Born To Make History (boyxboy)

Chapter Twelve: Shitstorm

'Gomennasai,' Yuri apologised to the receptionist, shooting glares at Victor, who was too busy chatting up some woman on the street outside, who was fawning over him even though he couldn't speak a word of Japanese. Why couldn't he have done this? He could just act like it was normal and nothing had happened! Yuri was red in the face and he could feel his cheeks burning up because of what he was being forced to say. 'I, uhh, we- the headboard for our- the bed is broken.'
He saw a flicker of amusement pass behind the mask of professionalism, and she told him not to worry about it and that it would be fixed within the hour. He thanked her profusely before tearing Victor away from a small crowd of fans who had gathered outside the building and were taking selfies with him. Most of them probably didn't know who he was but after one person recognised him it became chaos very quickly. The car was idling on the kerb, and as they slid in it drove smoothly away, the driver already having received instructions previous to their arrival. Yolanda had planned the trip, apparently, although Yuri highly doubted she had anticipated that he would be a part of it. He hadn't seen her since the party and he was silently praying that she wouldn't be there tonight. It was a gala for an actor's guild, so a lot more prestigious than anything they'd been to before, and Victor had bought Yuri an Armani suit for it as was becoming increasingly typical of him.
Yuri was worried about the event, but then he was always worried about everything so he couldn't complain, and he had Victor with him so it wouldn't be too bad. He never went to such important places to do such interesting things so he wasn't entirely certain what the etiquette was. Whatever it was, he needn't to worry because standing next to somebody like Victor Nikiforov meant he would pale very quickly in comparison and be able to shrink back into the shadows behind his limelight.
As it turned out, he had no hope of this because the second they walked into the large room in a hotel it was taking place in all eyes turned to them, looking intrigued and shocked. He could see the whisper go up around the room and even Victor seemed taken off guard by the attention their entrance brought.
'Is it just me,' Victor ducked down to whisper in his ear. 'Or did the atmosphere just get really intense?'
They didn't have to wait long before the reason was revealed to them because Yolanda was storming over, a hurricane of barely contained fury.
'Why didn't you pick up your phone?' She fumed, her grey eyes blazing with an unprecedented ire. 'I called you ten times!'
'I was busy,' Victor said vaguely, and Yuri had to bite his lip so as not to laugh.
'Haven't you seen what's been brewing while you've been doing whatever you want?'
'I have no idea what you're talking about. As far as I know, I'm not involved in any money laundering scandals or prostitute rings.'
'Explain this to me,' she brandished her phone, and on the screen was a picture of Victor topless and Yuri on his doorstep standing far too close and looking a bit too bashful for it to appear entirely platonic.
'I can't,' Victor looked troubled, and this in turn made Yuri's stomach turn. He'd expected that in this kind of situation Victor be able to laugh it off and he'd be okay with it because he had explicitly said he didn't care about whether anybody knew he was gay and the only reason he hadn't come out was because he was waiting for the right person to do it with. Unless... Yuri wasn't the right person? Maybe over the past few days he'd realised he didn't want an official relationship and this was why he hadn't mentioned it lately. It wasn't necessarily his job to be the one steering everything, but Yuri had come to rely on that so he never had to be the one to take the next step. Was that lazy of him? He didn't know, but he still felt a little like Victor didn't want him, even though just hours before he'd been clinging to him and telling him how incredible he was and so on, even breaking a headboard in the excess of emotion and sensation. That had not been their best moment. Could he really believe that Victor, who had so relentlessly pursued him and at the same time respected every boundary, didn't want him? He couldn't believe he was being so paranoid- he'd flown him to Tokyo! Why would he do that if he didn't like him? Was he really being this much like a child? There had to be a solid reason for his hesitance. He had faith in him that there was.
'Yuri, don't worry, I'll sort this all out,' Victor put a comforting hand on his elbow, his smile returning quickly. 'It'll be fine.'
That was it; he was worried that Yuri was afraid of this. He was embarrassed that he'd doubted him for even half a second. He was thinking only of Yuri's feelings.
'I don't mind,' Yuri linked arms with him decisively. 'If you don't mind, I don't mind.'
'You can't be that close to each other,' Yolanda took Victor's arm firmly and prised them apart, giving both of them an admonishing look. 'I think the best course of action is to say you're friends and that picture was taken at a strange angle.'
