CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED TWENTY TWO

Disembarking at Sheremetyevo International Airport just outside of Moscow at around 8:30am local time, Mikhail stumbled forward like a zombie. He rubbed his eyes on the back of a gloved hand and looked around the Arrivals wing for the nearest coffee stand, hearing the distinct thumping footsteps of a big ol' Russian Bear coming up behind him. He turned to the side and pulled over his tablet-bag, reaching within and withdrawing a small fold of papers, holding them up, [Here...these are your tickets for the quick flight to St. Petersburg.] He explained, feeling the tickets slip from his fingers, [The layover is 3 hours, so hang out at the next terminal while I go get Yura's things from my place. I'll be back in an hour or two.]

Blue eyes looked at the papers, and the huge man slid them into his coat's inside pocket, stepping off through the crowd quietly.

Mikhail watched him go for a few moments, but then turned on his heel to head for a coffee shop he'd spotted just a bit further down the terminal in the opposite direction. When he'd finally gotten his dose of delicious caffeine, he moved off towards the airport exit, stopping only at the car rental desk to get his favorite blue hybrid. He found the vehicle quickly enough, got in, leaned the driver's seat way back, drew in a deep breath...and let it out as more of an exhausted over-tired yell-groan than an exhale.

"Ohmygodeverythinghurts." He whined, "That flight was too long!"

His flat-cap slipped off and fell into the foot-well of the back passenger seats, and it signaled the end of the pity-party. He rummaged around in his coat for his phone, checked that it was around 2:30pm back in Japan, turned the car on so he could connect said phone to the Bluetooth system, and sent out the call.

It rang a few times as he backed out of the parking stall, and the Russian heard a welcome click just as he was pulling forward to leave.

"Hey hun."

He smiled at that, "Hey. We finally landed. How was your trip?"

"Glad to be back home. The flight was easy. Yura fell asleep almost as soon as we were seated. I tried to get some shut-eye as well buuuuuut it didn't happen."

"Sorry."

"No, it's fine." Minako answered, stretching out as far as she could where she was lying on her sofa at home, "I dropped Yura off at Yu-Topia about 2 hours ago. He's probably asleep again by now."

"Have you been waiting for me to call...?"

"I wanted to make sure you landed okay."

"That's quite touching." He mused, dramatically raising a hand up to cup his cheek, "I can happily report that we landed at Sheremetyevo without the plane having caught fire."

"I'm glad to hear it." She answered, flipping over from her back to her stomach, limbs going everywhere, "So explain to me again why you picked a flight that was supposed to leave at dawn...?"

"Oh, in the original plan?" The Russian wondered, pulling out of the big parking lot and figuring his way out onto the snow-covered mini-highway leading off the property, "I figured the boys would sleep in late after the last Exhibition and Banquet, so I wanted to beat them back to Hasetsu. Get some time in that hot-spring before everything went crazy with the celebration. How's it all look out there?"

"I didn't go as far as the Ice Castle, but Hiroko has Yu-Topia decorated pretty nicely. The triplets have been adverting the event all over town since Yuri won gold in China. It's going to be...well, huge."

"Ahh I wish I could be there."

"I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. The Nishigoris will for sure." Minako explained, turning to her side after that, "The girls asked where you were. They were kinda disappointed to find out you couldn't come...but I didn't really go into detail about what was going on. I just said something came up and you had to go home for a while. ...We haven't discussed how we want to tell Yuri and Viktor."

"Let them enjoy the night. If they really want to know, feel free to tell them exactly what's going on. If not, leave it till tomorrow. If they both get mad at me for needing to bring my kids to Detroit then I'll figure something else out. I can't leave them alone like this though. Maybe I'll just stay in Banff with them. ...I could get you a ticket here after the Final if you want."

The ballerina waited a moment, thinking on it, staring at the coffee table in front of her. She drew in a breath and shook her head, "...I have a feeling they won't be mad at all. They might even be sympathetic to the situation."

Mikhail nodded, though that was obviously inaudible over the phone.

"Did you call them last night before your flight took off?"

"Yeah." He answered, "I spoke to my youngest, since I knew for sure she'd pick up if she saw my name pop up on her phone."

"And?"

"...Just as I worried, she was the one who found their mother. Died in her bed with a rosary and a Bible. I didn't really get into it that much with Nikki since she sounded upset, but she said it happened 2 days after I last talked to them, and that was right after you guys had gone to China without me. Nikki said she wanted to call sooner, but she was worried that it'd just make things worse if I found out what happened when I was still in the hospital."

