Work Text:
20:00
"I will miss you," Ilya said, giving Shane, who was sitting in the passenger seat, a kiss on the lips.
Today marked five months since the day they accidentally got outed by Hayden's video, but Ilya definitely didn't bother hiding their relationship anymore once the public learned about them.
They broke the kiss but didn't bother pulling their heads back to keep their distance, because now they didn't need to hide anymore. There was no more stealing moments. They could do whatever they wanted in public now.
"The last game, and then straight to Ottawa," Shane said shortly, looking at Ilya and gently stroking the back of his head. The soft curls were definitely Shane's favorite.
"And we're gonna spend Christmas with your parents," Ilya answered.
And as soon as Shane went into the airport to fly to Tampa for Montreal's last game before Christmas, Ilya didn't drive his car back to Ottawa like he normally did. Instead, he drove straight to the Pike residence.
As soon as he reached the front door, Ruby and Jade immediately jumped all over him to greet him, eager to take him inside and play with him.
It wasn't unusual for him to come to the Pikes' house, but he usually came with Shane and Hayden. This was his first time visiting their house without either of them. Today, there was only Jackie in the house.
The purpose was simple.
Ilya have a plan.
A romantic plan.
He had thought about proposing to Shane this Christmas at their cottage, but he found it difficult to hide the ring and some of the decorations, such as a box of electric candles, in his house. Even though Shane rarely visited his house because of their busy schedules, Ilya realized that they shared the same Amazon account.
So whatever he bought, Shane would definitely get a notification about it. So, he ask Jackie to buy it for him.
That was why he planned to hide those things at the Pikes' house. He had already bought the ring and hidden it there as well.
"Hello, Arthur," Ilya greeted Arthur, who was sitting right in front of the sofa, organizing his Lego.
"Sorry, Ilya. I'm a little busy. I'll take those things and give them to you after this," Jackie said after locking the door and hurriedly walking back toward the kitchen.
"No, don't worry. Take your time. I'll help you babysit the kids until you're ready to come back."
"Thank you. You're the best!" Jackie shouted from the kitchen.
"Can we braid your hair?"
"We want to put flowers in it."
"Yesterday, we watched Rapunzel."
"Your hair is like Rapunzel's."
Jade and Ruby bombarded Ilya with their words one after another, and Ilya could only chuckle softly.
He sat down on the sofa and leaned his head against the back of it.
"Come, come. Make me pretty."
Ilya simply sat there, resigned to his fate, letting Jade and Ruby play with his hair.
But slowly, he realized that it was actually kind of relaxing. The girls were gentle with his hair, and their touch didn't hurt at all. Instead, it made him feel sleepy.
21:00
"JADE! RUBY!" Jackie shouted in panic, immediately jolting Ilya awake.
He quickly sat up, still half-asleep.
"What did you guys..... oh my God, Ilya..."
She looked at Jade and Ruby in horror.
"You two are in so much trouble. I will ground you for a month. No, two months."
Ilya was still trying to regain consciousness, struggling to process why Jackie was looking at Jade and Ruby as if they were in really, really big trouble.
Then he noticed their hands.
Pink hands.
Pink hands???
Ilya immediately realized what the heavy feeling on top of his head was. He reached up, only to discover, to his horror, that there was gum stuck in his hair.
Pink gum.
Just like what in the girls' hands.
The hair at the back and front of his head wasn't completely safe either, but at least it was better.
But the top of his head...
Jackie looked at him in horror.
"Oh my God, Ilya. I'm so sorry."
She looked at the girls, who were now almost crying. "Where did you guys get that gum?"
"Dad's pocket," Jade said, pointing at Hayden's jacket lying on the sofa beside them.
"Rapunzel has flowers. We don't have flowers, but Dad has Play-Doh."
"Dad's Play-Doh smells nice, but it's sticky."
"But it's pink."
"Rapunzel's flower is pink."
The pink, sticky Play-Doh was, in fact, gum, a pink bubble gum with a fruity smell that was incredibly sticky.
The kids had definitely never seen bubble gum before, and it wasn't their fault.
Ilya tried to smile. But deeply inside his heart he is crying.
"It's okay. I... I can take it to a salon and get it fixed," Ilya reassured her.
"But it's already 21:00, and it's Sunday. The salon is definitely already closed by now," Jackie said sadly.
"Ah, it's okay. I'll just go back to Shane's house. Yuna said she'd help Shane pack some things so that when the offseason starts next year, he'll be ready to just move in." Ilya tried to stay positive. "I'll ask her to fix it. She used to help Shane with his hair during his rookie season."
After reassuring Jackie that he was okay and trying to calm Jade and Ruby down, Ilya drove back to Shane's house because Yuna had already confirmed that she was still there and would wait for him.
Yuna's smile immediately dropped when she saw him, and she looked at Ilya in horror instead.
Before she could ask, Ilya immediately told her what had happened. Yuna didn't know whether she should laugh or feel sorry for him.
After some examination, followed by washing his hair with hot water and using many, many, many applications of conditioner and shampoo, they reached one conclusion.
Ilya needed to cut it off.
The gum was so sticky and so difficult to remove, and Ilya had a game in Ottawa tomorrow night. He needed to wear his helmet, and he wasn't sure if wearing a helmet with sticky stuff stuck to his head was a good idea.
Yuna was the one holding the scissors and clippers.
She looked at Ilya sympathetically because she knew how much he loved his curls.
He didn't need to tell her, but just by looking at how many hair products he had, she could tell that he really took good care of his curls.
She also thought about Shane.
Her son loved Ilya's curls.
Whenever they sat together on the sofa, Shane's hand would always find its way into Ilya's curls, absentmindedly playing with them.
Oh, poor Ilya. Poor Shane.
He was definitely going to be upset.
"Are you sure we're gonna do a buzz cut?"
"I mean, a buzz cut is better than being bald in the middle of my head," Ilya said. "I know I'll look handsome no matter what my hair looks like, but I don't want to have a stupid haircut like Gargamel."
Buzz cut it was.
With a heavy heart, Yuna cut Ilya's hair.
Oh, she was definitely going to take him out to some restaurant or a jazz bar after this, just so he could have a drink and not mourn his hair alone.
What a sad night.
Poor Ilya.
