CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FIFTY ONE
The shuttle ride back to the event hotel was made in silence. Yuri idly listened to the music from his commandeered phone with his headset, soothed by both the sound of the songs, and Viktor slowly stroking his hair. He could hear the periodic jingle of his phone getting a new text message, but Viktor never motioned to get the device from his coat to see what it was.
He only finally gave it back when they were actually back in their room; the texts were from Yuri's mom, saying she wished him good luck on his skating but that she wouldn't be able to watch until the next day. As Yuri held the phone up in front of himself, staring at the texts, Viktor looked over him quietly, leaning on the tall black headboard and waiting. The younger skater finally clicked the phone off and held his head low.
"My mom says good luck. She hasn't been able to watch the show yet. Guess it's been busy at Yu-Topia Katsuki." Yuri grumbled, not even sure what to do with his phone at that point, "Maybe I should warn her."
"Ignore it, or just tell her thank you and leave it at that." The Russian advised, "No sense inviting more trouble."
Yuri nodded, and then hesitated...staring at the screen with the intent of sending the message...but eventually deciding against it and slouching.
"Are you ready then?"
Another reluctant nod.
Viktor stepped in front of his partner and put his hands on the sides of the younger man's arms, pushing him a little gently to make him sit on the edge of the bed before speaking. He drew in a breath, and simply spoke the number, "73.12."
Yuri already knew it was less than 75 given the Russian's tepid reaction to his earlier guess, but hearing the actual number felt like a kick in the gut. He entirely forgot about his phone after that. His hands felt limp where he'd set them to rest on top of his legs, and his eyes, wide open, stared through the Russian's legs and down at the floor.
"Yuri...?"
"...73...12..."
"Mh..." A skeptical huff replied to him.
The look on Yuri's face was almost as pained as when he'd half-flown over the rink-wall after the collision.
Viktor sighed and reached to pat the younger figure gently on the shoulder, "It's like I told the media after you were done...you have a strong Free Program, so you can still beat this thing." He started, leaning down to take a place on his partner's right, setting his chin on the man's shoulder, "But I don't want you going out tonight with this sitting at the back of your mind. You won't be able to have any fun at all if this is all you're thinking about."
"This is really bad...really horrendously bad."
"Yuuko told me once that you hate losing." Viktor said, his hand settling on the blanket behind the skater's opposite hip, and he stroked his side slowly with a thumb, "I'm sure if she were here, she'd tell you to take this proverbial bull by the horns and ride it out as best you can. You may doubt yourself, but you'd never give up, so don't think this score is the end of the road."
"I just...never thought I'd see numbers like this again..." Yuri said with a sigh, leaning back over Viktor's arm to slump onto the comforter to stare at the ceiling, hands up to loosely cover his face, "I feel like I'm right back in the kiss and cry again...and all I want to do is cry."
"You've spent the last hour doing everything you can to avoid it." The Russian pointed out, leaning down onto his side, propping his head up where he curled an arm back against his cheek, "Maybe you just need to let it out."
"...I don't even have tears to cry with right now..." The younger skater pointed out, feeling where his husband's free hand had come to rest on his chest. He softly took it with his left as he raised his right arm to cover his eyes entirely in the crook of his elbow, "Maybe I'm just in shock." He drew in a long breath, "...73.12..."
Viktor watched him without speaking, wondering what to do or say.
I'd told him everything I can think of already... All we can do is wait and see what happens tomorrow.
Words didn't seem wanted anymore either way, as the Russian saw his partner slowly shifting on the bed.
The younger skater rose his hands up to the zipper of his team jacket and pulled it down, shrugging out of it, tossing it over the headboard and letting it hang there, and then falling down to his back again. He hesitated a moment, but then turned onto his left side and started backing up, until he felt his husband's chest against him, and reached back to pull at the man's arm. He tugged briefly on the cuff of the heavy coat, holding onto it as he felt the Russian sliding his arm out of it, and then let it go again. The rest need not be said, as Yuri closed his eyes and felt his husband wrap both arms around him, holding him tight, feeling his warm breath against the back of his neck.
The silver Russian waited patiently that way, not sure what else he should do, if anything...waiting for some sign, or none at all.
Yuri fidgeted a little, but then turned his head slightly, "...Can I...ask something...?"
The words came as a bit of a surprise, but Viktor wasn't about tell the man no, "...What is it?"
"...I...want to feel better, but I want to be selfish about it..."
