CHAPTER SIX HUNDRED THIRTY TWO

Yuri did his best to calm Ghost's nerves as she barked at the inside of the bedroom door, loudly. Makkachin and Jiro both watched from the bed, each one tilting their head from side to side in confusion. Viktor plunked himself between the two as he sat on the edge of the mattress, and watched his hubby work his magic with the big - and still growing - Ovcharka.

"Eaaasy." Yuri said, rubbing his hands against the growing bear-dog's fluffy ribs, "Everything's fine. Those guys downstairs were invited."

Ghost continued to bark, but her voice was gradually getting quieter. Eventually, Yuri was able to convince her to sit, then lie down, and put her chin on the floor. For her cooperativeness, she was given a head-rub and a special treat from the Boutique. The pup still whimpered at the door periodically, but she was at least satisfied that there was no immediate danger.

Viktor held his hand out to guide his beloved to a spot on Jiro's opposite side, "It's a wonder how well you're able to calm her down."

"It's still a bit weird," He answered, "I thought for sure we'd have to put her through some kind of specialized obedience program, with the clickers and treat pouches and everything. I mean, we may still end up doing that anyway, but so far, she's been really easy."

"It's probably because you're a proper alpha," Viktor teased, "Even though you've been under the weather, there's just something about the way that you command any given situation. It's hard not to want to do what you say."

Yuri's cheeks flushed, "That's still so weird to hear, especially from you."

"Maybe that smack to your head knocked loose the last bits of uncertainty in your dominance organ." The silver mused, and leaned backward until he could lie down. He eyeballed the ceiling for a moment, and turned to look aside as Yuri dropped down to his back as well.

"You don't think I'm bossy, do you?"

"Bossy?" Viktor echoed in surprise, "No way. I'd call it...a leadership quality. You're the kind of guy other guys look up to, and want to be like. You just have this natural charm that makes others want to follow you. You make sense, even when nothing else does."

"Now you're just buttering me up."

"Everything I said is the absolute truth," He answered, and twisted up onto his side. He pulled up the hand he still held and kissed his beloved's fingers, and set his free hand on the man's chest, "And at least for me, life is easier. It's just weird that it took something as bad as you being hurt for me to realize it. Waiting by your bedside, not knowing if or when you'd wake up again...I felt completely lost."

"That's natural though... I'd have felt the same."

Viktor just made a face at him, "Something tells me you would've been able to come up with some kind of plan to move forward."

Yuri was the one who made a face then, skeptical as he was, "Viktor, dearest, most loved..."

"Uh oh... Here it comes."

He puffed a laugh, "You're speaking to the guy who had a meltdown over a piece of plastic and silicone. I would've been a useless lump." He said, and closed his eyes as he felt his partner's cheek press to his brow, "I can only be coherent when I'm calm."

Which is exactly why I won't say a thing about how the same guys Ghost barked at were the ones who pestered Nikki today. Viktor nodded quietly, and turned just enough to press a kiss to the scar on his spouse's forehead, "I understand. Let's hope nothing like it ever happens again so we don't have to find out."

"Yeah..." Yuri agreed easily, and looked up, "I should let you get cleaned up. I know you don't like marinating in your sweaty clothes for long after you've finished working."

"Marinating?" Viktor laughed as he echoed the sentiment, "Wow... I hadn't considered the idea in such a visceral way. Now I feel really gross."

"Go on then. You know where to find me when you're done."

.

After the ordeal and energy of the day, Nikki was fast asleep before the first mid-series episode of 'Steven Universe' had ended...which was a bit of a trick, considering each episode was only 10 minutes long. Viktoria let her sister use her lap as a pillow for a little while after that, and gently stroked her hair while the younger teen slept. She glanced over to Yurio though; he was watching the screen, but whether he was actually aware of what was playing on it was anyone's guess. He drew in a long breath and crossed his arms.

"Has anyone bothered to ask how you're holding up?" Viktoria wondered quietly, and looked back to the screen.

"I'm not the one who ran into trouble today." He retorted.

"No...but you were there, right? That's what pipaw said. You saw the whole thing."

"I saw the end of the thing." Yurio corrected, "I'm the dumbass who told her to stay put and then wandered off."

"...Wandered off?"

He scoffed slightly, mostly at himself, "I stepped away...not even out of ear-shot, if it were quieter. But apparently it was far enough to make it look like Nikki was by herself, and put a target on her back. Considering how fast they jumped on her, and how soon after she got upset about them, I can...only imagine what they said or did. Maybe the fact that they were only speaking Russian made it scarier than it was, but it doesn't matter. She yelled, and I stood there frozen like a damn idiot while Otabek jumped in to put an end to it. If it hadn't been for him..."

