Spending time with Victor proved to be much less painful than Yuri had thought it would. Even after their initial conversations on getting to know the basics, he could still tell that he wasn't fully ready to open up completely to Victor. Personal things were hard for him in general, but specifically with Victor. Luckily the Alpha didn't seem to mind.
Victor was an open book after their sunset 'date' and Yuri was perfectly happy letting the Alpha do most of the talking. He was starting to get a real feel of the Alpha now, and he couldn't deny his growing fondness, though there was always that little—something.
Yuri hoped down the staircase towards the first floor after he threw his notes into his dorm, planning to head straight for the ice rink to clear his mind. As he came out of the stair well, he cocked his head in interest as he saw Otabek standing outside of his office speaking with a very familiar Alpha.
"It's unacceptable." Otabek said in a calm, yet firm voice. JJ was standing directly in front of him, anger evident on his face as he spoke in a much louder voice.
"What kind of a backassward House are you running if an Alpha can't even get to know an Omega!" He said, nearly shaking.
And shit, Yuri gulped. He had completely ignored JJ ever since Victor came into the picture. At first, he was just angry that JJ had felt the need to know his business before they even started to Court. Then he became anxious as his fondness for Victor had grown, and now he was avoiding the Viewing Room altogether for fear of running into the Alpha and having to explain himself.
Honestly he wasn't even sure where his feelings were. He liked JJ—probably more than he'd like to admit, but there was no denying his feelings for Victor either, and that wasn't even touching on the feelings for Yuuri. He was confused and just plain scared to confront those feelings.
Yuri watched as Otabek's calm features flashed anger.
"Do not try to blame the House for this. You know the rules perfectly well." Otabek's voice was still a lot calmer than JJ's but it was easy to hear the note of fury that bubbled just below.
Yuri turned and dashed out of the nearest exit, avoiding the situation…again.
On the ice, Yuri let his anxiety melt away as he listened to the sound of blade on ice. He didn't need to overcomplicate this. He needed to just follow his gut. The only issue was that his gut was tied up in knots and unhelpful in nearly every way.
He threw his arms out, lifting his foot back and glided easily along the smooth surface. He just needed a little more time. Victor was definitely his initial desire—but he wasn't sure if that was because of Yuuri. Victor and Yuuri were a package deal in his mind and he didn't know if that was quite fair to JJ. Choosing Victor just because he had an Omega…one that Yuri desperately wanted to see again.
"Yurio…"
Victor's voice broke through his thoughts and he let his foot fall as he opened his eyes in surprise.
"Victor…what are you—"
"Yurio, I needed to talk to you. Otabek said you might be in here." Victor walked up to the edge of the rink and leaned against it, motioning for Yuri to come over.
He sighed, rolling his eyes and moved to skate over before changing his mind and turning toward the exit. "I'm done anyway." He said with a little edge to his voice. "I'll just change and meet you outside."
Victor moved quickly, making it toward the exit in time to help the Omega off the ice. Yuri rolled his eyes again, but used Victor to balance himself as he put his blade covers on.
"This can't wait, Yurio."
Yuri stopped and looked up, one hand on his blade one hand on the Alpha as the sincerity of the words struck him.
"Okay…" He baited, a little worried. "I guess we can sit on the bench."
Victor nodded and waited for Yuri to finish with his blades before they both walked to the nearest bench and sat down.
Victor took a breath and puffed it out loudly.
"Yuri, I honestly have no idea how I'm supposed to do this. " He began softly. "I want to be honest with you and I can't stand keeping things from you for one more second."
Yuri glared at the Alpha, keeping his face blank and wishing Victor would have at least let him shower. He was sweaty and uncomfortable and probably smelled and he didn't want Victor to know he could smell bad.
Whoa.
That was a weird thought. He didn't care what the hell Victor thought.
"Well I guess I'm just going to start with the easiest confession." Victor said more to himself than to Yuri, "I uh…well Otabek doesn't own this House."
Yuri's look of suspicion didn't change as he waited for Victor to finish his thought. "He's just the Director that the owner…that I…put in charge here."
