Unintentionally Yours
articas_ursula (AO3)
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artica's-ursula (FFN)
Beta: TheDisreputableDog
Chapter 8: A Fan of Katsuki Yuuri!
It had to be at least 40 C in his positively sweltering apartment on the outskirts of Amsterdam, and oh how Finnian Reinhardt loved to loathe it.
'What do you mean 'I can't go'!? You'd have sold your soul to get tickets for the Swiss Invitational four months ago and now five days out it's 'I can't go'!? Think of how much trouble I went through for this!'
Honestly, Finnian wasn't thinking very much beyond how he'd like to turn the thermostat down. His bedroom windows were so thickly fogged up that he couldn't even see the snow drift piling up outside. Not to mention he couldn't walk across the room without half-tripping over opened water bottles, boxes of nonperishable food, and piles of blankets purposefully strewn about the floor as he triple-checked that everything he'd need for the next three days was on the correct side of his double-deadbolted bedroom door.
'It's seeing Yuuri Katsuki live that we're talking about here!'
Finnian fumbled for a grip on the last of his rationality as the sound of his dream Omega's name threatened to send him teetering into his much-anticipated rut.
The excessive warmth was making him dizzy, which hardly helped his ability to maneuver through the mess. It was frustrating; he was frustrated not having a mate to admire his well-protected territory or be impressed with his gifts of nesting materials drenched in his scent. Finnian was nearly to the point of heat stroke from abiding by his instincts to warm the room; a submissive Dynamic considering sharing an Alpha's rut would take sharp offense to anything less than what seemed like the temperature of a broiling oven. This heat complimented their own rising temperature; ideal conditions for becoming pregnant.
Such were the preparations of an unmated Alpha going into rut.
'Sem! I'm trying to focus here!'
'What, just his name will send you into rut? How long do you have?'
Finnian considered his internal clock, which all Alphas' instincts kept time with. 'Two minutes before I turn into an idiot and my Alpha mind doesn't understand how to open cans.'
'Great! Let's finish this conversation when we're driving to the airport on Friday.'
'You're insane! 'Thirty-six hours off a rut before international travel.' That's the law and I'm not getting arrested for your amusement!'
'Take a fucking chance, would you!? You'll be… eight hours off it. Take a sleeping pill before we reach the airport. No one will be able to tell. Fuck the system!'
Finnian, who was of the opinion that a Beta could not truly understand the consequences of gallivanting off just after a rut, just gave an irritated sigh while attempting to turn the heat dial still warmer and finding that not to be possible. An Alpha's fuse was never shorter than those few tripwire moments before one lost oneself in the haze of instinct.
He hung up without warning, unable to stop himself from rolling his neck and releasing a pulse of strong Alpha pheromones.
An Alpha's internal clock was never wrong, and so, knowing it was time, Finnian took a deep breath and knelt carefully to pull an unassuming box from beneath his bed with his address labeled neatly on the front and a generic courier service on the back. He'd stashed it away a month and a half ago, worried that to open it would render the contents imperfect—and it wasn't like these were cheap.
He cut the cardboard open awkward, having never indulged himself in this specific way for a rut, despite having had them for three days every three months for the past twelve years. It seemed like his fears of disturbing the freshness of the package were unfounded, because nothing in the air changed as he reached in and gingerly pulled out a tiny bottle.
Omega 14 was etched into the glass.
Beneath the expensive item lay a small introductory note.
Our synthetic Omega pheromones improve your comfort during ruts by fooling your Alpha mind into believing that your rut is being shared with an Omega, reducing post-rut feelings of frustration, agitation, and depression.
For your safety, this product is for Alpha use only. For the appropriate Beta dose, please contact our company, ABO Tokyo Pharmaceuticals.
His Alpha mind was slowly edging him out of his own head, but he couldn't bring himself to mind at this point. It was easier to go with it now.
Twisting the lid, he broke the thick plastic seal.
In three days' time, when Finnian finally snapped out of his rut, all he would recall about the synthetic Omega pheromones he'd bought was that they had been instant and heartstoppingly good.
And yes, Finnian would definitely agree that it was the most accurate formulation of Yuuri Katsuki's scent on the market.
Just as advertised.
