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It was late at night and the staff of Hasetsu Castle had long gone home, but Yuri was still skating tirelessly. He asked Yuko for the keys earlier, saying he would close it all up once he was done, that he just had to stay a little longer. Victor and him have been creating the routine for his “Yuri on Ice” FP for the past week but one thing was bothering him: the ending; arms raised as a thank you to the crowd. It wasn’t what he wanted, it didn’t feel right, but he still couldn’t think what a better ending pose would be.
He tried the step sequence one more time, he was having a little trouble remembering how a particular part went… He’d have to ask Victor to show him again in the morning. And just as he was thinking about how his coach would scold him for practicing so late, he heard a heavy door open and close behind him. There he was, Victor, in all his Russian beauty, arms crossed and looking straight at his pupil.
“Yuri, it’s past ten.”
“I know, I was about to leave…”
“How many times did I tell you to not overwork yourself?”
“I’m fine, I swear. It’s just... “
“What?”
“I’m not happy with how it ends and it’s bothering me…”
“And this couldn’t have waited until morning?”
Victor stepped closer to the edge of the rink, arms still crossed under his chest. Yuri could see a faint smile and his voice was softer when he spoke.
“Next time, come talk to me. We are doing this together, you know?”
Yuri felt his face become hot, feeling a little bit of guilt. He knew he should have come to Victor first instead of trying to do everything by himself, like he was used to. “Sorry…”, he whispered not looking up.
“Well, what is it that's bothering you so much?”
“I feel like… it should be different, but I don’t know how…”
“I see…”, Victor tapped a finger on his chin, trying to think of something to say that could help, “this whole program is about your story, so… Yuri, close your eyes”, Yuri promptly obeyed, standing still on the ice, in front of where Victor was standing, only the short wall in between them. “See the images in your head, listen to your heart. How do you see the end to this story, Yuri? Do you see yourself achieving victory? The crowd cheering for you?”
Yuri saw himself standing in the middle of a rink, but there were no medals and no cheers. He didn’t need those in his story. He was alone in there, in the room lit only by the moonlight coming through the big windows. Is this how his story would end? With him back to being alone? He felt his heart grow heavy at the thought.
“Yuri?”, he heard Victor call and suddenly the image in his mind changed. He wasn’t standing by himself on the ice. Victor was standing in front of him, smiling.
“I see how I want my story to end…”, Yuri opened his big eyes, staring decisively at the man in front of him. “Victor, please look.”
Victor stared at the younger man performing in front of him, he wasn’t making jumps or difficult spins and was focusing on the choreography alone. He didn’t need Yuri to ask him to look, he couldn’t take his eyes off of him since he saw that video months ago. And each new day they spent together was full of surprises; the biggest of all was how much he had become attached to him, loving every shared moment and talk and touch. He wanted to be there for Yuri and he needed Yuri to know that, but he wasn’t any good talking about feelings and he was way past the teasing phase. Yuri was someone who he needed – no, he wanted- to take seriously after all.
The ending was approaching now and Victor couldn’t help but feel a slight curiosity as to how Yuri had decided to finish the program. He gripped the edge of the wall and felt his body move forward, hypnotized by Yuri’s movements. And there it was, the new part, Yuri started to cross his legs and the hands followed: one running across his chest and the other raised in the air, reaching out to Victor. I’ll give you my heart, is what he knew that pose meant. It was beautiful to look at.
Victor felt his throat go dry and his fingers dig deeper into the edge of the wall, trying to ignore the voice in his head telling him to take that hand directed to him and kiss it. Kiss him! Yuri was too much… Too adorable!
“What do you think?” Yuri asked after a few seconds, going back to a standard position and wiping a little bit of sweat off his forehead and upper lip.
Victor didn’t miss the crack in his voice when he finally spoke: “It’s beautiful. This is the perfect end.”