Thank you so much for reading! I hope everyone is enjoying this fic. NOTE: Everyone in this fic is around the age of 18 (The adults excluded of course). Yurio is the youngest at 17 and JJ is the oldest at 23. Both Yuuri and Victor are slightly under 18. Happy reading!

-Cass

Yuuri blinked as the group exited the museum, the sunlight streaming brightly in contrast to the dim exhibit light. He had barely seen the rest of the exhibits and if anyone had asked he wouldn't be able to describe what the tail end of the museum even looked like, despite having just left it. His mind was occupied by bright blue eyes and shining silver hair.

He was confused. He hated when people stared at him, it made him anxious. But he had felt that boy's on him and it had sparked warmth in his chest. He ran a hand over his gills, now only two raised lines underneath his ears.

"Did you see that angel?" Sara gushed, bringing Yuuri out of his thoughts. "If that's what heaven looks like then I can die right now." Mickey grumbled something about 'stupid sisters' under his breath and Emil laughed.

"Too bad they'd never give you a second look." Emil laughed. "You're not pure enough for them"

Yuuri pondered that statement. He knew angels felt superior to the other species, but he wasn't very sure as to why. Technically speaking, they were no more powerful than the mermaids, as their only advantages were their special adaptations to the places that they lived. All species were slightly stronger and faster than humans, but neither angels nor mermaids were as fast as the vampires or as strong as the wolves. There were rumors that angels could heal faster than the others, but other than that Yuuri couldn't think of anything that would lend itself to their superiority complex.

"Why do they hate the other species so much?" He asked, interrupting some back and forth banter between Sara and Emil.

"I don't know that they hate us." Otabek spoke slowly, weighing his words as he tried to think of how it had been explained to him. "They believe that they are closer descendants of the parent species that created all of us. So to them, they are more of a pure species and less diluted by other creatures than the rest of us."

"It doesn't help that they are very conservative." Mickey added. "The other species are not as worried about modesty and other things, because if you think about it, clothing doesn't really make sense for some of us."

It was true. Only mermaids wore any sort of clothing on their upper body, and even then it was just an assortment of shells or thin strips of seaweed or fabric. But even that was just for convenience during hunting or other labor intensive work. Mermen went shirtless and of course neither had to wear anything over their tail. From what he knew of the werewolves, clothing was only worn when they were close to humans. When you shredded your clothes anytime you shifted from human to wolf, there wasn't much point in them. The vampires were a little different, seeing as they could more easily blend into human life. However, their sexuality was a tool for them, and so while they tended to wear more clothes than the other species, it still wasn't much.

No, the angels definitely worried more about modesty than the others. If the angels he'd seen in the museum were any indication, and he believed they were, they all wore head to toe white. It was weird and Yuuri found himself wondering what the boy would look like in other colors.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thoughts. There was no point in thinking about the boy. He was an angel, and if everyone was to be believed, there was no way that he would even speak to Yuuri unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Do you want to get lunch in town?" Mickey asked the group. They all agreed and they made their way back to the middle of the tiny town. There weren't many restaurants to choose from, and Yuuri had no idea what any of the food options were. He'd only experienced merfolk food.

"There's a small diner that was pretty good last time I was here." Emil pointed to a quaint looking building. It was a squat building, the outside paneled with dark wood and a green and white striped awning covering the door from snowfall. It was no more colorful than the rest of the town, but somehow it had a warm, welcoming feeling to it. They entered and wiped their feet off on the mat placed in front of the door. An older woman greeted them, leading them to a wooded table surrounded by mismatched chairs. She handed them a pile of small menus, and told them to take their time figuring out what they wanted.

"What is a…pirozhki?" Yuuri stumbled through the foreign word, not sure how to pronounce it.

"They're a baked dough shell, ours are filled with beef and vegetables." The elderly lady spoke up, clearly having heard him from across the small diner. Yuuri ordered a plate of those, while Emil and Otabek ordered bowls of borscht and both Sara and Mickey ordered bowls of shchi.

The food came out quickly, and Yuuri's mouth watered at the warm smell that accompanied it. A large plate was placed in front of him, the fried buns steaming invitingly. He politely waited for the others to receive their food but he was barely able to keep himself from devouring the food whole. The others received their food and Yuuri quickly shoved one of the pirozhki in his mouth.

It burned slightly, having just been baked, but the explosion of flavor made the stinging sensation on the roof of his mouth worth it. He'd never tasted such rich flavors and he instantly stuffed another in his mouth. The others were looking at him, Emil barely containing his laughter at the prince's stuffed cheeks. Yuuri blushed and slowed his chewing, having to take a sip of his water in order to swallow the large mouthful.

They enjoyed their meal and the others even offered Yuuri some of their food. He sampled all of their meals, his mouth alive with the many different flavors. He wondered how humans weren't all massive with how amazing their food tasted.

"We should get going, it will take us until dusk to reach the meeting spot." Otabek paid their tab and led them from the diner, all of them thanking the staff for the delicious meal. They ventured back out into the snow, Yuuri's breath fogging the air the only sign that it was freezing cold. The town had gained some semblance of life while they ate, children ran around playing games in the snow while adults traveled into the small shopping strip to run errands.

