CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED ONE
"...You're not mad because of how I manhandled your kid, are you?" Viktor wondered with a brow raised, holding for dear life to the 'oh shit, I'm gonna die' handle above the passenger-side door, but trying to look composed even as he did so. Yuri was clinging to the same handle on the driver's side passenger door, and they each held each other's hand between them, just in case it was the end.
"Nope. I am perfectly calm." Mikhail answered stiffly, white-knuckling the steering wheel.
Yurio was the only one who wasn't stuck to a door somehow, but he had brought one foot down off the dash to cross it over his knee, and he pointed daringly at the older man across from him, "Didn't you and her alr-"
"Not your business, Yuri."
"Then quit being all weird about it! So you kissed her! Who cares!? Just don't get us killed before we get back to the hotel!"
"You aren't going to die." The elder said stiffly, pulling out quickly from a red-light, enough so that everyone in the car jerked back as they started moving again.
Yuri was looking out the window, seeing the Calgary Tower a bit in the distance. The Hotel Arts building was a 10 minute walk from there, so it was a good gage for how far away they still were in the car. He reluctantly pulled his right hand away from where it held to his husband's, and pulled his phone up from where he'd dropped it into his lap, typing a message quietly as they continued the trip.
[We should go to the tower before we leave.]
A moment or so later, the message beamed back down into the car from where it had been shot up into space, bounced off a satellite or two, and found itself causing a jingle as it landed in Viktor's phone 2 feet away from the phone that sent it. He looked at the screen with a neutral expression on his face, but then smiled, and leaned forward with a hand on the right shoulder of the driver's seat, "Hey Uncle, can you drop Yuri and I off at the Calgary Tower instead of the hotel? We'll just walk back to get our things later."
The question seemed to cut the teeth off of Mikhail's anxiety, and he finally started to relax a little, leaning back into the seat normally where he was previously stiff and hunched over. He glanced back past his silver-grey bangs and nodded, then flicked on the blinker to change lanes and adjust their course.
Yurio just groaned and complained that it would make them even more late.
.
.
.
The small group stood at the base of the tower and craned their heads back as far as they could manage to look up at it against the bright blue sky. Yurio looked away first as he felt his phone buzzing again, seeing Yakov trying to call yet again. Viktor looked down at him to see the look on his face, so he held his hand out to answer the call for him.
The blond glanced at him, and reluctantly handed the device over, then stepped over to where Yuri had started to cough again from stretching his neck too far.
Viktor was stepping away to prevent the yelling from spoiling the mood, clicking to answer and holding the device up to his ear, "Èto Viktor."
"VITYA. Vy deržite Yuratchka v založnikah!? Vernite ego v otel'!"
The Russian just nodded and smiled awkwardly as he took in the brunt of the yelling. He hardly noticed that a few passersby had recognized him and were starting to take photos on their phones while he did damage control.
"I hope this doesn't get me booted from the team again." Yurio grumbled quietly, "I'm still on probation as it is..."
"I guess that's why Viktor took the call for you. If he takes the blame, they can't fault you." Mikhail shrugged, "Besides, I'm the one driving, so if Yakov has a problem even after talking to Viktor, I'll deal with it. He's not the only coach that trains the Russian team."
"My vozvraŝaemsja tak bystro, kak možem. Sožaleju." The older skater went on, "Ja poprosil djadju otvezti nas v Bašnju Kalgari. Da. Da. Eŝe pjat' minut. Da. Uvidimsja." He clicked the phone off and sighed dramatically, "Whew! He's a slave-driver!"
"Viktor..." Yurio pointed at him, helping the older figure notice the small crowd that had started gathering around him while he was distracted.
"GASP!" Someone in the group said loudly, "IT'S YURI PLISETSKY! EVERYONE, THEY'RE BOTH HERE!"
"Ah crap..." Yurio stood side-face defensively, "Quick, we gotta go! VIKTOR!"
"Bye Yuri! See you in France!" Viktor laughed, already soaking up the attention and posing with the fans for pictures.
"YOU STILL HAVE MY PHONE, DUBIINA!"
Yuri just stood quietly, watching the banter while being unrecognizable under all his layers. It was almost comical to watch the blonde trying to swim through the crowd to get close enough to Viktor to get his phone back, since Viktor wasn't making it easy in the slightest.
Mikhail leaned over and set his forearm on Yuri's shoulder to watch as well, smirking at the whole thing, "You still don't care much for the lime-light, do you?"
The young skater shook his head, blinking brown eyes nervously.
...It's one thing for fans to come up to us at the events themselves, but in the streets like this, I'm always worried something will happen.
