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November 2021
Shane was quiet. Not his usual quiet, but something brittle and tense. Ilya could see the anxiety in his husband’s eyes.
“Shane,” he said gently, pressing a hand to the back of Shane’s neck and massaging the tight muscles, “we will give them hell, okay? Make them regret throwing you in the garbage.”
Shane’s lips twitched upward into a small smile. “Yeah,” he replied. “I know. I just … it’s a lot.”
“Yes,” Ilya agreed. “It is. But we are all behind you.”
“Thank you. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Ilya stood up and clapped his hands once for attention. “Listen up. We all know this is an important game. We get to show those fuckers everything they’ve lost. Yes, they have new captain, but we have Shane fucking Hollander. And yes, he is my sexy husband so I’m biased, but they are nothing without him. Fucking fuck the Voyageurs!”
“Fuck the Voyageurs!” the team yelled back.
Although Shane was clearly still tense, Ilya was delighted to hear him shout the loudest. It was going to be one hell of a game.
They stampeded out of the locker room and down to the rink. The roar from the home crowd as they hit the ice was deafening. Ilya felt it sing in his veins, electrifying him. The corresponding boos as the Voyageurs came out were almost equally good.
Everyone completed their stretching, then Ilya took his place at centre ice for the first face off. The Voyageurs’ new captain was a guy who had been drafted by the team a few years previously. Shane said the guy had always got on well with Comeau and Drapeau, which didn’t say a lot for his judgement. Ilya also knew that Hayden wasn’t happy. He found himself surprisingly bothered by that.
“Ready to lose, Somerton?” Ilya asked in an aggressively conversational tone.
“Not happening,” Somerton bit back. “Not to a bunch of fairies.”
Ilya snorted. “Is that the best you’ve got?”
“Go fuck your boyfriend, Rozanov.”
“He’s my husband, actually. And we will both be fucking your shitty team.”
Ilya won the face off.
***
It happened a couple minutes into the third period. Out of nowhere, a dirty hit from Comeau slammed Shane hard into the boards. Shane slumped, winded, while Comeau was given five for roughing to a chorus of boos from the crowd.
“Shane, are you okay?” Ilya asked, dropping to his knees beside his felled husband.
“Yeah,” Shane gasped, still gulping in lungfulls of air. “Think I’ll be bruised tomorrow. I can keep playing.”
“You sure?”
“Yes,” Shane insisted. “I’m fine.”
“Okay, moy soldat. But I will be checking your bruises later.”
Shane grinned, pushing himself up. “I hope so.”
“You good, Hollander?” the ref called.
“Yep, all fine,” Shane called back.
“You want to do face off?” Ilya offered.
Shane set his jaw. “Sure. Why not?”
The noise from the crowd was thunderous as Shane approached centre ice. Then, like some sick joke, Theriault chose Hayden to go in. Ilya could see from Pike’s posture that he felt utterly defeated. Shane won the face off with ease, flicking the puck across to Luca who pelted for the goal.
The game ended in a shutout, 5-0 to the Centaurs. No-one on the team was surprised when Shane and Ilya chose to forego the celebrations and head home.
“How are you feeling now?” Ilya asked as he drove out of the arena carpark.
“Sore,” Shane replied. “The adrenaline’s wearing off.”
“Hm. I will look at your ribs when we get home. If it’s bad, I kill Comeau next time I see him.”
Shane chuckled. “I don’t think it’s that bad. Did you see what Hayden was like, though?”
“Mm. He looked bad,” Ilya said.
“Yeah. He hates it there now.”
“He should move, maybe.”
“He’s considering it now, I think. We should ask him about it tomorrow.”
Comfortable silence settled between them as they wound through the streets. When they reached home, Ilya went in first to intercept Anya.
“Hello, my sweet girl,” he greeted her as she bounced up at him. “You need to be careful, okay? Daddy has hurt ribs. Let’s go outside.”
He led her through to the garden for a quick run around to burn off some of her excitement. By the time they came back inside, Shane was sitting on the couch. Anya skittered up to his feet, looking up at him with adoring eyes.
“Hi, Anya,” Shane said, his voice tinged by weariness. “Stay down. Good girl.”
“Okay, lyubimyy, show me your ribs now.”
Shane gave a little sigh. “Okay.”
He hitched up his hoodie and t-shirt to reveal his ribs. Ilya gasped to see bruises mottling both sides of Shane’s chest.
“Bad?” Shane asked.
