Fives (Yuri!!! on Ice, Yuuri)

[Trix]

Whelp, let's give this a go... short ficlet for my new obsession.

 

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Victor was sitting on the bench to take off his skates after his morning practise when Yuuri hurried in, over half an hour late. Victor was usually at the Ice Castle at least an hour before Yuuri – being an early riser, he liked to take advantage of the empty rink to keep himself in at least some form of skating shape. Yuuri, nightowl that he was, usually ran in just in time to begin training at their booked practice time. He wasn’t often late, however, so Victor lifted an eyebrow in question.

“Sorry, I’m sorry!” Yuuri bowed low, then looked up sheepishly. “I overslept.” He was out of breath and very flushed from running.

“No problem,” Victor said. “I ran a little late myself. Let’s get started.”

“Hai!” Yuuri quickly put down his backpack and grabbed his skates, lacing them on. He zipped off his running jacket to skate in his long-sleeved pullover. By the time he was ready to hit the ice he’d caught his breath and taken a long drink from his water bottle. He grimaced and coughed as some water went the wrong way, waving Victor away when he moved to pat him on the back.

The morning session started out well, Yuuri being almost flawless in executing his step sequence and landing all the jumps he attempted, but as the morning wore on he appeared to tire faster than usual. Considering Yuuri’s stamina was amongst the best Victor had ever seen, maybe even the best, it was somewhat surprising to see Yuuri having to catch a wobbly knee, falling out of a spin, and stopping to catch his breath more than usual. When he skated close past Victor, speeding up for a jump, his face looked wan.

Victor had just decided that they should stop for a break, when Yuuri suddenly dropped out of the jump’s lead in and simply skated straight instead. The reason became apparent soon enough when Yuuri’s head bobbed forward with a sneezed “kchu!”, that echoed softly across the rink. He steepled his hands in front of his face and his head bobbed forward several more times with sneezes. “Kchu! Kchu! Kchu! hhakCHU!”

By the time he finished the small fit he had come to a standstill, and he was looking somewhat dazed, his hands still covering the lower half of his face. 

“Yuuri!” Victor waived him over, holding up the tissue box. Yuuri skated up, one hand still keeping his runny nose covered. Above his hand his face had an embarrassed flush high on his cheeks, and he quickly grabbed several tissues at once to bury his face in and clean up. His noseblowing was modestly soft.  

“Bless you, Yuuri,” Victor cooed. “Are you feeling all right?”

“Oh, umm, yes,” Yuuri said, finishing up and balling the tissues in one hand. He didn’t look at Victor as he mumbled: “I could be catching a cold maybe. It feels that way.”

Victor frowned. “If that’s true are you sure you’re well enough to continue?”

Yuuri nodded. “Oh yes, I do feel fine to skate. Just, my throat is sore like when I’m getting a cold, so umm, that may happen. It’s no big deal, I can push through it.”

Victor hummed. Every skater had worked through colds and illnesses and kept going, especially during the competitive season when there wasn’t really any choice in the matter, that was all part of the game. But it was only early fall now, and the first qualifying match was still weeks away. If Yuuri came down with something and could keep up the workouts that would be ideal, but if he did get sick then now at least was a convenient time for it.

“Does that mean I will get to see more of these adorable little sneezing fits?” Victor wondered aloud, half teasing, half intrigued.

“Whaat?” Yuuri said, eyes growing big. The flush was spreading along his face, turning the tips of his ears bright red. 

“That was too cute,” Victor teased, ruffling Yuuri’s hair. “You sneeze just like a kitten.”

Yuuri ducked and withdrew further onto the ice. “Victor!” he whined. “I can’t help the way I sneeze. Don’t touch me or you may catch it.” His embarrassement only fueled the way Victor’s chest squeezed tight. He really did think that everything Yuuri did was cute. Cute and adorable, and hot. Hot and irresistibly sexy.

“What?” Victor asked, realizing he’d become distracted and that Yuuri had said something. 

“I said, did you bring your lunch?”

“Oh, no, I forgot.”

After sharing Yuuri’s lunch and having a rest Yuuri had caught his second wind and breezed out onto the ice, but it didn’t last very long. After watching Yuuri be overcome with two more of the kittenish sneezing fits, and losing his footing to slide across the ice on his backside three times, Victor felt it was time to call it a day. Yuuri was clearly fading, and there was no point in risking injury when no real progress was being made.

“Yuuri, time for stretches,” Victor called, and Yuuri visibly sagged in relief. If he’d been telling the truth about feeling fine earlier, then Victor was sure that it wasn’t the truth anymore. As Yuuri glided over his eyes looked blank, but as soon as he came to a stop right next to the box of tissues he grabbed a handful urgently and lifted these to his nose just as his face grimaced in irritation and he launched into another sneezy fit. 

