CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWENTY SIX
The chosen spot was next to one of the main lengths of floor-to-ceiling windows that adorned the front of the building. In the center was a circular coffee table of silver metal with a glass top. Surrounding it was a huge donut-shaped couch, divided into 3 sectionals. One of the sections had been moved out of the way to make room for the tripod and off-camera crew.
Sophia stood quietly nearby, looking through a small stack of index cards, shuffling through them with nervous hands.
"Skater and coach have arrived." Viktor announced, trying his best to look and act normally. He looked to the trio, "Where should I go?"
"Anywhere you like. We'll work around your preferences." Sophia explained, gesturing to the two sections of the couch in front of the camera.
The silver Russian avoided looking at the two techs as he slid between the seats and the glass-top table, pulling Yuri along gently until he was near the center of the couch, and then sat down. The cushions dipped fairly low though, and with the blade-guards and skates, Viktor had to sit sideways with his knees pointing towards where Sophia would be sitting, which forced him to turn his back to his partner. He propped his right arm up against the back of the couch and curled it back to lightly rest his cheek against his knuckles, looking back over his shoulder like he didn't know what else to do.
Yuri didn't complain though, he just sat where he could and waited, trying not to clench his teeth too hard.
The nervous woman looked down at him from where she was standing on the other side of the table, "...Y-Yuri...you don't have to be on camera if you don't want to be." She moved in to take her own place directly opposite her interviewee, sitting on the end of the couch where the two halves parted, "You look a little...ah...strange there, sitting by yourself almost. I'm only asking Viktor questions anyway."
Brown eyes glanced upwards to look at her past Viktor's back-turned shoulder, and then down again, and Yuri hesitantly stood up, "...Oh, okay."
He started making his way down the end of the circular sectional, and Viktor pensively watched him go. His eye twitched again under his bangs, but he kept his face as still as stone.
Ahhh noooo Yuri what are you doing, get back here!
The younger skater was maybe 5 feet away when he abruptly rounded the immediate end of the sectional and came walking back up behind it instead, squeezing through where it was almost right up against the glass. Two sets of blue eyes watched in confusion as Yuri came up to the foot-wide space between the two sets of couches, and abruptly sat down again, this time in front of his husband, and thus between them.
"I'll sit here." He said, almost nonchalantly.
Viktor felt his heart skip a beat in relief, and he dipped his head a little as he drew in a quick breath. He wouldn't even hazard a glance at Sophia as he stretched his right arm out just behind Yuri's head; his left arm moved to settle his hand on his husband's thigh. He felt a little more at ease after that, especially when Yuri nestled in a little closer, lifting his left leg to settle it over where his own were curved against the seat cushions, skates folded neatly under the table. By the time the raven-haired skater was done, he was shoulder-to-chest with his husband, and Viktor curled his arm up around the man's head to idly play with his hair.
"I hope it's okay like this." Yuri finished, giving a 'pleasant' look that clearly defined that moment as being the only way the interview would be 'okay.'
"Oh...uhm...well, I suppose...yes, this is fine." Sophia finally said, looking down again at where her shaky hands were trying not to drop the cards.
That, Yuri noticed, and suddenly he felt a little bad for imposing himself...just not enough to make him move. Viktor had his fingers woven through the hair on the crown of his head anyway, and who was he to deny him that?
She'll do the interview like this or she won't get one at all. I have to stand my ground on this one, or I'll never be able to face myself again...
[We're ready to start when you are, Soph.] The camera guy said, looking at the view-finder panel on the side of the camera. Beside him, the audio tech was holding up the microphone with its fuzzy grey muffler.
[Okay...] She nodded, looking from them back to the cards again. She cleared her throat, then looked to the pair, "Well, Linette gave me these so I'd know what to ask...so, I guess...let's start."
The crowd of fans that had been spurned before had, instead, gathered around in the background to watch the interview. Many were recording it themselves, and others were taking a few photos.
[We're rolling. You can begin anytime.]
Sophia drew in a nervous breath, and tried to pry her eyes away from the cards. The words on them were going in and out of focus as her heart pounded in her chest. She shook her head and tried to compose herself. The first few lines of the interview were easy enough. She'd said them half a hundred times for other skaters she'd talked to over that weekend.
