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for~ yokunaru

JJ - from time to time - made very poor decisions. He wouldn't admit it, but it was due to in part to his age. Still a teenager by all technicalities, and immature for his age, these choices typically were quite harmless. This was a time where they were not. JJ barely remembered what happened halfway through the night. He had one shot, two shot, three shot, four... shots. That's when he stopped remembering things. He was a young person, enjoying a trip abroad, and making terrible decisions.

Indeed, not every decision made at happy hour was a good one.

None of them seemed to be this time.

When he woke up with a pounding headache, he was somewhere unfamiliar. A hotel it looked like. He moved about the room for his belongings. He gathered up his clothes, got dressed, and looked around for his phone. It was getting close to dead. He didn't know where he was exactly.

He didn't want to ask for help, either. He was above that.

But - since he had offered - he opted to text someone who he knew would help him - Yuuri Katsuki. He shared minimal details.

Strange hotel. You offered help. Don't say a thing.

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Yuuri remembered typing the words out on his cell phone screen last night. He remembered pressing send. And yet, Yuuri had never expected that JJ would actually take him up on it. Glancing at the screen in the morning had given him one of the biggest shocks of his life.

Immediately feeling much more awake, Yuuri sat up in his bed and fired off a response.

I won't. But you'll have to give me more information than that. What strange hotel? Do you have the address?

He didn't think to find out until Yuuri asked. He moved through the pamphlet in the hotel room until he got an address. He sent it as a message. He really didn't necessarily want to be texting Yuuri for help. But, to be honest, most of the other competitors weren't really friendly with him (or he wasn't friendly with them).

The address sent back to Yuuri. He started to go through the evening and the series of events. He didn't remember much of it - and he didn't know how he had gotten here. He thinks someone he was drinking with called a cab for him. He vaguely remembered getting in one.

The name of the hotel was the same as the one he was staying at. But it was on the opposite side of the city.

That... well, seemed to make sense. He guessed.

Isabella was back at his hotel room he actually had, too> he was sure to send her a message. Letting her know that he was, in fact, okay.

Once Yuuri had the address on hand, he hopped down to the hotel's lobby to ask them for help. Thankfully, it turned out that the "strange hotel" in question wasn't too far from where most of the figure skaters were staying. With the directions scribbled on a scrap of paper, Yuuri walked the distance on foot, keeping a brisk pace all the while.

As soon as he reached the hotel's entrance, he took his phone out again.

I'm here. Can you make it down to the lobby?

JJ didn't answer, rather, he opted for just heading down to the lobby. He felt stupid, really, for finding himself here. He didn't realize how close it was to everything. It was an easy mistake to make. He probably wouldn't have texted had he known, but he had been driven around everywhere he went in town. He hadn't really figured out how the city was set-up.

He was a disheveled mess still. He had tried to clean up his hair, at least, and clean up as much as possible in the same clothes he had worn the night before.

He regretted asking Yuuri to help him when he saw him. He almost went running in the opposite direction.

But...he bothered him for help and Yuuri showed up anyway. He approached him there. He lifted up a hand in greeting. That carefully constructed ego and personality JJ had built around himself wasn't there. Not at all. Though he was trying to fake it.

From the moment JJ entered the lobby and began walking toward him, Yuuri immediately knew something was wrong. There was none of the wide smiles or larger-than-life personality that he'd come to expect from the other skater in sight, and it honestly threw Yuuri for a loop.

He frowned, brows scrunching together in concern as soon as JJ was close enough. "Did something happen?"

Hungover, maybe? Yuuri wondered. JJ had mentioned a lot of alcohol the night before.

"I wouldn't know," JJ answered. He could count on one hand the amount of times that he ended up in that state. This reminded him why getting blackout drunk post-competition was a bad idea. Hungover was probably the best way to describe him. He was incredibly hungover, and just thankful that it didn't entail him vomiting. Bright lights hurt, and his head ached.

He'd take something for it when he got back to the hotel he was supposed to be in. He walked to the front desk, and checked out - they only needed the key. He had given them his card last night.

