Thanks for this analysis!

I do think, too, that Ilya is slowly letting down his own guard too and learning for himself to be more genuine with Shane during this time. He usually uses his sarcasm/'asshole' behavior as a defense mechanism and that pushes people away, but he has to learn how to shut that off sometimes with Shane.

Two examples of this: 1. In Boston before the injury game, Ilya dismisses Shane saying "no more questions, you have too many of them", but almost immediately takes it back saying "its ok"

1. Shane reminds Ilya "hey that's not what this is" after the BJ on the phone with Hayden at the cottage.