CHAPTER EIGHTY SIX
Even after the kiss, it took another few minutes before Yuri could breathe normally again. The other skaters eventually came out onto the ice alongside the couple to show their support, and they skated around as a group for a little while.
Minami was spazzing internally to be surrounded by so many international athletes.
The 30 minutes Yuri had guesstimated for the outdoor fans had gone by without much progress, but Viktor wouldn't let him go until he was sure he'd make it.
"I think I'm okay now..." Yuri whispered, holding to the Russian's front, skates dragging along the side as Viktor carried him along in reverse, "...Maybe I should skate Agape instead though." He tried to laugh, snuffling against the back of his arm.
Viktor turned his face slightly to look at him, "Do you even know the moves? I've never seen you practice it."
"I practiced it a few times when I was struggling to figure out what Eros meant to me, and I've seen it enough to know the rest." The younger skater pointed out, "I just don't have an Eros bone in my body right now. You turned me entirely to mush."
The Russian nuzzled his cheek a little as they came slowly around the shorter end of the rink, the others in tow behind them, "I could always help get you in the mood."
Yuri snorted, wondering if anyone close by had heard the man, his face red at the possibility. Seeing no one glancing at him with a knowing expression told him it had been said too quietly, so he looked back at Viktor sideways again, "...I'm already on the ice, it'd be weird to take off and come back."
"My loss, I guess." Viktor sighed.
"Mine, too."
The idea had given Yuri something to chew on though, and he found himself twisting around to skate forward on his own after that, taking Viktor by the hand and then reaching for Yurio's wrist before heading to rink-side where he knew Yuuko was watching.
"K-Katsudon, what are you...?" Yurio protested in confusion.
Viktor followed along quietly, wondering if his husband was serious. When Yuuko came up to have Yuri whispering into her ear, the look on her face said it all, and she nodded before twisting away to get through the crowd again, taking Yuri's medals with her for safe keeping. Yuri just dragged the two of them back out to the center of the rink after that, letting Yurio go about 10ft to his left, and pushing Viktor another 10ft further away. The other skaters were a bit confused, but Yuri gave them a nod and they went to rink-side to make space.
"What the hell is going on?" Yurio asked again.
"Agape. The three of us, together." Yuri finally answered.
"A-Agape!?" The blond was stunned, "But you're supposed to do Eros!"
Yuri just smiled, and he took position just after Viktor already had, leaving the youngest of their trio to follow-up last incredulously. The audience realized what was going on soon after that, but their yearning to cheer and clap was cut off by the angelic sound of Agape starting to play overhead.
Sic mea vita est temporaria, cupit
ardenter caritatem aeternam
It was strange to see three people on the ice doing the same program together, especially since all three of them had wildly different outfits. Viktor still with Aria, Yuri with Eros, and Yurio with the Soldier costume...none of them looked particularly in tune to the theme of the song.
Yuri was surprised how quickly his memory of the program came back, and he was able to keep up with Viktor and Yurio easily enough, even as they came into the first major jump, the triple Axel. Viktor, never to be outdone if he could help it, turned his into the quad Axel just for fun, but neither of the other two skaters saw it while in the midst of the jump themselves.
Credam, dabo, sperabo, honorabo
laborabo, gratias agam!
All three leapt into the flying sit spin with flare.
.
.
By the time it was over, and the trio had their hands clasped and raised to the rafters, Yuri felt he was finally over the previously overwhelming flood of emotion. Channeling it through Agape was exactly what he needed...part of him even wished he'd let Viktor watch it instead of participating, just to hear what he had to say about it. The crowd cheered, and Yurio quickly fled back to the safety of the rink wall, having entirely not expected to ever do that program again.
The older skater just waved as he went, "Thank you, Yuri!"
Viktor regained his attention, puffing to catch his breath, "Feel better now?"
"Enough so." Yuri nodded, holding to both of the man's hands where they stood facing one another, "I think I'll manage."
