Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories:

Gen, M/M

Fandoms:

Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid

Relationships:

Kip Grady/Scott Hunter, Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Scott Hunter & Ilya Rozanov, Kip Grady & Ilya Rozanov

Characters:

Kip Grady, Scott Hunter (Game Changers), Ilya Rozanov, Eric Bennett, Carter Vaughn

Additional Tags:

Humor, Fluff and Humor, Ilya Rozanov is a Menace, Proposals gone wrong, POV Ilya Rozanov

Language:

English

Stats:

Published: 2026-02-21 Words: 2,170 Chapters: 1/1

that time Ilya Rozanov almost got arrested for arson

Summary

Scott had the perfect proposal planned.

Unfortunately for him, Ilya Rozanov decided to get involved.

Notes

“Let’s go over the details one more time,” Bennet said, with the tone of a teacher addressing a room of young children.

“Relax Benny, we got this!” Vaughn said enthusiastically. “Keep the tourists away, point the camera, pop the champagne. Easy peasy!”

Ilya and Bennet shared a look. 

“Also,” Vaughn went on, pointing at Ilya without looking at him, “what the fuck is that guy doing here?”

Ilya shrugged. “They are my friends. I want to help. Also, it will be funny, watching an old man try to get on one knee. Do you think he will be able to get back up? We should have rented a wheelchair.”

“Alright, alright, simmer down,” Bennet chastised. “Carter, you go set up the tripod. I’ll take care of the music. Rozz, you brought the candles?”

Ilya saluted. “Yes, boss!”

Bennet heaved a long-suffering sigh. 

Fifteen minutes later, the scene was set. A tripod was set up, discreetly hidden in a copse of trees, soft jazz music was playing, and tea candles flickered from inside dozens of glass holders. It was, Ilya had to admit, quite romantic. Shane would have loved this shit. He snapped a quick photo to show him later.

“So boring,” he grumbled. 

Vaughn scoffed. “Just because you’re allergic to romance doesn’t mean the rest of us are.” He dragged out the word romance until it was somehow three syllables, raising his eyebrows lewdly.

Ilya frowned. “Romance is for ugly people who can’t get laid otherwise.” He looked around. “And for gays, apparently.”

He laughed internally at the irony of that statement. 

“Well, good thing you’re neither, Rozzy,” Vaughn said cheerfully. 

“Aw,” Ilya said, fluttering his eyelashes coquettishly, “did you just call me handsome?”

“I’m calling you a shut the fuck up, you twit!”

“Children!” Bennet scolded. “Quiet. We’re supposed to be on the lookout. They should be here any minute. Carter, you’re on tripod duty. I’ll hide by the path to deal with anyone walking by. Rozz…” Bennet looked at him dubiously. “Just stay out of trouble.”

“Do you need to sit down?” Ilya asked in response. “You have been standing for long time, you must be tired.”

Bennet rolled his eyes and walked away, grumbling under his breath.

Ilya chose a hiding spot behind some rose bushes. It was idiotic, planning a proposal in public like this. When he proposed to Shane one day he’d do it at the cottage, like he’d said he would, with nobody around to snoop on them. Other than maybe a loon.

But even he had to admit this particular spot in the Brooklyn botanic garden was pretty magical. He had arranged the candles under the drooping branches of a large willow tree, and combined with the setting sun and the soft jazz music playing, the effect was ethereal and romantic. And kind of sexy. 

Terrible music choice, though.

His phone buzzed in rapid succession.

Oldest Player in the MLH: I see them!

Admirals Alternate Captain: !!!!

Admirals Alternate Captain: GIF

Ilya stared at the image on his screen of two blonde women jumping up and down and clapping their hands. He shook his head. Americans.

Ilya: That is what your girlfriends look like when I fuck them

Admirals Alternate Captain: You fucking wish

Oldest Player in the MLH: Focus!

Oldest Player in the MLH: Also, I’m divorced

Ilya blinked at the screen. He hadn’t known that. He shrugged.

Ilya: Didn’t know they let old people divorce. Why not just wait to die?

Admirals Alternate Captain: Once again, who invited this motherfucker?

