It happened in the middle of an otherwise normal day of training.
Yuuri was practicing one of his quads. He had been drilling them for part of that day, with Victor watching over him carefully. But on this particular jump, Yuuri knew as soon as he left the ice that he had messed up. His angle was all wrong, and his toe pick hadn't dug in properly. Instead of flying over the rink like he was supposed to, he went careening sideways, tumbling unceremoniously over the cold, unforgiving surface.
Falling was a part of ice skating. As such, one of the earliest things that a skater learned was how to fall. But as he fell, all of that seemed to suddenly flee Yuuri's head. Instead of protecting his body properly, he landed solely on the side of one foot, twisting his leg at a grotesque angle underneath himself. The rest of his body followed swiftly, and he went shooting across the ice until he slid into the arena's wall with a booming echo of thunder.
Winded, Yuuri sat still, gasping for air and fighting against the pain in his ankle. Before he could catch a hold of himself his fiancé was speeding towards him, dropping to his knees at Yuuri's side. "Yuuri, schastye moy, are you all right?"
Trying to fill his lungs, Yuuri answered as best he could. "I…think so. I just…hurt my…ankle a little…"
Immediately, warm hands were grasping at his leg, belying the freezing cold of the rink. Gently, Victor unlaced the skate and drew away clothing until Yuuri's skin was exposed. Student and coach both bent over to examine the afflicted area. After skating for so long, it had become easier for Yuuri to quickly identify which injuries were serious and which were not. He could immediately tell that this injury fell into the latter category. There was no swelling, no visible blemish, and only a little redness that looked like it would soon fade. He let out a sigh of relief at the same moment the other man gave a loud gasp.
"Yuuri, zvezda moya, it looks terrible!"
He simply stared at his fiancé. His air had come back to him, but he found that he was speechless anyway.
Victor, however, was rarely at a loss for words. He clicked his tongue as his fingers ghosted over the red patch of skin. "This could become serious. It's probably best if we stop practice for the day and take you to the doctor."
Now the words came rushing back. "Vitya, no! It's not bad at all. I don't need to stop practice, and I certainly don't need to go see a doctor! I just need a minute to sit down."
"You can sit all you want on the way to the hospital. Now come on, dusha moya." He reached out his arms just as Yuri skated over.
Yuuri groaned and covered his face, anticipating what was coming. When he was within earshot, Yuri slid to a sideways stop and said, " What's wrong with you, katsudon?"
From behind his hands, Yuuri immediately protested, "Nothing!"
"It's not nothing. I'm taking him to see the doctor. He hurt his ankle."
Yuri pushed himself closer and scrutinized the ankle. "Looks fine to me, old man."
"Maybe you're the one getting old. Get your eyes checked! He needs to see a doctor," Victor snapped.
"Vitya, stop it! I'm perfectly fine, and I'm certainly not going to let you cart me off to waste some poor doctor's time."
"It's not wasting anyone's time! I want you to be looked at!" Victor's voice was starting to rise now, and more skaters were looking their way.
"You're kinda overreacting. If he says he doesn't want to go to the doctor, you can't exactly force him, anyway."
Yuuri wasn't sure why Yuri was taking his side, but he wasn't going to question it. Looking firmly at his fiancé, he repeated, "I am not going to the doctor."
Victor stared at him long and hard, with a steel glint in his icy blue eyes. Finally he ground out a single word. "Fine."
Yuuri felt his shoulders relax at the acquiescence. But a moment later he was being lifted from the ice in his coach's arms. He yelped in surprise and clung onto Victor's neck for support as he was swung upwards in a bridal carry. Before he could protest, Victor was calling loudly across the arena, "Yakov, I'm taking the rest of the day off. Yuuri got hurt and I'm going to take him home."
The older man glanced their way and waved his hand dismissively in their direction. He looked mildly annoyed, and Yuuri quickly directed his gaze away. Unfortunately, it landed instead upon several skaters who were now openly staring at the spectacle they were making. Mortified, Yuuri once again covered his face. He felt his cheeks and neck start to burn red. He couldn't even conjure up the will to scold his fiancé as he was carried off the rink and out of the arena.
When they were safely outside, Yuuri peeked cautiously out from between his fingers. Not seeing anyone else around, he dropped his hands fully and glared up at the other man. "Geez, Vitya, did you have to do that?"
Victor stared back at him flatly. "Do what?"
"You know! Make such a…a scene back there!"
"What on earth are you talking about, lyubimiy? I was merely taking care of you. Watch your feet now, I'm going to open the door. They had reached the bright pink monstrosity of a car that Victor drove. As he deposited his charge inside, Victor added brightly, "It's a good thing I talked you into driving today, huh?" He kissed the top of Yuuri's head and shut the door.
As he crossed to his side of the car and turned it on, Yuuri fumed in his seat. The car pulled out onto the street, and Yuuri flicked his head to the side in irritation.
Victor caught on to this attitude shift quickly and asked, "Is something wrong, dorogoi?"
Yuuri didn't respond.
"...Lapochka?"
Silence still filled the air.
Victor tried one more time. "Yuuri?"
The Japanese man finally turned to face his companion. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you wanted us to ignore each other. Since you were ignoring me."
Blinking, the Russian man replied, "When did I ignore you? I could never ignore you, dusha moya."
"Just now! Just now you did! As I was saying that you made a scene, you totally brushed me off! You completely embarrassed me in front of…well, everyone! And earlier, when I said that I was fine, you didn't listen to a thing I had to say!"
Victor bristled. "Now, that's not true. I agreed not to take you to the doctor."
"Because I refused to go! That's not agreeing, that's giving in to reality."
"The reality of the situation is that you're hurt, so I'm going to take care of you."
Yuuri laughed, a humorless sound. Frustration boiled up inside of him as he crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to contain some of it. He stared straight ahead and growled, "I think maybe I should sleep on the couch tonight."
There was a surprised pause before his fiancé responded. "I suppose if you think that's best. I guess we can prop up your ankle better that way. Maybe you should sleep in your chair with the footrest up, and I can sleep on the couch."
Turning his head, Yuuri stared at the man next to him. He scrutinized Victor closely, unsure if the man was pretending not to understand or just genuinely didn't get it. He gave up on trying to figure out which one, and tried a different tactic. "On second thought, maybe I should stay at a hotel."
Victor's eyes brightened with excitement. "Ooh, like a mini-vacation! That could be fun! We should go somewhere with a spa, so we can have them massage you and soak your feet for you. You're right, that will probably help your injury. There's a place near here that my parents have stayed at before when they've come to visit. My mama says the spa is lovely. I'll call them to see if they have any openings for tonight." He pulled out his phone and began to flick through his contacts.
Yuuri stared at him with equal parts awe and frustration. Finally he mumbled, "I don't know whether to be mad or impressed."
Victor, who was now lifting the phone to his ear, smiled winningly. "If I were you, I'd certainly choose impressed. Or maybe affectionate. That one's my favorite." He winked just as a voice came from the other end of the line. As Victor began to book a reservation, Yuuri sighed heavily. Just as he was resigning himself to feeling upset, a quick kiss was planted on his temple. Startled, he looked over at the other man. Victor shifted the mouthpiece of the phone away from his face and said in a low voice, "And I am sorry I embarrassed you. I was just trying to take care of you. I'll make sure keep your feelings about that in mind in the future. Ah, yes, I'm still here!"
He was pulled back to his call and started inquiring about different spa packages. Yuuri felt his irritation evaporating away. He huffed to himself under his breath, "Despite those words, I know you'll just do the same thing again." Strangely, though, he found that he didn't mind.
