Archive of Our Own

When Shane got an invitation to attend a high profile KHL award ceremony in June of the year Ilya just started free agency and was supposed to move to Ottawa he thought he would ignore it.

Sure, he was once again crowned the Prince of the States—golden boy of Canada—or whatever idiotic, but charming, thing Ilya liked to call him when he secured another Stanley cup win for the Montreal Metros.

And yeah, he was actually more popular than ever with the number of assists and goals per season. Not to mention the fact that on the last All Stars him and Ilya were not just on the first two places on every competition they entered but they tied in all of them.

Like, they had an actual tie—the same numbers and everything.

It was deeply maddening and funny as fuck to both Shane and Ilya, because of course they would tie. They shared everything, they might as well share the first place together.

So, they used that special occasion to announce the beginnings of Irina Foundation and that the tie is not a problem because either way all their winnings would go to the Foundation budget instead.

But he was the best—is the best.

Ilya loved to tease Shane how he was just his lowly subject and that he would make him milk baths so he could bathe like Cleopatra which made Shane blush more than usual because he really hated all that attention.

He was best and he knew that, but he didn’t understand why everyone still wanted a piece of him.

Didn’t he give them enough? Enough goals, enough brilliant games, enough commercials, brand deals and more speeches than probably any pro athlete in the world ever gave in the entire history of pro athlete career.

What was wrong with being the best and still left alone?

He just wanted to enjoy his summer with his boyfriend at the cottage. He didn’t care about other people’s opinions because well—Ilya’s opinion was the only one that actually mattered the most because in Shane’s mind Ilya was the best too.

Probably, most definitely, better than him too.

Ilya denied that because Shane truly was the beast in the past year. Shane told him numerous times that it was just a series of unfortunate events for Ilya because his awful to god Russian manager just didn’t want to invest into Ilya—and his image—so even though he was just a smidge under Shane in numbers the entire world knew everything about Shane while Ilya was still a playboy who drove fluorescent sports cars and played hockey like it was just a hobby.

Shane hated it and Ilya faked that it didn’t bother him.

Thank God for Farah and Yuna for taking Ilya’s management into their own hands because if Ilya had to stay with his Russian agent after he transferred to Ottawa Shane was sure he would strangle the man to death.

So yeah, Shane getting an KHL invitation was probably expected. He did receive other major sports award invitations all over Europe and Australia but politely declined most of them because—again—he just wanted to spend his summer with his boyfriend.

Was that too much to ask for?

He even almost refused to go to Vegas that year as keynote speaker and veteran award recipient because they told him they were giving him—and naming—a new award that year.

‘’The Shane Hollander Legacy award.’’

Ilya read in his most seductive voice lying naked on top of Shane their first night together after the season ended. Shane almost didn’t open the envelope when his coach gave him that morning but Ilya couldn’t let it go.

And well, when Ilya read it he still couldn’t let it go because he was so proud of Shane that he felt the need to give him an award of his own just because he was getting an award in the first place.

‘’They should’ve named it after your freckles though,’’ Ilya continued when Shane bat him gently over his head. Ilya’s chin propped on Shane’s chest and clutching the paper in his left hand, eyes racking over the paper.

Shane chuckles—post orgasm bliss all over him—continuing to rack through Ilya’s curls. ‘’Yeah, and what do you suggest the shape of the award should be?’’

Ilya lifts his head with mischief glistening in his eyes as he wriggles his eyebrows.

Shane hits him on his shoulder and blushes. ‘’You’re a dick.’’

‘’No, your dick,’’ Ilya says then kisses Shane’s chin.

And no, the award wasn’t in the shape of Shane’s dick even though Shane did find Ilya googling how to make a realistic award in the shape of a dick for personal uses then opted Ilya to twelve-hour-without-a-blow-job jail.

But then the KHL invitation came and Shane just stared at the email Farah forwarded it to Shane and Ilya and he didn’t know what to make of it.

It was deeply unusual thing to happen, especially less than five days before an actual award ceremony. He even got a very concerning—and borderline threatening—email from Crowell stating that he better haul his ass over to Mother Russia for it because it would show them—and Shane tried really hard not to use the language used in that email—how ‘we are superior than those cocksuckers from Russia’.

Yeah, if Crowell really knew how they treat LGBTQIA community in Russia he would probably not—well, no, that’s not true. He’d probably still make those comments because he was a homophobic piece of shit.

But at the end of the day Ilya was also called to attend and they considered going.

Shane knew that Ilya wouldn’t contact Alexei because he didn’t want to deal with all that but that it would be an ideal situation for Ilya to visit his mother’s grave once again and to introduce her to Shane.

Something that only happened in his wildest dreams.

So yeah, without further panic of what would happen if they would get outed over there Shane confirmed to Farah to make all the arrangements and book them flights for Russia.

