Of Monsters and Men (yuri x otabek)

Eyes

I twirl a piece of my blonde hair carefully around my finger. It's been a while since I got a trim, I'd started growing it out when I was fifteen, but now it's just getting in the way when I skate and it kind of makes me look like a girl. I push it back out my eyes and cock my head at myself in the mirror. My pale reflection bores back at me, my green eyes stay dull and unblinking.

"Yuri Plisetsky had the unforgettable eyes of a soldier." His voice echoes in my head once again.

I sigh and drop my hand, the hair falling back swiftly. That day is always on my mind. I look down at my hand, still faintly remembering his firm grip. Otabek. He'd asked me to become friends with him that day in Barcelona before the Grand Prix Finals, saying that he thought we were alike. I wanted to deny it, but the look in his eyes made me believe that he was so sure about what he was saying. It gave me a sense of hope, that maybe I wasn't so different from everyone else. We stayed in touch a little after the finals, but after a few weeks we just stopped talking all together. Yet, I still cannot stop thinking about what he said to me, how we cheered each other on, and the connection that I felt with him.

I was fifteen though, and really dumb, maybe I was overthinking everything. He'd only asked to become friends, that isn't really anything special; but, that had never happened to me before. I was always alone, kept to myself and only focused on my skating. I'd look at my competitors as enemies, except for Viktor who I strived to be one day, and Yuuri Katsuki who I respected. But everyone else, I hated them all. If I lost to them, it felt like I was being stripped of who I was and what made me happy. So when he'd asked to become my friend that day, I was scared and caught off guard, but I knew his intentions were good. He looked at me like no other person had seen me, he saw me as a soldier instead of a fairy, he gave me a confidence I didn't even know I had.

He was my first friend. Even here in Russia I never had friends, still don't to this day. They're just a distraction to me, and I've been skating since I was a young boy, all of my time is invested into mastering my routines. I never had the chance to make a connection with anyone, and then Otabek came along and pretty much forced me to make one with him.

I feel a smile tug at the edge of my lips. I wonder what he's up to now.

My cat Piroshki strides quietly into the washroom then and nuzzles my ankle. I pick him up and head downstairs, making sure to grab my jacket and sports bag before I do. My grandfather, Nikolai, is in the kitchen flipping pancakes and singing a song that I don't know. I've been living with him for a while now, I don't know who my father is and my mother is barely ever in the country. He's really my only family.

I sit down at the table and run my fingers through Piroshki's soft fur. "Hey grandpa, I'm gonna be heading out soon, can you save breakfast for me?" I ask him.

"Whaaaattt? Are you serious? But I wanted to sit down and eat with my Yuratchka today!" He pouts.

I smile and shake my head. "Sorry grandpa, but I need to practice. The new skating season is coming up soon, I can't waste my time lazing around."

"Hey," He walks over with a plate stacked high with pancakes. "Eating with your dedushka is not a waste of time young man."

I stand up, placing Piroshki carefully onto the floor. "I'm sorry, maybe tomorrow? Feed Piroshki for me when I'm gone too OK?" I feel him watching me as I slip on my jacket, I glance back at him. "What?"

He shrugs. "Oh nothing, it's just that everyday you're looking more and more like your mother."

I sneer, tugging at my long hair. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

He sighs. "Are you still angry at her for missing your birthday this year? It wasn't her fault you know, she's a very busy woman." He cuts a piece of the pancake and gives it to Piroshki. I watch him quietly as he chews then nudges his leg for more. "What a greedy cat." He mutters.