Of Monsters and Men (yuri x otabek)

Stupid

I return to the ice about a week later. I would have returned sooner if grandpa had let me, but he's been really nervous and clingy lately, thinking that I might collapse again.

"Grandpa, I'm going to be fine OK? I'll try not to push myself too hard so you don't have to worry." I tell him as we drive to the rink. Even though it's literally a fifteen minute walk from our house, he still insisted on driving me five minutes.

"You always say that Yuratchka, but you still do anyways." We pull into the parking lot, I suddenly feel nauseous just looking at the place.

"I-I'll be fine." I climb out of the car.

"I'll pick you up when practice is over." He says.

"Grandpa, it's OK, I can walk home."

He narrows his eyes at me. "No."

I narrow my eyes back. "Yes."

We have a short glaring contest before someone jumps on my back, scaring the living crap out of me. "Yuri! You're OK, thank god!" It's Anja's annoying voice.

"Anja get off of me!" I groan.

Grandpa cocks his head curiously at her. "And who's this?"

"She's just my friend." I mutter. Wait, did I actually just call her my friend?

His face lights up. "Oh really? Hello sweetie, I'm Yuri's grandfather, do you mind escorting my stubborn grandson home after practice? He's still a bit shaky from his incident and I'm very worried about him."

Anja beams happily at him. "Of course I can! Anything for Yuri's grandfather!"

I groan louder.

"Alright, thank you so much dear! I'll see you later Yuri, have a nice day!" He gives me an irritating smile. I glare at him as he drives off quickly, leaving me behind with Viktor #2.

Anja links arms with me and starts dragging me towards the rink. "Isn't this exciting?"

"No."

**

Practice goes by relatively quickly today. I actually managed to keep up with all of Yakov's instructions, and he's not looking at me like he wants to kill me anymore so that's good too I guess.

"Good job today Yuri, I'm relatively impressed." He says to me as I'm about to skate off of the ice.

I nod at him. "Thanks."

"Just polish up your lutz a little bit, it's still a bit stiff." He says.

"OK."

"Oh, and you owe me $100."

I blink. "What?"

"Your vomit isn't coming out of my carpets, you know how much that's gonna cost me? I'm not a rich man you know." He huffs, adjusting his hat on top of his head.

"OK fine, sorry, I'll find a way to pay you." I mutter as I turn away. Mila, Otabek, and Anja are waiting for me on the sidelines, I glance at Otabek who's giving me a small smile. I give him a quick one too.

"What was Yakov whining about now?" Mila asks me when I step off of the ice.

I sit down and let out a tired sigh. "He wants me to help pay for his stupid carpets."

"What? Wow, what a cheapskate, he can't pay a couple hundred for some dumb carpets, I can't believe him." She says through giggles.

I laugh too. It's true, Yakov is a pretty big cheapo.