CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED FOURTEEN
The arena was shrouded in a deep blue; the ice was illuminated by the rotating shapes of 12 giant snowflakes cast down in light from the rafters. There was an energy in the air as the audience was getting more and more excited; the last performance of the competition featured only the best of the best, and closing ceremonies were always more entertaining than opening.
Suddenly, the lights darkened, putting everything except the rink-wall itself into complete darkness. The snowflake-lights vanished, and the sound of a series of trumpets and trombones reverberated throughout the arena, building excitement with the rising tone and intensity of the growing orchestra. When it faded out, lights on the arena came on to a slightly dimmed luminescence; enough to see, but only barely.
The flag-dancers from the Opening Ceremonies were lined up along the short ends of the rink.
"To begin with, please enjoy the performance of flag skating by the local skaters of Hokkaido Skating Federation."
The ice lit-up again with a crisscross of lights and shadow, and the blue glow illuminated the entire rink. The blue-dressed skaters started moving along the rink wall, their flags still furled as music started above them.
They went about their same performance from the Opening Ceremonies, even with the same music (I've settled on ['Firework' - Katy Perry],) weaving in and out of one another with their flags unfurled and forming the big double-circle in center. They morphed into the square grid after that, each spinning their flags one-united-row at a time, then filed out again towards opposite ends of the rink. With unusual speed, they converged on center again, this time forming 4 points of a big windmill formation, skating around the NHK logo in perfect sync before filing out again to form the main big circle, spinning around backwards, and uniting as one group in the center, all flags facing out for the finale.
The music faded out a little bit, then another started overlaying on top of it, and the lady skaters moved back out to form the big, slow-moving ring.
['Make Me Move' - Culture Code feat. Karra, James Roche Remix]
"And now, Ladies and Gentlemen...please welcome all of the skaters participating in this Exhibition!"
JSF reporters were sweeping the rink-side area, catching the excited waves and jumping around that the skaters were showing off. All were dressed in something entertaining...some more formal than others, some even business-casual, others just plain weird. They started filing towards the rink-entrance, some starting to dance in place to the music, slowly shuffling their advance as the announcer started calling their names overhead.
"Leo de la Iglesia...the United States!"
The Bronze medalist flew out across the ice to the cheering of the crowd, rushing over to the 3 big mascots at the other end of the rink and extending his arm to high-five the first one; the infamous and lovable Domo-kun.
Viktor waited at the very back of the group, still feeling a bit sore, but much better than he'd been first thing in the morning. He handed off his coat and skate-guards to Yuri, standing just next to him, then leaned in close, "Do you think Konstantin came back for this?" He wondered, trying to be heard over the music.
His Exhibition outfit was difficult to see in the dark, being that it was completely black; button-down shirt with sheer, puffy sleeves that were flowing over form-fitting black sleeves underneath. A gun-metal grey vest covered that, and black pants below. His hair was immaculately styled, his bangs set into their usual fan-like shows-pony style.
More skaters were heading out onto the ice, high-fiving the mascots or dancing with them briefly, then moving to join the rotating ring around center; participants skated in the opposite direction as the flag-skaters. Mila went out fifth; the line was slowly thinning. There were only about 20 people needing their names called in the first place; 6 medalists each from Pair Skating and Ice Dance that each went out together, all 6 medalists from Men's and Ladies Singles, plus 2 who'd volunteered to pony-up the $200 fee to skate the Exhibition without having medaled in their events.
"I have no idea." Yuri answered back, wearing his skates but giving little else away under his Team Japan jacket. He didn't have his hair slicked back for once, "Should I text Mikhail? I'll probably have an answer by the time you get back, unless he's turned his phone off since it's dark."
The Russian thought on it for a moment, "...Ehhh...you can ask if you want. I was mostly just wondering in the hypothetical."
"I'll send a message and then wait to check it until the end then. Make it a surprise." The younger skater offered, pulling his phone out of his pocket and opening up the text window, "Was he was at the medaling ceremony yesterday?"
"He didn't exactly say." The Russian answered, watching Phichit get to go out next; half the group was on the ice by then, "He said the other skaters after me were boring by comparison, but I don't know if that means he stuck it out until the end or not."
"Maybe he did. It was only 4 other skaters... Mikhail would've told him that they should wait, right?"
