(To the folks who don't watch the FB page...and who are not liking Mikhail, his plot, or think whatever minimal amount of screen-time I give him is still far too much...please just stop. There's a way of disagreeing with a character's choices/actions without low-key telling me how to write my story. There is nothing about his sub-plot that is getting out of control. Let me do my thing, and trust that I know what the Hell I'm doing. In other words...quitcherbitchin. Mikhail isn't going anywhere, and I'll resolve his situation how I see fit; with the same care and attention I give to any other character that's struggling. And don't be so quick to judge him, goddamn. Just because it's Viktor guessing at Mikhail's motives doesn't mean he's right.)
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED NINETY FOUR
It was awkward enough that the two silver teens had been pulled out of the Players Club when they had, but to see them coming back again right away was...perplexing.
Yurio hopped off his bar stool before any of the rest, "What's going on? Why do you look so mad...?" He wondered, looking up at Viktoria.
"Our dad is a giant butt, just like Sergio. The apple didn't fall far from the tree." She answered stiffly.
Yuri and Otabek listened quietly, neither of them particularly sure if they should say anything, so they stayed silent for a moment. With only the two girls coming back though, Yuri started to get worried, "Why did you come back alone? Where's Viktor?"
"...He stayed with papa..." Nikki answered, her voice cracking a little, "...I think they...they're fighting..."
"Oh no..." Yuri groaned.
"Ahhh Nikki don't cry-" Viktoria started, crouching down a bit to match her shorter sister's height, hands on the front of her shoulders, "This isn't your fault."
"What could the old man have possibly said in 30 seconds to make you both come back, and give Nikki reason to cry?" Yurio wondered anxiously, "I thought the problem was just between him and Viktor."
The older sister pulled the younger into a hug and pet her hair, "Shh..." She turned her eyes towards the Russian Tiger, "Apparently Minako cancelled their engagement. We just found out. Pipaw's blaming Viktor. They started talking in Russian after that..."
Yurio was gaping in shock to hear the words, "But...what will that mean for...everything?"
Yuri grimaced, "Mikhail's blaming Viktor for that?"
"...Why don't you sound surprised?" The blonde wondered, turning his head to face the man as he came down off his stool.
"Because they're both good at blaming each other for problems that they have no control over?"
"No, about the fact that the engagement is off."
"Because I already knew it was going to happen."
"Then why didn't you say something?"
"She told Viktor what she planned to do and she told him not to tell me. I shouldn't know. Plus, she might've gotten cold feet and not gone through with it in the end...so I wasn't going to say squat until she did herself." Yuri answered, pensively stepping towards the open double-doors, only to hesitate as he saw the NBC crew anxiously waiting there for him, paying close attention since it looked like he might speak with them, "Shimatta..." He watched curiously though as the RSF media team started to sneak through, walking right by the doors and over towards where he knew Viktor and Mikhail were, "...What are they up to...?"
"What if he decides not to move to Japan after all!?" Nikki sobbed, "We just spent the last 2 weeks sorting things out because we thought he would!"
"...I don't know..." Viktoria answered, "I guess we'll just have to go back and tell everyone we were just kidding."
Yuri glanced back over one shoulder, spotting the utterly devastated look on Yurio's face at the prospect of everything coming crashing down. Just as he was about to say something though, his attention was grabbed again by the sound of someone shouting beyond the doors, and saw the RSF media group go rushing back the way they'd previously come.
I need to get out there!
"Those guys have a weird love-hate relationship with Viktor right now, don't they?" Otabek wondered idly, watching the group retreating from his vantage on his bar stool, "One minute they want him, then they don't. Like a dog that doesn't know if it wants in or out..."
"I guess it depends on why they want him." Yuri sighed, "...And why they stop wanting him."
"...The score for Phichit Chulanont...203.23... He is currently in second place."
Yuri lifted his head to the sound of the announcement, and turned his head to look at the nearest television screen.
Phichit was half-way to hyperventilating where he sat in the kiss and cry, his score visible on the big monitors.
THA - Phichit CHULANONT - 203.23 [NPB] - 300.21 [2nd]
"CIAO CIAO-" He cried out, practically climbing onto the man's head and shoulders, "I GOT OVER 300. YURI!" He started running then, straight out of the score booth and over towards the doorway to the Players Club, "YUUURRRIIIII!"
"Phichit-kun!"
"DIDYOUSEE!?" The Thai skater pointed out towards the rink, "IGOTOVER300JUSTLIKEYOUSAID!"
