Yuri has time to think about what's been missing all this time. I wrote this after seeing episode 8. Rated T. [Romance] [Humour] [Family]
The adrenaline hadn't yet stopped pumping through Yuuri's body when he exited the rink. The cheering crowd still roared in his ears, he was still breathing heavily, his heart was still furiously pounding against his rib cage. Yuuri was exhausted and his body craved the warm bed in his hotel room, but emotionally, he could have flown right over the moon on sheer happiness alone. Everything had gone exactly the way he wanted it to go. His step routine was perfect – just like it had been in practice. Not only had he landed every single one of his jumps, but he executed them fantastically, even the one he'd dangerously planned for later in his performance. He had felt the narrative of his story with every fibre of his being and the audience felt it too. When the young man saw the look on Victor's face as he waited for him at the kiss and cry, he knew. Even though he couldn't hear the announcers losing their minds in their booth, Yuuri knew he'd done a wonderful job.
"Yuuri!" shouted Victor over the crowd, his face displaying pure joy as he stood in front of the cameras with his arms outstretched.
"Vicchan!" Yuuri responded, and ran on his skates straight into the taller man's arms. Victor laughed happily as he swayed from one side to the other, holding Yuuri so tight that the dark haired man had no choice but to move along with him or else risk falling over. Suddenly, Yuuri found himself being hoisted into the air and spun around after Victor had let go of him only to bend his knees slightly and grab the dark haired man again by the torso. The Japanese man was giggling with uncontrolable delight at this. He could not remember the last time he saw Victor this excited. Even the camera crew members couldn't help but smile with how infectious their mirth was. This was it. Yuuri's dreams were finally within his grasp. He would be taking gold with that performance for sure!
Finally, the two were calm enough to sit down and hear Yuuri's score and of course, he'd easily taken first place.
"I'm so proud of you!" Victor said into Yuuri's ear after he kissed the younger man on the forehead and pulled him into yet another bear hug.
Yuuri smiled against his shoulder. Not wanting to part just yet, he took Victor's face in both his hands when he could feel his lover gently pulling away and gave him a tender peck on the lips. His brown eyes held a warm expression when he broke apart from Victor again and he stared into the other man's turquoise blues, still cradling his face.
"What was that for?" asked Victor slowly, a smile of his own crossing his well-sculpted face.
"Nothing really," Yuuri responded, the gaze between them never breaking. "Just for being with me all this time, I guess."
The platinum blond chuckled, barely noticing that his lover hadn't yet let go of him. Feeling Yuuri's warmth against him made him feel so content that he didn't even think to pull back. "No need to thank me. I love being here with you."
"That was only a taste anyway," Yuuri whispered low so the cameras wouldn't hear. Suddenly his aura seemed to turn a passionate scarlet just like it always did when he performed his Eros routine. Innocent, but hungry and willing. Yuuri tended to be less shy about getting like this the longer he knew Victor, and now, it was pretty easy to slip into his seducer persona. "I'll thank you properly when we get back to the hotel."
A silver eyebrow raised suggestively on Victor's amused face, blue eyes turning cobalt with desire. He subconsciously licked his lips a little before responding with his own breathy whisper. "In that case, I won't stop you."
From the other side of the rink, an angry little blond kitten regarded the couple with a healthy amount of disgust. He couldn't hear a word they were saying, but the looks on their faces said it all. Two wild male animals caged only by social conventions which condemned public sex waiting with savouring patience for the private moment when the cage doors would finally open. For a minute, they looked like they wanted to devour each other right then and there. Considering how long they had been together now, no doubt they'd done that before... Yuri Plisetsky made a face as if he'd just bit into a very sour lemon. Those guys made him sick to his stomach. They were probably stinking up the kiss and cry with their gross lusty pheromones. Oddly, he felt twinge of embarrassment as he watched them and he couldn't understand why. He normally didn't care about PDA but something about Yuuri and Victor specifically being so open with their affections felt like it reflected on Yuri himself somehow. As if the audience had dreamed up some imaginary connection between the couple and the Russian teen that would cause all three to share the same shame. It didn't make any sense. Why would those two and their disgusting display reflect on him in any way?! Yuri tried to banish the heinous thought as the couple put their professional masks back on and left to be interviewed. It was his turn to skate and the last thing he needed to be thinking about right now while trying to look beautiful and delicate was having to hold in his vomit at the thought of Victor's O face. But for some reason, it was hard to focus on the task ahead of him.
"Are you ready?" asked Yakov, suddenly appearing in Yuri's direct line of sight.
Yuri slipped off his signature jacket to reveal the outfit he had on underneath – an expertly woven white suit with feather-like ornaments and perfectly places translucent sequins. With his blond hair open and fanning around his face, he looked like some sort of ethereal white swan. Of course, that was the idea. "Ready."
It wouldn't be too long until Yuri had to begin, but even then, try as he might, he just couldn't quite get rid of this weird heavy feeling. He shook his head vigorously as if the force would knock the emotion off of his mind. What's wrong with me? What is this?
Sighing, Yuri closed his eyes. Was it Yuuri and Victor? No, they were gross but not really all that interesting, whatever weird feelings they inspired in Yuri aside. Was he just nervous? Opening his eyes again, he stared out at the crowd and began to skate about the rink. No, it couldn't be. He'd practically grown up in front of an audience, so how could that be the problem? Yuri was about to turn at the bend when his aqua coloured eyes fixated on something in the stadium. Something bright and red.
