CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
-It's the final approach to the World Figure Skating Championship! Go big or go home!-
A few weeks passed, and by mid March, the obvious physical aspect of Victor's prior injury had completely healed. He'd avoided Instagram the entire time his eye had been covered, posting nothing and reading even less, not wanting to know what people were saying about his eye-patch. Yuri had avoided mentioning the speculation to him, too. The Russian might've been happy to know that people had bought his lie about the car accident, but Yuri wasn't about to inquire.
Mercifully, since Victor hadn't posted much, and since Yuri never posted anything at all, there really wasn't a lot said on the matter. They'd effectively fallen off the radar - save the occasional post the triplets made whenever Yuri sent them photos. So, naturally, when Victor finally returned to the internet and had Yuri post photos of his public practices to his account for him, his profile exploded with activity from worried fans.
What surprised Yuri though were the number of comments asking where he himself was.
Victor pulled a small towel around his shoulders before he returned to reclaim his phone, though Yuri, sans glasses, hadn't noticed his approach, still somewhat baffled by the fan commentary. Yuri had tilted his head as he continued looking at the screen, as though somehow believing that changing his view of it would change what the comments said.
"What're you doing that for?" The silver legend wondered, amused by it, and reached out to retrieve his device. He snatched it like a fishing-hawk on a trout.
Yuri twitched in surprise, but inconspicuously lowered his now-empty hands, "People are asking about me on your pictures. I don't know why they would. It's your account."
"I think we've been over this." The Russian answered with a smile, and scrolled through to see what the chatter was about specifically, "There's thousands of people who would follow you if you ever posted anything...but, since you don't, they're going to the one place where they think they'll find you. So...let's give them what they want!" Victor didn't give his fiancé a chance to resist, and pulled him close with an arm over the shoulder, squished their faces together, and winked as he held his phone up and took the selfie. Yuri's surprised/shocked/horrified expression in the final image made Victor laugh all the more, and he gleefully posted it, "There...now they all know you were my photographer for today instead of Yakov. Hashtag...#practice, #WorldChampionships, #photographer, #YuriByMySide, #victuri, #viktuuri, #SkateHusbands! ...I think that should do it." And with that, he posted the photo.
Yuri sighed at the last one, and leaned onto his hands over where his elbows rested on the rink wall, "Still just SkateFiancés, technically..."
The Russian kept his eye on the phone screen, "I'm working on it."
"You are?" Yuri lifted his head a little, "You haven't said a word since saying we should do it before Worlds. I didn't want to bother you while this whole thing with your family went down, but..."
"You've been busy with other things, too." Victor answered simply, and finally looked at the man. He reached his free hand forward and ran his fingers through that black hair, then cupped the back of his partner's head to bring him closer, touching their nose-tips together, "Your new sponsors coming to visit, practice for Worlds, even deciding to get contact lenses for everyday use...that all takes time. That doesn't even take into account all the attention I demand from you, which is substantial." He said smoothly, and leaned in for a long kiss.
This kind of thing used to make me really anxious, Yuri thought, even as he happily brought both hands up between them to cup his partner's face. Kissing like this in public, especially in front of people we know... I guess I've gotten used to it, after we spent so much time teasing Yurio with it.
When Victor finally pulled away, he nosed the man's lip, and then...pulled the phone down from where he'd held it up a second time.
"...You took pictures of that whole thing didn't you?" Yuri's face went bright red.
The Russian was too pleased with himself, and turned around to show his fiancé the series. He scrolled through about 70 photos, all taken at high speed so as to seem like a movie cut into still-frames, "Annnnddddd..." He added, going through them quickly, "This was the moment you stopped panicking and started to enjoy it."
Yuri held his head low, "I hope you don't record everything we do."
"Hm?" Victor was confused for a moment, but then realized, "Oh! No, not everything; don't worry. I may take pictures of our everyday lives without you knowing sometimes, but I'd never capture footage of something too personal without you giving permission ahead of time. I'm not even sure I'd want to record something like that anyway. Seems a bit...weird. We're already on camera enough in our public and athletic lives...we should have something that isn't, right?"
"...I can't actually say I'd mind if we had some of our more personal moments recorded. I'd just be worried they'd get posted online by mistake. Like butt-dialing but with Instagram."
"...Really?"
Hands came up and waved frantically, "Well I mean some of the innocent stuff...! I'd probably die of embarrassment if anything more was recorded."
Victor huffed a laugh and nuzzled his beloved fondly, "And that's why I'd never do it. I like you best alive."
