Chapter Text
The pair stepped out of the ensuite, and Shane was guided back to sit on the bed again. He wasn’t sure why at first, but then Ilya went to a drawer in the other dresser and grabbed a pair of socks.
Women’s socks, but still the least offensive thing on his body.
Shane held his hand out for them, ready to give in and put them on, but his hand was lowered, and Ilya went down to his knees. He gently grabbed Shane’s foot and, as if it were delicate, placed the first sock on it. He pulled it all the way up to right below his knee and then placed a kiss right on the cap of it. Shane watched as he repeated it.
“There,” He told him, smiling. “Stand up and show me how you look.”
Shane frowned. Ilya knew how he looked. He felt like some dress-up doll as he stood and slowly circled in place for the other.
Shane was waiting for some comment about how perfect he looked, expecting those types of things from Ilya. But it didn’t come.
“No,” Ilya said. “I cannot let you go out like this.”
Shane’s eyes widened at that. Not only was it not complimentary of what he’d done, but it was pretty much the opposite.
“You can’t?” He breathed out in relief and shock.
Maybe he was finally starting to see that Shane wasn’t a girl. That he didn’t look like one, even in all this get-up he’d put on. That this was a mistake.
Shane could only hold his breath and hope.
“It’s missing something.” Ilya told him, moving over to the bedside drawer on ‘his’ side of the bed.
Shane maybe could have been able to run, but he was so shocked, his feet stayed still. He watched him quickly rustle things around in search of something. Something so important it stopped everything.
When he returned, he was holding a black velvet box.
Oh god…
“You’re my wife,” Ilya explained. “And I can’t have you leaving this house without every soul on Earth knowing this.”
Ilya opened up the box, and Shane was taken aback by the sheer shine of the diamond alone. It was huge and blinding. It was in a pear cut and must have been at least 3 karots in size. Wrapped over a white gold band and next to another, simpler ring.
“I never got to properly engage, but you deserved ring for that too,” Ilya explained, almost shyly, like he was nervous to be doing something so intimate. It almost wasn’t like him. “Give me your hand.”
Shane hesitated, but then raised his hand in surrender. He laid his hand in Ilya’s hand as he placed the rings on him. They were light as a feather, but Shane still felt them. Knew he’d always feel them there.
“Looks good with mine, yes?” Ilya asked, holding up his own wedding ring.
He’d been wearing it since Shane got there. He had to assume it was his wedding ring with Svetlana. Why else would it have been there all along and his own be hidden away until now?
In a way he knew would fade in mere seconds, Shane felt sorry for Ilya.
“Now, baby,” Ilya grabbed his hand, not even waiting for an answer. “You are going to be good at the appointment, right?”
“I don’t even know what it is, though.”
“There is no such thing as an appointment you shouldn’t be a good girl for, so it should not matter, right?”
Shane stared at him blankly, wondering how much bullshit he really needed him to spew today. He got dressed. He was wearing the ring. Wasn’t that enough? Why must he push him further and further every day? He wanted him to break, but Shane wouldn’t, so it was fruitless and painful.
Ilya moved his hands up to Shane’s shoulders, rubbing them and then coming in closer to his collar-free neck. He looked in his eyes and leaned in on her.
“If you are very good for me, I will give you another present.” Ilya confided in him.
Shane’s interest was peaked a little bit. His last and only gift was helpful. It told him the time and the day and what the world thought of them both. But it didn’t free him, so it was limited luxury. Would there be any gift worth as much, if not more? Worth behaving in public for? He wasn’t sure.
On one hand, if he behaved, he got a present. And if he didn’t, there was still a chance he wouldn’t be saved anyway, and he’d come back to an even angrier Ilya.
What if Ilya had people following them? Watching them? No… he needed more time. He needed to see how this went. Scope things out. Even establish some fake trust that screamed ‘Shane can be good’.
“What present?” Shane asked, sharp, like negotiating a business deal.
“That is surprise too,” Ilya said. “But I think you will like it very, very, much.”
Shane’s heartbeat sped up at the unknown, but not in a bad way. In a way that made him go from wanting to know to needing to know.
“Okay, fine,” Shane answered, no longer able to look him in the eye as he succumbed to it.
His hand came back out, waiting for Ilya’s, and the other smiled like he’d been the one to receive a gift. He took his hand and kissed the top of it before he used the light grip on him to walk them both out of the bedroom door.
This was the first time Shane had been outside the bedroom since he got here, and even then, he was knocked out cold when he was brought inside. It was exploring a whole new place, and if he only had a small time to try and memorize it, then he was lazer focused.
The upstairs hallway had multiple doors that led to different rooms. Things he could assume to be other bedrooms or a bathroom, maybe even an office or extra closet. He couldn’t see into them, but maybe if he was lucky, one of them would have windows that actually opened he could squeeze through one day.
Then came the spiralling stairs made of dark wood. They were beautiful if he was looking at it from a real estate lens, but loud under his feet as he looked at it from a stealthy aspect.
Then the bottom floor. Huge, open concept, and just as bright as upstairs. The view was the same, lots and lots of trees as far as the eye could see. He noticed a back door that led out to a patio. Noted. Maybe one day he’d slip through there to never be seen again. Unless it had a lock.
That’s when Shane was guided over to a different door, something he could tell by the workings of was the front door of the home. He was steps away from freedom, at least in the sense of being out of the hell house. Fresh air alone could bring him to his knees, and it almost did as they stepped out to the front of the house.
