„Otabek?“
„Hmm?“
„Can we pause that howling for a moment?“ Yurio asked with a look upon his face as if he was in actual pain.
„This is no howling, but sure we can listen to something else if you don't like it.“ Otabek got up from his chair and changed the music with a few clicks on his laptop before he turned around again to get back at the table. The two boys were playing Scrabble and Yurio was already unnerved by the fact that Otabek was in the lead. Otabek didn't mind. He knew Yurio well enough by now to condone some of his habits like whining about music he didn’t like.
They visited each other quite often since Otabek had come to live nearer to his friend. After their friendship had become closer, Otabek had decided to move to St. Petersburg so he could train there and keep more in touch with Yurio. It was good to have a friend within range despite Yurio's tendency to get angry quickly even if it was just over trivialities.
Moving hadn’t been easy. There had been lots of difficulties to face which had started with the search for a new trainer and ended with the hunt for a flat. But he soon felt confirmed that it had been the right choice. He could see Yurio more often; they tried to schedule their practices so they could train together as often as possible. He became better in his skating or at least he felt as if he did. Maybe it was because he took the advice of friends different than from his trainer. He liked it when Yurio told him what he could try, what he could change and when he told him about opportunities he never had thought of before. And it was not just Yurio giving him advices that actually changed something in his skating. Meeting Yurio on a regular base and practising in St. Petersburg also resulted in frequently meeting Victor and Yuuri. After some time he found himself calling them friends as well and they began to spend time together as a foursome. But today it was just Yurio who visited Otabek.
“What was that whimpering anyway? Didn't sound like the stuff you usually listen to, eh?” Yurio eyed Otabek with a curious look.
“The band's called 'My Chemical Romance' and...”
Yurio snorted from laughter.
“I'm sorry they're called what?” he giggled and Otabek almost couldn't keep a straight face. Yurio's reaction was not much different from his own when he had first read the band name. In fact Yurio was right; the band was nothing like the music he usually listened to but being a DJ did not mean to only play your personal preferences but to make sure every clubber enjoyed the tunes. And sometimes one needed to listen to a song or a band just a few more times to understand it's spell. It had taken him some time with 'My Chemical Romance' but one day it had clicked and he had listened to the songs all day long after coming home and had started to develop a certain taste for that music genre in general.
“Are you done with laughing?” Otabek asked with a barely noticeable smile on his lips. Yurio nodded but it was obvious that he fought with himself not to burst into laughter again. Otabek ignored it.
“I found out about that band when I began to work in more clubs than just the two I started at. Different clubs have a different kind of clientele and one has to do his preparations. So I checked the locations and the music other DJs were playing. In that one nightclub 'My Chemical Romance' was practically obligatory and after a few shifts, I grew to like lots of these songs.” Yurio giggled again when the band name was spoken out loud by his friend but he tried hard not to laugh.
“Alright, so you like... 'My Chemical Romance'” ... Yurio pressed his lips together before he burst into laughter again. Otabek simply nodded and placed a few tiles on the board. Together with the ones that were already set, the tiles built the word 'Teenagers' and overlaid the 'Triple Word'. Yurio's snickering instantly stopped and he frowned. Otabek grinned satisfied.
~*~
A smirk flashed over Otabek's face. He just wanted to check the streaming services for new inspirations to integrate in his upcoming shift in the nightclub that had opened recently, when he saw that Yurio had added again some more music to his playlists.
'The howling isn't that bad then, I guess.' he thought. It was the third time that Yurio updated his playlists with different songs from 'My Chemical Romance', 'Fall Out Boy', and ‘Panic! At The Disco'. Every time after they met at Otabek's flat and listened to his choice of music, he noticed some new tracks were added by his friend. By now he was fairly sure that Yurio had no clue at all that Otabek knew about it. Probably he had forgotten about that little feature that showed his friends what he was listening to. Otabek wouldn't tell him, that was for sure. He noticed that Yurio reduced his loud protesting when he decided to listen to the 'Emo tune' and it pleased him enough right now. Maybe Yurio would suggest to listen to the songs of his own accord anytime soon. Why pushing him and risking that he denied some really good music out of spite.
~*~
“That was really good.” Victor and Yuuri cheered unisono. The three of them had a training session in the ice rink. Usually Otabek would have joined them today but he was preparing a night shift for a club and rescheduled his session to take place the next day so he would get enough sleep.
“I know.” Yurio answered and left the ice.
“Modest as always.” stated Victor and Yuuri chuckled.
“Well, I am good, no need to downplay it.” countered Yurio.
“Yes you are” agreed Victor and looked pensive at the youngster. “But tell me, have you already chosen the music for the free skating?”
“Ah, no, not really.” Yurio admitted. “It's not that easy since Yakov insists on having a say in it even though I want to chose something on my own.”
“Is that the reason for all the new music you're listening to?” Yuuri asked while lacing his skates.
“What are you talking about?” Yurio looked confused.
“Well, you added a lot of new stuff to your playlists recently, I assumed you're trying to find a song that fits your idea and will also pass Yakov's judgement.” explained Yuuri and stepped on the ice.
“Wait... you mean... YOU MEAN YOU SEE WHAT I'M LISTENING TO?” Yurio screamed and the echo resounded in the almost empty ice rink as if he had used a megaphone.
“Of course we can,” added Victor irritated by Yurio's excitement. “Just like all people that you marked as 'friends'.” Yuuri nodded and started to practice his moves.
