Fandom Dynasties and Destinies

[CJWrites]

Yuuri took another bite out of his pirozhki.

"Mine... it's Katsudon" Yuuri answered. "Or maybe you'd call it a... Pork Cutlet Bowl in English? It's rice with deep fried pork cutlet, eggs, and vegetables. My mother would make it for me."

"The Queen Dowager cooks?" Minami said in astonishment.

Yuuri nodded. "She was the daughter of an innkeeper, granted one of the most respected in the country, but it was quite the scandal when my dad wanted to marry her apparently. She makes the most amazing katsudon in the world! And always makes it when I come home."

"I've been eating the Queen's cooking!" Minami squeaked, looking horrified at the idea.

Yuuri laughed.

Soon the plates were cleared away and the feast was finished. The various Ruthenian nobles sitting at the other tables started to disperse.

 

[silenttiger43]

Victor leaned back and stretched out his arms with a contented sigh. He made himself a mental note about this katsudon thing, it certainly sounded interesting. "I shall have to come and try it sometime" declared the King and he fulled intended to follow through on that. Things were in a tentative peace between the nations right now, not enough clearly for the Emperor himself to cross into Ruthenia but with some work, Victor sincerely hoped he could count it safe enough to go to Hua with Yuuri. It was so wonderful to have him here but the Ruthenian King wanted more, he wanted to see and know all the beautiful places that Yuuri had grown up loving. He wanted more than to just share himself, Victor wanted to know everything about this mysterious Yamoto King.

"Do you want to see the view from the western tower?" Victor asked excitedly, "if it's a clear enough night, sometimes you can see the shadow of a dragon that's strayed out from Dragon's Cove." clearly he had forgotten about his brother and any promises made to help him after dinner.

 

[CJWrites]

"Definitely!" Yuuri said, giggling "After everything you've done for me here, I'll have mom make the best Katsudon in the world for you."

He imagined walking with Victor through their traditional Yamato garden and sitting, drinking Yuzu Tea at the Koi pond under the Ginko tree. It was nowhere as splendid as the Winter Palace or the Forbidden City, but it was its own kind of elegant and beautiful.

"I'll go anywhere you do," Yuuri told Victor.

A dragon huh? Yuuri only knew one dragon. He'd heard of Occidental dragons being nothing like Oriental ones. Dangerous, vicious, and savage, they were nothing like the ones back home. Luckily, they lived mostly in mountains and Yuuri hadn't encountered one yet. He couldn't imagine what he would do if he did.

 

[silenttiger43]

Victor let some other servants show the rest of the delegate to where their rooms were but he wanted to show Yuuri around himself. "Yuuri, I thought we weren't keeping score anymore" he scolded with a smile as he stood close to Yuuri, looking down at him while propping a hand under Yuuri's chin to keep the shy man from looking away. There was something about the way he said the Yamoto king's name. It was different than we he spoke of his brother, the vowels were more drawn out as though his lips wanted to hold onto the name as long as possible, "I don't want our relationship to rely on whom owes who. I want to do these things because they make me happy and I would hope that you will do the same for me"

 

[CJWrites]

Yuuri covered his mouth with his hands.

"Victor. Oh my gosh. That's, that's not what I meant." He sputtered out. He moved them away to let Victor prop up his chin. Victor moved closer and Yuuri could distinctly

A relationship. With Victor. Would it work? With their stations? What would his cousin say when he found out Yuuri was involved with the ruler of an enemy nation. Mari was the only other person in the Katsuki family, and she didn't have any kids. Women weren't allowed to sit on Oriental Thrones. And even if she did marry and did have a child... what then? His father had already put the line into jeprody by only taking one wife and only having one son.

Still, Yuuri couldn't bear the thought of being with anyone other than Victor.

 

[silenttiger43]

Victor has used the term so easily, relationship, mostly because he wasn't terribly certain what to call this thing between Yuuri and himself. Lovers? Friends? Oh he certainly knew what he wanted it to be and he guessed, hoped really, that Yuuri reciprocated the feeling but with who they were, emotions didn't always reign supreme. They had to create a world where they could be together in. Change rules, break them where need be and never look back after doing so.

Gods he was beautiful, Victor mused as he watched an array of emotions play across Yuuri's eyes. Never had he met someone so capable of being so strong and so shy at the same time.