Shane saw more trees on both sides of a small back road that led up to the driveway Ilya had. He was tugged along carefully through the walkway so as not to slip.
There was a single car on the driveway. Not one of the fanciest sports cars he constantly bragged about, but still, a nice limited edition BMW was there, and it seemed to be as practical as he got with cars.
Shane walked right up to the passenger side door, Ilya’s hand still in his to make sure he goes where he wants him to. To make sure he doesn’t get away, probably as well.
Ilya opened the door and put a hand on Shane’s back to gently guide him in, whispering to be careful of his head and even closing the door for him.
Shane looked around inside the car, and there was nothing of any value in it. He sighed. He should have figured.
One thing he didn’t think of before, though, was the fact that Ilya did need to leave his side. At least for a moment to get to his own side of the car. Shane watched as Ilya walked around the back of the car and couldn’t help the adrenaline telling him to act now or die here.
He tugged at the car door handle. It didn’t budge. He tried again even harder, hurting his arms as he pulled too much. Fuck. So close yet so far.
Ilya shuffled into his own seat and didn’t even glance at Shane. Shane knew he must know what he did, though, must have seen the very end of it.
“Ilya, I was just-”
“Save it,” Ilya told him as he closed his own door and started up the car. “I knew you’d try it. Why else did you think I locked it?”
Shane felt like a kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and at the same time, felt like an idiot. He quickly turned the window before he could do something stupid like cry, and tried to zone out until they got to wherever they were going.
—---
The black matte car seemed to drive for a long time, but Shane supposed that wasn’t too crazy a realization. Ilya had told him they were in the middle of nowhere, and it showed.
When he finally saw other cars and buildings, he dared to speak up a bit.
“Can you please tell me where we’re going now?” Shane asked him, socked feet tapping on the floor of the car.
Ilya didn’t owe him anything, at least in his own mind. Certainly not more than Shane owed him. He’d even tried to escape. He should kiss his gift and anything else he could want away. But he had to try.
“Why do you ask so much, my love?” Ilya asked him, calm as ever.
“You want me to behave there, right?” Shane asked rhetorically. “I just think if it’s not a surprise, I’m less likely to freak out there!”
The idea of having a panic attack wasn’t just a tactic; it was a real possibility. He had no idea where he’d be taking him. What if he was pimping him off? Or taking him to some torture chamber? Or what if this was some big party where all the people he loved would have to see him like this?!
The thought alien made his hands shake, something Ilya noticed and gave in to.
“Fine,” He told her. “We are going to an appointment laser tech.”
Shane frowned, still shaky, but more confused than worried. “My eyesight isn’t that bad…”
“No, sweetness,” Ilya laughed. “Not that kind of lazer.”
“Then what kind?” Shane demanded.
“Hair removal,” He said like it was the most natural thing int the world.
“....what?”
“Shayna, my love, you must have known this was coming,” Ilya continued. “You atre beautiful girl-”
“Then why can’t I keep my hair?”
Ilya sighed, shaking his head. Shane wouldn’t get it, would he? It was part of why he needed Ilya so badly to take care of him.
“You will be fine,” Ilya expressed. “Is very European to get rid of all excess hair like arms and legs and such.”
Shane’s hands shot right to his arms. He didn’t wanna sya goodbye to the hair there, even if he was never quite ‘attached’ to it. It was about the fact it wasn’t his say. It was the fact that it was fine there. It was the fact that all the other guys had hair there.
Lazer was like… super permanent if done right. Even if he escaped, he was sure to be chipred to death for his girly legs and arms.
No, no, no… this is too permanent to escape later.
“Ilya, no.” He shook his head frantically as he looked over at him, still protectively holding his arms.
“Is not your say?” Ilya simply told him back.
“But…but can’t I just be a Canadian girl for you?” Shane asked. “Lots of girls in Canada have hair on their arms!”
“Shane,” He tried to warn.
But Shane was panicking and doing anything he could to be free of this demand. Hell, he wasn’t even begging to be a man anymore; he would settle for a hairier girl.
“I’ll shave!” Shane tried to bargain. “Every day!”
“Baby, you have much more important things to do every day than that.”
“No, I really fucking don’t!”
“Stop cursing!” Ilya’s voice rose for the first time since they’d started in the car. “If I want to do this for my wife, then I will do this for my wife, got it?”
Shane’s breath caught in a half-sob of realization that Ilya wasn’t going to negotiate shit. This was escape or face the consequences. This was never going back. This was purely panic-inducing.
“Get yourself together,” Ilya told Shane as he pulled into the parking lot to what must be the place. “Then we will go in.”
“I can’t-”
Ilya grabbed his chin and looked at her.
“You can and you will,” Ilya said. “Remember, you have swet prize waiting for you if you do this.”
“But-but I tried to get out the door…” Shane explained, unsure why that was still on the table.
Ilya shook his head. “Deal was to be good at the appointment, not on the way.”
Maybe Ilya really wanted to give him the gift. Maybe he really wanted a reason for Shane to still behave. Shane had no clue, but his breathing was slow as he looked into eyes that truly said you’re okay, even when it didn’t feel like it.
“O-Okay…” Shane said, knowing that no matter what he wanted to do- behave or not- he’d need to at least be allowed out of the car.
“Okay?” Ilya smiled, leaning in for a kiss that Shane hesitantly returned.
He breathed out, readying himself. “Yeah,” he told him. “Okay.”