Slowly it dawned on Yurio that in other news Otabek knew all along that by this time Yurio constantly listened to all the music he bashed in front of his first friend.
What would he be thinking of him now? Probably he thought of him as a stupid child, too spiteful and immature to admit that he found himself enjoying the melodies and the lyrics during the process of trying to find out what Otabek liked so much about this music. He would consider him too proud to tell him that he listened to these bands for days and weeks until they didn't sound like bawling anymore and he would think he's too childish to bring himself to say it out loud in front of his friend and instead kept him under the impression that he did not to like it at all.
Oh, he would be right to think that way about him and that a friendship like this was probably not worth to be kept up.
“Are you alright?” Yurio heard Victor asking. He shook his head as an answer, sat down and hastily took of his skates.
“I'm an idiot.” he said briefly and tried to think of a solution, an explanation that he could provide Otabek for being such a jerk.
“Now THAT'S something new.” came the answer from a very surprised Victor due to the sudden admission of the teenager. He sat down next to Yurio and eyed him with a questioning look.
“What's the matter? Why is this music thing suddenly so important? It has obviously nothing to do with Yakov and the free skating.”
Yurio sighed. He was so angry with himself that it was hard to speak and he only managed to hiss a few words through gritted teeth.“Otabek knows too.”
It didn't make any sense to Victor, but in the end lots of things Yurio said didn't make much sense neither to him nor to Yuuri.
“Can I help you with anything?” Victor asked attentively, but Yurio shook his head. He took his skates, muttered “Bye” and walked away. He certainly couldn't face Otabek anymore. How could he, now that he felt so caught up it would be awkward to talk to him. And it had never been awkward with Otabek before...
~*~
“Of course, I talk to Victor and we let you know when we meet him again. - Bye.”
Yuuri hung up and took another sip from his drinking glass before he joined Victor again on the couch and pulled his boyfriend closer.
“That was Otabek.” he started. “He's worried because Yurio didn't show up although they agreed on going to the cinema today. He said Yurio hasn’t answered the phone for days and except for two very short messages in which he demanded to be left alone he won't speak to him.”
“This boy is exhausting.” Victor said with a frown on his face. “There was something going on with all the music stuff, but I really couldn't follow Yurios thoughts.” Yuuri agreed with a nod.
“I told him that Yurio was so startled when he realized that we all can see what he's listening to online and we have no clue why it's such a big deal. Otabek seems to have got an idea about what's up but he would like to talk to Yurio alone and in person... which is hard when Yurio refuses to talk to him at all.”
~*~
“I didn't know you can cook, Katsudon.” Yurio said to Yuuri and added “That was really delicious.” Yuuri gave him a crooked smile.
Every now and then Victor and Yuuri invited Yurio over for dinner so he could get a break from Yakov an Lilia and vice versa. They sat at the table in the couple's ground-level flat and enjoyed what Yuuri had prepared in the kitchen.
“Oh he's actually pretty good at cooking, he simply doesn't like to do it that much.” Victor replied with a soft chuckle while typing on his phone.
“Yurio, shall we call Lilia that you stay overnight or should we drive you home?” Yuuri wanted to know after everyone ate up and got up to clear the table.
“I guess Lilia and Yakov would like it better if I sleep at home and I don't have any clothes for the night with me anyway.”
“As if we didn't have enough clothes to lend to you.” Yuuri laughed. “But it's okay. We will just have to take Makkachin out for a walk, and then we'll bring you home.”
Victor and Yuuri left the flat with the dog and walked down the road. “How long are you planning to walk around?” Victor asked and squeezed Yuuri's hand a little tighter.
“I'm not really sure. What did they write?”
“Otabek was already nearby, just waiting for my message; and Lilia ensured me that it's all fine if Yurio stays overnight as long as we promise that he shows up in time for the ballet lesson tomorrow.”
~*~
Yurio was tired and stared at the door, which had just closed before him as Victor and Yuuri had left with the dog. It had been a rough week and not just because of all the practice; he was used to that. The main thing that had worn him out was that he thought a lot about how infantile his whole behavior towards Otabek had been. For someone who always wanted to be taken seriously and who claimed all the time to be mature, he did some really childish things recently. He still felt terribly embarrassed and hadn’t spoken to Otabek yet except for two very short messages, let alone having seen him. Every day he had started to type a new message but nothing had sounded right. They had seemed to be sleazy excuses and so he had never sent them, which had been probably just as stupid as pretending not to like a music genre to appear cooler.
While sitting on the couch and waiting for Yuuri and Victor to come back he almost fell asleep. Then he heard a sound. Was there a voice or was he already dreaming? There it was again. Suddenly Yurio was wide awake. What was that? He got up, walked slowly to the backdoor of the flat where the sound seemed to get louder and listened carefully. There was someone outside because there was definitely a voice and it belonged to...
'Otabek?!'
But he was not talking, he... sang. Yurio could hear an acoustic guitar but it was not until the chorus that he recognized the song.
“You'll never make me leave
I wear this on my sleeve
Give me a reason to believe
So give me all your poison
And give me all your pills
And give me all your hopeless hearts
And make me ill”
Yurio was completely taken aback which was probably the only reason why he opened the door just to find Otabek sitting in front of it, playing the guitar and singing along to the melody.
The older one looked up and smiled for a second but didn't stopped singing until he completely finished the song.
Yurio just stood there and looked disbelievingly at his friend.
“You can chose the next one... that is if you like to,” was all Otabek said. Yurio nodded, and sat down next to Otabek.
“I... I really like 'Teenagers'...”
