Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Shane awoke feeling hot and cocooned, tightly encased by his massive 6’2” 90kg Russian boyfriend and a mountain of blankets. Despite Ilya’s claims that Russians do not get cold – Russians do not do this – he certainly required a lot of warmth during their nights together.

He’d peeled himself out of bed, unwrapping himself from the clingy web of limbs that Ilya had spun around him as they spooned in their sleep. It broke Shane’s heart when Ilya, who was still asleep, reached for Shane with needy, grabbing hands as he slid out of bed. With quiet anger, he murmured net net in his slumber but didn’t wake.

As much as it pained Shane to leave Ilya like this, he had his routine to stick to. He softly closed the bathroom behind before flicking on the lighter. The brightness hit his eyes and he closed them momentarily seeking refuge from its harshness. He splashed some water on his face and brushed his teeth.

He laced up his shoes on his way out the door, now dressed in a dark blue hoodie and black athletic shorts. He stretched his legs, ankles and back out, using the steps that descended down to the sidewalk from the entrance to the apartment complex’s foyer.

Shane set off on his daily 10km run. It was a cold morning, the outside world a stark contrast to the warmth he’d shared with Ilya in bed. It was the second week of November and snow would be upon the small Canadian city soon enough, but for now, the heat generated from Shane’s movement was enough to keep him from requiring track pants.

Ottawa was still alive, in the quiet way the city lived, even in this weather. Early risers enjoyed pungent coffee and toasted pastries before their work days began at the cafe down the road while others walked their dogs. Shane sneakily snapped a picture of a golden-brown cavapoo whose tiny legs hustled with great determination to keep ahead of its speed-walking owner. Shane shot the photo off to Ilya in a text, thinking his boyfriend may have woken up and missed his presence in bed. No response came and he let out a sigh of relief, maybe he’d be back before Ilya rolled out of bed and could accuse Shane of abandoning him.

Shane entered the apartment as quietly as he left. The door fell closed softly, guided by his gentle hand and his shoes were already off, in his hands to avoid any unnecessary tapping on the hardwood floors. His socks lightly padded into the living room, and when he turned he saw the tall shadowy figure of Ilya under the archway leading to the hallway.

A miserable and suspicious squint in his beading eyes and wrapped in a duvet.

“You left me all alone,” he pouted. Shane rolled his eyes at his dramatic boyfriend.

“I was about to make coffee,” Shane’s desperate attempt to distract from the conversation at hand.

“Coffee does not redeem you,” Ilya squinted his eyes, “But I have an idea on how you can show me you love me.” A cheeky grin spread across Ilya’s face. He shuffled toward Shane in the kitchen. Shane kissed Ilya and in return was drawn into Ilya’s blanket cocoon. Shane was already warm after his run and the heat of the blanket and his boyfriend’s body added fire to the flame.

Or perhaps it was the heat sparking in his shorts. Shane did end up making coffee, but not before they enjoyed some energetic morning sex.

After breakfast, Ilya and Shane worked out in the in-home gym before settling into a lazy afternoon.

Ilya was laying on the couch with Shane up at the dining table that stood beside it. Ilya busied himself on his phone, engaging in a game of Subway Surfers, a read through Reddit and finally a long scroll through TikTok at full volume. Shane ignored the overstimulated noises that bustled from Ilya’s phone.

Shane only had a few items on his agenda for the afternoon before he could join Ilya on the couch for a few hours. Having replied to some emails from his mum about sponsorship deals, there was just one activity to complete. A review of Wild Table, the restaurant they’d ordered from last night.

Shane was at this point, an experienced reviewer, given the many years he’d been writing reviews. It made him feel good. A good review could help convince a potential customer to give a small business a go and as much as Shane was non-confrontational, a bad review was a warning shot.

The lowest review Shane had ever given was a 2.5 stars and to be honest… that was generous. He just couldn’t bring himself to go lower.

