Hello everyone, Holly here, so for new year Pandora asked for Yuri and Otabek ghost hunting and this is the result. If any of you have ever seen the English Dub of an old anime called Ghost Stories you'll get some of the references and the sense of humour, if you haven't watch one of the compilation videos on YouTube and it will make a lot more sense. Hope you enjoy this silliness. :)
TOP TEN SCARIEST STORIES THAT WILL STOP YOUR HEART!
Yuri knows that it's just ridiculous click bait and probably filled with a bunch of clips from Paris Hilton films but that doesn't stop him opening the article anyway. He's bored and he's pretty sure he's already seen every cat video YouTube has to offer twice over now so this is a rabbit hole he'll happily go down (well... it's either that or see just how weird the pop up of a nice lady with her breasts out called is).
Surprisingly it is actually about what it said in the title, which is astonishing and rather nice, and Yuri gets to reading. While each of these stories isn't exactly what Yuri would call heart stopping or spine chilling or any of the adjectives they normally use for these articles it is at least entertaining. In fact most of them are easily explained away if one really stopped to think about it logically – but there is one that really does send a chill up the back of his neck as he reads. Holy shit this is awesome!
It's an old school house that was once a vibrant place and now is falling apart at the seams. The rumour is that someone hanged themselves in one of the old music rooms and the school has been haunted ever since. A spate of more suicides and mysterious deaths caused the school to close and the government is pushing for it to be demolished but a group of Born Again Bettys started raving about letting the spirits go to Jesus and they're trying to stop that.
Yuri loves reading stories like this. When it's the off season and he has nothing much to do he inhales stories like these like he's starving for it. He needs something to occupy his mind and this is the perfect thing to be able to do that. He's always wanted to be able to explore one of these places, mostly because he'd love to comment on one of these articles and say the rumours are all bullshit because he's actually been there and now he might actually have a chance.
The school house is in St. Petersburg and probably about a twenty minute walk away. He could totally go... he could totally go and check the place out. There's no such thing as ghosts so he would easily be able to explain away all the moaning and groaning heard coming from the music room where the first person died. It's probably just people sneaking in to tag the place or to have sex anyway.
He wants to go and check it out but at the same time he doesn't want to go alone. Not because he's scared or anything, no way in hell! It's just that there are always a lot of police hanging around to try and get rid of the protestors and because people really aren't supposed to go into derelict buildings. Yuri needs someone to keep an eye out for him as he sneaks in through the window and he knows the perfect person.
[8:24pm] FROM ME: Hey, you free to call?
It only takes a minute for Otabek's name to light up the screen as he calls. Yuri answers, hands trembling with anticipation and excitement.
"You okay Yura?" Otabek asks. "You sounded a little stressed in your text."
"I'm fine," Yuri says hurriedly. "I've found something totally cool that we have to go and look at."
"Oh yes?"
"I've found a haunted house online that's just round the corner from me and we have to go and check it out!" Yuri gushes. He's so excited that he can barely hold it in.
"Oh okay," Otabek says sounding as if he's almost disappointed it's not something more important.
"Okay?" Yuri echoes. This is the most exciting thing he has discovered in ages and Otabek is dismissing it like it's nothing. If he's honest, he's a bit put out by it.
"What?" Otabek asks sensing Yuri's change in tone, even down the phone he can hear that Yuri is displeased.
"Be more excited!" Yuri cries.
Otabek chuckles. "Sorry," he says. "Ask me again."
"It's no fun if you tell me to," he pouts and folds his arms over his chest, looking like a grumpy toddler.
"Please tell me again," Otabek begs. "I'll be more excited this time, I promise I will."
"Fine," Yuri huffs. "I found this creepy old school house online that's supposed to be haunted, which is total bullshit, but anyway it's not far from where I live so I wanted to go and check it out."
"And you need me to come with you?" Otabek asks, sounding confused and Yuri can't believe that he's having to explain everything to him. He's so dense sometimes!
"I don't need you to come with me," he sighs, exasperated. "I want you to come with me because it will be something fun we can do together. We can film it if we find anything and if we prove it's all bullshit that will be even better."
"Won't it be dangerous?" Otabek asks, not actually sounding the least bit concerned. "Isn't this supposed to be a derelict building you're talking about going into."
"Well yeah," Yuri says rolling his eyes even though Otabek can't see him. "That's half the excitement."
"Right."
"Any more holes you want to pick in this plan?" Yuri asks. "Because I'm going with or without you but it would be more fun if you came with me."
"What exactly are you hoping to find?" Otabek asks.
Yuri shrugs to himself. "Well I'm expecting to find an old empty school house but if I'm really lucky there might actually be something otherworldly."