"What about Sergio telling the girls to keep quiet?"

Mikhail huffed a laugh, "Nikkita is my baby girl. Sergio has no power over her when it comes to me, try as he might. She'd actually be with me if not for their mother insisting they all stay together."

"What about Viktoria?"

"She wanted to come live with me too from the start, but she was put-off by the idea of possibly sometimes living in Russia. She's got roots there like her brother. Didn't want to give it all up. I got the house in Edmonton for the winters, vacations, and special occasions, but I was primarily in Moscow after that. My kids all have keys to that house though so they could go whenever they wanted."

"...You just let them have free reign unattended?"

"Oh, dearest Minako, you have yet to see the scale of things in Edmonton." Mikhail laughed, putting a hand over his chest even knowing the woman couldn't see his grand car-theatrics, "My condo in Russia is just a drop in the bucket. My business has been very successful. I can afford the house, and give my kids keys to do whatever they want in it, and have it loaded to the teeth with a top-of-the-line security system and a network of nanny-cams. And they all know about it, too. In the years I've been separated from my ex-wife, there's never been a fork or potted-plant out of place in that house that I didn't notice. Don't worry though, you'll get to see it when you get there."

"...You've never really talked about your ex that much, other than the downfall. You don't sound all that distressed that she's gone now." The ballerina pointed out, feeling a bit awkward having to do so, "Did you resent her that much?"

"She stole my family from me." Mikhail answered simply, getting serious again, "That would mark the second time in my lifetime where I had been sent away and lost everything I cared about. I miss the woman she used to be...she is the mother of my kids, after all...but the person she became after the cancer...wasn't her anymore. I hardly recognized her...physically or emotionally. Maybe if I had been a worse husband, I would've divorced her instead of her me. Then maybe I'd have been the one to stay in Banff and she'd have to move away. But I wasn't that way...I'm not that way. I wasn't going to leave her over being sick. ...I was devastated when she handed me the papers in the end. Couldn't believe it, really. I'd taken all that time from work, spent all that money for her treatments...and then she threw me out because I didn't buy into her delusions?" He drew in a sharp breath and shook his head to get rid of the feeling, "I wanted nothing more than to have my kids back. She wouldn't let me have them though. I had to fight for scraps, getting weekends here and there, and having to celebrate birthdays at her convenience rather than on the day...it was a miracle she let them go for half the summer. Those were good times, though. The four of us would travel all over the world when I had them. Kenya, Mexico, Britain, even Japan once. I was supposed to take them to Germany this last summer, but I ended up having to cancel because of all the trips we were doing at the time."

"...You didn't say anything about that! Now I feel bad!"

"I didn't want to burden you with it. They're my responsibility, not yours." Mikhail said firmly, "...I thought, the less of them you knew or heard about, the less you'd think about them, and the less you'd think badly of me for having them...especially after that disastrous introduction in Calgary."

"I'm giving you a look right now." Minako answered flatly, "You should know that. It's a very stern, unimpressed look."

"...Why?"

"Remember how I said this past weekend about the fact that you're really clever about everything except your family?"

"...Yeah."

"This is another one of those things where you're being dumb." She explained matter-of-factly, "How often do you talk to them when you're not local?"

"Once a week or more with Nikki and Viktoria. Once a month or less with Sergio, depending on whether he felt like it or bothered picking up the phone." The Russian answered simply, "I was their math tutor, so I'd FaceTime or Skype to help with their homework. I used to do that with all three of them at the same time, but then Sergio became a big strong man and didn't need his dad anymore...so it was just me and my girls. I used to be there every day to help them in person when they were young, unless I had a job I needed to be there in-person for. I did what I could to keep it up even after I was told to go."

"...When did you even have time? I never even suspected..."

"It's a 9 hour difference between Moscow and Banff. I'd call between 2 and 3am from out here. From Japan, I'd call around 9am. It did kind of wane a little when I started travelling with you, but it's nothing they weren't used to. Sometimes when I would have to go to a job site, I wouldn't be able to talk to them for a month or two at a time. I always just made up for it with extra time when I was done. They'd text me if they really needed something."

Minako was taken aback by the whole thing, "...I had no idea. I thought you'd practically forgotten you had kids at all. So when you got all upset yesterday on that call..."

"...It was because I couldn't stand the idea of them being alone." He finished the sentence for her, and nodded quietly to himself, "I never wanted to admit it out loud, but I always kind of wished the woman would pass so I could go in and save the day. Now I just feel like shit for having ever entertained the thought."

