Mail takes a long time to get from the US to Russia, and that's without it getting lost anywhere along the way. While skaters don't get the kind of fan mail movie or music celebrities probably do, just because of the difference in sizes of fan bases, there is still a considerable amount to go through. And Yakov has someone to do just that, sorting through all the gifts they get from competitions, as well as the letters they receive. It's not like he has any desire or time to do it himself.

After sorting it into piles for the different skaters, the young woman opened everything, reading the letters and putting any gifts aside, though anything that was too strange she tossed in a box to be thrown out. Their skaters didn't need to be bothered by anything disturbing.

She's almost to the end when the brunette finds the letter from Yuri, opening it and reading it through with her eyes going wider and wider the longer she reads it. Finally arranging everything into their final boxes that have the skaters' names on them, she gets up with Yuri's letter in hand and moves out to the skating rink. "Mail is here!" She announces in a loud tone to the rink, with only Georgi and Mila immediately stepping off, already sitting by the sidelines anyway.

"Viktor, I know you don't usually read much of your mail, but I really think you need to read this one." The young woman says as she holds out the small envelope toward the skater, grateful that she has long since gotten over any fangirl response.

"Alisa, it's not like you to bring me something yourself. It must have really touched you." Viktor says smoothly as he glides over to where Alisa is, leaning on the barrier and taking it from her. "Maybe we can discuss it over dinner, hmm?" He asks with casual flirtiness, always offering and always getting it turned down. It's almost become a routine by now and really he only asks because he knows he'll be turned down. His smile isn't forced but not entirely genuine either as he looks at her.

"No. Read the letter, Viktor." Alisa says with some annoyance to her tone, wishing he would stop asking while a small part of her wonders what he would say if she said yes. Probably cancel on her. She doesn't know the last time she actually saw him go out to eat with someone who wasn't a rink mate or fellow skater. It worried her sometimes, but then she reminded herself that it was none of her business.

Viktor chuckled a little. "So cold. I'll read it." He reassures, holding the letter up for her to see before tucking it into his jacket with a little smile. "Thank you for your time." He says with a smile before turning and going back to his practice of his performance.

It's not until later that evening when he returns to his apartment that he even remembers the letter when he is tossing items into his washer. Turning the letter over in his hands, he wanders into his kitchen to pour himself a glass of wine and turn on some music before he walks over to flop down on his couch and scratch Makkachin's head for a few moments before he opens the letter and looks at the small, neat print within. His eyes widen a little as he reads the letter and he can't help but smile a little. "I see now why she gave this to me." He says to his dog after he finishes reading, resting the letter on his chest as he rubs his hand over his dog's head slowly.

"What do you think, Makka? Should I surprise him and write back to him? I do so love surprising people." He says with a little grin, then slowly sits up. "First, lets find out a little about this Yuri Katsuki." He muses as he gets up to retrieve his laptop from the table, bringing it back to search for the other skater and see what he can find out.

After finding out when the boy's birthday is and finding a video or two from past competitions, Viktor decides to write back. Maybe this will be something new and exciting to inspire him, something that he had started to lose somewhat from his younger days.

"Lets go for a walk, Makkachin! I don't think I have anything to write a letter on here." Viktor muses, deciding that he should do something special and hope that it arrives for Yuri's birthday. He giggles a little to himself as he puts on Makkachin's leash, imagining what reaction his gift might get.

Not knowing much about the young Japanese man means that Viktor is somewhat limited, but he finally finds a decently sized stuffed poodle that looks like Makkachin and gets a little custom collar for it with a tag which says 'Makkachin' on one side, and the other says 'Please keep me safe for Viktor'. Giggling a little to himself, the Russian skater returns to his apartment, feeding his poodle before he walks over to sit down with his new stationary. Maybe he didn't need as much as he got, afterall, it's not as if this is going to be more than a one time thing, but it might be a good idea to just have some around in case he wants to use it for anything else.

~oOo~

Nov 14, 2011

Dear Yuri,

Thank you for your letter! I don't usually read fan letters, you're right. But the person taking care of that for us insisted that I read yours. And I'm glad she did. I'm very flattered by your reaction. It was meant to be a more sad piece, it's about my own loneliness, on the ice and off. But don't tell anyone, ok! I like to leave a little mystery.

You know your letter actually made me blush! To think that you think so highly of my performances, I don't know what to say. I have an admission, though, I looked you up online. You're not as bad as you make yourself out to be. Not bad at all. But you're young and from what I read you just started with a formal coach this year. I'll look forward to your first performances, I'm sure they will be amazing!

I also saw your birthday was coming up. I hope that you'll accept this gift as a thank you for always watching me and for understanding the message that I was trying to convey with my performance. Happy Birthday, Yuri! Maybe I'll throw in a little something special for you during the Grand Prix, hmm?

Just keep your eyes on me and I promise you'll never be bored. Maybe you should make your first big performance about me! Since you seem to have gotten so much inspiration from watching me over the years. Haha, but that sounds so conceited, I don't want you to think I am so self-centered. I look forward to seeing what you come up with, no matter what it is. And I hope some day we can share the ice at a Grand Prix. Maybe even share a podium, though you'll have to work very, very hard if you think you're going to take Gold from me.

If you want to write back to me again, that would be alright with me. I'll make sure to tell Alisa to watch out for your letters just in case, but I'll soon be heading off for the Trophee de France. I hope you'll watch me there, too. I'll assume you're going to wish me luck because I know I won't get any letter from you before my competition. Thank you again for the letter, I hope you decide to write me another one! Good luck to you, Yuri!

Sincerely,

Viktor Nikiforov

~oOo~

Satisfied with his letter and doing his normal flourishing signature on the bottom, Viktor grins with a bit of excitement as he packs everything up to send off the next day, finally sitting down to get himself something to eat, giggling to himself occasionally as he cooks and imagines what Yuri Katsuki's face might look like when he opens the box. Once he has some food in hand, he sits down and loads up his computer again to try and see if there are any other videos of Yuri's routines, curious what would make the younger man so hard on himself.

This seems like a long time ago, at least in my story. I'm quite a few chapters ahead at the moment. I can't stop writing. But I'm going to try and stay ahead so I'll probably only post a chapter a week or so. That's my plan at least. My future chapters are also getting longer, it seems like. Haha. I hope I won't get too many inconsistencies, but I've changed some thing as I went along, so if there are some issues, that's probably why! Thank you everyone who has read and review so far, I hope you like this!

Reviews/Comments welcome!