Way up high near the top row, there sat a little girl. The bright red thing which caught Yuri's eye was her hair glistening underneath the electrical lights. She was positioned atop the shoulders of a rather large, burly looking bear of a man. He was all red and freckled just like she was – probably her father. Beside them was a chubby little woman with blond hair, large hips and a kind face – the same face as the girl's. They were all cheering and excitedly waving their miniature Russian flags. The trio was so far away and so small in the sea of people that their voices were lost in the crowd, but their lips seemed to be chanting, "YU-RA-CHKA! YU-RA-CHKA!". Yuri stopped in his place and just stood there, seeming not to realize he was staring. The three of them just looked so happy together. Wow... That's so nice...
Suddenly, Yuri realized what the heavy feeling was. It was a concoction of different things. Wonder at why he had no idea what that little girl must have been feeling. Shame at the persistent thought that he ought to have some idea of what she was feeling. Emptiness for the fact that God had made Yuri himself and not her instead. Yuri didn't think of his own parents often, but every time he did, it felt just like this.
He regarded the family further, specifically the two adults. They probably doted on the girl and ate meals with her and spent so much time with her... It wasn't that Yuri never felt loved by anyone. His grandfather did everything he could, but ones parents play a rather unique role which cannot easily be replaced. And when they did not play their role, it would always be painful to think about. One in Yuri's position can never help but wonder sometimes why they had been robbed of the opportunity to have a happy relationship with their parents. It was a wound that never really healed, and watching someone else have what he couldn't seemed to irritate it further.
Where even were his parents? They couldn't take a little time out of their schedules to watch this important moment in their son's life? His grandfather always tried, so why couldn't they? Were they even proud of him at all or did they just like the nice fat pay cheques he brought home to their dinky little house? Yuri's breathing increased and his fists balled up at his sides, his pale face flushing with anger. Are they even proud of me!?
But then, a sound shook Yurio from his trance-like, frustrated state.
"Yurio~!"
The blond turned quickly to the direction of the noise and searched for its origin. It had rung out like a bell over the roar of the crowd from over by the entrance and there stood the two animals themselves. Yuuri and Victor were waving their arms at him wildly, both sporting the biggest goofiest grins Yurio thought he'd ever seen. Something about the air around them seemed so very warm, even against the coolness of the rink.
"Good luck, Yurio!" shouted Yuuri. "We believe in you!"
"You can do this!" added Victor. "Make us proud!"
Yurio's eyes widened slightly before he could stop them. He really hoped they didn't notice and he replied with a scowl before skating to the middle of the rink to get into position. He took a deep breath in, trying to ignore the annoying words bouncing around in his head. We believe in you! Make us proud! What kind of jackass cheers for the competitor anyway?
... Why did he feel a little lighter?
Yuri shook his head again. He told himself he hated their cheers. He should hate those cheers. They make no sense at all and he was supposed to hate everything that that pig did! ... But as hard as he tried, he couldn't bring himself to be angry with Victor and Yuuri. Against his better judgement, he just felt... calmer. He would never admit it to himself, but there was a tiny part of him that was thankful that those two men were there. Yuri could accept, however, that maybe his disposition made him more vulnerable to accepting their familial charms. He couldn't fix his wounds within the next few seconds, but he could stick a bandaid on them.
I suppose they'll do... for now.
It turned out that Yuri did quite well himself; still not as good as Yuuri's performance, but certainly good enough to still be considered formidable competition. But for some reason, being second to Yuuri Katsuki again did not feel like a total failure when the two ecstatic men were proudly congratulating him on a job well done. Yurio shrugged them off of course. Couldn't let them think he'd gone soft.
"Whatever," he said over his shoulder as he crossed them, sporting his signature glare. "I won't come in second next time, piggie."
"Yurio, let's go out and celebrate!" called Victor from behind him. Yuri turned quickly on his heel to face the other Russian, an angry scowl on his face. What kind of jackass asks the competitor out for a celebratory dinner anyway?!
"That pig is my rival, Victor!" Yuri shouted, frustrated that he really had to spell it out for him. "I'm not going to dinner with either of you!"
"Okay, what about dessert?" Victor had that infuriating smile on that made his lips look like they were heart-shaped. Yuuri behind him didn't even seem at all insulted by Yuri's outburst. Are you serious?
"NO!"
After some back and forth, Yuri ended up just leaving mid-sentence while Victor was still talking cheerfully, but as he walked away from them, he couldn't deny the fact that his chest felt very pleasantly full...
... Then, hours later, he saw Victor grab Yuuri's ass on the way to the elevator. Suddenly, the same mixture of embarrassment and sickness flooded back into Yuri's body. Against his better judgment, he glanced around quickly to see if anyone saw that. Later, he would ask himself why he cared, but for now, it seemed important. What the- They're in public!
"Goddamn it!" he shouted at them, the couple nearly jumping out of their socks at the sudden loud noise. "Keep it in your pants, you fucking animals! JESUS!"
He then pushed past then quickly, face absolutely glowing, and entered the first open elevator, pushing the button to close the doors before the shocked Victor and Yuuri could even collect themselves. When he was gone, they could only look at each other in stunned silence, before slowly bursting into a fit of laughter.