"Normally I'd say he would, but this time I'm not sure." He shrugged, but then turned to face his partner, snaking one arm around the man's side; only 1 more set of Pair Skater name-announcements to go.
"There's a JSF camera guy right behind you." Yuri said nervously.
"I know." The Russian purred, drawing him in even closer then, "Let them watch."
The younger figure's cheeks went red, but in the low-light of rink-side, it was almost impossible to see. What could be seen though...the JSF cameras captured it all, even if unintentionally, having been focusing on the skaters taking to the ice rather than those still waiting to do so. Arms overlapping one another, palms settled on side, hip, back, and shoulder, heads tilting slightly, and the kiss that followed, both skaters knowing full-well that the footage would show up in the background of the two huge screens playing above each end of the rink. The pair-skaters who went out next had no idea that the extra-passionate cheering was actually, in part, because of the photo-bomb behind them. Still, they took it in stride, and Viktor stepped up to the rink wall after they were gone.
Spotlights shone down on him then, giving him that same ghostly-ethereal glow that Yuri had gotten to see earlier in the day.
"...And finally...Viktor...Nikiforov! Russia!"
Gold blades scratched the ice, and the skater greeted the crowd with heated enthusiasm, hearing their cries and cheers rising up even louder as he came out. When he came to the Domo-kun mascot, he grabbed it with both long arms around its rectangular-shaped body and spun it around in a dramatic hug, then moved on to dance with the other two. The Domo-kun acted embarrassed, bringing its hands up in front of its face as it rotated a few times, jumping up a few times afterward like it had just scored the jack-pot. The other two; a big grey Rabbit with glasses, and a yellow velveteen Bear wearing a pink dress and a tiara, reacted similarly, though Viktor took the 'hands' of the bear and started pulling 'her' along in an arc to go back the way he came. The Rabbit saw the duo coming and quickly jumped in excitement, taking the Bear Princess' waist to form a small skate-train. Domo-kun jumped when it saw what was going on and hustled over, not wanting to be left out. When Viktor finally joined the group of other skaters, he had all 3 mascots trailing behind him, the Bear's hands on his waist and the others doing the same in a line in turn. He held his own hands to the Bear's gloves to make sure 'she' didn't come loose.
Yuri laughed and shook his head at the whole thing, clapping along with the rest of the audience to the beat of the music.
Eventually, like always, the show had to go on...and the Mascot Train let go of the Russian Gold medalist, waving at him like they were sad to see him go, turning to console each other as he skated off with the rest of the group. He jokingly spun around and blew a kiss to the Bear Princess though, and 'she' fell to the ice, fanning herself.
"Domo-kun and friends are here again to cheer everyone up, and give high-fives to the skaters…!"
Viktor saw her go down and quickly rushed back over, feeling a little bad for it and sticking around to help pick 'her' back up again. The audience, of course, ate the whole scene up, clapping and 'aww'ing as the mascot was lifted onto 'her' skates again. Never the sort to leave something undone if it could be done though, Viktor ended the segue by rather dramatically going down on one knee and kissing the Princess Bear's hand, much to the surprise and envy of the Rabbit and Domo-kun mascots, who each pulled both of their hands up to their mouths in shock. The Russian rose back up to his feet and finally waved goodbye, heading over to the rink-exit where the night's first performer was waiting to go out.
To Viktor's surprise, the young face staring up at him was, albeit for a slightly more heart-shaped face, like a 14 year old version of Yuri. The young skater blushed terribly as the Russian looked straight at him, but then went full-steam out onto the ice like he was too embarrassed to say anything. Viktor turned slightly to watch the kid go.
"Ladies and Gentlemen...the first performance of the NHK Exhibition Gala, Japan's Novice Men's Singles, Junior Grand Prix Final qualifier...! Hayashi Kazue!"
The audience applauded, even though the lights were mostly off still. The youngster made his way quickly to the center, and four separate spotlights converged on him, sending tall shadows out from the cardinal directions all around him.
['Forever In My Dreams' - Really Slow Motion]
Viktor was still watching as the music started, but his attention was quickly grabbed by the feeling of his blade-guards being prodded against his arm. He turned his head and spotted his partner looking back at him with a somewhat perplexed look on his face.
"...What was that about?" The younger skater wondered.