Yuri expected Victor to object since he'd been defiant about her wishes last time they'd met (albeit not to her face), but instead he agreed to execute her plan to save face. They moved round the room and made polite conversation, making sure to explain the picture to the people Victor deemed as gossips. Soon nobody was fussed, instead for some reason again fascinated by Yuri.
'Why does everyone always want to talk to me more than you?' He turned to Victor when they went to get a drink from the bar, the only moment to themselves they were likely to have at that rate.
'Because you're with me,' he said, no hint of joking about it.
'Not the merits of my personality, then.'
'I never bring people to parties. Not normal people, anyway. I've always had to bring celebrities and everyone's known it's a publicity stint. With you, they're curious because they're trying to gauge our relationship and why I would be friends or more than friends with you.'
Yuri pouted and stirred the fruity cocktail Victor had ordered him, a little bit miffed with the answer.
'Also, you're obviously the best looking person in the room,' Victor smirked, flirting with him.
'Sure.'
'Though I prefer you naked.'
'Of course you do,' Yuri sipped at his drink, deciding he needed the alcohol to get him through the night. 'How early is too early to leave?'
'I'd leave now if you wanted to, but I've pissed off Yolanda enough so I'm going to say another hour or so.'
'What if I said I didn't mind breaking another headboard?'
'Get up.'
Yuri laughed and stirred his drink more, hoping he would realise he was joking before they genuinely ended up leaving. He didn't want to piss off Yolanda any more than Victor did and he was willing to bet he was the most scared of her.
'Compromise?' Victor edged closer to him.
'I don't trust you with compromises,' Yuri edged further away.
'You make mean jokes and get my hopes up, but I wouldn't dare take you up on it, even though you want to get out. What I'm suggesting is ten minutes in that coat room over there to collect our thoughts.'
'And if somebody walks in? It's not exactly going to help with the picture scandal.'
'It's not a scandal. Are you saying you don't want to?'
'I just feel like we spend all of our time together doing that kind of stuff.'
'Really? We've slept together twice in what, three, four months? We don't spend any time doing that kind of stuff.'
Yuri pursed his lips and downed the last dregs of his cocktail for courage, then walked with Victor to the coat room, slipping inside and hoping nobody saw them. He turned around and shut the door, fretting over the lack of a lock, but he didn't have long to do this because Victor's mouth was on his neck, nibbling at the base of his throat. He mewled as Victor's hands went to his waist and slowly spun him around, untucking his shirt to slide underneath it. He shivered, but not from the cold; he was actually baking in his suit and wanted nothing more than to take it off, which he didn't even need to do himself because already Victor was peeling off his jacket and tossing it aside, caring very little for it because to him it was just a cheap one-time wear. Yuri wished he'd kept it on so he could jump away quickly should anybody walk in unexpectedly, but there was no use in wishing for anything because it made no difference. Instead, he grabbed Victor's tie and pulled him forwards, evoking a sharp intake of surprised breath. Victor moaned softly and his hands went to the small of his back, walking him backwards to the wall. That was what should have happened anyway, but Yuri was so clumsy that he managed to trip over his own feet and go crashing to the floor, bringing Victor sprawling beside him. After a moment of shocked silence and staring at Victor in disbelief, he creased up and felt his heart lift and the passionate haze part. He hauled himself up from the ground, dusting himself off and putting his suit back together. Victor straightened his hair out for him, kissed the top of it and they sneaked back out into a small crowd of people. They got a few accusatory glances, and a stare from Yolanda, but that was to be expected from her anyway. Yuri was beginning to believe it was her resting facial expression.
Apparently the more prominent faces of the room were making speeches, which meant attention had been diverted from them when they returned. Not for long though, because Victor was drafted in and forced up onto the stage, and Yuri was scared for him because he didn't have anything prepared as far as he knew. His fear was unnecessary, as Victor was, when it came down to it, a professional at impromptu speeches.
'To start off, I'd like to apologise for missing the last party. I was, in fact, with that man over there because he wanted to go on a ghost tour.'
Yuri blushed, feeling guilty that he'd been the sole reason he'd missed that, even though he had known nothing about it.
'I think it helped huge amounts with my acting in the end, because I had to be the confident one and pretend the chainsaw massacrer wasn't terrifying. So to that effect, here's to friendship.' Everyone clapped politely and clinked their glasses together, including Yuri in their toast and smiling at him like they were in on the joke. Right, these people were all actors, he remembered and felt a little bristled.
