~*~wang yibo's hairy legs~*~

me! (I will message you)

They part ways that night with the thrill of Sochi on the horizon.

The third time, at Shane's secret apartment, he takes it off along with his clothes, setting the band on top of the pile with everything else. He turns to Rozanov, feeling incredibly exposed. Rozanov looks at him like -- like he wants to eat Shane alive. Shane would let him, if he asked.

"Give you something to cover up," Rozanov murmurs as he moves up Shane's arm to bite at his shoulder and fucking bury his nose in Shane's neck. Shane has never thought of his empty wrist as particularly erotic before, but this whole thing with Rozanov has been revelatory.

The second time, he's wearing it at the start, but Rozanov must have slipped it off him at some point because the next thing Shane knows, he's *licking* Shane's wrist right where a TiMER would sit. Shane tries to pull away, but Rozanov won't let go, biting down hard enough to leave a mark.

Lol yeah I think that's the one 😂

I am honestly trying to remember if I ever read any hockey fic where they keep their uniforms on during sex and the only one where ?? maybe that happens was when it was some sort of on-ice sex ritual to kill a demon or something

They don't even use their uniforms while having sex? What.

The first time he and Rozanov have sex, he leaves the wristband on. Rozanov flaunts his blank TiMER publicly, and Shane doesn't want to be made fun of for not having one, especially considering what they're about to do.

He wears a wristband over where it would sit, though. It's easier than fielding the questions about why he doesn't have one. He's gotten good at deflecting the wildly inappropriate questions about how much time might be left until he meets his soulmate.

Shane Hollander does not have a TiMER. His parents encouraged him to wait until he felt ready to get one, which was fine. A TiMER would just be a distraction from hockey, something that could derail his dreams if he let it. Soulmates and romance - all that could wait until later.

I think the goal is to move them to their actual cities (and afaik they will practice in their home cities), but for the first season a condensed schedule at a neutral site made the most sense. Kinda similar to how the PWHLPA was operating initially

Girls don't want to work, girls just want to daydream about hollanov

I KNOW RIGHT. At one point, they were looking at New Hampshire which was much more doable for me, but also if you think I am gonna miss out on this, well LOL

listen, what happens at the cup parade... well, no, it doesn't stay at the cup parade

As someone who absolutely sobbed her way through the first episode of Pitch, I am probably definitely going to cry at the baseball game when I go

There is a part of me that says "Buy season tickets and then give away the ones you can't use." So like. If I bought season tickets would other people want to go

Do we think I can convince my bosses that taking 6 weeks off to watch women's baseball is absolutely essential and a great way to acknowledge my 10 year anniversary with the org because the WPBL released their season ticket packages and it's $18/game for the cheap one and <$40 for the expensive one

HBO Max on Instagram: "Forever connected. #HeatedRivalry" In this heartfelt conversation, a couple shares their unique journey of love, tattoos, and the blurred lines between their personal and professional lives. From matching tattoos to the challenges of b...

ps there's a spiritual follow-up

This is like. Exhibit A of "Hudson is a great actor actually" because it catches everyone off guard 😂

Lol I was just about to ask if everyone had seen the spit in my mouth bit

That I'm not sure about bc I didn't show up until 2013 lol. But yeah if you look at Shane Hollander as a reflection of Sid (and Toews and Tavares and...), you realize that Hudson Williams did his homework lol

Super hope we get an "I don't like them. I just don't. I don't like anyone on their team" moment from Hudson Williams because I think he'd be great at it

(This is the end of part 1! Next up: who could possibly have gotten a TiMER while Ilya was celebrating his cup day. Wrong answers only.)

Back to the top:

Ilya wakes to a high-pitched beep next to his face. He rolls and sits up, wedged between Sasha and Sveta. He rubs his face and looks down at his wrist.

His TiMER has turned on. It reads 00:00:00:00.

He has a soulmate. They have already met.

***

He does not remember it except in flashes: everyone drinking from the cup, the drinks flowing, Sasha and Sveta following him back to his room after everyone else has drifted home or passed out on the floor.

He finishes the bottle of vodka alone and then drinks half of another.

He goes back to Russia and throws himself into partying. His cup day is just another party, all of Andrei's best friends and the handful of people Ilya has stayed connected to. Sasha and Sveta and some of his old team.

They've never truly lingered, but Hollander tries. He asks leading questions, like he cares about Ilya's feelings on what is home. Ilya shuts him down, shuts him out as harshly as he can. It will be easier that way. Cut the cord, break it cleanly.

The silence after is deafening.

It is as he is handing off the promised glass of vodka that Ilya realizes how fucked he is. Hollander smiles up at him, loose and goofy the way he never is outside of their thing, and that's it. Ilya has to end it.

He pours himself a vodka, and then another, and when he has nearly finished that glass, the door opens. Hollander has loosened his tie, but the rest of him is far too put together for how he makes Ilya feel.

"Take off your clothes," Ilya says.

Hollander obeys so well.