He pushed the panic deep, deep down so Ilya couldn’t see how panicked he truly was and how every once in a while he looked over his shoulder in case someone was watching them ever since they landed in Moscow.

He knew he was paranoid but he couldn’t help himself because he really wanted to hold Ilya’s hand all the damn time and more than once he even reached for him until he realised where they actually were.

Ilya wanted to tease him but he was in the same situation with more than once wanting to drop a kiss on Shane’s temple and to chase the constellation of Shane’s freckles with his thumb.

So, yeah. They survived the entire award ceremony. If you asked either Shane or Ilya what was actually expected of them at it they couldn’t tell you shit.

They nodded, shook hands, took awards that they didn’t know were meant for them or not and then mingled with the rest of the KHL superstars at the event which was initially supposed to be in their honour but then shifted to Shane’s.

But Shane just couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and not in a bad way. He just forgot that for the past year or so he’d been learning Russian and that nobody knew that apart from Ilya.

So, when he was in a situation where everyone around him spoke Russian he didn’t even think before he started responding in the same language as well.

The shock on commissioners, the big-league guys and proud little smirk on Ilya’s face was something that Shane would never forget.

He wasn’t fully fluent but he was better than anyone in his position as Japanese Canadian who just started learning Russian less than a year ago.

Nobody even bat an eye at the explanation that he wanted to honour Ilya’s culture since he was his fiercest rival and knowing his language and culture meant that he could have an insight into his mind and play.

It was complete bullshit; he really didn’t want to get into Ilya’s mind and find out all the tactics he had about hockey. He just wanted to get into Ilya’s mind because he wanted to know Ilya, period.

But everyone bought it because Ilya was charming, correcting his pronunciation and adding words and translating when needed while mildly chirping him. The guys weren’t as cold and judgmental about him coming to this event because they were fascinated by how well he spoke a foreign language.

One thing led to another and they ended up drinking vodka and eating anything and everything that Shane really didn’t want to find out what it was in front of him until they left Russia but was actually enjoying himself because Ilya was so happy—talking fast with their peers, comparing moves and analysing their own; and the food was brilliant, Shane even made a note in his phone to tell Ilya not to forget to drop by a supermarket and buy some of it to bring back home because he knew his mom and dad would love it.

After the event they went back to the hotel and kept their hands to themselves until they reached the doors of their hotel rooms. Ilya winking at him opening his own door while Shane was fumbling with his key, trying to enter the room as fast as possible.

Thank God for Farah and thinking about booking adjoining rooms. Shane thought as soon as he locked the front door and Ilya burst into his room through the connecting door and crushing their bodies together.

‘’You had fun tonight?’’ Ilya asked with a slight yawn when they were snuggled up all tangled and naked.

‘’Yeah, it was great,’’ Shane perched his head on Ilya’s chest and grinned. ‘’Did you see the horror on Ivanov’s face when I answered him in Russian after he made those comments about me?’’

Ilya grinned back. ‘’I thought he was going to shit himself.’’

‘’But then we talked and drink it out by the end of the night. He’s a good guy.’’

‘’Yes. We look cold and heartless but most of the times we are little bunnies.’’

Shane gasped and pulled himself on the elbow and look at Ilya. ‘’Oh my God, did you hear him talking about the bunnies he bought for his daughter? And he knew like so much about them too. He talked about Katya the entire night.’’

‘’You remembered her name?’’ Ilya asked suspiciously.

‘’Well, of course. It was a good name you know. Memorable,’’ Shane shrugged and hid his blushing face on Ilya’s chest once again.

Ilya perked. ‘’Wait—‘’ he tapped the top of Shane’s head a couple of times. ‘’Tell me, what are you thinking about?’’

Shane absentmindedly drew circles on Ilya’s sides as he spoke. ‘’Well, it’s a nice name you know… Maybe, someday for… You know,’’ he shrugged at the end like Ilya would connect the dots by himself.

Ilya did not connect the dots.

‘’I do not know what you mean Hollander.’’

Shane risked looking up at Ilya from where he was laying on top of him, Ilya’s brows were furrowed in confusion.

‘’You know, maybe someday for our own daughter.’’

And yeah, he knew that Ilya would have a reaction to those words but he wasn’t expecting full blown sob and the river of tears that ran over Ilya’s cheeks.

Shane didn’t even have the time to get up and wipe them with kisses because Ilya buried his face in Shane’s hair and said quietly—

‘’I want to show you something in the morning.’’

Shane hummed. ‘’After visiting your mom, or?’’

‘’Mhm. You would like this. I think.’’

Shane hummed again. ‘’I love everything you suggest baby.’’

At that Ilya jerked his head and looked at Shane with a grin all over his face.

