The Depth of Green

Chapter 5

Chapter four recap: After struggling to convince himself that Otabek would not be returning to the house, Yuri is shocked when the man does, in fact, do this. They discuss Otabek's heroism in saving his sister's cat and Yuri's interest in said cat is duly noted when he guesses (correctly) what breed it is. Yuri then slips up and mentions Potya, and, sensing his vulnerability, Otabek jokes about his sister's cat's name to lighten things up. Later, after the showing, Mila reveals that her chosen alpha had essentially 'dumped' her, and, when sighing that "at least someone likes one of us" Yuri agrees to make her feel better. Overall, the quality of last chapter was a resounding 1/10, so I apologize for that (we love time constraints!) and hope that this chapter can excel and reach 3/10.

(Disclaimer: I am in no way any sort of authority on any matter at all remotely relating to philosophy. Google is my soulmate; I did my best; please take this with a grain of salt. :)

***

It felt, Yuri had discovered, both as though an eternity and no time at all passed between house showings. Life, as Yuri knew it, at least, was exceedingly boring, a fact which lent itself to the feeling that long periods of time passed between what were arguably the most interesting events of Yuri's existence; but time also seemed to speed up when he wasn't looking, as though he blinked and it was no longer Friday evening, but Monday morning. Which was how it went that day.

Yuri woke earlier than he would ever have liked to, dragged himself out of bed, wincing and hissing softly at the stiffness in his body, and trooped downstairs to begin making breakfast with Mila. She was doing better after the events of last Thursday's showing, quick recoveries a trademark of hers, and seemed to be over her rejection-- if her renewed comments about Otabek had anything to do with it, that was. While Yuri was glad that she was feeling better, the incessant, pestering questions about Otabek and (often crude) innuendos certainly left something to be desired about her behavior.

It was almost (almost) a relief when breakfast finished and, after serving out the appropriate portions of food, Yuri was allowed to retreat to the bottom of the long table in the dining hall, well away from Mila and the rest of the elite, able to think uninterrupted for the first time that day. Careful not to show any outward sign of distaste for their meal (just because had Yuri made it, didn't mean that he liked it) and to eat at a pace not leisurely enough to warrant his food being taken on the excuse of inappetite, nor quickly enough for it to be taken as a remonstrance for slovenly behavior, Yuri allowed his thoughts to wander. Distractedly, he returned to the last conversation topic he and Otabek had covered (cat breeds notwithstanding): matters of, opinions on, and the validity of metaphysical realism.

While Yuri understood and agreed with the general theory, that particular branch of philosophy had never sat well with him, even when he'd learned it so many years ago, back when he had believed himself a beta. Now, enlightened as he was about his status as an omega and dealing with the consequential changes to his life said discovery entailed, Yuri liked the theory even less, finding it rather bleak. Of course, in essence, it was not (for how was the matter of saying that an object existed independently of peoples' ideas about it anything other than true?) but it represented many of the things Yuri routinely pondered -- those outside of philosophy -- and only served to highlight the improbabilities his ideas held.

Naturally, logically, his grandfather's wellbeing was an established reality, well aside from and unaffected by the immaterial nature of Yuri's hopes and fears, but the express truth that Nikolai Plisetsky might be dead or dying at that very moment, even if Yuri had no idea or imagined him happy and well, was, to say the least, an upsetting one. It was similar to the concept of a tree falling in a forest; going by every law of nature, yes, it made a sound, but if no one was around to hear it, did that sound matter? And, by extension, if no one witnessed it, had it happened, at all? If Yuri's grandfather was ill and pained, then it was true he was, and it mattered nothing if Yuri was there to verify it for himself; but if Yuri wasn't there, had no way of knowing that his only kin was ailed and therefore was untroubled by its truth, did it matter? Logically, yes, it did, for it was undeniably happening, but couldn't Yuri choose to believe a nicer version of events and make it a reality for himself and himself alone?