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It’s a good thing our mother is dead. If she were alive, she’d be so ashamed of what her son has become.
Of course Alexei had to open his big mouth and give a statement to some shitty gossip site, and of course the entirety of the internet is posting it now, because Shane and Ilya took the internet and pop culture by storm a few Marches ago, and keeping them in headline stories keeps people engaged. If it were a random comment, Ilya knew it wouldn’t sting as much as it does, and he would just let it go, but it’s Alexei, and it’s Alexei talking about their mom. Their mom, who Ilya puts on such a pedestal, a woman Ilya and Shane dedicated their charity to, a woman that Ilya strives to do the best for every day.
It doesn’t just sting, it’s a shot that’s blasted through his heart.
one.
Cliff Marlow didn’t understand why Ilya wanted to leave Boston, until he absolutely did.
When he sees the news about the video leak, he suddenly gets it. Gets why his best friend was so adamant to leave, why there weren’t enough excuses in the world to explain why he was going, so he just didn’t. Ilya left and then he didn’t talk to Cliff for months after, until a text appeared one day and they were back to normal, just hours apart, and Cliff was so confused.
Until the kiss seen ‘round the world.
And after he saw it, he immediately sent Roz a text, a simple I’ve got your back, Ilya. because the one thing he would always be was in Ilya’s corner. His and Shane’s, Cliff realized, as he hastily added And Hollander’s. to the text message chain. It’d taken a few hours, but then Ilya had called, and that was it. Ilya became Ilya and Shane in Cliff’s mind, and it was easy to slip into a friendship with both of them. From the wedding to staying at their house when he finally got a chance to volunteer as a coach at one of their hockey camps, it finally felt like Cliff and Ilya were back on their familiar footing, and Cliff finally got to see his best friend happy, and that was worth…well, it was worth everything.
So when he sees the stupid quote from one Alexei Rozanov going around twitter, he’s immediately irritated and ready to fight. For one, he knows Ilya. He knows what Alexei did to him before Ilya finally gained the courage to cut him off, knows how much of a leach he was. He knows how he hurt Ilya, time after time after time, and Cliff…Cliff bit his tongue then, remained silent, because Ilya needed support more than he needed a defender.
This time?
This time Cliff’s gonna go scorched earth, and it’s all because Alexei decided to bring their mother into his pissing contest. Their mother, who Ilya treasures so much he barely speaks of her. Their mother, who one time, on her birthday, Ilya got so drunk he blubbered all over Cliff’s home as he whispered his most treasured memories of her. Their mother, who Ilya dedicated his first Stanley Cup win to.
Cliff refuses to let that go quietly.
He quote tweets the original New York Post post, citing the most recent information the Irina Foundation released for the past year, the amount of money they raised, the mental health initiatives they helped fund, the amount of people they’ve been able to support, the amount of kids that got to partake in the camps, and finally, a video of Ilya speaking to a room full of people, about his mother’s struggles, about his own, and about what he and Shane wanted to accomplish with their charity.
He adds Oh yeah, I’m sure Irina would be ashamed of all her son has accomplished and posts it.
Later on, when Ilya texts him you didn’t have to do that, Clint answers back, I actually really did, brother and then asks about him and Shane coming to dinner the next time they’re in Boston.
two.
Out of all her gay ex-boyfriends, Rose Landry loves Shane the most, and it’s not even close.
Even more than that, she loves Ilya, too. Their first meeting had been awkward, but each time it got easier, and Ilya got looser, and then suddenly she spends a week with them at the cottage or the Ottawa house and wakes up to stuffed french toast every morning because Ilya Rozanov knows how much she loves it. She’s been photographed going on walks in Ottawa with him and Anya, and she even got Ilya to convince Shane for both of them to accompany her to one of her premieres during the summer.
Basically, that awkward first meeting was the start of a beautiful, wonderful friendship.
She tends to stay bland on her socials, for the most part. It’s her management’s recommendation, and she understands why. She wants to be accessible, she wants to be booked and busy, and she knows to do that, she has to keep her socials professional.
But when she’s doomscrolling on Twitter and sees that stupid post, she sees red. Ilya Rozanov is one of the kindest souls she’s ever met, and she knows that Irina Rozanova was a decidedly large part of the reason why. She knows that the Irina Foundation is the legacy he wants everyone to remember when they hear about his mother, that yes, she lost her battle with depression, but that loss has blossomed into something dedicated to others and making sure they have the support they need to not lose theirs.
And she hates that someone is trying to demonize and shame the hard work Ilya and Shane have put into the foundation, but also demonize and shame Ilya himself when he’s worked so hard to be open, to be himself when the world was telling him no.
She sees Cliff Marlow’s post, and she decides that this is where she takes a stand for some of her best friends.
She comments on Marlow’s post and adds a photo of her own, from Shane and Ilya’s wedding, where they look so happy and so in love as they dance with one another, Ilya’s arms wrapped around his husband, both of them teary-eyed in the happiest way.
I’m also sure Irina is so ashamed that Ilya found the type of love she never got but so deserved.