With that, he focused all of his effort into a wide, typical grin.

"Just a hangover," he said. He'd have to make sure he checked social media later, too. Just in case.

Yeah, that smile wasn't really doing its job of convincing Yuuri that JJ was alright. Though he wouldn't say that he knew JJ very well, Yuuri was quietly observant when he wanted to be, and that smile looked forced to him.

Still, he didn't want to push if JJ wasn't up to talking yet. Yuuri didn't know what had happened the night before, but at least there was something he was able to do for JJ right then.

"There's a cafe just a short walk down this street," Yuuri offered up immediately. "Coffee and eggs should help with the hangover. After that, we can figure out the rest from there."

"I don't think there's much to figure out," JJ answered. He was a little suspect, and he was trying to clean up as much as possible still. He was fidgeting with his hair, mostly. If that was neat, and his clothes were straightened away, at least if others saw him, they probably wouldn't understand that he was hungover.

He'd rather they didn't know.

"The cafe, then," he waved up a hand, sounding rather flippant about it all.

Yuuri watched him with pursed lips. However flippant JJ was trying to act, Yuuri didn't for one second believe that he wasn't upset about something. I wouldn't know, the other skater had said. Someone else might have missed it, but after his own experience at the banquet the previous year, the words had stuck out to him like a sore thumb.

"Cafe's this way," Yuuri finally said, deciding to wait until they'd gotten some food in him. If JJ was feeling anything close to how terrible he did last year, then Yuuri knew he wouldn't be in any mood to be pushed for answers. Silently, only pausing to make sure JJ was following him, Yuuri led them out of the lobby and onto the street.

He followed Yuuri. He realized that this may have been a mistake, but there wasn't anyone else he could have called on. His friends were few and far between, and he didn't really consider himself particularly friendly with the other competitors. Isabella would have dropped it immediately, though.

He rolled his eyes, at himself and his own decisions personally. He followed after Yuuri, stepping out of the hotel and keeping one or two steps behind the other. He didn't really intend to make pleasant conversation while they walked. He didn't really have much to talk about him with, either.

He didn't really have anything against Yuuri. He seemed nice enough. The impulse to tease him wasn't the same as it was with most of the others. He just had a hard time imagining Yuuri getting really riled up about something.

So the walk was covered in awkward silence until they arrived to the cafe.

While the awkward silence did weigh on him just a bit, Yuuri let it drag on, knowing it would be better to wait. Seeing the cafe come into view was still a relief, though.

It wasn't until they were both seated at a booth that Yuuri checked his phone and saw an unread message from Viktor. As he fired off a quick response, another thought occurred to him. "Hey, JJ?" Yuuri set his phone down on the table as he leaned forward intently. "Did you let your fiance know what happened?"

He hadn't met her yet, but Yuuri thought she seemed nice enough. She clearly cared for JJ, too, judging by the way she'd quickly stepped in to rally the crowd after that short program fiasco.

The cafe was a relief to see. "I let Izzy know I was alive and would be back to the hotel," JJ answered. His phone was dead now, and to make the point, he held it up to show Yuuri. He wished the battery wasn't dead, so he could distract himself with checking social media to maybe get a better idea of what had happened. There were bits and pieces coming together.

"I'm not going to tell her something happened if nothing did," he shrugged. No reason to worry anyone about probably nothing. After all, he was guessing it was probably nothing more than getting too sloppy drunk to tell the difference between hotels.

"No reason to worry her pretty face."

"I guess not." Yuuri could understand. He had done the same last year, keeping his questions and worries to himself when he woke up with the worst hangover ever and a huge gap in his memory.

He flagged the waiter over, ordering the coffee and eggs for both of them. Before the waiter could leave, though, Yuuri nodded over to JJ with a raised brow. "Did you want anything else?"

"No, that's fine," JJ waved it off. He wasn't sure how much he was going to want to eat or drink, considering the hangover. Most of his regrets from the previous night were stemming from the headache and nausea that were sitting with him. Now that he was sitting down, and being quiet, it was all he could focus on.