'I can't make too long a speech because you all know I can't stay anywhere for too long, and I have a plane home to catch, but I will say that I'm very thankful for everything this guild has done for me. I get to go to the RFA parties, I get good contacts and I've made friendships that I know will last a lifetime. It's been a great few years and I am looking forward to the next hundred.'
Everyone applauded raucously, even though he'd spoken for just under a minute and barely said a thing. His smile was just so enchanting and infectious that everybody was enthralled by his speech. Even though they were all actors and actresses too, he outshone each one with his brilliance. The difference, Yuri realised, was his charm and eagerness to please, was genuine and not just to get people on his side. It had thrown him at first and he'd originally have lumped him in with the rest of them, but it was so unrelenting that it could be nothing but real.
'You mentioned something about headboard breaking,' Victor was by his side, muttering in his ear. Yuri jumped and darted sideways, not wanting people to see how close they were.
'I think twice might be a little suspicious,' he retorted, a little too harsh from the shock of being surprised like that.
'Oh, if you don't want to, we won't,' Victor immediately stepped away, making sure to respect his boundaries and that there was a time and a place, now seemingly not being the time.
'It's not that,' Yuri fumbled with his hands awkwardly in the most adorable way and it took everything Victor had not to take them in his own or kiss him or do something. 'I didn't mean to snap, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just hungry.'
'Then we can go somewhere else for food. It's good here, but I'd rather eat without these people around and in a different place to Yolanda,' he gave her the side-eye.
Yuri agreed and they said their goodbyes, everybody sad to see them go but Victor promised to keep in touch with all of them. They walked down the busy street together in comfortable silence, and Yuri chose a small restaurant tucked in an alleyway. He had to order for Victor, and they both got katsudon again because it seemed only natural in regards to their second (or third, in Victor's mind) date.
They discussed what it was like growing up in Japan, and what it was like moving from one country to another and having to learn a new culture and language. Victor was of the opinion that language was harder, but Yuri had come from a very different culture so he'd found that harder, especially as he'd known fair English when he'd come over. He'd also had to face racism, which still followed him around, much to Victor's disgust. Victorfaced xenophobia of course, but it just wasn't on the same level. They continued discussing this topic and ones similar to it as they walked down through the alleyway, deciding that it was the quickest way back to the hotel. All of a sudden, a hand was on Yuri's arm, wrenching him to the side. At first he thought it was Victor and he expected a kiss or something and was about to complain when he realised he'd been tugged to the wrong side.
'Saifu,' the attacker growled into his ear, and he cowered away in fear. He fumbled in his coat pockets for his wallet, but he was so panicked he dropped it. The attacker became irate and jerked him about, trying to rip his jacket off and search it themselves.
'Hey, what are you doing?' Victor had found the doorway he'd been pulled into by now, and his eyes were icy cold and blazing like the deepest pits of hell.
'It's okay!' Yuri squawked, not wanting Victor to get hurt. His accoster was still searching his pockets, gripping him hard. Apparently he found what he was looking for because he began to dart off, but he was too slow and realised this when Victor grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off his feet, slamming him into the wall.
'Ty che, blyad?' He hissed, and Yuri had never seen him look so terrifying in all the time he'd known him. 'Schas po ebalu poluchish, suka, blyad!'
'Victor, Victor, it's fine,' Yuri put a hand on his shoulder, but he was shrugged away. 'Victor, stop!'
Victor dropped them immediately, allowing them to escape, but not before landing a punch to the side of their head. He looked absolutely furious.
'Eto piz 'dets,' he muttered angrily to himself, his fists clenched and jaw grinding. 'Are you okay?' His expression softened the second he turned to Yuri as he immediately became the concerned and caring person he usually was.
'You looked like you were about to kill him,' Yuri shuddered.
'I could have. I figured it'd scare you off, though. But I won't let anybody lay their damn hands on you like that if you don't want it. I could never even think of somebody hurting you, and seeing that was horrible.'
'You're quite the thug.'
'I grew up in Russia. That's one of the first things I learnt. Are you really okay?'
Yuri had to admit, he was really shaken up by the whole event, but when Victor wrapped his long arms around him he calmed down quickly and was able to once more regulate his breathing.
'Thank you for that.'
'It's nothing. I'd face a pack of wild tigers for you, Yuri.'

'I'm amazed to see how many people have turned up today, because when the news got out there was so much shock and I know that many people think today is too soon to be doing this, but I couldn't wait any longer.'