"I saw! That's amazing!" He answered, finding his hands being taken by his friend, who in turn started hopping around in a circle around him. It was a complete 180 from the feeling he'd had just a moment ago.
I feel like I'm betraying my worry for Viktor by being excited for Phichit-kun...but I don't know what else to do since I'm trapped here for now...
"THISISTHEGREATESTDAYOFMYLIFE." Phichit went on, crying for joy as he spun Yuri on his blade-guards. Soon though, the sound of excited tears gave way to the gentler, quiet sobs of someone a small distance away, and Phichit halted in the midst of his celebratory dance to see what was happening. On one of the couches, he spotted Nikki being sat down by her sister, and she held her hands to her face, looking rather upset, "...What...happened...?"
"They think their dad is going to cancel the move to Hasetsu cuz of stuff happening with Minako." Yuri answered simply, unsure how else to put it, "Viktor hasn't come back yet either. Apparently Mikhail blames him for what happened."
"Oh...cuz of what Viktor said yesterday?"
"I guess so. I don't know if that's all though." Yuri turned towards the glass doors, "If I could get past the media...I could find Viktor and ask what happened."
"Hm..." Phichit rubbed his chin with two fingers, but then abruptly started moving away, leaving Yuri somewhat perplexed.
Where's he going so suddenly...?
A moment later, the Thai skater was rummaging around in his bag, marched right over to the small group by the couch...and plopped his own hamster-hat on Nikkita's head. Yurio and Viktoria looked on incredulously from the hat, to Nikki, and then finally to Phichit, who looked rather pleased with himself.
The young silver teen's tears slowed, perhaps more from confusion than anything, but when she pulled her hands away from her eyes and saw that perfect sunshine-smile beaming back at her, her sadness seemed entirely forgotten. She reached her hands up, feeling at the felt hat, unsure what to make of it, "What's...this...?"
"It's a bit of my happiness." Phichit answered resolutely, "And what good is happiness when you can't share it with others?"
Nikki blinked at him through tear-dampened eyelashes, but then pulled the hat off, turning it around and holding it in front of herself to see the hamster-face in the front of it. Confused for a moment, she then cracked a strained smile, and hiccupped a laugh through the lingering sadness, "It...it's really cute!"
"This one is mine, but I want you to have it." Phichit explained, "And maybe one day you'll come see the Ice Show I plan on putting together in Thailand! Yuri and Chris and Otabek and a bunch of other people are going to be in it, too!"
Otabek deadpanned the skater at the mention of it, imagining himself in a hamster-hat just like the one in the teen's hands...and coughed, "...Why me?"
Phichit flipped around and gave him a thumbs up and a wink, "Non-European bloc! Leo and Guang Hong and Seung-gil will be there, too!"
"...But Chris is on the Euro bloc."
"He's special!"
"Next on the ice, representing Switzerland...Christophe Giacometti!"
"Uso!" Yuri lamented, jerking his head around to look through the rink-side exit.
"AND HE'S GOING OUT ALREADY! WE MISSED IT!" Phichit flailed in a semi-panic, getting back up to his feet, only to spot a certain Russian coming back into the Player's Club finally...and he stopped mid-thought.
Yuri glanced back just as Nikki was pulling the felt hat back onto her head, and all eyes were on Viktor, "...What happened...?"
The silver legend just sighed and stepped closer, "I always knew I was bad at dealing with people who are upset...but I didn't think I was this bad." He answered anxiously, "Or maybe he's just that upset...hard to tell right now."
"What'd he say...?" Yuri asked, reaching out a hand for his partner to take, "They're worried he's going to call off the move to Japan."
"I asked, but he wouldn't say one way or another." Viktor answered, lacing their fingers together as he stepped up to his partner's side. He leaned his face down towards his husband's ear, "He's not handling the thing with Minako well at all. I don't think he really understands what happened. She told me that she just wanted to take things back to before he gave her the ring, but the way he's acting, it's like he thinks she dumped him outright."
"Maybe we're the ones who don't understand." Yuri offered, "She told you what she planned to do, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's what actually happened."
"Mh..."
"Well... Since there's nothing that can be done until later anyway, let's all just go find seats and cheer for Chris. I'm sure he's wondering why none of us wished him good luck before he went out there." Yuri said, speaking normally again and looking at the group, "Okay?"
