It was finally time. Yuri listened to Yuri On Ice on repeat as he went through his stretches and warmup. He ran through a few yoga poses for extra measure as they helped to calm him down and maintain focus. He was feeling jittery and agitated, his thoughts bouncing around aimlessly in his head looking for any points of weakness to burst out of and run rampant. He'd been on edge since his eyes had opened first thing that morning. He had been extra wary during breakfast, keeping an eye out for any confrontational Canadian skaters. Viktor was only able to get him to settle down after threatening to spoon-feed him breakfast in front of everyone unless he ate on his own. So he did, begrudgingly. On their way to morning practice, they had been predictably pounced upon by the media, who had hurled their rapid-fire questions at Yuri and jostled with one another for positioning. Viktor had placed himself in front of him, like an impenetrable shield, and had refused to allow him to answer any questions. Viktor had been very succinct and business-like in his answers. He took charge and easily commanded the unerring attention of all around him. Yuri had stared at him in awe. He had felt such a maelstrom of emotions as he silently eyed the man who had become his friend, coach and lover. He had felt admiration, pride, and was even a little bit envious of how socially savvy the Russian man was. Viktor seemed very much at home in the spotlight and had a talent for charming those around him. Yuri was socially awkward and knew that he came across as closed off and standoffish to those that didn't really know him. He just got all nervous and tongue-tied whenever he tried to talk to people.
Practice had gone surprisingly well. His eyes had darted nervously around the rink upon arrival, trying to spot any trouble before it had the chance to sneak up on him. Viktor's gentle hand on his shoulder had nearly startled him out of his own skin.
"Yuri, relax. He won't be here, I promise."
Yuri had looked at Viktor with clear suspicion in his eyes.
"How do you know that? He could be hiding around the corner for all you know!"
Viktor laughed as he winked at the younger skater.
"I have….my ways."
Yuri had sighed and decided to just trust Viktor on that one. It was much better than the alternative, which involved Yuri's nerves degenerating until he became a useless blob of anxiety on skates, and wasted his practice time. So he just shook it off and got on with it. He landed all his jumps, with just a slight wobble on the quad Lutz.
"How do you feel, Yuri?"
Yuri held up a finger as he reached for the water bottle and chugged down the liquid refreshment. Once he had drunk his fill, he set the bottle down and wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I feel…surprisingly good. It was nice to have something to concentrate on."
Viktor smiled and nodded just before he reached over with a gloved hand and ruffled Yuri's hair.
"You're lucky you're going last today. You can just see how everyone else does and adjust your program accordingly."
Viktor handed him a sheet of paper with the top scorers on it.
Yuri 107.23
JJ 101.56
Seung-Gil 99.32
Phichit 98.85
Leo 86.75
Guang-Hong 80.14
"You have a good lead on…the second place competitor. Seung-Gil did exceptionally well on his short program, but that was expected. He is probably feeling pumped up by the home crowd. Keep an eye on him, he'll probably pull out all the stops for his free skate. Phichit also scored quite well, that's a personal best for him."
Viktor brought a finger up to his chin and tapped at it pensively.
"Things are actually pretty close in this group right now. There isn't that much of a gap in points between second place and fourth."
Yuri nodded thoughtfully as he looked over all the numbers. I should go congratulate Phichit on his score. I hadn't realized that it was a personal best for him.
"And you, Yuri…you were just two points shy of your own personal best! And you earned that score without having to push yourself as hard as you did during the Cup of China."
Yuri looked up at Viktor with a confused look on his face. Cup of China? What happened during the Cup of China? His forehead knitted together as he tried to remember.
Viktor looked over at Yuri, wondering why he'd gone quiet. He realized instantly that he had slipped up and referenced something that Yuri didn't remember. Shit! That was incredibly careless! Yuri can't afford to have any memories resurfacing right now!
Yuri began rubbing the back of his head as a familiar tingle tickled his brain. He closed his eye as a wisp of a memory flashed in his mind, but disappeared before he could grab onto it. He sighed dejectedly and looked up…right into a really close pair concerned sea-green eyes. Startled, he stumbled backward awkwardly on his skates. Viktor was on him in a split second. He wrapped an arm around his lower back and pulled him in toward him. Yuri wrapped his arms around Viktor to stabilize himself and buried his face into the side of the Russian man's neck.