And yeah, her management has words for her afterwards, but they honestly don’t matter when she gets a text from Ilya that says thank you, and we love you.
three.
Jackie Pike suffers no fools.
It’s a rule she’s lived by her entire life, but after marrying Hayden and being sucked into the world of WAGs, it’s a rule she enforces with a heavy hand. The women around the Metros are…not always the best (which, seeing some of their husbands and boyfriends, she’s not shocked), and she refuses to lose herself in the cattiness and pettiness that often surrounds them.
She decides within seconds of seeing the twitter post that Alexei Rozanov is one of those fools she will not be suffering. He clearly doesn’t know much about his own brother, about his brother’s life in Canada and how everything he does somehow comes back around to maintaining Irina’s memory. He makes her kids blinis whenever they stay with Shane and Ilya because he has memories of his own mother doing it, how it was their special thing. He checks in with her all the time, to ask how her day is, how the kids are, if she needs anything, if she’d like the good chocolate he’s found in Quebec, and all because no one checked in with his mother to make sure she was okay. He’s always willing to babysit if they can make the schedules work, and she knows that, in the future when Shane and Ilya have children of their own, that he’s going to be an amazing father because his mother gave him the foundation of caring and nurturing a child, even if his father didn’t.
Ilya Rozanov is drenched in his mother’s lessons of love, to make him just a bit softer in the word of harshness they both lived in, and if Alexei somehow equates that to shame, that’s to his own detriment.
Jackie is drinking coffee when she sees Rose’s tweet, and it’s then that she decides she won’t just stay supportive in the background, no matter how many times Ilya has told her it does not matter since the original article came out.
It may not matter to him, but it certainly matters to her.
She adds her own comment after Rose’s: I only wish she got to see what a wonderful uncle her son is, and what an amazing fathers he and Shane are going to be someday. I’m sure she’s so ashamed it's her framework he’s following before adding photos. Photos of Ilya and her kids: holding Arthur as they both look at the fossils at the Museum of Nature, Ilya looking at Arthur with the kindest smile on his face as her son tells him some dinosaur fact animatedly. Ilya with the twins in the ocean the time the Pikes went to Mexico with him and Shane, Ilya swinging them around just above the water. Ilya and Amber sleeping in a hammock at the cottage during the summer. And finally, a photo of Ilya and Shane with the kids at a tea party, sitting in comically small chairs amongst stuffed animals and Barbies as they pretended to drink from tiny tea cups.
I hope you know how much the girls and Arthur and you (and Hayden) mean to me, she finds on her phone later, because dinner and bed time with four kids is exhausting, and she smiles, hearting the message.
I just hope you know how much you mean to all of us, she answers.
four.
The first time Kip Grady met Ilya Rozanov, he came away thinking he was an asshole, but also hilarious. He’d gotten the man’s number much to Scott’s chagrin, and now he regularly texts Ilya. They hang out when Ilya comes to New York, also much to Scott’s consternation. Kip has even slipped in a few fossil jokes when Ilya’s not around just to watch Scott sputter in indignation.
He may or may not tell Ilya this.
Kip’s also a sucker for a good love story, and Shane and Ilya?
Epically good love story.
Almost as good as his and Scott’s.
Almost.
All that to say, when he’s scrolling through twitter in the morning as he eats Scott’s newest attempt at protein pancakes (honestly, not bad. 7.23 out of 10, room for improvement but 1000% edible and tasty), he sees Cliff Marlow’s post, and follows it back to the original story, and must make a noise of derision, because Scott’s looking at him, asking him if the pancakes are bad. Instead of answering, he hands his phone to Scott while taking an obnoxiously large bite, grinning at Scott as he chews. Scott rolls his eyes in fond affection before turning back to Twitter, frowning. “This makes me feel bad for Rozanov.”
“Words I never thought I’d hear out of Scott Hunter’s mouth,” Kip teases. “I should document the day.”
“Don’t you dare. Let me feel bad for him in peace!”
Scott’s saying one thing like Kip can’t see him on a text thread with Ilya and Shane on his own phone. Kip can see the words you okay and he smiles softly, because he loves his husband. No matter what, especially when it comes to Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, Scott Hunter is a softie on the inside.
Kip goes back to scrolling and pauses when he sees Rose Landry’s and Jackie Pike’s comments. And Kip usually stays out of Twitter messes.
Usually.
But today is a different day. It’s not just drama, it involves Shane and Ilya, some of his favorite people.
And so Kip dives into the mess.
He adds his own comment, as well as a picture, of Scott, Ilya, and Shane at the Game Changers camp, a photo Kip himself took during the week in Ottawa, Scott and Ilya facing off with Shane cracking up in the background, the kids around them all laughing and cheering at their coaches showing proper face-off technique.
Ilya and Shane bring together a plethora of all-stars for kids to learn from every year. Those kids will carry these memories into their adulthood. And not just kids who come from financially secure families; multiple spots are sponsored for kids whose families may not be in the position to afford a hockey camp over summer. Not only are they learning hockey, they are learning to be inclusive. They are learning to be empathetic. They are learning to be human. Why would Ilya’s mother ever be ashamed of that?