Come Friday, despite his misgivings, Finnian did indeed find himself in Sem's company at Geneva International Airport, trapped in a small crowd of spectators looking on at some man greeting his son with enough enthusiasm to kill.
'What a cute scene,' Sem simpered, leaning against his luggage.
Finnian felt dubious of this claim, but also found himself not particularly interested in the goings-on around him, still marveling at the sharp difference his gift to himself had made.
Those Omega pheromones had been amazing. Finnian couldn't believe he'd ended a rut only just over eight hours ago. Post-ruts were notoriously awful for unmated Alphas—by now, he was usually alternating between tearing his apartment apart and nursing his wounded Alpha ego, depressed and irritable.
He felt nothing like that now. Actually, he was feeling a bit cocky.
'Let me go you fucking trash lord!'
'That's a rude child,' Finnian heard Sem sniff, pulling him out of his calculations.
I can afford to order two bottles—one for my April rut and an extra for any accidents—if I don't vacation out of the country this year. Maybe I can just—
Without immediately knowing why, Finnian paused.
Wait a minute.
Finnian couldn't say he followed competitive ice-skating to the letter—honestly he only really watched the sport to watch Yuuri Katsuki—but he had gone through the lineup of skaters on the flight over and listened to a few interviews to ensure he didn't look completely clueless. The young blond-haired Alpha named Yuri Plisetsky was sort of iconic for his poor temperament and preference for cat-themed clothing. Squinting over at the pair everyone was staring at, this guy sort of looked like he fit the form...
Finnian stared still harder at the blond, and then at the silver-haired man nearly strangling him. Was that…?
Victor Nikiforov.
So, wait—
'Victor, you're embarrassing him.'
Holy shit, it was!
Without thinking, Finnian touched his wheat-colored hair as though to flatten it from where it had become disheveled during their one and a half hour flight. Suddenly, he became very aware of how sweaty his palms had become and the rough stubble on his chin that he hadn't had time to shave off before being frog-marched to the airline terminal by his companion.
Catching himself preparing to do something stupid—like posture—Finnian reined in his Alpha urges with an iron grip. It was much more difficult at the moment; his rut hadn't even ended twenty-four hours ago and, in hindsight, maybe his mindset wasn't so great for traveling, but hey.
Finnian just couldn't help it.
He snapped a quick picture.
'What's with that?' his friend asked curiously, craning his neck to look at the photo. 'It's funny, but taking a picture of it is kind of weird.'
'Well, that's actually… Yuuri-Katsuki-over-there.' Finnian said this very fast and immediately followed this up with gripping Sem's wrist and frog-marching him away before the Beta could fatally embarrass him. 'Let's go then!'
Sem allowed himself to be tugged along but didn't stop himself from twisting his body to squint at the Omega a dozen or so meters away. 'That's him?'
'I just said that, yes.'
'I'm not going to scream.' Sem rolled his eyes. 'You can stop pulling me.'
Suspicious and without any proof that his friend wasn't actually that crazy, Finnian let him go as they exited the doors leading out of the airport. They joined the queue for the local shuttles and, setting his luggage down, Finnian finally took the time to really look at the photo he'd taken.
It was… wow.
'Wow,' Sem echoed, reaching out to move Finnian's elbow so he could see too. 'He's really pretty.'
Opening his sparsely populated Instagram account, Finnian began attempting to find the best filter for this occasion. He could barely think of that though when the original image looked so perfect.
In the end, he applied something soft and light, like Katsuki himself, and moved on to the caption.
Just saw katsuki-yuuri at Geneva International, Finnian typed quickly. And he doesn't have a claim mark anymore?
'Oh add something more to it,' Sem insisted, prying the phone from his resisting friend. 'Aha, how about some tags? I know some for you—' He began to type. '#Omega #GorgeousOmega #WouldMarry #DreamsComeTrue #YuuriKatsuki #SwissInvitational2017.'
'You are a terrible friend,' Finnian complained, allowing it but already thinking of deleting the embarrassing tags the moment his coworker's back was turned. It hardly mattered to keep them there—he only had a handful of followers anyway.
It wasn't like anyone would really notice it.
The next morning, Saturday, proved that to be laughably untrue.