"Yura you're aware that ghosts don't exist right?" Otabek asks as if he's talking to a small child.
Yuri huffs again. "I am perfectly aware of that yes."
"Just checking."
"All I'm saying is that it would be cool to go and check it out," Yuri says.
"And maybe I don't fancy the idea of explaining to Yakov why you ended up in the emergency department because you fell through the floor of this place," Otabek says.
Yuri doesn't have a response to that, partially because he hasn't actually thought about that. "Oh don't be such a loser, it's fine," Yuri says. "We'll get in, we'll get out and no one will even notice."
"I'm just coming with you to make sure you don't injure yourself," Otabek says.
Yuri rolls his eyes again. "Okay mum."
"So when do you want to do this?" Otabek asks, ignoring the 'mum' comment.
"Now."
"Woah!" Yuri squeaks as he skids on some black ice underfoot, catching himself on Otabek's arm.
"I did tell you to wear something more sensible than canvas shoes with no grip," Otabek points out.
"Yeah, yeah whatever," Yuri says as he begins to pick his way a little more carefully over the frozen ground to a boarded up window that he could easily crawl through if he somehow got rid of the boards.
"What's your plan now?" Otabek asks as Yuri tries to pull one of the boards off.
"I'm trying... to get... inside," he replies, sentence punctuated with grunts as he tugs on the board.
"You're going to slip over again if you're careful," Otabek points out, watching him.
Yuri huffs, brushing the grime off his hands as best he can and glares up at Otabek. "You know you could help me out here. I saved you from an evening of playing Halo and monkey spanking."
"Not really my plan for the evening but okay," Otabek chuckles as he joins Yuri. He grabs the largest board and, with one swift tug, pulls it off. The wood cracks and splits under Otabek's strong grip and Yuri stares up at him in awe.
"Wow you're so strong!"
Otabek chuckles as he pulls another board off. "I could probably lift you over my head if I wanted."
"Wow!" The stars are almost visible around Yuri's head as he watches Otabek pull off more boards until he's made a hole big enough for the two of them to get through. He stands to the side and gestures to the hole. "After you."
"Thanks."
Yuri climbs through easily and turns on the torch on his phone once he's inside. Looking around he sees that he appears to be in some kind of office. There is an old, sun damaged photograph of a woman on the wall. She has a stern face, short cropped hair and is wearing the ugliest pant suit Yuri has ever seen. The plaque underneath her photo says that she was the principle of the school when it had been open and the more Yuri thinks about it the more that makes a lot of sense.
"You alright?" Otabek asks appearing at his side.
"Yeah," Yuri replies snapping himself out of his thoughts.
"You sure? You were staring at that photo pretty intensely," Otabek observes.
"Just thinking," Yuri replies.
"Care to share?"
"Nothing important," Yuri says with a shrug. "Just that all principles look like lesbians."
"No they..." Otabek stops and thinks about that. "Actually you might be on to something there."
"Anyway forget about the lesbians."
"I'm sure there's some straight men out there who would be very unhappy at you for saying that," Otabek laughs.
"Oh shut up and let's go," Yuri says giving Otabek's arm a tug.
"Yura I'm really not sure about this," Otabek says as they step out into the corridor, floorboards creaking loudly underfoot. "It looks like the floor might cave in."
"Oh come on Otya, where's your sense of adventure?" Yuri asks grinning at him over his shoulder as he pulls out his phone and switches on his torch.
"I'm just trying to make sure that you don't end up with a broken neck," Otabek laughs.
"Whatever, when you're done being the constant presence of guilt, I want to see more," Yuri says.
"Thanks for that," Otabek says flatly.
Yuri opens his mouth to make a witty retort but is cut off by what sounds like a low groan coming from somewhere inside the building. His heart stops and he grabs onto Otabek's arm. "Oh my god what the hell was that?!"
"Probably just the wind," Otabek says sounding as calm as anything, which Yuri finds incredibly comforting and incredibly frustrating in equal measure.
He hurriedly lets go of Otabek's arm and clears his throat to prove that he's not scared. "Come on let's go," he says continuing down the corridor.
"Okay," Otabek says and follows.
The two of them walk in silence for a few minutes and the silence is like torture for Yuri. It allows him to hear every tiny sound – the wind rattling the boards, the creak of the floor underfoot, the faint sound of humming...
"The fuck Otabek?" Yuri growls as he realises the humming that had been sending a chill down his spine is not only coming from Otabek it's The Theme of King JJ of all things.
"Sorry, it's in my head," Otabek says unable to stop himself from laughing.
