Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. I'm is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended. Also, all additional characters are purely fictional, any resemblance with any person living or deceased is unintentional. Please keep in mind that I'm just a fingirl lazily browsing the internet for any background knowlegde neccessary for this fanfiction, so there is most likely wrong information included in the story. Don't ever consider anything written here true.

This is the first fanfiction I ever publish in English, so if you notice mistakes please remember that English isn't my first language and give me feedback so I can improve. Thank you very much, I hope you enjoy! ^^

Chapter 1. On love: Intruder

Otabek Altin, 19, from Almaty, Kazakhstan, had never been good with people to begin with. If his personal f-word was „friends", then his s-word was „socializing". His behavior was grumpy all over to the extent that he had been compared to a certain cat from the internet with a similar facial expression. He sure had his fans, but those certainly didn't like him for him letting them come close or interfere with his private life. He kept his distance and unlike Victor Nikiforov and Yuuri Katsuki and especially Phichit „eternal sunshine" Chulanont he had a quiet life outside the rink. He was grateful for that, as he appreciated a peaceful everyday life. And it wasn't that he didn't occasionally smile. Those occasions just happened to be rare. It wasn't really his fault.

Thinking back to the finals made him smile sometimes. On holidays or on the weekend he used to sit down in his small but cozy living room, have a cup of tea and listen to some music and sometimes, when the mood was right and the song was playful, he noticed his lips were curving upwards, just a little and he could stare out of the window but not see the gray sky but the icy dust brushed up into the cold air by the blades and the hands raised in ambition and that white gold hair floating around his face. Yuri Plisetsky had had a halo on the ice back then and Otabek couldn't help but dream about how absolutely flawless the Russian fairy's performance had been. He would never be able to get close to the gold medal himself with that sort of god around, he knew that, and still Yuri's performance had inspired him to improve his own skating, to make it not only technically perfect, but probably make even a grumpy person smile a little. It was for that memories he had never quite understood how people could call Yuri a monster. Sure, he was skating like he was out of his mind and at that early age too, but whenever Otabek thought about it, the only thing he could think of Yuri as was something divine.

When Otabek came home from the skating hall this wednesday, it had started to snow again. He was relieved when he was under the shower that warmed him up after the walk from the bus stop that was two blocks from his apartment. It was formally spring already but this year the cold seemed to stick to the mountains and lurk in the valleys and the snowfall would start to affect the traffic soon if it didn't stop over night. He decided not to go out to eat but to prepare something simple from the ingredients he had at home.

He was done with cabbage and beef and only waiting for the potatoes to be ready, when he heard the doorbell ring. It was already dark outside. He didn't expect any guests - of course he didn't, he hadn't even dried his hair - so he put on a frown and went to open the door. He was confused when he saw the blonde hair. He was even more confused when he noticed that he was not only here for some reason, but something was clearly wrong with him. Yuri stared at him intensely, but not with the usual gloomy expression, and when he finally said something, it wasn't "What the hell took you so long opening a fucking door" or something along those lines but: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have showed up like that."

Otabek didn't respond, he just stepped aside to let Yuri in, who was shivering from the cold although he was wearing a warm looking coat and a fluffy scarf with the obvious snow leopard pattern. The fairy thanked him in an awkwardly hushed voice and put down his small suitcase, before Otabek, still in only T-shirt and jersey pants, helped him out of his coat. When it hung from the hall stand alongside the scarf, Yuri spoke again and his behavior got even weirder, when he just said "I'm really sorry to intrude all of a sudden, if you want me to go somewhere else-"

Otabek didn't let him finish. "Let's go to the kitchen, I'll have some tea ready", he interrupted him.

Yuri nodded and followed him in silence.

It was only a few moments to the kitchen, but Otabek's thoughts were running wild. What could've brought the other to his place? They hadn't been in really close contact to each other since the finals a few months ago and although they had considered themselves being friends, Otabek hadn't had the urge to get closer to Yuri than he had been in Barcelona. It had been okay for him. They'd see each other at competitions and occasionally hang out or go to have a coffee together, but that was all there was to it, at least from what Otabek had planned. And now that! Yuri was not only here without letting him know beforehand, he was acting weirder than weird! Something drastic must have happened.

"Sit down", he said and gestured towards one of the two chairs at the kitchen table. He switched on the kettle and turned towards Yuri after reducing the potatoes' heat so the water didn't boil anymore. Yuri was staring at the table's wooden surface and it took Otabek a moment to come up with what was hopefully the right thing to say. "Before you tell me why you are here, I want to make clear that it's okay. You must have a reason and I'll let you stay as long as you want to."