"Good" the King nodded decidedly, "Now, where were we going?" he whispered without turning away. Their faces were so close like this, a breath or two apart.

"THERE YOU ARE!" the furious voice of Yuri came clashing into the scene as he punched Victor's arm, hard, "I SAID TO MEET ME OUTSIDE AFTER DINNER! Don't tell me you forgot again so easily you air head! Ditch the fatty and let's go!"

 

[CJWrites]

"The Tower" Yuuri whispered, but it was only an afterthought.

Victor was so close, their chests pressed against each other, their faces inches from each other. Yuuri rested his hands on Victor's hips.

At the sound of yelling, Yuuri jumped back, his hands leaving Victor's side. He was suddenly very conscious of them and wrung them against each other, looking like a child caught doing something he shouldn't have

"Ah... Yurio" Yuuri remembered the boy from the feast.

 

[silenttiger43]

Yuri whirled on the Oriental man, "That. Is not. My name!" he snapped before grabbing Victor by the arm he had just punched. "Now come on, Geezer."

"oooowwwww" Victor whined as he was pulled along by Yuri's surprising strength, "Yuuuuuri, you come to" he reached out towards the other man hopefully, "What are we doing again?" he looked back towards his brother.

"I told you a million times!" Yuri growled, "I want to test out a new spell and I need your ice magic for it. GODS you are so DENSE"

"Oh-OH! Perfect! We can show Yuuri how our magic works!" Victor smiled and let himself be dragged out doors.

 

[CJWrites]

Yuuri's eyes lit up. "Really?"

He followed Victor and Yuri. He'd never seen ice magic before. Most mages in Yamato chose to study fire or water magic. The climate was temperate and ice magic wasn't very useful outside of combat.

Ice magic was much more useful in Ruthenia, Yuuri guessed and they had this weird system of letting the magic choose them. If Ice Magic chose Victor, then Yuuri guessed he had no choice.

 

[silenttiger43]

Yuri dragged Victor out of the castle entirely and towards an open field. For a few moments Yuri yammered at Victor in their native Ruthenian tongue before snapping towards Yuuri to keep his distance, or else. Victor kicked off his boots and gave Yuuri and encouraging smile before he turned his attention towards the task at hand, bare feet in the earth.

Taking a deep breath, Yuri began to move, his motions as fluid as the wind dancing through the trees. Steadily his motions picked up pace, becoming sharper, harsher but still beautiful in it's own way. The very air around them seemed to respond to his motions as though the wind itself was a ribbon attached to Yuri's hands, spinning around and around and upward until the clouds themselves felt his pull and they too began to swirl.

As Yuri moved, Victor remained utterly still, the calm at the center of Yuri's storm. While both Yuris could clearly see the heat of their own breaths, Victor's had vanished entirely as his body became as cold as their surroundings. Frost crawled outward from the King's feet, snaking it's way along the autumn grass where no snow had yet found purchase. They were a strange contrast, the brothers. While Yuri had to move like the wind he so embodied, Victor was every bit the solid, stoic ice that clung to all it touched. This was more than just manipulating the world around them, it was like the magic was wholey a part of themselves, in every fiber of their being.

And then Victor moved and it was like the icy form he had embodied was shattered as Victor dropped low and began to spin in place, so fluid and so quickly that it couldn't have been a natural motion. In fact, it wasn't entirely since Victor's feet now stood on a solid piece of ice that made it easier to spin upon. The ice built up from the ground, creating a spiral that wound it's way up around Victor as he rose, guiding it with his hands until he had made a spire where he stood. He slipped out from the center of it with ease and began moving in circles around the clearing, his bare feet creating a path of ice with each gliding step as he skated around the spire.

A spark crackled along Yuri's arm as the wind howled around them but he seemed to be trying to focus the electricity elsewhere and the concentration of it was painfully clear on his face.

Thunder rippled across the sky as the mingling magics came to a head. After such a slow build, it all happened so quickly. Lightning crashed between the earth and clouds, shattering the beautiful crystal-like spire that Victor had made. The king raised his hands and in that moment every shard of ice that had split apart, shattered further, cast out by the force of the lightning strike and carried on the harsh winds. The light and wind and ice was blinding like the world brightest snow storm had just hit them full force.

