On Our Love – Victor Nikiforov Part 4: Little Miracles
By Spunky0ne
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Hey guys, just wanted to let you know, I decided I didn't like the plot of this story, so I have changed it. Chapter One is mostly the same, but Chapter Two's end has been completely rewritten and the story is now a family story covering Victor and Yuuri's wedding and more!
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(Having kept his commitment to sobriety, Victor embarks with Yuuri on a new adventure.)
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Chapter 1: Little Shivers
When one is a professional athlete, there is never really a good time to be sick. After all, between training and competition, public exhibitions, interviews and commercials for sponsorships, our schedules are often too full to accommodate illness. And for figure skaters, whose active season takes place during cold and flu season, Yuuri and I go to great lengths to protect our health. In addition to our daily physical training, we have constant access to a team doctor, a nutritionist and also a team psychologist to help keep everything on an even keel. Still, no one is completely safe from illness.
Not even Victor Nikiforov – skating legend.
I wake up in the middle of the night and I realize that what brought me awake was a sneeze. Not a big deal, really. Plus, I'm so groggy that I'm not sure if it was me who sneezed or if it was Maccachin (on one side of me) or Yuuri (on the other side). I'm overly warm, so I nudge the covers off. I feel a little twinge in my throat and nasal passages, but I'm too sleepy to get up to make tea. I roll over and wrap my arms around Yuuri, who mumbles cutely in his sleep, then starts to snore softly.
I wake up to the sound of a phone notification, which is not a good thing, because usually, I wake up without a clock. But this time, I've overslept, and the notification is for a message from Yakov.
"Victor, get off your lazy ass and get over here to practice! You think that after taking two months off to cure your drunkenness, you can just take it easy? I don't know why I bother with you, you're so…"
"Ugh, turn it off…" Yuuri groans, rolling away from me.
I giggle and sit up…and right away, I feel a throbbing in my head. Like all professionals, I shrug it off. I grab some workout clothes and stumble to the bathroom, regretting that I don't have time to clean up more thoroughly from last night's lovemaking, because a hot shower would feel so good right now. Yakov leaves another scathing message as I'm brushing my teeth, and I pause for a second to text him that I'm on my way.
Maret is the guard on duty in the house, and he has the coffee ready for us. I skip breakfast because my head is still throbbing and I kind of have a stomachache too. The hot coffee feels good on my sore throat.
"Remind me to pick up some throat lozenges on the way home," I sigh, leaning the seat back as Maret drives.
"You all right?" he asks, "You look kind of flushed in the cheeks and pale everywhere else."
"Eh, I'm just out of sorts because I overslept."
"Or maybe, you overslept because you aren't feeling well," he suggests.
"I don't have time to not feel well," I sigh, "Practice this morning, then Yuuri's training, then an interview and then, we're off to Japan for more interviews, a magazine spread and an exhibition. You would look like hell if your life was that busy too. At least, when I used to drink, everything didn't hurt so much. Ugh…"
He chuckles and keeps on driving. We arrive at the rink and he leaves to go hang out at the house until Yuuri's up. I feel a shiver as I head to the benches in the ice rink and sit down to put on my skates. While I'm working at the laces, Yakov comes over to give me an earful.
"You lazy little brat!" he snaps, "What are you doing, disrespecting me and wasting time I could be spending on someone who wants to skate?"
"Oh, don't be mean, old man," I complain, "Yuuri and I were meeting with our wedding organizer last night. He knows someone in Denmark who has a lovely place for hosting the wedding."
"You can think about your wedding after you work on getting your body back into shape. We already had to wait a little until you regained enough weight so that we weren't worried about you breaking something from just trying to skate while being so thin and bony."
"Thin and bony, too fat, too lazy," I grumble, "Don't you ever have anything nice to say to me?"
"Huh," the old man huffs, crossing his arms, "Do something to earn it and I'll say something nice. Until then, you deserve to be scolded! Now, get out there and warm up. I have other people to coach today."
"I've got it. I'm going…" I sigh.
I would usually argue more, but I'm feeling more shivers and the ache in my head is becoming almost as annoying as Yakov. It grows a little more annoying as Yurio enters the rink and begins his training. He gives me a little smirk and laughs sarcastically.
"Taking off the training wheels today and getting serious?" he asks in a snarky tone, "Or are you still too delicate to train properly?"
"Shut up," I mutter.
I know I shouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he got to me, but he's annoying on a good day, and this is a bad one.
I start with basics, breathing slowly and working to tune everything out. There's a strange little buzzing in my ears, and I have to work not to be distracted by the ache in my head, the continuing little shivers and the dry, scratchy feeling in my throat. I move on to practicing the step sequences from my short program, then from my free skate. I expect that moving faster will make me feel warmer, but the strange chill doesn't go away.