The older man huffed a laugh, and reached to pull the glasses from his husband's face, "Say no more. Leave it to me." He turned to set the frames onto the comforter behind himself, paused there only long enough to fish for something out of his jacket, and then curled right back up again, pressing himself hard against his partner's back, and all the way down his legs. He nibbled a little at the back of Yuri's neck eagerly, the smell of competition still lingering on the man's skin. Hands went all over the younger figure's chest and abdomen, the right coming up over his waist while the left was still pinned under the opposite side. That hand simply made due with sliding down until it could get a grip on Yuri's leg, only able to turn it enough to half-way get a thumb between those same legs before finding itself at the limits of its reach.
The right hand was free to do as it pleased unobstructed though, and as fingers caressed over the side of the lithe skater's small frame, it went further down, tracing over his hip lightly and down the thigh. Viktor pressed his hand harder when he brought it back up, just about to reach between them when Yuri suddenly winced.
"...What happened? What'd I do?" The Russian wondered anxiously.
"...My hip, where I hit the wall..." Yuri answered, the lingering pain still giving him grief, "...It just...really hurt when you ran your hand over it just now..."
"...Ah, sorry..." Viktor said quietly, gently moving his arm past the tender spot to get to where he wanted to go without messing with it anymore. Fingers were starting to paw at the rim of the t-shirt, pulling it up to gain access to the pale skin underneath. The Russian returned to nibbling at his husband's ear as well, kissing the back of Yuri's neck, hoping the momentary interruption wouldn't set back the mood too much.
It was only a minute or two before other clothing was being pushed away, but only just far enough to be useful. By then, Yuri had his left arm curled under the pillow-pile, coming back to wedge his wrist and hand under his cheek, his whole right arm draped over his eyes. Viktor's own right hand was missing, but only for a moment. The feeling of cold, slippery liquid made itself known on Yuri's skin soon thereafter. It warmed up quickly enough as the Russian pressed in close again, the heat of his own skin sliding over him. He rubbed and teased, sliding between his partner's clenched-up legs a little, then up behind him again, hand gently gliding down soft pale skin. He did everything he could to help his partner relax fully before moving on. He had his husband in one hand as the other guided his own presence, sliding it up and down to spread the liquid around, and then finally, slowly, slipping in.
Yuri gasped, his sore leg twitching a little as he felt it all.
The Russian was only half in before he wedged his knee between his partner's thighs, withdrew a little, and then pushed the rest of the way inside.
Another gasp; Yuri's whole frame tensing up slightly. He was hardly given a chance to catch his breath before he could feel the gentle roll of his partner's hips behind him. The arms around him held a little tighter. The Russian's modus operandi was different than normal, going at a slow but steady pace, and never quite going any faster. At most, he'd push in as far as he could go, held for a moment, and then went back to his previous motions.
Yuri turned slightly, more on his back than on his side like before, twisting until he could wedge the arm that had been over his eyes under his partner's head instead, and the rest of his body turned as well. When he settled again, he was 'sitting' sideways against Viktor's lap, and had buried his face into the man's silver-grey hair, fingers running through it until it was a messy heap of its former glory.
The Russian wasted no time, continuing about his lazy thrusts even as his partner had been repositioning himself. His free hand roamed eagerly under the man's t-shirt, and he listened intently to the increasingly desperate breaths against the top of his head. Fingers grasped a little tighter, and Viktor relished in hearing his partner's first vocal gasp. He reached his free arm and hooked Yuri's right leg behind the knee to pull it higher, and finally started moving a little faster.
The black jeans Yuri had worn back from the skating event were still mostly on though, so when one leg got pulled up, the other basically went with it. The Russian held him there for a little while, and then capitalized on it, moving to sit upright and pull those same legs against his shoulders. He paused only long enough to pull Yuri's shoes off and toss them to the floor on the other side of the headboard. He did that not only to avoid getting knocked in the head by them, but also so he could watch for his partner's toes to curl and extend at his touch.
Viktor held those legs against himself for a few moments, but seeing his partner lying before him, arms curled up over his head, eyes closed and head turned aside, a look of contented surrender on his face, hair tousled just-so against the pillows...he wanted to get in closer. The jeans prevented him from being able to do so though, keeping his partner's legs fairly-well together. One last push, and he moved his hands from where they held firmly around Yuri's waist, and moved them down to wedge under the back of his hips, pulling him closer and then up a little bit against himself. Those same hands worked deftly to pull the jeans up to the younger man's knees, and released one leg fully, then pulled them both astride his waist as he leaned in overtop.
Hazel eyes opened a little as the Russian came in closer, gaining a slight cherry-red hint to them in the dim light of the room.
Red... Viktor thought, seeing his reflection in them, The color of passion. Is he about to let his Eros run loose?
The look on Yuri's face was naïve though, almost innocent, cheeks flushed like it was the first time all over again. The Russian was about to lean down to kiss him, but hesitated suddenly.