Shane rolled his eyes. ‘’Except that. It’s never that.’’

‘’Ugh. Fine,’’ Ilya mocked offense. ‘’You’ll like BSS tho’. I know it.’’

‘’BSS?’’ Shane asked frowning in confusion.

But Ilya just shrugged his shoulders and leaned to turn off the lamp by the bed. Shane shook his shoulder.

‘’Ilya, what is BSS?’’

‘’You’ll see tomorrow, now we sleep.’’

Ilya pulled the covers over them and nestled in Shane’s neck humming sleepily while Shane’s brain was working overtime.

What the fuck is BSS?

_

He tried googling it—between the shower blow jobs that morning and the breakfast buffet at the hotel lobby.

He couldn’t find anything, neither in English nor in Russian.

Was it food?

Was it a drink?

Maybe a chain of supermarkets.

Oh, could it be the first ice rink that Ilya skated at? He would love to see that.

No, it couldn’t be. Ilya told him that they would visit that too and he named it something else entirely.

So, what on earth was BSS?

As the night and the breakfast went by his mind spiralled even more.

Was it a KGB thing?

Wait, will Ilya take him to a shooting rink and show him how to fire those weapons that Russian gangsters use in Rose’s action films?

Fuck no, stop stereotyping Russians Shane. He mentally slapped himself.

But what could it be?

‘’You are thinking about it way too much,’’ Ilya said smirking during their breakfast, carefully observing Shane’s face lost deep in his mind.

‘’What?’’ Shane jerked in his direction. ‘’I’m not thinking about anything.’’

Ilya giggled. ‘’Sure. The BSS will love that.’’

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

The BSS are people?

Are they an army?

No, stop. Ilya is not dangerous. Fuck, what the fuck is BSS?

Shane swallowed a piece of syrniki. ‘’Does it have something to do with BBL?’’

Ilya bellowed a laugh gently touching Shane’s shoe underneath the table with his own—a silent sign that he’d rather kiss his cheek because how innocent and naive he was but that unfortunately they were surrounded with a bunch of Russians and they couldn’t.

_

Ilya was enjoying way too much messing with Shane.

Okay, he wasn’t messing with him exactly. He just omitted the true meaning of BSS and he couldn’t wait to show Shane what it actually meant.

And look, he knew how much Shane tried to rack his brain in order to find out what it was before Ilya showed him and how much of a torture it was for him. But it was a torture for Ilya too.

It was painful.

Excruciating.

It really was not fair how much his teasing of Shane was actually hurting him because all he wanted to do was smooth out Shane’s brow, kiss the freckles on his cheeks and tell him that it wasn’t anything bad and that when Shane finds out what the abbreviation really stands for that he’d be so annoyed and fond at Ilya that he would want to kiss him stupid in public too.

Ilya was so proud of how his boyfriend managed to spend the entire flight to Russia with minimal external panic, even though Ilya was sure that more than once he caught Shane actually reach for his hand while they were walking side by side.

He almost reached for him too.

But then Shane, his beautiful and strong Shane—the best athlete at the world—blew his mind at the KHL awards with speaking almost fluent Russian and actually having a good time.

Ilya really didn’t care about KHL athletes but he was surprised to find that he actually missed talking in his mother tongue, and especially eating local food and drinking good vodka. Everything about last evening was perfect.

Well, everything until Shane dropped that Katya bomb and Ilya genuinely wondered if what he felt in that moment was how people experienced Nirvana, or whatever it was called when people reach their purpose in life.

And because he couldn’t completely indulge himself into believing that they would have that kind of future sooner rather than a decade from now he switched to what he knew the best—joke. Hence the BSS.

Babushka Security System.

He giggled to himself the entire trip to the cemetery that he didn’t even went to the dark place he usually goes when he visits his mother’s grave.

He didn’t even realize that they arrived until their driver cleared his throat.

He looked at Shane who was already looking at him while actively analysing Ilya’s face, their hands resting side by side on the back seat of the car—not really touching but their pinkie fingers so close that not even a single thread could be pushed in between.

You okay? Shane asked telepathically.

Ilya just nodded, swallowing a lump in his throat and opening the car door.

Okay, mission BSS delayed for a brief emotional breakdown at the place he never thought he’d visit again in this lifetime.

When he left Russia more than a year ago after his father funeral, he genuinely didn’t think that he’d be back for whatever reason possible.

Never, even in his wildest dreams, he didn’t think that he’d be walking side by side with his boyfriend—boyfriend, hah!—Shane Hollander on a cemetery in Moscow while actively trying to calm his own heart so he could introduce his boyfriend to his mom.

He once told Shane that she would have loved him as much as Ilya loves him and he still stands by it. And now, walking side by side, their hands brushing against each other while following a path between random graves Ilya’s chest tightens how this is probably it.