It took about a full minute before the madness subsided, leaving the entire field covered in fresh fallen snow that lay three inches deep. The sky began to clear and the starlight above caused the soft snow to twinkle in the night. Perfect, crisp and stunning.
Yuri collapsed upon the ground, panting from the exorbitant amount of effort that had all taken but he seemed rather pleased with himself. Victor shook a pile of snow from his silver hair and laughed at the sight of Yuuri who was now rather coated in the stuff himself.

 

[CJWrites]

Yuuri wiped the snow off his face and shivered in his robes.

An awestruck look was on his face as the flurries descended, reflecting in his wide eyes. The Ice King was beautiful, ethereal and deadly.

Yuuri didn't know if Yuri intended this to be a warning or a threat, but Yuuri was sure the two brothers weren't people he wanted to piss off. Still, how could Victor do anything to hurt him, Yuuri thought as the Silver Haired King laughed. A smile spread across his face and he found himself laughing too.

A realization washed over him. He trusted Victor with his life, despite having little reason to. That thought made him happy.

He dug into the snow, his fingers raw with the cold, scooped it into a ball and threw it at Victor.

 

[silenttiger43]

The snow hit Victor right in the face and he paused in his laughter to blink a few times, several slow flakes having rested on his eyelashes. A wicked grin crossed his features as his blue eyes flashed with excitement, entirely in his element as he swirled his hands and the snow rose up into a wall to separate them like a shield that Victor could duck behind. "Just remember, you started it" he winked at Yuuri as he scooped up some of the fresh snow and began throwing snowballs back at him.

Yuri was still laying on the ground, panting puffs of warm air rising from his mouth. "Cut it out you idiots! Gods, you spoil everything!"

Victor paused in their little snowball fight to glance over to his brother and then with a smile he looked back to Yuuri, a clear intention across his face. He wanted to team up to get Yuri.

 

[CJWrites]

Yuuri's face paled as he realized his mistake, starting a snowball fight with an ice mage, what was he thinking?

He laughed and covered his face as he was pelted with snowballs which seemed to always explode into snowy powder as soon as they hit his body.

He looked up when they stopped, and saw Victor shooting him a wicked grin while glancing at Yuri.

Yuuri understood immediately and he returned the grin.

He scooped up another snowball and launched it at Yuri.

 

[silenttiger43]

Victor did the same and soon Yuri was crying out in furious protest at being pelted relentlessly by snow. He scrambled to his feet and slapped his hand across the air in front of himself which sent a swift blast of wind into the ground, causing a wave of snow to launch up and douse the pair attacking him.

From there it was every man for himself.

The war waged on until each of them became as exhausted as the next and everyone was chilled to the bone-which in Victor's case wasn't a problem but he didn't want Yuuri to get sick so they headed back towards the castle for some well deserved hot cocoa and a warm fireplace. Yuri pulled away from the pair, heading back to his own room with a yawn while Victor invited Yuuri back to his personal rooms.

Victor's chambers were actually a set of five rooms. The first room was a large sitting area with a rarely-used fireplace along with comfortable couches and chairs. Branched off of that to the left was his bedroom and further that way was a bathroom. To the right of the living room was an office of sorts with papers stacked high and books scattered hap-hazardly about the shelves. Victor got one of the servants to get the fireplace going as he pulled off his damp shirt and cast it aside for now. He took a sip of his hot cocoa and winced, it was always a little difficult to reintroduce a proper warmth back into his body after using his ice magic like that.

 

[CJWrites]

Yuuri was thoroughly drenched and he hesitated a bit before following Victor to his quarters.

He took off his soaked robe, tossing it beside Victor's. Underneath, he wore pants and a sarashi, long thin white strip of cloth wrapped multiple times around his chest. He would have put on something else but his own things had been delivered to the guest suite.

They sat closely together for a while, drinking their hot chocolate and Yuuri occasionally breathing fire into his palms to heat them up. A part of his mind warned against this. That he shouldn't get too attached and should just go back to his room, but Yuuri found he didn't care. Gradually, he leaned closer, until his head was on Victor's chest, not even caring about the cold feeling of the other's skin.

"You were beautiful today," Yuuri whispered, listening to Victor's heartbeats.

 

[silenttiger43]

"only today?" Victor teased lightly as he draped an arm around Yuuri. How was it that they fit together so easily like this? It was like every part of Yuuri could melt his icy exterior and create a perfect little spot for himself there. The fireplace was a little too warm for Victor's liking but he was more than willing to bear it if it meant being this close to Yuuri.

