Chapter Text
Ilya lays on the sofa, the sound of his soft breaths filling the room as he closes his eyes. Anya curls up on his lap, her little nose buried in between her paws. It's late, with the sun starting to set behind the house. The warmth of the sunlight slowly leaves the rooms, a cool night breeze taking it's place.
Shane comes downstairs, a full suitcase in either hand. He sighs heavily from the physical excursion before leaving them by the door, lining them up with the rest of their equipment and shoes. The Ottawa Centaurs are going on a two week long trip to the States for the All-Star Games, and are leaving early in the morning for their flights - 2AM to be exact.
Shane sees his sleepy husband on the sofa, smiling softly. He is terrible at sleeping on planes, while Shane can sleep almost anywhere if Ilya is close. He ticks the final things off of the suitcase checklist before moving on to their carry on bags.
Yuna pulls into their driveway with a wide smile as Shane stands at the front door, a bag in one hand and Anya's lead in the other. Anya pulls against it, trying to get to her grandma as her tail wags so much that her body is practically shaking. Yuna laughs, bending down to pick her up and giggling when she is rewarded with a slobbery tongue licking her face.
"You alright Shane?"
"Yeah, just finished packing. Ilya is absolutely exhausted."
"Ah, I did wonder why he wasn't out here. He is usually out here to say goodbye to his daughter."
They laugh as Shane helps his mother settle Anya into the car, double checking that she has enough food for the two weeks and other small things like a ball and a couple squeaky toys. He smiles as he notices dog treats in Yuna's glovebox.
"We are gonna have so much fun, yes we are!"
"Thank you again mum, we really appreciate it."
"Oh we love having her, David probably loves her more than Ilya does."
Shane smiles as he bends down to fuss Anya for one last time.
"Not possible. We will see you in a couple weeks yeah? Oh you are a sweet girl.... you'll be good for Grandma yeah? Good girl."
He waves them goodbye as the car drives down the driveway. He smiles wide before going back inside to his sleepy husband.
Half an hour later, Shane sits down next to Ilya on the couch, snuggling up next to him. The Russian smiles, opening his eyes and pulling him closer into his arms. Ilya speaks up, his voice low and tired.
"Mhm....baby"
Shane smiles wide as he kisses Ilya's cheek, turning his chin to kiss him gently - murmuring against his lips
"It's late Ilya. We have an early flight, wanna get to bed. Come with?"
"Yes.... I will pack my bag and head up. That is okay yes?" His voice was low and slightly raspy with tiredness, making Shane's heart melt.
"I've already packed our suitcases and bags, it's okay. C'mon, please?"
"Okay okay, let's go then."
The boys go upstairs and complete their nighttime routine. They move around each other expertly, like being together is just second nature at this point. Shane gets into the bed, setting the alarm for 1:45AM before Ilya gets under the covers. Shane giggles childishly as he is pulled against Ilya's chest, feeling his warm breath on his shoulder.
"Go to sleep Ilya.... I love you"
"I love you.... goodnight"
Ilya whines softly as he is harshly woken up by the alarm. He sits up, rubbing his eyes sleepily to see Shane already up and dressed.
"Shane.... is so early. Why you not get up when alarm goes?"
Shane smiles as he watches his husband get up like a child having to go to school, loving how his English gets more broken when he is tired.
"Everything is ready, so we can go when you're dressed."
"Always so prepared for everything. Alright.... I will dress."
Before long, Ilya gets into the drivers seat of the SUV, Shane getting into the passenger after double checking that everything is locked. The drive to the airport is calm and quiet, parking in a private lot when they get their. They see their teammates cars dotted around, knowing that they are right on time with the few usually late people - the rookies usually - coming after them.
They get through security smoothly, a sleepy Ilya believing that he had forgotten his passport and medication prescription. Shane quietly takes it out of the pocket of his carry on, passing it to the agent. Ilya blushes slightly, knowing that his husband would never forget such important things.
When they pass through, they head to their gate and see the team - or around half of the team - in the waiting area already. Despite the amount of early flights everyone has been through in their ice hockey careers, everyone looks absolutely exhausted. Bood however, is concerningly happy about being dragged on a flying lump of metal at 3AM. His voice is loud and enthusiastic as he wraps an arm around Ilya's shoulder.
"Good morning guys! Supposed to be fucking freezing when we land, hope ya brought warm clothes!"
The boys sit down on the metal blue chairs, Ilya resting his head on Shane's shoulder. His hand comes up to brush through the blonde curls, too tired to care about his own PDA rules. Before long, the waiting room fills with the rest of the team - all paling in comparison to Bood's energy. Haas is sitting quietly on the chair opposite the boys, sketching in his beige notebook. Hayes scrolls on his phone next to him, his blinking getting longer and longer by the minute. Finally, they can board the plane - the clock reading 4AM.
They get settled on the plane, their carry on bags shoved under the seat in front. Ilya gets settled against the window, Shane cuddled up to his side. They have an unspoken rule - early morning flights mean quiet down time together. Ilya reaches down for his bag, intending on getting his water bottle. He unzips the top, and his heart melts slightly when he sees what's inside.