For lack of any other ideas, the others nodded quietly, and those who were sitting down rose back up to their feet. Unsure if they were supposed to follow, given that they weren't competitors, Viktoria and Nikki held back a few seconds while the rest of them started moving off. The rest...except for Yurio, and moment later, even Otabek hesitated. Yuri caught the sight out the corner of his eye and paused mid-step as well, turning his head back, and Viktor stopped shortly after, looking back at the rather despondent trio. The two skaters glanced at one another for a moment before each of them twisted around to look the other way, backs to one another as they reached an arm out, Yuri to Yurio and Viktor to his cousins.
"Don't worry so much about it just yet." The elder Russian suggested, "Your papa's just feeling really down right now. He needs time and space to cool off."
Nikki looked up at her sister briefly, but then nodded limply, snuffling a strained breath before sullenly stepping closer. She clasped one pale hand to the back of her older cousin's team jacket, leaning against his side where his arm pulled her closer, and Viktoria followed closely after.
"Viktor's right," Yuri agreed, stepping out to put his arm over the Russian Tiger's shoulders and make him follow as well, "Mikhail knows how much all this stuff means to you. He's gone pretty far out of his way to make sure the stars align for all this...it would be nuts for him to wash his hands of it all so suddenly."
"But then why wouldn't he say anything when Viktor asked him if he was calling it all off?" The teen asked nervously, "He could've blustered that he wasn't going to, like it was a stupid thing to suggest."
"People do stupid things when they're angry...and say things they don't mean, just to make others feel worse than they would normally." Yuri answered, forcing the young Russian to confront the fact that he'd often done exactly the same thing, "But Mikhail's style is to keep his cards close to his chest. If he doesn't answer one way or another, no one can hold it against him."
Chris was still circling the rink-center when the group made it out onto the wall, just outside the Comerica lounge doorway. Phichit started the rallying cry, and the rest quickly joined in, adding their voice to the chorus of cheers already raised by the audience. The Swiss skater recognized those particular voices though, and lifted his head as he took his position, the slightly-miffed look on his face changing over to surprise, and then finally to a smile.
"I was starting to worry I'd be the only one without a send-off." He said, mostly to himself, and raised his hand to acknowledge the gang of skaters.
Chris' Free Skate outfit was dark and glossy, trimmed with exaggerated silver stitch-work. Black faux-leather pants, long black tank-top tucked into them, form-fitting fish-net sleeves with silver inlays, and a loose black vest over top. Streaks of neon; blue, pink, and orange, were splattered across his legs from every angle like paint had been thrown on him. It was a extravagant but colorful mess, and it was accented by a glitter purple star painted over his left eye, trimmed by silver and black, as well as one black and one fuchsia feather woven into his hair.
His arms came up and extended forward, raised to acknowledge the fanfare coming at him from all sides, and he lowered his head, closing his eyes to wait for the start of the music.
['Courtesy Call' - Thousand Foot Krutch (Nightcore remix)]
Hey-o, here comes a danger up in this club
Chris flicked his hands out and raised his head, arms coming down by his sides.
When we get started, and we ain't gonna stop
He stepped forward with his right skate, digging the toe-pick down as he waggled his right hand and shook his head.
We gonna turn it out till it gets too hot
He pivoted on his blades, dipping his hips a bit, left hand on his waist as the right came back to fan himself.
Everybody sing, hey-o
"Whew...there he goes..." Yuri mused, looking on with a nervous smile, "Melting the ice again with his mature Eros."
Even Minako had to sit back and fan herself for a moment, watching from her place in the gallery.
Tell 'em, "Turn it up till they can't no more,"
Chris started moving away from center, crossing over his blades as he picked up speed, pumping his finger into the air to personify the lyrics.
Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball
He twizzled on in right blade, arms held in a circle above his head as he twisted and turned, the glittery silver shine of his sleeves imitating the aforementioned rave-sphere.
This is your last warning, a courtesy call
Blades switched on the ice, and he glided back on the left skate, watching carefully for his mark as he lifted the right foot out behind himself and dipped down onto his outside edge...
Hey-o,
...Toe-pick, four revolutions, landing on the right skate...
...Here comes a danger up in this club
"Skater Chris with a quad Lutz right out of the gate. He's getting the crowd going!"
When we get started, and we ain't gonna stop
"...This is pretty exciting!" Viktor added, multitasking with his affections; leaning to kiss the side of his spouse's head while his free hand held his youngest cousin's shoulder, "Now I wish we hadn't cut out when we did in Bordeaux. Between Chris and Yuri, we missed a lot of the good stuff."