I should be able to feel him like this... He thought, slate eyes turning down between them briefly, seeing then the reason for the lack of his husband's presence. He grimaced a little, ...Ah...he went soft already... Did I mess up?
The younger man raised his legs up higher around his partner's frame, ankles crossing above his back. Regardless of his physical state, he still wanted his husband's touch.
No... The Russian corrected himself, I see what's going on...
He'd all but come to a stop by then, and he abruptly changed course. Passion switched to comfort, and he lowered himself down to his partner's chest, arms going under him to pull him closer as he nuzzled in close to Yuri's neck. He felt the younger man's arms go loosely up over his shoulders, palms and fingers gently grazing the back of his blazer.
Barely a minute passed that way before the Russian felt a warm, wet smear against his cheek, and he pulled up from his long hug to find Yuri's eyes finally giving up.
Yuri tried to hide the tears as soon as he realized they were there, but found Viktor putting his hand in the way, resting it on his cheek. Instead of trying to get past him, the younger figure simply clung to his partner's fingers, "...I'm...s-sorry, I don't know why I'm..."
"Shh." The Russian cooed, "I had a feeling they'd come out eventually. It's okay." He moved his thumb across his partner's pale skin, touching it to his lower lip briefly before moving both hands under Yuri's shoulders to hoist him upright. He shifted his legs beneath where his partner now sat, crossing them under and partly around his hips, folding them tightly to bring the man in closer before wrapping his arms around his small frame again, "You're safe here. You can cry if you want." The right hand slowly started moving up and down against Yuri's back, "Or do you just want me to keep going?"
"I-"
His thought was cut off by the sound of his phone buzzing where it had been forgotten in the blankets earlier, and his eyes went wide.
"...I..."
Viktor huffed, slouching a little where he sat, "You can answer it. We already know who it is."
Yuri blinked, but then nodded, turning to the side to finagle at the sheets where he could see the edge of his phone's light, and just as they'd suspected, it was Yurio. Reluctantly, and that was only because of the precariousness of his present situation, he clicked into the call and held it to his ear, "Hey." His free arm came up to rub the remaining tears off his face.
"You coming or what?" The teen asked immediately, "We're trying to figure out where to go. If you don't come down soon, you won't get to pick."
"Oh." The skater answered nervously, "Er...well..." He looked down to his partner, seeing where those blue eyes were glancing back; Viktor was trying his absolute best to avoid the temptation of moving suddenly while the call was still active, "...Give me 10 minutes."
"Fine...10 minutes."
The call ended and the screen went dark; Yuri looked at it anxiously before finally tossing it aside again, and returning his eyes to his partner, "...You heard?"
"It's not a lot of time."
"Well?" The younger figure posed; the call had entirely uprooted him from his previous mindset, and the urge to finish what they'd started was growing, "Go go go!"
The sudden demand to hustle caught Viktor off-guard, but Yuri was already pushing him down onto his back. He didn't stand a chance.
.
.
.
It was already dark by the time a shuttle took the awkward trio to the riverfront, but Yurio had bulldozed his way to making the final pick, and no one was about to argue with him once he'd made up his mind. The Bund at night was a dazzling display of neon lights, incredible architecture, and an intense bustle of people enjoying the nightlife. But the thing Yurio had in mind was the late-night river cruise.
"Wow..." Yuri started, looking past the wharf, "This place looks totally different in the dark."
"...You came through here already?" The blond gawked at him.
"Well, Viktor and I have been here since Monday, so..."
"Don't tell me you already did the boat thing!"
"No, we did the private tour during the day."
"Oh." The teen stopped short of a jealous freak-out, "Well."
"We should go before the ship leaves without us." Otabek pointed out, holding his finger up towards the dock, "The last one that has food leaves in 15 minutes."
Yurio was off with a start, and Yuri gave chase, trying to keep up and keep an eye out, "Don't run so fast!"
"Run faster then!"
"Give me a break, I jumped into a wall earlier." The older skater jeered, feeling the throb on his right hip already.
The younger figure abruptly stopped, almost as though he were about to run into a wall, and Yuri crashed right into him.
Otabek stoically pulled up the rear and gawked down at them, "Will you two quit messing around?"
"He started it!" They both barked back at the same time, pointing at one another from where they'd ended up on the ground in an awkward pile, "NO I DIDN'T."
"Yuri..."
"What?" They both asked, again in unison, trying to get back to their feet.
The Kazakhstani just glowered at them, "Mh." Brown eyes turned unblinking towards the older one of the two, "You should be more careful." Then towards the younger, "And you shouldn't set traps."
Both skaters were up on their feet by then, and then nodded solemnly together, "O-Okay..."