Otabek
Otabek doesn't see much of the golden haired Russian for the next few days. He sees him passing in the hallway in school, sometimes he arrives at the rink just as Otabek leaves. He wants to approach him, somehow, but he's not sure how. Otabek was never the chatty type. He wasn't really sure what he was thinking when he walked up to Yuri in school. There had just been something about the way he kept staring at the page in frustration, blowing a loose strand of hair out of his eyes. And when he dances, or skated Otabek simply couldn't look away. But now he didn't know how to approach the whirlwind of a boy. Until lunch one day, when he was snapped from his thought by the feeling of being watched, only to look up and find a half frowning face.
Yuri
He's not sure what he's thinking. All he knows is that it's been five days since they walked home together and he has this itch to talk to him again. So when he finally sees him sitting alone at lunch one day he marches up with no clear intention and stops right in front of the kazak. Otabek looks up, a little confused but then smiles softly. Yuri drops his books on the table and sits down on the chair pulled out. He notices the open book in front of Otabek.
"No love for algebra. What did it ever do to you?" His voice is a bit gruff, but his stomach is fluttering. Otabek looks a little surprised but then the corners of his lips pull up slightly.
"It's algebra. I thought that was reason enough." Yuri shook his head and grinned.
"She'll always be misunderstood. Still doing all that extra study time?" Otabek nodded with a sigh.
"I can't very well fail high school can I?" Yuri shrugs.
"It'll cut away from practice time." Otabek runs a hand through his hand.
"Then how do you do it?" He asks, raising his eyebrow slightly. In that moment Yuri decided to be what he never is- forward. He might be blunt and he's often called a jerk for it but forward? He has a rule to stay as far away from people as he can. Which is why his following words surprise him.
"You didn't know? I'm fluent in algebra. If you're gonna have any chance at nationals I guess I'll have to teach you."
Otabek
Otabek stares at Yuri in surprise but quickly tried to compose himself.
"Algebra, huh? There's more to you than meets the eye." Yuri rolls his eyes but there is a small smile on his lips.
"Will you accept help or not, Altin?" Otabek feels himself smile. The bell rings all of the sudden snapping him out of his thoughts. Yuri stands up and without thinking Otabek puts his hand over Yuri's slim wrist.
"Thank you, Yuri." He says, looking into his eyes. Yuri's cheeks are faintly pink as he nods before he turns and walks away. Otabek curl his finger into a fist. The skin of the Russian fairy was cold, but Otabek's fingers feel warm where they rested on his wrist.
During practice that evening he can't seem to focus. His legs feel sloppy as they move across the ice, his jumps only half as good as they usually are. He's… giddy. This is something new for him, the almost excitement in his stomach. But even though he's not at his best Yakov is unusually quiet. He gives him a few pointers but he seems distracted, somehow. When he's packed up his stuff and is about to leave he pass by Yakov's office and stops as he hears Yakov sigh.
"I'm not sure I can protect him either, Nikolai." There is a short silence, the person on the other end is speaking quietly and quickly.
"I know, but Yuri doesn't care about that anymore. He thinks he'll stay away now, after what happened last time." Otabek frowns. Last time? More silence.
"I will try, Nikolai." Yakov's voice is as soft as he's ever heard it. The phone conversation ends and Otabek hastily moves on before he is noticed. As he walks home thoughts keeps spinning around his head. Who is after Yuri? And is this why he's been staying away from competing all these years?