Chapter Text
“You just know you’re wrong, that’s why you don’t want to take the bet” Marlow taunts him, and he knows exactly what buttons to push.
“You want me to let you choose next tattoo if I lose?” he asks, clearly thinking about it - he’s never been able to refuse a good bet.
“And we go get it immediately” he adds, “So you can’t chicken out. I know a place!”
“And if I win you will get tattoo I choose, yes?” he asks, Marlow nods.
“Seems fair” he grins, he already knows he’s winning this one. He played pool all through college, making extra cash on the side swindling idiots out of their money. You had to be clever if you came from meager means. The scholarship covered some of his expenses, but he did always enjoy a good party.
“Promise you won’t choose something shitty, though” Marlow says, trying to fool Rozanov into thinking he’ll actually win.
“I was thinking, my face on your chest, yes?” Roz laughs, “So your girlfriend has prettier face to look at when she is on top of you!”
“You’re gross”
“Yes, you are too”
[C. Marlow]✅ posted a live video.
Shaky video of Ilya Rozanov sitting in a tattoo parlor on a chair, the video steadies and zooms in on an annoyed looking Rozanov, “You scammed me, Marly” he says, “Very evil, would be very mad if I did not respect you for it”
“You don’t have to if you really don’t want to” he says, Ilya Rozanov shakes his head.
“No, bet is bet” he says, “Just nothing too big, yes?”
“Of course not” he grins, showing the camera the work the tattoo artist is doing. It’s a small tattoo on his collarbone. He zooms in to reveal the number 24 inside of a heart.
“Okay, I’m done” the tattoo artist tells him, taking a wipe and wiping off the excess ink from his skin, “You know how to take care of it? Wait 8 hours, then remove the cover and rinse it off gently before applying moisturizing cream. No sun, no swimming for 8 days”
Ilya nods, then goes to the mirror to check it out.
“So, what do you think?” Marlow grins, Rozanov has gone eerily quiet - his eyes wide as he turns to Marlow and looks straight into the camera.
“How did you find out?”
[video ends]
Shane has been on edge, the way he always feels when he hasn’t been able to see Ilya for over a week. They knew it would be hard, his last year in Boston, being apart for so long now they’re actually something real. He came out to his team last week - which has been hard enough. Foolishly he thought that they’d be more supportive - feeling comforted by JJ and Hayden’s reaction to him coming out. He should’ve known better though. He feels like an idiot for being so optimistic, for expecting a warmer response instead of the cold shoulder and the suddenly quiet groupchats.
They’re in the middle of the play-offs, and he’s lucky he doesn’t have too much time to overthink it. Trying to tire himself out with early skating sessions and rewatching game tape from other teams. Trying to find weaknesses in his competition, even scouring youtube for any possible advantage he can use in the next game. He feels even more pressure to win than he did before. It’s on youtube that he finds it, “Raiders’ fans react to Cliff Marlow’s live video - Ilya Rozanov tattoo”, it’s the cover to the video that makes him pause, the tattoo.
He freezes, takes a deep breath, and then takes out his phone.
There’s a text from Ilya, “Marlow bet me, I lost, he picked tattoo” it reads, after two missed calls, “Forgive me, my love”
He swipes open his phone, replying with a simple ❤️ before opening the video.
The reactions are mostly people laughing, thinking Rozanov is in on the joke. He feels at ease, reading the comments on the video after. People think it’s hilarious, both Marlow having Rozanov get his rival’s number tattooed, as Rozanov acting like his secret love affair was revealed. He feels giddy, for some reason, seeing his number in Ilya’s skin. He can’t help himself, opening instagram and finding Ilya’s repost of the video, typing out a comment “Should I get a matching one?”
His notifications blow up instantly with people liking his comment, and a reply from Ilya follows not soon after, “Let’s make a bet ;) “