The look of suspicion disappeared giving way to a blank, unblinking look. He couldn't have heard that properly. Victor owned St Petersburg Omega House? That was—No.
"You own the St. Petersburg Omega House?"
Victor nodded slowly, lip pulled between his teeth as he watched the Omega back up slowly. So this whole time…their terrible last director, the awful conditions, his—his friend's deaths…
"So…wait so…" Yuri couldn't even gather his thoughts. "This…all of this…" He looked around still awestruck. "…is yours?"
Victor nodded again.
"I can't…you…"
"Yuri, listen to me, I never meant to keep it from you. I just didn't want you to think that you had to do anything that you didn't want to do just because I owned the House you live in."
Suddenly Yuri's anger made itself known. His brows furrowed, palms went sweaty and he was sure the heat in his face turned his skin pink with absolute furry.
"So everything that happened over the past year was entirely your fault?!" His voice was loud and boomed in a carrying echo across the rink.
Victor jumped back a little, confusion on his face as Yuri bellowed.
"You let this place sit here and fester in its own waste while Salsk was beautiful and wonderful? You let hundreds of Omegas suffer here over the years while you sat up in your pristine little oasis!? And what? Just decided out of nowhere that because you couldn't keep your own Omega happy that you'd finally do something about it?!"
"What? No, Yuri you don't—"
"People died, Victor! My friends! My classmates died just in this past year! That's not even counting the other lives that were lost while you sat high and mighty in your big House! You're the most selfish, uncaring—"
"Enough!" The words were strong, and most obviously an order. Yuri's knees wobbled but he forced himself to stay standing as the weight of the order ran through his bones. He bit his lip, hard enough to draw blood, to keep himself from falling to the ground. He finally felt the need to submit dissipate when he heard Victor sigh loudly.
The Alpha shook his head, and Yuri struggled to meet his eyes as he felt his body relax again. "Yurio, I recently purchased this House." He spoke much softer this time, and it took a moment for Yuri to fully understand what he said.
"Recently?"
Victor nodded. "Yes, I bought the owners out, right after the deaths of those Omegas several months back." He looked at Yuri for a moment before continuing. "I should have told you."
Yuri shook his head, still a little stunned and embarrassed by his outburst. All of the changes that had been happening, all of the positive new rules, the robes, the cleaning—everything was because of Victor. He wondered for a moment if Victor had done it to please Yuuri, but then remembered that Yuuri had left for Japan before the House's change.
"Why did you buy the House?" He asked finally.
Victor was silent for a moment, cocking his head to the left and tucking his bottom lip in thought. "I uh—I suppose I should tell you everything, Yuri."
Yuri groaned and leaned against the back of the bench in a slouch "Is this going to be a long story?" He asked sarcastically, trying to break the tension from his previous outburst.
Victor huffed out a nervous laugh as he ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I can try and cut it down. Maybe it's best if I say it fast anyway."
Yuri looked at him calmly. Whatever this was, it must have been important to the Alpha. Just his body language, his uncomfortable posture and his constant fidgeting told him that it wasn't going to be comfortable for him. So he waited patiently.
"Okay, well my family has owned the Salsk House for generations; we actually opened the House in the early 1800's." Victor shook his head. "Not that that is important to this story." He huffed again, running his fingers through his hair and started again.
"So my father met my mother in Japan. The Alpha's in my family nearly always go abroad for their Omega's and my father fell madly in love with my mother when he met her. She had been transferred from the St. Petersburg Omega House to a Japanese Omega House due to her poor health. And when she told him about the treatment she received in St. Petersburg, he became obsessed with forcing the House to shut down, and then one day his plan changed to buying it out right."
Yuri listened quietly; trying to keep his face neutral, though hearing about Victor's family was definitely making the Omega in him purr in delight. To have an Alpha open up about something so personal was definitely part of Courting, and even though he had agreed to the Courting weeks ago, this was a big step.
"He began looking into laws and City regulations and Omega Policies to see if he could force them to sell or at least force them to close so that the City would put it on the market, but as he studied up on all of these things, he found how unjust the system was towards Omegas. His basic goal was to take over St. Petersburg as a personal favor for my mother, but he ended up really obsessed with getting Omega Policies changed to help protect and care for unmated Omegas."