Yuri nodded in agreement, releasing where he held to his husband's fingers between them and wrapping that arm around Viktor's back instead, feeling the same gesture returned with an arm settling across his shoulders, "Yeah, it was stupid of us to walk out on them to talk to Sophia. We should've made her wait till the very end of the event."
We gonna turn it out till it gets too hot
Everybody sing, hey-o
Chris threw himself into a flying camel-spin, spinning several times in standard form.
Tell 'em, "Turn it up till they can't no more,"
Soon, he twisting around to grab his upward blade with one hand, pulling it up behind his head while his free hand extended forward for several spins. With skate released, the athlete dipped down to touch both blades on the ice, switching feet and pushing off for another formation, curling in over himself with his upturned leg pulled inward in cannonball style.
Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball
He quickly ripped out of the spin, jabbing the ice with a toe-pick to stop moving, feet apart, and raised his right hand up above his head.
This is your last warning, a courtesy call
He swiftly brought that arm down again, and daringly pointed at the gaggle of skaters watching from rink-side, winking as he pulled the trigger on his finger-gun.
I am not afraid of the storm that comes my way
When it hits, it shakes me to the core
The music pounded through the halls of the arena like thunder. There were hardly any people there to feel it though, save the few event officials and security staffers who were wandering the grounds...and Mikhail.
Still practically reeling from the unsavory confrontation with his nephew, the hot-headed older man pushed past a small crowd that was watching the snow from the inside of the huge glass doors, and escaped into the blustery cold of the Detroit night. He quickly pulled up the lapels of his thick woolen coat, bracing against the wind, one hand going further up to keep his hat from flying away.
The outside of the arena was deserted but for the cars and busses driving by, no one in their right mind wanting to stand in such conditions. For the Russian though, even with the years he'd spent in the north of Canada, the winter chill wasn't intolerable. The sharp, cutting air was a relief, he found, offering the bite of ice that could take his mind off of everything, even if only for a moment.
He plodded along in the inches of newly-fallen snow until he was halfway around the other side of the complex, finally feeling like he was far enough away to stop, and leaned his back up against the nearest wall. His feet were already getting cold and damp through his thin dress-shoes, but supposed he probably deserved it.
I've never been able to hold onto anything for very long. Why did I ever think this would be different?
Grey-green eyes lowered down to look at the snow surrounding his feet, creeping up in small drifts around his ankles.
From the minute I came into this world, it's been a struggle. I was never as clever as Tatiyana, and everything I did to keep those fossilized wretches from taking her away did nothing more than get me thrown out.
The memory of that soggy day was still vivid...stepping out of that house for the last time, getting into the car, and hearing the desperate, pleading screams of that 5-year-old for him not to go.
...If only he still wanted me around now like he did back then...
Everything travelled back from there, then forward again, scattered memories of all the times the pariah had found himself rejected and cast aside.
Konstantin dragging him through the town square and hacking his long silver hair off in front of everyone.
Sergio putting his foot down and refusing to leave home even before managing to say hello.
Tatiyana telling him to man-up and accept the decision of the elders to marry into different clans like she was being told to do.
Showing Minako his home and hearth in Edmonton, only to find her giving the ring back days later.
Viktoria all-but-shouting that she and her sister would be going to hang out with people who 'didn't suck.'
His former-wife officially becoming his ex-wife, serving those papers he dreaded.
The look on Viktor's face when he first showed up at the St. Petersburg Skate Club...and the rage that was so perfectly masked that no one suspected anything. Not even Yuri. Not even Yakov. Being told later not to talk to anyone without his nephew's permission. Then, getting singled out in front of everyone, and nearly being sucker-punched not long after...
...Is Yura the only person I haven't somehow pissed off this weekend?
The beleaguered man slid down the wall until he felt the crunch of snow under him, and buried his face into the inside of his hat.
There's a rumble in the floor, so get prepared for war
Chris slid out of the end of his step-sequence, twisting over himself in a quick mohawk turn to put himself back in line with the center of the ice.
When it hits, it'll knock you to the ground
He descended into a long single-knee slide...
When it shakes up everything around
...rose up again, and immediately kicked off into his triple Axel.
But survival is a must, so will you stand with us?
The audience was clapping for the success of the jump, and though the group of skaters was largely distracted by Chris' show, a few eyes were scanning the crowd.
Can you feel it, make it real
(Make me feel it)
Unable to appreciate the ice-melting performance, Nikki was too busy worrying about how much trouble she and her sister would be in later, and kept looking up and past her cousin's arm to see if her father was somewhere nearby in the audience. She could see Minako and Mari in the stand where she and Viktoria had left them earlier, but the rest of those seats were still empty.
