CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED FOURTY ONE
It was close to 2pm when the Russian Tiger finally awoke from his stress-relieved coma; his phone beeped next to his unused pillow. One lazy, uncoordinated arm reached over for it, fumbling over the sheets until the cold glassy surface could be found, and the noise shut off. With a long stretch and a yawn, Yurio finally rose to sitting, looking around the room with half-open eyes.
...Three hours before I have to be social...
He glowered at his backpack near the door, seeing the outline of his skates poking out the side.
...I should practice a bit while I still have time...no one else is here now...
Wandering downstairs to the more populated part of the resort, Yurio glanced around corners and snuck by like a ninja, trying to remain undetected. He made it to the sliding front doors before anyone caught sight of him...though in that case, the 'someone' was a dog. Makkachin trotted up amiably, looking the teen up and down carefully with those dark brown eyes, panting quietly like always.
Yurio just gawked back at the poodle, "...What?"
BORK!
"SHHH!" He waved his hands back and forth, "Don't make so much noise; people will know I'm down here!"
"Yuuuuriooooo..." Mari's voice came, bringing life to the teen's worries.
He hurriedly rushed through the doors, the big brown flufferbutt chasing after him too quickly to be shoved back inside. Mari barely managed to open the doors again in time to see both the skater and the pup vanish beyond the edge of the resort's snow-covered courtyard. She huffed and crossed her arms.
.
Viktor looked at his phone, and the shuttle vouchers that were sitting in his email inbox. He looked up and down the line of Airport-service vans that were parked along the walkway, and at the numbers on the outsides...none of them matched his vouchers. Beside him, Yuri sipped quietly at his coffee from earlier, holding the cup in one hand as he scrolled through Instagram with the other. Suddenly, the young skater started coughing violently, holding up the coffee like it were the most important thing...and Viktor took it in hand before the lid came off and burned someone.
"Yuri, what's wrong?" He asked, trying to pocket his phone, "Did you try to swallow down the wrong tube or something?"
More coughing, and Yuri's eyes were starting to water as he tried to clear it. He heaved over his knees, but when he finally recovered from it, he just looked up...and over at Phichit, who was looking quite sheepish suddenly.
"Y-You posted...the pictures of Viktor a-and I...!?" The middle skater blanched. He held up his phone and pointed at the slide-show of images emphatically, noting the curious placement of the Thai skater's face in the foreground while the somewhat-emotionally-charged Viktuuri moment took place in the background behind him.
Phichit just smiled, "It was a really moving moment!"
Yuri just slouched and sighed.
"How about we rent a car...?" Viktor suddenly asked, getting both younger skaters' attention, "Instead of waiting for the shuttle. Then we could get around town on our own time."
The duo in front of him exchanged glances...and before they could say another word, found themselves in that very rental car, leaving the airport behind.
The Russian seemed more happy then, pulling up and merging onto eastbound I-94 as they headed towards the main part of the city. It was impossible to see anything remotely familiar of the downtown skyline from as far away as they were, but it was still closer than they'd been an hour prior.
"Kind of reminds me of St. Petersburg." Viktor commented, "All the snow, everything looking old and kind of rundown..."
Yuri grimaced, "Is that...a good thing?"
"Who knows?" The silver skater laughed, "Let's head to the hotel first and drop off our stuff. Then we'll figure out the best way to get to the arena, and then...to your old Skating Club!"
The young skater could feel the butterflies rising up in his stomach...and it didn't help that Phichit was cheering for it as well.
"Actually, it all lines up pretty perfectly." The Thai skater was commenting, twiddling around in a map app on his phone, "When we exit onto Highway 12, it's almost a straight-shot to the hotel on the river. We'll be able to see the Ambassador Bridge from there, too! And Canada!" Yuri sunk a little in his seat, "The Little Ceasar's Arena is right up the street from the Marriott...and then we can just go north on Woodward the rest of the way to the Skate Club! We'll be there in maybe 2 hours if check-in and registration are quick!"
Viktor glanced to his right, seeing his husband trying to be small, "What's the matter, Yuri?" He wondered, still feeling the excitement over the prospect of the whole adventure, "You look anxious."
"Celestino and I met under the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge when I originally proposed using the original composition I'd asked for." He admitted nervously, looking over the edge of the doorframe to see the skyline passing by through the window, "He listened to like 15 seconds of it and then shot it down."
