for wauuu

[emberossing]

Yuuri cracks open his eyes, blearily, to an unfamiliar ceiling. His head feels like it's either on fire or full of bees or possibly both and his stomach does a slow, sickening roll as he opens his eyes, but it settles, at least for the time being. Not just his head but everything hurts enough that, at least at first, he more just moves on auto-pilot, looking around for his glasses and taking what is obviously a pair of Paracetamol on the bedside table. There's a little note with them but he doesn't parse either the message or recognize the handwriting, so he just drinks about half the glass of water and looks around.

Memories leak back in slowly-- Vicchan, the competition, calling his mom, going back to the room, Celestino insisting that he had to go to the banquet afterwards, possibly worried he was going to do something stupid if he didn't. But he remembered saying no and refusing to open the door. So... shouldn't he be in the hotel room?

This is not the hotel room.

In fact, he swears he's seen this room before, somewhere, actually, but he's too tired and bleary to figure out where. So he just walks over to the bathroom, which he, for some reason, is able to guess the location of, and splashes water on his face rubs at it until he somewhat resembles a human being, and then goes in search of more clues to where he is.

The bedroom door creaks open and there's another sense of deja-vu as he looks around the apartment it opens on, but the pieces refuse to slot into place.

"He-Hello?"

Comments

[wauuu]

Victor looks from his hand up to Yuuri's expression, glad he's not looking ready to cry again. He's so bad when people get that upset, he has no clue what to say. With no hint of sarcasm or jest he says,

"Sorry I kidnapped you," because he feels genuinely bad that this all seems that way,

"this should have been like... fun and sexy, but instead it's a huge mess. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

[emberossing]

"I'm not." He says it genuinely, without thinking, a full stop statement, and then seems to realize what it sounds like and sputters a bit, "I mean... uh... sorry, that was weird. Sorry... Thank you," he drops his hand and almost flinches away, but it's his own awkwardness he's recoiling from, not Victor.

The only thing that keeps him from just running is that he does have to contact all of these people. He can beat his head against a wall later...

[wauuu]

That little confirmation puts a smile on Victor's face, swiftly easing his worry. He'll take it as an opprotunity to be a bit more bold. Reach a hand out, ghosting the tips of his fingers along Yuuri's chin.

"No point in us both being sorry, is there? Let's call it even."

[emberossing]

Yuuri sucks his breath in to the touch to his chin and Victor can probably feel the the way he kind of freezes up. It's very deer-in-headlights, but the flush and the way his pupils honest to god dilate slightly paint a pretty positive picture. That said, it's pretty clear that Victor is going to have his work cut out for him if he's still thinking about trying to seduce Yuuri without him just... exploding from the tension or something.

"Computer," he says suddenly. And then, "I should... the e-mails..." he's not really doing that, though, not if Victor hasn't broken eye contact yet, anyway.

[wauuu]

The sight is enticing, Yuuri definitely looking more reciprocating in this moment than any other, at least this morning. His fingers curl, nestling themselves under the peak of Yuuri's chin, his thumb on the man's bottom lip.

"You should," he'll confirm, smiling as he lets his hand slip away to take his phone off the counter. "I'll call the embassy." Yuuri can think about that little moment between contacting his family and bank, Victor will turn and walk away to google the American Embassy and information on lost and stolen identity.

[emberossing]

Something around his eyes relaxes almost imperceptibly and his lips part very, very slightly when Victor touches his lip. It's a tiny difference, micro-movements, really, but it's like his whole face goes just a little bit soft, somehow.

And then he's left staring at Victor's back and feeling like his face is on fire and his heart is trying to get out of his chest. He throws himself into his banking with a zeal he has never felt about banking customer support before.

...but somewhere in there, there's the thought settling that Victor is very literally seeing Yuuri at his absolute worst and he's still touching him like that. And Yuuri's mind has no idea what to do with that. He's moving quickly from being just really, really embarrassed that he's here and constantly shocked by everything and mortified that Victor is the one having to see him to a sort of confusion about why he seems so nice when surely he wants Yuuri out of his hair, right? And once he gets there, it's not long now to the slow blooming realization that, at the very least, Victor is genuinely trying to get into his pants. (There's a part of him that knows that's a little uncharitable, but there's also a part of him that keeps reminding him that he's ultimately not worthy to be anywhere near Victor.)