Yurio finally managed to get his phone, but the crowd was holding him down like quick-sand, shoving him back over to his elder for pictures even as he was yelling that he had to leave. It was only after Viktor helped get him removed from the swarm of hands and arms himself that the teen was finally able to escape, and rushed over to where Yuri and Mikhail were still watching.
"We really need to go." The blonde huffed, stepping over to Yuri to give his expected hug, "Do svidanija."
"...Poka." The Asian answered, hugging him back over his shoulders, "Safe travels."
"Stay warm and drink enough fluids." Mikhail followed up, patting the young skater's head as he finally moved off with the impatient teenager, "And sorry again for Sergio. If I didn't need to pick up Yuratchka, we could've avoided that whole debacle."
"It's fine." Yuri bowed his head a little and waved as they finally started to walk away, then turned back to watch his husband.
He let them have their fun for a few more minutes before he looked back up at the tower, wanting to get up there where it was warmer and less noisy. Reluctantly, he started moving towards the small crowd. It wasn't nearly as big as the one in Moscow or at the Incheon airport, but it was still enough that he had to reach through the thickness of several people to find Viktor's coat to tug on it and get his attention. The Russian couldn't tell it was him though and just carried on like it was some other fan trying to grab at him, so Yuri did the only other thing he knew how.
He moved away from the back of the crowd and stepped around it to get in front of it instead, standing between them and the few who were holding cameras behind him. Some fans were agitated, telling him to get out of the way, but Yuri finally reached up to yank off the beanie and mask and revealed who he was. The crowd went quiet.
"...Oh, it's the other Yuri...!"
"Didn't he skip the Exhibition cuz he thinks he's too good for it now?"
"...Isn't that...Yuri Katsuki?"
The comments were coming from all sides, some good, some bad, some still not realizing who he was, others knowing, but not acknowledging the name-change, others still having no idea what his relationship with Viktor was. It made his heart pound even harder to hear his old name again, but his sore throat prevented him from bothering to argue, least not so close to the road where no one would be able to hear a word he said anyway. He cast his eyes up towards his husband with a look that begged him to move on, and Viktor nodded.
The Russian peeled himself from the mob, and slung his arm over Yuri's shoulders, "Please don't get the wrong idea...Yuri didn't skip the Exhibition because he wanted to. He went into his Free Skate feeling under the weather already, so once he was done, I made him go to bed. He pushed himself pretty hard as it was, and I didn't want him to get even more sick."
"Why doesn't he just say so then?" Someone asked.
"He lost his voice. As his coach, I ordered him not to speak so he could recover quicker." Viktor explained, holding up his free hand as he did so, "Hopefully he'll be back to normal by the Cup of China. For now, he needs his rest. Thank you everyone for your support!"
It was a relief when they finally got into the Tower Center and were making their ascent. Yuri had pulled up the Tour app on his phone, and was looking down at it as he held to, and leaned against, Viktor's shoulder. The Russian was looking down as well, and they each had one ear-bud in to listen to the audio. When the elevator doors opened and they were able to step out, the first thing they saw was the completely-glass exterior going around the lower part of the tower's main atrium. They stepped out in sync to avoid pulling on the audio cable clipped to Yuri's phone, and glanced around in awe at the view.
"Wow~!" Viktor said characteristically, shuttling Yuri along to get to the glass-bottom edge as quickly as possible, pulling out the ear-bud so he could put his hands down on the 'floor' and gaze down at the street 600 feet below, "This is amazing! Yuri!" He looked back up like a kid at Christmas, and handed over his phone, "Take a picture of me!"
The younger skater nodded and clicked the phone on, side-swiping past the Lock screen to get to the camera as Viktor flipped onto his back like a typical tourist and made a stupid face. Yuri shook his head and laughed, getting him into frame, snapping the picture, and then handing the device back. It still had the custom case featuring the Aria outfit, but by then, Viktor had gotten one that fused the two versions of the costume together, so one half of the case was wine-colored and the other blue.
The Russian quickly opened the photo, cropped it, and posted it online, "Hashtag #FallingForCalgary!" He said proudly, laughing at how the picture made it look like he was 'falling' from the height, "Do you want a picture like that, too?"
Yuri shook his head emphatically, reluctantly crouching down to look way down at the street. He kept one hand firmly on the edge of the carpet as the other clung precariously to one of the nearby support posts, but pulled back again as he got dizzy. A few camera flashes caught his attention, and he looked around to see other people taking photos of them where they still sat on the floor.
Viktor turned as well and waved politely, but then turned back to his husband, pulling off his gloves and reaching over to touch his fingers gently to the man's chin, "I guess we should've thought about it before coming up here, but do you want to go to the Sky 360 lounge? They'll probably have some real lemon tea and honey for your voice."
