Summary: Usually the worst moment of your life is big. Loud. Obvious. But sometimes it's so subtle you don't even realize it's happened.
It happens like this:
Phichit and Chris don't notice the collision.
They're in the first class swimming pool, which is technically closed but money opens doors and Chris has cash to burn. There's a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice nearby but it's mostly full-they drank plenty on deck, and are hoping the cool water will sober them up a bit.
At 11:40, Chris asks Phichit another technical question about his camera. Phichit answers eagerly.
Victor and Yuuri notice, but don't give it much thought.
The library is empty this time of night, the second class passengers who usually occupy it having retired to bed. Yuuri can hear a few revelers drifting about outside but they have the massive room completely to themselves. Victor presses another lazy kiss to his jaw, and Yuuri makes a soft sound of encouragement.
At 11:40, the world trembles. Yuuri assumes it's his imagination.
Yurio notices.
He's in his bunk, but he's wide awake. His uncle's loud snores and the rumbling of the engines just beneath him battle for his attention and they're both winning. He covers his ears with his hands, closes his eyes tight, tries to think of silence.
At 11:40, the ship lurches sickeningly. Yurio grabs at the rail of his bunk, eyes darting open, and gasps. He climbs out of bed, tries to shake his uncle awake, but the man snarls at him to go back to sleep. The words smell like cheap vodka.
Far above, on the bridge of the Titanic, the captain is summoned. Inspections are called. Messages are sent.
Far below, in the belly of the Titanic, rivets pop. Sea water, cold as the ice that carved its way, finds every gap it can fill and fills it.
In between the bridge and the belly, the world is still again. For now. But the ship's fate has already been sealed.
The RMS Titanic has begun to sink.
Notes: Exactly who is responsible for the sinking of the Titanic has been debated over and over since the disaster. The captain demanded too much speed, White Star demanded too few lifeboats, the designer ordered inferior steel, the builders welded the hull incorrectly. But really, the answer is much more complicated.
The answer is, the ice field had been traversed many times at that speed by ships of a similar size. The answer is, when the Titanic was built the law only required that she have enough lifeboats to transfer the passengers-one group at a time-to a rescue ship. The answer is, the steel was fine. The answer is, the bolts were up to spec.
It shouldn't have happened, but it did. Accidents do.