Chapter Text
Corralling kids into a circle is a herculean task at the best of times. These are not the best of times in the slightest. In his fourth year working for Irena’s Retreat during the summer, Shane finally got paired with his least favorite of the counselor team. Out of 5 groups of ten, each with two counselors and one therapist, of course this year he gets the infamous Ilya Rozanov for every single round of kids coming through the camp this summer. Ilya is great with the kids but it seems all of the staff have slept with him or hope to sleep with him soon. Men and women included. Shane unfortunately doesn’t seem to fall into any of Ilya’s desired categories even though he used to fall in the friend category back in the day. So this year will surely not go as planned starting right about now. Ilya is meant to be helping Shane organize the kids but instead he’s seemingly trying to see how many children he can throw over his shoulders at one time. The answer seems to be two. But he’ll keep trying until he makes it to four. At least they’re having fun... They could use some fun.
“Okay okay rybka. Swim into circle please.” Ilya finally calls; almost instantly getting the kids to listen in time for him to make a large showy gesture towards his co-counselor. “Take it away Shane.”
“Thank you.” Shane finally sits crisscrossed in the circle between Ilya and one of the kids they’re in charge of. Ilya, even sitting as small as he can, takes up more space than all of the kids combined it seems. The little boy to his other side is small for his age and cursed with cherub cheeks. Knowing all of these kids lost someone close to them has always made Shane emotional in the few years he’s worked here but he’ll do it until he can’t anymore if it means he gets to see all these kids smile. So he swallows all of his emotions and begins doing what makes him the highest rated counselor in the crew.
“Welcome to Irina’s Retreat. Thank you so much for joining us in getting outside and having some fun. Ilya and I will be your best friends while you’re here. We will show you to your cabins in a moment but if you ever need either of us all you have to do is either call us on the walkie talkie you will find in your room or come knock on our door which is right behind us.” Ilya does Shane a favor by gesturing to it like Vanna White and successfully regaining the kids attention that Shane has sadly already lost. “We will always be available to talk or listen or help any way you need. No judgement. We are all here for the same reason, including Ilya and I when we were all your age. We come back every year because Ilya and I were able to make so many new and happy memories and long lasting friendships that helped us accept our grief and continue living happy lives. We are here for you as much as I trust you all are here for each other.”
“He is right. We are always here. Rules are simple. No hurting each other on purpose. Fire stays outside. Going outside at night is only for emergency. And if I find alcohol or drugs I take them and call your guardian. Understand?" Ilya dips his chin to look each child in the eye. They’re all so young rules like these have never been an issue but it’s an insurance thing.
“Well they’re a bit more complicated than that but you guys will be fine.” Shane adds before getting the group started with a hacky sac game to have everyone introduce themselves to the group. It’s a simple one where the children are to share their name, a fun fact about them, and if they’d like they can share who they miss today and the impact this person had on their lives. No one is obligated to share but most do anyway. Shane starts by passing the sac to Ilya who juggles it back and forth for effect before answering.
“My name is Ilya. We already know this. I am 21 years old. A fun fact about me is that I am on level 3,870 on candy crush. Sadly I will not be able to play while I am here but we have more fun things to do than that. Today I miss my mother. She was very beautiful and strong woman and she passed her beauty and strength down to me. I am excited to tell more people about her.” Ilya passes it right back to Shane which they did not agree on before this but that’s okay.
“Hello everyone my name is Shane. I am also 21 years old. My fun fact is that I do yoga every day so I can be more nimble than I look. Maybe I will show you all a few poses. Today I miss my girlfriend Rose. She was really funny and I think she made me take life a little less seriously. So I’m excited to share some of her jokes with you all.” Shane ends it with a fond smile and looks around before tossing the sac to the kid sitting across from him. He feels a short electric spark as Ilya pats his knee as if to tell him he did a good job. When he looks over, the intimidating Russian is smiling too. His smile looks kind of nice and for just a moment Shane wonders how he can get that smile to happen again. And then he wonders for a second moment why Ilya’s hands are so damn warm. It’s still early in the year so really even with a sweater it can be a little chilly in the morning, especially up in the mountains like this. He supposes it’s just one more thing to confuse him about Ilya.
Soon enough the kids are transferred to the group therapist to give Shane and Ilya time to get more settled and set up the first activity of the day. Unfortunately this leaves Ilya and Shane alone.
“So um… What bed do you-” Shane starts but Ilya doesn’t answer and instead plops right down on the bed pushed up against the largest window. Shane didn’t need all that natural light beaming on his bed anyway.
“I will be throwing welcoming party after the kids go to bed tonight. We have new counselors so I have vodka, chaser, and whisky for Americans. You will join us, yes?” Ilya asks like this is normal, meanwhile Shane has to pick his jaw up off of the floor.
“Ilya what the hell? Why did you bring alcohol? That is so against the rules.”
“Did I say it wrong? I will be throwing welcoming party-”
“No you said it right. This is a really bad idea.”
“I do it every year.” Ilya chuckles and unzips his bag to begin unpacking.
“And why was I never invited?” Shane asks with a hand to his chest. Ilya raises one eyebrow at Shane and that answers his question well enough. He’s boring, or so he’s been told by the very man he’s sharing a cabin with. “I’ll join the party but I will not be drinking. If they bust this party then I will tell them who brought the alcohol.” Shane crosses his arms.
“Who is “they”? Who will bust?” Ilya smirks.
“The camp leader. She will totally flip if she sees.”
“Really? Because she usually drinks the most out of all of us.”
Shane’s jaw has hit the floor again.
“Listen.” Ilya stands up and walks over, placing a warm hand on Shane’s shoulder. “We will have fun this year. I decided you will no longer be boring. My goal this year is to get the famous Shane Hollander to get out of his…. Cherepakha.”
“I don’t know what that means.” Shane tilts his head which Ilya finds adorable by the way.
“Green. Slow. Pretty helmet? Ninja sometimes?” Ilya mimics his neck pushing into his body as he covers his head. It would make Shane laugh if this wasn’t his ex-best-friend Ilya Rozanov he’s talking to.
“Turtle?”
Ilya’s eyes light up. “Yes. Amazing. You will get out of turtle shell. I love it.” Ilya smacks a kiss on Shane’s cheek which Shane tries to assume is a cultural thing because following the kiss he just goes right back to unpacking his things leaving Shane too his own thoughts. His thoughts which are not invaded by the nice smelling man in front of him. Since when did Ilya smell nice? And since when have his lips been soft even against stubble? Was he missing something all this time?
So this year not only will Shane have to spend almost every moment of his day with Ilya Rozanov but he also has to break rules with the most confusing guy on earth. What a fucking joke.