At this point, I should stop promising to update more frequently. Life happened, work happened, writer's block happened, working on other WIPs happened, and I-wrote-this-a-year-ago-but-forgot-to-upload-it-somewhere-other-than-AO3. This chapter is about relationship building before plot stuff starts happening again in the next few chapters (although one could argue that anything contributing to character development counts as plot too). Enjoy!

Victor was roused from the depths of sleep by soft, melodious humming. And dog breath in his face.

"Ugh, Makka, get off!" Victor grumbled as he shoved lightly at the massive pile of fur on his chest. The fur pile refused to move, so the young man settled for wrinkling his nose and turning his head to the side. This is what he got for sleeping on his back. But that's what happens when he's stressed; it almost becomes too much effort for his body to even handle turning over. The luxury of burying his face into a soft pillow was only available to a calm, carefree Victor.

Which he certainly wasn't these days. It was almost Worlds.

Exercise in the morning, practice in the afternoon – interspersed with interviews – dinners with sponsors in the evenings, more practice afterwards and sometimes, maybe sometimes, time to study for his degree. The young man barely felt he had time to breathe, let alone rest in his optimal sleeping position. But this was good. Victor thrived on the rush of the season. At least it wasn't like last year, when he was shackled by a bulky knee brace and crutches. He thought he'd been done with it by August, but nope; he'd flown too close to the sun by skipping physical therapy and walked away with a withdrawal from the Grand Prix Finals after his knee gave out during the short program. Boy did Yakov yell at him for that! As did his physical therapist, when he returned to St. Petersburg with his head hung low and a more pronounced limp than he'd left the city with.

Victor attempted to raise said knee in a second attempt to push off the weight on his front. He lacked the strength, in his groggy state, to push Makkachin fully, but the nudge to the dog's side finally stirred life into the animal, who yawned – sending a waft of dog breath in Victor's face again – before stretching and settling back down at his owner's side and burying his face into the young man's side. Victor took a few seconds to enjoy not having 60 pounds of dog on his chest before turning attention to the thing that woke him in the first place.

'Mornin' Claire,' Victor yawned, addressing the siren in his head.

'Ah, Vicky!' The humming halted and Claire's chirpy voice immediately responded, 'What's up?'

'I think that's supposed to be my question,' Victor replied, reaching for his phone to check the time and groaning; the screen flashed '3:00' mockingly at him, 'Is there a reason you're humming at three in the morning?'

Claire huffed out a laugh, 'First of all, sorry; second of all, it's the evening here, and I'm perfectly within my rights to sing if I'm in the mood.'

'You could do it without waking me up,' Victor yawned again. He ran his hand over his face before reaching down to pet Makkachin, who had already dozed off again, 'But go on and tell me what the good mood is for.'

Claire laughed again, 'I had my first fitting! The dress is gorgeous; I feel like a princess!'

Ah yes, the adventures of a soon-to-be-married woman. With two months to go before the wedding, Victor's only respite from his own busy schedule was hearing about the stress of planning. Victor felt he now knew more about wedding planning, booking, organizing, and accessory-buying than a 20-year-old probably should, but when he mentioned that to Claire, she merely shrugged it off as useful for when he does get married. She claimed that, at least then, he would be one of those fiancés who actually contributed to wedding planning instead of leaving it all to his poor partner because they didn't understand what was going on.

Victor didn't feel like it was his place to ask if she was projecting some frustration with Josh.

'So you won't mind if I tell all your other suitors that their princess is in another castle, then?'

'…What?'

'Isn't that what the role of the groomsman – or in this case, bridesman – was for in ancient times? Protect the bride from dowry thieves and those who would "dare try to part the soulmates before their holy union…"' Victor frowned as his attempt at a sarcastic tone was stifled by another large yawn.

'Hardy har, I'm pretty sure that's a myth or something,' and Victor knew she was rolling her eyes, 'And what do you mean "other suitors"? If anyone will need defending from suitors, it'd be Josh. He's the that had one of his soulmates decide that professing their "superior" love at a time like this was just such a great idea.'

