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Their kiss broke off for air. Yuzuru let his forehead rest against Javier's shoulder, drawing deep breaths, feeling Javier's chest rise and fall alongside his own.
"So..." Javier said.
So.
**
Privacy, they agreed. They could do this, but they would keep their relationship private to avoid all the gossip, all the controversy.
Maybe they should have discussed what privacy meant.
**
They went out to dinner to a sushi restaurant with Nam and Rylie, despite Yuzuru protesting that going to a Canadian sushi restaurant would not really make him feel like he was back in Sendai. The server came and placed their dishes in front of them.
Yuzuru frowned at his bowl. "I don't want avocado in my chirashi."
Javier picked up the huge chunks of avocado with his chopsticks and put them all in his own mouth. "Okay?" he said, chewing.
Yuzuru beamed at him.
Nam and Rylie exchanged looks.
**
Brian glanced over as Javier hit the boards. "Javi, take ten."
Javier nodded. Then he sneezed.
Yuzuru suddenly appeared somehow on the other side of the boards holding his Pooh tissue box, despite Brian seeing him in the lounge about five minutes ago. "Are you cold?!" he exclaimed.
"I'm okay, mi amo… igo," Javier assured him. He sneezed again. "Achoo!"
"Pooh-san will take care of you," Yuzuru cooed. Brian raised an eyebrow as he watched Yuzuru hold up a tissue to Javier's nose.
Javier blew, and Yuzuru wiped all lingering traces of snot off his face. "Better now!" Yuzuru proclaimed proudly.
Brian sighed. This was just getting ridiculous.
**
The table was bustling with chatter as skaters passed plates of food around. At the end of the table, Javier was trying unsuccessfully to stifle his grin, while Yuzuru blushed like the beets he was trying to put on his plate.
Elene's jaw twitched. "Javier, that's my thigh."
"Oh! Sorry," Javier said, and Yuzuru broke off into open laughter.
**
"Shh," Javier reminded Yuzuru as they tumbled into the men's showers. Yuzuru couldn't help laughing, though, and it seemed to be contagious as Javier felt himself chuckling.
"No, we need to be quiet," Javier said again, and Yuzuru nodded. He started to work on Javier's shirt while Javier sucked on his neck -- and Yuzuru moaned, and shit, that echoed through the room --
The door slammed open. "Hey, you guys? We can hear you," Cynthia said. "For god's sake, get a room. It's not like there aren't plenty to reserve here," she huffed, and left the door swinging behind her.
Javier and Yuzuru stared at the door, aghast.
**
Brian approached his skaters, who were sitting inside his office with their heads hanging down like two juvenile delinquents. He sighed; he never thought he'd be having this kind of conversation. "Listen, about your..."
"We're not in a relationship," Yuzuru blurted. "It's private."
Javier patted Yuzuru's knee. "I think we can give that up now.”
"Yeah," Brian said dryly. "Look, nobody here has a problem with it. Hell, half the skaters here are happy for you, while the other half think you two are the cutest things ever." Javier chortled, while Yuzuru's face reddened. "But you gotta watch yourselves when you're in public. I mean, it's just so obvious."
Javier and Yuzuru nodded in sync. "So..." Javier said.
"So no eating each other's food, no blowing each other's noses, and definitely no touching underneath the table," Brian finished. "All right?"
They nodded again. Brian, feeling quite accomplished at this kind of talk now, left them with manly pats on the shoulder.
Once alone, Yuzuru heaved a deep sigh. “So… I guess we’re not very good at this privacy thing.”
“I don’t know,” Javier said slowly. “I don’t think I ever really tried that hard at it. I don’t think I really wanted to hide what we have.” He paused, considering. “I think I want everybody to know how lucky I am, and maybe that’s why I act the way I do.”
Yuzuru sat still. Then he offered, “Coach didn’t say anything about the showers.”
They stared at each other for a second, and then they scrambled out of the office.