“Kchu! Kchu! Ehh-Kchu! Kchu! hhaKtCHU!” 

Five sneezes every time, Victor noted. Also, each time the final sneeze was louder than its predecessors, signifying the end of the fit. “Bless you again, Yuuri!” Victor exclaimed. 

“Thagg you,” Yuuri snuffled, wiping the tissues under his nose. “Ughh,” he sighed, and Victor melted, giving Yuuri a sideways hug.

“After stretches, let’s go home and sit in the hot spring,” he said. “I think that’s just what you need.”

“Mm, that sounds good,” Yuuri said stuffily, grabbing even more tissues, then stepping away to sit on the mat on the floor for his cool-down stretches.

Victor helped Yuuri with his cool-down. He was standing in front of Yuuri, pulling the shorter man’s right arm forward with one arm on Yuuri’s chest for traction, to flex the shoulder muscle, when Yuuri suddenly tried to pull back. “V-Victor,” he said on a trembling exhale. His nose twitched visibly and his upper lip drew up to show his teeth. “Hh-have to–!” He couldn’t finish his sentence or stop the sneeze and snapped forward with a tiny but urgent “Kchu!”. Victor quickly let go of his arm and stepped back. Yuuri grabbed and pinched his nose to stop himself sneezing more, but the fit, once started, would not abate. “Nggk! Nggk! Nggk! NggkCHU!” He stiffled all but the end of the last sneeze, which, stubbornly stronger than the rest, would not be contained, to Yuuri’s clear embarrassement. 

Victor grabbed the tissue box again and held it out. At this rate it was emptying out fast. “Bless you!” 

“S-sorry,” Yuuri muttered, a flush high on his cheeks. He accepted the tissues quickly, his eyes half-lidded, then ducked his head low as his breath started to hitch again.  “Ehh-hehh-Kchu!” He fell into a new round of sneezes, and par for the course four followed: “k'chuhh! Kchu! Kchu! haktCHUu!” He looked up dazed after all that sneezing. 

“Wow, Yuuri, bless you muchly. I think we can call this a full blown cold now, can’t we?” Victor asked gently.

Yuuri nodded in resignation. “Sorry,” he said again, his voice scratchy from sneezing and stuffiness.

Victor just gave him a quick hug. Yuuri must be worn down because he leaned his head on Victor’s shoulder wearily. Victor couldn’t help himself and placed a featherlight kiss on top of the black hair. Yuuri really was too adorable, pliant and tired and snuffly like this. Victor wasn’t sure if Yuuri had noticed the kiss; the younger skater just seemed to lean gratefully into his chest until it was time to move.      

They dressed quickly, Victor insisting that Yuuri bundled up thick, wrapping his own cable-knit scarf around Yuuri’s neck. It wasn’t particularly cold yet outside, but the wind could be snide, and Yuuri was looking much too chilled and pale for Victor’s taste.

They walked home at an easy pace, hands touching on one side and fingers laced. Yuuri held the last tissue in his free hand, but only needed it once, when they crossed the bridge and a tempestuous wind made their coats flap; making Yuuri shudder visibly and causing his breath to hitch. Eyes closing, he bent his head down into the scarf, which had been pulled high over his face. The tissue waived forgotten in his hand. Victor counted down the sneezes. 

“One.”

“Hmphh!”

“Two” 

“Mphh-chu!”    

“Three”   

“Kchu!”

“Four”

“Kchu!”

“Five.”

“HehhkCHU!” 

After Yuuri bobbed forward the final time, he immediately complained “Victoruuh,” in that way he had of saying Victor’s name that Victor completely adored, though it was now muddled with congestion, and Victor pulled  Yuuri close to his side and urged the sickly young man onward. “Come on, my sneezy little katsudon. You need to be in bed. And I need to decontaminate my scarf.”

Yuuri looked horrified, and Victor laughed.

 

[Trix]

Oops, forgot my italics and can't edit posts? Eep.

[MyOwnPrivateSFC]

Hi, Trix! Welcome to the Forum. Yes, as a new member, you don't yet have the ability to edit posts; however, all of our staff members are always happy to edit things like this for you. In this case, if you just reply in this thread with the italics-added copy you wanted to post, I (or another staff member) will switch it right up for you.

[Akahana]

OH GOODNESS YES

There's really not enough love for Yuuri in the SSF community, but what an adorable gem to add to the collection~  It's so simple and cute and gosh Viktor is so in love I can't handle it.  I love this, thank you for something so tiny and cute <3  I'm going to add my tag on tumblr here because it really deserves to be in it, I wish it really worked lol.

#MORE YUURI IS ALWAYS A GOOD THING

[san kyu]

Poor Yuuri, five sneezes?! I had a friend who used to go on a consecutive sneeze rampage, we'd count them just like Victor. Too cute! Thanks for sharing~

[valemari2012]

Cuuuute