Otabek Altin was not someone who chose to socialise with those from the skating scene, he preferred to keep to himself, always had. For the longest time the only person he could 100% rely on was himself, and that became more apparent to him as he rose up to be known as the hero of Kazakhstan. It came with a lot of pressure attached to it, he was the name they looked out for, the one they expected to see at the next Olympics, and to the world it seemed he took it in his stride.

Things had changed a little in the last competitive season, he'd made a friend - he supposed he could say he made a few since he was pestered incessantly about why he never posted anything on social media or the like, but there was one person he at least maintained some contact with. Yuri. It didn't surprise him that he took the gold at the grand prix, he stood out against them all and his story had been plastered everywhere, he'd made history during his senior debut, he'd taken a record from Victor, and now he was back in Russia preparing for what was next.

The Asian Open's were the first thing on the calendar for Otabek though, and this year he was going to attack the season a little differently. He had a new set of routine's, one's he considered more himself than the past year, with musical compositions to match. Perhaps he had Yuri to thank for the new inspiration, their piece 'Welcome to the madness' had certainly given him more to think about in terms of where he wanted to take his skating, improving his stamina had been one thing, and improving his difficulty score so that no matter what he would be in the running for a medal this time around. To many the Asian Open's would be a test event, readying themselves for the four continents that would be coming up soon and from what he'd seen from everyone online, no one was going to miss it.

Shoving his headphones into his ears he listened to the compositions once again, his mind playing over each jump, each move he would make across the ice as he rolled his neck slightly, finally kicking himself off across the ice.

Many evenings he would book the place, he had his usual training with his coach, but the evenings were just for him, to let himself let go of everything else and just skate. Often that was when he performed best, and tonight that had been no exception, he landed his quad salchow without a single wobble, his combinations were on point, but in the back of his mind he knew the technicals were not where he faltered, but his performance, his ability to make a spectacle out there that no one would be able to take their eyes off.

As he reached the end of his short program his breath came heavy, the music cut and the silence of the world around him hit him hard, like a train crashing into his ribs that sent his knees crumbling down to the ice.

It wasn't good enough.

The flight to Thailand was just less than 5 hours and 30 minutes, and at 4 in the morning he used the flight to get some sleep, his head resting against the shut window, the music playing in his ears lulling him to sleep. It would only be a few days until the short programs would begin, giving him time at the rink with the other competitors, and he had promised Yuri they would go shopping on one of those days. He was excited to see his friend, even if it didn't show on the outside.

He felt the bump of tires on tarmac, his eyes finally opening, taking the headphones off and storing them away for the time being. When they finally came to a stop he retrieved his belongings, stepped off the plane with his coach who immediately pulled him away to complete his registration for the opens before he could settle into the hotel. Otabek didn't really pay much attention to the process, he just followed wherever the man went, stood to one side as he talked to some of the other coaches and purposely avoided talking to any of the press that were already lingering around hoping for an interview with any of the big names that were going to be there.

He didn't miss that Victor and Yuri were already surrounded, it was Victor's return year after all, and news of their engagement had spread amongst those that cared enough about the sport. Though as usual Victor seemed to be the only one enjoying himself.

"Here's your card, don't go too far, we'll head to the rink in the morning." His coach said, setting the room card into his hand which he took and gave a curt nod to.

He'd almost thought he'd gotten away from the area unscathed until he found a camera staring him right in the face, a young woman stood by the side of it with a microphone in hand looking at him in anticipation. It made Otabek sigh, but he turned straight on to the camera.

"We're here with Otabek Altin, the figure skating hero of Kazakstan, last year you just missed out on getting a medal at the championships, what's your plan for this year?"

"I have a new program and have refined my jumps," he replied shortly. She looked at him for a moment, obviously expecting a little more though then coughed and looked back down at the paper in her hand.

"You already beat your personal best for your short program, do you think you can better it yet again?"

"That is the plan."

Once again the reported looked at him a little stumped, but Otabek simply stared at the camera waiting for it all to be over. After a few more questions they finally moved on, at which point he took the chance to make a swift exit, heading straight for the lift to get himself out of the slowly filling area, just as the doors were about to close a foot came out, halting it's progress bringing his eyes to look up.

"Didn't want to say hello? Asshole."

The thick Russian accent was one he knew anywhere, Yuri stepped into the lift with the usual scowl on his face. He leant back against the wall of the lift staring at him, waiting. It would be a lie to say he hadn't changed much, he'd gotten even taller, and his hair had gotten longer, now often pulled back out of his face instead of hanging down as it once had been, his face had also matured, even if he wore the same expressions he'd gotten used to seeing over the years.

"Hard to do that when you're hiding," Otabek replied simply, but at the lift doors closed they both found the curlings of their lips, a small smile shared between them.

"Well Victor and the Piggy are getting all the attention off me, didn't want to jinx it did I?" he replied giving a loud HA for emphasis. "Also didn't want to give a lousy interview like you did."

"They ask stupid questions, they get short answers."

"You actually changed your programs theme then, bout time you listened to me."

"I changed them because I wanted to."

"And I had nothing to do with it...yeah right, LIAR!"

Otabek gave a light huff at that, Yuri was right, but often times he found himself not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. It became a secret hobby of his to wind the blonde skater up, it was all light hearted in the end after all.

"There was only so much I could do with my theme being the entire country."

"Da...about time time you started doing it for you..." Yuri muttered earning only silence from Otabek. He knew what it meant to him, to be the hero or whatever, but he skated differently when he wasn't doing it just for that, he'd only seen it a handful of times, when he'd brought the other along to a practice, blink and he would have missed it, but it was a completely different person out there. "Beka...you better land on the podium this time, I can't be friends with a loser."

Otabek looked over at him with that and gave a light smile as the doors to his floor opened.

"That's the plan."