'It's fine, Finnian,' Sem sighed in exasperation as the Alpha nervously chewed his nail while eyeing the thousands of likes and thousand more comments continuously populating the photo he'd posted. 'It's a nice picture. It's not like he's naked.'
'I should have taken those tags off. They're really embarrassing.'
'Does it matter now though?'
Finnian didn't answer, instead sighing and locking his phone again. The two of them were camped out in their stadium seats awaiting the start of the brief opening ceremonies for the competition. He had been wavering between taking off at least the more sappy tags and leaving the whole thing alone since he'd woken up that morning to find that the photo had gone viral.
On top of that, his Alpha instincts were getting super irritated from not being in his own territory so soon after coming off his rut.
'Hey friend, if you wanted to buy water, you should do it soon. They're going to start shortly I think.' Sem waved a one-euro coin under his nose, snapping him back to attention. 'Can you get me a drink? Rivella, if they have it.'
Blinking once to clear his thoughts, Finnian accepted the money in a sort of daze. 'Um, yes. Okay. I'll be back.'
Weaving his way past the rest of the people who had already sat down, Finnian glanced around for some kind of cue for where the snack bar might be. His French—which everything was written in—was spotty at best, so in the end he decided to just pick a way and hope for the best.
A few minutes of walking later, the Alpha was starting to feel pretty sure that he wasn't really supposed to be back here. There was a security guard that he'd passed who was speaking heatedly with someone demanding entry and Finnian had slipped through unnoticed in their arguing.
He was next to a much smaller section of seating now; each chair had a name taped to it with RÉSERVER labeled neatly beneath. There were only a handful of people around the walkway and in the seats and, just when he was entertaining the thought that he'd become an invisible ninja for sure, something gave him pause.
What's that…?
As discretely as possible, Finnian looked around for the source of a very attractive scent that had made his Alpha instincts instantly sharp as knives. He thought at first it was coming from a female Omega seated on her own close by with scarlet hair and ink eyes, but his Alpha mind dismissed her offhand; he'd always bred males and his instincts wouldn't bother with anything else.
Movement from a little ways away gave those instincts something to focus on.
It was coming from the male Omega that had just rounded a corner and was walking towards him.
Yuuri Katsuki.
Finnian hadn't planned it—my god, how could he have? He was no more foolish than anyone else and knew that his lifelong dream Omega was thoroughly claimed by Victor Nikiforov no matter what the lack of mating mark might imply. No one would be stupid enough to let Katsuki go if they could help it. Even if Finnian personal thought that such a proper Omega should hardly be possessed by an Alpha so airheaded as the Russian skater, he respected that; he respected Yuuri Katsuki.
But his Alpha mind, still somewhat high on residual rutting hormones circulating through his blood, was not so reasonable.
Tossing his head, his hair moved from his eyes to stare all the better down at Katsuki. His body pushed out a mild supply of pheromones—just enough to attract the Omega's notice without being rude.
Katsuki's attention shifted immediately from his ponderings to Finnian's location, stopping in place. Without hesitating, his neck fell submissively to reveal the left side of his lovely neck; his pretty cherrywood eyes looking away.
Finnian was sure he could die right now and be just fine with that.
His Alpha mind seemed intent on calling his bluff.
'Yuuri Katsuki?'
Finnian's heart felt jumpy as the pretty Omega looked up at him through thick lashes and dark locks. Katsuki was about a head shorter than Finnian; it was delicious. His eyes were sparkly like a doll's and he privately thought the magazine photo clippings he possessed of this Omega in no way did his shiny pink lips justice.
And then came the stray thought:
Yuuri Katsuki is submitting to me.
Finnian never even had a prayer.
'I don't want to offend you,' the Alpha prefaced their entire encounter, beginning the swift process of fucking everything up. He wasn't actually sure if he was far enough away from Katsuki at this point; Europeans didn't practice distance etiquette like most everywhere else did.
'You haven't offended me yet,' said Katsuki politely though he followed the Alpha's movements closely. Finnian could see why: usually beginning a conversation with something like 'no offense' inevitably led to something offensive occurring before too long. As much as he tried to avoid it, his eyes were locked on to Katsuki's left neck.
No mark, his Alpha mind assured him.
The tension rose.
