Yuri
"So you're back for good this time?" Yakov asks, slightly irritated. Yuri doesn't look up.
"I just need to stay here for awhile. And a place to practice." Yakov paces before him slowly and huffs angrily before coming to a halt.
"Last time you left right before your debut. After all the hard work."
"This time it's different. I can't leave." Yakov laughs.
"And why is that, Yurio? How do I know you won't just disappear again?" His tone is mocking. Yuri clenches his fists.
"He found me. It doesn't matter anymore."
Every night, after all the other skaters practices are over, Yuri gets the rink all to himself. Yakov has allowed him the unofficial practice time, when it's supposedly empty. At least for now. And after morning ballet classes and some crammed in school time, Yuri needs all those hours each night. He straps on his skates, gets out on the ice and even though his muscles are sore, he can somewhat relax. That is, until the loud crash that one night broke him out of his peaceful little bubble. A loud crash with brown eyes, watching him, seeing him. Driving him insane.
Otabek
He doesn't know why, but after his practice the next night he stays at the rink, waiting for him to show up. He just needs to know, for some reason. Know if he'll appear again. And he does. He skates out on the ice, magnificent as ever. His eyes are closed as he moves across the ice, his movements lean and graceful. Otabek finds himself standing up, walking closer. He doesn't watch where he put down his foot and the next thing he knows, the boxes stacked at the side falls over, making a loud sound as the content spill out. He holds his breath, watches as Yuri's head snaps up and his cold gaze pierces into him. He drops his hands as soon as he sees Otabek, becomes completely still for a few moments. Then his eyes fill with rage.
"What are you doing here?" He asks coldly. "Your practice is over." Otabek frowns.
"The rink is closed. No one is supposed to be here." Yuri's eyes reveal nothing as he looks at him.
"I'm supposed to be here. Now leave." Yuri closes his eyes. Otabek opens his mouth but before he can say anything, the boy speaks again.
"Leave!" There is so much force behind his words, so much anger. Otabek holds up his hands in surrender.
"I'll leave." He says, "but I can't promise I won't be back."
Yuri
His headphones are on full blast and he is angrily scribbling down notes for his next class.
I can't promise I won't be back. Those words have echoes in his head ever since last night. Yuri recognized him- the intruder. He'd been at the same summer program three years ago. Otabek Altin, from Kazakhstan. Yuri can't say he hadn't noticed him back then. Though to be fair, most people did. He was different on the ice, not like the other male skaters. He was tall and he had muscle, perhaps too much for the optimal skater body, but somehow he made it work. He was more masculine somehow, raw in his movements even if they were precise. Everything Yuri had tried to be. He was also two years his senior and had probably never noticed him. He was probably one of the people who laughed at him. Because what was he in comparison? A fragile little child. He clench his fist so hard that the pen nearly burns a hole through the paper. In the midst of his anger, he hears the chair on the opposite side of the table scrape against the floor as someone pulls it out and sits down. Yuri's head snaps up and there he is. Otabek. He pulls out his headphones harshly and tries his best to send him a glare.
"Not a fan of biology?" He says with a smile. Yuri frowns. Otabek nods towards his biology books and angry scrawled notes spread out in front of him.
"Oh." Is all he manages. Otabek lets out a small laugh and Yuri swallows, his hand sweaty and warm all of the sudden.
"So you are back and training with Yakov?" He asks. Yuri frowns.
"No. He just let's me use the rink." Otabek raises his eyebrows.
"Too proud for a trainer, Plisetsky?" He teases. Yuri's eyes widen slightly when he hears his own name slip from the Kazakhs lips. He covers it up with a glare.
"I'm not competing. Not yet." Otabek frowns.
"Why not? You could easily qualify, you're better than half of the skaters that train there." Then the bell rings and Yuri is relieved to find an escape.
Before he leaves he turns around with a sarcastic smile.
"Don't be absurd. I'm better than the whole bunch of you."