'Ouch', Victor winced.

'No worries here, though. He didn't think twice before closing that link. I told him he didn't have to, but he said he wouldn't tolerate anyone insulting our own bond like that and, well, who am I to protest such a sweet gesture?'

Victor resisted the urge to scratch the back of his right hand.

'Speaking of "other suitors",' Claire cut through, 'Have you found your plus one?'

Victor sighed.

'That bad?'

Victor closed his eyes. Not really, and yes absolutely, at the same time. He knew he didn't need to take anyone to Claire's wedding – he would enjoy the occasion either way – but a part of him had badly wanted to take the opportunity handed to him to be normal for once.

The first person that had come to mind was Christophe. It took a month after their trip to Courchevel for Victor to accept he may have a tiny crush on his friend and so he'd planned to find Christophe after maybe winning a medal at the Grand Prix Final, but he didn't even get that far. His blasted injury quickly sent him to the medical area – and out of the competition – during the short programs and he couldn't bear to look at the younger boy after that. Of course, Christophe, the stronger of the two of them, stayed by his side as he sulked in his hotel room afterwards. Just the two of them, alone together in Goyang. As the throbbing in his knee mocked him for pushing too hard that summer, Victor had meekly asked Christophe to accompany him. It should have been easy.

But Christophe had looked at Victor, green eyes piercing blue, and saw right through him. Victor would have been happy with a 'yes'. He would have accepted a 'no'. But it was the 'no, because…' that had been echoing in his head in the months since that sad afternoon.

Christophe had known about his crush, it turns out. "Guy friends don't usually stare at each other dreamily when they think the other isn't looking," he had answered to Victor's flustered expression at that revelation.

The younger boy had laughed good-naturedly and kissed Victor on the cheek, "You don't want to date me, really," and the look that flashed through Christophe's eyes as he said that warranted questioning, but it was gone before Victor could open his mouth, "And I think actually finding out if you're a good lay or not would take the fun out of teasing you about it. But you've told me before that I'm the closest thing you have to a best friend, and you're very close to me too, so I don't want to ruin that."

And that was that. Christophe insisted that they remain friends, but he wouldn't go to the wedding as a plus one because he felt it was too 'couple-y' as a thing to do.

Which was fair.

But it didn't help the dismay in Victor's heart.

'You know you don't have to bring anyone,' Claire spoke into the silence. Victor closed his eyes, trying to ascertain if he could sense any pity in her tone, 'It's not mandatory.'

It was too easy to latch onto that.

'Are you saying you have a pretty cousin already waiting for me on your end?'

'Not if you're going to make stupid jokes like that!'

'So you do have someone?'

The sigh that echoed in his mind in response really made him wish she was in front of him to see her expression. It really was too easy to rile Claire up; something she had once told him was a talent unique to him. Imagining her rolling her eyes at him while he stuck his tongue out at her was much more fun than imagining her feeling bad for him over this.

And so he laughed. Whether it was with her, at her, at his joke, or at his lonely state, he wasn't sure.

Victor let go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding as soon as he heard "…Aaaand CUT!"

Commercial shoots so close to major competitions were usually a big no-no for him, since it cut into his practice time. But his agent had called him with a cameo in an advertisement for Nike Russia. And one does not simply turn down an opportunity with a potential sponsor like Nike. So here he was, surrounded by lights, cameras, and people at 2:00 on a sunny Saturday afternoon, when he would normally be having lunch at Na Parakh after a fruitful morning/afternoon training session.

He reached up to run a hand through his hair before stopping, figuring that the stylist on set would kill him for such a move. As he skated from the center of the rink to the barriers where the crew and cameras were waiting, he redirected his hand to his jaw and massaged it.

The shoot director, Alexei, waved him over.

