CHAPTER SIX HUNDRED THREE

The lights had been turned down to nearly complete darkness, leaving the watchers with little more illumination than the glow from the projector screen. Despite Viktor's best efforts, once he'd gotten his drink, he only managed to stay awake for somewhere around 30mins of the movie. Yuri had been jump-scared awake every few scenes and hadn't yet noticed he was solo in consciousness on the couch. Beside them, on the next couch in the semi-circle that formed around the screen, Mikhail sat with Viktoria, and beside her, Otabek sat in his corner. Yurio was in his singleton chair just beside his friend, learning against one arm-rest towards his friend, one leg dangling off the other. On the floor in the pillow-nest, Phichit and Minami sat with their backs pressed to Couch Nikiforov, and Nikki was belly-down between boofers Makkachin and Ghost. Jiro had fallen asleep some time ago between his human's knees.

Bowls of half-munched popcorn were scattered, though Minami still had one, and Yurio claimed one as well. Phichit had taken control of the one Yuri was sharing with Viktor at the beginning, but one jump-scare nearly sent it flying, and he was relieved of the option, much to his chagrin. He did his best not to jump as the film played on, but even he couldn't keep it up forever. The longer the story continued, the more intense the visuals, and even though he knew what was coming...he couldn't help himself.

The climax of the plot was ramping up. The grotesquely contorted spirit of Mama was in the household, trying to lure her surrogate children back into her care, doing so in full view of others. Yuri immediately recognized the scene from previews he'd seen years ago; Lilly at the bottom of the stairs, looking into the living-room at Mama's twisted figure. The naive child turns around to her sister Victoria, smiles and points, and looks ahead again...only for Mama to suddenly shoot forward with unnatural speed, sending the two girls running up the stairs in terror. The explosive sound-effects that accompanied the flight made Yuri both yell and flail where he sat, rolling Jiro down towards his and Viktor's feet with the blanket falling on top of him after. The pup whined and cried in confusion, drawing Yuri's attention from the television as he tried to comfort the stunned Akita.

"Shhh Jiro, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...it's okay, I just got spooked!" He whispered, untangling the puppy from the blanket. Jiro was practically barking his dissatisfaction with the explanation, which was starting to get dirty looks from people nearby still trying to watch the movie. With no other options, Yuri bundled the pup in the blanket and rose up from the couch, patting his husband's leg to get him to come with, not realizing Viktor was unaware of what was going on. When Yuri saw the sleepy-hazy just-waking-up confusion on his partner's face, he knew it would take longer to explain it than to just bail and return, so he huffed and quickly left the Parlor to avoid further disruption for the others. He slid though a small gap in the door and close it again behind himself, and walked through the foyer with the puppy on his shoulder, patting the pup's back as he cooed to calm him down, "It's okay...it's fine, shh."

"Oof, something bad must've happened if you're out here with Jiro like you're calming a crying baby." Minako's voice teased; Yuri spotted her coming down the circular stairwell just as he passed in front of the opening to the tower.

"I scared the crap out of him a minute ago. He's been crying ever since." He tried to explain, keeping his hand lightly patting his puppy's back. His cheeks went a bit pink as he thought about what it looked like though, "...I guess it does seem like he's a human baby like this."

"At least he's quieter." She added, and descended to the floor level, "Is everyone watching the movie?"

"Uhhh yeah, actually...Mik came in, too."

"Hah, he's watching Otabek, not the movie."

Yuri smirked tiredly at that, "He's trying not to be obvious. I don't think Otabek suspects a thing. He's a bit more talkative than he used to be, but otherwise he's acting just like he always does."

"Hard to judge how he 'always does' when it comes to the new additions." Minako assessed.

"Well, I mean...he's kind of like a big brother for Yurio. I feel like he's just that way normally with people he lets himself socialize with... His circle of friends is smaller than mine. He doesn't open up too much."

"Hmm..." The ballerina considered for a moment, coming up closer to offer some back-scritches to Jiro through the blanket, "Mik's spent most of the day brooding about the situation between Otabek and Nikki. You'd think the two of them were already dating, the way he talks about it."

