CHAPTER THREE HUNDRED TWELVE

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your Pairs Silver medalists..."

Otabek was quickly replaced on the ice by the next set of skaters, and he disappeared from sight momentarily at rink-side, looking for his water and jacket. Without the heat of the performance, and sweat on his skin, the cold of the rink quickly set in. He couldn't escape quickly enough though to return to the seat that was waiting for him, and was caught by both the Russian and Italian Ladies' singles winners.

Completely unsure what to say to either of them beyond the obligatory thank you and nodding his head, he slowly tried to peel away from the Players' Club doorway to get back to the audience. By the end of it, Mila and Sara both wondered if he was fleeing rather than just turning to leave.

Mila, of course, could do nothing but sigh dramatically as the Kazakh disappeared into the dark, "Maybe I'm coming on too strong?"

"You do have a pretty tough personality." Sara mused, "Maybe he's one of those guys who prefers one of those quiet, meek, and mild ladies."

"Well, that's pretty boring." The Russian set her hands on her hips and made a face, "What difference is there between that and a robot?"

"I think that's the point."

"That can't be right. If he wanted someone with no personality, he wouldn't be hanging out with Yuri so much. He's the complete opposite."

"I don't know that the same standards apply to other guys."

"...Ahhhh men are so complicated...!"

Otabek finally made it back to his seat and fell into it, slouching down immediately until he could lean the back of his head against the top of the seat. He drew in a breath and let it out just as quickly before finally opening his eyes to look down at the ice.

"Your show was really great!" Nikki said to his right.

Dark brown eyes tilted slightly towards the young teen, but then turned them forward again and closed them, "Thanks."

"You hardly sound happy about it." She said after, deadpanning the older skater.

"He's always kind of like that." Yurio pointed out, leaning forward against his knees to see past her, "Right?"

Otabek shrugged, "I just wanted to sit down. Even though it's not competitive," He raised a hand to gesture at the ice, "Being out there for the Exhibition can be tiring. You're still putting so much effort into making sure you don't mess up. You lose points when you do in competition, but it's just plain embarrassing to mess up when you're supposed to be doing it for fun."

"That was a pretty up-beat song you chose, too." Nikki pointed out, poking one finger against the Kazakh's shoulder, "Hard to believe someone as stoic as you would pick it." She teased.

"I want to shake this 'dark horse' label I've been saddled with." He answered simply, the music of the next show beginning to play overhead; a cut of Vivaldi's 'Winter,' "Even though I've been winning a place on the podium for a few years already, people still hear my name and wonder who I am. It's like they forget about me as soon as the events are done. I'm overshadowed by other competitors, even those who don't do as well."

Both Nikki and Yurio gave nervous looks, but the older of the two spoke, "That's because you never say anything."

Otabek kept his forward gaze fixed, "I guess."

"If you're looking for notoriety, people need to know who you are, not just what you look like." Yurio went on, "Hell, even Katsudon would be largely unknown if not for Viktor being such a loud-mouth about him."

Nikki elbowed him and gave him 'the look,' all but snorting at him like an angry bull.

The blonde coughed and cleared his throat, "Ah...er... I mean, if not for Viktor being his spokesperson." He looked at the silver teen again, and was relieved to see an expression of approval on her face as she returned her gaze to the show, "You just need to put yourself out there more. When you medal and do those post-event interviews, don't just sit there quietly, with a look on your face like you're wondering about whether you left the lights on at home, rather than about what you've just achieved. Or when people talk to you, don't duck out like you have something more important to do."

"Yuri's right." Nikki agreed, "Easiest way for people to remember you is for them to see and hear from you more."

Otabek sat in his uncomfortable silence for a while, the Pair skate Exhibition going on ahead of him. The two teens to his right watched him quietly for a moment before letting him be. When the music finally ended though, and the skaters were making their way to rink-side, Otabek stood as well, and moved off without a word, heading back the way he'd previously come.