"Anyway, so that's how I was raised. He made sure I was aware of the harsh treatment of Omegas and how Salsk was a place of refuge and safety as much as a place for them to find Alphas."
Victor took a breath and looked down at his shoes. Yuri waited for a moment before nodding his encouragement. "Go on…"
Victor looked up, his face was screwed up in a tortured mask, but he smiled bravely and continued.
"Yuuri and I had been together for about a year and a half when my father took us into town on one of his business dealings. It was a nasty sort of day, snowing on and off, sleeting most of the day too, and by the time he finished, the conditions were pretty bad. The idea to stay in a hotel was thrown aside because it was still a little uncomfortable for me to have Yuuri around other people—especially Alphas, and there was just no way of controlling that sort of thing in a Hotel. So my dad decided to drive us home."
Victor was quiet again, his voice had gone a little shaky and he was no longer even attempting to look at Yuri. He took a breath and began again, his voice soft and breath ragged.
"There was an accident." He said finally, "Another car had lost control and was speeding down the road and ran right into us."
Yuri's eyes went wide; his hand went to Victor's leg unconsciously in an effort to sooth the Alpha.
"He—he didn't make it." Victor took a long breath and continued just as shaky, "And the man in the other car didn't either."
"Victor…"
The Alpha rose from his seat and sighed, his hand coming up and covering his face while he took deep breaths to steady himself.
"If I had just told my father that a Hotel was okay…"
Yuri stood then, walking over and putting his hand on Victor's shoulder. He wasn't so good at comfort, he knew, but he also knew that Victor had been carrying this around for a while. And for some reason the Alpha had it in his mind that he could have prevented the terrible accident.
"Victor, stop. It was an accident. You couldn't have changed anything."
Victor shook his head and moved away from Yuri's touch, standing up and huffing. "Yuri, the other car—the man…"
"It wasn't your fault." Yuri said again.
"Yuri the other man…in the other car… he was your father." He said softly.
Yuri's mind went temporarily blank. He stood there, looking at Victor with a mixture of shock and disbelief.
"My… My father he—" died…in a car accident. His eyes went wide and he took a step back from Victor, looking at the older man in pure shock.
"Yuri—"
He kept backing up. His vision was beginning to blur around the edges and he could feel his heart rate speed up as he realized what Victor was telling him. He hadn't actually thought of his own father in…years. He had been so young when the man had died. His grandfather had raised him as his own and in his mind that was his father.
Now, thinking about him, thinking about how he died, how Victor and Yuuri had been there—tears filled his eyes and he blinked causing them to spill over and run down his cheeks.
"Yuri please…I'm so sorry." Victor's voice was soft and so broken, that Yuri had the desire to release a calming scent to console the Alpha. He did. Despite whatever Victor thought, it still wasn't his fault. It had been an accident. So he released the most soothing scent he could manage and he watched through teary eyes as Victor inhaled deeply.
"How…" Yuri couldn't fully form his thoughts into words. His father being dead was always going to be a sad point. Even though he never felt like he'd gotten the short end of the stick, there was something about losing a parent—something about losing a father.
In all the years he'd lived with his mother and grandfather he had asked only a handful of times how his father had died. The only answer he received was that it was a car accident. He had a blurry memory that let him know it was cold on the night his mother had told him his dad had died, and he remembered vaguely going to the hospital, but she never actually told him anything other than the car accident part. And it was hard to hear about it.
Victor gulped, "I saw them take you to the hospital. And I kind of…kept up with you…"
Yuri nodded slowly, looking down and taking a breath. Okay sure, that made…wait what?
"You saw them…" He looked up at Victor in confusion.
Victor nodded gently, not meeting his eyes. "Yes. I saw them pull a toddler from the car. It wasn't very hard to find out who you were—since we were in the accident I guess they saw it as simply wanting to make sure you were okay—which was true." He added a little forcefully.