"Well don't!" Yuri snaps. "I don't need to think about that shithead right now."
"You getting scared?" Otabek asks completely seriously. There is no hint of mocking or teasing in his voice but he's hit the nail on the head and that pisses Yuri off more than even the humming.
"No I'm not fucking scared," Yuri snaps, glaring. "It's just annoying having to think about him."
"If you're sure you want to go on," Otabek says shrugging.
"I do... just no more humming," Yuri grumbles.
"Understood," Otabek says saluting him.
Yuri shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "You're such a dick, you know that right?"
"I can go," Otabek says with a shrug and turns to leave.
"No wait!" Yuri cries and grabs Otabek's arm at the elbow. Otabek turns to look at him over his shoulder and Yuri can feel an embarrassed flush creeping up the back of his neck. "I'm sorry," he says and he hates how pitiful he sounds. "I didn't mean it. Please stay."
Otabek smiles fondly and ruffles Yuri's hair. "I'm just teasing you, I won't leave you alone in a place like this."
"O... okay," Yuri mumbles but he still doesn't let go of Otabek's elbow.
"Do you want to keep going?" Otabek asks after a pause.
"Yeah," Yuri says and finally lets go. He turns and heads back down the way they had been wandering.
They walk together in silence for a little longer, Yuri maintaining that it's because he needs to concentrate on where he's putting his feet. The floor is getting more and more treacherous and Otabek may have been right when he said it might collapse. Yuri keeps trying to ignore all the sounds around him, telling himself it's just an old building creaking. That is until he hears something that sounds a hell of a lot like someone is calling his name.
"Oh my god what the hell was that?" Yuri squeals, jumping and grabbing hold of Otabek's arm.
"What was what?" Otabek asks in reply.
"Please tell me you heard that," Yuri whimpers, "or that it was you trying to be funny."
"I haven't done anything," Otabek chuckles. "Last time I got yelled at."
"Oh..."
"You're probably just imagining things."
"Yuri thinks about this for a moment. He must be, there are perfectly reasonable explanations for all of this and he must be letting the rumours about the place get to him. His mind is playing tricks on him and he needs to get his head back into reality. "Y... yeah," he says although he doesn't sound too sure about that. "You're right, just my imagination."
This time as they continue on Yuri doesn't let go of Otabek's arm but instead finds himself clinging tighter every time he hears something. Otabek feels solid and strong against him and Yuri likes having him there to reassure him, even though Otabek doesn't really say all that much. He's sure that his face must be bright pink but it's dark so hopefully Otabek can't see.
His heart is pounding in his chest and he's not sure if that's because of being in this much creepier than he thought old school house or whether it's the warm solidity of Otabek's bicep under his fingers. It feels nice and it's not the first time he's had thoughts about Otabek gathering him up in his arms. Maybe carrying him over to a bed or pushing him up against a wall... maybe not one of these walls that looks like it might give in under the slightest touch but still.
"Hey Yura," Otabek begins, finally breaking Yuri out of his altogether inappropriate thoughts.
"Y... yeah?" Yuri asks ignoring the tiny waver in his voice, hoping that Otabek doesn't notice it too.
"Do you have enough battery on your phone to keep using your torch like that?"
Yuri is about to answer 'of course, I charged it before I came out I'm not a moron' but his phone answers for him. It beeps twice before going off and the light of the torch going out too. "Oh shit!" Yuri mutters into the darkness.
"No worries we can use mine, I just need to find it," Otabek says.
"Where is it?" Yuri asks. He can feel the darkness closing in on him now that there's no light at all and he feels like his legs have turned to jelly. He holds on to Otabek tighter even though he knows that's probably not helping.
"It's in one of my inside pockets but, ironically, I need some light to get it out," Otabek replies.
"Right."
"This looks like it could be a classroom," Otabek says gesturing to the door nearest to them with a sign over it that reads '3-E'. "There might be a window inside I can use."
"Okay," Yuri mumbles and he hates the fact that he sounds like he's going to cry.
Otabek opens the door and Yuri looks up to see a figure standing in front of the window. He opens his mouth to say something to warn Otabek in case he hasn't seen anything but before he can he feels something cold hit the back of his neck. He turns around but there's nothing there and there is a crashing sound from somewhere nearby.
"Otabek!" he cries loudly, finally letting the fear get the better of him as there's no such thing as ghosts stops working.
"What?"
Otabek turns to Yuri and as he does Yuri jumps into his arms, holding tightly onto his neck. It takes a second for Otabek to register what's happening but he wraps his arms around Yuri as he clings to him. Yuri buries his face into Otabek's shoulder, he feels safe in Otabek's arms and he tightens his hold. The smell of Otabek's aftershave is making him dizzy and that coupled with the furious pounding of his heart is making it impossible for him to think straight.