Ilya's medication, some of his favourite snacks, his water bottle already full, and his wireless headphones fully charged. His husband will always plan ahead, would never let him forget anything important. Maybe that is why Shane always packs their bags - so they never forget the important things. He smiles, cheeks flushing a soft pink as he looks to his left, Shane breathing softly and rhythmically against his shoulder. Kissing his temple, he whispers softly on his skin.
"Thank you sunshine."
The plane ride is decently long - around six hours to get from Ottawa to California. Over the hours, the team gets more and more hyped as they always do when they get to play in Los Angeles. Ilya starts waking up, laughing with (and at) the others.
Ilya calls out "Dykstra! You are always a shitty DJ, it does not change when we get on the plane!"
They all laugh as he calls back "Shut up Rozy!"
Hayes boos while laughing, clearly loving the awful music being played.
Shane is half asleep as he giggles softly, nuzzling his face into Ilya's shoulder. He looks up at his husband, who keeps squeezing his eyes shut hard every once in a while. Shane frowns before sitting up, handing him his water bottle.
"Hm? What is this?"
"Water for your headache. Drink"
Ilya raises his eyebrows in shock - how did he know? He nods, taking multiple swigs of water before sighing with a smile.
"How d'you know that?"
"You scrunch your face up when you have a headache. How long do we have left?"
"Hm, around 2 hours"
Shane leans back, taking a deep breath as he notices the time. He passes Ilya his medicine and a protein bar silently. Ilya nods, taking them obediently before kissing Shane with a wide smile.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"You packing my bags, making sure I had everything, feeding me.... such a good husband."
His teasing tone makes Shane blush furiously, whining when someone behind them - Barrett - groans.
"Its six hours! You guys can't keep off of each other for six hours?"
Ilya flips him off with a big smile before kissing Shane short and sweetly, murmuring a soft thank you against his lips. They go back to laughing with their team, and it doesn't feel like long before they are at LAX. Dykstra tried to play Miley Cyrus, but was quickly shut down when over half of the team threatened to have him traded - Ilya being the main reason for the threat.
Shane carries their bags off of the plane, leaving a slightly whiny Ilya following behind him when they go to get their suitcases.
"I can get my own bag Shane."
"You hurt your shoulder when you were arm-wrestling with Bood earlier, don't think I didn't see."
"Is not even bad! See!"
He makes an exaggerated swinging motion with his arms and almost hits LaPointe, but Shane doesn't miss the sharp breath as he moves. He shakes his head.
"Take your suitcase, I'm taking our bags."
"Ugh, fine."
They move through TSA and customs before they all pile into a minibus that takes the team to their hotel. Ilya rolls his eyes as Shane continues to carry his bag as they listen to Coach Weibe call out the room arrangements.
"Listen up! Hollander and Rozanov in room 74! Hayes and Chouinard in room 75! Bood and Barrett in room 76!...."
He carries on until everyone has their room numbers, all of them now heading inside to get their keys and going up the stairs. Ilya laughs as he hears the groans of Hayes and Chouinard, who are seemingly performing some kind of ritual?
"C'mon, do we really have to be next to them? Last time was fucking insane Wyatt!"
"Nick, we can do this. We are only at this hotel for a few days. We can do this."
Ilya saunters over, hands in his pockets.
"Worried about something guys?"
"Fuck Rozy- please be quiet.... Hollzy will freak if he finds out that we've heard you guys before." Hayes says, his voice a low whine. Chouinard speaks up.
"Just- at least keep it down after midnight. We don't care as long as it's not a stupid time at night.... or in the morning." Ilya nods, holding out his hand to shake both of theirs.
"Deal."
They stand outside, talking for a while before Ilya heads into his own room - Shane as already unpacked everything. their equipment and uniform already in duffel bags by the door for easy access, and Ilya's night-time clothes are folded up on the bed next to his toothbrush and toothpaste. He smiles wide as he sees his gorgeous husband in his jogging bottoms, his glasses low on his nose as he reads a book about the history of ice hockey in Europe.
Ilya jumps on the bed, laughing as Shane has to put down his book and take off his glasses. He snuggles up to him, his head resting on his stomach. Shane immediately goes to stroke his hair, smiling as he speaks up.
"We don't have anything to do for the rest of the day do we?"
"Hmm.... yes actually. Team are going out for drinks at bar tonight. That is later though."
"Why don't you take a nap then? You don't want a headache with vodka, that sounds brutal."
Ilya giggles, nodding as he shuffles up Shane's body, his head now resting on his chest.
"I think I will. Very tired."
"Well you do that then. I'll wake you up in an hour or two okay?"
"Mhm. Thank you for making today easy."
"What do you mean?" Shane's hand never leaves his hair, still brushing through the soft strands and gently stroking his scalp.
"Packing bag, carrying bag..... unpacking bag.....food...."
Shane laughs softly as he starts to doze off, clearly exhausted. He kisses his forehead before grabbing his book, putting on his glasses and reading quietly. After a while, Shane starts to hear his soft snores and sleepy mumbles. He smiles wide before turning the page.