Let Me Take Care of You
Written by: SadieAnnabethMellark ( porkcutletbowltrash)
Summary: Yuri's growth spurt hit and it has been anything less than fun. With NHK only a few days away, Yuri is still adjusting to his new height. Maybe some cuddles from Otabek will help ease some worries.
o.O.o
"Damn it," Yuri mumbled as he pulled off his shoes from where he had only moment earlier collapsed onto the couch.
Otabek sighed softly and leaned his head against Yuri's shoulder as his own feet ached in their shoes, "You did a number on yourself today."
"NHK is in five days. I'm competing against JJ and Katsudon there and if I don't place second or higher, I won't have a chance to bump Katsudon or Viktor off the podium at the GPF."
Otabek just nodded, "You'll do just fine."
Yuri was quiet as he laid his head on top of Otabek's, nosing into his lover's sweet smelling hair. He cooed to himself softly as he felt himself relax into the couch cushions for the moment, snuggling into his boyfriend's side. The fact of the matter was, Yuri wasn't sure he could place second or higher. JJ and Yuuri both had been putting up good programs this year and they were both extremely talented. It didn't help that he had hit his growth spurt mid-season. He'd shot up five inches in height within a span of a week and a half and the adjustment had made him extremely clumsy on and off the ice. His center of gravity was lower now and he found it hard to land even triples with the adjustment. He'd just managed to make it through Skate Canada with only one fall but if he was going up JJ and Yuuri both in the same qualifier, he'd need to bring his all, puberty be damned.
"Yura…"
"Hmm?"
"You're in your head again. Don't worry, babe. You'll do just fine. You're finally getting used to it. It'll just take a few more run-throughs and you'll be back up to performance level again. Everyone goes through this at some point in their career…"
"Not all of them happen to hit it though in the middle of the season though…"
"It just means that it'll really show how good of a skater you are. You're adjusting to the difference and you're winning gold."
"It doesn't mean that this will be an uphill battle."
"Isn't it always when competing against Yuuri?"
Yuri paused, "Yeah."
They lapsed into comfortable silence once more, wrapped up in each other as both of their feet stung and ache with bruises and cuts. It was common for both of them, but even after years of training and being on the ice, the stings of pain from training in skates for over eight hours a day and the dull ache from constantly falling or landing wrong from jumps never lessened. It was just part of the sport; part of the job and you had to embrace it to make it.
The other part was taking care of your feet so you could go out the next day and give it your all.
Otabek could feel Yuri starting to slip off into a light sleep; his precious tiger had worked himself to the bone recently trying to get back up to performance level with his sudden body change. It didn't matter if Yuri was just having an offseason, he knew Yura was determined to bring home that shining gold medal and add it to their glimmering collection. And most of all, more than anything, Otabek wished that Yuri could bring home that medal too. Of course, he wanted to be the one bringing home the gold to add to their collection, but he knew that no matter how hard he tried, his chances of getting to the podium were slim, especially with both Yuris' and Viktor competing (they had been dubbed the podium family for a reason). It was his driving force in practice so he could finally knock his boyfriend off the gold pedestal, but it was also something that he stomached happily and silently; Yuri was so remarkably beautiful with tears of excitement and joy in his eyes as they place the shining gold around his neck.
The Khazah skater purred softly to himself as Yuri's blonde hair brushed softly against his cheek – he could hear the soft snuffle snores that his boyfriend was putting off as he dozed.
Leaning down, he pecked a soft kiss to his lover's hair to rouse him, "We should take care of our feet before we get too comfy."
Yuri sighed but hummed, "Yakov is gonna kill me if I don't take care of myself."
"Not that you listen to his rants…"
Yuri gave a soft gaspy chuckle of amusement, "He doesn't need to speak to punish me. He'll send Viktor over to perform all those damn quads of his."
Otabek could hear the bitterness pouring from Yuri, "You'll be back at it in no time."
"I'm almost as tall as—" Yuri hissed as he pushed himself up off the couch and onto his throbbing feet, "I'm almost as tall as Viktor and I'm officially taller than Yuuri. They can both do quads."
"But they already grew into their growth spurts, нәресте." Otabek pushed himself up off the couch and followed after the blonde who was marching himself into the bathroom.
"I doubt the judges will take the added difference into consideration when doling out scores."
Otabek hummed softly as he watched Yuri lean on the counter and roll his shoulder to release the building tension there. He came to stand behind his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around the blonde's thin waist and laying his cheek in between Yuri's shoulder blades, "You're stressed…"
"And you're not?"
Otabek shook his head softly and stood on tiptoes to lay his chin on over Yuri's shoulder, "No, because I believe in you."
Yuri smiled and rolled his eyes at Otabek's reflection in the mirror, "That's corny."