"He didn't shoot it down." Phichit laughed, clambering over the back of the skater's seat to see him better through the gap between both, "He just asked if you thought you could win with it. Then you just smiled and suggested he pick for you after all."
The Russian huffed a laugh, "In all fairness, it sounds like he did a better job of dismissing it than I did."
Yuri groaned and pulled his scarf up over his face in shame.
Viktor just reached over to give his partner's leg a gentle squeeze, and settled his hand there, "What were you even going for with that song? The music your friend made after that was beautiful, so it's obvious that she knows how to compose. But that first recording...sounded kind of like...mic feedback, the kind that breaks glass."
The young skater let go of the scarf, his left hand settling over the one already touching him, curling his fingers around it like he needed the mooring, "I had asked Ketty to create something that summed up my competitive skating career to that point. ...She nailed it. It was awful because I was awful."
"She was actually still in town when I put out feelers for her last year, Yuri." Phichit pointed out, "I wonder if she's still here now?"
.
The view from the hotel room was a breathtaking sight, looking right across the river...and straight into Windsor, Ontario, on the opposite bank. Yuri set his bags down on the end of the single King-sized bed, while Phichit set his own stuff down on the roll-away that had been set-up while they were checking in. The older of the two stepped over towards the big window, pulling the curtains fully aside to look out over the horizon.
"It's kinda nice to face this way." He commented, squinting his eyes to see into the distance along the ice and water, "There's the bridge..."
"I always thought that thing was kind of funny." Phichit said, opening his suitcase to get some of his personal effects to set up for later, "The first thing you see on the Canadian side of that bridge is Windsor University...but coming back into Detroit, the first thing you see is Mexicantown. It's like..." He waved his hands around for dramatic effect, "'Welcome to America...featuring Mexico...a completely different country that's several thousand miles further away.'"
"This is the same hotel I stayed in the last time I competed here." Viktor commented, fishing his skates out of his own bags, "But back then, it was at the Joe Louis Arena. If you can see the bridge from here, you can see the Arena even easier."
"Don't catch the flu again, Yuri." Phichit teased, "Or you'll be stuck cuddling a framed picture of Viktor like last time!"
"Don't jinx me!" The older skater retorted, "It's the Grand Prix Final! I can't afford to get sick right now!"
"It's okay. If you can't skate, I can take your place! I'll win Gold, and you can be with me on the podium in spirit!"
Yuri just held his head and made a face, "I can't believe you'd even suggest that!" He went back over next to his partner and started rifling around in his carry-bag, "...Now I'll need one of my masks so I don't catch something..."
.
The Arena was massive, and entirely brand new. The crowds weren't terribly huge yet, since it was still only registration day, but there were a few loitering around looking for familiar faces. The outdoor concourse looked somewhat a 3-story brick-exterior apartment complex, but leading inside, there was a long, wide, flat gathering area leading to the southwest entrance. At the end of it, right near the doors and just in front of an elevated outdoor walkway, there was an enormous flat-panel television screen, already playing snippets from the various events that qualifying skaters had won their placements at. With the trio walking along towards it, it was easy to run through the whole play-cycle, looking up with wide eyes at footage of all the different winning performances. One of the last things they saw before heading within was a scene from Viktor's last Free Skate...and his crowd-inciting moment at the end of it where he'd been raising his arms to make the audience's roar louder.
"I wonder how people will react to knowing you're not doing that show anymore?" Yuri thought out loud, stepping a bit closer where he'd held to his husband's hand within the man's jacket pocket, bracing his face against the blistering cold with his scarf again. Even with the white surgical mask protecting his nose, and the Calgary Flames beanie making a reappearance on his head, it was still miserably cold, "NHK was insane. No one's ever going to see anything like that again. Not in our lifetimes anyway."
Viktor nodded, watching the screen a bit more before turning towards the doors, "Nor should they. It was taxing enough to do it the one time." He shrugged and twisted on his heel, "I guess some people will be disappointed not to see that performance...but I'm hoping they'll be happy with seeing something entirely new. Assuming they didn't watch the NHK Gala, anyway."