They left the town behind them, disappearing into the thick surrounding forest. As the sounds of the tiny town faded, Yuuri prayed that Otabek knew where he was going. Yuuri would never be able to find his way back, though he figured if he could find a way to the ocean it wouldn't be too much of a problem. The snow was thicker out here, not pressed down by the passage of town's people. Yuuri sank a little bit with every step and his legs were already tired.

As they continued through the forest, Yuuri heard voices and could see a faint glow. Both strengthened as they neared and Yuuri wondered which species were already there.

"Have you met them before?" Yuuri asked the group quietly, suddenly feeling nervous at the aspect of meeting all of the young leaders. What if they expected him to make a speech or something? He wasn't prepared to deal with that kind of pressure.

"We may have met them indirectly, but normally the current leaders are the ones who attend these meetings. This is the first time they will be here by themselves." Otabek answered. They lapsed back into silence, the voices up ahead the only noise breaking through the trees.

Yuuri's heart pounded as they neared and he felt his chest heaving as his breath quickened. What if he messed up? What if he said something wrong? What if no one liked him at all?

He ran his fingertips across the smooth surface of the pearl in his pocket and took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. They broke through the trees and entered a clearing with people milling about. With no bright white figures, Yuuri figured that the angels hadn't arrived yet. He felt weirdly disappointed but he shrugged it off.

A tall dark haired man and a short fair haired boy approached them. The blonde was at least a half foot shorter than the other, though they both looked equally intimidating. The taller man smiled brightly and took Yuuri's hand, shaking it quickly.

"Welcome!" There was a weird accent to his voice that Yuuri couldn't place. "I'm Jean-Jacques Leroy, better known as JJ. I'm the alpha of the pack Versipellis."

Yuuri smiled at the warm greeting, some of his nerves melting away. He turned to the other boy, but in contrast to the werewolf, this one had a scowl plastered to his face. He stuck his hand straight out and Yuuri slowly reached out to shake it.

"Yuri Plisetsky. Heir to the Lamia coven." He immediately retracted his hand, and shoved it into the pocket of his hoodie.

"Yuuri Katsuki. I'm the prince of the kingdom of Syreni." Yuuri's voice came out as a squeak, and he swallowed loudly, hoping the others didn't notice the nerves in his voice. JJ let out a loud laugh and Yuuri's face flushed red.

"We've got two Yuris!" He nudged the vampire who didn't look nearly as amused. A woman joined the group, her short red hair framing her pale face.

"We could always call this one Yurio like we do back home." She smirked at the vampire boy, throwing an arm around his shoulder. He shrugged hastily out from underneath her.

"I don't know why you insist on calling me that ridiculous nickname!" He yelled, making her snicker. JJ laughed again and slapped a hand down on Yurio's shoulder, which the smaller boy glared at.

"Yurio it is."

The other boy opened his mouth to protest, but whatever he was going to say was cut off as everyone turned to look at the people emerging from the forest.

Yuuri's breath caught in his throat.

The angels had arrived.

Victor looked hopefully around as the exited the museum. He knew they were far behind the other group, Yakov's constant talking had seen to that, but he had held onto the hope that maybe he would get another glimpse of the boy when they emerged. He didn't know what it was about the boy, maybe the dark shock of hair or his deep eyes, but something had him wishing he could see him again.

He knew it was pointless. Even if he could see the boy again, there was no way Yakov would ever let him spend unnecessary time with a human. According to Yakov, humans were below even the other species. Yakov barely deigned the other species worthy of conversation, he couldn't imagine what he would say about Victor wanting to talk to a human for no reason.

The group walked towards town and Lilia suggested they stop at the small grocery store and pick up some food so they could head back to the hotel.

"Or we could actually go eat somewhere." Chris suggested, pointing to a small diner off to the side. Victor hoped they would stop to eat, maybe he'd get to see the boy again.

"No. We don't need to mingle with the humans." Yakov said curtly. Victor's hopes sank and he mentally chided himself for getting this worked up over a boy he'd seen but once. Maybe it was just because the boy was the first non-angel they had met that was close to his age.

That was it. That had to be it.

They entered the small store and Victor was surprised to find that it was much like the markets back home, except there didn't seem to be much selection. The produce section was especially sparse, and Victor figured the small town had a hard time getting fresh produce during the winter months.

As they wandered around the store, Victor wondered how many of the young leaders from the other species would be attending. Except for the angels, each species was divided by region. The wolves had their packs, the vampires their covens and the mermaids their kingdoms. From what he had been told, at the very least the heirs from the biggest of each would be coming. If his memory served correctly, that would mean the Lamia coven, the Versipellis pack and the Syreni kingdom.