"Nice job Victor," the short man said, stroking his short beard thoughtfully. Victor didn't think his part in this was anything impressive, but it was polite to just smile and nod, "You're not going to be on for longer than five seconds, but as long as we have a clear shot of your face and one of your jumps, we're golden!"

"Is there anything you need me to do differently?"

"Can you do the pattern you did before but just put more of an oomph," Alexei stomped on the ground in demonstration, "when you stop in front of the camera?"

"Okay," Victor nodded, "How close do you want me to get to the camera? Because the easiest way to do that is going to leave a spray of ice on the lens."

"It shouldn't be a problem. We'll keep the camera down low to focus on the movement of your lower half, but we don't actually have to get too close to get the shot we want."

Victor nodded and hopped back onto the ice. It was only five seconds of quick compulsory figures, nothing he couldn't handle doing over and over, but all it did right now was remind him of what his body was supposed to be doing. He had a week and a half before the 2009 World Championships in the U.S. and, having withdrawn from the Grand Prix Finals, it was his final chance to earn a spot in the next years' Olympics. His first Olympics. He'd spent years seeing his seniors prepare for the grand stage, while Yakov held him back, but now it was his chance! With only Worlds in his way. For the past month, before each practice, he'd centered himself by thinking about what he was fighting for – the ice branded with the five rings, and the excitement of the event that would keep him afloat in the precious seconds preceding his opportunity to prove himself for his country.

…Really, he was living up to the 'airhead' reputation given to him by his rinkmates.

Not during practice of course! Yakov had been keeping a close, stern eye on him since the Grand Prix Finals, but Victor's memories of his 'empty days', as he now called them, were enough to deter him from letting his mind wander anywhere other than the blades beneath his feet.

Right now, however, he allowed himself to let his mind wander. Distantly listening to Alexei's direction and making minute adjustments, the monotony of the compulsory figures allowed him to take a breath and think about other things. It felt like hours, but really, it was only about 20 minutes before "CUT!" echoed through the rink for the final time.

As Victor slicked the ice off the sides of his skates and put his skate guards on, he looked at Alexei murmuring with the camera operator. According to the schedule, his work was done here; he'd filmed a talking head moment earlier that he assumed would be spliced into the ad as well, so he could just say a quick thank you and be on his way.

"Do you want to come to lunch with us?"

Victor turned to find a young man who had introduced himself earlier as the second camera assistant, Dimitri. The young man seemed to be about Victor's age, with green eyes and half as many crease-lines on his forehead and under his eyes as he did freckles on his cheeks. He pointed at himself and then jerked his thumb at a blonde PA packing away a slate. She noticed the attention on her and waved shyly in the boys' direction.

"There's a coffee shop next door and Anna and I were thinking of picking up a snack before heading back near St. Petersburg State. You're free right now, right?"

Victor nodded, "Let me get changed."

It only took another twenty minutes to do so, pack up his things, and say goodbye to the rest of the crew, but Victor was still mildly surprised when he found the two students waiting for him just outside the skating arena. A part of him had expected to just meet them at the café, but he appreciated that they actually cared enough for his company to wait for him.

"You go to St. Petersburg State too, right?" Anna asked, "What do you study?"

"Sociology, alongside a few Economics courses, when I'm actually on campus," Victor responded, opening the door to the coffee shop. The smell of freshly ground coffee and spices hit him in the face, and he was immediately glad that he'd agreed to join his new companions here instead of heading straight back to Yubileyny Sports Palace alone, "I'm usually busy with skating so I have a more flexible schedule. You probably wouldn't have seen me."

"Eh, we probably wouldn't have seen you anyway, as Film Arts aren't in the same building."

"Oh, that's right…" Victor laughed nervously, "Shows how little I pay attention."

The three picked a table close to the door and perused the menu. It was the middle of the day, so coffee wasn't exactly needed, but there were small meals that were perfect for their current appetites. Victor quickly decided that he was in the mood for a pirozhki or two.