"Call it what you want." Otabek pressed a kiss to Yuri's neck as he gazed at the blonde's reflection, "I call it devotion."
Hazel eyes met green in the mirror, "I love you, Beka."
"I love you too." They swayed together in the mirror as they're eyes trained on each other, Otabek's chin still perched on his lover's shoulder as they cuddled together.
"Shouldn't I be the big spoon now though that I'm taller?"
Otabek smiled and pressed another kiss to Yuri's neck, "If you want to, but there's nothing wrong with being a taller little spoon. There's just more to hug onto."
An elegant smile graced Yuri's lips as he leaned back into Otabek's arms the same way he did when he was smaller, "Okay…"
It had been a long time since they had gotten to cuddle like this. When Yuri had shot up in height, he had been plagued with growing pains for weeks and had added the soreness from practice on top of it. It was hell, the pain and no matter how much he loved Otabek or how much he wanted his boyfriend's warm embrace around him, he would painfully ache when Beka would accidentally grip too tightly on the large bruises on his hips or cause him to shift too quickly in the throes of sleep. Otabek's very snuggly sleep ridden behavior never really bothered him (it was one of the many reasons he loved Beka, actually), but the constant ache that had plagued him had pushed him away from his boyfriend's octopus cuddles for a bit, something that had upset them both.
"Let me take care of you?" Otabek hummed softly, nosing at Yuri's ear, "Your feet have to be hurting you. They grew with the rest of you."
Yuri didn't realize he was drifting off in the warmth of Otabek's arms once more until he had to respond, "Mmmm."
"Let me take care of your feet and then we can take a nap."
"Sounds like a good plan," Yuri hummed softly as he turned in Otabek's arms to press a kiss to his boyfriend's forehead.
Beka hummed at the contact before gently pushing Yuri down onto the closed toilet seat with a whispery mumble, "Just let me grab the first aid kit."
o.O.o
It had turned out that their first aid kit in the bathroom had been severely lacking in materials, but they had been able to find the first aid kit in their kitchen to have adequate supplies for helping take care of both of their aching feet. Otabek perched himself on the floor in front of Yuri who was already pulling off yesterday's wrappings with a sigh.
"They're looking better than they did yesterday," Otabek mumbled as he pulled Yuri's other foot into his lap and began to inspect the sport inflicted wounds on his lovers slender feet and ankles. Blisters littered Yuri's cream-colored skin and areas from where the now too small skates had rubbed a deep red, raw skin. Yuri's heels had deep cracks that had finally stop bleeding finally, though they still looked nasty and like they hurt.
"My new boots should be in tomorrow." Yuri gazed at the foot that he was finishing unwrapping as Otabek's fingers rubbed soothing circles into Yuri's other ankle.
"That's good. Are you gonna have time to break the skates in before NHK?"
Yuri looked up from his injured foot to grin at Beka, "I sure as hell am not gonna allow five inches and two shoe sizes to keep me from bringing home that gold medal."
Otabek felt his own smile come to his lips as he reached for the small tube of super glue and alcohol swabs to clean the wounds. Yuri hissed at the sting of the alcohol but stayed still as Otabek cleaned the cracks on his heel and gently massaged the blisters and raw skin while the alcohol dried. He used the precision of a surgeon as he carefully super glued the cracks of Yuri's heels together to keep them from breaking open once more overnight.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Yuri asked as he slid his other foot into the Kazakh man.
"This is what the doctor's do…"
"But they're also doctors."
Otabek grinned at his boyfriend, "Don't let them fool you. They use super glue for a lot of injuries. Plus, I cleaned the wound and it's not bleeding anymore."
"My foot isn't gonna fall off or anything?"
"I promise. And even if it did, you wouldn't let it get you down."
"You're right." Yuri toed at Otabek's soft t-shirt as his boyfriend's fingers continued to rub soft soothing circles into the broken skin.
"I gotta be right sometimes, don't I?"
Yuri smiled and shook his head lovingly, "Even when I'm wrong, I'm right Beka."
"Oh?"
"Even though I'm wrong about the super glue, I was still right about you."
Otabek looked as he grabbed the gauze from the first aid kit, his eyebrow raised in question, "Right about me?"
Yuri just smiled as hazel eyes met green ones, "I was right in allowing myself to fall in love with you."
A/N :( Hello, Lovelies! I'm so happy to finally be releasing this otayuri fluff after a lot of viktuuri fluff the past month and now it is finally here! How did you all like it? I was in desperate need for mutual caring otayuri and I'm so happy I could fulfill Agape/Kitsuneart's wish with it. I hope you enjoyed this lovely! I hope you all had a happy holiday and are ready for the new year. - Sammy :D)