It’s later, after he arrives at the Kingfisher to start opening it, that he gets a text from Ilya. Next time we’re in New York, I’m taking you and the fossil out for dinner, and Kip smiles, because he knows that’s a patented Ilya Rozanov thank you, not that he needs it. He goes to bat for his friends.
five.
Wyatt Hayes thought going to Ottawa was going to be the end of him. He thought he’d been sent to Purgatory, and even though he got the chance to start and be a starting goalie in the MLH, it was for Ottawa.
No one was going to remember him in Ottawa.
And then Ilya Rozanov had arrived to that same shitty nightmare of a team, and somehow, somewhere, Wyatt knew he was wrong about everything. The team wasn’t a nightmare, it just needed a leader who believed in them and helped mold them into a better version of themselves, and unbelievably, that was Roz. Getting to know him as a person instead of a persona let Wyatt see how kind the man was, how he could talk to the rookies quietly and help them fix small issues so they were better, how he was always willing to work on shooting or mechanics with any of his teammates, how he was unbelievably good at hockey and confident in it.
It also let Wyatt see how sad Roz was.
It all kind of clicked into place once the Fanmail video dropped. Having to hide your relationship for years because the MLH was full of homophobic assholes would make anyone sad, and Wyatt couldn’t help but worry he and the team had somehow made Roz feel like they weren’t safe to come out to.
Wyatt never wanted to be the unsafe friend.
It only took one heartfelt conversation with Roz for him to realize Roz never saw him–never saw any of them–like that. It was more that Shane was scared, and Roz would do anything for one Mr. Shane Hollander.
Meeting Shane–and getting to meet Shane–opened up an entirely new part of Roz that he could share to the world, and Wyatt was so glad he got to be privy to that part. He got to see Ilya light up when Shane entered a room, he got to see Ilya automatically grab a ginger ale when he was grabbing beers for the guys at Bood’s because Shane wasn’t the biggest fan of beer, he got to watch the planning and care Ilya and Shane put into their foundation every year, and he…he loved this version of Ilya.
This was the best version of his friend.
He’s sees the story on Twitter while he and Lisa are waiting to go to brunch with Shane and Ilya and Cassie and Bood, and it reminds him so much of the stories that came out right after the FanMail video, the trash gossip outlets and homophobic sportscasters relentless in their non-stop coverage during the suspensions and the playoffs, how merciless they were after Shane tripped.
He knows that Roz and Holly hate the attention, hate the fact that someone managed to get a comment from a relative that Wyatt was pretty sure Roz hadn’t talked to in nearly a decade, and passed it off as something from someone relevant.
Mostly, he hates that it’s even been brought up at all. Roz’s mom is a sacred topic, someone who Roz holds himself to her standards but doesn’t talk of her often, and having that twisted on him is so damn unfair.
“I’m about to do something that’s probably really stupid,” he tells Lisa after he sees Cliff’s comments. “Like, probably monumentally stupid, but-” he turns the phone to her, so she can read what’s going on.
“Is it actually stupid if you’re just helping to correct the bullshit narrative the New York Post is trying to spin?” she answers with a shrug. “He’s your friend, babe. Dare I say he’s one of our best friends. It’s only natural you want to say something.”
Wyatt thinks over Lisa’s words while they’re out at brunch, nearly forgetting about it the tipsier Ilya, Cassie, Bood, and Lisa get over mimosas, until it’s later in the day, and they are back home but Lisa’s in bed nursing her mimosa hangover headache, and therefore not there to talk him off the ledge as he opens Cliff’s comments and starts typing.
Don't worry, we’ll be proud of Ilya and Shane here in Ottawa.
He adds a few pictures, one from their Cup parade, a media shot that was taken from the back of a crowd of people, all excitedly cheering as Shane and Ilya kiss at the top of the truck. Behind them, their kiss is being displayed on a video screen. The next is a photo at their Pride Night game that Lisa got, a young man wearing a Pride Night jersey with a sign that says I finally see myself in my favorite league. In the background, on the Jumbotron, are Shane and Ilya in the kiss cam, Ilya chastly kissing Shane’s cheek.
You’ve made him cry, Shane texts him later, along with a picture of Ilya staring at this phone, clearly teary-eyed. Thank you, Wyatt. We love being here, too.
+ one
Ilya sees the tweet about Alexei’s quote, because of course he does. He’s chronically online, something Shane frets over, so he sees the tweet fairly quickly,
And sure, it hurts, but Ilya’s been talked out of responding by Shane and Yuna and Farah and Harris. You don’t owe anything to inconsequential people Yuna had said, running her hand through his curls and pressing a kiss to his forehead, something so achingly familiar from his childhood that he had teared up and nodded almost immediately.
And so he didn’t respond. He went on walks with Shane and Anya, he trained with his team, he did team events, and he didn’t respond.
And then he saw Cliff’s post, and Rose’s, and Jackie’s, and everyone else from their friends and the people who knew him best…and he knew he didn’t need to answer because he had all these people around him to answer for him.
So he doesn’t.
He thinks his mama would probably be proudest of that.