Yurio and Nikki watched him go in confusion, then glanced at one another before wordlessly agreeing to go after him, and gave chase in the dark. By the time they caught up, and pushed the curtain aside to get into the Players' Club, they spotted the Kazakh standing just inside, as though second guessing his earlier plan.

"Why'd you run off like that?" Yurio wondered, "When we said you should put yourself out there more, we didn't mean literally right this second."

"I know." He answered simply, "Every journey begins with a first step though, right...?"

"...Yes...?" The teen replied anxiously, "But the first step might take you off the edge of a cliff if you're not careful and watch where you're going."

"It's not quite walking off the edge of a cliff." Otabek huffed, an uncomfortable expression creeping across his usually-neutral face, "Call it a leap of faith, if nothing else..."

"...What are you planning?"

"Walking back a mistake I made? I'm not really sure." He said simply, drawing in a breath and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his team jacket, then stepping off into the lounge.

Nikki peeked around Yurio's shoulder to watch the man go, "What is he doing?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Yuri! Nikki!" Someone else called, dragging the pair's attention away from where Otabek was going. Off to the left, opposite to where the Kazakh had gone, they spotted Yuri and Viktor waving at them, apparently having just finished some brief pre-show interview. With nothing else to do, the young duo went off towards them.

"You guys sure came back in a hurry." Viktor pointed out, noticing the pair still looking to the side, trying to see through the crowd, "What's wrong?"

"Otabek said he wants to be noticed more, and took off like he had some specific mission in mind. We can't see where he went though." Yurio answered.

The older Russian blinked at them, but then stood up on the toes of his blade-guards, trying to use his height to look for them. He spotted the Kazakh in a far corner, clear across the lounge, "Oh, he's talking to Mila."

The blonde suddenly looked pale, "Leap of faith! My ass!"

"Eh?" Yuri gaped at him, "What are you talking about?"

"We told him to talk to people more. I feel like he took us way too literally." Nikki answered, "Yuri said Mila has a thing for Beka though...but Beka said he didn't have time for that kind of thing."

"Talking to someone doesn't mean you're dating them." Yuri pointed out, snaking an arm around his spouse's back, "If that's all it took to be considered in a relationship, then I've been dating Chris for years."

Viktor chortled, "Me too."

"Maybe I've been dating Phichit-kun, too." Yuri added, "Since we lived together for so long."

"I'm actually dating Makkachin." The Russian added, "Sorry, Yuri...I should've told you a long time ago."

The younger skater gasped dramatically, free hand on his chest and a joking look of disbelief on his face, "Viktor! I always knew there was someone else!"

"He's just got such a cute, squishable face!"

"Alright alright, enough already." Yurio barked, "We get it."

The older skaters just laughed to themselves, grabbing their team jackets from their pile of gear, and waved as they started heading past them towards the curtain, "Don't read into things so much." Yuri suggested, "If Mila's the only other person who's tried to get Otabek out of his shell, then it makes sense that he'd go to her first. And if they end up dating, then they end up dating."

They paused just before the throw though, and Viktor turned his head back with a mischievous look on his face, "Girls do you a lot of good, too, Yuri!" He commented, "Maybe you should think about hooking up!"

"What." The blonde deadpanned the pair, but they were too busy smirking and glibly cackling under their breath to take notice of him, "What a bunch of dweebs."

"Right?" Nikki agreed, crossing her arms and making a face, "Who would you even go out with? You barely know anyone. Maybe someone from your fan club...?" She suggested dryly.

"Don't tempt it. If I ever talked to one of them alone, it'd be a blood-bath. I'd have to date all of them at the same time just to keep the peace."

"Yeah... Weirdos."

By then, the Ladies' Silver medalist was on the ice, finishing a performance and getting ready to take her exit. The Gold group would be starting after her. Yuri and Viktor were waiting just to the side of the rink entrance, blade-guards already off and jackets stowed nearby. As the music came to an end and the audience cheered, butterflies began rising in both of their stomachs.

