Chapter Text
Of friggin’ course.
Of all the times that he had to present, of course it would happen at the World Championships the year of his senior debut.
His luck fucking sucked.
Yuri Plisetsky slumped against the nearest wall, fanning himself as he took stock of his surroundings. He was in the depths of the hotel, where people only roamed if they had rooms nearby. He was well away from his coach, his teammates, and anyone involved in the competitive figure skating world—well away from the idiotic, obnoxious Alphas like J.J. and Chris. And don’t even get him started on Viktor.
The blond grimaced as sweat dripped down his neck and his stomach began to cramp again. With a groan, he pushed off from the wall and stumbled towards the door clearly marked as a bathroom. This presenting crap really sucked.
At least it had held off until he’d finished out the free skate. He’d never not finished a competition and that streak still held, he was proud to say.
Without a care to what anyone who walked in might think, Yuri turned the faucet on and to the coldest temperature possible before sticking his head completely under the running water. He didn’t remember a fever and stomach cramps being among the symptoms that presenting could cause, but then again, it wasn’t like these things were talked about in public. Presenting was a topic that remained private between children and their parents—which was completely useless for Yuri. All of his information had come from searches on internet forums, most of which was vague or just enough off-topic to be completely useless now that he was actually presenting.
The creak of a stall door caused Yuri to jerk away from the sink with a growl and to bare his teeth at the intruder. However, his lips fell and his expression quickly turned into a scowl as he recognized who it was.
Yuuri Katsuki, the Japanese Omega skater and eighth place finisher at Worlds.
Hardly a threat.
The Omega’s eyes were red-rimmed, as if he had been crying. Yuri gave a derisive snort and his lips curled up into a sneer as the older male stepped up to the sink next to him to splash water over his eyes.
Katsuki didn’t acknowledge Yuri’s presence beside him and the younger skater knew that he should follow suit, but he couldn’t keep his comments to himself when he caught the other staring at him through the mirror.
“What do you want, loser?”
No reply.
Yuri gave a haughty sniff. “What, not going to say anything? Too spineless to do even that? Typical Omega, breaking down in tears and unable to stand up for yourself.”
It was a low blow but Yuri wasn’t in the mood to be nice.
A weary, deadened look entered the other Yuuri’s eyes and he gave a light sigh before turning away. However, as he turned, his nose gave a barely noticeable twitch and he froze. Then his brown eyes narrowed and his expression turned sharp. His chin lifted a fraction of an inch.
“You’re one to talk.”
Yuri couldn’t help but gape. The comment was completely unexpected coming from Katsuki, who only ever spoke the bare amount to other competitors and to the media. “What—” he started to snap, but was cut off.
“Do you really have to embarrass us other Omegas by flaunting your pheromones out in public? Even if you’re just presenting, you should know better than to be out and about until you get control over them.”
Yuri flinched minutely, but then a phrase the other male caught his attention. “The hell you talking about? Other Omegas? As far as I’m aware, you’re the only Omega in this room.”
The Japanese skater frowned. “The only fully presented one,” he replied with a small sniff. “But I know what Omega pheromones smell like and you, Plisetsky, are starting to reek of them. Give it long enough and I’m sure that you’ll draw every unbonded Alpha to you—though, if you want to be fawned over, that might be the easiest way to go about it.”
Yuri let out a pained gasp as his stomach cramped again and he used a hand to brace himself against the row of sinks. “That’s not possible,” he bit out through clenched teeth. “I’m not—I can’t be—”
He was not an Omega. He had the personality of an Alpha. He had the temper of an Alpha. Since his move from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, everyone had agreed that he would present as an Alpha when the time came.
Katsuki’s frown deepened and he raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You don’t have an Omega-dam or an Omega-granddam?” he questioned. “How strange?”
Yuri’s cheeks pinked but he wasn’t sure if that was from embarrassment or the fever peaking again. “I had an Omega-dam,” he growled out. “But I’ve always taken after my Alpha-sire!”
“Clearly you don’t.”
Yuri flinched again at the dry tone and a tiny, pained whimper slipped out as a particularly painful cramp rippled through him.
The sharp look in Yuuri’s eyes softened at the vulnerable sound. “Do you want me to call someone for you?” he asked with a sigh. “To get you to your room?”
“I’m rooming with Georgi,” Yuri mumbled. “He’ll cause a scene.”
