CHAPTER FOURTY FOUR
-Mission Impossible! Stay at the top of the Short Program ranks!-
Yuri's kiss-and-cry panic was near as severe as his pre-Cup of China panic had been; he covered his face and bent over his lap, terrified to look up. Victor sat protectively beside him, arm around the younger man's back in an unsuccessful attempt to console him, "You skated beautifully," He commented, "Your score will be amazing~!"
"Mmmmhhhhh..." He whined loudly anyway; more a squeaky, high-pitched howl than a normal groan though. He could feel his pulse in his skin; every inch of him tingled from the cold. He could feel his one blade-guard tapping on the ground with a nervous twitch.
"The score for Yuri Nikiforov..."
For Yuri, hearing those words made him go deaf. He cringed inward slightly, but then lifted his head, and peeked through his fingers to the score-display board just ahead of himself. The numbers were too blurry to read, even under his normal 'needs glasses to see clearly' state. He turned his covered face to his husband beside him instead, hoping to glean some insight, but Victor's expression seemed stalled. He looks stunned...is it bad? Did they score me low again!? I did a quad Lutz and Flip and I still didn't score over 100!? He thought in a manic moment, tears starting to pool in his eyes. All this work Victor's put into me...all this time...and I'm still such a failure...
"Yuri!" Victor called to him though, "Yuri! Look!" He said again, his expression changed, his free hand gestured towards the score, "This is incredible!"
"...Hah?" Yuri blanched, and narrowed his eyes to look through the finger-cage again. The numbers came slowly into focus, and so did the noise of the audience's thunderous roar.
"...This is a new personal best for Skater Yuri!" The announcer called.
JJ sneered at the television.
Phichit and Celestino were both in shock, eyes wide. Leo and Guang-hong gaped as well beside them.
Chris snorted a gulp of water back towards the bottle he held in his hand; it went everywhere except back inside.
Yakov's cheek twitched, but he remained stoic. Georgi looked amazed, and yet annoyed at the same time.
Otabek was the only one who had a poker-face about the whole thing; his affect hadn't changed at all, save how he shifted his weight from one leg to the other where he stood.
"...118...08...?" Yuri finally managed to say.
"See!? Incredible!" Victor cried out, arms around his beloved rather tightly. He held and swayed and laughed happily, but paused when he heard the gurgling, and looked up, "Yuri?" He wondered...only to realize his husband had been so overwhelmed by the score that he'd gone catatonic. An odd, nigh-crazy-sounding laugh came from the young skater, getting louder for a moment, only then for Yuri to tap out entirely, practically foaming at the mouth in disbelief. Victor blanched for a moment, but then shook his head and huffed a laugh as he pulled his beloved against his chest and moved to stand up, husband in his arms, "Come along, lover. I think you've had enough excitement for one day."
"Next to take the ice, representing the Republic of South Korea...Seung-gil Lee."
Yurio had watched the score come up from the hallway that opened up into the arena; he was hardly surprised by it...or Yuri's reaction to it. He scoffed and clenched his jaw slightly.
Beneath the stands, Yuri came-to again just as Victor got them through the crowd behind the curtain. Still too overwhelmed to even consider his post-skate interview, Yuri felt himself gently set down to his blade-guards again, though just as Victor let him go, his legs went out and he slowly descended to crouch, "...Oohhhhh my god." He whisper-whined, arms splayed forward over his knees, "I can't. I cannot. This isn't real."
Victor smiled and leaned over his partner's back, hands pressed to those tense shoulders, "Oh it's real." He reassured, and gave each side a squeeze, "You deserve this! Why are you so dubious?"
Yuri's eyes shot a glance up, "Cuz I've never scored like this before! EVER!"
"So then stand up and celebrate with me!" The Russian said, and threw his arms out to the side, "You just blew the whole world away with that performance!"
That tepid look softened a little, and Yuri glanced away for a second, eyes on the concrete floor in front of himself. Seung-gil's mambo 'Alvmavivo' was well underway by then - a song that was entirely antithetical to Yuri's present state of mind - but it, like most things, seemed to fade away as realization crept in, "...I really did it." He said to himself quietly, and allowed himself to rise back up to his normal height. He pulled his hands inward though, and raised them slowly up in front of himself until he could feel his icy fingertips on his chin. The cold made his eyes go wide, "...This is real..."
