A Heart Beats At Night

Chapter 36

Yuuri wasn't quite sure what to expect as he walked the last few meters to Viktor's house. Two emergencies had apparently already arisen and been dealt with, and he inferred that one or (more likely) both of them revolved around Yurio. Viktor seemed to deal with his own crises by smiling at them until they slunk away or went nuclear, his well-intentioned meddling doing more to hinder than help the situation, and Otabek, with his quiet, serious demeanor, was too calm and grounded to invite disaster.

(He'd mentioned as much to Phichit while leaving the apartment, and received a dumbstruck stare in return. "What? He can't be as bad as Viktor and Yurio. Or, I mean, not bad, but, um, exciting?"

"... He has his moments," Phichit had eventually replied, and Yuuri silently wondered if Otabek was capable of matching the flat-out absurdity of a) assuming a graduate student was a vampire hunter, b) proceeding to date said graduate student, and c) convincing a friend to don fake teeth and play the role of a sympathetic vampire.

Surely not, he decided after a moment.)

Yuuri shifted the bag he was holding to his left hand, ready to knock on the door, but it was pulled open before he could follow through. Viktor lifted a finger to his lips.

"Vitya... why are you touching my lips?"

"Shhh," clarified Viktor, leaning in for a quick kiss.

With a nod, Yuuri toed off his shoes and dropped his bag of food off in the fridge, stopping to scrawl a quick note that Otabek should help himself. He was turning into his mother, and he was proud of it; Otabek's face held a gaunt shadow that Yuuri had seen often in dancers who pushed their bodies too far on too little, and his happy (if subdued) acceptance of everything Yuuri had offered did wonders for his self esteem. Phichit, bless his heart, was either too picky or too cautious to eat everything Yuuri cooked.

Yuuri glanced into the living room as he made his way to the stairs. In the dim light that filtered through from the landing upstairs (Viktor had gotten into the habit of switching it on for him when he came over, finally remembering that Yuuri barely had normal vision, much less night vision), he could make out two figures on the couch – Otabek, curled up with his head in Yurio's lap, both asleep. He turned away quickly, unwilling to intrude, but not before one green eye glinted in the darkness.

Fuck off, Yurio's expression said, but without any aggression or bite. He didn't look like someone who'd had a night bad enough to ruffle Viktor's feathers; he looked worried, protective. Yuuri nodded in acknowledgement, hoping that Yurio didn't see his presence as an invasion, before joining Viktor in his room.

When the door clicked shut, Viktor's mask fell away – he sighed, shoulders slumping, and rubbed at the lines of stress that feathered across his forehead.

"Long day?" Yuuri asked, though he could see the answer in Viktor's eyes.

"I don't know how to do this," admitted Viktor. "When I'm supposed to step in, when I should let them work things out themselves. I've never done this before."

"This?"

Even during their... argument, Yuuri had never seen Viktor so raw and open, so unsure of himself. It should have looked wrong, the uncertainty shrouding his form instead of the usual cloak of cheerful confidence, but maybe this was the only thing that could like behind all the faces Viktor showed to the world.

"Have a- a family. Be responsible," replied Viktor, sitting on the edge of his bed. "Yuri and I have made it work, most of the time, but Otabek... I'm not sure. I don't know who he needs me to be."

Yuuri set his backpack on the floor and sat next to Viktor.

"It looks like you do a great job when you're just you."