CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED SEVEN
Yurio yawned widely where he sat in the hotel lobby, his hood pulled so far over the front of his face that he almost fell asleep again without anyone noticing. He slouched over the arm-rest of the couch he'd fallen into, a bit of drool coming out the corner of his mouth...but he caught himself and sat upright again, snorting and looking around like he could convince people he'd been awake the whole time.
When he saw that no one had been paying attention anyway, he yawned a second time and dropped his head against the back-rest, groaning loudly, "WHERE ARE THEEEYYYY?"
"Yura!"
The teen practically jumped out of his skin to hear it, and when he landed, he sharply whipped around on the couch to spot both Minako and Mikhail standing in the lower part of the lobby, looking straight at him.
"Let's go!" Minako called again.
"Where's Kon?" Mikhail followed up, watching the blonde jump to his feet and stretch a bit.
Yurio just turned his eyes around, and then reached behind a pillar where the huge sleepy bear was obscured from sight...and snatched the brimmed hat right off his head. Slate eyes opened instantly, but the big man was too stunned to react for a moment. By the time Konstantin got his bearings in order, the Russian Punk had already scampered off unapologetically, taking the hat with him. The couch shifted a little as the bear rose up to standing, reluctantly following in the teen's footsteps to leave the hotel...and start Day 2 of the NHK Trophy.
"So what's the plan for him anyway...?" Minako wondered, leaning in close to whisper, "I don't think you've had a chance to explain to him what today's all about."
"That was part of the plan...finding out." The silver Russian answered back, whispering as well, "Unless..." He turned to where Yurio was moving back towards the elevators, "Yura!"
"...What?" The teen looked back, groggy as ever.
"Did you tell Kon anything about today?" The taller Russian wondered, following after him as the different members of the group started to converge on the same spot, Konstantin's footsteps sounding like elephant foot-thumps rather than normal shoe-taps.
"Yeah."
"What did you say?" Minako wondered skeptically, keeping half an eye on the silent bear approaching.
"I told him the schedule, and he said he didn't want to repeat what happened yesterday, so I translated the entire program for today into Russian so he could read it." The blonde answered, pausing to yawn again, "Why am I doing all the work around here anyway? Shouldn't you be doing this stuff?"
"I would if you didn't do it before I had a chance." Mikhail shot back, "I translated both of Viktor's song-sheets, didn't I?"
"Hmph." Yurio shrugged, stepping into the elevator, the other three following soon after. When the doors opened again to the underground parking garage, the Russian Tiger was the first to jump out again, "Anyway though..." He went on, glancing back over his shoulder to watch where Mikhail was going to lead them, "He says he'd rather just show up when Viktor's about to go do his show, and stand if need be, than wait all day through the other competitors."
"...What's he going to do all day then? The Men's Singles event doesn't start till 6:30." The silver Russian pointed out, "I'm supposed to be with him whe-"
"Not my problem." Yurio interrupted, "He said the same thing. I told him you'd both figure it out on your own. I've done enough. My plans are entirely different from yours so it makes no difference to me what you do."
Minako raised a brow, "You have plans?"
"I couldn't sleep. Yakov's going to give me a key to his and Mila's room so I can catch a nap before Men's starts. I'm just going to go to the Sapporo Prince from here. Figured I'd catch a ride since you passed right by it on the way to the arena before."
Mikhail just paused where he stood, hands in his coat pockets, giving the youth a look. Unflinching in his expression, he withdrew the door key, pointed towards the ugly gunmetal vehicle, clicked the unlock button, and listened as the Kei-car blinked and squeaked a few paces further away, "You're welcome, I guess."
"At least I'm not asking for you to come back and get me." Yurio pointed out, pulling the back door open and hopping in, taking his spot with a grimace.
"I'd rather you have asked for a lift to Sapporo Prince before assuming I'd just give you one." The elder pointed out, getting in behind the wheel as everyone else piled in as well.
Yurio just pointed at him, about to say something, but stopped as he saw Konstantin getting in as well, making the entire car wobble with every step. In the end, the teen was squashed against the inside walls of the vehicle, and he was giving the silver Russian up front a dubious glare, "This is why I didn't ask. I'm not asking for this."
Mikhail couldn't stop himself from chortling and then bursting out laughing, gripping to the steering wheel like he thought he'd fall out of the car if he didn't.
Without a word, the bear reached over and plucked the dark hat from the moody teen's head, putting it back on his own as well as he could while Yurio was too squished to be able to do much other than wriggle and flail.
"I can't believe how much I have everything right now." The blonde snarled, "JUST GO."
.
.
.
"What else do you need to pack...?" Yuri wondered, holding his partner's carry-bag over one shoulder as Viktor was checking his things in a different suitcase.