 

[CJWrites]

"Always" Yuuri whispered. He snuggled deeper into Victor's chest.

"You know... that first day in the woods. I hoped you would come sleep beside me." More than sleep beside him. "I guess I finally get that wish. It's just like that day isn't it?"

Except it wasn't. They were in a castle instead of the cold lonely woods and sitting by a hearth instead of a campfire. They were sharing hot chocolate instead of stale bread. But most importantly, Yuzu and Vichan were just travelers looking for their way, while Victor and Yuuri were kings, with all the duties that came with the title.

Despite the nagging worries at the back of his head, Yuuri began to drift, his eyes closed slowly and the crackling of the fire lulled him to sleep.

 

[silenttiger43]

Of all the things to learn after the fact, this one was pure torture. Victor pouted as he cuddled Yuuri impossibly closer, wishing desperately to make up for such lost contact. He had been whining to Chris for months about that night and how he had wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around Yuuri like he was now. To leach all the cold from his body and let him be warm and safe and cozy. To pretend for a moment that the world didn't exist with it's titles, expectations and obligations.

"Why didn't you..." Victor's voice trailed off as he noticed Yuuri's eyes had closed and the steady breath that made his chest rise and fall in such peace. "... say something..." Victor finished the sentence with a soft smile, his voice quiet to avoid disturbing the man's sleep. The ice mage watched him there for quite some time, wanting to carve this image forever into the walls of his mind so that he could keep a piece of Yuuri, this memory, for all eternity. It was hours before Victor's eyes grew too heavy to keep watch over him and soon both kings were fast asleep on the couch in front of the fireplace.

A servant must have come along at some point to tend the fire because there was an extra blanket over Yuuri when morning came.

 

[CJWrites]

When Yuuri opened his eyes, he stood on a pillar, not unlike the one Victor had made earlier that evening, except made out of rock instead of ice. He glanced down and found he couldn't see past the clouds, but strangely he wasn't scared.

He heard a swish over his head and a majestic shimmering yellow dragon was circling above him, Its eyes the size of dinner plates, its serpentine body could easily wrap around a medium sized castle twice. Yuuri recognized it as the Imperial Dragon; loyal to whoever the current Emperor was. But what was it doing here? Guang Hong never went outside of the Forbidden City without the Dragon.

It was then that Yuuri noticed a small white lizard, or at least small in comparison to the Imperial Dragon, nipping and shooting icy breath at the larger creature, who didn't seem to be affected at all.

This must be what a European dragon looked like, Yuuri thought to himself.

He watched their battle, if you could call it a battle, rage on, the wind whipped his hair and robes. His robes, he just noticed, weren't his usual kimono, his diplomatic outfit or his imperial court robes, but rather yellow with golden five-clawed dragons embossed all over them.

Before Yuuri could process this, the Imperial Dragon had noticed him its giant golden eyes devoid of any emotion. Yuuri stepped back, but it lunged, opening its crocodile jaw, the white dragon unable to do anything, and he awoke with a start.

Yuuri jerked forward, panting heavily and cold sweat all over his forehead. He felt a blanket and an arm falling into his lap and he glanced around. He was back in Victor's room. He glanced down at the Ruthenian King, wondering if he'd woken Victor up.

 

[silenttiger43]

Victor groaned, his eyes fluttering for a moment as he stirred. This was nice, waking up to the lovely pressure of Yuuri at his side. "Hmm... Yu-" his voice cut off as a cough erupted from his throat and he turned away to let it all out. "Ah... it's hot in here" he breathed, looking towards the fireplace that was still going strong. "I shouldn't have told them to keep it going all night apparently" he smiled a little but there was sweat on his brow and he looked a touch pale.

 

[CJWrites]

Yuuri was still panting, his eyes wide and his face pale, although Victor probably couldn't tell in the dim firelight.

What did that mean? He'd taken divination classes in his teens, but never really gotten anywhere, but once in a while, he got these strange prophetic dreams which made so little sense only when the event came to pass. Half the time, they were wrong anyways.

Shakily Yuuri got up and walked over to his robes, they were still damp but wearable.

He pulled them back on.

