, mouth wrapping around the words. “Is completely normal. Your team does not do much anyway.”

Why didn't you tell me sooner?

Shane scoffs. “Apparently, me swapping jerseys with you got on the owner’s nerves. So the new rule is that we’re cutting all of that out.”

Ilya feels his hackles rise. “Are they blaming you?”

“No,” Shane says, his gaze dropping to the floor. “Hayden and JJ found out first and helped me with a game plan. The guys are annoyed, but not at me.”

“That is good at least,” Ilya says. Then he thinks for a moment. “Will they punish you for something I did around you?”

“Not right now,” Shane hedges. “As long as I don’t react or engage with it.” Ilya files that thought away for later as he continues, “Come on. I don’t want to think about it anymore.” His hand starts sliding up Ilya’s back.

That Ilya can do.

Boston Bears @bostonbears

Ro-Ro-Rozanov! Dancing our way to a home win in the preseason against Montreal!

[Image: Graphic reading Final Score: BOS 3 MTL 2]

[Video: Ilya Rozanov performing his Rasputin goal celebration.]

Jake @bearsftw

brooo when they cycled the camera over to hollander after roz’s celly i was ctfu

boo habs @habsux

legit like

Roz:🕺

Hollander:🧍‍♂️

 

boo habs @habsux

hollander is boring as fuck. rozanov is the best player and an entertainer while he's at it.

 

ellie @hollfander

he is not! my boy is locked in on the game

 

ellie @hollfander

ngl the voyageurs have been more subdued lately. 

 

ellie @hollfander

not what i was expecting after a Cup win but here we are

 

ellie @hollfander

at least he's still leading us to wins though!

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

The Centre Vidéotron is officially open! Quebec City has their new arena, built with hockey in mind as a Canadian pastime.

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau, after losing out on his bid on the Montreal Voyageurs, has mentioned renewed interest in a Quebecois franchise.

 

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

MLH leadership will be meeting soon to discuss the approval of potential expansions and conference reorganization.

October 2015

Having Yuna Hollander as a manager can be terrifying once you think about it a little bit.

Ilya’s old manager, Artyom, was always very dedicated to the idea that Ilya would be going back to Russia to play in the KHL. That his time in Boston was a blip. An artifact of being selected by Grigori Rozanov, but Ilya didn’t really have many other options.

So his endorsement options were limited. Nothing that could offend, back in Russia. Artyom taking a hefty chunk of a percentage out of the payment. 

Ilya has gotten used to it, is the thing. His money, parceled out as carefully as he could before Grigori and Alexei got their hands on it. Some squirreled away for Dedushka and Yuri, some kept for cars and parties and drinking and whatever Ilya could blow it on to keep money near him, and the rest going to Moscow.

So when he looks at the renegotiated contract for his Adidas sponsorship that Yuna lays out for him, he boggles a little bit. First at the total amount. Then at the tiny fraction she gets for negotiating the deal.

“Yuna,” he says, “Why is your percentage so low?”

She looks at him with a furrowed brow. “That’s standard, Ilya. I get paid according to our contract already. I don’t need to be taking out of all of your deals. It’s the same deal I have with Shane.”

“Oh,” he says, a little shocked. 

“Was your last manager doing that?” she asks. “If you give me his name, I can see what we can do about the rest of your existing deals to fix that.”

“No, no,” he rushes to stop her as she pulls her phone out. “Is fine. I was just surprised. Is more than I used to get.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to let them take advantage of you,” she says firmly. “I have most of your shoots scheduled for the summer, but they want at least one for promos in Boston within the next few months. I’ll be here to coordinate once we set a date that won’t conflict with your schedule.”

“Stay with me,” Ilya says immediately. “Don’t get a hotel. I have room.”

She softens a little bit. “You sure, sweetie? I just don’t want to get in your way.”

“You will not. My house is plenty big.”

“Alright.”

True to her word, they shoot towards the end of the month. Lots of shots of him running through Boston in Adidas gear, alternating with a few clips of him playing. Very simple.

He wears the shoes and the shirts and the sweatpants like he’s contractually obligated to do. 

It’s all fine and dandy.

You can tell he’s getting his idioms from Shane.

It gets a little more chaotic when Svetlana gets involved.

Svetlana Vetrova @svetrovas 

#tbt Ilya @rozanov81 has always had brand loyalty @adidas ))))

[A grainy picture of a younger Ilya Rozanov wearing a black Adidas tracksuit and slides, the jacket unzipped to reveal he has no shirt on underneath, his necklace dangling forward off of his chest. He is Slav squatting, while holding a handle of Beluga in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He is glaring down the camera in a way that makes his eyes catch the light.]

