Work Text:
Stupid fucking book.
There was no reason, ever, for anyone to read such a ridiculous farce. Some stupid man pining away at a light at the end of a dock, kinda getting the girl, and just dieing a stupid little death at the end. She was a stupid bitch anyway, getting her fun in and then throwing him away like a toy. A Toy!
Not that reading was such a problem. He’d already finished it. Twice. In English.
No, it was the stupid fucking questions that came after reading the book that were the problem. “Do you think Daisy would have ended up with Jay without Tom’s intervention?”
Yuri hated doing homework and doing homework rinkside while waiting his turn on the ice was even worse. He had to struggle through these stupid questions while presented with the thing he wanted most. But, Yakov had a rule. No extra ice time until the homework was done. Asshole.
Yuri knew the answer. He could see it bright as day in his mind, it was a dance, spiraling out and around like his own displays on the ice. And all he had managed to write was: No. She’s a vapid bitch. It was an extremely underwhelming explanation of the complicated emotions of love for Jay and the comfort and ease of staying with Tom.
Yuri’s rage only increased when he realized that he misspelled vapid. So, he did the only thing he knew how to do with his rage. He threw the book as hard as he could against the wall.
It didn’t help all that much.
The moderately satisfying crunch did attract the attention of Georgi. Fucking Georgi with his careful attention and calming words. Not exactly what Yuri wanted right at the moment but it was easier to talk to him than to ignore him and have him nag.
“Ah, The Not So Great Gatsby.” Georgi picked up the book and righted the pages while he carefully did not look at Yuri. “Everyone has to suffer through that one.”
Yuri could only reply with an angry grunt. He was beyond words at the moment and his reply seemed close enough.
“Maybe I could help?” Georgi stood with a bland expression, waiting for the explosion. It really was the only way to figure out what was wrong.
Two deep breaths and then the tirade came. “No, you can’t fucking help me. I know the answer. I can see the answer and this is what I come out with. It’s stuck in my mind and won’t come out.” Yuri shoved the offending piece of paper into Georgi’s face. “That and I can’t even spell vapid right. I can’t possibly be this stupid.”
This rant was not nearly as showy as they usually were but Yuri had already used all his words trying to answer the question.
“I barely finished high school.” The admission tripped Yuri into silence. Georgie bit his lip and looked away, almost as if what he was saying was painful. “I tried. I tried for five years before I finally gave up. Do you think I’m stupid?”
Yuri’s mouth dropped open in shock. “No. Of course I don’t think you are stupid.” Actually, it had never crossed his mind. Georgi was well put together and successful, over emotionality aside. “I didn’t know. I thought that… Well, actually I assumed...”
He stopped for a moment to find the right words. At least words were coming back again. “Actually, I don’t know what I assumed. You’re such an adult.” And then came the question he really wanted to ask. “Why was it so hard for you to finish?”
“It’s not for everyone. I skate and when I’m finished I’ll coach.” Georgi shrugged. It was an old enough wound that it didn’t hurt anymore, unless prodded. “I’m not the only one.”
“What do you mean?” Clearly Georgi wasn’t the only one if Yuri was having such a hard time.
“Victor can’t do anything for more than five minutes unless that’s the only thing he does all day. He’s always been like that and he had trouble in school too.”
“That’s just Victor.” Always hopping around, here and there, and not concentrating on anything that seemed important.
“True, that is just Victor. You need a better example.” Georgi was quiet a moment. “When’s the last time you saw Mila read anything?”
“Mila doesn’t read. She always uses books on tape while she stretches.” It was a good way to save time but Yuri always found that reading things directly was faster.
“I can see it in your face. She doesn’t do it to save time, she does it because she can barely read.”
This new revelation was mind blowing. Mila couldn’t read? Yuri would never have known if Georgi didn’t tell him. “That doesn’t seem right.”
“She figured out a way to go around the things she couldn't do and she ended up very successful in school.” He let out a self deprecating snort. “Way better than me.”
Yuri was still having trouble wrapping his head around everything. The people closest to him had problems like he did and he never noticed . It made him go quiet while he tried to figure things out but, Georgi wasn’t done yet. “What exactly are you having trouble with?”
It was time to go for broke. Yuri’s anger had drained away and the only thing left to do was tell Georgi the truth. “I can’t figure out how to tell the answer.” Yeah, articulate.
“Well, actually, hold on.” Georgi reached for his phone and played with it for a few moments. Yuri could feel the outrage welling up again at Georgi’s blatant dismissal. He was supposed to be helping Yuri, not fucking off on his phone.
Finally Georgi laid his phone to the side and looked Yuri right in the eye. “Tell me, do you think Daisy would have gone with Jay?”
“Well, no, of course not.” and off Yuri went, describing how Daisy was more in love with the idea of Jay than Jay himself and how she would never leave Tom because being with Tom was easier. The words came tumbling out of Yuri, spilling into the air between them.
By the time Yuri rambled to a stop, Georgi was smirking so wide it looked like it could hurt his face. “There now.” he said. “Have a look at it.” Georgi handed Yuri his phone and there it all was. Everything he had just told Georgi floating on the screen like some kind of magical cipher.
“Now all you have to do is take out the curse words, edit it up a bit, and copy it over to your homework. I’m sure the teacher will be thrilled to get a typed paper rather than your messy handwriting.”
Yuri looked at it again in disbelief. It was almost a full page long and that was the longest answer he had ever given to such a question. And it was so easy . Bitter tears of relief welled up and Yuri worked as hard as he could to control them.
There was no way his homework could ever be that easy. It didn’t feel right. After years of struggling and fighting the solution couldn’t possibly be as easy as talking aloud.
“Hey now,” Georgi patted Yuri on the shoulder. He looked teary too, just from seeing Yuri’s reaction.
“Don’t cry” Yuri could almost hear Georgi going on about the joys of youth and the blessings that came from helping someone.
“I’m not going to cry but we should add this program to your phone.”