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Yuri fell backwards onto the bed with a groan. Arms splayed, but feet still on the floor, he stared at the ceiling with a scowl. Well, he hoped he’d managed scowl rather than pout. Pouting was not intimidating. “Beka, you can’t be serious. I thought we were friends!”
“We are.” The stoic man sat in a chair and crossed his legs. “Also, it’s a Christmas party, not a death sentence.” He picked up a book and opened it to a spot in the middle though made no attempt to actually read it.
“With JJ!” Yuri sat up and glared at his best friend. “It’s a Christmas party with JJ! As my date! Why? What have I done to deserve this? I--”
“Well, you ate all the pastries before I even woke up, you kicked Katsuki in the face when he scored higher than you in the short program at Skate America, you--”
“I bought those pastries, and Katsudon was fine. I didn’t even hit him that hard.”
“They were for my birthday and you broke his nose. Also, you still owe me,” Otabek said, face serious as he lets to book fall closed on his lap, “for the Instagram thing.”
Yuri’s eyes went wide. “You--you’re calling in that? So,” he paused barely daring to believe this could be happening, “if I do this we’re...even?” He can’t help how hopeful he sounds. Beka’s been holding that damn picture he posted entirely on accident—on accident—over his head for two goddamn years now.
“Yes.” Otabek met Yuri’s eyes, face serious, even for him. “Do this and it will never be mentioned again.”
“Fine. Fiiinnnee.” He collapsed back onto the bed, splayed out to cover a truly impressive amount of space. “I’ll do it, but, Bek, if this is so important for him and it’s not even a real date, why aren’t you doing it? You’re the one that’s actually friends with him.”
Beka returned his attention to his book, practically hiding behind it. “I won’t fit in the dress.”
Yuri bolted from laying down to standing over Otabek in practically one motion, looking, he imagined, much like a startled cat. “Dress? No one said anything about a dress! Beka!”
The older boy just glanced up from his page with the faintest hint of a smile. “Don’t worry. It’s going to look lovely on you.”
“That’s not the point!” A string of curses followed, but Otabek paid no attention, and eventually, Yuri wore himself out.
##
Yuri frowned at his reflection. The dress wasn’t terrible. Simple, flattering enough. He could have done without the padded bra, but Otabek insisted. For tonight Yuri got to be Yulia, a female figure skater JJ met at a Grand Prix event.
Sure would be nice if someone bothered to explain why the hell he needed to do this in drag.
It wasn’t even that he minded the dress. He’d worn them before. It got stupidly hot in Hasetsu in the summer and skirts were a fucking miracle in that weather. But, the pretending bothered him. Yuri didn’t lie. Especially not about himself. (Though Otabek argued he often lied to himself. That was a different argument that had nothing to do with this.)
So, no matter how good he looked as a girl, and Yuri had to admit the make-up Otabek had applied—apparently a skill learned for his sisters—made him look very good, it all felt like a stupid production. Yes, eyes looked huge and softened his whole face into something startlingly pretty, especially with his hair, now down to mid-back loose around his shoulders, but he’d have looked equally as awesome without a fake chest and in bolder, more masculine make-up. Harder, sharper, but more real, more him.
Even in the dress and heels. Yuri really liked the heels. Balancing on them felt kind of like skating, but just different enough to be exciting.
But, a deal was a deal, so he muttered, “Suck it up, buttercup,” and walked out of the bathroom and outside where Otabek told him JJ would pick him up. Hopefully, wherever he ended up tonight had decent food and a lot of alcohol or he might be calling Beka to bail him out of jail by the end of the night.
##
At least JJ didn’t keep him waiting. He pulled up in a black American compact right at 6:30, got out, walked around to open the passenger side door, shot a smile at Yuri. And froze.
“Plisetsky?” JJ’s eyes were so wide Yuri expected them to pop out like a pug hit too hard or something.
“Who the fuck were you expecting, Santa Claus?” Yuri crossed his arms and glared. It felt odd with the fake lashes on.
JJ opened the door, his ears surprisingly red. “Well, Otabek just said he found a friend to help. I didn’t expect it to be you. I didn’t even know you had friends.”
“Fuck you, Leroy.” Yuri rolled his eyes and slid into the passenger seat. When Leroy just stood there, looming over him and gawking, he snapped, “You planning to actually drive, asshat? Or are we just sitting here all night?”
“Well,” Leroy said softly as he closed Yuri’s door, “this is going to be a treat.”
Yuri bit back a plethora of snide comments and kept his mouth closed until they’d been driving for a few minutes. JJ, uncharacteristically, also kept his trap shut other than singing along to the godawful bubblegum pop playing on the radio.
“Look, I don’t want to be here, you don’t want me here--”
“I didn’t say that.” JJ kept his eyes on the road, fingers on the steering wheel tapping out a baseline that had nothing to do with the song playing. “I’m grateful to you for doing this. Even if I have no idea why--”
“I owed Beka a favor.” Yuri turned and stared resolutely out his window, refusing to look at JJ more than he had, too. Which meant facing his partial reflection in the glass instead. “Also, why the hell am I in drag for this?”