He doesn't sort that out through the rigors of online banking, unfortunately. He doesn't really even sort it out when he writes his parents. He's pretty sure at least one of them (probably Mari) is going read between the lines, but all he tells them in the e-mail is that he's okay, but his stuff got stolen from his room and it'll be a while before he gets back to Detroit, probably, and he's staying with one of the Russian skaters in the meantime, who is nice and who has a dog so he doesn't feel quite so lonely. He maybe mists up a little on the last part, but Makkachin butts into his leg just then, like he's psychic and he ends up grinning down at him, instead, while he hits send.

"My dog died," he says, really suddenly, after typing for a while in silence. He knows that's weird and awkward, but he actually wants Victor to know, and the only way he can do it is if it's just out there, without lead up for him to get sad during or chicken out. "Yesterday," he looks down at Makkachin, skritches behind his ears, "He was a poodle. So..." he trails off, because he's not even sure if he can explain what this means to him.

[wauuu]

Victor is googling information on the embassy and trying to see if there are online resources for people having lost their passports. He's skimming something when Yuuri's confession his him and he immediately looks apologetic toward the younger man. No wonder he was so distracted during his performance, that kind of thing would throw off any skater before such a high pressure competition. Victor's poodles lived even less than a toy might, Makkachin was his second since he skated juniors. Losing his first dog tore him up for an entire season.

"I..." he doesn't want to go back to more sorry, instead he'll say "I didn't share one. An embarrassing story, like I said I would." He'd been caught up in Yuuri's explanation and the man was excused for a good old fashion cry before Victor said much.

"After I lost my first dog, I had this really brave face on, but I couldn't skate at all. It was really pathetic, Yakov did nothing but argue with me. He didn't understand why I was so torn up over an animal, but I'd grown up with my dog, so..." he'll trail off a moment. Organizing his thoughts. "I was furious the next morning and told all the other skaters how I was going to tear into Yakov and get a new coach. Yakov walked in with this little dog in his arms, handed him to me, and I burst into tears in front of everybody."

[emberossing]

Yuuri, Victor gets to discover, has the prettiest smile. Not a grin, or a kind of half smile while you're putting on a brave face, or a drunken, too-wide laugh of a smile. But a real smile, sweet and soft around the edges.

"I don't know if that's really an embarrassing story. It's more just cute," but it's clear he's kind of teasing, because he's still smiling the soft smile and it's gotten into his voice a bit. He looks down at Makkachin and the smile twists a little bit, back into that kind of half-smile, self-deprecating, but that other smile sticks around in his tone,

"I got my dog as a puppy too. It was the same day I decided I was going to actually really try to be a figure skater."

[wauuu]

"It was humiliating! I had to swallow so much of my pride, I don't think I'd ever cried in public before that," he smiles back, more bashful than Yuuri's ever seen him. This isn't the cool, seductive figure in the magazines; this is the Victor who is kind of a goof and who got lonely really easy and gets SWEPT AWAY with EMOTIONS.

"So... I understand, Yuuri," he loved his dog so much, "I wish I had spent more time with mine. They never last long enough, but they're such a joy while they're with us."

[emberossing]

Yuuri can't help but laugh a little at that,

"I always got teased for being a crybaby. I don't even remember the first time I cried in public anymore," he looks down at Makkachin and keeps ruffling behind his ears gently, "I couldn't take him to Detroit and my family couldn't really afford to have me travel back much so... it's been years since I was home. Maybe if I came home more often... I don't know. We'd Skype but it wasn't the same," he stops for a second, looks up,

"I really am grateful to you, you know. It's not every day someone you admire gets to see you at your absolute worst, but you're doing a pretty good job."

[wauuu]

"Aah, phew!" Victor gives a relieved laugh, shoulders relaxing some at Yuuri's compliment. This morning is an absolute disaster and he's flying by the seat of his pants at every turn. He can try his damnedest to be a cool guy, but the universe seemed to be out to sabotage that.

"One hell of a getting to know you, that's for certain! If I'm charmed by your worst, you'll surely have me wrapped around your finger at your best."

[emberossing]

Yuuri flushes and looks down, shy, but clearly pleased,

"I'm... not used to people saying things like that to me..." if he were somewhere where he were more comfortable, where he could hide, he might try to physically escape again, just from that, but he's not and he can't. "I'm... not really that guy at the party. I'm not really a guy at any party. So."

There was going to be more, something along the lines of so if you're playing around, please stop, but he doesn't say it, not because he clams up or anything, but because having to stand here and face this and not hide, he has to kind of admit that he sort of doesn't care if it is some kind of post-competition game Victor's playing with him. If he keeps saying things like that, Yuuri's pretty sure he's just going to stand by and let him break his heart.