They were hardly on their own in this part of the stadium. Finnian had initiated things directly next to the sparsely populated separate stands where he was starting to realize the families and coaches of skaters were permitted seating to watch the events. Still, the only one paying them mind was that female Omega only just so far from them.
She was pretending Katsuki didn't exist, keeping her eyes from straying anywhere near his vicinity. The lack of posturing was extremely strange to Finnian, who had once seen two Omegas moved to such violence that one had needed surgery to reset a viciously crushed finger.
But she had noticed them—how could she not have? Yet having not been verbally addressed, the female Omega seemed to decide to ignore Katsuki and Finnian's presence both, returning to consult her phone. There still looked to be some tension in her slightly bared teeth.
That they weren't acknowledging each other at all was deeply unnerving.
With the only other person around being an Omega, Finnian's Alpha instincts urged him to impress Katsuki; to posture. In all fairness, in any other circumstances he would have been a reasonable person but there was literally poetry out there describing Yuuri's sweet scent—a scent that had very recently seen him through a rut.
Without thinking, the Alpha stepped just that much closer.
And Katsuki honest-to-god hissed.
When an Omega hissed at you, that was pretty much signed, sealed, and delivered confirmation that you were a shit person and ridiculously out of line. The reality of the situation seemed to shake Finnian out of whatever headspace his instincts had coaxed him into and he jumped back from Katsuki looking vaguely horrified.
'I—I'm sorry! I never intended to make you uncomfortable. I have no excuse—I'm not some creep, I swear!' He stopped talking all at once, his eyes impossibly wide.
He had messed up; he had messed up badly. He never should have presumed to be above the thirty-six hour travel law! Finnian had never presumed himself above anything in his life. He was just some nobody architect. What a time to acquire an ego!
He could blame his friend, he could blame his rut—but really, the one who deserved the blame was Finnian and Finnian alone.
How will I explain to Sem that I have a restraining order against me?
'I accept your apology.'
Finnian blinked.
Twice.
'What?' he blurted out, remembering at the last second to speak in English as his surprise threatened to steer him back into Dutch.
'You haven't done anything that can't be taken back,' Yuuri promised. 'It was a misunderstanding.'
God, you're not making it any easier to fall out of love with you, Katsuki.
Unconsciously, Finnian's clenched hand came to press tightly against his chest, just over his rapidly fluttering heart. He cheeks felt warm, but not nearly as warm as his soul.
'I'm sorry, but I do have to finish things up. Will you excuse me please?'
Finnian jumped out of the way, nodding dumbly as the sweet Omega dipped his head politely and passed.
Did that really just happen?
'Ah—Katsuki?'
The Omega turned around. 'Yes?'
Scratching the back of his neck, the Dutchman felt awkward for asking, but nevertheless held up his phone. 'May I… um… take a photo with you?'
Katsuki smiled.
In the end, feeling vaguely traumatized despite the positive outcome, Finnian slipped back into his seat next to his coworker just as the ceremonies began.
'The Rivella?' Sem whispered.
'They're out.'
'The water?'
'They're out,' Finnian lied again, pressing the coin back into the Beta's hand and slouching in his seat as the divisions were announced.
'But what the fuck?' Sem complained in the background as Finnian began to tune him out in favor of surreptitiously viewing the selfie he'd taken with Katsuki.
Spectaculaire! he captioned the picture before sticking it on his social media.
His warmhearted crush on Yuuri Katsuki certainly hadn't faded at all, though what with his recent awkward moment, Finnian would likely be finding someone else to fantasize about until the discomfort of this memory had passed.
That wasn't going to stop him from reordering the synthetic Omega pheromones replicating Katsuki's scent for his next rut, though.
'Do you want to get a photo with Katsuki afterwards?' Sem asked, skimming through the program without noticing anything amiss as Finnian put away his phone. 'You can have your chance to seduce him.'
Letting out a long breath with his back against the chair, he wanted to laugh as much as he wanted to cry. 'Cheers, friend, but I'm going to try to do without for today.'
Every young Alpha's starter crush…
He could certainly see why Yuuri Katsuki would be it.
'Can't you do this later, old man?'
Yuri eyed the room's only exit warily as Victor shut and locked it.
