CHAPTER FOURTY EIGHT

-Hot and Complicated meets Cold as Ice! The calm before the storm!-

'Yuri, you haven't slept, have you?' Victor wondered, looking at the corpse-like expression on his athlete's face.

Yuri just blurted out excitedly that he had though, waving his hands around frantically like that would somehow convince his coach.

Victor wasn't buying it though. He dragged Yuri all the way back to the hotel room, pulled most of his clothes off himself, slapped the night-mask on, and shoved him into bed, 'Nap until this evening's event starts.' The Russian said simply, throwing the blanket over top of him. He even crouched next to the bed and pat the man's side through the sheets, 'It'll be fine. I always slept in until the last minute before competitions, too.'

That was his opportunity. Yuri wasn't going anywhere, he wasn't going anywhere...so he leaned in and draped himself across the exhausted skater, one leg over where he could feel Yuri's under the blankets.

'VICTOR.' He heard the younger man shriek, tensing up immediately, 'DID YOU SET AN ALARM!?'

The Russian was already asleep though, and all Yuri could do was lay awake hoping he didn't miss his turn. It was entirely not what Victor had in mind. An hour had probably passed before Yuri felt safe enough to move his arms out from where Victor's clinging had kept them pinned to his sides, and he moved one hand up to lift the mask from one eye. It was weird, seeing Victor there asleep on top of him. Yuri's face flushed all over again. The thought of waking him up was unbearable though, so he looked around for his phone. He spotted it after pushing himself up onto an elbow, but it was in his pile of things near the hallway that lead to the door, and that meant he couldn't reach it.

'...Oh no, it's all the way over there...what do I do?' He looked back down at Victor, 'If I move to get it, Victor might wake up...but if I don't...I won't be able to sleep at all...!'

The Russian seemed aware though, as his arms started moving, but before Yuri could say another word, Victor had pushed himself further up the bed and clamped those arms around Yuri's small frame, knocking him back down again. It had been enough that Yuri was forced onto his side, and Victor cozied right up against his back, spooning him through the sheets as well as he could.

'Don't worry so much. I'll wake you up.' Victor mumbled, 'I'll hold you down until you fall asleep if I have to.'

'V-Victor...I can't...breathe...' Yuri pleaded.

'Oh...sorry!' The Russian laughed, pulling one arm back a little to let the man catch his breath. As soon as Yuri had his arm out of the way though, Victor slipped his own right back around that side, both hands now resting against the younger man's chest. He then set his cheek against the back of Yuri's shoulder, 'Better?'

Yuri's face was bright red, '...Y-..sure...'

.

"Yuri..." A voice came, and he cracked one eye open at a time, "We're going to be late."

"Hah!?" Yuri blanched, and was up immediately. His clothes were gone, and light poured in from the window where his buck-ass-naked husband had pulled it open earlier, "We're going to be what!?"

"Hmm... Just kidding." Victor laughed, "But it woke you up, right?"

"Uhhh..." Yuri whined and lowered back down to the blankets again. He rubbed his eyes in exhaustion, "How long did we even get to sleep...?"

"Five hours."

"...Maybe we should come back to nap after practice, and then go see Makkachin after lunchtime."

"That was my thought as well." The silver agreed, "We should start to get ready. We'll get a light breakfast at the café, head to the arena, do the thing, then come right back for a nap." He announced, and looked at his phone for a second before he started to rummage for his clothes, "Five hours actually wasn't bad though." He commented, "I feel like I slept pretty well, even if not for that long."

"...Yeah." Yuri agreed, and finally rose up to sit again, "We can play it by ear."

Victor lifted one of his clothing bags up onto the foot of their bed, but then went around to his husband's side and sat on the edge. He watched that confused but interested look on his partner's face, and reached one hand up to brush a few strands of black hair from those favored eyes, "The day feels brighter already." He commented, and leaned in to offer his first kiss of the day, "Come. Let's get to it."

.

...If I add a fifth quad to my Free Skate, I may yet be able to cancel out Victor's 15-point quad Axel, Yuri thought as they stood in line for coffee. He tapped the toe of one sneaker against the ground, and leaned against his husband's arm, I can only do a max of three combination jumps throughout the program though, so I'll have to make them all quad-triple or quad-single-triple combos...do I have enough stamina to pull that off? And another two standard quads on top of that?