"...Yeah."

"...Well," Mikhail stumbled, "Now that I've been a thorough buzzkill, I'll let you go take that nap. I'll probably be in St. Petersburg by the time the boys get to Hasetsu. Fill me in on all the details when the party's over."

.

.

.

Getting through security for a domestic flight was a simple matter. Getting nearly 20 suitcases of varying sizes to the airport and into the Checked Bags area was slightly less simple. Finding a comfortable position to sit in was the least simple thing of all.

"Are you sure you don't want to come snoop around with me, Yuri?" Phichit asked anxiously, "This airport is practically a shopping mall! It's famous! There's the movie theater, the chocolate shop, that fancy mascarpone brûlée place...lots of stuff!"

The older skater, tender and already tired, just lay on his side on one of the long fabric couches on the second floor lounge near their departure gate. He glanced up with a slight head-turn where he'd had it resting on his partner's leg, "...I still don't feel too good, Phichit-kun... Maybe we'll have a competition again here in the future..."

"Awwww!"

Yuri dropped his head down again. It wasn't a complete lie...he did still feel somewhat nauseated and headachy...but it was the soreness that made him want to stay put. Walking hurt. Sitting hurt. Everything hurt. But it felt better to lie down than it did to sit or stand, so unless he had to, Yuri Nikiforov was going to stay right where he was.

"Take pictures and show me when we're about to take off." He offered instead, "You can tell me all about what you saw, to pass the time while we're flying to the other end of the island. You'll have my undivided attention."

"I guess so..." Phichit sighed. He turned on his heel and pulled out his selfie-stick from his carry-bag, and started heading away, "I'll come running back when I hear the gate call."

"Okay. See you later then."

The older skating duo watched as the Thai figure sauntered off.

When he was out of sight, Yuri turned his head down against his husband's thigh and sighed, "...I hate doing that to him...I actually wanted to look around, too..."

Viktor slid his free hand down, settling it lightly on his partner's up-turned hip, "...Does it really hurt that badly?"

"Kind of."

"Wow~!" The Russian answered reluctantly, pulling his hand back up to fan his fingers over his mouth, a bit embarrassed, "...I really didn-"

"I'll be fine." The younger skater huffed, reaching an arm up to cross over the man's legs so he could get more comfortable, "...I kind of wish I got you back though. I don't know what I did last night."

"Who says you didn't?"

Brown eyes shot open, and Yuri pushed up on his hands, "...Eh!?"

Blue eyes hid behind a smile and a wave of silver-grey hair.

Yuri blinked at the man, entirely reluctant to believe it. But, there Viktor was, all but openly admitting it. The younger figure just gawked, "...EEEHHHHHH!?"

Viktor just tilted his head, his bangs tousling slightly as he kept on smiling, "What, you think you got all those scratches on your back because of what I was doing? Yuri..."

"I don't know! I don't remember!"

The Russian just started laughing, turning his attention slightly as he felt his phone starting to ring in his hand. He glanced at the faceplate.

1:17PM
CHRIS
[ACCEPT][DECLINE]

"I was just thinking about you." Viktor mused, holding the phone to his ear.

Yuri just kept on gawking, though his eyes moved from the man's face to his knee and then the floor. He couldn't even hear the conversation, he was so stunned.

...I can't believe it... It's just like back then, when he took himself on me and then acted like he was fine...only to say way later that he wasn't.

"Oh, no, our flight doesn't leave for another 45 minutes or so." Viktor was saying, "I bet! I was wondering when you'd call!" He started laughing again, "Oh, you saw a video? Scandalous!"

All Yuri could think to do was lie back down where he'd been before, practically catatonic from the revelation.

"Of course he is. Here, I'll put you on speaker." The Russian went on, "Yuri...say hi."

"Existence is pain."

Both older men burst out laughing at that, but Chris' hollow phone-voice echoed through, "Viktor, what'd you to do the poor thing? He sounds so sad."

"Our training for the Final got extra vigorous last night." He answered, reaching up to wipe a tear from his eye as he kept laughing, "I think I might've pushed him too hard."

"...My life is a lie." Yuri went on, as though oblivious to the commentary.

"...Wow, that got deep all of a sudden." Viktor grimaced.

"...At least six inches deep, according to you." The hapless skater answered, finally acknowledging the situation, and twisting somewhat painfully to lie on his back instead, bending his knees up to avoid catching his feet on the end of the couch. Both men were laughing at him again by then, and he just sighed loudly, his cheeks already going deep crimson from the embarrassment of the conversation.