The tapping stopped. “What exactly were you told about this event?”
“Not a whole lot. You needed a date, I’m supposed to answer to Yulia. We met at a skating event. Where the fuck are we even going?”
“Goddammit, Otabek.” The sigh that escaped JJ was so deep and pained Yuri swiveled around to make sure the guy hadn’t suddenly died of a heart attack. “Okay. Look, here’s the thing, we’re going to a family Christmas party, my family’s, the whole extended, judgmental lot. And, I can’t show up to that without a date or my Aunt Phyllis starts telling everyone in earshot that I’m clearly gay—in much less polite terms—and an embarrassment to the whole genealogical line and to the church and my parents should be ashamed and shunned---”
“Your aunt is an asshole. Also, what the hell’s wrong with being gay? I’m gay and I’m fucking awesome.”
“She is, and—what? You are? So...you and Beka?”
“Are friends. He’s straight. And dating Mila. How do you not know that? And while we’re talking about shit that makes no sense, how does showing up with a gay guy in drag make you look less gay.”
JJ took one hand off the wheel to rub his forehead. “I did know that, but it’s...not uncommon in my circle for guys to have public and less public relationships. To keep up appearances. The church my family goes to is not exactly open-minded about...unconventional relationships.”
Yuri turned until he faced JJ’s profile full on, the seat belt tightening around him like a full-body noose. “Unconventional? Unconventional! Gay relationships aren’t--” He thew his hands up in the air. “You know what, I’m not arguing about this. Your church is fucked up, and your aunt’s a fucking bigot, and none of this explains why the fuck I am in this car right now.”
JJ sighed again, another soul-deep exhale. “I know, okay. But..” He trailed off, face pensive. “My parents and siblings don’t agree with that aspect of the church. They’re good people, I promise. It’s just, well, my grandparents are old-fashioned, and the church community is a huge part of our lives. So, it’s easier to...ignore it.”
“Except you’re not ignoring it, Leroy.” Yuri shook his head with a scowl. “Ignoring it would be showing up alone and telling your aunt to mind her own fucking business. You’re accommodating it. I mean, Jesus Christ--
“Can you not do that?” JJ blushed. “The blasphemy?”
Yuri stared and then dropped his face into his hand, a harsh, humorless laugh shaking his shoulders. “You’re in a car with your made-up girlfriend, about to spend a whole night lying through your teeth, but that’s the line you want to draw.” Yuri let out one more harsh chuckle that almost sounded like a cough. “You know you’re seriously screwed the fuck up, right?”
“Yes, but we can’t all be beautiful storms of chaos, Plisetsky. You might be able to bend the whole world to your will, but I’m...” he glanced at Yuri from the corner of his eye before resolutely staring at the road. “I’m not as strong as you, okay?”
Yuri gaped, took in JJ’s slumped shoulders and defeated expression. This was not the Leroy he knew and hated. This guy was human and hurting and Yuri didn’t like it. He wanted the smug insults back so he didn’t have to feel bad about wanting to punch JJ in the face literally all the time. “How the fuck are you not being an asshole right now? You’re always an asshole.”
JJ chuckled, the sound broken and sad. “Sorry. I can only keep up one fake persona at a time. You’re just going to have to deal with Good Church Boy Leroy instead of Obviously Alpha Male, Clearly Not Gay, No Not Me, Also Stay Away Because I Am a Jerk Leroy.
Blinking, Yuri took a long time running those words through his head. There was...a lot...to pick apart there. So many questions. So, he went with the one that seemed most important in the moment. “So, what is Actual JJ like?”
The snort JJ let out was surprising and harsh, but also probably the most honest noise he’d made all night. “Fuck if I know.”
Yuri watched JJ’s face go still and blank, tension in his shoulders, and sadness seeming to ooze from his pores as the headlights of oncoming traffic painted him in flickering shadows, one moment too bright and the next completely obscured. And suddenly, despite himself, Yuri wanted to know the answer, wanted JJ to know it.
“Beka and Mila and I are going to Disney World for a week in the off-season. You should come.”
They nearly skipped out of their lane as JJ stared at Yuri. “What?”
“Eyes on the fucking road, Leroy. Look, you need to get your shit together, and since Beka and Mila don’t put up with any, it’d be a good chance for you to figure things out. And I can kick your fucking ass if you backslide, which would be all kinds of fun for me.”
“Right.” JJ was quiet for a long moment, turning off the highway and into the parking lot of a hotel. When he spoke again it was so soft Yuri almost didn’t hear him. “Thank you, Yuri.”
“Whatever. Let’s just get through this fucking fiasco of a night.” He clambered out of the car and started stalking towards the lighted building in the distance.
JJ rushed to catch up, slinging an arm around Yuri’s neck and whispering softly in his ear. “Yeah, about that. So, um, there’s a lot of mistletoe in there. Just so you know.”
The cursing Yuri released was loud and creative, but when JJ laughed this time it sounded genuinely amused, his smile real and reaching his eyes. Yuri felt unaccountably proud to have given the older boy that moment.
Happy even. Maybe the night wouldn’t be a complete nightmare after all.