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This was not going to be an easy conversation. Celestino was going to crack some jokes, until he realized that Phichit was serious, and then he was going to throw an epic fit. It wouldn’t change anything, unless Celestino decided to stop coaching him or something, but he was not going to be happy about Phichit’s new situation.
Phichit hadn’t even meant to tell him. He’d started working on an exhibition skate to “Sympathy for the Devil”, and when Celestino started teasing him about being the devil, he’d blurted out, “Nah, but you’re close. My boyfriend’s the devil. I’m just the prince consort of Hell.”
What he probably ought to do was blow it off as a joke, responding to teasing with teasing. It was perfectly normal for them. The thing was, Celestino was taking it seriously. He’d hauled Phichit off the ice for a private conversation. “I’m assuming you mean Sam?”
“Well, yeah. Who else? Chris? Emil? Guang Hong?” The idea of Guang Hong as the king of Hell had Phichit smiling, despite the awkwardness here. There was no way anyone would ever believe it of him.
Celestino wasn’t smiling. “I know he’s your soulmate, and that you love him, but are you really safe anymore?”
“Yes?” Phichit tilted his head, staring at Celestino. “What’s wrong? You’re acting weird, Ciao Ciao. Come on, you know Sam, he’d never…”
“Did you know I’m the one who taught Sam to skate? More than just the basic forward and backward stuff, really skate, well enough that he doesn’t hold you back when you two skate together?”
Phichit knew. Sam had spent a few months in Detroit when he was about fourteen, and his PE teacher recommended that he join a camp Celestino’s coach held for underprivileged youth to learn to skate. Celestino had already been planning to go into coaching, so he helped out at the camp once his season had ended. Sam joined in early April. Since Celestino was still a novice coach, he offered Sam private lessons for free. Sam had ended up staying through the summer instead of being dragged off by his father and brother in May like he’d expected. Sam had done his best to find chances to skate when he could, after he left, but it wasn’t the same. “He’s told me stories. Which is why you should know him better than to think he’d ever hurt me.”
“While I taught him, I was possessed by a demon. For the most part, she let me go about my business normally, only intervening when I started thinking about trying to find a way to get her out. I don’t know why, but she talked to me. She was possessing me on behalf of her father, keeping an eye on Sam. Her father was grooming him as the King of Hell, leading a demon army to lay waste to the Earth.” Celestino hunched in on himself. “When Sam moved on, so did the demon. It took years to come to terms with that, even if the demon hadn’t actually done anything with me, just kept an eye on Sam. Since no demon army’s laid waste to the Earth, I didn’t see any reason to tell you about this. I hate thinking about the time and it seemed like Sam had avoided that fate, but now, if you’re calling him the devil and saying you’re prince consort of Hell…”
Now it made sense. Too much sense. Phichit hugged his coach. “I don’t know the whole story. I don’t want to ask Sam for details. But I know enough to know that whatever it was that demon and her father were grooming him for, this isn’t it. Dean’s working with him instead of trying to stop him, and Castiel’s going along with it, too. There was chaos, and Sam took the throne to contain that chaos. He wants to keep Hell away from Earth, not lead it across. I’m safe, and Sam is still the good kid you taught.”
“You’re sure? You trust Sam that much?”
“I’m sure.” Phichit pulled out his phone and handed it Celestino. “Call him. Talk to him. I’m sure he’ll explain what's happening.”
Celestino took the phone, staring at it. Then he handed it back to Phichit. “I trust you. If Dean and Castiel are on board, and you’re willing to trust Sam… just promise me one thing?”
“I promise, I’ll look out for myself, and if Sam starts acting differently I’ll do what I need to do.” Phichit slipped his phone back in his pocket.
“Good to know, but that actually isn’t what I meant.” Celestino finally looked up, and Phichit breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the mischief back in his eyes. “Promise me that you’re not overlooking warning signs because you get to be in a real-life King and the Skater scenario.”
The laughter burst out of Phichit. “I can honestly say that it hadn’t even occurred to me until just now. No time travel! But next time he’s up here I’m gonna make him watch the movies.”