Yuri gave a relieved breath, "I like me best that way, too. So then..." He started again, and switched topics back around, "You've been making wedding plans on your own?"
"Nothing specific...I've been looking at stuff, wondering about locations, that sort of thing."
"Anything that sticks out? Worlds is only two weeks away...I feel like we're pushing it if we want to do it beforehand...we won't even have time to send out invitations or give people time to travel arrangements..."
"I know. It's just..." Victor shook his head, "There were a few promising possibilities, but nothing that was perfect."
Yuri deadpanned him, "You'll be looking for a long time if you want something perfect. Even if you find that place, there's no guarantee the weather will hold out while we're there."
"We can only get married for the first time once, right? If we decide to renew our vows later in life, it won't be the same as the first time..." He pawed at his beloved's hands over the rink-wall between them, "I just don't want to disappoint or underwhelm you."
Yuri practically snorted, "Victor, you've never been able to underwhelm me..."
That made him smile again, "And I want it to stay that way!" He purred, and dramatically pulled away again with flair.
Yuri watched him with a subtle head-shake and a laugh, and set his chin to rest on one hand. He couldn't help but reminisce a little. In hindsight, everything happened incredibly fast. Seems like everything with Victor happens either at the drop of a hat, or never at all, he thought. He laughed at himself quietly, then descended to cross his arms and rest his head on them on the wall. We never even really went through a 'just friends' phase, now that I think about it. Before that video of me went viral, we barely talked to each other. Then, he just showed up at Yu-Topia, and...
He remembered the way Victor had talked to him that first night; touching his face, even moving to hold his hand, all rather intimately...at least until Yuri himself panicked and retreated to the furthest wall.
After that, Victor had gone at my pace. He could always tell where I was at emotionally, and met me there, never overstepping. He's always been careful like that. I never even suspected he had a thing for me... I just thought he was naturally flirty and charismatic that way. Sigh... He puffed a sad-happy breath as he closed his eyes, Even that first time I let him try to go all the way with me... I froze and backed out, and he didn't complain at all.
He couldn't stop himself from thinking about that night; though somewhat hazy from the hot wine he'd enjoyed, he still remembered the motions they went through. The flutter in his stomach when he sat on the man's lap and felt the arousal through his clothes. The thrill of being mounted, and someone else's hands undoing his jeans. All his fear had gone away in that moment, right up until that last moment when he got spooked.
Yuri quickly buried his face in his crossed arms and whined quietly, What was I thinking? That's why I don't drink most of the time! Victor was so good to me and then I left him like that... It was so completely different when we tried again.
'Take me.'
His face flushed brightly, but he lifted his eyes over his arms and watched his partner again. He asked me to, and I felt a kind of fear I'd never known before, he thought carefully. And, unlike me, when he felt it, he didn't freak out and pull away... Eyes lowered down to the ice, I've been so ashamed of my whimpered finish that I haven't wanted to try again since... But even if I did...it's him. How unbelievable is it still that a scrub like me gets to be like this with a star like Victor Nikiforov?
When he looked up again, he pushed onto his elbows, and laced his fingers together loosely where they hung over the cold. The gold on his right hand shimmered, and Yuri smiled at it, thumbing the band fondly, It's been the adventure of a lifetime to have him all to myself like this...on the ice, off the ice, and everywhere in between. By the time he took me for real, I was so ready for it... I had no fear at all; I just wanted him so badly... I've never wanted anything so much before. Even though I crushed on Yu-chan for so long, being with Victor... He gazed across the ice, and smiled with a furrowed brow at his fiancé grilling Yurio on his sloppy step-sequences. ...Just feels so natural...
Yuri huffed a breath and pushed off the wall, and walked back to the bench where he'd left his coat and bag. He sat astride the seat with a leg on each side, and rifled through his jacket's pockets. The crunchy article that Yakov had given him was soft and pliable by then, squashed and kneaded and nearly forgotten about. He unfolded the morsel and read the hand-written note.
'Mikhail was Victor's hero when he was very young. I know he's angry, but maybe it would be good for him to have family in his life. I told Mikhail I'd give you his number, but not to expect anything. Do with it what you feel is best.'
Victor is dedicating his whole Free Skate next year to his anger at his father...and he seemed pretty-well done with Mikhail after they both showed up at the rink before. I wonder if he's cooled down at all? I still have such a hard time reading him sometimes. I'd never seen him legitimately angry about anything before that.
.
WH'ONCH
'Let's go for a walk.'
'...O...O-okay...'
.
Yuri sweat nervously, Even that time, he wasn't really mad.