"Of course it's real!" Victor called out, and took the last step closer to, once again, throw his arms around his beloved, "Did you think this was a dream!?"
"I've cracked my face into the rink-wall before...maybe I did again...? Maybe I got knocked out and I just imagined the end of my program..." Yuri answered pensively, "This could all be a fever-dream while I bleed-out on the ice-OW."
"That real enough for you?"
"You pinched my butt!" Yuri stammered, and lifted his face from his cupped hands in disbelief, "Victor!" He called...though that just earned him a sultry leer, "Oh my god you're so...you."
"Are you awake now?" The silver mused.
"...I...think I am."
"You scored 118.08, a new personal best. You're in second place coming out of the Short Program." He explained, but then teased a grin, "Well, pending Yurio I suppose."
"Pending Yurio..." Yuri echoed, but then an even more stark realization hit him, and he pulled out of the hug to grab his partner by his shoulders suddenly, "I came within less than a point of beating his SP record!"
Victor smiled wide, bangs sighing as he nodded, "You did! You got this close!" He agreed, and held up a few fingers to pinch them close together. Without wasting another second though, he snared his excited husband by the waist and pulled him close, tilted his head, and planted a happy kiss right on those lips.
Yuri could help but smile as well, and finally relaxed into the affirmation of his victory. He sighed a contented breath, "I get some katsudon for this, right?" He asked quietly.
"Oh, don't sell yourself short. For this score, you're getting more than that." The silver promised, and watched that color manifest. Yuri could feel his cheeks flush, and he pulled his hands back to hide behind them again, though this time pressed to his husband's shoulder. Victor just laughed and held him closer, "We should go do your post-skate interview. Now is the perfect time."
.
With far too much time to go before the end of the night, and interview done, Yuri found himself coming back around from a sudden power-nap. He wasn't alone though; Victor had found a cozy spot between his legs, his own straddled across opposite sides of the bench they'd claimed for their gear. With his boots hooked over one another by their blades behind the Russian's back, and his arms crossed over those broad shoulders, Yuri was comfortable and didn't want to move. But...he also wanted to know how close to the final programs they were - and whether Yurio had gone up yet or not. Butterflies swirled in Yuri's stomach, and he grudgingly rose up to sit, patting his sleepy spouse's shoulder to nudge him awake, too.
"I think we napped too long." Yuri commented, and pushed up an elbow as Victor finally backed off of his chest, "Maybe the event's finished."
The silver yawned behind one hand, "I was so comfy..."
"I wanna go check the score-board." Yuri explained, speaking more normally as he rubbed his eyes and turned in place to fish for his glasses, "If Yurio hasn't skated yet, he's probably about to."
"Mmmnnh... I suppose you're right."
With a bit of stumbling, the SkateHusbands meandered over towards the score kiosk and thumbed through the current update. Yuri felt the butterflies even more intensely when he realized his and Victor's names were still at the top.
Pl. Name Nation Score
1. Victor NIKIFOROV RUS 122.43
2. Yuri NIKIFOROV JPN 118.08
3. Jean-Jack LEROY CAN 105.19
4, Christphe GIACOMETTI CHE 102.49
5, Phichit CHULANONT THA 97.21
6. Leo DE LA IGLESIA USA 89.45
"He hasn't gone up yet..." Yuri said aloud, one hand held to his partner's as the other clung to that arm, "Kinda freaks me out. Anything could happen. Even Otabek could take it..."
Victor just smiled confidently, and pulled his arm free of his husband's vice-like grip to slide it behind the man's back instead, "I think you're good. I have an instinct that neither of them will get that close. Let's go find seats upstairs. Then I can spend the next few shows watching you."
Yuri sighed and slouched, but laughed at himself anyway, "You're enjoying this way too much."
The stepped off and emerged from under the curtain; Victor quickly caught sight of Yurio, Yakov, and Lilia at rink-side, waiting for the competition's sole German skater to finish his performance. The song was intense, as one could expect.
['Mitternacht' - E Nomine]
Media nox, obscura nox, crudelitas animarum...
Compana sonat duo decies...