Phichit, wearing his own custom-black mask, hesitated to follow for a moment, looking a bit despondently at the footage...and his absence from it. Seeing Chris there instead, as well as JJ, Otabek, and Yurio, never mind Yuri and Viktor...he sighed.
Moving through the next two sets of doors, the immediate interior looked much like the exterior, but with a glass roof keeping the heat in. The brick walls were lined with images of the Arena's home-hockey-team, the Detroit Redwings, and a few nods to its basketball stars as well. A huge two-story wall surrounding the inner arena was like a honeycomb of video screens, flashing images of the coming event, similar to the one outside. More people had taken refuge inside to escape the cold, and as soon as they started spotting the trio, flash photography sparkled all around and video began rolling. Thankfully, it was mostly the media and less the fans, so there wasn't much risk of being stopped. They waved politely as they found their way over to Registration to sign in and get their badges, the two younger skaters pulling down their masks as they walked.
Yuri could see where his friend was getting a bit depressed at the whole thing, and moved to hide his badge in a deep pocket before stepping closer, "You gonna be okay?"
"...Yeah, it's just really hitting home that I'm not getting to participate this time." The normally-excitable figure answered, "I'm sure I'll perk up once things get going."
"Well well, what's this?" Came a familiar, none-too-welcome voice, "A Japanese skater wearing a Canadian hockey-team's merchandise? That's sweet of you, rooting for the better country's team...but rather bold as well, especially since you're in enemy territory."
The duo looked up, spotting a very particular pair of storm-blue eyes looking right back at them.
"Here we all are, reunited again in Motor City. Who'd have thought?"
"JJ." Yuri said quietly, shaking his head lightly and waving politely as he nervously pulled the beanie off his head, scrunching it up in his hands, "Hey."
Phichit waved as well, entirely pulled out of his prior thoughts, "Hi, JJ."
"It's a shame you didn't make it into the Final Six." The young Canadian mused, staring at the Thai skater as he lifted his sunglasses to set them on top of his head. He was standing alone with them, dressed in somewhat-formal attire and a heavy jacket; his usual entourage was nowhere in sight, "It would've been a perfect way to round the whole thing out, if Celestino had been here, too. Maybe next time."
Viktor quietly rolled his eyes where he was getting his things from the Coach's check-in table.
"And there he is," JJ moved right between the pair to see the silver Russian beyond them, pulling the man from his focus, "The skater I intend to defeat in his final year at the Grand Prix."
The skater-coach just kept his head down, looking through the usual paperwork, "You won't beat me and it isn't my last year."
"Eeehhhh?" The Canadian laughed, clapping his hands enthusiastically, his actions albeit dripping with sarcasm, "How do you figure that?"
"Because to beat me, you'll have to beat him first." Viktor answered, pointing at his husband without looking, then pulling it back to keep up what he was doing before, "And I plan to go again next year just for fun." He finally turned to meet those grey-blue eyes with his own lighter ones, "Out-scoring me then won't mean much, since I'm only going to be playing around."
Yuri and Phichit watched the tense back-and-forth quietly.
"Well, I'm not worrying about next year right now." JJ shrugged, a hand settling on each hip as he stoically closed his eyes, "I have a few cards up my sleeve this time that are going to secure my victory over you once and for all. I can't wait to see the look on your face when it's me in center this year, and you have to look up to see the Gold medal being hung on my shoulders."
The Russian just remained stone-faced in front of the youngest skater staring at him, but then turned away again, "Where are your wife and parents? Shouldn't they be keeping you on a short leash so you don't wander off?"
JJ just snorted at him, trying to laugh but feeling a bit of disdain at being shrugged off, "I don't need any leash."
"Funny." Viktor lifted a hand, but kept his back to the man, "The last time I saw a picture of you online, you'd styled yourself a dog with Instagram's face filters. Silly me."
Yuri leaned slightly and spoke in a whisper behind his hand, "Maybe we should just get moving. JJ doesn't know when to quit."
"Agreed."
The older figure stepped forward and around the Canadian, and slid his hand against his husband's back, "Viktor, let's skip taking the quick tour. We'll be coming back later tonight anyway. Maybe he won't be here by then and we can skate in peace."
Viktor drew in a deep breath, but nodded and handed back the signed papers he owed, getting his Coach's badge in return and a small bag of papers as well. He pulled out a few and turned, stepping right before the 'unwelcome one' without so much as a last glance, reading the pamphlets in his hand instead until they were out the doors again.