There won’t be another chance like this.

Shane will be out to his team by the beginning of next season and KHL probably wouldn’t invite him to events like this anytime soon—no matter how great of an athlete he was.

And—Ilya hoped—sooner rather than later their relationship would be public and then both of them would be banned from Russia.

It was this little dream he had, that they didn’t have to wait for another decade before they could truly be themselves in public, but he was willing to accept whatever they could get before that happens.

So, visiting Irina’s grave was not on his bingo card for this year and he was both exhilarated and terrified how the whole thing would go.

Terrified because he knew that he will probably bawl his eyes out when he finally sees the tombstone and will want to hide that dark part of himself from Shane that he meticulously hid from him since the beginning.

But then Shane just took his hand and every doubt Ilya had about everything just simply vanished from his tortured mind.

When he turned Shane he was already smiling at him, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

‘’There is no one around, I checked,’’ Shane said in Russian and something tugged deep inside Ilya’s chest that he wanted to devour Shane right then and there in the middle of the cemetery.

Deeply disturbing and indecent but it was so damn hot when his boyfriend spoke in Russian, especially now when he was emotionally pumped and drained at the same time.

‘’You are making it so hard to behave now Hollander,’’ he croaked as he squeezed Shane’s hand.

And then the fucker winked.

He winked!

And Ilya really wanted to die because they were in the middle of the graveyard, just few steps from his mother’s grave and he was… well, you know.

Ilya groaned. ‘’This isn’t fair Hollander.’’

‘’Is it taking your mind off of things?’’

‘’Yes. Yes, it is. Thank you,’’ Ilya sighed.

‘’Then we’re all good.’’

And then there it was.

There she was.

Resting peacefully in the ground for the past fourteen—or is it fifteen—years. Time runs by so fast when you’re convincing yourself that you are not worthy of anything.

Ilya gently lowered himself to the ground and traced his mother’s picture on the tombstone with the tips of his fingers before kissing the cold stone.

‘’I’m here mama. Can you imagine?’’ Ilya said voice breaking.

Shane lowered himself next to Ilya and handed him flowers part by part to arrange on top of the grave. Tears were streaming down his face but he didn’t care. There was no one around and even if there was it wasn’t unusual to see people in distress in the graveyard.

‘’I know I said the last time it was the last time we’ll see each other but I’m here now, and… I—‘’ his voice broke as Shane gently rubbed his back between his shoulder blades. ‘’I brought someone with me today. Someone I would like you to meet.

‘’I talk about him all the time. To you, I mean. And well, to everyone who wants to listen but to you mostly. I don’t know if you hear me all the way from Boston and Canada but I hope you do. I choose to believe that you’re everywhere where I am.

‘’But in case you weren’t there all those times I told you how much in love I am I would like to think that right now you’re all ears.’’

Shane wiped the tear streak from Ilya’s cheek and leaned his forehead on his shoulder as Ilya squeezed his hand in the palms of his own.

‘’This is Shane mama, and he’s the love of my life.’’

Shane dropped a featherlight kiss on Ilya’s shoulder and teary-eyed said. ‘’Hi mama Irina.’’

Ilya chuckled wetly.

‘’Do you remember that doll I used to have, I think I stole it from Svetlana when we were four years old—the one with dark haired freckled boy with warm eyes? The one that papa freaked out when he found out that I was playing with dolls and then he threw out?’’

Ilya shakily exhaled.

‘’Well, that’s him. I mean, Shane is real person but he looks so much like that doll. Do you remember how much you loved that doll? I remember how you looked at me while I stared at its freckles like man possessed. Well, newsflash I still do it. My Shane has the most beautiful freckles in the world.

‘’That toy doesn’t have nothing on him,’’ Ilya smiled. ‘’And I really love him. And he loves me, I think—‘’ he adds smugly as Shane bats his shoulder.

‘’Hey.’’

Ilya chuckles. ‘’I’m messing with him, of course he loves me. You already know how much he loves me because he is brave enough to be here with me in Russia and not care if someone sees us holding our hands together in broad daylight.’’

He turns to Shane and looks at him with what Hayden once described as heart eyes and sees the exact same expression looking back at him.

‘’He is brave, kind and mama,’’ he exclaims happily. ‘’He just won a KHL award even though he is not Russian. Can you believe that? This Japanese Canadian boy just beat everyone in the World and took an award in front of our smug Russian faces. You would’ve loved it.’’

‘’You make me sound like an asshole,’’ Shane says fondly.

‘’You are an asshole. But an asshole who I love and an asshole of whom I’m really proud of,’’ he kisses Shane’s knuckles and turns back to the tombstone. ‘’He’s the best player in the league. The World. And I just hope that wherever you are you love him too.