"Weird feeling of déjà vu." The older answered, "He kind of looks like you, from the pictures I've seen of you at that age." He slipped each blade-guard on and then booped the skater's nose, "Baby Yuri~!"
"Well, hopefully he won't have to wait another decade to meet his idol, whoever that may be."
The Russian huffed a laugh at that, slipping an arm over his husband's shoulders as they headed slightly down the rink-wall to watch for a while. The youngster performed beautifully, gliding effortlessly over the ice. Viktor nudged at Yuri's chest where he'd slumped over the man's back, speaking quietly into his ear, "Is that how you skated back in the day?"
The youth's performance was coming to a close, and he bowed graciously to the unseen crowd, making way for the next skater.
"Our next performance of the evening is Japan's Novice Ladies Singles, Junior Grand Prix Final qualifier...! Morita Yasuko!"
"Pfft." Yuri guffawed, watching as the next teenager went out, "I wish. That kid can already do a triple Flip. I didn't manage that until I was 16 or something."
"I was able to do all the triples by the time I was 10, though the Axel was easiest since I could get a running start even without a rink. Started doing quads when I was 12. I'm sure I could've started doing those sooner, but I didn't have proper gear until Yakov got me those first real skates. Needed the air-time to get in that last rotation, and it was impossible with the skates I was using before then."
['Broken Vow' - Josh Groban]
Yuri lifted his head a bit, turning slightly to face the man standing behind him, "Really? That early?"
"Mh."
Brown eyes went back across the rink, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"I still have the rest of that story to tell you, don't I?" Viktor wondered, lifting a finger to his lip, "Where did I even leave off? I've gotten bombarded on all sides with this stuff all week so I forget..."
"You got to the part where Yakov was driving you to St. Petersburg... When he gave you the Vitya nickname."
"Ah yeah." The Russian nodded, "I suppose we'll have to make room in our busy schedules for Baby Viktor Storytime at some point. Maybe when we get back home."
"Is that when the story starts to take a happy turn or is it still bad for a while...?" Yuri wondered dubiously.
"It has its ups and downs, but it gets better. The best part doesn't come for a while though."
"...Seriously? Sheesh. You really did a wonder on us all by keeping that stuff to yourself all that time."
The Russian smiled where he had his chin settled on his husband's shoulder, "I didn't exactly take the Junior ISU by storm my first year. That was the second. By then, people weren't so worried about my pre-skating years. I think that helped me get out of my slump...having people focusing on what I was doing rather than what I had done. Besides..." His eyes followed the double axel on the ice, "...There was nothing I liked talking about more than skating anyway. Realizing that I'd gotten so good at it, and all the attention I got for it, it was pretty vindicating after everything that came before. I always craved more of it. Coming from practically nothing, and then suddenly having the whole world eating out of my hands..." He held them out in front of Yuri's chest, his arms sliding up under his partner's as they went further out. He kept raising them higher and higher until he could see the young lady-skater dancing in his palms, and she jumped right out with a triple Loop, "...It was like I'd been a bird, trapped in a cage my whole life, and someone finally opened the door. I was scared to step out at first, because I'd seen the shadows beyond the bars...but once I got past the gate, and spread my wings...nothing was going to stop me." Hands went back to where they'd been before, one around the younger skater's chest, the other curving up to hold to Yuri's shoulder, "Well, nothing except age, I guess."
"We're both ancient in this place..."
Viktor gave a quiet laugh at that, "Yeah...it's like there's no transition. One year we're still fresh-faced babes, then the next...we're Seniors, in form, function, and title."
They both gave a loud sigh at that...though just as Yuri was about to go back to watching the performance ahead of himself, he felt a familiar buzz in his back pocket.
Having already completely forgotten about sending any messages to begin with, he initially thought it might be Phichit texting him for something, but when he saw the message preview on his lock-screen, he remembered what he'd asked before.
Viktor couldn't help but look down at the bright screen and saw it as well.
Mikhail Rozovsky: [Yeah, all 4 of us are here. I can't really tell where we are in the dark, but we're much closer to the rink than yesterday.]
"...Whoops." Yuri muttered with a nervous laugh, quickly closing the screen again.
"Guess that answers that question."