"Well - water," JJ answered. Probably would be good to get some in his system and help him work through that hangover. It wasn't like he did this often. In fact, he did it very rarely. But when you're out with a group of enablers...

It gets difficult to resist.

"And some water," Yuuri told the waiter with a grateful nod.

When the two of them were alone again, he studied JJ from across the table, one hand propping up his chin. With things quiet like this between them, Yuuri was just starting to realize how surreal it all was. Had he and JJ ever really talked before this? He didn't think so.

"What's your fiance like? I didn't really get a chance to talk to her her during the finals," Yuuri asked, thinking it might help for him to focus on some one familiar as they waited for the food to arrive. "Oh, congratulations on the engagement, by the way."

JJ didn't really ever make a point of talking to Yuuri ever. He wasn't too friendly with many of the other skaters. It wasn't like he was trying to be unfriendly (except towards Yuri), but he didn't really have much cares towards this. He was there to compete, after all. He leaned back into the chair and considered Yuuri's question.

"Isabella is quiet and kind. She's patient," JJ answered. She'd have to be, wouldn't she? JJ's not an easy personality a lot of times. "She's always been my biggest fan, too." She was a great support for him, even when he let himself (and his fans) down his last time on the ice.

"Same, I think."

Yuuri immediately blushed, other hand straying to touch the gold band on his finger, like he had to check if it was still there. "Thanks," he said quietly, pensive as he remembered that there was a lot he and Viktor had yet to really talk about. They had both been too caught up in the whirl of preparations for the Finals. But that would come later, once he and JJ had parted ways.

"Isabella sounds great." There wasn't a trace of sarcasm. "I could tell she really cares about you." She'd known exactly what to do to get JJ back on his feet at the Kiss and Cry, after all. Actually... that made Yuuri remember something he'd been wondering for a while.

"Say, JJ?" Yuuri's voice practically dripped with curiosity. "Did something happen between you and Yurio--um, the Russian Yuri?" No one had missed the other skater's irritation whenever JJ was so much as brought up.

"Isabella is everything," JJ emphasized. He cared about her a lot, no matter how much he acted a fool, she was forgiving. She was a perfect balance to him. He leaned forward onto his palm, thinking of her fondly for a few moments, before Yuuri decided to ask him about Yuri. He sat back in his chair.

At that moment, he looked like a teenager who just got caught picking on another, and was about to get chewed out by the mother. It wasn't that far from reality, JJ mused for a moment. "I can think of a lot of things I did that made him mad," JJ answered. He liked to poke fun at the younger blond Russian. "I wouldn't look too much into it," he waved it off.

"He just doesn't appreciate my sense of humor."

"That might be an understatement," Yuuri said under his breath. There were a lot of things that Yurio did not particularly like, and the vehemence that he exuded when it came to JJ was...something else entirely.

Besides, JJ's expression said it all. That almost guilty look was such a far cry from his usual confident smile that Yuuri had to struggle not to laugh. He coughed instead, buying himself some time to push down his bubbling amusement. Thankfully, the waiter arrived with their coffee and food just then, and Yuuri wisely used that time to recover.

He filled both cups with coffee and pushed one toward JJ with intent. "Just humor me. What kind of things did you do to make him so annoyed at you?"

"More like the things I say," JJ offered, sipping at coffee. "He doesn't really like when I call him Kitten." He thought it was funny. And a bit cute. Yuri seemed to disagree, though. That smug grin spread on his features again. It was easier to be smug when you found yourself funny, explaining how annoying you had been to someone. He was unapologetic by how he got under his skin.

He leaned his head into his palm. Yuuri was a genuinely good person, and JJ knew it. Different from himself. Way different. He smirked. "He knows if I had executed my routine perfectly, as I always did, I would have beaten him and you. And it makes him mad." Ah - that good old ego that could fill a room.

"You call him Kitten?" Yuuri choked around a laugh that escapes him despite his best efforts. "Do you have a death wish or something?"