"So what's going on with your skating?" Dimitri piped up as Anna got up to get their food, "Since that's your primary focus? We were only assisting on that shoot for experience, but the director did tell us that you were a rising star."

Victor smiled, "Nice to know that's what he thinks. I've got the World Championships coming up and I'm gunning for a spot in the Olympics next year, so I've been practicing a lot at Yubileyny Sports Palace –"

"Oh, you're at Yubileyny! Do you know Anya Sokolova? Tall brunette ice dancer? She's in my cinematography course seminar!"

"I've heard Georgi mention her once or twice," Victor said, trying not to let his smile widen into a smirk. Half a dozen times a day, more like. Victor was having fun seeing the young man follow her with hearts in his eyes and not-so-subtly flex his arms (after covering his soulmarks, of course) whenever they were in close proximity, "She studies film too?"

"Yeah. She's really talkative in the class. Tends to dominate conversations but seems nice enough. She doesn't talk much about skating though – what's training like at this time of year?"

Victor breathes a sigh of relief as he easily slips into discussing his passion. Anna returns with all their plates, picking up on the conversation.

"How about we go skating?"

Victor blinked at her, his hand frozen reaching for his food, "Sorry?"

Anna seemed unperturbed, "I was thinking about it while waiting in line. I've never been, and you looked like you were having fun out on the ice. I don't know about Dimitri, but I was wondering if we could go back to the rink and…y'know, just have a bit of fun?"

Victor blinked again, first at the idea that him turning a bunch of figures had seemed fun to her from behind the camera, and then at the suggestion itself. He looked over at Dimitri, who nodded.

They want to spend more time with you, idiot!

Victor finally got the pirozhki into his mouth and chewed slowly. It occurred to him that this was the first time he was in a position to introduce people to his world, and it scared him a little.

Accept the offer!

His scolding internal voice sounded suspiciously like Claire. But he had to think this over a little. It felt a bit sad to realize that he didn't have any real immediate friendships to base a response on. Not since…Fima. He felt he was barely holding on to Christophe as it was, and Shousei was still keeping him at arms distance in many ways (he didn't even know if he could call the kid a proper friend yet). But the back of his hand twinged with a phantom pain and that drove him forward more than anything.

"Sure," he said.

The conversation continued, and Victor decided to take a chance to focus on his lunchmates. Dimitri was from a family with four siblings. Anna was an only child. Dimitri couldn't whistle. Anna loved dogs (and absolutely fawned over his photos of Makkachin). Dimitri's favorite sport was football. Anna's favorite color was green.

And, when they finally made it back to the rink that had been cleared of the camera crew, Victor learned that Dimitri was a mess on the ice and Anna's laugh was infectious as hell.

This wasn't something he was interested in letting go anytime soon.

So, there you all are! Victor is making friends outside the world of his demanding career.

December 11-13, 2008 was the Grand Prix Finals. I had Victor's injury come back up to mirror Brian Joubert withdrawing due to a back injury. It did take place in Goyang, South Korea. I wanted this experience to hammer into Victor the importance of knowing his limits, but also reveal that he's a little insecure about how others see him if he doesn't live up to their expectations, two traits that we get hints of during the anime.

It was an absolute pain trying to look up how much skaters make outside of competitions, but I do know that they have sponsorships and do advertisements. I somewhat based the scene of Victor's shoot on the behind-the-scenes videos of Yuzuru Hanyu's commercials. The rink they do the shoot in is the Go ICE All-Weather Ice Arena, which is more likely to be rented out for a shoot than a busier, more prominent rink like Yubileyny. I didn't give details, but in my head, I based the café that Victor, Dimitri, and Anna visit on a real café, the Joy of Coffee, and its menu. I picked it because it seemed like a good replacement for the closest shop that's actually near the Go ICE rink, Neva Coffee, which is actually a coffee wholesaler.

Yes, I did look up the degrees that Saint Petersburg State University offered and their courses.

Shoutout to the Anya cameo, however brief it was! We know how things go between her and Georgi later on.