The Japanese Omega’s spine stiffened. “An unbonded Alpha?” he questioned. “That’s not … the best situation to be in. Where’s your Omega-dam?”
“Six feet under.”
It was quite satisfying for Yuri to see the other Omega flinch instead of the other way around.
“Are there any Omegas on the Russian team that came with you?”
Yuri snorted at the absurdity of the question. “Yakov hasn’t trained any Omegas since his separation. Everyone’s either Alpha, Beta, or they haven’t presented yet.”
Well, that was problematic, Yuuri realized. He tried one last time. “Your Alpha-sire? Any family?”
“Six feet under,” Yuri repeated. His green eyes closed momentarily. “Car accident. There’s just my grandpa, who’s in Moscow right now.”
The older skater swallowed nervously. “There’s truly no one?”
Yuri shook his head and grimaced as sweat began to roll down the side of his head. He wasn’t sure which was worse at this point—the fever or the cramps.
“You must be in so much pain,” Yuuri whispered.
“Well, it’s certainly not a fucking walk in the park!” Yuri snapped. He whimpered again as his raised voice brought to light a new symptom—a headache that was steadily growing. “Damn,” he muttered.
It was meant to be a curse, but for the other male in the bathroom, the word was similar to another one—a cry for help, a plea to the fully honed Omega instincts that lay within the Japanese skater.
It was a plea that Yuuri was unable to ignore.
The instincts that he kept so carefully controlled surged to the surface, flecks of gold shimmering brightly in his eyes as they took charge.
Yuri nearly choked as the scent of something that was pure Omega flooded the enclosed space, but he quickly found himself taking deeper breaths as he realized the overpowering scent was actually helping. He stiffened a moment later when a jacket was wrapped around his shoulders and there were wrists rubbing up and down his face and neck.
Was he being scented?
“It’ll be okay, pup,” a quiet voice murmured in his ear. “We’ll get through this. But we need to go somewhere safer.”
Yuri let out a reluctant whine. He knew that. Of course he knew that, but he didn’t have any place he could call safe or his own.
The blond couldn’t remember a time when he had been so thoroughly scented, let alone so quickly at that. He knew he should protest, especially when his familial markers were scented, but he couldn’t bring himself to raise any protests. The pain had nearly been overwhelming but then, as the scenting process continued, there was no longer any doubt that it was helping him manage it. The strong scent overwhelmed his senses and by forcing his mind to try and comprehend everything associated with that scent, there were less parts of his brain to focus on the pain.
“That should do it for about ten minutes or so,” Katsuki murmured. “It’ll be enough time to get up to my room and start getting settled in.”
“Your room?” Yuri questioned. “Why—”
“Because it’s an Omega room with scent blockers stationed all around it and because no one with any morals whatsoever would permit a newly presenting Omega to stay with an older, unbonded Alpha,” Yuuri snapped. “And because without any immediate family around, you’ll need another Omega to help you through this process, pup, unless you want to end up as an even worse trainwreck than I am!”
Yuri growled and whined as he felt his arms being tucked into the sleeves of the jacket, but that was all the resistance that he could manage.
“My room is on the third floor, just above us. Think you can manage stairs?"
The Russian nodded tersely. “I can manage anything, if it means getting somewhere … safe.”
He was pulled into an abrupt hug and gifted a few nuzzles down his cheeks. “You’re safe,” Yuuri whispered. “Safe with me. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
The logical part of his brain that was quickly slipping away wondered how that could be, but the appearing Omega instincts within Yuri provided the conclusion that settled both parts of his mind. Yes, he would be safe with Yuuri Katsuki, because while the media claimed he had a glass heart, he was the only Omega competing internationally at the senior level in men’s single figure skating. It was a level that 97% of Alpha figure skaters couldn’t reach, so surely that meant something.
Surely it did.
Yuri stared blankly at the distance between the sinks and the bathroom door. The hallway and three flights of stairs. It seemed so far, but he was determined.
After all, it wasn’t like he could stay here anymore, not when there was a better option offered up now.
“Lead the way,” he said, voice cracking as he spoke. While the scent was helping him manage the pain, the fever was still rising, drying out his lips and his throat as it did.
Yuuri stepped away from him and held out a hand for the younger Omega to take. He murmured two words when Yuri took it.
Two words that Yuri had barely heard in his life. Two words that suddenly became the most important compliment that he had ever received.
“Good pup.”