“You’re wearing slutty glasses,” Ilya peered over Shane’s shoulder. Without Shane noticing, he’d gotten up off the couch, plucked an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter. He ran a hand down Shane’s right arm and kissed him on the cheek. Shane blushed at his boyfriend's display of affection.

“What are you doing?” Ilya added, “Because I have many better ideas for how you can use your glasses right now.”

“Writing a review for that restaurant we ordered from last night,” Shane looked up at Ilya and reached up to return a kiss, this time on the lips. He ignored the glasses comment once again.

“You write reviews?”

“Yes”

Ilya gave Shane a suspicious look.

“What?” Shane felt a little defensive at this questioning.

“I did not know anyone could write a review. Who reads this?” Ilya gestured with his right hand, curious but a little apprehensive.

“It’s just for Google. You know when you look up at a restaurant or a shop and there's a rating and a list of reviews? It’s that.”

“People read those?”

“Yes! Lots of people do,” Shane defended, “I do,” he added, his voice rose in intonation.

Ilya shrugged and left him be, returning to his place on the couch. His phone began to buzz with the sounds of one of the many games Shane didn’t fully understand and it signalled Shane’s ability to return to his review.

Wild Table had good-

Shane fingers moved left across the trackpad and flicked over to another tab: https://www.merriam-webster.com/

He clicked thesaurus and searched the word Good.

Shane read over possible synonyms. Pleasant. Delightful. Enjoyable. Nice. Satisfying. Delicious.

He clicked back over the review tab.

Wild Table had delicious food and a welcoming atmosphere.

“So this is why you asked me to describe the inside of the restaurant last night?” Shane almost jumped out of his skin in alarm as Ilya had again appeared over his shoulder.

“I thought you were just curious but you wanted to write about it in your little review,” Ilya teased.

It was only because Ilya knew Shane so well that he felt comfortable enough to reply “Fuck off,” and know that it caused no harm. To be safe, he added, “I’m almost done, then we watch one of our shows on TV.”

Ilya was apparently satisfied enough with this response and shuffled off back to the couch. He needed to get that man a bell, Shane thought to himself. He refocused on his computer screen.

Wild Table had delicious food and a welcoming atmosphere. I had the salmon and quinoa protein bowl and my partner had the loaded beef and cheese fries. They were super accommodating to dietary requirements and substituted black rice for the white rice and the dressing in my meal with no problems. The food was fresh and the portions were generous. My partner is looking forward to trying more options for the menu but I will probably stick to this one as it was delicious!

Shane thought to himself, he’d already used the word delicious so he flicked back over to the thesaurus and located delightful in the list of options.

With his tasks all done, he joined Ilya on the couch. He was immediately drawn into a full-body embrace as Ilya wrapped his arms around him and dragged Shane between his legs.

"Have fun with your review?"

Shane nodded in quiet content, comfortable in the warmth of his boyfriend.

"Is all done now?" Ilya ran his fingers through Shane's straight dark hair and then peered around to press a kiss to Shane's cheek.

"All done," Shane confirmed. A sudden burst of anxiety struck him, "You, you don't think its stupid do you?" He mumbled unsurely.

"No of course not my little thesaurus, nothing you do is stupid."

"I don't think I know that one," Shane turned slightly to bring Ilya's face into view. "It sounds like thesaurus, or maybe a dinosaur?." Ilya's face had smug expression. "You need to practice more my love," he teased.

"Hey! My Russian is better then your French. What does that word mean anyway?"

"You were right, it's thesaurus." Ilya chuckled and Shane gave his arm a soft smack. He playfully muttered "Fuck you" under his breath.

They laid there for a moment together, just enjoying each others company. "Maybe I should write review" Ilya said, breaking the quiet.

"It's pretty easy, I'm sure you could."

"Pretty boring though."

"Fuck you, I'm leaving," Shane pretended to get up but Ilya wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him back down. The two laughed and Ilya jokingly growled, "I'm not done with you yet."