gigglemonster



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  1. Public Bookmark *

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    “I was trying to be cool about it.” Shane's confession is a quiet whine, muffled into his palms. “Go with the flow, y’know?”

    It’s almost unbearable, how much Ilya adores this perfect, neurotic man. “Hollander,” he says patiently. “You have never once gone with flow. Not ever in your life.”

    There is only one grey cloud in the perfect blue sky of Ilya’s summer.

    His two weeks at the cottage are almost over, and Shane still hasn’t asked him to stay.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    21,522
    Chapters:
    4/4
    Comments:
    297
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    3,969
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    13 Jul 2026

  2. Public Bookmark *

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    “Ilya, what are we gonna do?” Shane says.

    Ilya finishes whatever he has been doing on his phone, and tosses it gently to the bed beside him. He crosses the room to Shane, stands in front of him, squeezes into his shoulders with his big hands, rubbing them like he means to warm them up.

    “Looks like we will have a little vacation,” he says, with a big obnoxious grin.

     


     

    Boston and Montreal are sent to Paris to play against each other in an exhibition series in January 2017. Ilya and Shane decide to stay in Paris for one more night. Just one more night, so they can talk. Maybe finally understand each other.

    They aren't expecting a volcano to erupt in Iceland and close all the airspace in Europe, leaving them stranded there. Together.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    127,267
    Chapters:
    14/14
    Comments:
    5,805
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    25,043
    Bookmarks:
    10,625
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    812,534

    21 Jun 2026

  3. Public Bookmark *

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    “Hi Milana,” he murmured, voice gentle. “I’m Ilya, your father’s brother. Did your mama tell you I was coming over?”

    Milana nodded and pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, gaze contemplative as Ilya held out a hand to her. He didn’t touch her, didn’t broach the barrier of the doorframe, just held his palm out, a gesture of vulnerability, exposing soft skin. When he’d been a child, listening out for the sound of his father’s footfalls down the hall, trying to guess at what mood the man was in that day, if today was a day he would likely be hit, those gestures of vulnerability–upturned palms, tears on cheeks–had been the only thing he’d trusted. The wounded animal in his sternum reaching out for comfort, seeking safety in the fragility of others. Proof that he wasn’t the weakest one.

    Or: After spending Christmas with the Hollanders Ilya realises he has unfinished business in Moscow; namely, saying goodbye to his mother's grave and recovering the pieces of his history. Before meeting Shane at the cottage for their second summer together - and before upending his life and moving to another country once again - Ilya decides to return to his home city and attempt to lay his past to rest.

    Series
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    117,071
    Chapters:
    10/10
    Comments:
    1,101
    Kudos:
    2,344
    Bookmarks:
    812
    Hits:
    106,389

    21 Jun 2026

  4. Public Bookmark *

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    They toe off their shoes in the entryway and Shane looks around, pulling in a deep breath and letting it go. Two hours ago, his dad had walked in on him and Ilya and Shane had thought the world was ending. Now, the world seems bigger and more plausible than ever, like a smooth, fresh field of ice, stretching all the way to the horizon, just waiting for his skates to mark it up. He turns, and there is Ilya, hands in his pockets, watching Shane with a look of lazy contentment on his face as if he feels it, too.

    OR: Two weeks at the cottage.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    28,217
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    294
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    1,282
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    506
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    20,450

    25 Apr 2026

  5. Public Bookmark *

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    He drives to the airport with an unshakeable urge to pull over and turn around. He smokes four cigarettes in a row before he boards the plane, then chews an entire pack of gum on the flight to try and cover the worst of the smell.

    He exits the airport half-hoping that Shane has chickened out of the whole thing. Then he spots him, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel in the most boring suburban dad car Ilya has ever had the misfortune of laying his eyes on, and he’s so happy to see him that his legs feel unsteady beneath his weight.

    --

    Or, the cottage, Ilya's version: an extended ep 6 featuring my take on what happened in the gaps we didn't see.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    12,009
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    389
    Kudos:
    11,812
    Bookmarks:
    2,874
    Hits:
    117,403

    12 Apr 2026