Ilya chuckled and focused his attention back on the path leading to their little romantic oasis. He hated to admit it, but this was kind of fun.

Scott and Kip came into view around the bend in the path. They were strolling casually, Scott’s arm thrown over Kip’s shoulders, Kip’s fingers reaching up to tangle with Scott’s. They were both smiling, heads bending towards each other as they spoke quietly. In their own cozy little bubble. 

Something twisted in Ilya’s gut at the sight of them. He never failed to get hit with a pang of intense jealousy whenever he saw them together, whether in person or in the media. They were so comfortable with each other, so confident in their right to be together, out there for the world to see. Ilya had seen paparazzi shots of them staring deeply into each other’s eyes as if they couldn’t have cared less that their love was being captured by a wall of flashing cameras. It was sickening, really.

It was also something Ilya very much wished he could have. In another life, maybe.

He pushed the melancholy thoughts away as he opened his message thread with Shane and sent a single red heart. It was a very un-Ilya thing to do, but he blamed the setting and the proposal. This kind of crap made people lose their good sense.

Ilya could tell the moment Kip saw the willow tree. He inhaled audibly, eyes growing wide with surprise and delight. 

“Scott, look! What is that? An art installation?”

Ilya snorted, and then clapped a hand to his mouth. Scott’s head whipped towards the rose bush, Kip apparently so enchanted by Ilya’s handiwork that he hadn’t heard anything.

Scott frowned as his eyes roved over the bush. And then he made eye contact with Ilya. His eyes widened in panic as he quickly steered Kip down the path.

Ilya crouched lower and winced as thorny vines scratched against his arms. Fucking Hunter. If he had an allergic reaction to this bush he’d make Scott pay his hospital bill.

Ilya’s phone buzzed.

Admirals Alternate Captain: Benny!!! Intruders incoming!!!!!!!

Ilya turned to the direction Scott and Kip had arrived from, where there were, indeed, two old ladies walking towards them. 

Ilya: Maybe they heard old man was proposing here. Probably want to steal him from Kip. They are about right age. 

Quick as lightning, definitely way more gracefully than his geriatric age should have allowed, Bennet darted out from behind a tree and intercepted the old ladies. He looped his arms through theirs and steered them back the way they came from, speaking to them in a low voice. 

Scott and Kip had reached the willow tree and were seemingly oblivious to the almost-intrusion. Scott took both Kip’s hands in his and turned to face him. Ilya’s heart was racing. He was probably grinning like an idiot.

Fucking Hunter.

That was when Ilya noticed two things simultaneously. 

The first was that one of the willow branches had started to smolder.

The other was that he was not alone inside the rose bush. 

An opossum glared at him, tiny teeth bared. Ilya froze. 

“Shh!” Ilya told the creature, absurdly. “Don’t you dare move, you fucking giant rat.”

The opossum hissed. It was kind of cute, actually. Ilya reached out to pet its head and then thought better of it. 

Oldest Player in the MLH: Ilya. Please tell me those aren’t real candles

Ilya: What you mean? You ask for candles, I bring candles

Oldest Player in the MLH: Why would you bring real candles??

Ilya: What other kind of candle would I bring??

Admirals Alternate Captain: FAKE ONES!!?!!?!!!??

Oldest Player in the MLH: WITH BATTERIES

Ilya considered. 

Oh. Yes, that probably would have been better.

The branch was now starting to smoke. Oblivious to the fire behind him, Scott got down on one knee (more nimbly than Ilya would have thought) as Kip pressed a hand to his chest.

“Scott!” He exclaimed in alarm. The branch had fully caught fire, flames licking up the flimsy tendrils and jumping to neighboring branches.

Scott smiled softly, misunderstanding Kip’s outburst. Ilya had to give it to him, the man knew how to focus.

Scott took a deep breath, no doubt readying himself to launch into a speech, when Bennet came running down the path carrying the ice bucket they had placed the champagne bottle in. At the same moment, the opossum used Ilya’s distraction as an opportunity to attack, and launched himself at Ilya’s face.

Ilya screamed, thrashing in the thorny bush as he scrambled away from the creature.

“Fuck! Shit!” He lost his balance as he tripped over a root, careening at full speed straight into Bennet.