Victor reached for his wallet as he placed their orders, and guided his husband towards the pick-up counter soon after. He could see the cogs turning behind those eyes, but there was no worried look to match them, so he didn't worry either.

...I think I can manage six quads, like he suggested before. ...I really want to win Gold for Vict-

"Drink for you~" Victor said, interrupting his train of thought with a cup.

Yuri shook his head to regain his focus, and accepted the drink, "Oh, thanks. Sorry. I was a space cadet there for a minute."

"That's okay. As long as you're thinking about good things, you can float all you like." Victor teased, and took a smell of his own drink through the small oval mouthpiece, "Mmh...vkusno~! Cinnamon and nutmeg are the best."

.

Quad Toe-loop.

Quad Salchow. Wobble, but still good.

Triple Axel.

Quad...

Yuri stumbled out of the landing and skidded on his back towards the rink wall with a dubious frown on his face. He could hear Victor laughing at him from nearby though.

"What was that?" The silver asked, and came over to offer his hands, "You over-rotated the landing on that one. Severely."

"I know." Yuri grumbled.

"Ooohhhh...! Were you trying a quad Axel?"

"Might've done."

"Eeeee!" Victor squeed, "I bet if anyone could do it, it's you."

"Says the guy who already did it."

"I know I know, but consistently." He fussed, "Maybe not tonight but...definitely next season."

Even the reporters that mobbed them on the way out of practice wanted to know about it. Yuri was practically dazzled by the attention, and stood stony-faced beside his coach, letting Victor speak for them both until he could get his bearings under all the attention.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever done~!" The Russian mused, "I practiced it for two weeks straight before I got it right the first time! Yuri will need more time to fine-tune it...but he should do really well, since the triple Axel is already his favorite jump. Ne? Yuri~!"

"Ahh…." He answered nervously, "It'll probably take me a bit longer than two weeks to do a quad Axel...but I'd like to try at some point."

"Are you planning on changing your jumps to catch up to Victor?" Another sportscaster asked.

"I'll make whatever changes he recommends." Yuri explained, "Victor wants me to win Gold as much as I do. I'll trust him to steer me in the right direction."

"Do you think the victory lineup impact your relationship?"

They both blanched in surprise, and looked at one another before Victor smiled, "We're together because of skating. We push each other to skate as well as we can. Whichever medal we win, we win as a team."

It was weird to watch Victor go between speaking as a competitor for one reporter's questions and then back to a coach for another. But, the Russian had a neutral setting that he usually returned to when they weren't talking about skating, and Yuri liked that best. Being Victor's husband was much easier than being his rival.

When they finally were allowed to leave though, it was easy to decide to go ahead and spring Makkachin from the boarding house for a while. The pup was playing with other dogs in the rear dog-run when he saw his humans approach, and barked excitedly to rush for them. He jumped and rolled and licked and wiggled, and his tail became a blur of high-speed wags when the leash and harness came out.

"We'll come back with him in a few hours," Victor said to the front-desk staff, "That's for doing so well with him so far! He's really happy!"

"See you later!" They called back, and waved as the front door to the facility closed.

The pair didn't wander too far away; Tähtitorninvuoren puisto - otherwise known as Observatory Hill Park - was just a few blocks over, nestled right between the city and one of the many bay-side marinas on the Gulf of Finland. Makkachin went off-leash once they were on the big expanse of winter snow, and was immediately enchanted by the new scents and sights around him. He stayed close to his people though, and they stayed on the cleared paths that wound through the large space. They paused for a moment at the edge of the steep hill by the road, and Victor cast his eyes out across the expanse of water.

"It's weird to think that St. Petersburg is...right over there a ways." He commented, and pointed east, "Maybe we should take the ferry back instead of flying."

"You're probably right. We'll still be waiting for take-off by the time a ferry could get us back into town." Yuri agreed tepidly, "But...we already have our tickets."

"They're not with Aeroflot though so it's okay." Victor laughed, "If they were, we'd be on the boat for sure."

"I can't help but notice that you have a lighter air about you this morning," Yuri added, and they pulled back from the drop-off to start walking again, "Did you dream about going back to Hasetsu last night, too?"

"I definitely feel like I did, but I'm not actually sure," The silver answered, "My dream-states are very hard to explain. For the most part...it's a completely black void, but when inspiration strikes, I practice my shows, or...I get the odd nightmare."

"Ah..." Yuri nodded, "Well, hopefully you'll have more pleasant nights now that we've decided to go back home."