"Yuri, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm OK. Thanks, Viktor."
Yuri pulled away and stepped backward before smiling warmly at his coach.
"Let's go get some lunch? I'm starving."
Viktor nodded and they had left the rink.
Lunch had gone well and Yuri had been feeling quite good. They had returned to the rink in good spirits, with Viktor shielding him from media scrutiny once more. Yuri had begun his preparations and was feeling like things would actually go well for him. Then he'd seen JJ, strutting around with his usual entourage, and all the anger came flooding back. So here he was, feeling all jittery and agitated, trying not to lose his damn mind. He alternated between pacing back and forth and dropping down onto the mat and doing more yoga.
Viktor watched nervously nearby. He tried not to show it, for he didn't want Yuri to have yet another thing to add to his worries. He didn't really know what to do. At the moment, he was giving Yuri his space and didn't want to crowd or smother him. It was counter intuitive to what every cell in his body was telling him to do…which was run over there and cover him in hugs and kisses. He smiled wryly to himself as he thought just how much the media would enjoy that. So he just watched, ready to jump in whenever it looked like Yuri was losing the battle with his anxiety.
One by one, the competitors took the ice and skated their free programs. When it came to JJ's turn, Yuri made it a point to watch the performance on the nearest television. He wanted to see what he was up against. Yuri vaguely registered Viktor's presence nearby. A strange, yet inexplicably comfortable silence had fallen between them. Usually, Viktor would be in his space trying to cheer him up, distract him or support him with hugs. It was weirdly pleasant, how Viktor's calm and silent strength was encouraging him from a distance. Yuri's attention drifted back to JJ's performance. The Canadian skater had thrown everything but the kitchen sink at him. He would have to go with the most difficult and technically challenging version of his program. He thanked his lucky stars that Viktor had made going over contingency plans part of their repertoire. He knew what he had to do.
"Yuri, it's time."
Yuri looked up and saw Viktor standing next to him. He nodded quietly and the two made their way to the gate just as JJ skated the last few notes of his music and the crowd burst into frantic screaming and cheering. Yuri removed his blade guards and handed them silently to Viktor. JJ skated to the gate and paused briefly to wink at Yuri before he walked off to the kiss and cry. Yuri stepped onto the ice and waited near the board for JJ's score and for his name to be announced.
"The score for Jean-Jacques Leroy of Canada 214.17. He is currently in first place with a total score of 315.75."
Yuri took a deep breath. He knew that that was a new best score for JJ. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as his name was finally announced. Just before he skated away, Viktor grabbed his wrist. When he turned around, he saw this fierce look on Viktor's face.
"I have absolute faith that you will win this."
Yuri's eyes softened for a second before he nodded and a determined look took over instead.
"Thank you. That means a lot to me."
Yuri pushes off and away from the gate and skates the usual lap around the ice. He respectfully acknowledges the judging panel before turning to the crowd. The cheering is extremely loud and Yuri can practically feel the vibrations through the ice. He takes his position; head down and arms by his sides and skates crossed in front of him. He breathes deeply and waits for the music to start. As the first notes reach his ears, he lifts his hands up, overlapping them in front of him. He lifts his head and looks up. It's the last thing he remembers.
Sometimes, a performer becomes so lost in their art that they go through a somewhat 'out of body experience'. Their body goes into muscle memory recall mode and they later attest to not being able to recall a single thing about their performance. Yuri was in such a trance less than ten seconds into his free skate. His mind wandered and relived each memory and moment connected to each section of his program. He recalled feeling lost and confused when he woke up in the hospital in Barcelona, and then the beautiful cerulean-eyed and silver-haired stranger he saw in his room. The stranger, who wasn't really quite a stranger…and whose eyes became so sad and filled with pain when Yuri did not remember who he was. The stranger who became an instant friend, before it was revealed that he was his coach, and then later became the object of his first love. Yuri poured his feelings out onto the ice. The stranger, a beautiful man named Viktor, who filled him with more love than he thought possible for a human body to contain. Viktor, who pushed his limits and made him a better person and skater. Viktor, who took so many of his 'firsts' and gave back to him a hundred-fold. He skated their journey out on the ice, growing more confident as he had in real life with the training he received. He jumped as if lifted by invisible wings, wings gifted to him by the Russian man currently watching, completely enraptured, from the sidelines. Yuri went into his final spin sequence, mind filling with the memory of the first time they'd made love. He slowly came to a stop, pulling his arms in and crossing his left leg behind him before reaching out toward Viktor with his left.