‘’I know that what we’re doing is probably dangerous but it shouldn’t be, right? You said it to yourself when I was just a kid, when I told you how much I liked that boy in the kindergarten. They suspended me for a week when I told the teachers that, and I was in tears the whole afternoon because I didn’t understand why it was so bad to love someone regardless of their gender.

‘’And— ‘’ Ilya’s voice breaks. ‘’—and you told me that the World is not ready for love but that doesn’t mean I’m not. That me being willing to love whoever I want was a gift not so many people have and that it would bring me joy someday.

‘’And it did mama, it brought me my Shane. So, thank you. For believing in me and loving me despite everything. Despite the fact that I will grow up and love people who our country doesn’t really love back. Thank you for teaching me what real love means.’’

The tears were now rolling down his cheeks and he couldn’t do anything to stop them.

He felt Shane rubbing circles on his back while grasping both of his hands in his own, occasionally dropping featherlight kisses either on his knuckles, his temple or his shoulder.

God, he really loved Shane. How did they survive almost a whole decade denying themselves this?

The joy of being alive and in love.

Ilya couldn’t fantom the time before they said their first ‘I love you’. It seemed like another lifetime. How on earth did they stay quiet all these years? It seemed impossible.

Everything they were and everything they are is just pure love, and let them be damned if anyone stops them from doing what they love while playing the sport that brought the two of them together. Their shared magnificence in hockey was because they choose each other. Because they choose to be on the very top, alone but together.

He heard Shane clearing his throat before carefully choosing his words in Russian.

‘’Wow, Ilya really sold me here as the best person in the world.’’

‘’Because you are,’’ Ilya added.

Shane snorted. ‘’Would you let me speak?’’

Ilya just hummed.

‘’Okay, what I was trying to say before your son rudely cut me off is that I wish this was different. I wish that we actually met under different circumstances and I wish you were here with me to roast your son right by my side.’’

That made Ilya chuckle. Shane continued.

‘’You know, my mom—Yuna, her name is Yuna—she loves Ilya like her own. And at times I think she likes him better than me. I’m not jealous because honestly, I love him more than I like me. So, it’s fair. And they are quite a pair, let me tell you. They chirp me and tease me but they also ground me and make me feel loved.

‘’And I want to believe that you and me would team up against Ilya. I know that would blow his mind a little. Well, probably a lot. But I’d like to imagine that, you know. I know that I only get to know you through Ilya’s stories and memories but I just wanted to let you know how proud I am of you.’’

Ilya’s breath hitches as he lifts his head and looks at Shane fully expecting Shane to speak to him but Shane’s eyes are still focused on Irina’s picture. He’s talking to his mother.

Shane squeezes his hand.

‘’I tell Ilya all the time how much I love him and how much I’m proud of him because I really am. He’s an awesome player, someone who challenges me all the time and make me feel like there is nobody in this world at the top but the two of us.

‘’We wasted so much time hiding from each other and not talking to each other and I just don’t want to waste any more time denying that.

‘’But no, this time I’m telling you how proud I am of you. Which is, probably a strange thing to say, right? I never met you. And given the circumstances of your… Well, most people would call what happened to you something that probably shouldn’t be said in the first place.

‘’Because people are cruel.

‘’But I am proud of you. Of you trying and succeeding of caring for your children, for loving them as much as you could even when you were falling apart. You were never weak, not in the slightest.

‘’And I know how worried you’d have to be knowing that you left two kids on their own but you don’t have to worry anymore. I’m here now. Well, I’ve been here for a while now but I just wanted to tell you and to assure you that you can rest easy. Ilya is safe and I’m not letting him go, okay?

‘’There isn’t a world, or a reality, where I would leave him again and you don’t have to worry anymore. If you want you can head over to our cottage in Canada and just live amongst the trees, lakes and loons and visit us every once in a while, but I don’t want you to worry. You’ve done your part protecting Ilya, now it’s my turn.’’

Shane finished and looked back at Ilya and Ilya’s chest felt like it was going to explode.

His Shane.

His beautiful and wonderful, and brave, brave Shane talking to his mom in Russian and offering his heart on a silver platter.

‘’Thank you,’’ he barely mumbled looking at blurred vision of Shane in front of him.

‘’I love you,’’ Shane said in return.

God, how is it possible that he loves one person this much?

He wanted to crawl under Shane’s ribcage and live there like a cat that snuggles up your neck and purrs until the ends of time.

Then Ilya, wiping his tears with his sleeve, huffed out a laughter and said to Irina all smug. ‘’I’m bringing him to meet the BSS after this, can you imagine?’’

Shane fondly rolled his eyes and got up from the ground, his knees cracking. ‘’Oh my god, stop it.’’

‘’Is true. He doesn’t know what he’s getting into,’’ Ilya chuckled.