"I should go." He said as he grabbed the bucket of water beside the fireplace and doused the crackling flames.

 

[silenttiger43]

Victor looked up at Yuuri like a wounded puppy. Why was he leaving so suddenly? Had Victor said or done something wrong? "Okay... but you don't have to" his eyes fought the new-found darkness to try and find Yuuri's face, wanting to search for the reason behind this change.

He wouldn't stop him if that's really what Yuuri wanted but Victor had a hard time not reaching out to drag him back to the couch and demand that he stay. Every time Yuuri pulled away it was like a dagger in Victor's heart, making him question everything he'd done up until that point, searching for the moment that he'd been too clingy or overbearing so that he could stop himself next time and hopefully not drive Yuuri away.

 

[CJWrites]

Yuuri clutched his robes tightly around him as he opened the door to the corridor, shivering as the cold air entered the room.

Upon hearing Victor's words, he looked back and gave him a look, his eyes brimming with fear, sadness.

"What do you think everyone will say if we spend the night in one room together." He hissed, trying to keep his voice low. Nishigori was already convinced he'd slept with Victor in Switzerland and he didn't need the entire Ruthenian Court to be talking about an illicit affair between them, whether it actually happened or not.

But his willpower caved when he saw those wide turquoise eyes. Slowly, Yuuri walked back over to the couch, leaned down and kissed Victor on the cheek.

He whispered a hurried "I'm sorry, I'll see you tomorrow" before running off and slamming the door behind him.

 

[silenttiger43]

Sorry? Sorry for what? Victor nearly ran off after him, ready to say damn to the thoughts of others because he wanted to pull Yuuri into his arms, into his bed and never let go. Of course he didn't, chasing after people rarely ended well for him, it was better to let them go and deal with the smaller, day to day heartbreaking moments. Although either way, he always seemed to end alone at the end of the night. The ice King took a sobering breath that dissolved into another cough and he moved out of the room and towards where his bed lay, shoving the window open to let in the crisp northern wind and be rid of this stifling heat that threatened to choke his lungs.

He gave the bed a forlorn look. How was he supposed to sleep now that he knew what it was like to have Yuuri's body tucked in neatly next to him? With a sigh, and with no better ideas coming to mind, Victor slipped into the bed and closed his eyes, tossing and turning until he finally dozed off again.

The next morning, Victor woke with the dawn. He loved the feel of the early morning air as it breezed in through the still-open window. There was a roar that echoed over the city and Victor perked up immediately as a smile spread over his face. Throwing on a greenish-blue garment he raced through the castle towards the courtyard.

 

[CJWrites]

Minami had woken Yuuri up the next morning as Nishigori leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and tutting. It strangely reminded Yuuri of Yuuko. His disapproving look faded when Yuuri told them about the nightmare.

"What? A vision?"

Yuuri frowned. "I wouldn't really call them visions. Just... hints about the future. I bet it's nothing. Half of them don't turn out to be true"

Minami nodded earnestly but Nishigori didn't look convinced.

"Last night, you came back exceptionally late. You were with the Ice King, weren't you."

Yuuri's hesitation confirmed it.

"Look, I know you like the Ruthenian King, and you've already slept with him twice," Nishigori said, his voice hushed.

"No, I haven't!" Yuuri shouted, a little too loudly, shocking Minami who was helping Yuuri put on his robes.

Nishigori went on "But don't forget why you're here. And who you are."

Yuuri cast his eyes downward as his friend patted his shoulder and looked at him sympathetically.

"I know what it's like to love someone you can't be with," Nishigori said.

"Uhh..... Heika?" Minami asked, looking out the window. "You said you saw a white lizard with wings, right?"

Yuuri nodded.

"I think you should take a look." He moved back to make space for Nishigori and Yuuri.

Yuuri's jaw dropped. It was exactly like the European dragon in his dreams, except next to the trees in the courtyard, it looked much bigger. Victor came bounding out the castle.

"Wait, no!" Yuuri shouted, he'd heard so many horror stories about European dragons, and anything which would attack the Imperial Dragon couldn't be good.

He lept out of the window, blasting air beneath himself as Minami and Nishigori shouted "Heika!" and "Yuuri!" respectively.

But the air blast was not enough and Yuuri tumbled into and out of the bushes. Leafs and were twigs stuck in his hair and robes as he blinked at the scene in front of him.