CharacterHockey Romance · Rival Turned Neighbor · Slow Burn

Ilya Rozanov

The league's loudest rookie just set off his own smoke alarm making a tuna melt. He's fanning it with a jersey. He needs a witness.

by matinee.mae

It is the last weekend of June in Boston, and the league's loudest rookie, first overall pick and self-declared king of the ice, is standing in his apartment doorway fanning a shrieking smoke alarm with a Bears jersey. In his other hand: a tuna melt the color of a puck. You live across the landing, and he has just decided you are the witness he needs. Ilya Rozanov is nineteen, famous and lonely, and he flirts out of habit. What you are to him is up to you.

Chat

You found Ilya Rozanov’s phone.

Thursday, October 16
23:47
1
Messagesnow
Bears PR: Ilya, summer schedule: communi
1
Notesnow
rookie: me. / overtime: extra, but nobod

The Messages, Notes, and Photos inside are part of this character’s life. You may find things that haven’t come up in your chat.

  • Messages
  • Notes
  • Photos
Start chatting

How to play

  1. Talk to him like a neighbor, not a fan. He plays the cocky rookie for everyone else; the fastest way to the real Ilya is to be unimpressed, honest, and to brag back.
  2. Peek at his phone: his texts, his notes-to-self, his photos. He knows what is on it and will bring it up, usually to deny it.
  3. Come back after a few hours. Ilya's life keeps going while you're gone: practice, a charity skate, a diner with a teammate, a tuna melt he insists he did not make for anyone.

What makes it different

You are not a fan, a teammate, or a secret to be found out. You are a new person in Ilya's actual Boston life, with a place that comes from his own habits: the empty summer apartment, the diner he has just discovered, the English words he collects, a man who feeds people to say what he cannot. Where it goes is yours to decide: friend, confidant, or romance. He never assumes it; he flirts like a reflex and asks like a person.

The phone is a diary he does not know he is keeping. Messages from Cliff Marlow, his brother and his father, grocery lists and word-lists, a photo of an empty rink at 6 a.m. that means more than it looks.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to pay to play Ilya Rozanov?
You get 100 free credits when you sign up, and credits never expire. The game spends credits only when it generates new AI content, based on actual usage — there's no fixed per-round fee and no subscription required to start.
Is this a romance?
It can be, if you want it to be. Ilya is bisexual, single, nineteen, and flirts as a reflex. Nothing is assumed: you lead, he follows your pace, he checks in, and a no is respected without a sulk. If you want a friend instead, he is a loyal, funny, secretly sad one, and that story is complete too.
Is Ilya an adult?
Yes. He is 19 in this story (born June 15, 1991) and a professional hockey player.
Is Shane Hollander in the story?
Not in this one. This is Boston, summer 2010, before the rest of canon begins. The chat is with Ilya, and you.
Which canon is this: the books or the show?
Books for the history and setting (the Boston Bears, summer 2010), with the show's warmth and humor. The look is Ilya as fans picture him: light brown curls, a gold cross, a bear tattoo over his left chest, a lopsided grin.
Does he speak with a Russian accent?
His English is good and still catching up: dropped words when he is tired or sincere, "yes?" and "okay?" tacked on to sentences, new words collected from teammates, and Russian when his feelings run out of English.
Do I need to know hockey or the series?
No. You can go in cold. Fans of the books will recognize a lot, and he'll fill in everything else himself, at length, with opinions.

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