The big, blue, rolling case was lying open on the floor, its contents completely removed. In its place, a certain sticker-covered silver suitcase. Viktor held up the suit-bag containing his Free Skate ensemble, looking at the fiery colors through the opaque plastic. He had a somewhat serious look on his face as he glanced at it from top to bottom, but then started to lower it into the open carrier at his feet, letting the garment fold onto itself like hand-pulled taffy. When it was in, he wedged his skates in on top of it, pushed towards the bottom, then the bag with the costume gloves, two small towels, the water-bottle, extra socks, a pair of practice gloves, the poodle-plush tissue box, and two rolls of unopened ace bandages. With that, he closed the lid, buckled the locks on the sides, and stood up again.
"I still need one more bag..." The Russian said, looking around the room for his backpack.
"This is all the stuff you usually bring. What else could you possible need...?" Yuri wondered, entirely confused, rolling his shoulder a little to open the bag hanging off of it, "Your sunglasses, phone, wallet, keys, crazy-expensive jar of lip balm, both of our event badges, those two small seat cushions we bought earlier...all that's in this one. There's even paperclips in here." He held one out as evidence.
Viktor just lifted the rolling suitcase off the ground and handed it off to the younger man, holding out the telescoping handle in offering, "Go ahead and wait by the elevators. I'll be right behind you. It'll take a minute for the lift to get to this floor at this time of day anyway."
"...You're acting weird." The skater said skeptically.
"Thanks for letting me borrow your rolling suitcase today, Yuuuuri~." The Russian mused, smiling sweetly as he leaned over the pile for the empty backpack he was looking for.
"...Mhm."
The door clicked behind him as Yuri started making his way down the hall. He barely made it three steps before it felt too weird to be walking alone and stopped to look back. Before he could even consider going right back into the room though, he felt and heard his phone buzzing with a new text message, and reached with his free hand to pull it out of his back pocket.
Phichit Chulanont:
[Did you guys already leave?]
Yuri started walking and typing with one thumb, pulling his suitcase along as he moved reluctantly down the hall on his own, [Not yet. You want us to wait for you?]
[Yeah, please! 10mins?]
[No problem. It'll probably take that long to get down the elevator anyway.]
[Kob jai!]
With his phone tucked away again, the young skater arrived at the elevator waiting area, seeing a few other competitors and coaches already waiting. He pulled the suitcase up in front of himself and started to wait. Thankfully, he only ended up missing the very first elevator that came to their floor before Viktor finally turned up again, backpack strapped around his chest and over his shoulders like he was planning on going on some camping trip right after the medaling ceremony.
Yuri glanced around the man's shoulders, seeing that the pack was practically bursting at the seams, "What in the world are you bringing...?"
"Just planning ahead for stuff." He answered innocently enough, lifting his eyes as he heard the sound of the next elevator arriving, "Let's go."
When they finally got to the lobby, waiting for Phichit and Celestino, Yuri watched his partner quietly as the man went through the paces of the 'easier' parts of his Free Program. No foot-stomp, no 'exploding ice' circle, just the basics. Still, it made him nervous. Flashes of those moves went into his mind's eye like lightning, leaving a film negative behind of the Russian lying flat on the ice with a broken ankle, writhing in agony.
Good thing it's just Viktor with the eerie gift of prophecy. He thought idly to himself, shaking the image from his head, I'd put myself into an early grave if it were my gift.
The reminder of the Russian's former foretelling just made the young skater nervous for entirely different reasons after that though, recalling how the man had dubiously suggested that he felt like something was going to happen involving his Uncle. Despite everything that had already happened, it didn't feel like that 'happening' had taken place yet.
"What are you guys still doing here?" A voice came, pulling the skater out of his thoughts in an instant.
Brown eyes glanced up to meet green, and Yuri saw his Russian counterpart sauntering up like he owned the place, "Yuri... How come you're not already at the arena?"
Viktor stopped his footwork dance for a moment and waved, but then went right back to it.
The teen paused, rubbing his eyes a little, "I had Mikhail drop me off earlier this morning so I could take a nap in Yakov's room, that way I could grab the shuttle from here to the arena when I woke up." He dropped a look at the taller skater prancing around, "Your old man doesn't sleep right in this country. Kept me up all night, tossing and turning like a beached whale."
"That's nice." Viktor didn't miss a beat, sneakers squeaking across the tile floor, his arms a black and white blur where his track suit moved through the air in quick strikes.
Yurio half-rolled his eyes as he glanced away, seeing where Yuri hadn't yet risen from where he'd been waiting on the lobby bench. He turned his head slightly as he saw the man going back to brooding like before, resting his chin in the palms of his hands where his elbows were propped up on his knees.