'I was going to until you acted so badly.' The older Alpha that Yuri had honestly always hoped to be like frowned at him, a hand braced against his hip. Yuri stared at the red piping of Victor's Team Russia jacket in order to avoid having to meet his reproachful aqua eyes. 'Why did you say those things to JJ?'
'You say things like that to JJ all the time, hypocrite!'
'I say things to JJ that are within the scope of our relationship,' Victor corrected firmly. The serious tone in his voice made Yuri feel completely dressed down. 'But while I have apologizing of my own to do, the fact remains that you hurt his feelings just now.'
Yuri's eyes flicked up to search Victor' face. 'What? You're going to apologize?'
He frowned. 'If you aren't ready to say when you're wrong, you're not going to have friends for long, Yurio.'
Friends? He barely had those.
The young Alpha immediately looked away. He struggled to say it, but eventually, red-faced, he managed to admit: 'I didn't… mean to.'
'I know you didn't,' Victor agreed easily; 'and now I want to know what you did mean.'
'He's always hanging around Katsudon,' Yuri complained to him. 'I wanted to know why.'
'My Yuuri is an Omega; JJ likes to be around Omegas more than any other Dynamic.'
'And there's no one else to bother!?'
'Not really.' Victor shrugged.
'Why aren't there more Omegas?'
Victor eyed him. 'Wow, you don't pay attention in school do you?'
'Are you trying to piss me off or are you going to fucking answer the question!?'
Victor seemed to consider that, and then began to grin out of nowhere before starting to say: 'I think it hasn't escaped your notice that breeding males cannot give birth naturally.'
Yuri shrieked at the unexpected statement, his face turning bright red immediately as he leapt from his seat. His palms cupped his ears as though to ward off any additional mortifying information coming from Victor's mouth. 'Oh my god, old man! What the hell!? Did you really just tell me that!?'
'Please be serious, Yurio.' Ditching the grin, Victor frowned at Yuri's protests. 'I'm doing my duty to you right now.'
The strange wording was startling to Yuri, but he subsided.
'The reason why there are so few Omegas… It used to be that the delivery process for a male was quite harsh. There would be an incision with whatever was on hand—kitchen knives, hunting knives—'
'Incision?' Yuri interrupted, jerking his eyes up and looking faintly green.
'A deep cut,' Victor clarified as though Yuri was stupid or something. 'There were so many infections from it all. Omega males were cut regularly because of how easily they become pregnant; with Beta males, it was and is much more difficult for an Alpha to sire children for them.'
'They… they died from infections?'
'The males did, yes. Omega genes are in an Omega's blood, regardless of the gender. The Omega genes died with a lot of the males, leaving not many left to pass the Dynamic on. Female Omegas obviously don't have that problem, but an Omega dam doesn't guarantee an Omega pup.' It sounded like Victor had been thinking about this a lot. In the end, Victor shrugged, falsely casual. 'Their numbers just keep going down. They've always been sort of fragile; it appeals strongly to an Alpha's protective instincts.'
'That won't happen now though, right? That wouldn't happen to him. He wouldn't die.' It sounded almost like an order.
Looking deeply disturbed by the idea, the older Alpha shook his head as though to rid it of difficult thoughts. 'Don't think like that, Yurio. Things are so much safer now.'
'That's not guaranteeing anything! You'll kill him if you breed him for real!'
'Yurio,' Victor scolded. He looked as though he would say more but an intercom within the room gave the stadium-wide announcement that the opening ceremonies would take place in ten minute's time on the main ice arena.
Yuri, who could care less about the announcement, spoke loudly over the voice: 'If you like him at all you'll control yourself!'
'Don't suppose you can tell me what to do with my mate,' Victor replied evenly.
'He could die! You just finished telling me that!'
'One day, I'm going to get him pregnant.'
Yuri slammed his closed fist against the small collection of lockers, pissed beyond words. 'You're such a selfish bastard all the time!'
'You're scared.' Victor crossed his arms over his chest. 'I'm alright with that because I'm scared too. But when you're older, you'll understand that some instincts just can't be fought.'
A light knock made both Alphas turn immediately towards the sound.
'Yurio? Victor? Can I come in?'
The soft voice on the other side of the door was Katsudon's.
