Born To Make History (boyxboy)

Chapter Two: Cabin Fever

Victor smiled throughout his rehearsal, so much so that the director ended up getting so frustrated that she ended it early. He was supposed to be a madman in that scene, anyway.
'Why so chipper?' She asked as they stood on the kerb outside waiting for a taxi- even Victor preferred a taxi over driving himself round London at night.
'I went for a coffee with someone nice.'
'Ah, l'amour,' she patted him on the shoulder in a sympathetic manner.
'Maybe one day. For now, it's interest.'
'You're smiling too much for that.'
He straightened his face with the expertise an actor has and hailed a taxi.
'You take this one,' he kissed her on the cheek as she stepped in.
'Perfect gentleman,' she remarked. 'Even if you are just trying to get rid of me.'
He saluted her and waved her off, his mind already elsewhere, namely where he could take Yuri for dinner. Nowhere too posh, because he ran the risk of being spotted and also he got the idea Yuri would hate it. Somewhere quiet and reserved would be perfect for someone like him- similar to his personality. He checked his phone for any important messages, and scrolling through the notifications he saw a text from an unsaved number. It was an address somewhere in London. Right, this had to be Yuri.
See you at seven, then! :) He sent back, finding himself just minutes later drumming his fingers against his phone waiting for a reply. He'd probably missed 20 taxis and was never going to get home at this rate so he forced himself to pocket it and scan the busy roads.

Yuri didn't know where they were going for dinner, so picking something to wear wasn't coming easily to him. He didn't want to dress too casually, but at the same time being overdressed could be just as bad. Eventually he chose to go for a loose pullover and jeans, playing it safe with something comfortable because he was going to be antsy enough without having to pull at a tight collar every two minutes or sweating through a shirt. His doorbell rang a whole fifteen minutes early, and he quickly spritzed on some cologne, cursing Victor for being early when he hadn't even selected shoes or a jacket yet. He opened the door and was taken aback. Victor looked different somehow, despite his facial features containing the complacent smile he'd not yet seen him without. He was wearing a tight-fitting shirt that emphasised his strong shoulders and trim figure and his eyes were twinkling a little bit more than the last time they'd met.
'You're early,' he spoke first.
'I was excited,' Victor said this without reservation, and Yuri was struck by how upfront he was. Well, as an actor he could actually be losing his mind inside but fronting as cool and collected. 'You look nice.'
'You too.'
'Shall we get going then?'
'I don't have shoes on.'
'Please fix that.'
Yuri fixed him with a flat stare before retrieving a pair of shoes from his room.
He was immediately perturbed when he saw Victor's car and remembered his driving style. He made a quick prayer to god before he got in, hoping that his lifetime of atheism would be forgotten. If he survived this journey, he'd become a nun.
Miraculously, he did, although he conveniently forgot his pious bargain. He had no idea where they were, but it definitely wasn't Richmond anymore. They were in the midst of a vast expanse of green fields that went on for miles and there was a small cabin-type building nestled into a small patch of woods. He really hoped Victor hadn't taken him to some remote location to kill him, because this was feeling more and more like that kind of situation. Victor caught his anxious lip biting and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
'I thought a restaurant out of the way would be nicer for you,' he gestured at the cabin. 'I used to come here a lot when I was a student in England.'
'How long did you live in Russia?' Yuri asked as they stepped into the restaurant, immediately blasted with heat from the fire crackling in the far corner.
'Until I went to university, then I came over here. I got the job with Vengeance at 21 and had to relocate to Massachusetts for a while, but as soon as it finished I moved back here.'
Yuri would have asked more questions, but as he opened his mouth to speak a waiter came over and directed them to a table. He picked up the menu and scrutinised it for a good thirty seconds before realising he couldn't read it.
'It's in Russian,' Victor plucked it out his hand.
'That's why you liked it?'
'I barely knew a word of English, so coming here was a relief.' He proceeded to read out what everything meant, and Yuri went with whatever he recommended. It arrived quickly and looked to be some kind of stew with bread that smelled divine.
'This is good,' he praised, finishing it a little too quickly. 'I've never had Russian food before.'
'That's diabolical. Though, I have to admit, it's not all that great. Now, how did you come to England? You're not British either.'
'My family runs a spa and I didn't see any future at home, so I moved to London when I was 12 to a boarding school and haven't gone back other than to visit my mother. My sisters were already living here with their father, because they're my half sisters, but I still don't see them so often.'
'Weren't you lonely?' Victor leaned his elbow on the table, resting his chin on his hand and leaning forwards with an expression of mild interest. Why didn't his face ever move?
'Weren't you?' He countered.
'Not at all. I went to university with plenty of Russians and I picked up English quickly enough, so I made lots of friends.'
'I could already speak English when I came over, so I wasn't ever that lonely, and I'm not that close to my mother anyway.'
'No other family?'
'Not to speak of.'
'I see. Do you want dessert?' Victor looked up and noticed the waiter who had greeted them hovering by their table expectantly.
'Too full. I shouldn't have eaten that so quickly...' Yuri groaned, putting his hand against his stomach. 'Coffee. I could do coffee.'
Victor spoke in fast Russian to the waiter, who nodded furiously and gave them a thumbs up before dashing off. Yuri had always been the one to startle people by speaking his native language to others, so witnessing it himself was an experience to behold. It only added to Victor's enigmatic appearance, and it was nice to hear him talk without first having to translate what he wanted to say. The waiter returned just moments later with two coffees and delicate biscuits.
'What are you rehearsing for?' Yuri asked after thanking the waiter and almost downing his coffee out of anxiety.
'I'm performing in the London version of Hamilton after somebody had to take paternity leave. Do you know it?'
'Do I know it? My sisters haven't shut up about it the past few months! Which part are you playing?'
'Uhh, King George.'
Yuri almost choked on his coffee, and it was a very elegant sight.
'How come there's no news about this?' He was not going to admit to having googled him. 'My sisters would have mentioned something.'
'They're trying to keep it a little hushed just for now, because I don't want people following me to rehearsals and stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love my fans, but this musical means a lot to the original fans and I don't want them to lose their chance to get tickets just because there's loads of people who only come to see me.'
Yuri was pleasantly surprised; this was the first glimpse into Victor's actual personality he had gotten. To think of the original fans was actually really sweet, and he started to wonder if maybe it wouldn't be so bad to do this again. After all, Victor had pretty much everything going for him. He was handsome, easy to get along with, had ambition, made an effort, thought about others, wasn't exactly a wastrel... If he could recognise all this, why was he so reserved? Was he just being shy? Maybe it was just that, or maybe it was the acting thing. He'd had a crush on an actor at school and it had ended very badly, and he found it very hard to trust anyone with such unnatural control over their emotions. He just couldn't tell what was going on in Victor's mind, and this put him ill at ease. He liked to be able to read people, not that he'd ever been very good at it, so this was a little frustrating. He wanted to give Victor a chance, though, because despite his lack of genuine discernible emotion he was great in all other departments. On top of all that, he was actually showing an interest. Yuri had always felt like the one doing the chasing so being pursued like this was rather flattering now that he thought about it, if a little unfamiliar.

