After dinner and the promised fussing over Nikolai, his family sat in front of the TV, watching some lame spy movie that his papa had chosen. Nikolai had been through a hectic day, and was starting to give in to his inclination to fall asleep when his phone rang. He jolted awake and scrabbled around for it, while Aki giggled. He finally managed to locate the phone and answered it, glaring at his sister. "Yeah, hello?"
"Kolya? Are you ok?"
The frantic voice on the other end of the phone startled him. His hazy mind had failed to notice the name on the caller ID, so he hadn't expected Aliya to be calling him, especially with such a panicked note in her voice.
"Yeah, Aliya, I'm fine. Why?"
She yelled, "Don't play dumb, Nikolai!" He withdrew away from the phone physically at the use of his full name, but Aliya continued shouting loud enough for him to hear clearly anyway. "I saw the picture your papa posted online! What happened to your arm?"
Nikolai darted a glance at his papa, who, along with probably everyone in the apartment complex, had heard the accusation clearly. He simply shrugged and smiled, his eyes unapologetic about his love of family selfies.
Obviously he wasn't getting any help there. He turned his attention back to his irate friend, and said hesitantly, "I, uh, didn't know that Papa posted anything. It's really not a big deal, Aliyen'ka, which is why I didn't tell you."
"Oh, don't you use cute little names with me, Nikolai!" Aki snickered at him, and he tried to glare at her, but the tirade on the other end of the phone made it impossible. "I can't believe you! Why wouldn't you tell me that you got hurt? Obviously badly enough to go see a doctor! What even happened, Kolya? Did you get into another stupid fight again?"
By now, his papa was giggling too, but at least he was trying to hide his reaction. Nikolai looked around at his family helplessly, but even his otousan was wearing a bemused smile. Clearly, he was on his own here. He tried his best to respond to Aliya. "I might have gotten into a fight, but, Aliya, I really didn't do anything wrong! He started the whole thing, and I only hit him once!"
A dead silence settled over the line that was somehow more terrifying than the yelling he'd been subjected to. After an eternity of torture, Aliya's voice came to him, slow and measured. "Kolya, I know that you don't have plans tonight, since we were planning on practicing. Instead, I want you over here at my house in the next 20 minutes so you can explain yourself. Do you understand?"
Nikolai nodded emphatically before remembering she couldn't see him. "Ah, yeah, Aliya. I'll leave now. Ok?"
"Good," came the regal reply. "I'll be waiting." The phone clicked and went silent.
Nikolai stared at it in horror for a second, trying to comprehend what had just happened. He was trying to remember if he had ever heard his petite little friend so angry before. She had never acted like that when he got into fights as a kid. But he supposed she had usually been so scared at those times that she'd simply cried. And she usually did end up pouting at him afterwards. But this was different. This was a new level of female wrath that he simply didn't know what to do with. Helplessly, he looked at his family.
As if on cue, Aki and his papa burst out into hysterical laughter the second he made eye contact, and his otousan's mouth turned up into a barely-controlled smile. Even Makkachin seemed to be laughing at him as he panted up at the family from his place on the rug.
Nikolai sputtered, "I really don't see what's so funny here!"
Aki got control of her wheezing laugh long enough to cough out, "Nika, it's just so cute! You got in trouble from your girlfriend!"
The word made his heart skip a little. But he protested, "She's not my girlfriend!"
His papa chimed in, "You're right, she sounded more like an old fishwife!"
Nikolai gaped. "Papa!"
Victor wiped a tear from his eye as he chuckled, "Well, hey, I would know."
Yuuri's smile vanished as he glared at his husband. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean, anata?" he asked, ice in his voice.
Victor immediately tried to backpedal, but it was too late. Nikolai looked on in smug satisfaction as his papa stammered, "W-well, Yuuri dear, I simply meant that, well, w-when you're rightfully concerned about my health, you can be a little, that is, well…" he cast his eyes helplessly on his snickering children. "Help me out a little here, would you?" he begged.
Nikolai stood up and stretched luxuriously. "Sorry, Papa, but you all heard, I have to get going to Aliya's. I'll be back later. Good luck." He winked at his papa and went to put on his shoes.
As he was walking out the door, Victor called after him, "Wait, Nika! My dearest son! You would abandon your father in his hour of need? Nika! Nikaaaa!"
Nikolai shut the door firmly behind him, satisfaction spread across his face.
His smile didn't last long, however, as he made his way to Aliya's apartment. He had plenty of time to think about how upset she had been on the phone, so by the time he knocked on the ornate door, he was practically trembling with anticipation. Perhaps luckily for him, however, it wasn't Aliya who answered the door, but her papa.