'We'll finish this up later,' Victor told him warningly. Then, hardly missing a beat, Victor's expression turned bright as he reached over and yanked the dressing room door wide open.
'Yuuri!' Victor cheered obnoxiously. 'Did you find out our placement order?'
'Never mind that!' Yuri shouted back, waving his arms wildly as Victor ignored him. He really didn't want Katsudon to figure out that anything was the matter. 'What if I had still been changing and you opened the door like that!?'
'Do you want him to leave and come back?'
'No!' Yuri nearly yelled at Victor's suggestion. 'I mean—' he cleared his throat. 'It's so late anyway.'
Stepping over the threshold, Katsudon smiled pleasantly at him despite the accusations and scowl put his way. 'Hi Yurio.'
Yuri immediately straightened up; if he'd been a cat, he would have begun to purr.
'H-hi.'
'Hi, Yuuri!' he heard Victor coo disgustingly behind him, as though mocking his nervousness.
Scowling at the thought, Yuri jerked a thumb behind him. 'Make him go. His talking is giving me a headache.'
'I'll give Yakov your love!' said Victor cheerfully to Yuri, clapping his hands together as though the conversation they'd just had wasn't completely depressing. 'Let's meet at the coach and family viewing, okay?'
'We'll be there soon,' Katsudon promised. Yuri blew at his messy hair in the background. 'I'll just put his hair up.'
Yuri froze as the two both turned to stare at his head.
He scowled. 'What?'
Victor tapped his chin, pretending to be thoughtful. 'You know, if it's too messy, you could always shave his head and let him start over.'
'Go play in traffic, jerk!'
Victor did end up leaving, winking annoyingly at Yuri and kissing his Omega with an unnecessary amount of thirst. Ordinarily something like that would set Yuri off and he would demand to know how Katsudon could possibly stand being around someone that stupid. Now, however, Yuri was far more distracted by everything that had already been said. So he sulked in silence, watching through the large mirror in front of him, as his dam sifted through his things on the vanity top to find the supplies he'd need to salvage Yuri's ruffled hair.
Katsudon set the brush down and began to gently gather up Yuri's silky hair in order to lace his locks into one smooth plait. Yuri watched his dam pause to shove his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. The Omega's eyes looked as bright and sweet as a doll's.
'You're never going to get pregnant, right?'
Katsudon nearly dropped the brush he'd been using, startled.
'W-What!?'
Slouched awkwardly in his chair as the Omega stood over him, Yuri refused to meet his eye.
'Look, are you or aren't you? It's just a question!'
Still, Katsudon gaped at him.
'I—what brought this on?'
'Just… promise you're not going to do that.'
Katsudon didn't answer for a long moment, but set down the brush. 'Are you going to tell me what this is about?'
Yuri crossed his arms defiantly over his chest, his cheeks flushed.
'So that's a 'no', right? Did Victor say something to you?'
'Why would you want to?' Yuri demanded instead.
Katsudon's cheeks turned pink. He looked embarrassed for whatever reason. 'I—I'm not sure if… Yurio, do you want to hear this really?'
Will you love it more than me?
Instead of asking that, which would have made him look pathetic, he spoke impulsively right to the Omega's face: 'I hope you never get pregnant.'
Katsudon, shocked and visibly hurt, recoiled away from the words. 'Yurio!'
To be fair, Yuri felt about as scandalized by his own statement. 'I—' He waved his arms around as though to snatched his words back out of the air. 'I didn't mean to say anything like that!'
'Then start thinking before you talk!' Katsudon told him severely, turning away and clearly upset.
Slouching back into his seat, Yuri hugged himself while staring at his dam's back. He'd really, genuinely meant it in a way to show that he gave a fuck whether or not the Omega stayed alive. Still, he could tell immediately that his intentions hadn't done enough to smooth over what even Yuri could tell was not a kind thing to say.
Still, he defended himself. Why would anyone want a loud little crybaby? Especially if Katsudon might have to die to have it!? It doesn't make any sense!
Things didn't get any better from there.
His braid hadn't been pinned, and so the end had come slightly apart. Yuri was too stubborn to break the silence and ask to have it fixed, so he clumsily placed two white pins to tuck the tail-end away.