"Do you want to take a quick break before you do Eros though? Two shows back to back..."
"It's only a little longer than a Free Skate would've been. There were only two quads in Agape and only two more in Eros...I should be fine."
"What about water? Are you thirsty? I haven't seen you eat or drink anything in a while..."
"Viktor!"
The Russian just looked at him, but then gave an uneasy smile, "If you faint again, I'll never let you hear the end of it."
"It's fine! I promise!"
"All right...all right..." Viktor relented, pulling up Yuri's hands to kiss them and then stroke his hair, "Don't forget yourself. I'll be waiting."
The younger skater nodded and watched him go, heading back to rink-side to watch the last event before the intermission. Yuri could feel his stomach growling though, and realized quickly that Viktor had a point.
I can get through this...it's just 150 seconds... An incredibly energetic, tense, passionate 150 seconds...
"GANBAAAA, YURI-KUUUUUUUN!"
"What was all that about?" Chris asked as Viktor returned to his perch, handing the man back his phone and a water bottle for good measure, "I've never seen Yuri to that show before."
"Yuri momentarily lost his Eros and found Agape instead, it seemed. Did you record it?"
"On your phone? No, it was locked. I'll send you mine."
"Okay." Viktor nodded, unlocking the device for just that purpose, then turning his head back up to face the center of the rink where Yuri was getting himself psyched for the change of pace, "This Eros may be pretty subdued compared to normal, maybe even pretty close to the first time he did it here, back when he was still picturing katsudon as motivation."
"It's funny to think there was a time where that's what he had to do. He was such an innocent." Chris laughed, "Look what you've done to him, Viktor."
"With pleasure."
True to Viktor's prediction, Yuri's Eros was rather placid compared to when he'd done it at Worlds. Only other veteran skaters could really tell though. The program was still flawless in every other way, it just lacked the special flair that Yuri had learned to show since Rostelecom, when he'd blown a kiss to the judges to 'intimidate' them. There was no one to intimidate in Hasetsu though...that was his turf. So when the spicy guitar music finally came to its conclusion, and Yuri stood defiantly in the middle of the rink with both arms up around him, he knew it was safe to show weakness. He flung his arms out to the side and slid backwards to lie down and catch his breath, much like Phichit had done at the end of the Cup of China.
He was heaving breaths as the audience cheered, but all he could do was splay out spread-eagle on the ice and look up at the lights shining down on him. He did his best to wave but his strength had left him and the arm dropped again comically.
He heard the scratching of blades, and Viktor was looking down on him soon after that, "Well?" The man asked, the knowing smile on his face.
"...Maybe...I'm a little hungry..." He finally admitted.
"That's it then for the first half of the day!" Yuuko's voice resonated around the arena, "We'll pick thing up again in about three hours!"
The audience was clapping as they watched Viktor hoist Yuri back up onto his blades, and even idly skated around a little bit with Yuri on his back as rink-side cleared out. When enough people had gone, the old prep room where Yuri and Yurio had been waiting during the Hot Springs on Ice event was finally opened, and the immediate family and friends that had originally intended to be the only guests were finally allowed in. Yuri had even granted Minami permission to stay, despite his unexpected arrival and late showing. The Nishigori clan had pointed out that Minami had been at Yu-Topia Katsuki during one of their Public Viewings during the Grand Prix and was welcome to stay regardless.
"Well, that's a relief then...I was worried I was the only person you knew here." The older skater said, queuing up with the rest to get in through the small doorway.
Yuuko and Minako had changed by then, and busied themselves with helping divvy out the food. Yuri wasn't going to wait anymore though, and he flew along the line grabbing a bit of everything he could. No one argued with him though, as he was hungry enough to want to eat despite still being in full costume and with his skates still on.
With said skates though, it was impossible to sit at any of the tables that had been set up, since the skates pushed his knees up too high and jammed them into the underside of the horizontal plane, so he reluctantly took his food back out to rink-side to eat at one of the benches out there.