Yuri's eyes rose and he exhaled slowly and just then Otabek figured what pressure Yuri must have felt. When he saw Yuri smile, just a little, he was glad he had said it that way.

"Thank you."

He nodded in response and fetched his cup and an unused one for Yuri and filled it with a bag of black tea each. The kettle clicked and he poured hot water into the mugs, then going to the table and sitting down after handing Yuri his tea. The fairy wrapped his slender fingers around the porcelain and Otabek wondered if it wasn't too hot, but didn't notice a change on Yuri's face who had returned to stare at the table. The steam rising from the hot water blurring Otabek's vision made the blonde boy look even more like a fairy than usual.

"I didn't know where else to go", Yuri began hesitating and the sound of his voice sent chills down Otabek's spine. He sounded so vulnerable. "I found that although everyone pretends to be my friend the only person I can be frank with is probably you. Because when you said that we are alike back then in Barcelona, I thought the same. Just that you are way more mature than I am. You are so grown up, you don't let your feelings puppeteer you like you are a total jerk. I admire you for how you handle everything. Like just now, everyone else would have asked me what's going on even before letting me in their house but you even managed to calm me down. That's impressive." He looked up to Otabek and frowned a little. Otabek saw something break inside the other skater and prepared himself mentally for what was going to follow.

"My grandfather died."

He hadn't prepared for that. His jaws clenched and he could just stare at Yuri, the little Yuratchka, who didn't even seem as close to tears as he should be.

"When?", Otabek uttered after a moment and it didn't sound like his voice at all. No wonder Yuri had behaved strangely.

"Three weeks ago", Yuri answered and this time Otabek gasped. Three weeks already?

"Please don't blame me for not telling anyone, I had a hard time keeping it a secret from the news and I was really busy and then I just couldn't think clearly. It was really… well, it wasn't the easiest three weeks of my life, at least..."

Otabek nodded. "I can imagine that", he stated, but then corrected himself: "Well, no, I think I can not imagine that, and I'm glad."

Yuri chuckled a little, but there was – of course – no joy in it.

"Why didn't you come earlier though", Otabek continued and earned an irritated look from Yuri's side of the table.

"What do you mean?"

Otabek put up his frown again. "I mean, what did you do for three weeks instead of coming straight to my place?"

Yuri sipped on his tea. "About that...", he sighed and put his cup down and Otabek was bewildered by how calm Yuri seemed to be. Hadn't his grandfather been the number one important person in his life? There wasn't a single tear shimmering in his tourmaline eyes although Yuri usually wasn't known for being very talented when it came to hiding his feelings. "After the funeral I moved back in at my mother's place. Yakov tried to avoid that, but as I am underage, there wasn't much he could do. So I didn't have a choice. Consider yourself lucky, there's nothing worse than moving back in with your mother, I swear to God. I couldn't even keep my cat, because she has an allergy. Damn woman. I left Boginya with Lilia."

Otabek didn't answer. That was worse than anything he had imagined in that short amount of time he was confronted with Yuri. To be honest, he hadn't had a chance to picture what might have been going on, but this was awful beyond imagination. He had to say something, didn't he? He didn't know what to say though.

"They told me during training", Yuri suddenly continued and Otabek looked towards him again. "Mila said that Yakov wanted to see me in the locker room and I thought What the hell did I do wrong this time that he can't tell me in front of the others and when he said it I didn't understand what the words meant. He had to repeat them like I was some kind of retarded idiot and even then I couldn't say anything so I just nodded and got dressed and went home. My mother was waiting for me there and we drove to the hospital and they let me see him and it was so surreal. I just stood there and stared at him and he looked like he was only sleeping. We went home and it took me 'till I went to bed before I could cry. It was… strange." Yuri's voice was still calm. Creepily calm.

"How did it happen?", Otabek dared to ask.

"It was a heart attack. He was shopping food and when he loaded the stuff into the car he just collapsed. From what you could tell from the ingredients he had planned on making Piroshki. I'll probably never get to eat some again. My mother isn't very skilled in the kitchen."

Otabek couldn't move when he finally saw tears dwelling in Yuri's eyes and the boy dwindled to a sore, shivering figure, hiding his overflowing eyes behind his hands, crying inaudible. It was probably the worst thing he had ever seen in his life.

He finally got up from the chair, and closed in to Yuri and when he crouched down next to him, the blonde boy didn't resist as Otabek put his arms around him and held him tightly. Otabek had never been good with people to begin with, but holding Yuri who clung to him sobbing like the hurt child he was felt like the most appropriate thing he could do.

t.b.c.

*Boginya means goddess, it's the name of Yuri's cat.

BGM: Beethoven