Katsudon wasn't even paying him any mind at this point. He'd moved across the room to fuss over the cloth garment bag containing Yuri's skate outfit. Yuri watched him carefully ease the silvery fabric out, pausing to gently detach a stray sequin from snapping off from where it'd snagged on the zipper.
As he did this, his left hand rested unthinkingly over his stomach.
He looked distressed.
Does he really hate me now?
Yuri couldn't be sure. He wasn't even really sure how to ask Katsudon something like that; he didn't really want to let on that he cared. Yuri was no stranger to pissing people off, but it was usually on purpose and the only person he was comfortable demanding people-advice from was the one now busying himself steaming the wrinkles from Yuri's skate costume with a gentle pressing iron.
There was only one reasonable thing left to do.
Yuri googled it.
What do I do if my dam is angry with me? he wanted to know.
Apparently, the answer was not so simple. New to being concerned about someone else's feelings, Yuri was nonplussed by the variety of factors one needed to consider when addressing the matter.
The first forum to populate in the search was on a well-known Russian educational website for young Dynamics that Yuri knew from one of his rare appearances at school: ABO Me.
The first few topics were, like most of the Internet, filled with people pissed off at each other for no reason. Ordinarily, those were Yuri's favorite type of people—but he scrolled past that in search of something more constructive.
Is it your Beta dam? You should bring them food and wait to be addressed first.
Did you piss off your sire and now your dam is feeling that anger second-hand through their mating bond? Bow your head to your sire with the crown of your head lower than their eyes in silence until they say something.
You've offended your Omega dam?
Drink a liter of vodka and lay in the forest to await death, one poster wrote; because your Alpha sire is going to kill you.
Peeved, Yuri scrolled past that comment and onto the next.
I did that once on holiday to my parents' last month. Physically couldn't make myself leave the country again till she forgave me. Blubbered like a loon when she did. I'm a forty-year-old Gunnery Sergeant Alpha in the Marines. :D
Shit, but they're all like that! Yuri couldn't believe it. Not only were the majority of commenters trying to out-do one another with stories on the consequences of upsetting their Omega dam, but there was barely any real advice to read.
Finally, several dozen comments down, Yuri found what he was looking for.
You must apologize in person, wrote the poster. Their online avatar was the little Beta emoji with a shield that people liked to send on their text messages. Be open with your emotions and be honest. If you don't say what the problem is, things will only become worse. Omegas carry harsh grudges.
Okay, this person might have had the right idea but Yuri was still pretty sure it wasn't fair of them to say stereotypical things like that about Omegas.
In the end, he couldn't resist.
Logging on with the account he'd reluctantly made in health science class for a passing participation grade the year before, Yuri posted a reply to the Beta's comment.
My dam's a male Omega with a male Alpha—his chest puffed boastfully as he typed it out—and he's way too classy to be petty. Maybe the Omegas you're around just don't fucking like you.
'Your short skate is fifth, right?'
Yuri jumped about a foot in the air, dropping his phone carelessly to the floor upon realizing that Katsudon had unlocked the door and was reaching for the handle to leave.
'WAIT!'
Also jumping, the Omega stared at him in surprise at the reaction. Well at least he'd stopped trying to go, but Yuri had no idea what to say now.
They continued to stare at each other.
'Are you alright?' Katsudon asked hesitantly.
As bad as it was letting his dam leave knowing that he'd offended him, Yuri wasn't sure that having the Omega stare at him like he was a disappointment was so much better. Maybe that Beta online was an asshole, but he was probably right about some things. Still, even thinking it before, Yuri had no way of knowing how difficult it would feel to his Alpha pride to talk about his feelings.
So he gritted his teeth tightly and just… spat it out.
'I didn't mean… that.' Yuri hesitated, bowing his upper body awkwardly until the place where Katsudon had put the familial mark was below his eye level. It was the only constructive information out of that online search, so he may as well use it. 'I'm sorry.'
If Katsudon had expectations on what he would say, that clearly wasn't it. His lips parted unhappily and his fine eyebrows had furrowed just enough to indicate his displeasure.
'Has Victor still not talked to you about these things?'
'No!' Yuri denied hastily. Even if he and Victor didn't always see eye to eye, he didn't deserve to have Yuri lie about him to his Omega. 'He did. I'm just trying hard still.'