Victor loved the energy of it, and tried to savor his senses, but as soon as his silver-haired head popped out from under the curtain, he heard people start to call his name from the stands behind and above them. Victor stopped and looked back, and waved politely before turning back around.
"What are you doing?" Yurio growled at them, one ear-bud pulled out by his fingers from under the hood.
"Heading up to the stands to watch?" Victor answered, half-amused, "Or am I not allowed to do that either now?"
"Tsh..." Yurio put the stray ear-bud back in place and turned away, with Lilia close behind.
Victor watched qietly, and glanced over at Yakov, as though seeking some word of reassurance or explanation. But, nothing of that sort came.
"What'd you to do make him so mad?" The gruff elder asked.
"I didn't do anything to him." Victor explained, a little sullen.
"Vitya."
He lifted his face away, a little embarrassed to mention it in front of his coach, "...I was helping Yuri get in the mood for his 'Eros' skate and Yurio walked in on us." He pulled one hand back though and put a finger over his mouth in thought, "Come to think of it, he mentioned your name...did you send him looking for me?"
"The ISU brass were looking for you."
"...Oh?" Victor quirked a brow, "Did they say what for?"
Yakov just stared at his student, and for the briefest second, turned only his eyes towards Yuri. Victor hesitated a moment, but then turned towards his husband, whispered in his ear, and sent him up to find their seats with the assurance that he'd be right behind. He then looked back to his coach.
"They were going to let you announce your Yuri's name," Yakov explained quietly, "But since you weren't there in time, they had to do it the usual way. Maybe tomorrow."
Victor was a bit surprised, "...Did Yurio know that when you sent him to find me?"
"I didn't even know, not until after you missed your chance." Yakov shrugged, "Anyway, I have to go; Yuratchka's about to go up."
Victor nodded and turned on his heel, and trotted up the stairs to find his beloved. It didn't take long, and he plopped down happily into the seat beside him. One hand went immediately to the younger man's leg, and he gave it a righteous squish - much to Yuri's confusion.
Maybe tomorrow.
The song came to an end overhead, and the audience cheered, tossing their gifts onto the ice for the German skater. His score hadn't changed the leader-board, but it was a respectable number anyway.
6. Helmut KNABE DEU 93.25
Yurio handed his blade guards and coat over the rink-wall before he took a few steps out onto the ice, running his hand through his loose hair a few times to fluff it up a bit.
"Next on the ice, representing Russia...Yuri Plisetsky!"
The crowd was wild with enthusiasm, and Germany's red, yellow, and black flags switched to Russia's blue, red, and white. A number of Yuri's Angels had even made the trip to the EU for the event, and they happily wore their cat ears and held up their signs for their young hero. Victor smiled at it all and watched quietly, confident in his instincts. He knew that, outwardly, Yurio never really acknowledged the crowd, even hated doing so sometimes, but internally, he needed it almost more than any of them. The Russian wouldn't join the chorus though; he simply kept his eyes on his younger team-mate quietly. The crowd slowly quieted down, and the divine music began.
Sic mea vita est temporaria, cupit
ardenter caritatem aeternam
Yurio raised his arm up, then lowered it down again as he turned in place. He knew for a fact that he was in the worst-possible state of mind to skate a show about unconditional love, and it grated on his nerves. His quick spins put him gliding backwards, and he placed his palms flat against each other, face turned up at the ceiling. Pale blonde hair whipped past his face as he turned back around.
Skate for all my love of Victor!? He snarled mentally, Like Hell! That asshole just pisses me off!
Victor sneezed into the crook of his arm, and wiggled his nose until the threat of a second one went away. Yuri had settled against his shoulder, fingers threaded around where he had his hand against the younger man's leg still. He dared not interrupt that focus though, hazel eyes like magnets on the performance.
"Yuri!" Minako called out - Victor nearly died where he sat. He and his husband looked up together to spot the woman beyond the second-level barrier behind them.
Yuri waved back meekly; he looked to the ice again, then to his partner, then reluctantly up to where Minako had been joined by Mari. He sighed and gave the hand on his leg a frustrated squeeze, and pushed up to his feet. The crowd cheered, and Yuri snapped his head over, only to realize he'd missed whatever had happened, "...Ugh what bad timing...!" He whined to himself. He turned back though to watch where he was going and went up the stairs, then put on a wary smile to greet the ladies, "Minako-sensei, Mari-nee-chan!"