"You were so young. And your mother was understandably distraught so I wasn't able to really speak to her at the hospital. I spent months trying to figure out who you were, and after some time I figured it out." Victor took a step toward him, but Yuri instinctively stepped back. As soon as he'd done it he felt bad, because the Alpha took two steps back and hung his head before continuing.
"When I did finally find you, your grandfather had moved in and they told me how you would likely be an Omega. Apparently your father was a Beta and the Omega gene from your mother was the dominant. So I made a point to just—keep an eye on you."
Yuri took deep shuddering breaths, trying to clear his mind and just accept what he'd been told. He had never realized he had been in the car too. That would explain his mother's overprotective nature of him for sure. And he certainly hadn't realized that Victor had been keeping an eye on him.
Their farm had been a fairly successful one, and he knew that most years they were completely fine financially, though definitely not rich. But he did recall those few years when the harvest had been poor and they somehow managed to make it through without going hungry even one day. He had always assumed they were just lucky, or perhaps they had money saved up, but now—ugh he couldn't think about that!
"I don't understand…why are you telling me this?" His voice was still soft, he was still a little dazed by the confession.
Victor sighed again, shaking his head. "Well, when you came into my office on your first day, I didn't actually recognize you. Presenting had definitely done it's work on you. And when Yuuri showed interest, I thought maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to have a second Omega—Packs are pretty common after all, and I could definitely take care of another person." He hesitated and then forced himself on. "But when you said your name…And I finally recognized you—I don't know. I guess all of the feelings from the accident, the guilt and the torment came back."
Yuri shook his head, not quite understanding. "Are you saying…that you made me feel like you didn't want me, because you felt guilty?" The anger in his voice was becoming evident and Victor gulped as he nodded.
"How…how does that even make sense, Victor?! You're guilty about my father dying so your instinct is to make me feel unwelcome and unloved?"
Victor shook his head. "No no! Yuri, please, understand. My actions had nothing to do with any regard to you."
"What?! You just said—"
"I said that my guilt came back." He paused and then went on slowly, his voice calm. "Yuri my actions toward you were purely selfish. Yuuri was so taken with you, and you were taken with him, and I could see how we could be happy—despite the odd connection. But I didn't want to have an uncomfortable conversation. I didn't want to bother myself with the unpleasantness."
Yuri had been on the verge of screaming at the Alpha when he'd broken into his little monologue. He was right though. He had been selfish, completely selfish. Who ruins two other people's happiness just to prevent a few days of awkwardness?
"Why wouldn't you just tell me? Or maybe have Yuuri tell me?"
Victor shook his head. "Yuuri didn't know it was you." He said running his fingers through his hair. "I guess I was hoping it would all just go away. That maybe once you left, Yuuri would get over you and we'd go back to the way it was before…"
Yuri shook in anger. "And what about me? You just left me here to rot?"
Victor looked sadly at Yuri and took a step forward only to have the Omega step back. He lowered his hand and shook his head.
"Yuri, I am not going to give myself any excuses here. The facts are, I was too selfish to think of what was best for my Omega. I was too selfish to think of what was best for you. And I was too scared to have a conversation that would have saved us all so much grief. Before Yuuri left me…I have to say I led a pretty comfortable life. That sort of comfort makes it real hard to recognize when you need to step out of your comfort zone to do what's right. I hate that it took me messing up your life to realize what I was doing was wrong, but that's why I came back."
Yuri stared at him for a long time, glaring and scowling with anger. Selfish was not even close to what Victor had been. He couldn't even think of a good word to describe it! He was so angry that he seriously could punch the idiot right in the nose.
But then again—the fact that Victor wasn't making excuses. The fact that he was owning it, and trying to fix it—that couldn't be over looked either.
He hadn't realized how much time had passed until he heard Victor's soft plea for forgiveness breath through his minds narrator. He looked at the Alpha and shook his head.
"I honestly don't even know what to say to you, Victor." He said honestly. "I mean—I suppose you at least realize what you've done. And I guess it couldn't have been easy to be around me with all that guilt you seem to have…"
Victor was silent, but looked at him evenly.
