CHAPTER FIFTY NINE
After a brief stop-off at the event hotel to pick up their luggage, they were on their way back to the airport. Yuri had been awoken only long enough to get him from the table to the limo before letting him fall back asleep again. Mercifully, the seats were large enough that he could actually lay down sideways to set his head across Viktor's lap without having to twist around too much. Viktor continued minding his partner quietly as they were drive off, gently rubbing his thumb back and forth where he held to Yuri's shoulder.
Makkachin quietly panted in the seat next to Mari, watching the world go by outside.
"So when do you guys leave?" She asked in a whisper.
"3am."
"Why so late?"
"I figured we would be at the Banquet, which goes until midnight." Viktor answered, "We'd have just gone straight to the airport from there and the timing would've meant we wouldn't have had to wait long before take-off. But this is fine."
"Isn't the Banquet kind of a big deal?" Minako asked from the opposite end of the limo, "Is it really okay for you guys to skip it?"
"It's just a time to socialize with other skaters and coaches, maybe network a little between the ISU and various event sponsors." Viktor shrugged, "They'll notice we aren't there but it's not like they can punish us for not showing up. A bunch of skaters left before the Gala was even over."
"But those skaters weren't the gold or silver medalists." Mikhail pointed out.
Viktor shrugged again with a smile, "It wouldn't be the first time I've bailed on a Banquet. Without Yakov around to make me go, I don't always see the reason."
"Isn't it your responsibility then as Yuri's coach to make him go?"
"Sure, but…" Viktor nodded his head at the man, "You really want me to force him in this state?"
"Psht!" Mikhail scoffed, "If a nap is all that stood between me and free food... Give him some coffee and he'll be fine."
The younger Russian huffed a laugh and shook his head, "I couldn't. If you guys knew how sore we both were right now...you'd appreciate naps more than food anyway, and he's probably in worse shape than I am. He's earned the rest."
Yuri stirred a little, as though unconsciously knowing he was being talked about, twisting until he was lying awkwardly on his back, left leg bent against the corner wall and the right dangling off the chair with his arm. Viktor waited until he stopped moving, then settled his hand onto the man's chest.
The airport came up shortly thereafter, and the limo pulled into the drop-off terminal. Viktor gently roused his husband from sleep and pulled him up to his feet outside, even though he was latched to his arm, still half-conscious where he stood as their luggage was offloaded onto a trolley. Mikhail told the driver to wait a while as they went in to see the pair off.
Yuri shuffled along as well as he could, eyes barely open to see where he was going. It was 9:30 by the time they'd gotten checked in, tickets printed, luggage tagged and taken away, and Makkachin crated and sent off to freight with a whine.
"Sorry, Makkachin...at least this flight isn't so long..." Viktor apologized, waving as the dog vanished on a small forklift to wait until the plane arrived.
They turned to face the trio as they waited to enter the security line, and the Russian moved to help Yuri stand straight on his own so he could say his farewells properly. The younger skater just blearily rubbed his eyes as he struggled to stay awake.
Viktor hugged the two ladies and kissed their cheeks, "Do svidanija. We'll see you in Hasetsu in a week."
"Safe travels, Viktor." Minako said.
They moved over to Yuri and hugged him together, "Don't sleep the whole time!"
He smiled and hugged them back as well as he could, "I'll try not to...but it'll be really hard."
"The girls are really looking forward to you guys coming back. You don't want to sleep through your own wedding party!"
"I'll be awake in a week, I promise."
Mikhail then stepped up after the two women backed away, "Not sure it's worth saying some big goodbye when I'll see you both again in a day or two."
Viktor smiled, but then moved in to hug his uncle, "I always say goodbye before a flight."
Mikhail was rather surprised at the gesture, but nodded and returned it, patting Viktor's back as he pulled away again, "It's only farewell until the morrow." He then turned to Yuri, who unceremoniously dropped against his chest.
"SeeyouinRussiaUncleMikhailgoodnight..." The skater blurted sleepily.
The elder patted Yuri's shoulder, "Goodnight, Yuri...see you later." He laughed.
Viktor helped pull his husband upright again and then started to guide him away, waving at the group as they went.
With such a late flight, there wasn't such a long wait to get through the security checkpoint, and soon enough, they were at their gate, slouching on a plush bench near a tech-charging station with both of their phones plugged in.
It had been about an hour since their arrival, and Yuri was a little more awake than before, thumbing through Instagram as he leaned against Viktor, the Russian's arm draped over his own. Viktor was looking through the same app, seeing photos posted from the Banquet through Chris's feed. He was a bit startled when he found his phone switching over to a FaceTime request from that very man.
He accepted it and waved as the broadcast started, "Hey."
"You're missing all the fun, Viktor! Where are you two?" The Swiss skater asked; the party was in full swing behind him.
The Russian rotated his phone around to show off their location before pulling it back in front of himself, "At the airport."
"Who's that?" Yuri asked, looking up from where he wasn't paying attention.
"The Banquet." He answered, turning the phone to include Yuri in the shot.
"Oh!" Yuri was upright with a start, "Hey, Chris! Sorry we're not there!"
"Why'd you guys bail? We were all looking forward to another Strip-Tease Dance-Off!"