_

Shane hoped that Ilya didn’t see him typing out a message to Svetlana and quickly pocketing his phone while Ilya was still on his knees saying goodbye to Irina.

Shane planned this the moment he told Farah to book the tickets and he couldn’t miss the opportunity to do everything in his power for the surprise to remain surprise until the very last minute.

That also included that whatever BSS was he’d just have to simply survive.

He could do it, right?

He was a big, strong, hockey player.

Whatever Ilya planned for him he could do it.

God, I hope I can do it.

‘’So, ready for the BSS?’’ Ilya said smugly switching to English and leading Shane through the graveyard over to their driver waiting for them.

Shane groaned. ‘’God, please tell me if it isn’t some kind of like alcohol related thing or I dunno—a military objective?’’

Ilya bellowed a laugh. ‘’Solnyshko, do you really think I’d give you up to the military here?’’

‘’I don’t— ‘’ Shane exhaled. God, he was so stupid. ‘’I know you won’t but you know how my mind just goes there and I can’t— ‘’

Ilya, not letting him finish the sentence leaned his head left then right, like he’s thinking it over. ‘’Actually, this might be even scarier than Russian military.’’

‘’What is that supposed to mean?’’ Shane asked horrified.

Ilya just grinned as he gave the instructions to the driver then stayed quiet the entire trip to whenever the BSS lived at? Practiced at?

God, I hope it doesn’t bite.

Was it an animal?

The driver left them in a neighbourhood far away from their hotel and then left. Ilya just shrugged his shoulders. ‘’Told him we could take it from here.’’

‘’Okay,’’ Shane answered slowly finally looking at his surroundings.

They were in one of the numerous residential blocks but something was different. Way different than the neighbourhood their hotel was in.

There were children playing in the playground that probably wouldn’t pass security concerns everywhere else except Slavic countries. Some of the kids were walking with grocery bags or simply a loaf of bread in their hands, hurrying home. There were older people all around, sitting peacefully on their little benches in front of the building entrances.

Older women—babushkas—Shane’s mind supplied, in their mostly floral patterned dresses, some of them even having scarfs over their heads and walking sticks next to them. They all sat in groups with their friends and ate apples and pears.

And suddenly it hit Shane.

BSS.

God he was so stupid.

Hayden even mentioned it once when he first found out about him and Ilya and spent an entire afternoon going over the Slavic stereotypes about Ilya and asked him whole bunch of stuff.

Most of it he really didn’t know if they were true or not.

‘’BSS,’’ he says quietly stopping in his tracks and looking at Ilya.

Ilya smirking turns around and lifting his arms says. ‘’Babushka Security System.’’

‘’God, you’re an asshole,’’ Shane hits his arm as Ilya turns around and waves to a nearby bunch of babushkas.

Shane immediately stiffens. ‘’Wait, you know them?’’

Ilya just winks then runs towards them, arms in the air and kneeling down so he can embrace all of them and kiss them on their cheeks.

Shane just stands a few steps behind and soaks their blushed cheeks, the sparkle in babushkas eyes as they recognize who Ilya was and then their hands all over his face and on his arms and legs checking him out.

‘’Ilyushenka, it’s really you!’’ One of them said.

The other one pinched his cheek. ‘’You are so thin, those Americans are not feeding you!’’

‘’Uuuuh Agniya, have you felt his bicep? He is very strong and handsome boy,’’ the third one giggling provided.

‘’You are pale. Why are you pale? This is not our normal Russian pale; do you want some vodka?’’ The final—and fourth one—added.

‘’Or an apple?’’

There was a shuffle between them before one of them cut a small piece of an apple and gave it to Ilya.

‘’Yes, take a piece of apple.’’

Shane chuckled as Ilya was hounded by grandmas, there were pieces of apple shoved into his hands while they were still pinching him and patting him all over his body while examining every inch of him.

Then, one of the babushkas realized that Shane was still standing there behind Ilya and immediately all eight eyes were on him. Well, ten if you count Ilya’s.

And yup, he understood why Ilya told him that this might be more terrifying than a Russian military.

Because they were scanning him more thoroughly than an MRI ever scanned him.

‘’Hi,’’ he said in Russian lifting his hand in a little hello.

All eight pairs of eyes immediately snapped back towards Ilya.

‘’Your friend Ilyusha?’’

‘’He speaks Russian?’’ One of them lifted an eyebrow.

‘’He looks like he plays hockey?’’

One of them was narrowing her eyes at Shane and pushing her glasses on top of her nose. ‘’He has nice freckles.’’

They all bombarded Ilya with questions. He just smiled.

‘’Okay, okay. Calm down. Let me introduce him properly,’’ he lifted his hand in Shane’s direction and Shane took it immediately not caring about the implications of that act what so ever. But Ilya wasn’t making a big deal out of it and he was calm, so Shane could be calm too.