Yuri snorted as he stepped aside to let Nikolai in. "Well, if it isn't you, soplyak. I almost feel sorry for you, you know," he commented dryly as he shut the door.
Nikolai paused, one shoe half-off. "Yeah?" he responded carefully.
"Hell, yeah. Aliya is scary when she's mad." Yuri shuddered. "She's just like Beka that way. I feel for ya, soplyak." He reached out and clapped Nikolai on his good shoulder, and then furrowed his brow. "What the hell happened to you, anyway?"
A stern voice rang out. "That's what I'd like to know."
Cautiously, Nikolai craned his head around Yuri to find Aliya standing at the end of the hallway, her arms crossed over her chest.
His heart jumped at the sight of her. She was dressed in what were clearly her pajamas. And while they weren't revealing in the slightest, there was still something about the sweetness of the button-up shirt and drawstring pants that made his chest constrict.
Yuri, however, seemed to have different feelings about her outfit. "Aliya, why are you coming out here dressed like that? And after you made Nikolai come here, too?"
Aliya rolled her eyes. "Papa, relax. You're acting like I'm wearing lingerie. It's just my pajamas. Obviously I'm not going out tonight, since Kolya's hurt, so why wouldn't I put on something comfortable to wear?"
Yuri gritted his teeth. "You're missing the point here."
She huffed at him. "And what is that? That I'm showing too much skin in front of a boy?" She shook her arm at him. "Long sleeves, Papa. I'm fine. Especially with Kolya. Have you forgotten, we used to have slumber parties all the time? He's seen me in pajamas plenty of times. And, more importantly, that isn't the issue right now." She returned her regal glare to Nikolai, and this time, instead of a warm attraction, he felt a cold shiver of fear. Yuri stepped back, seemingly instinctively, to let his daughter have a clear shot at her target.
"Nikolai, would you care to explain why you have an arm in a sling?"
Hearing his full name used for the third time that night felt like a slap across the face. He gulped, then replied, "Well, you see, Aliya, there's this new kid on the team." As he was talking, Otabek entered the room behind Aliya, nodding silently to Nikolai before taking a seat in an armchair. Nikolai gulped and continued. "And, well, he's been a bit of an ass. The first day he came, he started calling me names, and had a lot to say about my parents." He could practically see Aliya's internal sigh as she saw where this was going, but he continued, "And, well, at the beginning of the week, he was making fun of Papa, and we got into a bit of a fight. Well, ok, I guess it was more me punching him in his face." A distinctive snicker came from behind him, but he chose to ignore Yuri and plowed ahead. "So, I guess he'd still been mad at me, because today, he high-sticked my shoulder out of nowhere, and then started hitting it. And, well, now I have a sprain, and I can't play hockey for at least a week. And I just got back from the doctor's office a couple hours ago, so I was going to let you know what happened before we'd planned to meet, and…yeah…" he trailed off, hoping that she would accept his disjointed explanation.
Unfortunately for him, the irate girl in front of him didn't seem to be in a forgiving mood. Her deep blue eyes were like hardened steel as they glared down at him, and he suddenly felt like she was standing somewhere much higher than him. "Is that all you have to say for yourself?" she asked coldly.
Nikolai paused. She seemed to be wanting something else. "I'm…sorry?" he ventured.
She regarded him sternly. "Are you asking me or telling me?"
A very small and very foolish part of him reared up and took control. "Well, I guess I'm asking you, Aliya, because I really don't see what else I could have done in the situation. He was intentionally provoking me by insulting my family. What should I have done?"
Yuri sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Oooh, soplyak, bad move. Run away, run!"
Suddenly, the very small, idiotic part of Nikolai wavered, and he briefly wondered if he had made a mistake after all.
He didn't have to wonder long.
Aliya stalked towards him slowly, and Nikolai instinctively stepped back a little. "Nikolai. You cannot be serious. Could you really not think of any better way to deal with some petty insults than resorting to hitting someone? Did you not stop to think that maybe that was exactly what he wanted? Geez, Kolya, I swear, you are just the world's biggest idiot sometimes! It's like you haven't matured at all since you were seven! On top of all that, you got yourself hurt by your own stupid actions! And don't even try to blame it on the other guy. He may have hit you, but you allowed yourself to be provoked, and you started this whole mess. None of this would have happened to you if you hadn't hit him in the first place. Don't you ever get tired of hitting people?"
"Um…"
She ignored his feeble attempt at a response and continued berating him. "You haven't hit anyone for so long, I was starting to have hope for you. But now you go and show that you're still just a kid with something to prove. Honestly, Kolya! What do you think you're going to do now? You can't play hockey with your shoulder like that, can you?"
