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    Shane Hollander works at a coffee shop, plays hockey, keeps his head down, and doesn’t ask questions he doesn’t need the answers to.

    So when a new regular starts showing up—quiet, watchful, Russian-accented, and conducting invitation-only meetings in the back—Shane notices. When that same man takes an unsettling interest in Shane’s closing shifts, his routines, and his safety, Shane does what feels sensible: he adjusts his behavior and keeps his mouth shut.

    Ilya Rozanov orders an Americano. He reads, but only in Russian. He worries when people work late alone.

    They are operating with very different definitions of danger.

    If he didn’t ask questions, he couldn’t be lied to.

    The rules were simple.

    1. Do not ask questions you don’t need the answer to.
    2. Do not share personal information freely.
    3. Do not be alone with Ilya Rozanov.
    4. Do not give him a reason to think you’re afraid.

    Series
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    English
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    10/10
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    24 Apr 2026

    Bookmarker's Notes

    Probably the best thing I've read this year.

  2. Public Bookmark *

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    “What is there to talk about?”

    “What’s there to talk about?!” Hollander scoffed, shaking his head. “You’re playing for my fucking team!”

    “I know.”

    “Why did you have to go and get traded?! You realise we’re going to have to see each other every day from now on, and play together, and-”

    “Yes,” Ilya interrupted. He didn’t want to know how long Hollander’s list was. “I know.”

    Hollander took a deep breath. “Okay, listen,” he said. “Just so we’re clear - we don’t know each other outside of playing against each other, right?”

    “Right.”

    “And we can’t- can’t hook up anymore.”

    ~

    OR: Ilya gets traded to Montreal in October 2014. He's lonely, and angry, and he misses Boston. He doesn't know if it helps that Hollander is there or not.

    title from Buckle by Florence and the Machine

    Language:
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    11 Mar 2026

    Bookmarker's Notes

    I missed two meals and read this in one sitting.
    Fucking amazing work.

  3. Public Bookmark *

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    When Viktor finally asks why Jayce stayed behind inside the Anomaly with him, Jayce stares at him as though he’s supremely disappointed by the question— as if Viktor has betrayed his own brilliance by asking something so irredeemably stupid. “How could I not? We’re partners.”

    Partners, Jayce calls them. Not for the first time, Viktor wonders: Partners in what?

    *

    Or: Jayce and Viktor survive the Hexcore, a blizzard, their own bodies, sharing a bed and all the things they’re too afraid to say. Slowly, they put themselves back together— piece by stubborn piece.

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    27 Feb 2025

    Bookmarker's Notes

    Soft and brutal. This fic hits right in the "can't quite articulate the immensity of feelings" feels.