'We should probably make a move,' Victor glanced at the clock on the wall; 11pm. He didn't want this evening to be over because he was getting a lot of chances to stare at Yuri's face as he got distracted by his own thoughts once more, but he had work the next morning and needed to be the responsible adult. Now there was a thought. 'Hey, how old are you, Yuri?'
'23. Why?'
'Hmm. You look younger,' Victor felt slightly less like a creepy old man now.
'How old are you, then?'
'My Wikipedia page will tell you 25, but I'm actually 27. Don't you dare pass that information on,' He shrugged on his jacket and thrust his hands into his pockets.
They both got into the car and the journey home was spent drilling each other about their past lives; where and what they had studied, their favourite this and least favourite that, what they thought about things currently in the news, and Yuri was delighted to find that he agreed with essentially everything Victor said.
'This is kind of a big question that I've been thinking about,' he finally decided it was time to ask what had been weighing on his brain since he'd googled (not stalked, exactly, just read up on) him. 'But you're not openly gay, are you?'
'I've never really thought about coming out. I hadn't met anybody I genuinely liked that much up until now. If you're famous, even a little bit, it's a big topic so you have to be with somebody who can support you, you know?'
Yuri tried to ignore his blatant flirting once again, concentrating instead on the other parts of the answer.
'But you would, right?' He was thinking too far ahead, but he didn't want to end up in a relationship with somebody locked in the closet. He'd had enough of that to last a lifetime, and it wasn't worth the heartache.
'Yeah, if I found the right person.'
Yuri felt Victor's eyes bearing into him, and he looked down at his lap to hide his burning cheeks. The car suddenly stopped, and he looked out the window to see whether they were stuck in traffic, but he quickly realised they were outside his apartment. That was quick. Time flies when you're having fun, as his matron at school had always said. Had tonight been fun? Yeah, it had, he realised.
'Thanks so much,' he said as he stood on the doorstep, Victor a few metres down the path. 'I had a good time tonight.'
'Me too,' Victor smiled, and his eyes shone in the streetlight, faking amber underneath the orange glow. 'Where does that leave us?'
'Your choice.'
'I've done all the choosing. It's your turn now.'
Yuri could see Victor wanted another date. Could he deny that smile? That charming, effortless smile?
'Next time, let's get Japanese food.'

'I didn't know who he was when I first met him, although I did know the tv series he had been in and the show he was working on at the time, Hamilton.'