I think it might wash away tonight,
Awaken from this never ending fight
Chris was in the midst of his combination spin, starting with the shoot-the-duck position sit-spin, and rising up a bit from that with an arm extended above himself.
It takes more than meets the eye
This war we're fighting, it's not just rotting
"You're going to miss the whole second half if you keep looking the other way." Viktor said quietly, leaning down so he'd be easier to hear at Nikki's short stature, "What's gotten you so preoccupied?"
Hey-o, here comes a danger up in this club
The blinked those big eyes at the man, but then cringed a little and drew in closer, clinging with both hands to his jacket, "Our seats with papa and Minako and Yuri's big sister are just up and behind the top of the doorway. Papa already didn't want Vikki and I to come down here in the first place...but now..."
When we get started, and we ain't gonna stop
We gonna turn it out till it gets too hot
"He's going to have to learn to let things go a little." Viktor explained, brushing some of that hair off a shoulder idly, "But he's still your dad and he's protective, like any parent would be."
Chris leapt through a quad Loop, single Loop, triple Toe-loop combo, moving off gracefully with a sassy swing of his hips to go in time with the beat of the music.
Everybody sing, hey-o
Tell 'em, "Turn it up till they can't no more,"
"How old are you again...? Fourteen, fifteen?" The Russian wondered.
"Almost fifteen." She answered, confused but curious.
"I'll bet you're the spitting image of his sister, my mom, when she was that same age." He said, "After losing her so suddenly last year, maybe your papa's gotten even more protective over you guys. I said and did some things last night that I'm not especially happy about..."
Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball
This is your last warning, a courtesy call
"...So Mikhail's probably feeling a bit backed-up into a corner right now. I tried to explain it to him earlier, but..." Viktor drew in a sigh of a breath, "...Well, he didn't take it very well. I've never been the best at explaining myself."
"Understatement of the year." Yuri chimed in.
Hey-o, here comes a danger up in this club
When we get started, and we ain't gonna stop
Ina Bauer into a series of connecting steps and elaborate footwork, Chris' silver blades carving a path through the ice.
Viktor smiled nervously, ruffling his husband's hair with the hand slung across that shoulder as he pulled it back and turned to kneel down, looking slightly up towards his petite cousin, "I think half the reason we bicker is because we're so alike, but neither of us really wants to admit it."
We gonna turn it out till it gets too hot
Everybody sing, hey-o
Chris threw himself into the last jump of his program, a quad Salchow, sweat flying from his brow as his blade hit the ice for the landing.
"Your papa, like me, has spent so long doing everything on our own, never asking for or wanting help, never really believing anyone could help...it's just second nature to want to control everything around us." Viktor went on, his fingers curled around the little pale hands before him, "But I'm hoping that once he realizes Minako still wants him, he'll be able to simmer down and take a step back...and realize that being the big controlling alpha-male all the time isn't necessary. It's not so bad being beta sometimes, and let the angels of our better natures call the shots for a while."
Yuri couldn't help but over-hear, and smiled to himself as he reached his now-free hand aside to squeeze the back of one of his husband's shoulders. Next to him, Yurio glanced back as well, seeing where Viktor was crouched on one knee before his 'sister,' and wondered what the man could possibly be saying to her that apparently fascinated her so much.
Tell 'em, "Turn it up till they can't no more,"
Let's get this thing shakin' like a disco ball
This is your last warning, a courtesy call
With the last pose, Chris had his feet apart, one toe-pick stuck into the ice, right arm out to the side and head bowed. The music finally cut out, and the screams of the excited crowd replaced it, their cheers a cacophony of sound.
Both Nikki and Viktor looked up then, realizing they'd missed the end of things, but before the older cousin could rise back up to his normal height, the younger latched her arms around his neck and head.
"Don't let him change his mind." She begged, "Whatever it takes..."
Viktor was surprised by her words, but smiled as she pulled off him again, giving his confident, characteristic wink, "I'll do my best. I'm kind of getting used to you guys being around."
.
"The score for Christophe Giacometti...201.78. He is currently in third place."
CHE - Christophe GIACOMETTI - 201.78 - 299.59 [3rd]
Phichit's eyes were wide in disbelief...and so were Chris', though for slightly different reasons.
"Wow..." Viktor hummed, a nervous smile creeping across his face, "You just missed it!"
"No comment." The blonde said stiffly, hands squeezing at the bottom of a bouquet of flowers in his hands even as he tried his best to maintain his smile while he was still on camera.