Yuri abruptly came back to himself, the sound of his blood rushing loudly in his ears and of his ragged breaths escaping his burning lungs. The next thing that hit him was the thunderous applause. He blinked a few times before finally stepping out of his ending pose and looking around to wave at the crowd. He nearly tripped over his own feet as he realized that everyone in the arena was on their feet. He quickly recovered and gracefully skated around, picking up a few choice bouquets and stuffed animals before heading to the gate. Viktor stood there, waiting for him with his blade guards, and an unreadable expression on his face.
"Vik…tor?"
The taller man smiled at him, but still did not speak. Yuri couldn't be sure, but he thought he may have seen some tears welling up in the man's eyes. He didn't have much time to contemplate this, as the Russian man placed a hand on his lower back and guided him purposely toward the kiss and cry. As they sat and waited for the scores to appear, Viktor's hand remained on his lower back, rubbing soothing circles there. Yuri was surprisingly calm. He couldn't really say that he remembered his performance, but he felt pretty good about it.
"The final score for Yuri Katsuki of Japan is 224.12. His final score is 331.35, which puts him in first place. We'd like to congratulate skater Katsuki on setting a new personal best score and also breaking his own previous world record."
The crowd went absolutely wild. Viktor threw his arms around him and pulled him up as he stood up. Yuri could feel himself being shaken, but was currently too paralyzed by shock and disbelief to react. Despite knowing how loud it was supposed to be in the arena, things were eerily calm and quiet inside his mind. Time seemed to go by in slow motion and the realization that he'd won gold finally seeped into his consciousness.
"I…won?"
Viktor laughed as he pulled him in for a rib-crushing bear hug.
"Yes Yuri, sweet Yuri. You've won gold!"
Yuri looked out toward the ice where preparations for the medal ceremony were already in progress. As he looked up into the rafters, he saw the flags being lowered. The Japanese flag was the highest, followed by the Canadian flag and then finally by the South Korean one.
Tears welled up unbidden in his eyes. He finally had a gold medal from an international competition! All his hard work, and all of Viktor's efforts had finally paid off. He'd made it at last! Yuri threw his arms around Viktor's neck and the two of them just held onto each other until the medalists were called out onto the ice. Viktor reluctantly released him from their embrace and watched as he walked the red carpet out onto the podium. Yuri lowered his head as the gold medal was placed around his neck and a young Korean girl presented him with a bouquet. He smiled and thanked her in English and watched with great amusement as she blushed fiercely before running off. Yuri picked up his medal and waved excitedly to the crowd as held it in his hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed it, which resulted in a million camera flashes exploding in a cacophony of light around the whole arena. Everyone was on their feet once more as the national anthem of Japan was played. As he stepped off the podium, he heard his name being called out from behind him. He turned around and saw JJ standing there with a hand extended out to him. Yuri looked down at the hand warily, before he lifted his eyes to meet those of the Canadian man's.
"Congratulations, Yuri. That was well-earned. You blew my ass right out of the water, fair and square."
Yuri looked deeply into those eyes and saw nothing but sincerity in them. He lifted his own hand to meet the Canadian's.
"Thank you, you are very kind. You skated very well today also."
Yuri bowed deeply to JJ before turning to make his way off the ice.
…
Later, as Yuri dragged his absolutely exhausted body back to their hotel room after the banquet, he still felt as if he were floating on a surreal cloud of happiness. He removed his shoes at the door and removed the already-loosened tie from around his neck. He sat down on the bed and immediately flopped onto his back, an appreciative moan escaping his lips.
"Oh my god, not having to be vertical feels SO amazing right now."