[Yuri Nikiforov, eh?] Mari prodded teasingly, [Doesn't sound too Japanese anymore.]
Yuri blushed, completely distracted by then, [No, maybe not...]
[How've you been? We haven't heard from you in ages. You never even returned my call after you and Victor got hitched![ Minako pestered, [Where were the invitations anyway!?[
[We kind of did everything all at once...] He tried to explain, and clasped his hands together in front of his face regretfully, [We'll do something more formal after the season's over, I promise.]
[...Eh, it's alright I suppose. We'll hold you to it, though.] Minako puffed, and poked her former student against his forehead, [When are you coming home again?]
That helped cheer Yuri up a bit, [I think we're planning to come back after the competition. Everything got a bit...ehm...discombobulated?]
[Oh yeah, that whole thing with Victor's car accident!] Minako lit up, and pounded one fist into her palm, [How'd that even happen anyway? Were you in the car!?]
Kami-sama, help me, I won't be able to keep it together... Yuri mentally pleaded, [Actually, it's kind...kind of a funny story...? Y-You see, it all started whe-]
The crowd roared all at once, and the music cut out. Yuri could feel his body vibrate with the excitement, and he whipped around to see Yurio there in the center of the rink with his clasped hands high over his head.
"Shimatta..." (Damnit) Yuri grumbled, "I missed it all." He sullenly turned around and put his hands together again, "Minako-sensei, Mari-nee-chan, I have to go... Sorry!" He hollered, and went back down the stairs like a bullet. He zoomed right past Victor and latched onto the lower railing, all but flying right over it from the force.
Victor snagged his jacket and pulled him back to get blade-guards on the concrete again, "Careful there."
"What'shisscoooorreeee!?"
Yurio had barely even gotten to rink-side by then and had just been given his jacket back. The whole journey to the kiss-and-cry couldn't have taken longer if someone tried. Yuri could feel himself sweating bullets under his coat; not even the fishnet panels in his pant-leg helped keep him cool. He detached his vice-grip on the railing and shook his hands out nervously.
"You're going to give yourself stomach ulcers like this," Victor teased, and pulled his beloved back into a hug against his back, "Whatever score he gets, you still have the world record for the Free Program. All you have to do is exactly what you did at the Final."
Yurio took his sweet time getting onto that bench; Yakov and Lilia were both already seated by the time he got into the booth. To his irritation, the announcer started to call out his name before he'd even sat down himself.
"The score for Yuri Plisetsky..."
"That was stupidly fast." The young Russian grumbled, eyes looking to the audience for any sign of those judging jade eyes. He saw nothing though, and looked to the scoreboard as he thumped down between his coach and choreographer.
"...104.74!"
He still had the momentum of sitting down, and Yurio flung himself right back up to his skates again to start skulking off for the prep-area. Both of his teachers gaped at him, then at each other, then at him again as they made to catch-up with him. Even Otabek was surprised when Yurio blew past him behind the curtain, and he turned his head quietly to watch the blonde go as the elder duo continued chasing him.
Too frustrated to want to do his post-skate interview, the Russian Punk left the competitor's area entirely - not a cogent move by any stretch, but he wasn't feeling particularly logical in the heat of the moment anyway. Running nearly face-first into Mikhail would've been the only way it could've been worse; thankfully, no one was stalking him right outside this time. He tugged his hoodie over his head and pulled out his earbuds from one pocket of his Team Russia jacket, immediately slid them into his ears, and ignored the rest of the world.
Victor finally convinced his apoplectic husband to return to their seats to finish out the event. Otabek's program, being dead last, was certainly the most nerve-wracking of the whole bunch; even though the musical choice was significantly less ominous-sounding than the Kazakh's Free Skate, it was still 'Otabek Altin, the Hero of Kazakhstan' who was on the ice, and no one could ever discount him with a Worlds Bronze in his repertoire. Victor did his best to assuage his partner's nerves though, and he wedged his hand and arm behind the younger man's thin frame, pulling him up off his seat-back and against himself instead, "Just think about how great tonight is going to be." He commented, and kissed the nearest cheek, "We can have a nice dinner, maybe enjoy a sit in the hotel sauna..."
