Gold, love and mint tea (Yuzuru Hanyu )

29 - Barbecue

"You need any help picking out what you're gonna wear?" Chris asks tentatively, seemingly walking on eggshells around me since we made our way upstairs.

"No, Chris... I'm perfectly capable of picking an outfit on my own, you know."

"Sorry sorry, I'll leave you to it then! I'm gonna go help the boys out with the food!" she almost shrieks, jumping up from the bed.

"Chris?" I call out, making her pause mid stride.

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering, who's paying for all this?" I ask hesitantly, voicing only one of the numerous questions that were on my mind since we arrived.

"Um... Actually, your dad is... I mean for the house, everyone payed for their own plane tickets. Although he did offer to pay for that too but we all agreed that we could manage without that" she explains, leaning against the doorframe.

"Oh... Well I guess I'll have to call him and say thanks..."

"Yeah, I'll see you down there then?" she paused at the door, her eyes filled with concern, probably because she realized this day had been very overwhelming for me.

"Yes, Chris. It's not like I'm gonna stay in this room the whole time!" I retort, shooing her out of our shared room. I look around the master bedroom that we had claimed for ourselves, chuckling at the pile of clothing already scattered on the floor at Christina's side of the bed. I make my way to my suitcase, carefully rummaging through it to find another pair of jean shorts and settle on a random red tube top.

Just as I was hesitating on weather I should let my hair down or do a messy bun my thought process was interrupted by two knocks on the door. Too soft to be Chris - hers would be loud and obnoxious - and too soft to be most of the boys. That left either Maia or Roman. When I call for the person to come in, I'm surprised to see Javi's head peak through the door, eyes closed.

"Hey, are you decent?" he asks in a much too soft tone for him, much like those two knocks on the door, the words sounded unnatural coming from his usually excited, playful and dare I say hyperactive self.

"Not morally, but I'm wearing pants if that's what you're asking..." I reply with a playful smirk that he saw when he stepped into the room, softly closing the door behind him.

"I see that Christina's sarcasm is rubbing off on you..." he teases me, his voice still lacking the usual enthusiasm one would expect when talking to the Javier Fernandez.

"Oh trust me, I've had it in me all along. It's just been dormant the last couple of years. Some would say I had gone soft" I chuckle, recalling my conversation with Chris from a few days prior to the trip "But back in... say 2014 I was insufferable, just ask Yuzuru, he probably remembers! Although I'm curious why he chose to still be friends with me-" I stop mid sentence, by brain freezing by my casual mention of one certain Japanese skater I had hoped to see here.

"You still call him Yuzuru..."

"Huh?!"

"Everyone I know, even his mother - except when she's angry - calls him Yuzu..."

"Oh... Yeah, it's a beautiful name. Why butcher it? Besides, I don't like it when people don't call me by my full name..." I say thoughtfully "Unless I introduce myself as Daria of course!" I add, quickly remembering that Yuzuru can't even pronounce my name properly.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about..."

"Yuzuru?" I ask shyly, trying to hide my curiosity on the matter and the flush that crept up my cheeks by untucking my hair from behind my ear.