[This is Sophia Belmonte with France 22, broadcasting from beautiful Bordeaux, on the banks of the Garrone River in the southwest of France. At this time I am joined by our honored guest, and France's favorite Russian, World Champion skater Viktor Nikiforov. He is here today with his...] Her words trailed off, and she glanced at the man for help, [...Coach? Student?]
[Both.]
She glanced back at the cameras, [Coach and student...Japanese skater, Yuri Kats-...er...Yuri Nikiforov.]
Yuri's face twitched a little, but Viktor didn't need to see it to know about it, "We're not live. Can we do that again?"
"Sorry?"
"Husband, coach, and student, Japanese skater, Yuri Nikiforov." Viktor repeated in English, "S'il-vous-plaît."
"Oh...I...I messed it up again. Je suis désolée. I'm not used to hearing it. I even..." She held one of the cards up, trying to make light of it, "...I even wrote it down."
The Russian gestured out with his left hand briefly, turning it over where it was settled on Yuri's leg, and nodded to let her start over as he flipped it back to where it was.
[I'll just do it over from the start.]
The crew nodded and reset, then gave her a thumbs up to go ahead.
Sophia turned back around and went through her paces, [This is Sophia Belmonte with France 22, broadcasting from beautiful Bordeaux, on the banks of the Garrone River in the southwest of France. At this time I am joined by our honored guest, and France's favorite Russian, World Champion skater Viktor Nikiforov. He is here today with his husband, coach, and student, Japanese skater, Yuri Nikiforov.] She managed to finally say, then finally reverting back to a language Yuri understood, "We're here on the final day of the Trophée de France, the fourth of six major skating competitions on the road to the Grand Prix Final of Figure Skating, held this year in Detroit, Michigan, in the United States. Many in our viewing audience will know of Viktor's illustrious career, but for those who don't...Viktor?"
The Russian huffed a laugh, "It would sound insincere coming from me. Yuri?"
It was even weirder to be put on the spot suddenly, but the younger skater did his best, "Up until last year, Viktor was a Gold medalist at the World Championships, Grand Prix Final, European Championships, and Russian Nationals for five consecutive years. He took time off after that to become a coach to me, and then went on to win Silver at the World Championships before the season ended. He's also a Gold Medal Olympian. He's broken and held numerous world records, and is currently the only person alive or dead who's been able to do a quadruple Axel jump."
"And can one of you explain why the quadruple Axel is so difficult?"
"Because there's technically four and a half rotations, not just four." Viktor explained, "It's the only jump that takes off from a forward-facing glide, so the extra half comes from having to get back into reverse, where all jumps end."
"Viktor...you're no stranger to the Grand Prix Series. What's it like being in France again after so many years being assigned elsewhere?"
"I was always disappointed to get left out of Trophée de France. The last time I was here, it was still called the Trophée Éric Bompard. But, while I may not have competed here for some time, I often stopped through while on my way back to Russia. Paris is one of my favorite places. Yuri and I even came here 2 weeks early to have some fun before the competition. He was at Skate Canada, and neither of us was placed at the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, so we had the extra weekend to wait anyway."
Sophia pushed through her cards, looking up again, "Where will you be going next?"
"We'll be in Shanghai next weekend for Yuri's last event at the Cup of China. Mine will be in Sapporo, Japan, the weekend after that, for the NHK Trophy."
"And would one of you mind explaining how it's decided who goes on to the Final?"
Viktor let Yuri take that one to give him something to do besides stew, "That's decided by how well skaters do in the two Grand Prix Series events they're assigned to before that. Those who get Gold will get 15 points, Silver gets 11, Bronze gets 9, and so on down the line. The 6 skaters with the best scores will make it to the Final. If there's a tie in points, it's broken by whichever skater either medaled, if either did, or by other factors. I tied with another skater last year for the 6th slot, but I made it into the Final because I won Silver at one of my events."
"Interesting." Sophia answered, then moving back to the Russian, "Viktor...to have such a highly-regarded career, you must've started skating at a very early age. Would you mind telling us when you started and how you got to where you are now?"
Yuri's brow furrowed, and he glanced from the woman to his partner, wondering how he'd answer.
