1 – 4 of 4 Works in MangoTea
- MangoTea ×
-
Another Hotel Room, A Few More Hours by MangoTea
Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry (TV)
2025-11-03
The boys spend a few hours together the night before a game, and Ilya is caught off guard by how good Shane's Russian has gotten Ilya roughly dried his hair and got back into the hotel bed. Shane lay there eyes closed and relaxed, but far from asleep. Ilya shifted close to him and pushed Shane’s shoulder so he could curl up behind him, not quite spoon him, just hold him and bury his face in his lover’s back. He would have to leave soon. All the thoughts that had left his head when he’d entered this room, consumed by finally being back in Shane’s presence, were starting to creep back in. Shane, relaxed from sex and skin soft from his own shower, laughed and let himself be moved however Ilya wanted. They used to part ways right after a shower, but taking a few more minutes to reconnect after, hold each other, was time they both treasured. Ending with cuddles and a few soft kisses felt better and usually left Ilya feeling more settled and satisfied. Erickson, a left winger he was often paired with, had announced his engagement at the end of practice and his team had gone out to celebrate. Ilya had slipped away from the party to get his precious few hours with Shane. The lives of his teammates were moving forward: engagements, weddings, announcing that their wives were expecting, handing out invites to birthday parties or first communions. Ilya didn’t have a single regret, Shane was his world, but watching the lives of his friends spin forward while they were in stasis, trying to hold on, made him ache. Even if the situation was a thousand times harder, he’d still choose Shane. Shane was worth everything, but he wished things could be easier for them. He wanted it to be them to be glowing with happiness at engagement parties or hugging their kids after games. He took a deep breath, taking in the clean scent of Shane’s skin. “I love you so much it scares me,” he murmured in Russian. Putting his feelings into words helped even if they couldn’t be understood. He needed to open up, even if only to himself. “I wouldn’t change it, if I could. This feeling, I’d never give it up. You are everything to me.” Shane twisted in his arms and Ilya gladly resettled against his chest. Ilya was taller than him, but he liked this sometimes, curling up so he felt smaller and letting himself be held by powerfully muscular arms. Ilya pressed a kiss to the center of Shane’s chest, right over his heart, and snuggled in shamelessly. “Do not be scared. I feel the same, love. Mine. Always.” Ilya melted completely into Shane’s arms at hearing those words. For a moment, everything seemed perfect. It was like a barrier between them had given way and they were somehow closer, more in tune with each other. A sense of peace washed over him. His mind went quiet. Some tension deep inside him, so constant he’d grown almost numb to it, had just resolved and faded away. He didn’t realize how much it ate at him, until it was gone. He let a few deep breaths come and go before his mind turned to figuring out why he was suddenly so relaxed. Fucking English, that was it, he was always worried that he’d completely misunderstood what he was being told. Shane speaking to him in Russian made his words so much more comforting. That friction of trying to make sure he’d decoded things right, was gone for once and that felt amazing. His body jerked as the realization sunk in: he’d spoken Russian and Shane had replied. “What?” Ilya looked up at Shane in shock. “What?” Shane grinned widely, clearly pleased with himself. “You speak Russian?” “I said I learn? You taught me first words.” “Yes but, you understand me already? Even when I’m speaking quietly?” Shane’s eyes widened. He suddenly let go of Ilya and pulled back. “Oh fuck,” Shane switched back to English, “you didn’t mean for me to hear that. It was private. Oh shit, Ilya I… I wanted to surprise you with how hard I’d worked, I didn’t realize.” Shane had gone from glowing to completely crushed. “No, no, you are perfect.” Ilya pulled Shane back towards him, clinging to him. “You love me. Just surprised.” “I didn’t mean… to invade your privacy. That’s… shit... Ilya I’d never want to do that.” Shane was still tense and panicking a little. Ilya wanted him to relax, for their last few minutes together to feel good. He had to go soon and they both knew it. Ilya was painfully aware of the passing of time. He’d dedicated his life to a game where seconds mattered, even half seconds. Tonight they were meeting at Shane’s hotel room to buy just a few more minutes, instead of being at his apartment here in Boston. The impromptu celebration for Erickson after his announcement had cut into his hopes for a longer, more relaxed time with Shane, making a few more memories in his space so it felt less lonely. “Sit, sit,” Ilya urged, trying to arrange both of them so they sat on the bed together. Shane did as he asked, but he as still looking down. He took a moment before speaking, trying to figure out the best way to sooth Shane. He couldn’t bear the thought of parting like this. “I do not know if I have to words to explain, but it is okay. Listen less to my words, more to how I say them. Listen to this.” He cupped Shane’s cheek. “Listen to how my body is. When you first spoke, how did I respond?” “You relaxed, like I’d comforted you. That felt so good, feeling like what I did paid off and I could take care of you.” Shane spoke slowly, haltingly, but his voice eased with each word. Ilya’s question had landed as he’d hoped, and Shane was figuring out for himself that everything way okay. “I liked that you heard me. So many times I spoke, part of me wanted to be heard, always. Though, if you’d understood the first time I told you I loved you, would have been a disaster.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 1,301
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Files:
- 1
- AO3:
- #73642246
-
Shane accidentally wears a shirt with ‘Rozanov 81’ instead of the one with his name and number to a press event. Later they have sex about it.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 6,117
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Files:
- 1
- AO3:
- #69969301
-
Between when Ilya and Shane were outed and when the season ended, they both still had some games to play. Ilya spends a night on the road with some of his teammates and tells them why he got his loon tattoo
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 1,905
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Files:
- 1
- AO3:
- #68411776
-
Ilya and Shane talking with friends after dealing with the press, then Shane helps Ilya relax. Part of a day through Ilya's POV focusing on his relationship with speaking English, and also times he doesn't need to use it, and when he doesn't need words at all “You’ve had many brilliant moments on the ice, but when people ask what the best day of your career has been, you say it was the day you got drafted. Why is that?” Maria Sellings said with a smile. She sat across from Ilya in one of the many small nooks set up in the convention hall for interviews. Whatever site or podcast she worked for was a smaller one and most players didn’t bother talking to her, but Ilya liked that she asked good questions. Sometimes reporters asked him dumb questions even if he’d answered the same question hundreds of times, or had avoided answering hundreds of time. She never did that. He liked this question in particular. “It is hard to say when things started between Shane and myself. I could give many answers, all true in one way or another. We spent some time together, the night after the draft.” Ilya remembered the way Shane had stared at him, the way he’d reacted to the slightest touch. Even though they’d barely spoken, barely touched, that night had burned in both their minds for months afterwards. “One morning he told me, he should have known from that moment, that we’d never be able to let go of each other. Later that day, I had a press conference and was still thinking of him. Someone asked about the best day I’d had in the NHL, so I said that day.” She blinked, clearly surprised by the answer, so he kept talking. “People say it was me being humble, always saying that, so grateful to be in the NHL. I love NHL, but I earned my place. It was not a gift. Though, being drafted into the same division as Shane, put on teams where we’d play so much, that perhaps was a gift.” “All this time you were talking about Shane Hollander, and the day that linked your careers together?” “I could not tell the world I loved him in words they could understand, so I said it in words they could not understand. I said it thousands of times over the years. I needed to say it.” He remembered when he’d been in Russia and spoke Russian to Shane, back before Shane knew a word of it. Shane had given him an outlet for his feelings, and he’d been doing a variation on the same thing ever since. He wanted to tell that story, but not today. He’d already wrestled a number of complicated ideas into English. “Can you tell us any other ways you’ve said it?” Ilya made a broad gesture with his hand. “It’s everywhere, in my interviews and posts. Just look and you will begin to see.” He would have explained a few of his cryptic images, but this was his last interview of the day and he was getting tired. She smiled and lobbed him a few softball questions about the upcoming All Star events. Once the interview was done, Ilya went to join Shane and some of their friends. Shane had rented a private area near the hotel’s pool just for them, Scott, Kip, Troy and Harris. Troy hadn’t been selected to play in the games, but Ilya and Shane where both entitled to bring a guest. They’d used the spots to bring their friends. They wanted Troy to get a chance to get to better get to know Scott and his partner and bring Harris further into their little circle of queer hockey player friends, so they’d arranged a little corner of the strip just for them. Scott had been surprised and grateful when they told him the plans. Kip rarely traveled to games because he’d wind up spending a lot of time bored or dodging reporters. Having a place to hide on press day and people in their little growing queer hockey community to hang out with made Kip decide to come along this time. Scott was elated to get more time with him. Ilya wished all of the queer couples they knew could all be here, but gathering at least some of them together felt good. He was glad the All-Star Games were back in Las Vegas. He loved the city. He’d love it just for the noise, the luxury, the food and people dressing sexy, but there was more to it than that. Somewhere along the strip, behind one of the tens of thousands of hotel room windows glinting in the bright afternoon sun, in a massive suite, he’d made a very special memory with Shane, one that at the time had felt so painful. How shamelessly Shane had indulged him by touching himself, going along with Ilya’s commands, that night still made his blood run hot, even though longing for more had torn at his heart. They were finally living together and out, but that was still new to them, just a handful of months after over a decade of keeping secrets. The massive, overwhelming stress that ruled their lives was gone, but Shane often joked that his nerves still hadn’t gotten the memo. Years in the closet had left marks of both of them, different marks, but marks all the same. Sometimes, it felt like it was just yesterday that they were hiding and Ilya was struggling with a painful loneliness he didn’t know how to talk about. He needed to go find his husband and breathe him in. He needed to kiss him in front of people. He swung by their room to change into swim trunks and took the stairs down, not wanting to wait on an elevator. He walked past the massive pool surrounded by lounge chairs and curtained daybeds. The area Shane had rented was called a cabana and seemed to be a cross between a tent and a patio. Drapes of white fabric and tall plants gave them a measure of privacy while still having easy access to everything. Through the entrance, he could see Shane laying back in what looked like a giant wicker bowl filled with cushions. He ignored the others for the moment and launched himself at his husband, half landing on him. Even though it was winter, it was still Vegas so Shane’s skin had a slight sheen of sweat and smelled good, like he’d just started a work out. Salt, seaweed and the comforting scent of Shane that was so deeply imprinted into his brain flooded his mind. He took a deep breath to center himself. Shane was solid and warm and leaning into him, like he knew what Ilya needed. Once Ilya relaxed, they grabbed and pushed at each other until Shane was tucked under his arm. They were half snuggled close and half sprawled out to not overheat, legs falling however was comfortable, bottles of beer and various appetizers in easy reach. Harris’ laughter almost covered up Scott’s good natured complaining about Ilya’s antics.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 4,086
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Files:
- 1
- AO3:
- #67174741