[wauuu]

"I think there's more of that guy in you than you care to admit," Victor will say so with confidence, "but I like the man with me now."

[emberossing]

"Maybe. You'd definitely be the first to think so, though. Myself included," he can't help but laugh a little, kind of helplessly, still flushed. He can't quite just take the compliment, but he also doesn't reject it or apologize, so... progress?

In fact, he generally seems a little calmer now, and less sad, too, though he does still seem like half a breath from spinning out of control again, the balance gained, but tenuous.

[wauuu]

"Let me get to know you better, then we'll see. I'm going to call the embassy, after that, we'll talk about what's next," he'll click on his phone to get the American Embassy on the line, chatting with them. He reports the robbery of the passport and ID. They say they'll look into it and Yuuri needs to call back in... a few days. It'll take a while to process, nothing that's going to get done before his flight.

Whelp... that's sure some time.

[emberossing]

"Yeah... okay..." it's impossible to tell if that's to the first thing or the second. Maybe both? Yuuri's not even sure if he knows.

He ends up moving over more to where Victor's sitting, though, as the conversation on the phone progresses. He catches snippits of the other side, but mostly is piecing it together from Victor's reactions, so hopefully he doesn't look particularly aggrieved.

"I'm... not getting on my plane, am I?" he says, after Victor hangs up. He's just sort of accepted it, now.

[wauuu]

"A few days to look into your passport and ID," Victor will say, frankly. He'll put his phone down and drum his fingers over his own lips.

"Do you want to stay here with me, until this is sorted out? And yes, that's an open invitation." Yuuri isn't obligated to accept and doesn't need to ask if Victor is serious. It's an offer, plain and simple.

And yet so complicated, too.

[emberossing]

"I... Surely that's a pretty big imposition..." he says flushing. Normally he would probably scream no and scuttle away, but while Celestino might help him out, Yuuri himself barely has a penny to his name-- he lives off scholarships and meal plans at college and grants and the like for tournaments and it's not like he's got a win behind him to get the kind of media deals and sponsorships Victor probably gets.

Also he wants to stay here. It's just that he's also really embarrassed about wanting to stay here.

"If you don't mind, it would make things a lot easier," he bows, Japanese style, reflexively and without really realizing he's done it. "But I also can't ask you to do that. I can't even help you with groceries. It's a little embarrassing!"

[wauuu]

"It's not in your control and I'm in a position to offer support, it's only right of me" Victor speaks sincerely, not all that surprised by Yuuri's formality, "But more than it being right, I want to be gracious. If you insist, you can make it up to me in some other way!"

Victor.

"Do you know how to cook?"

[emberossing]

Yuuri definitely turns a very sudden shade of red at that, because yeah, his mind goes right there. He laughs at the follow up question, but it's maybe a little too quick.

"Ah, a little, mostly traditional Japanese things. My family runs a hot springs in my hometown, so they cook for our guests quite a bit and I've learned a few things. But other than that, I'm pretty hopeless. I can do dishes, though," he adds, a little too brightly, obviously joking kind of, "Anything like that. I'm pretty used to doing a lot of spring cleaning, too."

His tone is casual, but the redness isn't actually leaving his face.

(He's still thinking about it.)

[wauuu]

At the mention of the food, Victor's eyes light right up, sparkling as much as his voice.

"Traditional Japanese food, really!? I'd love to try some, even if it's just simple things!" ENTHUSIASM. Victor's always ready to go when it comes to trying new things!

"Oh, and you could keep an eye on Makkachin if I have to go out, maybe? He'll like the extra company."

[emberossing]

"It might be a little tricky without the right ingredients? Is there an Asian grocery store or anything here?" his face softens again at the mention of watching Makkachin, but luckily he doesn't get all watery again, "And I'd love to watch Makkachin for a while. Of course."

[wauuu]

"A little far downtown, but I know a place we could swing by an Asian market for ingredients," only Victor could sound so enthused about grocery shopping.

"This will be fun, I can show you around Sochi, like an extended vacation!"

[emberossing]

"Ah, just don't lose me? I don't speak very much Russian, so..."

It's starting, just a little, to finally sink in, the part of this that is happening that is HIM GETTING TO LIVE WITH VICTOR NIKIFOROV. It's in about eight foot tall letters in his brain. It might be on fire. It's been a little buried underneath everything else that's been happening-- shock and sadness and anxiety and police officers. But now it's starting to loom a bit again, with how frankly adorable this all is.

[wauuu]

"I won't let you out of my sight," what might distract Yuuri from those huge, fiery letters is Victor's easy flirtation.