"I—Victor you—" He huffed angrily at his lack of words and then spoke in a fast garble of barely pieced together thoughts. "I don't blame you for my dad—I mean. You couldn't have done anything. And—it was nice of you to look for me. But you're so—why wouldn't you? Ugh! You're such a moron!" He winced at the choppy sentences and then slumped his shoulders. Victor was quiet, still standing a good way away from him.
A small smile turned the corner of Victor's lip up just a hint.
"Victor…I'm not—don't take this the wrong way or anything, but I think I need to be alone."
The Alpha nodded immediately and backed away. "Of course—Yurio, take your time. I'll call on you in a day or two?" He asked, gently.
Yuri nodded, keeping the fresh tears from falling as they began to form again. He couldn't decipher the feelings he had, and he really wanted to have some time to himself to work them out. He was glad that Victor wasn't taking his needing space as a bad sign—a lot of people would see his wanting to be alone as a sign of anger or disappointment.
Victor hesitated on the spot, clearly not sure if he should embrace Yuri or not before leaving. And Yuri honestly couldn't give an answer to his feelings either way. He didn't blame Victor, as the Alpha clearly did, but this was a lot of information to take in.
Victor decided on an embrace and moved forward quickly, wrapping strong arms around Yuri's shoulders and pulling him into a sturdy hug. Fresh tears pooled in his eyes and Yuri trembled softly at the comfort he felt from being held by the Alpha.
Victor's body weight was slowly returning to normal, and though it was hard to tell with his eyes, Yuri was definitely aware by the strength in the arms that were holding him.
The hug wasn't lingering or too long, and when Victor pulled out of it he held Yuri by the shoulders, squeezing gently.
"Yuri, you take as much time as you need, like I said. And if you change your mind about—well about letting me Court you, I'll understand."
Yuri wanted to punch Victor again. Pridurok. Instead of giving in to his violent desire and punching one of the wealthiest Alpha's in the country, he grabbed Victor's jacket and pulled him close smashing their lips together brutally.
He heard the gasp that came from the Alpha, but almost immediately after, he felt Victor's shoulders sag and the strong arms move to his waist, pulling him in so gently that he felt his heart flutter.
Victor's lips were warm and soft, barely moving as they gently pressed against his own. The Alpha scent burst forward at the moment of impact and Yuri could feel his knees begin to wobble with the desire to present.
He broke the kiss suddenly, unable to let it fully develop. He just needed—some time.
"I—I'll see you in a few days." He said hurriedly and he released Victor's jacket and dashed away as fast as he could toward the main building.
/
Yuri felt like his mind was intentionally making him confused. He went over and over the conversation, let himself really understand what had happened and tried to fish out his true feelings, but as soon as he'd think he felt a specific way, suddenly his mind would conjure something that made him feel the opposite.
It wasn't Victor's fault, what happened with his father—so he was okay, he didn't have bad feelings toward the Alpha. But then he could have told him. Why refuse him while he was presenting and then just let him leave to come here, knowing how shitty it was? So the anger would surface.
Back and forth back and forth his mind would jump and he groaned at the headache that was now constantly tingling at his temples.
"Yuri, why don't you just go talk to him?" Mila said a little annoyed.
"Because I don't know what to tell him!" he said angrily. "I can't tell if I'm mad or not, if I want to continue Courting or not, I'm just—so confused!"
Mila made a face and put her notebook down, sitting up on her bed and looking at him evenly. "You're telling me, that the fact that he was in the car when your father died, changes how you feel about him?"
"Of course not! I'm mad because he basically ruined both Yuuri and my lives because he didn't want to inconvenience himself."
"Alright so you're mad at him for being a dick. Does that change your feelings?"
Yuri was quiet and he bit his lip as he shook his head.
"Okay, so there ya go." She said with a smile.
"But that still leaves me confused on what I want!"
Mila rolled her eyes and stood up from her bed. "I'm going down to the Viewing room. You're too complicated right now." She left, and Yuri groaned in aggravation.
Normally he'd want to go skate, but he was too nervous about running into Victor now that the Alpha knew where he liked to go to be alone. And he couldn't go to Viewings because he had seen JJ there almost every night the past week.