"Don't imagine stuff like that. It's bad for you." Viktora suggested, "The worst didn't happen. Focus your energy on how you can help her feel better as we all move on."

"...If I don't consider my own failings, I may make the same mistake again."

"What do you think you could've done then?"

"Roundhouse-kicked them both in the fucking face." He answered bitterly, and dug his fingers into his arms for a moment. He shook his head though and released, "But I haven't had that instinct in a long time. Otabek didn't even hesitate."

"Nikki would probably appreciate knowing you don't have violent impulses anymore," Viktoria countered, and looked down on her sleeping sister, "She doesn't like it when people lash out physically. She's the sort that hears the phrase tread softly and carry a big stick, and counters it by saying tread softly and put the stick away, ya dingus."

"What about you?"

"Tread so far away that you don't have to deal with any of that shit in the first place."

"Heh."

"Try not to beat yourself up over how you froze," The older teen continued, and carefully started to wiggle out from under her sister's slim frame. She gently placed a pillow in place of where her lap had been, and pulled a blanket up from the nest to keep the petite teen warm, "I'm gonna go see what pipaw's up to. Hang out here and keep an eye on Nikki in case she wakes up. She shouldn't be alone."

"Sure."

Viktoria tip-toed out of the Parlor room and headed for where she knew the older group had gathered. When she came around the corner to stand in the big open doorway to the dining room, she saw every chair pulled to one end of the long table, and paperwork, files, and laptops set-up, with the whole gaggle of them pouring over it all. She was a bit surprised, and looked back down the hall she'd come from, "...How did you guys...get all this stuff in here without me seeing you go by?" She asked as she looked ahead again, and gestured down the hall instead.

"Oh, hey honey." Mikhail lifted his head, "They brought it in from the street."

"Oh." She answered stiffly, and came closer to see what all was going on, "So what are you guys doing now? ...How did they even get hired this fast? Isn't there like...a process or something?"

"These are the guys who were already hired to do the Russia job." The elder answered, and sat back a bit to see his daughter more easily, "They got in town earlier today but we weren't supposed to meet until Monday. We just moved things up to now because of what happened at the arena."

"...Ah."

"All this stuff here on the table is information about all of us." Mikhail continued, and gestured at it all, "One of the important things about protecting people is knowing exactly who you're protecting and what they're about, what they look like, what the risk factors are, known enemies or grievances, etcetera."

"I see." Viktoria nodded, "Nikki says she's worried about Viktor. Is this all about him?"

"You could say that." He affirmed, "The higher you rise, the farther you fall. Just six months ago, Viktor was Russia's Hero...now he's their biggest so-called embarrassment. These guys already had a decent profile for him because they knew he was a big part of the reason they were hired, so we're just filling in the smaller details and updating them on what's happened since Sinclair first commissioned their services."

Viktoria quirked a brow, "...You seem oddly familiar with the process. I don't recall ever seeing you with a security detail before though."

Mikhail smiled, "I've done jobs in the Middle East and Africa. Even journalists get security in parts of those places sometimes. This isn't quite as serious as going to an active war-zone, but...I'm seeking to protect people far more important than myself now, so it warrants the attention." He explained, and glanced out through the door, "Where are the others?"

"Nikki passed out pretty quick and Yuri is staying with her for now. Viktor and the other Yuri never came into the Parlor room, and the pack took off, so I'm guessing they went to their room." She answered with a shrug, "Do you need them?"

"Nikki and Yura, no. Viktor and Yuri, yes."

"Cool. Good luck getting them down here." She chortled, "I'm not gonna go knock on their door. Lord only knows what they're up to right now."

Mikhail and Minako's faces both went bright red, but the rest of the table chuckled, "Y-Yeah...I'll just text them to come down when they can."

.

Makkachin was the designated pillow of the pack, and snoozed quite happily. The television played quietly, and Yuri laid comfortably in bed, propped up by a pile of pillows under his back. With the blankets over his tented knees, he was hard to spot when Viktor finally came back out of the bathroom, smearing a thin layer of lotion on his skin.

"What I wouldn't give for a sit in the onsen right now..." The silver commented, "Casa Katsuki has utterly spoiled me."

Yuri's face was a bit flushed, but he tilted onto an elbow to look around his knees, "We could always go back to the spa in the morning and sit in the hot-tub."