Katsudon didn't say anything, but the disheartened silence that followed as he gestured for Yuri to head towards the door was somehow infinitely worse. It continued as they walked towards the edge of the ice rink where the opening ceremony was unfolding and lasted as they concluded and the men's single skate was announced.
Yuri was so preoccupied with what Katsudon might be thinking of him that he nearly missed the person sitting down nearby until he'd been unconsciously staring for a short while already.
He was walking over before he'd really picked out what he was going to say, but when the dark-haired skater was officially in earshot, there was nothing else Yuri could do except clear his throat more firmly than he felt.
'I've decided I'm going to cheer for you.'
JJ paused in tying his skates, looking over his bent knee at the small blond with amusement. 'Are you? I thought that was something that might kill you.'
'Whatever! Don't disappoint me. Because—' Yuri paused awkwardly. 'Because you are a... pretty alright skater.' He visibly steeled himself; if he was going to complement this… individual, he'd do it all the way. 'No! You're also a great skater and I'll punch your face in if you don't do your best against me!'
Letting go of his laces altogether, JJ pretended to consider the clumsy complement. 'Hm. I... accept your apology!' JJ grinned as Yuri descended into a stammering mess of half hearted denial that he was attempting to reconcile.
'Are you thinking about giving me a good luck charm?'
Yuri scowled. 'I—!' And then he stopped himself. With an uneven tone, he managed to bite out a farewell that was nearly intelligible before turning on his heel to storm off, his task complete. Before he'd moved away, something JJ said stopped him.
'Do you still want to know why I don't hang out with Alphas much?'
Coin Slot Lid Regular Mouth
Yuri paused, both feet on the ground. 'It's none of my business,' he replied carefully.
'Ah—but you want to know.'
Yuri, who was nosey like that, actually did want to know. Still, he wasn't going to be the one to say it; not when he'd gotten so far with being more polite than he ever had been in his life towards another person.
'My parents are both Betas,' JJ explained, teasing his left skate guard on. 'Everyone in my family is, actually—my sister and brother too. Even being an Alpha myself, being around Alphas is too much a lot of the time; they're sort of confrontational. So that's the reason.'
'Tch, you hate being around me the most then, probably.'
'What?' JJ blinked. 'I don't hate you.'
It was Yuri's turn to be surprised. 'You don't?'
'No. I understand that that's your personality.' JJ shrugged. 'Actually, I think you're pretty funny.'
You're such a jerk!
Can you stop being an asshole for no reason?
Plisetsky, leave the room until you've found a better way to speak to others!
Yuri conducted a brief review of everything anyone had to say about his personality. No one had ever referred to him as funny before.
Plastic Wide Mouth Lids
He told JJ as much; the Canadian looked surprised.
'Really? Huh.'
The announcer's voice began to speak amongst the settling noise levels. Though the words were French, Yuri had been in enough international competitions where he barely knew the name of the language spoken and never mind the meaning behind it to know an introduction when he heard one.
'Well,' JJ said, standing. Yuri realized he must have drawn the first slot. 'Since you're cheering for me, I guess I'll have to do well, small-Yuri!'
JJ winked and, while it was every bit as obnoxious as it was before, Yuri found that the constant urge to punch him in the face was somewhat muted now.
Unsure of what to say, Yuri just shrugged gracelessly. He watched the taller Alpha walk several meters away to speak with a Beta female that must have been his coach.
I thought he was an asshole, but now I'm pretty sure he's just stupid, Yuri thought charitably to himself.
'If it matters at all—' Yuri jumped, a rare feeling of being caught unawares sending him spinning about to face his dam suddenly just beside him; '—that made me really proud of you.'
Quickly, he answered: 'It matters.' Yuri paused. 'And I am sorry about before.'
'Thank you for apologizing.' Then, Katsudon tugged at his hand like he was leading a small child. 'Come on. Let's watch JJ's skate with Victor, okay? Or do you want to go to the viewing room and watch with Chris and the others?'
Lids With Slots
Ducking his head, Yuri's cheeks tinted pink. 'I… want to stay with you guys.'
Coin Slot Snl
And I'll make you proud today so you'll want to stay with me too.