The phone buzzed again, [I can't talk much. People are elbowing me for having my phone on. When does Viktor go up though? Inquiring minds want to know.]
[Last.] The young skater typed.
[Figures. Aright, ttyl.]
Yuri quickly put his phone away before someone on rink-side elbowed him as well, though just as he did so, he felt another buzz. He grumbled and pulled it back again, this time waiting to answer it until he'd turned 180 in Viktor's arms, clicking the screen on with himself and the Russian acting as a barrier. He still cupped his hand around the phone as added protection, and saw the preview of a text message from Phichit.
[Yuri! Your photo-bomb is going viral! [Image Attached]]
"Eh?" He blinked at the screen and unlocked it, getting into the official chat window with his friend and seeing a screen-grab of what looked like Instagram. Details were difficult to see in a thumbnail, but when he clicked to expand it, he saw a gif-preview of the clip from earlier in the event...minutes earlier in the event. Yet, there it was...the Pair Skaters that had gone on just before Viktor did...and themselves in the background in the middle of their lip-lock, "Oh boy."
"What is it?" Viktor wondered, pulling back a bit to look at the screen from his upside-down vantage.
"Well, you said to 'let them look,' and...well, they are." He laughed nervously and flipped the phone around.
The Russian took it in-hand and examined it, one finger over his lip as he read all the text, looking at all the numbers, seeing the thousands of Likes and Comments already. The 4 top-most comments that were visible from the onset included tags like #SorryNotSorry, #ViktuuriPhotobomb, #SetSailOnTheHMSViktuuri, and #IWillGoDownWithThisShip while others remarked #OhYeahPairSkating, #HairDownNotSkatingSadface. He just laughed at the rest, giving his husband the phone back, "People think you're not going to be on the ice tonight."
Yuri tilted his head at him, clicking the phone off and turning back, "A photo of us making out in the background of an Exhibition roll-call and you singled out one tagline?"
"I guess it does beg the question...why don't you have your hair styled back? Were you going to do it later?"
The younger figure looked around, as though thinking the air around him had ears...but then looked up, finding the music too loud to make whispering an easy way to communicate. Instead, he nudged his head towards the curtain to the prep area, and they started walking towards it. Just as they were about to pull it back, Leo was coming out, so they raised where they had their hands clasped together and let the young skater pass beneath them.
He just paused and blinked with a stunned look on his face, turning around to glance back at the duo, having entirely not expected what just happened. They were already gone though, vanished beneath the fabric.
Once their eyes adjusted to the lights, Yuri walked them quietly over to a far side of the cue, past where other skaters were watching the show on the television. He stopped eventually, one hand in his pocket, the other still clasped to his partner's, and he looked at the floor.
"...You got really dark all of a sudden for a really simple question." Viktor pointed out, totally unsure what to do about it.
"I can only think of one time where my skating was ever mentioned to your father." He started, keeping his eyes low, "And that was when Yakov told him why I was there with you in the park in St. Petersburg. I know for sure that neither of you admitted that I was your fiancé to him back then, because he would've lost it a lot sooner if you had...so I can only guess that you guys described me as your skate-student."
"Yeah...why?"
He finally lifted his eyes, looking at his husband evenly, "That means...unless Mikhail told him all about my accomplishments, then Konstantin has no clue what I'm capable of."
"...I don't know that he has. He said he was trying to warm my father up to the idea of skating by making him watch videos, so even if he might've seen you in there somewhere, I doubt my father cares, or even remembers. What does any of this have to do with your hair though?" Viktor wondered, reaching up his free hand to ruffle it a little, "You've never done a performance with your hair down."
"Your father and I have never been able to communicate because neither of us speaks the same language. He doesn't know the first thing about me." Yuri explained, "All he knows is what he's seen, so to him, all I am is some Japanese runt that turns up in all the same places you do."
Some of the other skaters suddenly noticed them, and a bunch were waving or whistling at them in response to the viral photo.
Viktor waved back at them politely, but then turned back to Yuri, "...I don't follow."
"We're in Japan right now. I look exactly like everyone else he's seen around here." The younger skater said anxiously, "You've said that above all other things, you want him to see you. For who you are, what you've become, what you're capable of. I..." He paused, clenching his eyes shut for a moment as he shook his head, then opening them wide again with 'that' look on his face, "I want him to see me too! I want to make him see us! What we are, what we're capable of!"