"I'm a bit mad that I wasn't invited." Chris said, "I didn't think I'd ever get to see that side of you again after Sochi, Yuri. Then when it finally comes out again, and I'm not even there to see it in person."

"Super-Deluxe Eros Yuri only makes appearances on special occasions, when lots of alcohol is involved." Viktor explained, "Then he becomes the tastiest pork-cutlet bowl in the whole world."

"Heh...the Yuri Special, Eros Katsudon."

"I'd eat that." Viktor mused, reaching his free hand down to slip his fingers through the lapels of his husband's open coat, and sliding it down until he could feel the man's stomach, "The ultra-lean SkateHusband with abs that could cut diamonds...unless it's off-season, then it's a super-squishy Kobuta-chan tummy!"

Chris could already hear Yuri protesting in a half-reluctant whiny-voice, laughing as the 'tormented' skater mumbled something about 'not doing that when there's so many other people around.'

"...I squish it!" Viktor teased, managing to get his hand under the younger man's shirt, sliding his palm all over that pale, taut core.

"Nooo Viktooorrrr..." Yuri whined again, "People are starting to watch...!"

"I don't mind." The Russian purred, holding the phone close enough that Chris could hear everything even as he spoke a bit more softly, his other hand still feeling at his partner's skin, fingers teasing at the edge of a belt, "...It's more exciting that way."

Yuri's legs were starting to kick a little where he was squirming pitifully, but even with both hands around the Russian's wrist, he made no true effort to push it away, "...We shouldn't be d-doing this right now...!"

"Well...we're going to be around a lot of other people for the next week...I won't get to touch you that much..." Viktor sighed, relishing the sight of the man wiggling under his affection, "And I already want to touch you more..."

"...You should!"

"Hm?" The silver skater hummed, a bit confused, "But I'm touching you right now."

"...But NOT right now!"

"...This is all rather arousing..." Chris pointed out, listening intently, "...I think I'm g-going to...c-cum! Ngh!"

"Oh my, Chris..." Viktor laughed, "I didn't think we got you hard already."

The Swiss skater just huffed and puffed on the other end of the line, "...J-Just imagine...if I had gotten to be there!"

"Yuri would be running for the hills!"

"Not if I pin him down first..."

"Wow~!" The Russian laughed again, turning his attention back down to his partner, seeing the poor man caught between several conflicting emotions. The inability to truly get away because of how sore he still was, the reluctance to do so anyway by how he continued to cling to that wrist, neither stopping its roaming nor pushing it away, the intense need to continue feeling that hand on his skin despite it all, and the growing, crippling fear that they might be giving an erotic show to everyone nearby. Viktor wasn't going to stop though just because of them. Seeing his husband's flushed face, eyes closed, breathing a bit heavier than normal...and all that just from having his hand on the man's stomach...it reminded him of only one thing.

"I can't read your mind. You need to tell me what you like so I know to keep doing it." Viktor had pointed out, "Well?"

"...I like it best when you use your hands."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Your hands tell me more about how you feel than anything else, besides your eyes. When you use your hands on me, I know you actually want me."

Viktor held the phone out of ear-shot, and leaned down slightly, smiling adoringly and whispering, "...I'll use nothing but my hands on you all week, every chance I get."

Hazel eyes peeked open, "...Eh?"

"Yuri?"

"AHH!" The skater flailed, sitting up with a start and pulling his shirt back into place, his whole head glowing red by then, "PHICHITO-KUN!" His accent slipped again from the embarrassment of being walked-in-on like that.

"Phichit's there?" Chris' voice rose from the phone, "Are you guys having an orgy without me now, too?"

"C-CHRISU!" Yuri barked, turning his head back around like a whip.

"Chris?" Phichit wondered, looking over to see where the Russian was holding his phone out.

"No orgies." Viktor defended, still amused by it all, "I'm keeping Yuri all to myself."

"Will you get Phichit to take pictures for me then?" The Swiss skater laughed, though still half-serious.

"Ohmygosh." The Thai figure blushed at the very concept of it.

"CHRIS." Yuri barked again.

"...Actually, that might be pretty exciting!" The Russian teased, leaning to the side where his partner was still sitting upright, snaking a hand between his arm and side to pull him back with a palm to his stomach again, and brushing a light kiss against the side of that pale neck.

"V-VIKTOR."

"Did you think about that just now?"

Yuri just comically sobbed into his hands.