Victor vaulted through a triple Axel, then a double Toe-loop, perfect as newly fallen snow; Yuri couldn't help but be in awe of it. The Russian's form was as good as it had ever been, and Yuri was reminded of his friend out east. He checked Instagram idly, and scrolled without really looking.
Phichit-kun and I used to watch videos of Victor, and copy his jumps in the hope of getting as good as him. Now I'm here at Victor's home-rink... It's crazy how much has changed.
There was a short clip on Phichit's account; he'd arrived stupidly early in Helsinki for Worlds. There was even a gallery of photos that JJ had posted from his wedding. It was grandiose, as could be expected, and the 19-year-old seemed happy; not the jealous mess he'd been at Four Continents. Yuri could only assume the Canadian felt cheated somehow. But, maybe that's just how the world intended him to feel; it was exactly how Yurio felt when JJ stole the Gold from him during Skate Canada. In a way, Yuri hoped he could make amends with the man, and like most of his thoughts that afternoon, it lead into yet another. Chris - who neither he nor Victor had spoken to since their last FaceTime before Euros - was probably starting to worry if they were even friends anymore.
I'd rather not wait until Worlds to talk to him, but I wouldn't even know how to start a conversation...
Yuri kept scrolling, but stopped as he realized Victor had - somehow - already posted the photo of them kissing. His face went bright red at the sight of it. It wasn't tagged to anything though, so Yuri almost wondered if it had been uploaded by mistake. It was receiving mostly positive feedback though. It seemed the legion of female fans that Minako had warned Victor about didn't feel threatened or angry by his having come into a relationship. What few negative comments there were had mostly centered around how they wanted to see more skate-related photos, not so much daily-affair updates. There were a few viscerally disgusted posts, and a few in Cyrillic text that Yuri couldn't read. He didn't want to think about what those posts said, after what they went through with the RSF conference and Konstantin.
But...that just lead Yuri to contrast how amiable Mikhail had been.
The nagging feeling was getting to him though, and he went back to the silk-soft squash of paper. For lack of knowing what else to do, Yuri added it to his contact list, and then stared at it for a long while.
What would I even say to him if I sent him a message? He seemed nice enough...but I don't want to risk Victor getting mad at me, or Konstantin getting involved...
He grumbled to himself as he debated, and looked up from his phone to the ice - watching Victor for a few minutes as he worked on the choreography for his Free Skate - then back again. He waggled his thumbs beside the device and furrowed his brow.
Almost without looking, he finally typed a message.
[Are you still in St. Petersburg?]
He hovered his thumb over the Send button for what felt like hours.
I can only imagine what Victor would think if he knew what I was considering... After what happened at the funeral, the last thing I want is to hurt him again. But if Yakov's telling the truth, that Victor idolized his uncle as a kid, why wouldn't he want to reconnect? He seemed so happy to introduce Mikhail to the rest of us, but was pretty bitter by the end of it. He practically fled to the ice after that.
He looked out at Victor again, who had since stopped skating so jot some words down on his notepad. The Russian tapped the eraser-end of the pencil to his mouth as he pondered his program.
Yuri looked back down at his phone, and scrunched his mouth to the side as he continued to debate what to do. He scratched the back of his head and ruffled his hair.
"KATSUDON."
"EEP!" Yuri spazzed at the sudden shrill screech, and the phone fell from his hands. It went down like a rock, and landed with a painful-sounding crunch on the ice, "Ahhh nooooo...my phone..." He moaned in despair, and looked agonizingly at where it landed face-down, completely out of reach.
Victor grit his teeth in a wince, but moved over to get the device and for his hopeless partner, "I could hear the crack all the way from where I was..." He said as he handed it over, "Is it okay?"
Yuri took the battered phone in his hands and looked it over carefully, then clicked the side button to see if it would turn on. He heaved a sigh of relief to see that it did, showing the security screen with the time at the top and number-pad for the pass-code. He nodded, "Yeah, I think it's fine. I guess it was the ice that made most of the noise."
"Whew, that's a relief." The Russian said cheerfully, "Why don't you go get your skates on? I think we're about done practicing, so it's just casual-skate for a bit while a kids' class comes through."
Yuri's eyes lit up, and he nodded, and moved to sit back on the bench to assemble his silver blades.
.
Mikhail sat alone at the Sapsan train station, waiting for his ride to take him down to Moscow. He heard a jingle on his phone, and reached to pull it out to see what it was.
[Are you still in St. Petersburg?]
He pondered the unknown number for a moment, but supposed it could only be one of a small handful of people. His thumbs went typing away.
[Victor?]