CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

-Dreams of a bright future float on the winds of destiny! Like birds, they fly...like stars, they shine!-

Yuri was already up in bed when he heard the sound of the door lock unlatching. He'd been sleepily looking through the skaters' Instagrams when Victor finally managed to squeeze in through the door. It sounded like people were hounding the Russian from outside, begging for photos or an interview and any number of other things. He closed the door with his backside and leaned against it as he caught his breath, and held up the coffee cups he'd promised to bring.

Not one word need be said between the skaters as the cacophony outside slowly dwindled. Yuri gave the 'mobbed again?' look, and Victor huffed a quiet laugh through a brow-furrowed smile. He glided forward to set the coffee cups down on the dresser opposite the bed, then slowly peeled off his long grey-blue coat, and set it on the back of a chair before took a seat on the foot of the bed. He puffed out his chest for a moment to pop his back, and returned to pull one ankle over a knee to start undoing his shoelaces. When he looked back, he saw Yuri just...quietly watching him, hugging his legs over the blanket, "...Something on your mind?" The silver legend wondered.

Yuri blinked at him, "Oh...uhm, well... The usual." He admitted sheepishly, "I was just thinking, after this week, it might be a long time before we're like this again. With you as just my coach, I mean."

"Maybe not as long as you're worried about. There's a lot of places we could end up at during the next Grand Prix Series. With the ISU officials knowing our professional situation, they might even make it so each of us goes to different events from the other, so we'd end up at four competitions instead of just two. I mean, even though I wasn't in the last Final, I've taken Gold at past Finals often enough that they should consider placing me appropriately."

"I guess that's true. Still..." He pointed at Victor's two lanyards, "Next time, yours will be a Competitor's pass...and while you'll be in full costume when I get my scores in the kiss and cry, you'll be with Yakov when you get yours."

"I don't see why you'd even be worried about something like that." The Russian pointed out. He lifted off the bed just enough to pull the heels of his shoes together on the floor, and then shoved backward to join his beloved, "Even Sara sits with her brother in the kiss and cry sometimes."

Yuri listened quietly, and stretched his legs out straight as he leaned back against the headboard, "Yeah, but...it's not really the same. You can share in my victories because you coached me. But there's that slight disconnect between us after that; I haven't helped you learn anything at all."

Victor's brows furrowed in a worried glance, but then softened into a weary huff of a laugh, "Is this the sort of stuff you think about when I'm not around?" He asked, and finally wiggled his way up to be beside his fiance. He wedged one arm between Yuri's back and the pillows he was leaned-up against, and turned to hug him, "Believe me when I say that you've pushed me harder than anyone else. If I even want to dream of retaking my record, I have to beat you first."

"Yeah, that's what it was...I had a dream about it." Yuri shrugged, but let himself be absorbed into the hug a bit, and twisted slightly in place to fit against his partner's chest a bit easier, "It started off dumb, with me somehow winning all three medals at the same time. Then it switched, and you skated, and the ISU officials actually took my medals back to give them all to you instead. You were standing on top of the podium like a Christmas tree, decked out in all the dozens of Gold and Silver medals you've won over the years, with an NHK trophy as the tree-topper for good measure.

"Wow...that thing's heavy, too." Victor mused.

"That's when my dream backed up a bit, and I could see you in the kiss and cry with Yakov, celebrating your scores. I tried to get closer..." Yuri continued, "But for some reason, every time I took a step, the kiss and cry somehow moved ten steps further away, until I was left in this weird dark void. I could still see this tiny glimmer of light in the distance, but I'm not sure what it was. I forget what happens after that...I woke up and it all started fading from my head."

"Ah, yeah, I know that feeling... Your dreams are so clear but they slip through your fingers like sand anyway, forgotten forever."

Yuri turned his head up, cheek pressed to his fiancé's winter-cooled neck, "You don't think my dream is ominous?"

"Oh of course I do...but it's just a dream." The silver explained, "Truth be told, I stopped dreaming a long time ago. Well, dreaming like normal people, I mean."

"...I don't follow."

"I sometimes dream my shows." Victor elaborated, and rubbed his cheek on his beloved's soft hair and brow, "Maybe that's part of why people think I'm a genius; when I do dream, it's like I can practice my programs for years before I do them for real. By the time I wake up, even if I forget the actual imagery of the dream, I've developed the muscle-memory from it."

"...So that's how you came up with 'Eros' and 'Agape' for Yurio and I so fast... I thought it was crazy when you said that you'd have them done in one week."

"That's actually a long time for me," Victor teased, and pulled up again to look at his future husband, "But I had to re-imagine the programs from your perspective and skill-level, so I needed to dream my lifetime as each of you before I could picture those shows."

Yuri pushed up to sit as well, and watched as his partner scooted off to find and return with their coffees, "I'm jealous. I wish I could control my dreams like that."