JJ just gawked, both eyebrows raised, and a smug look on his face. He shrugged and smiled to himself though, "This is my year to shine, Viktor Nikiforov. Out with the old and in the with the new."
.
The silver Russian drove in near-complete silence; the trip to their next destination was another 45 minutes away, even on the highway. Phichit had taken the front passenger seat that time, playing navigator, while Yuri was in the back, tangled up in the seatbelt where he was trying to catch a quick nap. He was lying directly on his side, using his hat and scarf like a makeshift pillow, but no matter what position he took, the humps and dips of the 'contoured' modern seats made it difficult to fall asleep.
Eventually, the sleepy skater gave up and sat normally again, looking with hazy eyes out the window as more and more of the landscape was becoming uncomfortably familiar.
"Ahhh we're getting so close!" Phichit commented, knowing volume was no longer needing to be kept low since Yuri had gotten up, "There's the Rusty Bucket, and the Starbucks! And the Sushi Hana you always used to go to, Yuri!"
"Doesn't 'hana' mean 'flower' in Japanese?" Viktor wondered, speaking his first words since leaving the event arena.
"Yeah." The skater behind him confirmed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.
"So it's like...fish-rice-flower. Tasty."
"Not when you put it like that."
"Oh, turn left up there." Phichit explained, pointing through the windshield, across the divided highway, "Then we'll go straight for a bit, and turn right onto Franklin Road."
Yuri had to hold his hands over his stomach, feeling the nerves rising even more, making his guts feel like they were rolling over one another. He watched in anxious silence as the familiar winter-worn trees passed by, going through a short section of a residential neighborhood before finding their turn a minute or so later. He spotted the Papa Romano's Pizza place, and the Mr. Pita next door, sitting on the same corner that they always had. Then there was the paint store, the consulting firm, the 4 Paws Community Center and the dance studio next to that...getting closer. They found the corner of Franklin and Denison, and the Bloomfield Gymnastics studio on the left. Yuri dropped back down to his side with a perplexing groan, drawing Phichit's attention over a shoulder, though Viktor was stuck just watching as well as he could through the rear-view mirror.
"You okay?" The Russian wondered, "Should I pull over?"
"NoI'mfine." The younger skater insisted, pulling the Flames beanie back over his head so far that it unrolled to completely cover his face. He could feel the car following the slight curve of the road as it lead to the round-about at the end, the whole vehicle practically gyrating as the tires went over pock-marked pavement, then finally pulling off to the left and into the parking lot.
"That's it over there." Phichit pointed again, "The one with the cerulean overhang. You can park anywhere you want."
The car came to a stop after a sharp turn, and Yuri could hear the engine cut out. The two front passengers exited, the doors closing behind them...and then the one just next to himself opening up again. He could feel a presence looming over him before he felt the arms wrapping around him to hoist him back up to sitting.
"Come on outside." Viktor mused, using one hand to pull up the finely-woven yellow-and-red cotton from over his husband's glasses, "It's time to show everyone how amazing you've become."
"A-Amaz-zing...?" Yuri echoed in disbelief. He saw past his partner's silver-haired head to where the Detroit Skate Club's doors were, and he fell back down again, "...I can't do this...I'm too nervous..."
"You'll be fine." The Russian laughed, wedging his hands under the skater's side to unbuckle the seatbelt and drag him out of the car. He nudged the door closed with a knee and proceeded to carry the man across the parking lot towards the entrance, "This should make heads turn." He purred.
"You're going to carry me in there bridal style aren't you?" Yuri asked in a monotone, his eye twitching slightly in horror at the idea. He could hear Phichit quietly laughing behind a hand as he walked next to them, but then terror really set in and Yuri started flailing, "Put me down! I don't want to go in yet! I'm not ready!"
"Yuri!" The Thai skater called, "Calm down, you'll be fine! Why are you so nervous anyway? We practically lived here before."
"I know! But I made a huge scene when I left because I never thought I'd be back! Don't you remember!?" He answered, finding it impossible to detach from his husband's steady grasp. The Thai skater just smiled and shrugged. Yuri could feel the shadow over them where the over-hang blocked out the sun, and heard the door open behind his feet, "Nooooooo!"