"Yura are you...?" Otabek begins but is immediately cut off but Yuri pulling away from his neck and crashing their lips together.
The longer it goes on the more Yuri realises he has no idea what possessed him to kiss Otabek but he's not stopping. He's tightening his hold and pressing himself right up against Otabek's body, loving the feeling of Otabek's arms around his waist and his lips moving against his as they kiss.
"Wow..." Yuri gasps as they finally pull apart for breath. "That was..." He can't quite find the right words but Otabek seems to understand exactly what he means.
"Yeah it was," he says equally as breathless.
"Wanna... wanna do it again?" Yuri asks feeling a heat creep up the back of his neck.
"Hell yes," Otabek replies and pulls Yuri in for another hot, lingering kiss.
Yuri melts into the kiss as one of Otabek's hands comes to tangle in his hair. It only gets worse as Otabek's tongue flicks over his top lip, asking for more. Yuri is only too happy to oblige and opens his mouth, allowing Otabek to slip his tongue passed Yuri's open lips. As Otabek's tongue drives him wild Yuri feels himself moaning into the kiss, loving every second of it.
His stomach flips and he allows his hands to slip down over Otabek's chest, over his hips and onto his backside. He gives it a good, firm squeeze and Otabek groans into his mouth. He squeezes it again and Otabek takes his bottom lip between his teeth and drags them over it, pulling a soft moan from Yuri as he does. Otabek presses another soft kiss to Yuri's lips and pulls back to look at him.
"You're beautiful," he says.
"So are you," Yuri says, his cheeks heating up.
"Glad I finally found a reason to kiss you," Otabek says, a smile spreading across his face.
"What?" Yuri asks, eyes wide. Otabek's been thinking about kissing me?
Otabek chuckles and brushes Yuri's fringe out of his eyes. "I've been thinking about kissing you for a while now."
"Really?" Yuri can't actually believe what he's hearing and it seems crazy that Otabek would want to kiss him but apparently he does and it's taking a while for that to sink in.
"Yes," Otabek tells him, pulling Yuri forward so that he can press a kiss to his forehead.
Yuri's face catches fire and he thanks the darkness that it can't be seen. Then he suddenly remembers where they are and why he got so jumpy in the first place.
"Um... what's that?" he asks.
Otabek's entire body suddenly stiffens. "That's... um... sorry about that, I just... ah... having you jump into my arms and kiss me like that plus the sounds you were making..." Otabek groans, dropping his head onto Yuri's shoulder. Yuri suddenly feels exactly what Otabek is talking about and his face could probably fry an egg it's so hot.
"No I didn't mean that," Yuri says hurriedly. "I mean that." He points over to the figure who hasn't moved at all while they've been locked in each other's embrace. Otabek reaches into his jacket, fumbles around for a bit and finally pulls his phone out. He shines his torch onto the figure to see what's been waiting in the shadows. Half skeleton, half organs Yuri almost wants to jump into Otabek's arms again.
"It's just an anatomy doll," Otabek says.
Yuri lets out the breath he didn't realise he was holding and shakes his head at his own foolishness. "Of course it is."
"Do you want to go home?" Otabek asks.
"No but I don't really want to stay here either," Yuri replies, teeth tugging a little on his bottom lip.
"All explored out for the evening?" Otabek teases.
"Something like that," Yuri chuckles. "Would you maybe want to go out somewhere and get dinner?"
Otabek smiles at him and takes his hand, linking their fingers together. "Dinner would be great."
"Awesome," Yuri says with a smile, relishing the warmth of Otabek's hand in his as they leave together.
"Have they gone?" Sara calls when she can no longer hear Otabek and Yuri's footsteps, popping her head up from under the desk at the front of the room.
"I think so," Mila replies as she climbs down from the top of a cupboard where she had been hiding.
"Good," Sara giggles. "I thought they'd never leave."
"I know," Mila laughs. "I was sitting there thinking 'go home you sillies'."
"I can't believe we actually got them to admit they're into each other," Sara says.
"I know right," Mila says raising her hand for a high five. "And all it took was listening in to Yura's phone conversation."
"We are absolute geniuses," Sara says slapping Mila's hand and grinning.
"Matchmakers extraordinare," Mila laughs.
Sara opens her mouth to say something else but is cut off by the rattling of windows and what could be mistaken as a groan from somewhere deep inside the building. Both of them freeze and turn to stare at each other, wide eyed.
"Shall we go?" Mila asks, the fear in her voice not going unnoticed by either of them.
"Please," Sara replies.