Yuri huffed, flipping over on his bed and shoving his face into his pillow. Feelings sucked.
/
Nearly a week had passed since Yuri told Victor that he needed some time to think. And he was starting to get a little antsy. Victor had said he'd call on him in a couple of days—not a week or two—not a few days. A couple. As in two.
After the fourth day of no contact, Yuri stopped worrying about working out his feelings and started hyper focusing on why Victor was giving him so much time. He started revisiting their conversation, wondering if he'd said or done something to give the Alpha the idea that he needed a week without contact.
He didn't think so. After all, he'd kissed him! Then the idea that perhaps kissing him was the wrong move started to manifest. Maybe kissing him after such a touchy subject made Victor think he was unstable?
Then his old feelings of Victor not really liking him decided to come back full blown. Sure, they were actually getting along alright. And yeah, they had a few things in common and enjoyed each other's company. But maybe it was all platonic to Victor. Or an act? The Alpha had been very transparent about the fact that he was getting to know Yuri better for Yuuri's sake. And maybe the kiss made him uncomfortable!
"Plisetsky?"
Yuri jumped slightly and forced a smile for the Director, who was making his way across the lawn from the Special Courses building, before remembering that the Beta had kept Victor's true role a secret from him and instead scowled.
"What's the look for?" Otabek asked with a touch of humor. And geeze what a douche. His anger wasn't funny.
"You knew about Victor this whole time."
Otabek's face fell. "Oh—that."
"Yes that." Yuri growled. "You're the Director here. You're supposed to make the Omegas feel comfortable and safe, and you even made a point to make it seem like we were friends."
Otabek squinted slightly. "I don't think I ever went as far as that."
Yuri moved his lips to the side in a 'yeah right' gesture. "You always say hi to me in the halls. Always let me know when we're having pirozhki for dinner. .."
Otabek grinned and shook his head slightly. "I say hi to everyone in the halls, and I only let you know about the pirozhki because you let me know how much you liked it. I wasn't going out of my way or anything."
"Regardless!" Yuri said angrily. "You never thought it'd be a good idea to let me know that the Alpha who was responsible for me being here, now owned the House?"
Otabek sighed gently, keeping his face passive and void of emotion. "You are aware…that Mr. Nikiforov is my boss…"
For some reason, that hadn't quite dawned on the Omega. And just that, made him feel even angrier. How stupid must he have been to first not even realize that Victor owned the House? Like—at first, sure, but when he showed up? It should have been obvious. And now, even after Victor said that he'd hired Otabek, it slipped his mind that perhaps Victor had told Otabek to keep quiet. And the Beta obviously would since Victor was his boss.
"Oh…"
Otabek nodded and then gave his famous not quite there smile. "I did tell him I thought he should let you know up front. If that means anything."
Yuri was just about to respond that, yes that did mean something at least, when a loud angry shout of Otabek's name rang across the lawn. They both turned their heads and Yuri felt his heart sink into his stomach.
JJ marched up to them, and glared directly into Otabek's eyes. Yuri took a step back and the move caught JJ's eye, causing the Alpha to look down at him.
"Maybe you should leave, Kitten." He said looking back at Otabek. "Director Altin and I have a few things to discuss."
Yuri looked between them and opened his mouth to say—well something, he wasn't fully sure what he wanted to say—sorry for leading you on?—when Otabek cut him off.
"Yura, go on. Mr. Leroy seems to need another course in proper etiquette while on House property."
Yuri would have argued—stayed to maybe offer some apologies or whatever, but the look of slight shame that flickered over JJ's face, made him realize that Otabek had this covered. He still had some very real guilt over how he had treated JJ. Even though they had not been officially Courting and there was no obligation on his part to even tell JJ why he stopped showing up to Viewings, he wanted to explain in person.
Even when he realized that JJ wasn't coming to Viewings necessarily to see just him, the Alpha had clearly been interested. And Yuri had been interested too—until Victor.
"I don't mind to—"
"Run along, kitten." JJ said, still looking at Otabek with anger. The soft spoken tone didn't deter from the fact that it had been a command. And Yuri felt himself back away without his full consent.