Victor smiled, "Yeah."

.

Though it was sad to have to give Makkachin back to the boarders, he went easily enough, knowing already what the facility was like and that it wasn't so bad, even being apart from his people. The pair made sure to give their poodle lots of pets, and promised to bring him treats next time, before they handed him off.

Victor had, of course, felt completely rejuvenated by the experience, "I didn't realize how much of a difference it would make to have Makkachin with me during competition." He commented, and stepped onto the city-train after his partner, "I should've done this years ago instead of boarding him in St. Petersburg."

"You live, you learn." Yuri added, and they found a pair of seats, "I'm sure he'll be happy to stay with my parents again though."

"Oh, he loves your family." Victor mused.

"It looks like Minako-sensei and Mari-nee-chan met back up with Mikhail again, too." Yuri pointed out, and at his phone screen, "They've just extended an invitation to us to join them for supper."

"Right now?"

"Uhhh...don't know. I'll ask." He puffed, and typed out his question. The train started to move, and a few seconds later, a reply came, "Oh, no, not right now. In a few hours. Minako-sensei says she and my sister are doing a private tour around the city."

"...Huh. I wonder what my uncle's up to then. What does a single guy do in a strange city?"

"I could always ask him," Yuri offered, but Victor smiled and shook his head, "Alright."

"Send me his contact information though," The silver asked, "I told him I'd get it from you."

"Oh, sure."

"It's getting so close to the moment of truth," Victor went on idly, eyes out the window as Helsinki passed them by, "Even though I've been to all the regular competitions this season...knowing this is 'one and done' for me as a competitor feels a bit surreal."

"You'll get to do them all like normal next year."

"I wonder how they'll do the Grand Prix Series." He posited curiously, "I mean, I wasn't in the Final this season, but the ISU doesn't like to pit medalists against each other in the preliminary events."

"Do you think they'll just stick you wherever?" Yuri wondered, "I mean, technically there's nothing to stop them from pairing you at the same events as me. Maybe they'll think they're doing us a favor, so we don't have to travel non-stop leading up to the Final."

"I doubt they'll be that kind." Victor shrugged, and turned his gaze inward. He twisted in his seat to put his back to the inner wall, and leaned forward to nuzzle his husband adoringly, "...I imagine we'll be at four of the six events."

"...Oof... Four Series competitions... That's going to be rough."

"We'll make it work. For now, let's not borrow trouble."

"Yeah...the only trouble I want to think about is the big official wedding we gotta do still for the family and friends," Yuri teased, and playfully pinched his husband's chin, "They've been really kind to us so far, but you know as well as I do that they're still expecting the show at some point."

"It's been on my mind, don't worry." Victor laughed, "It'll be much easier to plan for once the competitive season's over. I should've just thought to put it off until after Worlds in the first place."

"Not too far after though."

"No... Well, that depends."

"On what?"

"On how big a deal you want it to be." He explained, "Don't think I've already forgotten how you shut the triplets down."

"Oh..." Yuri blanched slightly, but smiled through pink cheeks, "I think it was just a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing... We'd just gotten hitched. I'd already maxed-out my 'holy crap' meter for the day."

Victor sputtered a laugh, "Oh wow, yes, that's true... I hadn't thought of that. So you're considering something a bit more involved?"

"What if we celebrated it as a big skating extravaganza?" Yuri suggested; the train slowed down for its next stop, "Instead of having a reception or something, I mean."

"What about the wedding itself though?"

"Oh, you want to do the whole ceremony again?"

"Of course!" Victor pestered, and glomped onto his partner to shake him for emphasis, "That's the whole point, isn't it? So everyone else can hear us say 'I do'?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess that's true." Yuri agreed, but then looked up in thought, "Well, do you want to have a big western-style thing with carpets rolled out onto the ice so we can walk?"

"Maybe we should skate down the aisle," The silver teased, "Everyone else can use carpets."

"Well... Let's call the triplets later and tell them some of our ideas. They seemed so stoked to arrange it all, we could probably leave it to them to surprise us."

"I do love surprises."

"I know," Yuri nodded, and leaned over to offer a kiss, "You and them did a really great job with the 'Hot Springs on Ice' event...I'm sure they can handle a wedding party."

"Today's really turning out pretty great." Victor said, and gave a happy sigh as he wedged his arm between his husband's back and the seat, and pulled him closer, "The Free Skate is going to be perfect."