"That'sgreatVictorreally." Yuri stammered quickly, all but biting his nails from the anxiety, "ManOtabekisskatingreallygoodtodaywhy!?"
Victor grimaced a smile, I can't get him to stop worrying. He really doesn't know what to do with himself in this position. Hopefully this doesn't lead to a mental block like after the China Short Program...
.
"Yuri, go to sleep!" Victor harped, staring at him from the second twin bed, "It's 3am!"
"Ican'tmynervesarekillingme!" Yuri whined, and flailed under his blankets.
"Your family called you to cheer you on, not cripple you!" The silver added, and pushed up onto an elbow, "You don't make any sense."
"Buuuuuhhhhhhhhh!"
.
"The score for Otabek Altin..."
Yuri practically launched from his spot, landing on the fold-down seat with both feet - and somehow didn't tumble right off of it. He quickly sat against the vertical seat-back though, and gripped to his partner's shoulder for balance, eyes on the kiss-and-cry.
"...111.24!"
"Holycrap." Yuri blanched, "So close!"
"Can you relax now?" Victor mumbled, his hair all disheveled where his spouse had suddenly grabbed his head instead, and fingers flared his bangs over his whole face, "Yuri."
Hazel eyes looked down, and Yuri jumped again, "Sorry!" He yipped as he came back down, and did his best to comb those silver strands back into place. One finger made the mistake of going too low past the brow-ridge though, and Victor unexpectedly winced, much to Yuri's chagrin, "Ahhh! Gomen, gomen, honto ni gomenasaaaiiii!" (Sorry, sorry, I'm really sorry!)
Victor gently rubbed the tender spot, a bit surprised it hurt at all, "...That was unexpected. I didn't mean to spook you."
Yuri settled into his worry, and backed off a bit, "...Is it...a remnant from when...?"
"...Maybe." He answered uncertainly. He tossed his bangs though to forget it, "Let's head down and get our stuff. The post-event conference should be quick...we'll both need to be there."
"...R-Right..."
.
Getting their things was easy enough, but leaving the prep-area was harder than expected. Yuri glanced down at his phone when he felt a buzz in his pocket.
奥川 ミナコ
[この人はヴィクトルのように見える!]
(Okukawa Minako)
(This guy looks just like Victor!)
[pic]
Yuri's eyebrows ratcheted up as he spotted the candid photo; he could see the signage for what section of the arena they were in, and sighed a grunt to himself. I better go deal with this before Victor has a cow. I don't think he'd want Mikhail meeting anyone else. At least, not right now. He thumbed a quick reply.
[そこに居ろ. 今行く]
(Stay right there. I'm coming now.)
He rubbed his thumb over his husband's hand to get his attention, "I'll be right back. I forgot something."
"I can come with you." Victor said instinctively, and moved to turn with the man, only to get a palm against his chest.
"N-no, it's fine, I'll just be a second!" Yuri feigned, badly, and quickly took off through the crowd, leaving his utterly confused - and suspicious - partner behind. Victor rubbed his chin.
Yuri was grateful in that moment that, while getting ready to leave, he'd ruffled-out his hair again and wore his pea-coat instead of his team jacket; it made sneaking through the crowd a little easier. Thank you, ultra-normal-mode! He thought as he tore up the stairs to the upper level. A few spectators did a double-take as he went by, but weren't sure they saw the right guy, so he got through without being stopped. It only took a minute to get his bearings and figure out what direction their gate was in. By the time he found it though, there was a little more going on than he'd bargained for.
"Yuri!" Minako called out; loudly. Everyone looked. Yuri balked, "Koko ni kite!" (Come here!) [Did you know about this!?] She gestured at her phone; Mari looked over the woman's arm at it.
He looked cautiously over at where Mikhail had gotten stuck in the exit hall, trapped by the attention, but not saying a word for some reason. What's wrong with him? He's normally really friendly. Why's he just standing there? Yuri shook his head and headed over to his ballet teacher's side, [What happened?]
She leaned closer to him and gestured at the silver Russian rather conspicuously, [That guy doesn't just look like Victor...they're family! Did you know he had an uncle!? I just saw a post from the triplets about this whole interview the ISU people did with him earlier!]
Yuri drew in a petrified breath, and covered the phone screen with his arm, [Please don't make it weird.]