‘’This is my Shane. He plays in the NHL with me. He is very boring but very good player, better than me even.’’

Eight judging eyes snapped in his direction. He immediately defended himself. ‘’Well, not really. Both of us are really tied you know. Ilyusha is better player than me probably,’’ he said panicked.

God damn, those piercing eyes looking at him. They could probably get out of him that story when he tried his mom’s bra when he was five years old and not even Ilya could dig that information out of him.

Oh my god, did I just call him Ilyusha in front of these complete strangers?

Shane snapped his eyes to Ilya who just smiled fondly.

‘’Shane, these are Agniya, Darya, Vika and Katya. This is the neighbourhood my mom and my grandma lived in; they knew them. Svetlana and I spend more time here playing outside than back where we supposed to.’’

Darya clapped. ‘’Oh, Sveta. How is she? Her mom said that she’s coming this summer. I can’t wait to see her.’’

‘’Yes, yes. You’ll get your precious Sveta next week probably. I don’t know when she’s coming but next week for sure.’’

But Vika and Katya were still looking at Shane like he was either a delicious meal or something stuck on the bottom of their shoe. He really couldn’t tell which.

‘’Shane, is it?’’

‘’Um, yes. Hi,’’ he said nervously.

‘’Are you good for him?’’ Vika asked.

‘’What?’’

Katya didn’t let him answer. ‘’You are a good man, yes?’’

‘’Um, yes. I try to be— ‘’

‘’How long have you two known each other?’’

‘’A decade— ‘’

Shane’s mind was reeling from the interrogation while Ilya was trying to hide his smile while eating bits and pieces of freshly cut apple that Darya was providing him.

‘’Your Russian is so good, are you from Uzbekistan, Kazahstan?’’

‘’Vika,’’ Ilya warned.

‘’What, I’m just asking.’’

Shane knew all about the World War II and Soviet Union taking thousands of Japanese prisoners to Central Asia, so he wasn’t that surprised by this comment given his looks but the way they asked so blatantly almost made him snort a laugh but also wonder if that had any implications in his relationship with Ilya in their eyes.

But he didn’t have enough time to wonder because there were more questions.

Like, way, way more. And completely kind, even though a bit just thrown out there without filter.

He was just glad that they weren’t making any accusations and loud comments about the thing that would get both Ilya and Shane in trouble with the Russian government and police.

‘’Um, no. I’m Japanese Canadian actually.’’

‘’Uh, Canadian. Is it true that you put that syrup of yours on the snow and then eat it?’’ Darya asked.

‘’Darya, what?’’ Vika hollered.

‘’What? I watched a documentary once.’’

Shane snickered. ‘’Yeah, we do actually.’’

‘’You do?’’ Ilya asked surprised.

‘’Yeah, I’ll show you this winter. You’ll love it.’’

Agniya raised her hand. ‘’Is it true that you eat Beaver tails and is that a real Beaver or not?’’

Shane burst out laughing.

Why was he worried about this in the first place again? They were hilarious.

‘’Um, no. It’s not a real animal’s tail. It’s like a dough—a dessert that resembles a beaver’s tail,’’ he tried explaining.

‘’Oh, yeah that makes sense,’’ Agniya nodded like that’s what she thought in the first place.

‘’Do you like Russian food?’’

‘’I haven’t tried much but I had yeah, it’s really tasty.’’

‘’Have you tried picked fish?’’

Katya punched Darya in her ribs. ‘’He’s not going to eat pickled fish if he has to kiss Ilyusha, come on,’’ she whisper yelled.

Shane immediately blushed and snapped his head in Ilya’s direction but Ilya was already looking at him, slowly nodding that it was okay. They didn’t need to hide in front of them.

‘’Here, you look skinny. You boys don’t eat anything these days,’’ Katya pushed a slice of apple in his hand.

The apple faintly tasted of onion and Shane giggled at it because apparently what Slavic and Japanese—or at least his—grandmas had in common was to slice fruits with the same knife they cut onions with.

And before he knew it Shane was hauled in the building with all four of them and Ilya and placed at the kitchen table with mountain of food in front of them.

They were all talking over each other, going in and out of the apartment, getting more dishes from their own homes and pilling everything on the table while talking in quick Russian.

There were more neighbours coming and going, dropping by to say hello to Ilya and pinching his cheeks.

Shane felt like he was in a movie.

Just dropped in and left to observe, and apparently eat his—and Ilya’s full weight—in homemade food.

While Ilya was in hushed conversation with all four of the girls—as he called them fondly—Shane used the distraction to type out a quick message to Svetlana.

Fifteen minutes later Shane was squished shoulder to shoulder with Ilya listening to him explain what they’re eating, both of them trying and failing to find Russian and English words for some of the ingredients.

