The first thing Yuri thought when he moved into Lilia's apartment was how luxuriously big it was. Despite living alone, Lilia had 3 bedrooms and a mini dance studio complete with bars and mirrors, a living room space so large they eventually cleared the furniture away to use as a better space for Yuri's ballet practice, and even the kitchen is bigger than his studio apartment.

Yuri's tiny studio apartment was the only thing he could afford when he moved to St. Petersburg. Though he's made some money since then and could move to a bigger place, what was the point? It's not like he needed much space anyway, he'd just fill it up with more skating equipment, costumes from competitions, and clothes from his endorsements. Competitions don't pay much, and the endorsements give him great fashion for free, actually pays him to wear them, so he gladly takes them. Other than his cat Pushok, he doesn't really have anyone over at the place, even he himself is hardly there anyway. Moving to a bigger, more expensive place would just be like paying for more air, a waste of money. And now that he's moved in to Lilia's place, he's glad he's got a small cheap place, since he still has to pay the rent to keep it and leave most of his stuff there. After all, he couldn't bring everything over to Lilia's. Besides he'd have to come back to it after Lilia was done with him, whenever that is.

He's wondered why Lilia has 3 bedrooms if she lived alone. Sure it's convenient for them now, he and Yakov can get their own separate bedrooms too, but why would she bother with the space in the first place? He doesn't ask, figures it must be something between Yakov and Lilia, but doesn't want to stir up drama, especially not if that would cost him both his choreographer and his coach at this critically important time.

Senior debut. Senior debut. Funny how he doesn't feel like a senior at all. He's still the same small kitten waiting to grow up into a tiger, waiting to become, to surpass, Viktor. But he's still small now and still able to use his body before puberty fully hits him and he has to relearn everything. When he grows taller he'll have to readjust to the proportions, when he becomes heavier he'll have to sink deeper into the edges and harder onto his ankles, when he gains the bulk he always wanted he'll inevitably lose some flexibility and have to work even harder to maintain it. Now's his best shot at the gold before he has to start over again. It's now or never, he's going to break either way, so he has to make it count.

Living with Lilia and Yakov is both exactly what he expected and not what he expected at all. They watch over everything: his diet is adjusted, his sleep is tracked, his downtime is scheduled to a T, and Yuri wanted nothing less. After all, he said he'd give himself over, body and soul. Lilia works him to the bone, having him do over and seeing sloppiness in what he would have thought was perfect routines. Her eyes are sharper than a golden eagle, spotting his lines and edges from across the rink and finding fault with them, and at home she has him practice in the studio. Both she and Yakov almost constantly hound him on his technique, nagging away until he knows the words verbatim, though he respects Lilia enough not to give her lip. Yakov... not so much.

But Yuri didn't actually expect the soul part of the deal. Lilia and Yakov work together surprisingly well, scrutinizing the finer points of Yuri's routine, both on the ice and off it. He thought they would have some bad history to have divorced. And yet they also have their occasional tender moments, both with Yuri and each other. On Russia Day, Yakov bought some incredible shashlik and Lilia let them all onto her patio to watch fireworks that night, even allowing Yuri a sip of vodka. Later she actually joked about going to have him work harder the next day to burn off that delicious fatty shashlik so might as well let him have fun and get drunk, maybe a hangover too. She didn't actually let him drink any more than that sip, but still. Lilia joking.

Or the time when the Kirov Ballet where Lilia worked as a consulting instructor put on The Sleeping Beauty and she got the whole team tickets. Yuri was not too pleased to spend 3 hours in a suit watching some dumb ballet, but Yakov got extremely excited and might have even looked happy. He bought flowers that night, wore his best suit, offered his arm to Lilia to walk her into the hall, and basically behaved as if he were on a date with Lilia. She still said "I'm not getting back together with you", though Yuri could tell she was enjoying the attention. She had that little smile on her, the same one she'd make when he did well in practice. He didn't think much of the show and just dozed off on Mila's shoulder. They were all somewhat concerned with Georgi though, who ended up bawling for some reason. What an embarrassment. That man acts like a child sometimes.

There was a moment that definitely caught Yuri off guard, which was when they were at Kirov and talking to one of the in-house costume designers. Apparently this Yelizaveta Alexeyevna also designs costumes for figure skaters, not just ballet dancers. The designer Yuri typically worked with had cheap rates and was honestly very good, but when he mentioned the price Lilia insisted on Yelizaveta and offered to cover the cost herself. That's probably going to be more than fifty thousand Rubles! He can't possibly accept!

Yuri stammers then straightens out "No! I can cover the cost, I have my costume budget for this season anyway, and I have more money saved now that I'm living with you, and I'll be earning even more after I win -"

Lilia cuts in then "After you win? Already so confident before the season has even started. Alright, you pay for the costume." There was a hint of humor in her tone. She seemed impressed, even. She didn't press the issue, and said not a word more about payment.

They discuss the concept, the design, the overall aesthetic, and because of the absurd number of turns, spins and direction changes in his program, they agreed that it would be best to tie his hair back. Only after they got back to the apartment did Lilia ask to braid Yuri's hair for him. Make that two moments that caught him off guard. Yuri was not used to this sort of attention, this care. And while he's warmed up to living with Lilia and Yakov, it still comes across as out of character that his coaches were capable of generosity and tenderness.

Lilia taught him how to do a French braid across the side to hold his hair in place, while still letting it have freedom to flow at the bottom. She did the left side and had him practice the right side, patiently correcting him while he struggled. After a few attempts and a very rough looking braid, they went into the studio to go through his forms.

Yuri practices his braids in the mornings now, before heading out to practice. He's gotten somewhat better at it, but often asks Lilia to do it for him anyway. It's become somewhat of a routine for them actually. He'd ask her to do up one side, and he'd practice the other. He won't admit it, but he likes the feeling of her hand running through his hair and pulling it together. It just doesn't feel the same way when it's his own hand on his head. The feeling reminds him of his grandfather, the same feeling of warmth and connection through a simple touch. Maybe it's just an old people thing. Though he couldn't imagine Yakov ever giving him the same kind of feeling.

Little does he know, Lilia feels the same way about doing up his braids too.