The ice bucket went flying. Ilya watched in almost slow-motion as Kip received a face full of icy water. He and Bennet went down hard.

“MOTHERFUCKER!” Ilya wasn’t sure which one of them had yelled. Probably both.

Scott was on his feet, looking almost dazedly between the blazing tree, to a soaked Kip, to Ilya and Bennet in their heap of tangled limbs on the ground. 

“What the fuck?” Kip asked, wiping icy water from his face. “What are you guys doing here?”

Ilya untangled himself from Bennet and got ungracefully back to his feet, wincing apologetically. Bennet stepped on Ilya’s toes as he stood. He raised his hands defensively, stepping towards Scott and Kip as if approaching a feral cat. 

Vaughn slowly walked out from his hiding spot, holding the tripod. “Should I…um. Should I stop recording?”

Scott let out a hysterical laugh, bracing himself on his knees. Kip reached for him in concern. 

“Scott?”

“Oh Jesus, we broke him!” Vaughn said. 

Scott took a deep breath, bracing himself. He turned to Vaughn.

“You know what, Carter? Keep rolling.” He turned back to Kip and bent down on one knee again.

Ilya clapped a hand to his mouth to keep from laughing. He couldn’t wait to tell Shane about this disaster. When he proposed it would be nothing like this. This was why proposals should be done in private. So people wouldn’t make fun of you after. 

Also, so you could immediately take your clothes off afterwards.

Carter got the camera into position, a wide grin on his face. 

“Um, I hate to break it to you guys, but the tree is on fire!” Bennet exclaimed. 

“This won’t take long,” Scott promised.

Kip was grinning now too, his eyes shining with tears. Oh, Jesus. If there was crying involved Ilya would leave. Tears were a step too far.

“Kip, when I met you, I-”

A branch fell off the tree. Carter yelped, jumping away.

“Again, hate to interrupt,” Bennet said, “but could you maybe do the bullet point version?”

Scott grinned. “I love you, you’re the love of my life, please marry me?”

Kip laughed. Ilya was smiling like a fucking fool. His vision might have gone a bit blurry, but that was only because the smoke was making his eyes itch.

“Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!” 

Scott sighed in what looked like relief. Had he really thought Kip would say no? Stupid old man. Kip clearly had a thing for geriatric hockey players, for some reason.

Scott slipped a simple gold band onto Kip’s ring finger, and then pulled him down into a deep kiss.

Carter was whooping and cheering, and even Bennet had stopped his fretting and was wiping his eyes. Emotional fools.

Suddenly there was the sound of shouting from down the path.

“Guys,” Ilya said, eyeing the mass of people running towards them. “Unless you want your proposal in the papers, I think we should probably run now.”

They all took off at a sprint, Carter still cheering and holding the tripod over his head like it was the fucking Stanley Cup. Scott and Kip were holding hands as they ran, tears of joy and laughter running down their faces. 

Ilya got the same feeling he got when he sped down the highway in one of his sports cars. He felt like he did whenever he saw Shane again after being away from him. 

He let out a whoop of his own.

“There’s a car waiting around the corner from the parking lot!” Scott called out, phone pressed to his ear.

The parking lot was within sight when Ilya stopped cold, patting his pockets. Vaughn crashed into him, tripod and all.

“Dude, what the-”

“I dropped my phone,” Ilya said slowly. His blood had turned to ice.

“I’ll buy you a new one!” Scott said with a grin. “Come on!”

“No.” Ilya shook his head. He couldn’t afford to have someone hack into his phone. If someone was to find it, and figure out who it belonged to…

He turned and ran.

“Don’t wait for me!” He called over his shoulder.

“WE WEREN’T PLANNING ON IT!” Vaughn yelled back.

Ilya reached the clearing with the willow tree out of breath and sweating for more than one reason. The place was swarming with people. Tourists were snapping photos as security guards spoke on the phone and several employees tried in vain to put out the fire with a garden hose. Ilya’s stomach sank as he spotted one of the guards, who appeared to be in charge, holding what was definitely Ilya’s phone. 

He plastered on a big fake grin as he approached.

“Good afternoon, officers! Nice day, no?”

Sirens blared in the background.

The fire blazed on.