Minako gasped loudly, [SO YOU KNEW!?] She whisper-barked, much to Yuri's chagrin, though she quickly realized and quieted down again, [You knew!?]
[We invited him here. Please keep calm...]
[How am I supposed to stay calm!?] She whined, barely audible over the marching crowd; Mikhail stared at them uncomfortably, [All these years, we've never seen or heard a whisper about Victor's family...even in all the months that Victor was with us in Hasetsu! Then this guy just manifests out of thin air!?]
Yuri just made a face at her, clearly unnerved by the whole thing, [Minako-sensei please... If Victor finds out...]
Mikhail felt a nervous lump in his throat, and he looked aside at the crowd for an escape hatch. Just as he was about to dive into one though, already half-turned on one heel, he heard the terrifying sound of his own name get called. His joints moved like rusted hinges - sound-effects and all - towards the sound; it was Yuri, the one person he'd specifically been told not to talk to. He stiffly stood upright again to face them, but clenched his jaw shut, even as Yuri made a tacit effort to get a response. Even something as simple as a greeting would've been against the rules, and so...the man was tight-lipped.
"Yuri..." Minako leaned over, "Is he deaf or something?"
"No..."
"Then why is he just staring at us like that?" Mari wondered in turn.
"I have no idea."
Minako grabbed her student by his coat and shoved him out in front of them, "Introduce us! Maybe he'll talk to you if you're closer!"
"That's not fair!" Yuri barked in embarrassment, "I told you before that I wasn't gonna be your pass to meet people at skating events!"
"But this is Victor's family! That makes him our family!" The ballerina insisted.
Mikhail just continued staring at them awkwardly, his brows furrowed in the middle to give him an air of concern...but still, he remained silent.
Yuri looked back at the elder, feeling a little desperate, "...M-Mikhail...I..."
The Russian shook his head lightly; it was probably the closest thing to an acknowledgement he'd given so far.
"Why aren't you saying anything...?" Yuri wondered, really finding it odd now, "Normally you're really outgoing." He wondered back to what the two relatives might've said to one another while he'd been stretching. It didn't matter though. Whatever Yuri might've said next was cut off by the sound of fans cheering unexpectedly. He looked past the nearest people in the crowd to spot that unmistakable red and white track-suit, and finally saw Victor coming towards him. When they met eyes, Victor waved at him happily, "There you are!"
Yuri got anxious, "...Y-yes, here I am...!" Kami-sama... I know I've been really chatty lately-
"What? Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?" The Russian wondered curiously, trying to push past the last of the fans that stood between them. He excused himself as he had to use his hand to get through a few, only to hear them excitedly talking about how 'Victor Nikiforov touched them!' in a tone only a fangirl could express.
"Victor!" Minako said cheerfully, "You did amazing out there!"
"That quad Axel was out of this world!" Mari agreed, "...I didn't know that it was an impossible jump until Minako explained it, but now that I know..." She gave a wary smile.
"Minako-sensei, Mari-nee-chan!" Victor greeted them warmly, hugging them both at the same time as he approached, and kissed each on the cheek in turn.
Yuri had half a heart-attack as he watched. Victor then turned side-face in his direction, and that warm smile stalled like an old engine. Silver-grey brows furrowed into a steely stare, and Victor was suddenly as tight-lipped as his relative.
"Why doesn't your uncle say anything to us?" Minako asked rather directly, though quietly in a whisper as she leaned in towards Victor's ear, one hand up to hide her mouth like she thought it would prevent anyone from hearing her, "We were trying to introduce ourselves but he's standing there gawking at us like a dead fish in an aquarium."
Victor's expression changed then, and Yuri felt a chill go down his spine.
Something must've happened when I wasn't there...!
That gaze went through him and met his uncle's unblinking eyes.
"Yuri."
He practically jumped out of his skin at the sound of his name. He tried to become small under all his layers, but really, all he could do was stand straight like he was at attention in some military,"V-Victor!"
The Russian had a weird look on his face - annoyed, curious, and uncomfortable all at once. Whatever it was...it wasn't Victor's normal look. It made Yuri uneasy. Those unexpected words then sounded, ringing in Yuri's ears like microphone feedback.
"Why don't you introduce my uncle to them."