He had learned about each in his classes. The Lamia coven was the most powerful coven of vampires and one of their past leaders was the basis of the Dracula legend. They still resided in the area around Transylvania, which in Victor's opinion was a bit cliché but vampires were sticklers for tradition. The Versipellis pack ran in a large stretch of forest in the middle of Canada. They were easily the largest pack and unlike the rest of the species, the alphas fought for their positions, rather than being born into them. Only the strongest ruled the pack. The Syreni kingdom was the largest mermaid kingdom, located off the shore of Japan in the Pacific Ocean. The mermaids were probably the most organized species, outside of the angels of course, with each smaller kingdom reporting to Syreni twice a year. Thus the political climate of the mermaid kingdoms was much more stable than that of the wolves or the vampires, who were always having to protect their positions of power.

The happy greeting of the hotel manager alerted Victor to the fact that they'd arrived back at their lodging. Much like that morning, the man was ignored by the other angels and Victor offered him a small wave of acknowledgement. They traipsed up the stairs to their room and when they arrived, Victor flopped backwards onto the bed. The hard mattress pressed into his back, reminding him of the never ending itching of his wings underneath his skin. Over the day he had managed to ignore it but moments like this brought it back to the forefront of his mind.

Lilia spread out the food they had purchased on the table and they all made sandwiches. Victor was hoping he could convince Yakov to allow them to get food from one of the few restaurants later, though he knew better than to get his hopes up for such a thing. He lay back on the bed, comfortably full, and tried to ignore the scratching of his feathers against his back.

He drifted to sleep, dark eyes plaguing his mind.

Victor awoke to Yakov standing over him, which was enough to jolt anyone out of even the deepest slumbers. He sat straight up, his hair flinging across his eyes with the movement.

"We are leaving soon. You need to get ready."

"Can't I just wear what I'm wearing now?" He asked groggily, still partially asleep. He knew he had been having some sort of dream, though the only thing he could remember were the colors. It was all blacks, blues and greens.

"No. Dress clothes. While our company may not reflect it, this is a very high profile meeting." The older angel growled. Chris, who Victor had the feeling had been pretending to sleep so as not to have to talk to Yakov, sat up quickly.

"Were meeting them in a forest and you want us to wear dress clothes? I mean I look good in dress pants but don't you think it's a little unpractical?"

Yakov scowled at him and muttered "dress clothes" sternly before leaving the room, the door slamming behind him. Chris groaned audibly and began changing. Victor pulled his dress shirt and pants out of his bag and turned to Chris who was trying to squeeze himself into too tight pants.

"I'm surprised they allowed you to keep those. They're a bit tight for angel standards aren't they?" Victor stared at the other angel. He'd managed to button the pants but Victor wouldn't be at all surprised if they sprang open the minute Chris took a breath. The fabric clung to his body, extenuating anything and everything. If Yakov allowed Chris out of the room in those it would be a miracle.

Somehow, Yakov had overlooked Chris' situation. Either that or he had decided that he was done trying to deal with the boy. As they walked through the town, now more alive than it had been a few hours ago, Victor wondered how Chris had managed to keep such tight pants. At the end of each year, angels were expected to recycle the clothes that no longer fit. It was a ritual that ensured they didn't wear overly tight clothing, while also providing more clothes with less work for the few clothes makers.

Nonetheless, Chris walked confidently through the town and Lilia hadn't looked at the angel since he had emerged from the room at the hotel. Despite all of that, Victor had to admit that Chris wasn't lying when he said that he looked good in dress pants. They gave him shape, unlike the normal loose fitting clothes the angels wore.

Yakov led them into the woods and away from the town, their white clothes blending almost seamlessly into the snow cover. The woods were quiet, though there was a faint hum at the edge of Victor's hearing. The hum increased as they moved through the trees, until Victor could distinguish the noise as voices.

They emerged from the trees into a clearing full of people. The chatter stopped almost immediately and Victor found that many pairs of eyes were now trained on the angels. He stood still, not really sure what to do. In some faces he saw open curiosity, in others a guarded wariness. He suddenly wished he was in any other color but white, anything that would keep him from standing out so obviously.

The silence was broken by a dark haired man, probably a little older than Victor himself. He smiled easily as he approached the angels, his hands outstretched welcomingly. He grasped Victor's hand and shook it briskly.

"I'm Jean-Jacques Leroy. You can call me JJ." He stopped and waited for Victor's acknowledgement. Victor gave him a nod and he continued. "I'm the alpha of the Versipellis pack."

JJ pulled a pale boy from behind him and Victor noticed the obvious contrast. Any welcome feeling JJ was emitting was clearly not reinforced by this other boy. He glared at Victor and didn't say a word.

"This quiet one is Yurio of the Lamia coven." JJ spoke for him.

"MY NAME IS NOT YURIO!"

They continued to bicker but Victor barely heard them. His eyes had caught movement behind them, a glimmer of the firelight on jet black hair. His heart jumped in his chest.

Could it be?

"Oh!" JJ explained, following Victor's gaze. "I almost forgot."

He stepped out of the way, revealing none other than the boy from the museum. However, whether it be the firelight or just Victor's imagination, he was even more beautiful now. Victor watched as a blush spread up the other boy's face and Victor had to stop himself from reaching out to touch his cheek.

"I'm Yuuri Katsuki."

Once again, thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think and if you want me to continue.