"It's more of a reflex for me..." The Russian explained, and carefully sat back on the bed to offer over the second of two cups, "But if you could control it, what would you dream about?"

The younger skater leaned his head up and smiled brightly, "I'd dream of endless bowls of katsudon, and that I'd never gain an ounce of weight from it...so I'd never have to hear anyone call me 'Kobuta-chan' or 'Debu' ever again."

Victor's contemplative smile faded in that moment, and he looked away a bit sheepishly, "Ah. Sorry."

Yuri glanced forward, but wasn't sure what to say. Part of him was glad that his fiancé recognized his own part in that minor torment, but another part was sad that he'd had to say something about it at all. He brought his knees up against his chest again, arms wrapped around them loosely to hold his drink, "I guess you only said it to try and motivate me to lose the weight. I don't...hold it against you, if that's what you're worried about."

"You did end up working your butt off. I don't think I've ever seen anyone get on top of an issue like that in such a hurry."

"Hm..." Yuri tilted his head a little, but laughed anyway, "I guess there's something to be said about getting myself in gear when 'Victor Nikiforov' shows up at my doorstep offering to be my coach. So what would you dream about? Or is the skating it already?"

"Eternal youth. A full head of hair. And, sure...to skate forever." The Russian then sat up straight, and reached his right hand forward to gently hold to his fiancé's fingers, "...And a wedding."

Yuri flushed deeply at the mention of it, and returned the gesture, holding those fingers fast, "...I dream of that, too."

"What do you see in your mind's eye?" Victor wondered, and made for the headboard again. He carefully set his latte on the nearby nightstand before he turned in place and squished himself between his beloved's knees, and laid back to rest his head on that athletic tummy. He lifted his hands out, "Paint me a picture." He asked happily, as though he'd conscripted the far wall to be their canvas, "Show me what you envision."

Yuri paused a moment with his lip on the edge of his cup's plastic mouthpiece, "Hmmmm... Where to begin...? I guess...I picture twilight..." He started to explain, "...Vibrant color in the sky as the sun sets; fire red, amber, gold, purple, and orange. Floating lanterns are let out like birds, to be carried up into the air by a soft wind, drifting so far away that they look like a path of stars. Trees with leaves the color of the sky, swaying gently in a hilltop breeze." He revealed, the painting clear to them both on that pale wall, "That's all I got though. That's always when I wake up."

"You don't see either of us in your dream? Or other people, like our guests?"

"I know, it's weird...I really just see the scenery though. Maybe the people will come to me later." Yuri supposed, and took another sip, "What about you?"

"The complete opposite," Victor laughed, and rubbed his hands up and down his partner's shins where they stretched out on either side, "I can see us, our friends and family...Makkachin, and all the dozens of dogs we'll have over our lifetimes. But the background and scenery flashes through like a whirlwind."

"They say our dreams tells us a bit about ourselves."

Victor lifted his head back slightly, "What are you suggesting?"

"Oh, nothing terribly smart." Yuri admitted, and distracted himself with another few sips of his white mocha, "...But maybe, since I can see the place, but not the people...maybe that's just my perpetual anxiety refusing to allow me to accept my place in all this. Like a birthday party I'm invited to, but for which I wrote down the wrong day. It's out there, I know it is...but I can't get there."

"...And me?"

Yuri paused on that one and thought a bit longer than he had on his own, but then shook his head, "...A fear of settling down, or a refusal to do so." He suggested, which put Victor to silence, and he felt that silver-haired head turn to face straight-ahead again, "But I guess that's a side-effect of the lifestyle you've lived for so many years. I mean, you had a place to return to in St. Petersburg, but a lot of your time was spent on the road for competition. There really never was one place you considered home...but maybe..."

"It's the person, not the location." The Russian supposed, "I can't settle on any single place, but I see you and Makkachin as clear as day...because I'm home, wherever I am, as long as I'm with you."

Yuri smiled, "...That's quite the poetic way of putting it, but...I like it."

"I want to go back to that dream you had earlier though," Victor said, and lifted his eyes a bit, "I know I can't make you stop worrying about my come-back to competition, but I can absolutely guarantee that I won't leave you behind. Yakov may be my coach, but you're my fiancé. If someone tries to say you can't be in the kiss and cry with me, it'll be a conversation that gets taken to the parking lot." He said with a laugh, "I'll endure a bout of fisty-cuffs to keep you by my side...and if there's just not enough room on the bench for all of us, then you can sit on my lap~!"

Yuri pondered that, "I may have to anyway."

"Oh, now you definitely have to."

"Alright, alright... And then you can sit on my lap when I win Gold."

"Ohh~!" Victor cried out, and made himself sit up so he could see the confident smile on his beloved's face, "There it is...I haven't seen that smile since before your SP in Barcelona."