Viktor sat with him, but was waiting to change before eating, spending his time watching the video Chris had sent to him. The other skaters soon followed suit, but most had their track-suit coats with them to guard their outfits, so they were less willing to put off the feasting. Yuri was desperate though, and shoveled food as quickly as he could...but carefully. By the time he was done with Round 1, he felt 150% better than before though, and sensed his energy coming back.
"I'm going to go change then before I go back in there. I'm still starving!" He announced, quickly heading off to the locker room to do just as he'd said.
"You probably should too, Viktor, if you want to eat anything other than crumbs." Chris pointed out.
"Mh. We'll both be right back, then. Save us something if we take too long."
The Swiss skater nodded and watched the man hop up to his blade-guard to chase after his husband. Phichit was taking photos all around them and hardly noticed the pair had left.
Yuri had already been getting the laces undone on one of his skates when the sound of the door echoed through the room, followed by a soft click, the slow but steady succession of thunk-sounds as blade-guards stepped past, followed by a less audible click, and more thunking. Yuri had finally managed to get the skate off, and set that foot over the opposite knee to rub the soreness out of it a little. Only a second or more passed before he felt Viktor leaning against his shoulder dramatically.
"You know, for never having done Agape in front of others before...that was actually pretty decent." The Russian said, "Maybe you could do it properly as one of your Exhibitions at the GP Series next season."
"Nah...Agape was Yurio's thing. I think I should move away from doing other peoples' material, or even historical ones of my own." Yuri shook his head, "It was fun though while it lasted."
"What were you thinking about?"
"As if you have to ask." Yuri taunted, turning his head to glance at the man, "What else could I have thought of other than the big speech you just gave? I don't even know how I'm going to be able to top that later." He turned to set his skateless foot back on the ground and sat up straight, holding a hand up as though getting ready to give his own speech, "Yeah so I know this guy and his name is Viktor and we do stuff like skating and that's all pretty dandy. Heeyyyy time for him to do Winter's Wish! Ta-ta~"
Viktor laughed at the thought of it as he leaned down to rest his head on Yuri's open lap, looking up at him, "How underwhelming...we do more stuff than just skating."
The younger skater's cheeks flushed at the mention of it, but he settled his hand on the man's chest all the same, "That's not for their ears though."
"Just leaving it to their imaginations then?"
"Mh."
"What about when you did Eros?" The Russian continued, smiling the same way he had when he'd pointedly asked why Yuri was eating katsudon when he hadn't won anything the previous year, "Forgive me for saying so, but it was a bit limp."
Yuri's expression was priceless as he heard the man going into a too-fast-to-understand explanation of all the things that seemed lackluster; a mixture of deadpan, horror, embarrassment, and resignation to the truth. He held his head low when Viktor finally stopped, "Sumimasen."
Viktor just smiled, lacing his fingers together over his chest as he crossed his skates at the end of the bench, "I suppose I could forgive you."
"...You suppose?"
He nodded and then abruptly pulled up, swiveled around where he sat on the bench so he was facing the younger skater and settled one skate on either side of the bench, and then leaned ahead to set his chin on Yuri's shoulder, "We have a 3 hour gap."
"Part of it is spoken for."
"...Oh?" Viktor's one-track mind had suddenly gotten unexpectedly derailed, "How so?" His expression changed from excited to dour in half a second flat.
Yuri just laughed at his expense, "Wow, that killed you just now, didn't it?"
The Russian sighed dramatically and leaned back after that, holding himself up where his fingers curled around the edges of the bench behind him, "Are you in on their plans?"
"...In on their plans? What do you mean?"
"...Hm, maybe not then."
"Viktooooorrr..."
"They wouldn't let me leave earlier. I thought maybe you and your family were up to something when, after that, I came in here and saw you guys talking." He answered, "You all got so quiet in such a hurry, I thought I'd walked in on something I wasn't supposed to hear."
"They just didn't expect anyone to come in!" Yuri tried to explain, "They actually said they'd planned on finding you next anyway, which is half the reason I went after you. You were gone like smoke though...don't know how you escaped so quick."