God, I don't have time for this shit! As if I didn't already have enough catching up to do…
"What are you doing?" Yakov scolds me as I skate by, "Are you doing this in slow motion or something? And your arms look like they have lead weights in them. Vitya, what the hell is wrong? Are you sick or just in need of endurance training?"
I ignore him and start doing spins. I can feel that they are not executed with my usual flair. My arms quickly begin to ache and want to drop while I'm spinning. Yakov continues to yell at me, and I spot Yurio looking at me and shaking his head in disgust. Normally, I don't let that get to me, but I feel like hell, and the last fucking thing I need is that little ass making fun of me.
I start with soft jumps, just singles, and instantly, Yakov snaps at me.
"Not too much to soon. No more than doubles, Vitya."
Even the jumps don't give me the body warmth I usually get from the energy I expend on them.
"No more than doubles…" I repeat sarcastically.
Sadly, I don't have the energy to be defiant, and I think that's what gets Yakov's attention and starts to make him sound genuinely worried.
"Vitya," he calls out in a less angry voice, "come here."
Of course, I'm all the way on the other side of the rink and spinning when he says it. I exit the spin, but my head continues to feel the circular motion. I'm pretty sure I look like a drunk, stumbling across the ice, and about halfway across, my head really starts to ring and my vision darkens. Literally one second, I am looking at Yakov, and the next, I find myself lying on my back on the ice, looking up at the worried faces of Yakov, Yurio, and the team doctor. I try to say something, but my teeth chatter and my breath stings in my throat.
"…fever is over thirty-nine," I hear the doctor say, "It's not dangerous, in and of itself, but he should be in bed."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I finally manage to say, "I don't have time to be sick."
"Well," the doctor says in a no-nonsense tone, "this is not a matter of choice."
"Victor?" Yuuri's scared voice says from the edge of the rink as he skates out to where I collapsed, "Is Victor hurt?"
"N-no, no, I'm f-fine," I stammer as my teeth chatter and shiver.
"Let's get you up," the doctor says, working with Yakov to get hands under my arms to lift me back onto my feet.
Yuuri takes over, letting me lean against him as we skate to the edge of the ice.
"You sh-shouldn't be near me."
"Near you? I live with you, stupid?" he chuckles, "If you're sick now, I think I've already been exposed."
"You should pick up some of this medicine on the way home," the team doctor tells us, handing Yuuri a piece of paper, "It will shorten the duration of the flu. Just keep him in bed and lots of hot liquids."
"Heh, heh," I giggle incoherently, "I think Yuuri will have no problem keeping me in bed."
"Oh my god…" Yurio groans, heading back across the ice.
"Seriously though," I complain, "you need to practice, Yuuri. And we have…"
"Shh," he says dismissively, "we're going home."
"But, Maret can look after me, so that you don't have to…" I argue.
"Stop it, okay?" he chides me, "I'm going to look after you, myself."
He's been like this ever since I came back home after Bershov tried to kill us. As tempted as I am to be annoyed by his hovering, I recall the seriousness of everything we've been through and I let him spoil me a bit.
God, Yuuri is the best lover ever.
As soon as we get home, he draws me a comforting bath, infusing the water with something herbal that his parents used to soothe him when he was ill. And he doesn't leave me in the water alone, but undresses and gets in with me. I just lie very quietly in his arms, finally feeling the warmth I couldn't before. His hands caress me so gently, I'm asleep in moments, and I don't wake until the water is starting to cool and he coaxes me out and dries me off.
"Where is my robe? I'm so cold again," I sigh sleepily.
"You need to dress lightly for fever," he reminds me.
"B-but I'm…"
"I know. I'll keep you warm."
"S-such a lovely offer," I say, smirking.
"Don't you get any ideas, Vitya," he purrs in my ear, "You need rest, not sex."
"Can't I have both?" I yawn.
"You couldn't stay awake long enough to have sex with me," he chuckles.
"Probably not, but I'll do my best."
"We're not having sex. Go to sleep," he says, tucking me in.
He climbs in on the other side and wraps his body around mine. I feel bad because I'm really worried he'll get sick too, but between the fever and the increasing congestion, aches and pains, I feel so awful, I don't want him to let go. He stays in bed with me until I'm sleeping, then when I wake, he has hot soup and tea waiting. It feels really good on my sore throat, and it makes me sleepy again. I drop off with Maccachin beside me, and I sleep until evening. Yuuri brings more soup and tea, and I drag myself to the bathroom, coughing and sneezing all the way, there and back. Yuuri is sitting on the bed, waiting, when I get back, and he's wearing a regretful expression.
"What is it? What's wrong?" I ask him as I crawl back in, under the covers.
"Well, I took care of the interview here, while you were sleeping, so that's taken care of, but Yakov phoned a little while ago, and he said that the people running our appearances in Japan are pushing for me to come, even if you can't."
"You're a big star in Japan," I chuckle, "It's fine, Yuuri. I'll be okay, here. I have the medicine that should clear me up soon, and you can have Sava go with you. Maret can stay with me."
