Set after episode 6.
"Yuuurrii!" Viktor called as his protégé looked around, searching for him, probably. "We have an appointment. Come on!" Yuri hustled down the hall under the weight of his bag.
"Where are we going?" Yuri asked, dubiously.
"You think I'm going to wear you out today?" Viktor scoffed. "You should trust me more." He pushed open one of the little used side doors leading out of the area and waved to a waiting taxi. He opened the door and hurried Yuri inside. As the car pulled onto the busy street, he leaned back and watched Yuri silently.
For his part, Yuri was gazing out the window. He'd grown used to Viktor watching him by now. His cheeks were a little pink, but he was ignoring it otherwise. Viktor was surprised at how normal their silence felt. It was almost like being alone, but less lonely. Normally, Viktor, always the showman, even off the ice, was constantly chattering and teasing his travelling companions to the point that Yakov had regularly threatened to slap him if he didn't shut up.
Doing nothing like this was still boring, though. He pulled out his phone and opened up his twitter feed to see a question from a fan in response to last night's photo. "Are you and Yuri dating? Sure looks like it!" Viktor smirked and typed back. "Nope. Yuri puts all his love for me out on the ice." He added a dramatically crying emoji and posted.
A reply, this time from someone else, came almost instantly. "Judging his performance today, he must love you a lot."
"What?" Yuri had turned to look at him, and only then did Victor notice just how much he was grinning.
"Do you ever check your Twitter? I'm flirting with you all on my own over here." He teased, watching a red flush creep up Yuri's cheeks as he dutifully thumbed through his feed.
Yuri huffed and typed out. "Of course I do. I said it in a press conference already."
"Yuri, they mean do you love me romantically yet?" Victor posted quickly. It was funny, to be having a public conversation about such private matters while they were in a confined space alone, but it was fun. He got to see Yuri worrying the tip of his pink tongue with his teeth as he typed out his response.
"You wish." Came the reply moments later.
"Hahahahaha." Victor posted, then after a beat he leaned into Yuri and whispered sexily "What if I do?"
Yuri shyly backed away, or tried to. He mostly ended up wedging himself against the door of the small cab and he didn't have anywhere left to go when Victor crowded in closer. Yuri laughed nervously and looked away. "You of all people know I don't have time to be messing around right now."
Victor hadn't been talking seriously, but somehow he felt just a tiny bit disappointed all the same. It was funny, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been rejected, even so gently. Usually the ones who worshipped him the way Yuri did were really easy. It was one of the mysterious things about Yuri. He'd paid a price for being such a loner, not just in skating, either. He had this aura, though, that he was mostly okay alone. He seemed complete all on his own in some fundamental way that Victor didn't really understand.
"Well," Victor shrugged, leaning back into his own seat again, "It's good publicity for people to wonder."
Another long silence descended and held until the car pulled up at a lavish building. He was waiting for Yuri to ask what they were doing here, but apparently, the young man was lost in his own thoughts. He followed Victor dutifully to the door without comment, and Victor finally had to do his own set up as they entered. He quickly approached a woman behind the white marble counter and said, with a cheer he didn't really feel at the moment, "We have an appointment for a couples massage!" At least Yuri's shocked face didn't fail to delight him as he turned back to give the other man a wide grin. "What?" Victor teased, "It's boring alone. The nice massage is for me. Your sports massage is probably going to hurt a lot, you know?"
"Mmm." Yuri said, his voice full of contentment, "I actually kinda like that."
"Are you a masochist or something?" Victor quipped, laughing.
"Yeah. Athlete. Aren't we all?" Maybe a little, at least, but Victor wondered if it didn't go deeper than that for Yuri. It didn't seem like he'd have the chance to find out, though. He shouldn't be irritated. That definitely wasn't what he was here for, and it wouldn't do to get distracted during the season, Yuri was definitely right about that.
I hope you enjoyed this little snippet. Please do let me know what you thought. xo Vita