"Oh I plan on going to the spa anyway...but the hot-tub isn't the same as a hot-spring." Viktor retorted, and sauntered over to his side of the bed to reach for his charging phone. He clicked on the screen and spotted a message from his uncle, "Oh, papa Mimi wants to talk to us at some point. It's not that late and I'm getting pretty hungry anyway, so this is good tim-" He stopped instantly as he finally looked over his phone, and spotted something he hadn't expected to see at all.

Two fingertips gently teased a particularly aroused length of flesh, and a little bead of clear liquid dripped down its side. Viktor could see the subtle pulse, the sway that matched a heartbeat. The flush on his husband's cheeks suddenly made a lot more sense, and Viktor looked into those anxious eyes. They were trained straight on him, and Yuri's breaths were slow and deliberate. That eyes-half-lidded gaze drove the Russian wild.

"OhmygodthisisthehottestthingI'veeverseen."

Yuri smirked, and leaned his head back against the pillows, "You going to...help me with this?"

"YupMimicanwait." He answered, and dove straight into bed. Arms came up around him, and Viktor pulled a blanket over his naked frame as he pressed in close.

.

Yurio's gaze flinched slightly when the video paused just to ask if someone was still watching, and he grudgingly stood up to find the remote where Viktoria had abandoned it on the couch nearby. Instead of going all the way over to get it, and then going all the way back to his singleton-seat, he climbed up onto the couch and made himself comfortable there. At the base of it, Nikki was still soundly asleep, but Yurio couldn't help but notice that sweat beaded on her skin, and her eyes twitched.

...Is she having a nightmare?

.

"Èto devočka, kotoruju ja pomnju."

"Eë volosy pohoži na ego, da? Serebristymi. ...Where you go, gorl? You lost? Can't find bessroom?"

She felt her hair being teased and lifted, and flinched to pull away. Not knowing what to say, Nikki put her hands on her head, not wanting her hat to be taken, but she bumped into someone who'd gotten too close behind her on the other side. She twitched and pulled away again, just for the first figure to grab her tiny, thin wrist.

"We can show you. Come." The man said, Russian accent so thick she was sure he had to consciously translate in his head as he made the sounds, "This way. Is not far."

"No; quit it."

They just laughed mockingly, and encroached even closer. The one that had her hair twisted it around his hand to get a better grip, and the other started to tug on her hat. He leaned in eerily close and made a disgusting, wet, slurping-like sound right next to her ear, right as he pulled the hat clean off her head, tearing it out from under where her hands had pressed down on it to keep it still.

The petite teen cringed quietly, eyes wide and wet, "...Help..." She started, only to feel a pang of anger as the man who had her hat laughed and gestured like he was going to try to wear it himself. She reached for one tail, and moved to yank it back, but he tore it from her grip; Nikki could feel the rip as well as she heard it, "STOP IT!" She yelled, this time louder than a whisper.

The laughing started up all over again. Nikki could feel her heartbeat in her feet, thumping through the soles of her winter boots like the floor itself was reacting to her fear. It stopped as soon as she noticed it though; three pumps, and then a rush of wind...and she started to fall. The most unpleasant crunch sounded, and the laughing stopped. A split second later, another force pushed past her small frame, and the gut-wrenching sound of someone trying to gasp in air, and cry out a grunt of pain at the same time, echoed all around. A third strike sounded immediately after, chased by the drip of liquid falling to the floor, and a hard but clear tap of something.

Nikki found herself on the ground; she wasn't sure when she got there. She didn't feel herself hit, or even realize her body had folded on itself as she twinged there in fear. All she felt was the sting in her eyes, and the pounding in her ears.

A hand settled on her shoulder gently, and jade eyes lifted, trying to adjust through the fog of terror and tears, but the colors of whoever was in front of her were different from the guys a moment before. Black on top, pale-tan in the middle, black again...and teal blue beneath them - teal, like the primary color of Kazakhstan's flag. She knew automatically that she was safe by those colors, and she reached instinctively forward to take them. The floor vanished as someone pulled her back up to her feet and dragged her a few long paces away from the groans behind her. She scrambled for something to hold onto, and buried her face in the blue.

"You okay?" That welcome voice asked, and she clung tighter, "Did they do anything to you?"

All she could do was sob against the fabric.

Eyes shot open, and Nikki could feel her heart racing. The pillow she'd pushed up from was splotchy with damp spots, and she realized she was sweating, in addition to her eyes watering.

Badada...

Her phone pulse-vibrated on the ground where it had been discarded in the blankets, and she warily reached over to it. At first, she only saw the time; 9:25pm. Then, she saw the Instagram push-alert.

Instagram 2m ago
[otabek-altin] hey