Yuuri gives me a funny little smirk and shakes his head.
"Actually, Maret caught what you have, so you have another caretaker."
I give him a little frown and tilt my head questioningly. There is a tap on the door and Masha comes in. She crosses her arms and scowls at me jokingly.
"Well, what a surprise," she teases me, "The ice fairy is fainting like a delicate flower and being pathetic, eh?"
"Ugh, fuck off," I laugh, ducking under the blankets, "Yuuri, you can't leave me with her. She'll put gross things in my food and spread shit all over the bathroom walls!"
"That was one time, and I told you it was only so people wouldn't realize I was an agent."
"You're not an agent, you're a devil!" I complain, "And if you're here, who is taking care of my mother?"
"Mirra and Yakov have plans for most of the weekend together, so they want privacy anyway," Masha explains, "Besides, she knows how wimpy you are and doesn't want you left alone or you might faint and no one would be there to catch you."
"You're not nice," I whimper, "Yuuri, how can you do this? She's going to play mean tricks on me."
"She is not," Yuuri laughs, moving closer.
He looks at Masha with honest affection.
"Masha looked after you while you were away from me before, and she's one of the few people I would trust to take good care of you. It'll only be about five days. You'll be well before I get back."
I give a ragged sigh and capitulate.
"Fine, but when she does something mean, it will be your fault," I pout.
"Come here, Vitya," Yuuri says, wrapping his arms around me tightly, "You get lots of rest and don't worry about anything at all. I am going to go to Japan and take care of business there, then I will come right back, okay?"
"But, we were going to take some extra time to visit your parents and sister. Yuuri, you should still go and see them."
"But, that will add more time to my trip, and I'll have to train in Hasetsu without you. That's so boring!"
"You're just spoiled," I laugh, "Seriously, though, you should stay with your folks for a little while. Enjoy your time in Japan and don't feel like you have to rush back. Masha's here for the next few days while I get better, then I'll be well enough to take care of myself, and Maret should be well too."
Yuuri gives me an uncertain look.
"Come on, what's to rush back for, if I'm already going to be getting well before you get back?" I chide him, "Go and have fun. It may be the last vacation either of us has, since the wedding is about to start taking up a lot more of our time as it gets closer."
"You're right about that," Yuuri sighs, "Well, okay. I guess I can also work on some wedding preparations with my family while I'm there. We would have had to work in those things anyway…although, they will miss seeing you. They love it so much when you come to visit."
"Then, if you want me to, as soon as I am well, I will join you in Hasetsu," I offer, "What about that?"
"Hmm," he says, considering, "Maybe that would work, but you have to promise me you'll get all the way better before coming to Japan. I don't want you pushing yourself too soon and having a relapse."
"I won't. I'm going to stay in bed and make Masha have to drown me in soup and tea for a few days. She'll scare this flu away."
"I heard that, idiot," Masha says with mock sternness.
"Okay," Yuuri says, "I guess it's settled then."
Yuuri gives me a hug, then he leaves to make some phone calls about the trip to Japan, while Masha settles on the other side of the bed and watches TV quietly, letting me sleep. I swear, it feels like having my sister there, taking care of me. We've gotten so used to each other. I guess her seeing me at my worst in rehab just made us very comfortable with each other. She leaves to sleep in the guest room when Yuuri comes back, and Yuuri and I settle down for the night.
"You're leaving in the morning?" I ask, "You were able to get another flight?"
"Yeah, we were insured for illness or emergencies, so they just changed the flight for me. I called ahead and all of the reservations are made for the interviews and the exhibition. The magazine rescheduled the shoot, so we're off the hook for that, for now. Everything is taken care of. Let's just get some sleep, okay? Did you take your medicine?"
"Mmhmm," I mumble sleepily, curling up to him as he lays down.
"I don't like that I'm going to be away from you while you're sick," he complains.
"Don't worry about me," I chide him, "The medicine is already working. I feel better."
"You don't look any better," he sighs, "You've still got a nasty fever."
"And I have someone taking care of me," I remind him, "You just said that you trust Masha."
"I know. I just…want to take care of you, myself."
"Well, we are in a business that sometimes requires us to be apart a little, It's just a week and then you will be home. And it's always fun when we greet each other after we've been away from each other, right, solnyshko?"
"Yeah," he chuckles, "It is."
"Hold me for a little bit," I sigh, nuzzling closer and laying my head on his shoulder, "I want to be close to you while I can, before you leave."
He stops complaining and cuddles with me until we fall asleep. He's fussy and reluctant to leave in the morning, but Masha runs him off and makes me an amazing breakfast that puts me right into a stuffed haze and sends me back to sleep again. I have to say that, despite the fact that she still teases me pretty mercilessly with her words, you can't find a better caretaker. She is the best, teasing and all.