"You have no right to command the Omega's here, JJ. This is why I don't want you coming here." Otabek said with almost seething anger now evident on his normally passive face.
"Oh is that the reason? Is it? Because it seems the reason you don't want me here is because for some reason I'm the only Alpha in the world who doesn't have the right to an Omega!"
Yuri continued backing away and then turned to hurry down the lawn, the argument still loud enough for him to hear though not enough for him to make out any words.
He sighed as he made it to the Special Courses building. He hadn't really planned to skate at the moment, but now that he was here, he shrugged and went inside. The staff running the skate desk smiled when she saw him and handed him his favorite pair of skates without him even handing her his permission slip.
The slip Otabek had given him several weeks back gave him permission to skate whenever he wanted, as long as no one was using the rink for classes and as long as it wasn't too late. So the staff had become very familiar with him and particularly this woman who seemed to always be on duty when he came in.
"You'll have company today." She said smiling as he took the skates.
He hesitated for a moment and then shrugged. He didn't really care. He just wanted to get on the ice. He thanked her softly and then went to the changing rooms and changed so quickly that he was at the rink before he really knew it.
He sat down on the bench to take his blade guards off when he looked up and saw the company that the staff had spoken about. The skater was elegant, moving easily along the frozen surface and moving his body so beautifully that Yuri didn't even realize his mouth had opened.
Victor.
Yuri was transfixed. Partially by shock of seeing the Alpha and partially by how beautiful his skating was. He glided alone the ice, lifting one leg back in an impressive show of flexibility before spinning up into a jump and landing it perfectly.
Victor didn't even seem to notice he had an audience, and Yuri tried to be as quiet as possible as he watched the Alpha practically dancing like a ballerina on the ice.
His shirt was fitted, long sleeved and grey that complimented his hair. His pants were a comfortable fitted active wear material with a line down the side and, Yuri blushed when he had the thought, fit along the curve of his ass very nicely.
Victor's body was obviously filling out again, and Yuri admired the muscles showing from his arms as he raised them elegantly over his head in a sweeping gesture.
"Yuri?"
Yuri shook his head as he realized he'd been spotted. Victor skated smoothly over to him, panting gently and sweating lightly.
"I—I didn't mean to intrude." Yuri said, looking away from the attractive Alpha as heat rushed to his cheeks.
"Not at all." Victor said kindly. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping you'd show up."
Yuri looked up at that and saw the devastatingly handsome face grinning at him. He felt like he had the first time he saw Victor, awestruck, hopelessly attracted.
"You could have asked me to come…" He said standing up and moving onto the ice. Victor moved over and Yuri grabbed his arm to steady himself as he took the guards off and tossed them aside.
"I didn't want to rush you." Victor said as they moved toward the center, Yuri's hand still on his arm.
/
Yuri wasn't aware of the time passing as they skated together. Well—not together. Victor was still giving him space and even offered to leave, but Yuri brushed the idea aside. He didn't mind the company. And he kind of wanted Victor to show him how to do the jump he had witnessed.
It was the closest thing to a practice that Yuri had ever had, and it was so nice to spend the time with Victor after a week of wondering if he'd done something to ruin what they had been building together. It was also nice to just spend time with him and not talk about everything that they'd spoken about. It was like they had paused the issue and just had fun.
After they had realized they'd been skating for two hours, they left. And Yuri began feeling more and more pressure to un-pause their discussion.
It was warm outside, and still early. The birds were chirping, breeze blowing and the scent of the flowers were comforting as they walked along the path that made its way around the main building. Victor was silent, but Yuri noticed he didn't look upset or nervous anymore, and that was always a good sign.
"You should put gardens here like in Salsk." Yuri said finally.
Victor smiled and nodded his head. "The thought has definitely crossed my mind. But Otabek doesn't think it should be our main focus at the moment. We've made so many changes, that he thinks we should let the new clients get used to them before any more major renovations. "
Yuri nodded and immediately felt guilt at the mention of Otabek's name. He had left the Director to deal with JJ and neither of them seemed particularly cheerful to see the other.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Victor said, smiling at him gently.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about the gardens at Salsk." He lied coolly.