Yuri's eye squinted and a brow went up, but he shook his head, "Nikki is extremely social. Otabek is...extremely not. If he's interested in her, I can't really tell."

"She's too young for him anyway." Minako stated simply, as though that were the final thing to be said on the issue. She lifted her head and smelled the air, and hummed an exhale as she started heading around the table in the foyer towards the Parlor room doors, "Smells really good, whatever it is."

Yuri watched her peek through a crack in the barely-open door, though she backed up pretty quickly once she realized Viktor was right on the other side. He slid through the gap, only to pause half-way through and look back in, waving his uncle out as well, and Mikhail followed out a few seconds later.

"Everything okay?" The elder asked warily, only to catch the aroma in the air as well, "Ah, that must be it."

Minako nodded and reached both hands towards the Russian's shoulders, pat him once and lifted one hand to brush a few stray hairs back into place, "I'm starving. The smell came all the way upstairs and drew me down. It's amazing how much hungrier you get when something smells so good."

"How's your nausea?"

"Seems to be restricted to the mornings. I feel really good right now." She explained, looking as well as she felt, and reached down to pull at the elder's hands, "C'mon. I'm famished."

Yuri and Viktor both paused in quiet to watch the two disappear down the hall towards the kitchen, and the second, smaller, less-formal dining room they were likely to share. Once they were out of sight though, Viktor drew closer, pressing one hand to his beloved's back and pressed a kiss to his black hair, "Sorry, my love...I should've waited to drink until eating something. It went right to my head."

Yuri shook his head, and looked from Viktor to Jiro, "It's alright...I just feel bad for him. He got put through the ringer when I jumped." He explained, "I had to untangle him from the blanket before I could even pick him up."

"Do you want to go back in? We can let him join the pack in the nest."

"...I guess so. But this time I'm going to be behind you."

Viktor huffed a laugh, "That's fair." He mused, and reached to push the door open again. The pair slinked into the dark, waiting a moment to let their eyes adjust before using the film-light to find their way back to their spots. Thankfully, those that were still in the room were so invested in the movie that they didn't pay much attention to the shuffling of feet. Viktor laid down first, making sure he had enough space on the ledge that he wouldn't just fall off, and once Yuri settled Jiro into the nest by Ghost, settled in to lie down behind his partner.

With the blanket tossed over themselves again, Yuri squeezed into the space left for him between his husband's back and the back-rest of the couch. Though a tight fit, it was more comfortable there than lying in front, completely 'exposed' to the scary imagery on the screen. Behind Viktor's larger frame though, he felt more protected, and was able to watch the rest of the movie with just a few squeaks and squeezes in surprise.

The intermission came with a return of the lights, and the group was filed out to the large, fancy dining hall. Those present who were more sensitive to the frights of the movie were able to release and calm down again.

"The worst part of the whole movie was that bit where they pan under the lady's bed, and Mama's trying to claw her way up through it from underneath." Yurio commented, nibbling on a chicken-wing, "Cuz it's not bad enough that there's something under the bed, but it's not even waiting for someone to look underneath to get 'em. It's just...going to go through the bed."

"I think 'The Grudge' was worse in that regard," Viktoria added, mixing brown gravy with mashed potatoes and steamed cauliflower, "That scene where the main lady is in bed, and she hears the croaking noise, and she finds that the Grudge ghost is in the bed with her as its face comes up towards her from under the blankets."

"Ooohhh yeah I forgot about that one."

"I saw a scary story with pictures once." Phichit commented, still picking at the numerous options on offer, a plate in one hand, "One of the stories had a picture of this guy in bed with his wife...or so you're lead to believe. She has her back to him and isn't moving or responding to anything he's saying, so he reaches over... Then the image changes perspectives so you see from in front of the wife, with the guy behind her, but it's not really her. It's this horrific-looking demon-thing with a vicious grin on its face, waiting to be touched."