Yuri Plisetsky @y-plisetsky ☑️

🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 sveta what the hell is this. why are you doing this to me. he looks like a thug.

 

Svetlana Vetrova @svetrovas 

don't get cocky little tiger

[Image: Yuri Plisetsky tucked under Ilya Rozanov's arm like a football, legs blurred in the image as he tries to kick himself free. Both are dressed in Adidas tracksuits. Yuri's teeth are bared as though he is attempting to bite. Ilya has a long-suffering expression on his face.]

 

Yuri Plisetsky @y-plisetsky ☑️

WHERE DID YOU GET THAT

 

Mila Babicheva @babamila

)))))

 

Ilya Rozanov @rozanov81 ☑️

Are you embarrassed of me тигрёнок [tiger cub] (((((

 

Yuri Plisetsky @y-plisetsky ☑️

YES

 

Ilya Rozanov @rozanov81 ☑️

🥺

 

Yuri Plisetsky @y-plisetsky ☑️

YOU ARE A GROWN MAN. ACT LIKE IT.

 

Ilya Rozanov @rozanov81 ☑️

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

 

Milly <3 @ilyaaaaas

somehow the most and the least russian i've ever seen this man act

 

Violet @sk4tingf4n

you can tell that they're brothers oh my god. he looks JUST like Yuri does now

 

selena @rozanovae

i don't think yuri will ever have that kind of mass though

 

selena @rozanovae

like this is them

 

Milly <3 @ilyaaaaas

SELENA I'M DYING LMFAO

March 2016

Viktor Nikiforov @v-nikiforov ☑️

After this final season, I am happy to announce my full transition into coaching for the wonderful @y-katsuki in his hometown of Hasetsu. 

[Image: Viktor Nikiforov on the podium at the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships, next to Yuri Plisetsky and Katsuki Yuuri. Plisetsky is on the right, wearing bronze, while Katsuki is in the center, wearing gold. Nikiforov's silver medal shines the same color as his hair. Plisetsky looks like he sucked on a lemon as he looks at Nikiforov kissing Katsuki's gold medal.]

Katsuki Yuuri @y-katsuki ☑️

You will never cease to surprise me, @v-nikiforov.

 

Viktor Nikiforov @v-nikiforov ☑️

❤️⛸️❤️

 

Yuri Plisetsky @y-plisetsky ☑️

Have a good retirement, old man. 

 

Viktor Nikiforov @v-nikiforov ☑️

You are so sweet, Yurio.

June 2016

Shane hefts the Stanley Cup over his head for a second time, a numb joy settling over him.

The partners and families of the Voyageurs flood down to the ice in a rush. His parents have come down, visibly proud.

And yet this year, it somehow feels a little worse, because Ilya wasn't next to them, cheering in a HOLLANDER jersey.

Instead, Shane's fiancé sits far up the bowl, anonymous in black.

Shane scans and finds him on his feet and cheering, but so, so far away.

If there's anything this year has illustrated, they can't come out. Not when Shane has spent an entire year shepherding a team that is quiet inside the rink and loud outside because he dared to buck the prescribed narrative the tiniest bit. 

It's more effort than it's worth, honestly. Shane hopes Theriault will get his head out of his ass, but it's looking less and less likely by the day.

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

An incredibly eventful year for the MLH as the Montreal Voyageurs take the Stanley Cup once more. The start of a dynasty.

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

With new controversies surrounding the creation of a team in Las Vegas, MLH leadership has opted to name the newest expansion elsewhere.

 

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

Namely, to Quebec, with Pierre Karl Péladeau leading the new ownership of the reinstated Quebec Nordiques.

 

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

Word on the street is that the expansion draft will open at the end of the 2016-2017; as their closest neighbor, Montreal has a lot to prove.

 

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

This decision has also led to a partial conference reorganization starting in the 2017-2018 season, with the Utah Sabertooths moving to the Pacific Division,

 

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

And the Columbus Soldiers moving from the East to the West, joining the Central Division.

 

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

This leaves the reinstated Nordiques to join the Metropolitan Division.

 

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

This brings the total number of teams in the MLH up to 31, with one remaining slot in the Pacific Division.

 

Hockey Analyst @hockeyanalyst

Time will tell if Vegas will have another chance at raising an MLH team, or if another West Coast city will beat them to it.