The Depth of Green

Epilogue: Part One

Chapter 19 recap: Yuri escapes the house! He says a teary goodbye to Mila, mentions not having been able to see Minami before he left, and successfully escapes the country. Otabek shows his proficiency at handling a traumatized and pregnant Yuri, and, in the end, Yuri is "free" when they land in America.

I LIED. *cries* So, the epilogue ended up being huge... like over 8K words... and with the timing as strange as it was (you'll see what I mean) it just made sense to split it into three parts. And, as I quickly realized I couldn't have it all finished by today, those three parts became three separate epilogues. >xC

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Directly following Chapter 19
***

When they got home (and home, wasn't that a weird thought?) Yuri was exhausted, worn thin from travel and emotion, desiring nothing more than to simply fall into bed and sleep for twelve hours straight. Something he probably wouldn't get, given that it was fifteen minutes to eight am, and the entire world was only just starting to wake up. And Otabek, apparently, who wasn't feeling the jet lag at all.

Otabek, buzzing, even to Yuri's tired eyes, with nervous energy, puttered around the apartment after closing the door behind them, leaving his suitcase next to it and hovering around Yuri, like a child in a new place. Honestly, Yuri wasn't functioning highly enough to care, and couldn't suppress the yawn that forced its way into the world, covering his mouth with the back of a hand to stifle it.

Otabek, mid-question, stopped in his sudden, concerned asking if Yuri was hungry, if he could make him anything?, and visibly slowed down. "Are you okay?" He asked, quietening as his anxious hyperactivity faded, "You must be exhausted. What can I do?"

Yuri, past the point at which he could've been more tactful, even more courteous, simply shook his head. "Sorry," he murmured, "would it be okay if I just went to bed?"

Otabek nodded, giving him a small, understanding smile, "Yeah," he said, "I'll take you to your room."

Yuri was too tired to work out his feelings about the fact that he even had a room.

He nodded, exhaustion weighting his limbs, and followed as Otabek led him down the hall, past a bedroom (Otabek's apparently) and into a second.

"Here," Otabek said, opening the door for him, "there are clean sheets on the bed -- I had a friend come over before we got back -- and I guessed at your size for pajamas in the dresser," he crossed to the sturdy, wooden chest of drawers as he said it, withdrawing a bundle of neatly folded cotton from within. "They'll probably be a bit big on you," he gestured to what Yuri currently wore, loose and baggy as it was, "but they're something. We can get you better clothes tomorrow, but this should work for now."

Yuri nodded, accepting the garments handed to him and marveling, internally, at how soft they were.

"Um," Otabek moved to the door, glancing around the room, as if searching for something he'd forgotten, "do you need anything?"

"No," Yuri shook his head, fondness overwhelming him at the slightly lost, desperate-to-please, look Otabek wore. "Thank you." He added, quietly. He gave him a small smile.

Otabek took a breath, nodded, and smiled back. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." The door clicked shut, and, just like that he was alone.

Yuri changed, folded his clothing and set it on top of the dresser, and took to bed. It was so soft.

He was out before his head hit the pillow.

***

Yuri woke the next morning, in degrees, feeling soft and safe-- yet so crushingly tired he wasn't sure why he was awake to begin with. He was just settling back into the covers, no conscious thought yet gracing the empty expanse of his mind, when he registered the faint smell of something cooking from outside the door.