"Ah I'm getting nervous..." Yuri mumbled, lips pressed to the back of his partner's shoulder as he clung to the man's back, "Feels like it took an eternity to get to this point."

Viktor turned his head back and kissed the younger skater's forehead, patting those hands where they held to his front, "But we're finally here. Let's have some fun."

Brown eyes shone, and Yuri nodded, letting go to come around the Russian's side. As the Ladies' skater stepped off the ice, they stepped up to it, and waited a moment for the lights to change. The arena darkened as the cheering and applause slowly died down, until nothing was left but the excited hum of the crowd in the dark. The single line of light around the rink's inner baseboard glowed brightly, creating the illusion of a pit with a mirror-like panel across the top, scratches in the ice like cracks in glass where the light caught them just right.

"Ladies and Gentlemen..." The announcer's voice called overhead.

The pair took a step through the door, fingers laced together between them as they glided forward into the dark.

"...Your Men's Singles Gold Medalists..."

Yuri lifted his head to hear that word, "Medalists..." He echoed, looking over at the silver legend sliding along next to him.

Viktor tilted his head slightly towards his partner and smiled, "That was nice of them."

Spotlights burst to life above them, shining down brightly as they came to stop in the center of the rink.

"Yuri...and Viktor...Nikiforov...!"

The audience was wild with excitement, and the pair raised their free hands to wave, twisting around one another to greet the audience on all sides. They raised both their arms and bowed deeply, looking at one another quickly before separating and moving off to opposite ends of the rink to drum up more excitement. As though planned, they paused in the center of their own halves of the ice, doing their own individual greetings before returning to center, gliding around one another casually. Viktor was always ready to start a show, but Yuri needed half a moment longer, trying to catch his breath long before he'd ever worn himself down. He drew in a deep breath, paying more attention to the ice for those few seconds than anything else, and lifted his head again only when he felt arms come up around his shoulders and a kiss against the back of his neck.

"Don't get too worked up." Viktor mused, letting the man go so he could turn in place to face him. Hands went down the younger skater's arms until both hands could be taken by his fingers, "You still won Gold even though you'd been hurt before."

"Actually...I wasn't even thinking about that." Yuri answered, "I just realized...this is technically the first Pair Exhibition we've done together at an event that's technically mine. I was too sick in Calgary, and then you took off to go back to Russia during the Cup of China Exhibition..."

Viktor blinked at him with an awkward smile, as though he hadn't noticed at all, "...So...we only did Pair Exhibitions at my events?"

"Mh. Technically."

"Oh." The Russian just smirked even more then, "We'll have to make it extra then, to make up for the missed opportunity."

"It's already pretty extra."

"Extra extra." Viktor said, pulling his hands back to draw Yuri in closer. Setting the younger man's hands to wrap around his back, he pulled his own back again and set them gently on either side of Yuri's face, thumbs gently on cheeks as fingers curved around the back of his neck. The Russian then tilted his face down, setting their foreheads together, stealing a moment between just them despite being the center of the attention in the middle of the rink, spotlights beaming down from all sides, "I love you. I wish I could skate with you forever." He said quietly, "As much as I adore these moments before a show...it's always the saddest moment for me, too, because it's one day closer to the end."

Yuri was taken slightly aback by those words, feeling tears forming in his eyes as quickly as they had in one other particular moment, just over a year before.

.

"Viktor...be mine until I retire...!" He declared.

The Russian looked on at him in surprise, but reached to pull up one of his student's hands, "It's like a marriage proposal." He said, and kissed that bare ring finger before pulling the young skater back into another hug, "I hope you never retire."

.

Yuri pulled one hand back and rubbed his eyes, "Even if it all comes to an end one day...it also means we got the chance to start something. That makes everything worthwhile."

The silver legend nodded, reaching to take that hand in his own, and kissed the ring upon that finger, "Hajimemashou ka?" (Shall we begin?)

"Hai."