I don't think I ever noticed how weird he looks without his glasses...at least when he has his hair down like this, anyway.
Instead of speaking though, the teen just stepped forward towards the older skater, crouching down directly in front of him and looking into those anxious hazel eyes. Yuri blinked at him in stunned confusion, but the Russian Tiger didn't give him time to question it, simply pulling his hands from his pockets to reach his arms up over the older skater's shoulders.
Yuri's hands came loose from under his chin, and he was too perplexed to react for a moment, eyes glancing towards the black hood just to the side, "Y-Yuri...?"
The teen angled a bit higher and gripped a bit tighter than before, "Your face is going to get stuck like that if you don't give it a rest already." He whispered.
Viktor finally paused his dance practice, seeing the colored blobs over his shoulder, and looking directly at the duo just as his husband's hands came under the Russian Tiger's arms to grip around his back, clenching at the blue and white team jacket. Just as he was about to say something though, the sound of Phichit hollering at them derailed his whole thought process, and the Russian backed down again.
"Yuri!" The Thai skater called out, rushing over from the elevator without having a chance to assess the situation. He paused in his tracks though when he saw what was going on, "Yu...Yuri...?"
The Japanese skater pulled back from where he'd set his eyes to the Russian Punk's shoulder, trying to laugh through his nerves, "Hey...Phichit-kun, sorry..." He started, pulling his hands back to pinch the bridge of his nose. The teen stood up in front of him and just stuffed his hands back into his jacket nonchalantly, and Yuri stood up soon after, ruffling his hair a little bit before looking at his friend, "It's nothing to worry about. I just had one of my anxious moments like always."
"Oh... Well...alright..." The younger skater gave a confused but happy look.
"There's a shuttle." Celestino pointed out, pulling up the rear with the rest of his athlete's things, having just missed everything. He glanced around though as he realized the group was getting bigger, "Are we all going...?"
Yuri nodded, regaining his composure quickly, "Mh. We didn't know Russian Yuri was here until just now, but there's plenty of room on the van for all of us I think."
"T-Minus 2 hours~!" Phichit said excitedly, "I can't wait to show you my FS, Yuri! I think it's even more intense than yours is."
"Oh, no contest on that one." The older skater huffed, "Mine's more serious though."
Viktor slid in to grab his things, "We should get out there before the driver leaves without us. Even if they have no passengers, they won't stick around long."
Phichit nodded back at his coach, and the two started making their way through the sliding doors; Yurio followed after them slowly, glancing back one more time before heading out into the cold.
The older Russian waited for the doors to close though before he said anything, looking from the three to his partner, "...You're this worried already? It's another hour and a half before I even have to meet Yakov."
Yuri shook his head, "I've been this worried the whole time." He drew in a breath, "Yurio just squeeze it out of me like the last drop in a damp cloth. I...thought I could manage until you had to go off on your own. The whole day so far feels like it happened in the blink of an eye. Now we're going for the Men's Singles event, and everything's hitting me all at once."
"It'll be done and over with soon. Try not to let it get under your skin anymore..." Viktor offered, kneading his fingers into his husband's shoulders to try and get him to loosen up, "It's the last time I'm doing this one, right? I won't have to put you through it ever again. When we're done with the medaling ceremony, I'll treat you to something nice, okay? ...I can't guarantee I won't just steal your idea from last night, but I'll try to come up with something original..." He smiled in spite of himself.
The younger figure just huffed an anxious laugh and pat his forehead to the Russian's shoulder, "After your Free Skate's done...I think a quiet night out would be the least that we've earned..." His hands came up towards his face, index fingers pinching the bridge of his nose where he wedged them up against his husband's chest, "Once we get back to Hasetsu, I'll need to sit in the onsen for a whole day to get rid of all this tension..."
"Not without me, you aren't." Viktor mused, giving a tight hug before pulling back again to kiss the man's forehead, "Let's get moving then. The sooner we go, the sooner we can come back. In the meantime though..." He reached into the carry-bag hanging off his shoulder and rummaged around for his phone, pulling it out, unwrapping the ear-bud cables, and clicking through the Lock screen as they started heading for the doors, "I'll finally let you listen to the song I picked for the Exhibition. We didn't get to listen to it at the other ice skating rink like I wanted, but I think you can put the choreography we practiced in time with the music and see it in your head like I do. The part where you come in is at 2:25." He handed his phone over on the selected song, "Maybe it'll put your mind at ease, and give you something to look forward to...even if only for a little while."
Yuri took the phone in-hand and fished the ear-buds back up, putting one in as they stepped outside, "I hope so..."
"I was practicing it in my dreams all last night." Viktor assured him, "I think you'll like it."