The younger skater nodded, and they moved over to the stairs that lead to the upper level. When they finally had their seats, a small two-person table right on the glass, Viktor ordered their drinks, and then turned back again to find Yuri reaching across to take his right hand. He watched curiously as the younger man thumbed the ring a little.
"What my cousin said...?" The Russian wondered.
Yuri nodded quietly.
"I hadn't thought about it. To me, it's always been on the right finger, not just the finger on the right."
"Me too..."
"Do you want to switch them?"
He gave a hesitant shrug, holding his hands out like it was more complicated than a simple yes or no.
"...What is it?"
The Asian youth pulled out his phone and typed a message, feeling it was too long to say with his raspy voice. When he was done, he offered it forward. Viktor took it and read the note carefully, [What side do YOU want them on?]
"...Well, in Russia, they go on the right hand." He explained, giving the phone back, "Countries out west put them on the left."
Yuri looked down at his phone, like he wasn't sure how to answer.
"Hmm..." Viktor smirked a little, "Does it bother you at all to think that we're wearing them on the wrong side?"
Again, Yuri paused and gave a hesitant shrug, picking his phone up once more. When he was done, he flipped it around on the tablecloth and slid it forward, and the Russian leaned over to look, [I had never thought I'd be married anyway, considering my luck with girls before. The only thing I really know about wedding rings is that they go on the other hand if the person is a widower. Last thing I want is for someone to assume you're dead or something because of what hand my ring is on, or the other way around.]
"I guess that's true...but you'd only have to think about that in the USA or something. Most places in Europe are the same as Russia in this regard. Besides..." Viktor tugged on his ring a little, letting it dangle around the middle joint as he cupped his hand upwards, "...this ring you gave me has made itself comfortable on that finger. With the exception of the one time, I've never taken it off. I don't really want to get used to it being on a different finger. I'd probably forget we switched them and give myself a heart attack to think it's missing."
The younger man looked at his own ring, realizing he hadn't taken it off, not even once, since it was put there in Barcelona the previous year. It felt like it was part of him. He drew in a breath as he moved his hand over to hold his husband's just above the tablecloth, and slowly thumbed the gold there.
Viktor watched quietly, seeing as the ring was turned around back and forth like Yuri still wasn't sure what to do. After a tense moment though, he felt the gold band slide back into its usual place.
"...I don't...want to change it."
"That's good." The silver man said, a bit of relief in his voice, "I wouldn't change it just because some Canadian teenager thinks it's on the wrong side. This was the finger you put it onto, so as far as I'm concerned, it's where it should be."
"It was...the first gold...I was able to get for you, too."
Viktor smiled at that, and the thought of 'firsts' brought something else to mind, "Almost to the day, one year ago, we had our first kiss, too."
.
The Russian was running around the rink wall as fast as he could, even as Yuri was still presenting himself to the crowd. The skater turned his head though, having lost Viktor for a moment before finally seeing him again near the doorway to rink-side. He started skating over, holding his arms out.
"I did good, right!?"
Viktor caught his breath for a second, then stood to his full height and nodded, smiling...and then lunged onto the ice unexpectedly.
The world went silent for a moment, and Yuri's eyes shot open wide even as his coach closed his own. Brown-sleeved arms went over his shoulders. He could feel a hand going through his black hair...and soft, warm lips on his own. Everything was moving backwards after that...and a second later, he felt the impact as his back hit the ice, and Viktor's face slid down into the crook of his shoulder and neck.
Still shocked, Yuri watched as Viktor pushed up again to see him.
"It was the only thing I could think of that would surprise you more than you've surprised me."
"...R...really?" Yuri wondered, almost too happy for words, his face red as he watched his coach smiling down on him. The sound of the crowd freaking out all around them roared into his ears.
.
Viktor pulled his right hand back and propped his elbow up on the table, setting his chin into his palm and thumbing his husband's ring fondly, "Ahh...I wanted to keep going, too..." His imagination was running rampant at that point, thinking on exactly how he would've done it; how he'd roll onto his back on the ice, and pull the man on top of him so he could hug him properly as he'd continue on.
Yuri was imagining much the same thing, giving himself away as his cheeks went from pink to red.
"I love how you still get a little embarrassed." Viktor quipped, pulling away only as the waiter brought their drinks and set them down on the table. A small plate of cheese and bread came with it, and the waiter left again after being dismissed for the moment. The Russian grabbed his fork and picked up a bit of brie, holding it up as he looked past it to see his husband glancing out the massive windows to the city beyond it, "...I can't wait to see the look on your face when we get to Washington DC." He started.
Yuri looked back at him curiously.
"I've gone on a trip with La Premiére once before, and was totally blown away by it. I've wanted to go back on it since, but I haven't had any events in France, so I couldn't. Getting to finally go back, and to have you with me...it's going to be amazing. You're going to love it."