“There’s a lot of bruises,” Ilya replied. “You should have a bath, then I’ll put on cream for you.”
Shane smiled. “Will you get in the bath with me?”
“Of course, moya lyubov,” Ilya said softly. He offered Shane his hand. “Come on.”
They made their way upstairs to the bathroom. While Shane stripped off, Ilya ran a hot bath with plenty of bubbles. Shane sank into the water with a grateful sigh. Moments later, Ilya slipped into the tub behind him, arms wrapping around Shane’s waist.
“I’m sorry,” Ilya murmured, dropping a soft kiss to Shane’s shoulder.
“What do you mean?” Shane asked.
“I should have stopped him hurting you.”
“No,” Shane said, snuggling back more securely into Ilya’s hold. “Baby, that hit came out of nowhere. Unless you were, like, surgically grafted to my side, you couldn’t have done anything.”
“Hm,” Ilya hummed in agreement, kissing Shane’s shoulder again. “I will maybe punch him next time I see him.”
Shane chuckled. “Great idea. I’ll hold your jacket.”
“Will be very sexy,” Ilya murmured, nuzzling Shane’s cheek. “Is this helping?”
“Mhm. It’s nice.”
Ilya’s fingers traced idly over Shane’s stomach and sides as they talked about nothing in soft voices. It was nice, after all the noise of the arena, to be together quietly. Ilya could tell that sleep was beginning to tug at Shane.
“Time to get out,” Ilya announced after a while. “Arnica cream, then bed.”
“Okay,” Shane mumbled. “Bed sounds good.”
When they had dried off, Ilya reached the tube of cream down from the cabinet. With painstaking gentleness, he applied a thin layer to all of Shane’s bruises, cataloguing where his husband was most tender.
“Okay, we’re done,” he said when he had finished, pressing a soft kiss to Shane’s stomach. “Is time for bed, sweetheart.”
They brushed their teeth side by side in the ensuite, then snuggled up together in bed. Shane buried his face in the crook of Ilya’s neck, warm breath tickling Ilya’s skin.
“Comfy?” Ilya asked.
“Mmhmm,” Shane hummed contentedly. “I love you.”
“Ya tebya lyublyu,” Ilya murmured.
***
A knock at the door mid-morning heralded the arrival of the Pikes. Shane went to answer the door while Ilya gave Anya a chew to keep her occupied while everyone got settled. He heard the front door open, a few muffled words, then -
“Jesus, Hayden,” Shane exclaimed.
Unable to withstand the surge of curiosity, Ilya went through to see what the fuss was about. Hayden was sporting a black eye and a split lip.
“You should see the other guy,” Hayden said ruefully.
“That being Comeau, I assume,” Shane replied.
“Comeau’s a dick,” Ruby helpfully piped up.
Ilya spluttered with laughter, earning him a disapproving look from Shane.
“Ruby, remember what I told you about that word,” Jackie chastised.
“Yeah,” Ruby sighed dramatically.
They all filed through to the kitchen and Shane started making coffee. Ilya felt a tug at the leg of his pants and looked down to see Amber.
“Yes, Amber?” he asked, crouching down to her level.
“Can we p’ay with Anya p’ease, Unca Iya?”
“Of course you can,” he replied. “Jade, you remember how garden doors work, right?”
“Yep,” Jade confirmed.
Once the kids had gone out into the garden, Shane turned to Hayden.
“So, what happened?” he asked.
Hayden sighed heavily. “Fucking Comeau. He was bragging about his check on you, acting like a big man. So I said he didn’t get to act like he was some fucking hero for a dirty hit when you were driven out just for being who you are. So he got in my face, asking me if I wanted to suck your dick too. I didn’t say anything to that, but then he said you were a pussy and you needed other people to fight your battles. So I hit him.”
“Good for you, Pike,” Ilya said, clapping Hayden on the back.
“Thanks,” Hayden replied with a huffed laugh. “I just don’t think I can play with those guys anymore.”
“You’d move?” Shane asked. “Or retire?”
“I don’t know,” Hayden said. “Moving would mean uprooting the kids and Jackie.”
“Hey, we’d be fine,” Jackie said, rubbing Hayden’s back soothingly. “I could work anywhere and the kids would adapt. We need to work out what’s best for all of us, but mainly for you.”
Ilya caught Shane’s eye. They nodded to each other. Ilya got out his phone and fired off a text to Wiebe.
Hayden Pike is thinking about moving. What could we do?