"Hopefully I'll score better than in Barcelona."

"You will. I can feel it." The silver agreed eagerly, "Put away the disappointment of that highway-robbery and focus on the future. You got dis."

Yuri puffed a few anxious breaths, "I got dis."

.

The last handful of days before the Men's Short Program passed like a blur. Opening Ceremonies came and went, and Yuri went through the slog of a few official practices. Aside from Otabek, who had won Bronze at the previous season's World Championship when Victor had won his last Gold medal; JJ, who'd taken Bronze somehow at the last Grand Prix, and Phichit, who had taken Gold over himself at Cup of China and whom Yuri took seriously no matter what, there really weren't any serious competitors that he could identify. There was an air of intensity and admiration as other skaters watched him practicing with Victor, and he ate it up like manna from Heaven.

"They're intimidated..." He whispered between rounds.

"All animals recognize when an alpha is in the area." The Russian quietly replied , "Use that energy to launch yourself ahead of all of them, like wind in your sails."

"Jump higher, fly farther..."

"Set the bar for what people should expect to see throughout the entire event. The earlier you go out onto the ice, the longer your program will have an impact. Use that to your advantage."

Their attention was grabbed by the far-off sound of a different, albeit smaller crowd cheering, and when the duo squinted, they could make out the green blob known as JJ Leroy taking to the ice. His fiancé had a boom-box with them, and played JJ's 'King' theme. The gathering crowd around Team Nikiforov seemed to find the Leroy-crowd a bit conceited, and many of them looked across the ice, muttering to themselves about how JJ seemed to have something to compensate for if he had to make such an entrance to try and steal attention as he had.

Yuri sighed, but turned away from the other group, "...I felt bad for him when he collapsed under the pressure of the GPF, but he doesn't seem to learn..."

"He's a paper tiger." Victor explained, feeling that edge of annoyance he'd endured when he'd run into JJ previously, "All threats and ego...but when it comes down to it, he won't be able to go all the way. The judges don't like arrogance, Yuri. Be humble, show humility, and they'll respect you. Whether or not the judges like you can go a long way to how highly they grade your performance." He leaned forward against his fiancé's left shoulder, and wrapped his arms around Yuri's frame to lace his fingers together on the man's opposite hip, "Back when I was in Juniors, when we still used the 6-point system, it was a well known fact that American judges scored Russian skaters poorly, and vice versa. Don't give them an excuse to do the same to you. It's a handicap you don't deserve."

"Mh...I remember. Your fame shot through the roof when you scored perfect 6s, especially at such a young age. It says a lot that you could pull that off even while being Russian." Yuri agreed, and turned his head to his partner's cheek affectionately, "You can charm anyone, no matter who they are or where they come from."

"It's a skill I should impart onto you, too." The skater-coach mused.

"YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURI-KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" Came a sudden shrill cry, one that immediately drowned out the crowd and music on the other side of the practice rink.

Both Victor and Yuri had to check their ears afterwards, thinking they might've gone deaf from the shriek. Yuri looked around behind them though, and spotted a particular blond-and-red hairdo that was practically, unmistakably, "Minami-kun...!"

"Yuri-kun!" The teen called again, this time at a much more acceptable volume, "I made it!"

The older duo smiled, seeing Minami and his coach there touring the grounds. Victor waved politely as he pulled off of his fiancé's shoulder. Yuri himself stepped forward to greet his younger counterpart with a one-armed hug, "You did! Are you competing? I know you've already made your Senior debut but you haven't gone to anything international yet."

"Not this time, but I wanted to come so bad...so my family footed the bill to let me come anyway." The teen explained, "My coach said it would be a good way to see how bigger competitions are held, that way it's not so crazy when I finally do get to compete myself!"

"It's good to get your feet wet before you jump in." Yuri agreed, "What do you think so far?"

"It's amazing! There's so much more energy here than there was at Nationals!" Minami said, all but hyperventilating from his excitement, "I can't wait to see you compete tomorrow! You'll win Gold here, too, I can feel it!"

"Anything's possible." He answered casually, "There are lots of other good skaters competing for the same medal though, so don't underestimate anyone."

Victor listened quietly, smiling as he took note of how much better his partner was at talking to his fans now.

It may just be because it's someone he sort of already knows, but this is still much better than before.

Minami huffed a laugh and pat his idol on the shoulder, "Well, if anyone can take Gold this weekend, it's you, Yuri-kun. I don't envy anyone who has to compete here. I'm actually kind of glad that I'm not!" He said, and looked a bit sheepish even as he grinned, "Nationals was enough for now! I have a lot of work to do if I ever plan on being on the same level as you! Don't stop now, though! Keep getting better and show everyone how it's done in Japan."

Yuri nodded, more determined than ever, "I will. I'll definitely win Gold."