The younger skater nervously scratched the back of his head, "...I got started drinking a little early."
"Oh Yuri, you light-weight." Chris scolded teasingly. His attention was grabbed by something off-camera, and he seemed to be talking to someone about a Bluetooth connection, only to return a moment later, "Hang on, we're going to put you on the projector."
"...The...projector?" Yuri repeated.
There was a minute or two of silence as the pair watched the screen, seeing various people taking hold of the phone as they worked on something. Eventually, Chris focused the camera on himself again, "Say hi to everyone." He held the phone so they could see how they had been connected to a massive theater screen against one wall, and their own surprised faces were showing on it as it appeared on Chris' device, then turning it around to show the crowd.
Someone had a microphone and was starting to say something, "Everyone, your Gold and Silver Men's Singles medalists have finally arrived!"
"Oh wow, we're on a bigscreen." Yuri said, nervous suddenly, "...H-hi everyone."
"Hiiiii~!" Viktor chimed in, using where his arm was already over his husband to pull him closer into the shot.
Chris' phone showed off the rest of the people in the Banquet hall as they all hollered their greetings back, and then he pulled it back to show himself, "It's great that one of you picked up. There's been a lot of chatter about your last dance at the Gala. Apparently quite a few people were really taken by it!"
Yuris' face flushed, "Really…?"
"Sure!" Chris nodded, "Some of the skating media really want to do a professional photoshoot and interview with you two. They were wanting to know where to find you to make arrangements."
The younger skater wasn't sure how to answer that, so he looked over at Viktor, "...Do you...?"
He nodded, "We'll be in St. Petersburg for a week, then we'll be moving to Hasetsu to make the Ice Castle our permanent rink. They can find us there. We'll even be performing our Four Continents pair-Exhibition for family there, so if the media is fast, they can get pictures of it."
Yuri balked a little, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth as he whispered something into his husband's ear, "...Do you really want a media swarm all over our honeymoon?"
"If it's only for one day, I don't see why not. What kind of wedding party doesn't have a few photographers anyway? Besides, this would cater to both of our interests...you still get the semi-private party that you asked for, and I still get the wider recognition I crave!"
"As if you need more recognition." Yuri deadpanned him, "But all right..."
"It'll be fun! Photoshoots are great! Think about all the posters they'll make of us...not just as individuals, but together! This is huge!" Viktor's excitement was a bit contagious.
His husband's face was bright pink at the thought of it, "...All right, all right…!"
"Are you really abandoning the Russian team?" Someone in the background asked.
Viktor looked perplexed, "Abandoning the...what? Yakov knows how to get hold of me...I'll always be available!"
"But you won't be choreographing any of the Russian team's programs for next season, right?"
"I was never particularly responsible for any of that." Viktor shrugged, "I promised Plisetsky I'd arrange his Senior debut but that didn't mean I was going to arrange all of his future programs. Besides, he has a retired Prima Ballerina as a choreographer now...what more could he want?"
"She dropped him."
Yuri and Viktor's hearts and expressions dropped, "...Oh. Why?"
"We had hoped you would know."
"Sorry."
Yuri looked away from the phone, Yurio must've been really rude to her after his falling out with Viktor… Anyone with her history and credentials wouldn't put up with his sass for very long...
"We'll figure it out, don't worry. But anyway, have fun...we'll see you all next season at the start of the Grand Prix Series." Viktor waved, and nudged Yuri to do the same before finally clicking the call off. The screen went dark after a moment.
Yuri could feel his husband's body clenching a little in discomfort, "...Viktor…?"
"He's imploding on himself. I don't know what to do. I utterly and completely failed him on every level..."
The younger man sighed, "You can't take responsibility for everything bad that happens to Yurio. He'll have to figure things out on his own eventually."
"It's not his fault things happened to him the way they did either." Viktor retorted, "All he wanted was for someone to be there for him, and..."
"You have been. I've seen it, and I said it to him, too. But he can't expect you to follow him around every minute of every day to pick him up after every scraped knee and stubbed toe."
"I thought he'd have gotten used to my not being around after the Hot Springs on Ice event, when he left on his own to return to Russia." The man replied pensively, "I just don't get it."
"He thought you were going to come back and stay back eventually." Yuri pointed out, "Things don't always turn out as planned. It doesn't always work out for everyone, so all we can do is take it as it comes."
Viktor didn't seem entirely satisfied with the answer, and he looked out into the empty space of the terminal in thought.
"We can go see him while we're in St. Petersburg."
"...Or we can go see him now."
"Huh?"
Viktor pointed, and sure enough, Yakov was coming up the terminal with a grumpy teenager in tow. Lilia wasn't with them. Neither had noticed them yet, and when they turned off to sit in an area of the seating bay that was closer to the boarding desk, Viktor watched in silence.
"...You really want to do this now? If he's here then he obviously isn't at the Banquet." Yuri wondered quietly.
"They're probably on the same flight as us. If that's the case, they'll pass right by since business class boards first. Do you really want to let it sit until then?"
"Give it a few minutes at least...maybe call Yakov first like we aren't even here. They both probably think we are at the Banquet."
"I don't want to put this off for too long…"