Babushkas were giggling, some of them showing Shane old pictures of Ilya and Svetlana from when they were kids and Shane’s heart felt full.

They didn’t care.

They didn’t explicitly say that they were together but Ilya’s hand was placed firmly on Shane’s thigh and he didn’t hide his heart eyes from them, telling them little stories about Shane and his family and about their time in Boston and Montreal.

They listened, teased and planned what to pack both of them to bring back to Canada from the preserves they had left from last season.

Shane was overstimulated but completely happy and right where he wanted to be.

And Ilya was beaming, enjoying the attention and cheek pinching.

Sometimes someone would whisper something into his ear while looking at Shane and Ilya would nod and blush, making Shane blush too even though he didn’t hear anything out of the conversation.

But then the front door opened and through it burst Svetlana in all her glory holding bags filled with sweets, chocolate and some kind of liquor.

Ilya was stunned, mouth opened and staring at Svetlana like she was a ghost.

They haven’t seen each other in few months and she was supposed to come to Ottawa in September just as he settled in his new house. She was supposed to arrive in Russia few days after they leave, they weren’t supposed to be there at the same time.

Shane knew how much Ilya hated that they would miss each other.

‘’Who made this party and forgot to invite me, huh?’’ She said hugging everyone around the room and giving out bags. ‘’Here, American chocolate and weak alcohol, I know Ilyusha forgot to bring it,’’ she winked at him.

Ilya rolled his eyes and stood up to greet his best friend but then stopped in his tracks when he saw a small figure right behind Svetlana.

‘’Yelena?’’ He whispered looking straight into his niece’s eyes then ran towards her and pulled her in a bone crushing hug.

The girl was fully enveloped by Ilya but her little hands were firmly grasping at his back where she could reach. Shane, Svetlana and every single eye in that rather small Russian apartment were pointed at Ilya and Yelena talking softly in hushed tones that the rest of them couldn’t hear and Shane’s eyes teared up.

Svetlana approached Shane and pulled him into a hug then kissed his cheeks.

‘’Hey,’’ she softly said and wiped the tear on his cheeks with her thumb.

‘’Hey, you made it,’’ he barely said.

‘’This was all you Shane, take it.’’

Shane nodded and looked back at Ilya now holding Yelena by her hand and bringing her to the table, pointing at the food and then at Shane, the girl doing a little wave looking at him.

But before Shane could formally introduce himself Katya pulled Shane by his arm then smushed his cheeks between his hands.

‘’You are so good for him. Don’t make us regret this.’’

Shane started laughing but then he realized that Katya, Vika, Agniya and Darya were all looking at him with murderous looks on their faces.

Ok then, wow. They were terrifying.

But then they exploded in laughter and every one of them patted his cheeks fondly.

Ilya pulled Shane by his hand towards him.

‘’Why are you torturing my Shane. Don’t threaten him.’’

‘’Well, somebody has to,’’ Darya said and the entire room erupted in laughter once again.

Shane met Yelena, the girl somehow being Ilya’s little clone in looks but had a character that reminded Shane of one Arthur Pike. They spend the rest of the day surrounded by friends and family, eating like Shane never ate before and when they left in the evening both of them were hauling bags of jars and food that they needed to bring back home.

‘’Thank God we’re who we are or I think the security would arrest us when we land,’’ Shane chuckled with suitcases opened by his feet where he tried to carefully pack everything as not to break anything during the transit.

Ilya, freshly showered and with only a towel draped over his hips joined Shane on the floor and pulled him into a sweet kiss.

‘’What was that for?’’ Shane asked sleepily, almost yawning into the kiss of how tired he was.

Ilya’s eyes were glistening with tears. ‘’Thank you. For today. For everything.’’

‘’Thank you for not selling me to KGB,’’ Shane teased.

Ilya took a deep breath and tugged him until Shane was fully sitting in his lap. ‘’No, really. The Yelena thing and the things you said at the graveyard. I just—thank you.’’

Shane dug his hands into Ilya’s curls, his head lolling a bit at the touch and leaning into Shane’s hands.

Shane hummed. ‘’Everything for you my love,’’ he said in Russian.

Ilya groaned but smiled. ‘’Not fair Hollander I’m too tired to ravish you tonight,’’ he nuzzled his head into Shane’s shoulder.

Shane kissed his temple. ‘’I love you.’’

‘’Aishiteimasu,’’ I love you Ilya said in Japanese and Shane stilled, shocked.

Ilya smirked. ‘’You’re not the only one with tricks in your pockets.’’

Shane snorted. ‘’Asshole.’’

‘’Yes, but your asshole.’’

‘’Yes, my asshole. Forever,’’ Shane said then pulled Ilya in a soft kiss.