"Oh, oh! I read a story kind of like that, too!" Minami chimed in, all too excited to add his own recollection, "Except instead of the wife, this father goes into his kid's room, and finds the kid crying on his bed. He asks what's wrong, and the kid says that there's a monster under his bed. The dad agrees to check it out, and when he gets down on his knees to look under the bed-skirt...he finds his kid under there, pointing up, saying 'that isn't me!'"

Nikki visibly trembled where she sat, "I'm never going to get to sleep tonight."

Viktor laughed as he claimed a seat beside her, putting his plate down before moving back to help Yuri sit, "Don't worry. There's at least two people in every room upstairs, so if you hear anything weird, it might just be one of us."

"Yeah jeesh try to keep it down tonight, will you?" Yurio scoffed.

Yuri made a face at him, "You've literally never heard a peep from us."

Phichit's face went red, and his jaw slackened, but he closed his mouth before he could say anything.

Yurio pointed a fork at the second-oldest skater in the room, "So says you. I distinctly recall hearing you at Yu-Topia that time before your wedding party. There were scorecards. You dropped from embarrassment!"

Yuri went pale from horror, "...Oh. Right."

"And theeeeen there was that time at NHK, when you brought your friend over, and we both heard you."

"I actually didn't hear a thing." Phichit interjected quickly, "I mean, I didn't have to, but I didn't hear anything."

Viktor chortled a laugh, "We tried so hard, too..."

"No you didn't! You jackasses!" Yurio fussed, "When Okukawa chided you for being inappropriate when she lost that bet with me, that was just the tip of the iceberg!"

"We'll be nice." Viktor mused, taking his seat.

"You guys tortured me with a horror movie that night, too." Yuri grumbled, hunching over slightly where he sat, "What was it again? 'Shutter' or something? The camera one."

"Yeah, 'Shutter.'" Phichit laughed, "Sorry not sorry?"

"You're the worst friend ever."

"Noooo! That's mean!"

"You take pleasure in making me freak out! You're terrible!"

"I didn't even prank you that time!"

"That time, he says." Yuri shook his head, "As if my heart could handle it again."

Phichit looked back fondly through his memories, "Ah, when was the best prank? It's a tossup between the puddle under the door after 'The Ring,' or the time I called you and did 'The Grudge' ghost-croaking noise."

"Not even." Yuri protested, "The worst was that time you stood in my room in total silence, watching me, not even knowing if I was awake to see you there!"

Phichit looked up, "...I don't remember that one."

Yuri looked rattled, "How can you not remember that one!? I thought you walked out because you noticed I finally moved to stare at you!"

"Ooooooo~!" Viktor teased, "Maybe it wasn't him! Maybe you saw a real ghost that time!"

"That's not funny, Viktor!"

"Imagine Mrs. DeSoto coming into our place with La Chancla to scare the ghosts away." Phichit said, only to howl with laughter at the idea, "She wouldn't even need to come in! She'd just pitch her sandal from the doorway and it would hit the ghost no matter where it was in our apartment! Those things can turn corners, like heat-seeking missiles!"

"That's not funny!" Yuri whined. He leaned over his food and gaped down towards the one person who hadn't said a word yet, "What about you, Otabek? You don't want to add to my torment?"

Dark eyes lifted up, and looked past both Nikki and Viktor towards Yuri, "Movies don't bother me. I've seen real stuff. Movies are nothing."

All attention seemed to swing to the Kazakh, much to his chagrin, "So?" Yurio huffed, "You gonna elaborate on that nugget?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Pfft, yeah!"

Otabek poked at the food he'd gathered earlier, thinking over whether he really wanted to elaborate, but then grabbed a nearby cloth napkin to wipe his mouth and sat back in his seat, "Alright..."

"Yesss."

Nikki gulped uncomfortably, "...I have a bad feeling about this one."

"I've heard disembodied voices calling my name in the dark." He started, being nonspecific, "I've seen the shape of huge, disfigured creature walking down the hall, only to turn into a room with no other exit and never come back out again. I know I was awake because I needed to go to the bathroom, and was looking down the hall while my eyes adjusted to the dark... Needless to say, I held it."