Viktor lay down on his side next to him, wrapping his arms around his waist and nuzzling his shoulder. Yuri closed his eyes and sighed contentedly as he allowed Viktor's soothing touch to relax him. After a few minutes, Viktor's soft whisper roused him from near-sleep.
"You know, I thought that I had seen the most moving rendition possible of Yuri on Ice…last year. But what you skated today was so much more moving and impactful…it brought me to tears. You were a beautiful masterpiece on the ice, Yuri."
Yuri's soft gasp of surprise filled their quiet room. Viktor propped himself up on his elbow and stared down lovingly at the Japanese skater.
"It was like watching our last three months together play out all over again. Every single one of your feelings were laid bare out on the ice today. There was so much conviction in your movements, I felt like I could reach out and grab hold of each emotion, as if it had become a tangible object."
Yuri's face blushed prettily as he brought a hand up to stroke Viktor's face.
"I'm glad. There's so much I'm thankful to you for. I'm happy that I was able to visualize my feelings so clearly."
"I think, my dear Yuri, that I have somehow managed to fall even deeper in love with you tonight."
Viktor leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Yuri's upturned lips.
"Let me show you just how much you mean to me."
Yuri's eyes grew wide and his face a shade redder, but he managed to crack a smile and nod his head in acquiescence.
And so Viktor took the flushed Japanese skater into his arms and began taking care of him. He slowly removed each article of clothing, tossing it haphazardly in a growing heap on the floor. He refused to allow Yuri to do anything for himself, and removed his own clothes while the younger man watched with darkened eyes. Once their clothes were gone, Viktor took Yuri's hand in his and led them to the bathroom. There, he lovingly and leisurely washed every inch of his lover's body. A slow fire began to burn in the pit of Yuri's stomach as Viktor's ministrations scorched a trail of desire with each deliberate stroke. Yuri moaned as he leaned back into Viktor's chest, his head resting heavily on the Russian man's shoulder. Slowly and deliberately, Viktor worshiped Yuri's body with the washcloth as he cleansed his lover with torturous care. He gently turned Yuri around and washed his back with the same level of effort and consideration, paying a bit of extra attention to his muscular butt. Next came the shampoo and gratuitous scalp massage. By the end of the shower, Yuri had been reduced to an incoherent pile of skater goo. His knees wobbled where he stood and Viktor sat him down on the edge of the tub as he toweled him off and dried his hair. Sensing that Yuri was simply no longer able to stand on his own power, he took the Japanese man into his arms and carried him back into the room before setting him down gently on the bed.
"Viktor…I want to do something *yawn* for you too."
The Russian man shook his head.
"Tonight is not about me, my love. Tonight is about you, and only you. You showed me your love out on the ice today. Just lay back and let me love and worship you like you deserve."
Yuri blushed fiercely at his lover's words. As much as he wanted to reciprocate, he didn't think he'd be able to do anything useful in the current exhausted state he found himself in.
Viktor set about lazily exploring his lover's entire body, each feathery touch followed by a litany of heated butterfly kisses. Viktor brought Yuri's blood up to a slow simmer and held it there mercilessly before finally bringing it up to a boil. Then Viktor took out the bottle of warming lube they had spiked with the extra hot sensation lube they saved for special occasions. His fingers deftly stroked, stretched and prepared him, while his free hand and mouth launched a sensual assault on his hardened flesh. Yuri writhed helplessly as he reached a point where he didn't think he could take it anymore. His whimpers grew higher in pitch and frequency and he clawed desperately at Viktor's shoulders. Feeling satisfied that Yuri was properly prepared, he moved to spread Yuri's legs before lowering himself in between them. He captured Yuri's lips with his own, gently sucking and nibbling on them as he pushed inside. Yuri cried out as he felt Viktor's length make its way past the outer ring of muscle. So may sensations and emotions were swirling around in him that Yuri felt that he'd surely be overwhelmed by them all. As Viktor bottomed out inside him, he paused to brush his unruly hair off his forehead and to look him in the eye.
"I love you."
Yuri cupped Viktor's face with his hands and brought him down for a kiss.
"I love you, too."
They both held on tight, and loved one another well into the night.