Victor nodded. "I have to admit I'm starting to get a little homesick."
Yuri looked up quickly. "Are you going back?"
He hadn't meant for it to sound nervous or scared, but the look Victor gave him left no doubt that he had done just that.
"No. Not yet."
He took a breath of relief and looked back at the path they were walking. The idea of going back to life without Victor was starting to seem more and more difficult. Which was going directly against his new motto of not letting anyone in, but he couldn't help it. Even with all of the new changes, even with the idea that he could find a new Alpha, he didn't want to go back.
"I will need to leave soon, though."
And now we're back to the nerves.
"Oh…well I guess that makes sense. You've been away for a while and all."
Victor grinned, seeing right through Yuri's uncaring mask. "Not to Salsk. I meant to Japan."
Yuri's eyes widened at anything even remotely close to Yuuri. It had been almost two years since he'd even seen the man, yet he still had such a hold over him. It was disgusting.
"I haven't seen Yuuri in almost a year." Victor said, not making eye contact. "I went to see him a few months after he left, but he asked me to leave after a week." He said moving on.
"Doesn't…I mean…" Yuri blushed at his question. Omegas all went through Heats, but the traditional Heat used for breeding was something unique to mated Omegas only. Once an Alpha claimed you, the Heats would be intense—unbearable without the Alpha.
Victor seemed to understand and nodded with a soft grin. "He does go through Heats. That was why I went to visit. I knew he'd be getting ready to have one. We hadn't really discussed how we'd handle his Heats, so I just made a choice and went to visit." Victor's face fell at the memory and he looked down sadly at his feet.
Yuri was silent out of respect for the Alpha's feelings. Knowing that Yuuri was in Japan suffering through Heats instead of at least letting Victor come by once every four months to ease the pain must have been really tough on the Alpha.
"I'm sure he'll appreciate this visit. It's been so long." Yuri said with an encouraging smile.
Victor smiled back but shrugged. "I don't know. He was pretty clear about his not wanting me around. But I can't help it—if it makes me selfish to want to at least see my Omega once a year then so be it."
Yuri couldn't help the smile that stretched across his lips. It was really nice to hear how much Victor cared for Yuuri.
"I uh—I was wondering, Yuri, would you maybe want to come with me?"
Yuri stopped in his tracks and stared at Victor open mouthed.
"I know there's a lot of shit you're dealing with. And I know that you maybe haven't decided if you even want to be Courted by me let alone joining my pack— and I know that you still have to work through all of the secrets I've been keeping about your father but…"
"Oh shut up, Victor." Yuri spat aggravated, "This has nothing to do with my father or wanting you to Court me. I think I've made it pretty clear that I enjoy your company."
Victor raised an eyebrow at him, clearly torn between letting him continue or letting the Alpha growl for being yelled at. Yuri didn't seem to notice the inner turmoil and continued just as brash as before.
"I just—I'm not sure that I can go." He finished weakly.
Victor cocked his head. "I'm sure I can speak to the owner about letting you go away with a Courting Alpha for a few weeks." He said sarcastically.
Yuri grinned but then shook his head, wiping the grin away. "No, I mean—I don't know if I should go."
"Oh…"
Yuri rolled his eyes at the look of hurt on Victor's face and he kicked at a pebble on the ground.
"Oh don't give me that look, Victor. I don't want you to feel guilty anymore, but we've been here before. Everything seemed to be working out smoothly and then one day…" He made a gesture like something flying away.
"Yes, but that was—"
Yuri cut him off, "Yes I know, truth and guilt and stupidity." He grinned gently before shaking his head. "But Victor, this is my life. I can appreciate that you're sorry and that it was a mistake—a huge mistake—on your part. But I need to be sure. I can't just jump into this pack idea like I did when I was 16. I've grown and I've learned that I need to take care of myself."
Victor nodded slowly, looking away and sighing heavily after a long moment.
"So—that's a no?"
Yuri bit his lip but nodded firmly, his decision made.
"That's a no."