Yurio sputtered a laugh, "How old were you?"

"...Maybe 7?"

"All little kids see scary shit. For some strange and unusual reason, they stop once they get old enough."

"I didn't say I stopped seeing things." Otabek puffed at the blond, "I'll tell you about a thing I saw after that one ballet camp I did with you and Yakov."

"...Ballet camp?" Nikki echoed, giving a skeptical look, "You...don't seem the type."

He shook his head, "I didn't take my ballet career too far. I learned to skate in other ways. But the camp is actually where I met that knucklehead the first time." Otabek answered, and thumbed at the teen sitting at the head of the table beside him, "He has no memory whatsoever. You'd think he would since he was so good and I was such garbage."

"No comment." Yurio sat back and held his hands up defensively, "I don't remember it at all."

"Anyway..." Otabek picked up the conversation again, "I was 13 during that camp, so maybe you'll take this one more seriously."

"Oh, do tell." Yurio mused, leaning forward again to press his chin to the tops of his interlaced fingers.

"It was pretty soon after bombing at that camp that I moved my training from Russia to America." He explained, thinking back on it as clearly as he could, "I wasn't there long. This situation is actually why I ended up training in Canada afterwards...that's how I know JJ."

Yuri barely had a chance to react before he felt Viktor's arms wrap around his head protectively, "We don't speak that name here."

"Sorry." Otabek answered, looking slightly towards them, and watched as Viktor gradually gave Yuri his head back. He looked to Nikki briefly, then up at the lighting fixture above the long table, "I was staying in an old house that had been redone into something like a bed and breakfast, so the bedrooms were all set-up like small apartments. It was really nice at first. Fully furnished, everything was new even though the building was clearly a few decades past its prime. But they made it work. It was...cozy, in the beginning."

"Waiting for the 'but.'" Yurio teased.

"I'm a pretty sound sleeper, so if there were any bumps or thumps to warn me, I missed them." Otabek continued, "But...I think it was day two or three, I got up and found that my arms were all scratched up, like I'd gotten into a fight with an angry cat and lost. There were no animals in the building. I knew I hadn't just scratched myself on something because the marks were in lines of four, and were in clusters together, just like claw marks would be."

"Did you get pictures?" Yurio wondered skeptically, "Something like that would get peoples' attention."

"I came to them as a skater who refused to learn the basics of ballet. I didn't want to make things difficult by complaining about scratches, too." He answered, "I wore long-sleeves and didn't complain. Just soldiered on."

"So what happened after that...?" Nikki asked warily, "Did it happen again?"

"It happened two more times over the next month. When it finally drew blood instead of leaving red lines, I called it a day on that one and transferred. The problem stopped as soon as I left the house."

"Creepy!"

"So when was the most recent thing that happened?" Yurio asked, too curious to let it go.

Otabek rubbed his forehead with his fingers, "Uhm... Two years. Right as soon as I got back home to Almaty, I saw some stuff in the sky that I couldn't identify."

"What, like spaceships?" Yurio asked, a bit dismissive.

"No... Not like any that I've ever heard of." Otabek retorted, "They weren't even shaped like saucers. They were more like...snowboards."

"Snowboards."

"Hey, I'm not the one who picked what shape they were." He replied, "There were two, they were completely silent, and rotated slowly as they moved just above the tops of the buildings I was walking by. I was out on a late-night snack run. I'm not even sure I would've seen them if I hadn't looked up when I did. They had no lights...I couldn't tell what end of them was the front or back, since they turned around as they moved forward together. Eventually I lost sight of them in the night sky. I haven't seen anything since. What about you?"

"Me?" Yurio coughed, "...No, never. I've had Potya for as long as I can remember, and she hasn't been weird about anything either. I figured, if anything was haunting me, she'd notice before I did."

Yuri shook his head and sighed, "...We're going to need one Hell of a funny movie to get these stories out of my head before going to sleep."