"...Yuri..."
"If I put my hair up into a style he's never seen me wear before, he might not even realize it's me while I'm out there, and ignore the whole end of the program as just another gross display. How many times have you had to take my glasses and pull my hair back for people who didn't recognize me off the ice?"
"...A couple."
"And one of those times was here in Japan. Every time he and I have been in the same place together, I've always been buried under a big coat and scarf, too. I need to do everything I can to make sure he knows it's me out there."
"I don't think he'd expect anyone else to come skate with me."
"Still!" Yuri went on, "Even if it's just for my sake, I want to go out there looking like I normally do. I want to prove to him that I'm worthy of you...that I'm not just some pet you drag around. Even if my part of the skate is barely a minute and a half long...there's a lot that I can say with that time, with my skating!"
Viktor wasn't sure how to take it, so he just smiled anxiously, "...You're getting really passionate about this whole thing."
"Wasn't it your plan all along to have him watch us skate the Exhibition together?"
"Well, I planned on having him watch the Exhibition, sure...but...until after the Short Program, I was just going to be doing one of my pre-planned shows..." The Russian admitted, "The way he refused to watch other skaters, even during yesterday's Free Skate...I honestly didn't expect he'd come here today, especially since there's no real structure to the thing."
"Don't you want to show him?" Yuri wondered, "His flight back to Russia leaves tonight. If we don't show him now, we might never get the chance again."
Viktor was quiet for a moment, contemplating the whole thing, but then shrugged, "Well, he's here, at least for now...and we're going to be doing this Exhibition whether he's around or not."
"Let's make it over the top then." The younger skater offered, "The choreography is already set in stone, but we can still make it extra."
"Are you sure...?" The Russian wondered skeptically, "Other than to torment Yurio, you've always been kind of hesitant to let me do too much when people are watching. This time it would be the entire audience."
"I don't mean that much extra..." Yuri shook his free hand in protest, his cheeks pink from the very idea of it. He shook his head and stepped closer though, emulating one of the maneuvers from the very end of the program, taking his partner's other hand and raising their arms up to shoulder level and stepping closer so that Viktor's right arm was just in front of his chest, and vice versa, their heads turned to center to see each other, "But this part...instead of doing it like this..." He stepped a bit to the right, putting his skate between the Russian's, close enough then to be able to look straight up into that blue eye, "...We're closer together, like this, and instead of the side-by-side camel spin, we could do a pair spin, too."
"...You don't think it's intimate enough as it is?" Viktor wondered, their hands lowering.
The younger skater shook his head, "I...think it's reluctant. We're skating it together, sure...but... It doesn't have that same closeness that Duetto or even The Ghost have. It's the kind of show that Yurio and Otabek would do...a Friends' Skate, not a Lovers' Skate."
The silver Russian gaped at him, "...Really?"
Again, Yuri anxiously nodded.
"...Why didn't you say anything about it before? When we still had the ice to practice on..."
Brown eyes gave a nervous look, and Yuri slightly turned his head, "After the debacle at Skate Canada, I-"
"Oh."
There was a period of silence between them. All they could hear was the sound of whoever's Exhibition's music was playing at the time, and the sound of the other skaters cheering or chatting.
Eventually, Yuri stepped closer, his free hand settling on his husband's chest, sliding up slowly to gently pass over his slender neck, coming to rest on the side of his head, getting the attention of those slate eyes and speaking quietly, "I understand if you don't want your father to see this side of us. I know you're being protective over it, because of how badly he's reacted to it before. But I can also tell you really want to show it off...why else would you have kissed me on camera like before? Even if it was in the dark..." He paused a moment, gently stroking his thumb over that pale skin, "I might've been oblivious to what was being said yesterday after the Free Skate...but I know now what bet Yurio won, and I know it means you told your father what we did. I don't know why you told him...but telling him isn't the same as showing him. If we survived yesterday without Konstantin even flinching...then we can survive this, too. Everything on the ice is love, right?"
Viktor nodded quietly.
"If every solo skate we do is an effort to seduce each other...then let's go out there and show off the results of our success. Let's get on the ice and make love, where him and everyone else can see us. Let there be no question...we're not just Yuri and Viktor Nikiforov. We are Viktuuri."