The Glitter Of Fibonacci Sequins

Fandom: Heated Rivalry
Characters/Pairings: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Yuna Hollander, David Hollander, Joe, Svetlana Vetrova
Rating: general
Length: 8769
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: jukoist on AO3
Themes: Fluff, Pre-canon, Backstory, Canon LGBTQ+ characters, Kidfic: as kids, AU: fork in the road

Summary: “Ilya Rozanov,” Shane repeats slowly, letting himself taste the words. He grins. “Wow. You’re, like, a really good player. How come you’re in Canada for summer camp? Is that weird to ask? Sorry if that’s weird. I just meant-”

Shane is cut off by a hand on his mouth. He flushes.

“Too fast,” Ilya says. “My English... not good.”

“Sorry,” Shane mumbles into Ilya’s hand. Ilya grins and shakes his head, curls dancing, as he pulls his hand away.

“Is okay. Slow words. Okay?”

This year marks thirteen year old Shane Hollander's third summer at Coach Marakov's elite hockey training camp. In attendance for the first time: Ilya Rozanov, visiting from Russia. Shane isn't the most sociable, and Ilya's English isn't the greatest, yet the unlikely duo soon become the best of friends.

It's just one summer, but it makes a world of difference.

Reccer's Notes: In this story Shane and Ilya meet aged 13, at an Ottawa-based hockey camp. They become best friends despite Ilya having very little English and Shane having no Russian, and bond over being the best players at the camp, and while petting the camp cat. Ilya is withdrawn and brusque at first but Shane's artless directness wins him over. They stay in touch through adolescence and it results in a very different meeting when they next see each other at the Prospect Cup in Regina. Charming and heartwarming with great characterisation - a lovely read.

Fanwork Links: Young and Hopelessly Smitten

Fandom: Heated Rivalry
Characters/Pairings: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Irina Rozanova, Andrei Rozanov, Yuna Hollander, David Hollander, Hayden Pike, Cliff Marleau
Rating: Teen
Length: 10,713
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply. There's a plot point where Yuna and David let themselves into adult Shane's apartment with no warning in the usual annoying boundary breach.
Creator Links: KayGibs on AO3
Themes: Fluff, Mythical creatures, Magic AU, Shapeshifting, Canon LGBTQ+ characters

Summary: “He wants doll brushes because he’s seen the girls at the park brushing their plushies with them. Their dolls too, obviously. But he wants to brush that pelt you brought him-”

David sets his crossword book down, giving Yuna his full attention.

“What?”

“The pelt of fur? Looks like a wolf, or maybe one of those big cats?” Yuna says, waving her hand dismissively. “Either way, I don’t think doll brushes are the right choice. We can look into getting him a set of actual grooming tools, he needs to learn that the right tools for the right job are an important-”

“Yuna. Sweetheart.” David interrupts. “I did not buy our son a piece of dead animal as a souvenir from Russia.”

OR

Ilya loses something important at the airport; years later, Shane gives it back to him.

Reccer's Notes: There's some angst in this story, especially in Ilya's childhood, and he loses his mother at age 12 but in a different and somewhat less tragic way. Ilya and Irina are the wolf version of selkies, but due to Andrei's childish malice Ilya's pelt accidentally ends up with four year old Shane, who is thereafter inseparable from it. The story touches on scenes across their relationship from their pre-rookie meeting until they're thoroughly in love (even if they haven't yet acknowledged it), weaving Ilya's lost pelt into their history. After the story's start there's not a lot of angst, and the ending is of course happy and literally fluffy! A fun read.

Fanwork Links: Under Your Skin on AO3