"It's a trick you learn to avoid the skating paparazzi." Viktor explained, his eyes moving down as he felt Yuri's hand on his leg. He wasn't sure what it meant just yet, so he glanced back up again, "You'll learn it this coming year, I'll wager."
"Is that how you avoided the RSF when we got back to St. Petersburg after Four Continents and Worlds?" Yuri wondered, the hand slowly starting to move up, then stopping half-way.
"Well, no one would've been there after Four Continents." Viktor said, trying not to be too blunt, "But after Worlds? Absolutely. Why do you think I booked the red-eye? I've skipped out on the airport ambush for years now...they know not to bother coming anymore. I make it too annoying. They have to wait until a few days later to tag me."
Yuri pulled the hand back to hold it over his mouth dramatically, "What!? Viktor Nikiforov avoiding the press!? What sorcery is this!?"
The Russian smirked, but then moved to blow away some of the bangs that had come undone from where they'd been styled above his eye, "I know, I know...it's shocking. But yes, even I avoid the media mob sometimes, especially after I've been cramped into an economy-class seat with Yakov. Yurio sometimes ditches, too, when he spots Yuri's Angels waiting for him."
The whole thing suddenly caused a dawn of realization to rise in Yuri's mind, "The Russian skating people never contacted you after Worlds...did they? You didn't get interviewed or anything."
Viktor's face suddenly went pale as he realized the same thing, "...I don't think they called. Yakov didn't mention it either. AHHHHH!" He was sitting upright with both hands on his head, "Did they decide not to after I won silver instead of gold!? The newspaper article we saw..."
"Viktor."
"...Maybe they were all too disappointed in me to want to bother talking...did they blow off Yurio, too!? They would've wanted a comment from him after hearing he'd been dropped from the team and..."
"Viktor."
"...Or maybe they did reach out and I just wasn't paying attention because of everything else that happened, and now I've moved to Japan where they can't easily get to me!? Maybe there's another huge crate of mail that I've ignored somewhere!? Did I forget to check before we left St. Petersburg!?"
"VIKTOR..."
"Do they hate me now!? I have to call Yakov and find out what happened! This is so unusual! They've never forgotten to call me in for an interview after a big skating event, even before my winning streak starte-"
He had already grabbed his phone and pulled up his former coach's name in the contact list when he found himself abruptly cut off. Yuri had turned slightly on the bench and grabbed him with both hands gently behind his neck, and yanked him forward like he'd once done with one of his ties, lip-locking him for lack of knowing what other way to make him stop talking. Viktor's eyes were wide open in surprise, but soon, his phone was forgotten, and Yuri deftly pulled it from his hand, setting it as far behind him as he could before rising up to lift one leg over the bench to match how his husband was sitting. The sudden kiss went on, and Viktor finally relented under it, lifting his arms to rest them over Yuri's shoulders as he felt the man's hands against his sides, slipping in under the sheer magenta fabric of his competition coat.
Yuri was inching closer every few seconds. Viktor could feel where his partner had moved one leg over his own, and then the other, sitting close on his lap as he kept up the passion of the kiss. Yuri was soon pushing him down to his back, only finally pulling away from the man's mouth when he felt he could go down no lower
Viktor just tried to catch his breath, still a little taken aback by the sudden move.
The younger man just looked down on him, a bit winded as well, "...It...it was all I could think of...to get you to stop worrying."
"...What was I worrying about again?"
"Nothing important." Yuri finally had the true Eros look on his face again, "What are you thinking about now?"
Even Viktor's cheeks were flushed when he heard the question, "...How much I want you right now."
"We have some time."
"You said it was spoken for."
"Only the last 2 hours."
"Ah...no, my jacket! Outside on the rink wall!"
"...What about it?"
"I have some of our stuff in it!"
"...You were planning on this?"
"There was a scheduled 3-hour intermission. Weren't you?"