Though he knew Yuri probably hated it--more than "Yurio"? Who even knew?--Yuuri felt just a smidgen of awe for JJ's sheer daring. Yurio could be grumpy even on his better days, even if he didn't always mean his cutting words. To blatantly provoke someone who would most likely bite back took a lot of daring.

Good person or otherwise that JJ might believe he was, Yuuri was different from before--more centered and just a bit more confident now that he knew he and Viktor were on the same page. He simply raised his brows, not blowing up like Yurio might have, but also not letting JJ's comment pass without challenge. "Before the finals, definitely," he said without even flinching. JJ had soundly snatched gold in both of his qualifiers, there was no point in denying what was fact. "We didn't break Viktor's world records for no reason, though."

"Yes," JJ answered honestly. "I think it's cute," he said simply. He liked the nickname a lot, and he wasn't going to stop using it, even if Yuri were to get a too angry and threaten him. "I think he's more harmless than you think, Yuuri." He felt like he gave Yuri's rage a little too much credit. JJ had been the target of it quite a lot over the course of the Grand Prix, and he came out of it unscathed, thus far. He definitely had been the one to upset Yuri more than others, he thought, so he'd expect to be the prime target.

But when Yuuri answered him. He smirked, brows furrowed in a challenge. "I was there, so I know. But I'm the only one who has stood with Viktor on the podium. Everything I put together was designed to beat him." So if he had done well, he was still quite confident he could have exceeded expectations. His burnouts, he felt, were the cause of his being in third.

"That's because he hasn't kicked you before," Yuuri said, looking strangely at ease with what he just said. He paused. "Actually, has he?" Yuuri remembered all too well how Yurio's kick had sent him flying. They were on much better terms now, of course, but the boy still had a temper on him.

"Chris has, too." Smiling, Yuuri cocked his head as he looked at JJ. "So you think you can beat Viktor?"

Asking JJ what he thinks - isn't like asking for the facts. His opinions will always lean in his favor. "I do think I can." He picked at some of his food, choosing to be careful with the things he was opting to eat, a little unsure of how things would settle with him right now. He sipped at the coffee.

"And no, he hasn't ever kicked me. I don't think he will, either." Since Yuri and JJ only really seemed to encounter each other at competitions. He didn't think that it would be good for Yuri's career to attack JJ at a competition. "Maybe if we encountered each other outside of competition." He considered.

"You'll get a chance to find out next season." This time Yuuri's smile brightened, excitement practically radiating off of him. "Viktor's planning to make a come back then."

As far as he knew, Viktor was going to make his announcement later today, so Yuuri didn't feel too bad about letting JJ know a little earlier. Besides, it was news many would find exciting, wasn't it?

"I look forward to it. He's great competition," JJ answered. He was not bothered by the fact that people who had all beat him now would be there, competing next year. Some of JJ's skill was natural, but he mostly worked hard for what he had. That meant he'd have to work harder, get better, and come up with something that exceeded what he had done this past competition. And he'd have to get over whatever it was that was holding him back.

"I like to compete against Viktor," he said, "and I like standing on the podium with him." Of course, now he meant he'd be the one standing on the tallest part.

"Doesn't everyone?" Who wouldn't want to stand on the podium with Viktor Nikiforov?

Yuuri set his cup down, concern overriding excitement for the moment. "How's the headache?" he asked, now that the food and coffee have had some time to settle. JJ's color was looking better, at least. Even if others might find the confidence abrasive, Yuuri thought it was a good sign that JJ was feeling better.

"There," JJ answered. It was present, but it certainly wasn't the pounding awfulness that it was when he had woken up. A bit of food, some coffee, and water had done him good. He was feeling more like himself, at least. That's all that he could ask for right now. He'd be glad to get back to Isabella, and spend some time with her. He hoped she conveyed the message to his parents, as well.

"But better," he said finally.

He also considered Yuuri's response. "And yes, everyone does want that. He's a legend." Even JJ wouldn't mind some acknowledgement from the older skater.

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