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Jack woke to a screech from the other side of his apartment, loud and excited and so on-key it could only come from Bitty. He couldn't remember falling asleep on the couch, but he automatically jolted up and ran down the hallway. The sour beer smell from their Stanley Cup celebrations still lingered, and Jack made a mental note to deep clean the floors again as he skidded to a stop in the bedroom doorway.
"Are you okay?" he asked before he could properly take in the sight in front of him. He wasn't out of breath, being a professional athlete, but he was hyper aware of Bitty and ready to confront anything that made his boyfriend scream.
Bitty sat in the middle of the bed, an array of familiar BLU-ray cases on the comforter, the silver haired figure skater and his graceful student on their covers. He was holding three plushies - the two skaters and their dog - clutched closely to his chest. There were tears in his eyes.
"Jack!" Bitty gasped, pointing to his computer screen. "It's beautiful."
The clock glared 5:48am over Bitty's shoulder. It was still dark outside, and he was pretty sure he had to be up for practice soon, but he had the time to catch an hour or two more of sleep. He yawned, walking around their bed to slip under the covers on his side. It was cozier than his couch, even if Bitty had the light on.
“Do you want me to go to the living room?” Bitty asked as if reading his mind, shifting over to make room on the bed.
Jack shook his head along the pillow. “I like hearing you while I fall asleep.”
“Aww,” he heard through the computer.
"What are you watching?" Jack shifted, stretching into the sheets.
"Livestream straight from Osaka."
Jack rolled to his side, and on the screen he could see an orchestra taking a small break between numbers. In the corner of the screen was a small window with a familiar head of dark hair. "Is that Yuuri?"
“Can’t watch anything about Yuri!!! On Ice without the real thing.”
“Hi, Jack.” Yuuri waved a hand from what looked to be his bedroom.
Jack managed to wave back and offer a “Congratulations on the movie,” before his eyes fell closed. Sleep came closer with each breath, and there was something so calming about hearing Bitty chat with his friend from across the world about figure skating, from the comfort of the bed they shared.
“Is he there?” Bitty whispered, and the excitement he couldn’t hide from his tone was all the indication Jack needed to know who they were talking about. Viktor Nikiforov. A strong athlete and a charismatic force, at least what Jack had seen of him. Any young skater’s natural idol, Bitty included.
“No,” Yuuri replied. “He went to Saint Petersburg last week. I’ll be meeting him there soon, though. I can’t believe we’re going to be living together. Do you remember back when--”
“Yes. Your merch collection rivaled mine.”
“Yeah,” Yuuri agreed. “But you were much better at stalking his internet presence.”
Jack snorted, and Bitty swatted at his leg, laughing.
“I miss him.” Yuuri sighed, and Jack could hear himself in those words, hear Bitty and even Viktor, despite not knowing him very well. It was the same heartache anyone felt, when forced to live away from their partner, even for a little while. “I need to finish up some stuff with the JSF and then I’ll be heading to Russia.”
“Oh honey, you must be dying, waiting for that.”
Jack tried to hum in agreement, but the sound never left his sleepy mind.
“A bit,” Yuuri replied, softly.
“Time will go by quickly, especially if you’re traveling. You’ll be together again soon.”
Yuuri hummed. “This song is great.”
“It is.” Bittle sucked in a breath “They told you what the announcement was, right?”
“Maybe…” Yuuri’s hesitation rolled over his words, and Jack knew Yuuri had no chance of keeping his information secret in the face of Eric Bittle’s enthusiasm.
“Tell me! Tell me!”
Yuuri laughed. “You’ll find out soon. The concert is almost over.”
“Oh, I love this song so much.” They both quieted, taking a moment to listen. “I still can’t believe they made a movie about you two. This airport scene was incredible.”
“Yeah,” Yuuri said with a wistful happiness. In the background there was the soft thrum of the piano, every press of the key bringing another wave of sleep to Jack.
The song came to an end. “Tell me, tell me, tell me,” Bitty chanted, voice low but adamant.
Yuuri chuckled. “Fine. Since you’re going to find out soon anyway. The announcement is information about movie. It's….going to be about Viktor’s childhood.”
Jack knew Bitty had shoved a plushie into his mouth, probably the one of Makkachin, because his scream was muffled. Likely for Jack’s on sake, which made him drag his foot along the bed until it rubbed against Bittle’s thigh.
Bittle wrapped his hand around Jack’s foot and squeezed his excitement. “Tell. Me. Everything.”
“I don’t know much. I know the story, of course. His mom wanted the best for him, for his skating. Yakov took him in and he and Lilia raised him. That’s what I know, but to watch it… I wonder if it will be strange.”
“Separate yourself from him for a second. Remember the Yuuri I met back at Junior Worlds? The one with Makkachin skate guards? What does he think of a whole movie devoted to Viktor and how he became the five time consecutive World Champion?
“He’s… excited. Very much so.”
The mattress shook as Bitty fell back onto it. “Squeeeeee,” he said softly, but very high pitched, then he was up again. “Oh my god, I love this song. This one’s my favorite.”
“You said that about the last one!”
Jack felt one last warm wave of consciousness slip away and between breaths he fell asleep.
In the morning when he woke, the laptop was still on. There was an image on the screen of Viktor walking towards the ocean, blue and white with the words ICE ADOLESCENCE written on the bottom. In the corner there was still a window up, showing Katsuki Yuuri asleep on the other end. Jack shook his head, chuckling, and closed the laptop with a whispered, “See you next level.”
fin