"Well, no, but…"
"Then what are you planning to do with yourself until it heals?"
Nikolai looked up at her slowly, an idea forming in his head. "Well…how about I just train with you?"
That stopped Aliya in her tracks. She blinked, and her menacing aura evaporated. "What?" she asked blankly.
Nikolai, warming up to his own idea, responded enthusiastically, "Yeah, it's a great plan, don't you think? Since I'm not allowed to go to hockey practice, I'll have all sorts of free time during the day, so I can spend time with you instead. Wouldn't it be good for you to have some extra practice with a partner?"
She interrupted, "Hold on a minute, Kolya. Aren't you forgetting the reason why you can't play hockey?"
He shook his head. "They just said that because I'm a forward. What good is a forward who can't hold a stick? But just because my arm's out of action doesn't mean that I can't skate. My feet work just fine. We could just focus on some basics, and jumps and spins and stuff. Come on, it's the perfect plan, and you know it."
Aliya sputtered, "I certainly do not know it! What if you get hurt worse while we're practicing? How do you think I'd feel then?"
Nikolai stepped closer to her, and said gently, "Aw, come on, Aliya. I know you need someone to run programs with you. Why won't you just let me help you, especially now that I have some free time? Please?"
Aliya stared up at him incredulously for a second before throwing her hands up in the air and turning to Otabek. "Әкем, help me out here."
Otabek looked Nikolai up and down ponderously. "I don't know, Aliya. He seems to be on to something. Why don't you let him join us for practice? It's not like it will hurt you having a partner for a week or two."
Yuri cut in with a sharp voice, "What do you mean, it won't hurt? How the hell can you throw this amateur into practice with our daughter and expect him to keep up? It will be a disaster."
Nikolai gave Yuri a sharp look. "You might be right, since I'm not a competitive figure skater." He directed his gaze towards Otabek and continued, "But surely I'm better than nothing, right?" Turning to Aliya, he finished his argument with a quiet plea to his friend. "Besides, I need to make it up to you for being stupid, right?" He offered her a soft smile.
Otabek regarded the two of them silently for a second, his mask making his emotions unreadable to Nikolai. Finally, he nodded and rose up from his chair. "Very well, we will try it. There's no harm in allowing the boy to try, Yura," he intoned, cutting off his husband as Yuri began to squawk his protest. He gave Nikolai one last piercing look, then turned around. "I'll see you both at the rink tomorrow," he said over his shoulder, retreating down the hallway.
Yuri hissed air harshly through his teeth. He directed a disgusted look at Nikolai. However, all he said before following his husband was, "You'd better not mess this up for my daughter, soplyak."
When they had both left, Nikolai turned to his friend, a triumphant smile on his face. It faltered, however, when met with her tearful expression. "Aliyen'ka, what's wrong?" he asked, horrified to see fat drops threatening to fall from her eyes. Without thinking, he reached up and swiped the tears away with his thumbs.
Aliya's breath hitched softly. She stared up at him, searching his face. "Kolya, why would you do this for me? Especially when you're hurt?"
The expression on her face was ripping a hole into his heart. He had to make her smile again.
He smiled fondly down at her, and tapped his finger on the tip of her button nose. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe her nose was the prettiest thing in the world. "Aliya, I have to make this up to you, right? I messed up and made you worry. And a man has to take responsibility for making a girl upset, don't you think? Besides, like you said, what else am I going to do until I can go back to hockey practice?" He grinned at her, hoping she would catch his mood.
Luckily, it seemed to work. Her eyes gleamed up at him for a heartbreaking second before she jumped up and threw her arms around his waist. Startled, Nikolai managed to stabilize himself before they both fell backwards. He craned his head, trying to look at her face where it was buried in his chest. The sight made his heart beat harder, but he consciously pushed down his feelings. Hers were more important right now. Hell, at any time.
"Aliya? You in there?"
She laughed, muffled against the fabric of his shirt. "Yeah, Kolya. Thank you." She lifted her head up to his and beamed. Then she let go of him and stepped back, tucking her arms behind her back and clasping her hands together. The pose brought out all of her girlish charm, and Nikolai had a hard time concentrating on her next words. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow at practice, partner?"
He smiled dizzily back at her. "Yeah. Tomorrow. See you, Aliya." He somehow managed to open the door and exit the apartment without tripping over his own feet. As he was closing the door behind him, he allowed himself one last look at his beautiful little friend. The smile she gave him in that moment propelled him all the way home.