"Well, you're right...I started early, as most professional athletes do." Viktor began, "Yuri was on the ice at a younger age than I was, even...what were you, four?"
"Something like that."
"I was five when I got on the ice for the first time, and probably six before I got my first skates. I would go on the pond behind my house. Eventually, I was discovered by my long-time coach, Yakov Feltsman, when I was on a proper rink in a nearby town. I fell in love with competition pretty quickly after that, and dedicated all my time and energy into being the best at it that I could be."
Wow...not even a flinch. Yuri noted silently, He must've had that one figured out ages ago. I don't know that anyone's ever asked him a question that specific before.
"Your family must be very proud of your accomplishments." Sophia said, reading the prompt.
The silver Russian was quiet for a moment as he thought, feeling where Yuri touched his fingers, but then nodded, "I suppose they are, in their own ways. My Uncle tags along at events these days, and even used his company to become a corporate sponsor for my previous rink-mate, Yuri Plisetsky."
The young skater curled his fingers around his husband's, I wonder if she has the slightest clue about Viktor's past...?
Sophia nodded and went on, "I've done a lot of interviews with other skaters at this event and have asked them about their impression of you. Many jokingly lamented having to skate at the same event, but consistently held you in rather high regard despite it. With your scores being so much higher than most other skaters, what would you say is the defining reason for that?"
He was about to answer, but Yuri cut him off before he could even breathe the first whisper of a word, "Viktor's a genius...he's a living legend in the skating world. His programs always have the highest difficulty rating, and has the most difficult jumps and spins. Telling his shows apart from the rest...that's easy. No one can come close to the almost magic touch he has on the ice." He explained, "Before Viktor came to be my coach and choreographer...I was considered just one of many top skaters in the Japanese Skating Federation. I made it into a single Grand Prix Final on my own only once...and Viktor outscored me there by over 100 points. That's more than what most people score on their entire Short Program. He ended that Final with a score of 335. After he became my coach...not only did he help me close the gap to 16 points, but he got me to win Silver. Without Viktor's help, I doubt that I would've made it into the Final again, never mind medaling."
"Is that the highest you've ever scored, Viktor?"
"What, the 335? No, Yuri and I both scored just under 350 at Worlds last year." He answered proudly, pulling his husband's head close so he could nuzzle affectionately against his cheek and ear, "My little katsudon is all grown up now."
"You actually just made that 335 score again here at Trophée de France, correct?"
"Yes, and with a program that's less technically difficult than the one I skated at the GP Final."
"The other skaters are saying that this year is basically going to be a competition between you and Yuri. How do you feel about that?"
"I think it's great!" Viktor said excitedly, "I've been told I trained up my own biggest rival. But, on a really personal level...I think people forget that competing against Yuri is only one of the many things I get to do with him now."
The younger skater's cheeks flushed, though he wasn't sure Viktor would actually make such suggestive references during an interview, so he stayed quiet.
"Before Yuri came into my life, I always skated alone. I choreographed almost exclusively for myself, and went into each season like it was a fresh challenge. Eventually, people stopped being surprised at the things I did. I'd done it all. I'd been around too long. Yuri was a huge new dose of inspiration for me. Not only can I choreograph and imagine programs for someone who has an entirely different skill-set from myself, but we can even do some of them together. Yuri can compete at the same level as me now, so it made sense that we do joint programs together whenever we could. Our first Pair Skate was at his Four Continents Exhibition Gala last year, where he won his first Gold medal with me as his coach. We'll be doing another here tonight if I qualify. The whole skating world is so much bigger now that Yuri's in it with me. We can do anything we want, now that we're together."
Yuri felt the light squeeze against his fingers where his husband had moved his on top of his hand. He felt a slight flutter in his chest as the words echoed in his mind. His own words came out almost instinctively after that...and he looked Sophia straight in the eyes as he said them.
"Sometimes...there's a place you can't reach unless you have a dream too large to bear alone." He said quietly, then turned back to his husband and gently stroked his cheek with his free hand, "We call everything on the ice...'love.'"
Viktor blinked a few times, but then raised his hand to meet where his partner's was, closed his eyes, and smiled, "...Yuri..."