Terry and Yuuri, backdated 12/15

[ax_shimo]

Yuuri Katsuki makes a fast friend in a girl with a warm heart.

Yuuri Katsuki had just finished his first visit to Hasetsu in years, and then got on a plane and headed straight back to America. He moved into the school quietly. By now, he hadn't even gone to say hello to Yuri or Otabek yet. He wasn't ready to face any of them. He couldn't bear it if anyone asked him whether or not he would be retiring before his career even really began.

He had been wandering around when he happened on the school gym, dark and vacant. But after a few minutes, solitude wasn't enough. He put his ear buds in, carefully created ice blades on the bottoms of his boots, and began to skate. The music was from Victor Nikiforov's free skate from when he had been Yuuri's age. All alone in the dark, he felt like he could try to skate like his idol.

Terry had been walking by the dark gym when she heard an odd sound coming from inside, and it was only when she quietly opened the door and peered in that she realised what she'd heard - someone skating. How was he even... were those blades ice? Her eyebrows raised, and she kept watching him without a word. When she realised he was listening to some music, she reached for the tiny sound and brought it straight to her ears, so she too could see the piece along with the music. Oh, and it was beautiful! She'd been watching a lot of figure skating lately, but it had all been on TV, and this was something else.

It wasn't until the end of the program's finale combination spin that he took a moment to catch his breath. That's when he saw her. Slowly he took both his ear buds out. A delicate layer of fractal frost spread over his cheeks. "I'm sorry--I didn't realize the gym was in use." It was the only thing he could think to say.

Terry stopped focusing on the sound from his earbuds just in time to catch his words, his accent, and... was he blushing frost? "Only by you," she pointed out with a friendly smile. "You've got nothing to apologise for. Sorry, I couldn't help but stop and watch. It was beautiful. You were fierce."

Yuuri rubbed the back of his head and cast his eyes down to the floor. "Thank you. That's much too kind. I'm out of practice."

"I don't know much about figure skating, but it looked amazing to me," she assured him. "Do you also compete?"

"I'm..." He looked around, but there was nowhere to hide. He was stuck, facing this girl and the questions he didn't want to answer. The frost crept across more of his skin, splitting into helter seltzer veins. "I'm not competing this season. I finished very poorly last year."

Terry frowned - had he just looked for a way out? - and took a step back. It was obvious that she was making him highly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to - I'll leave you be."

"No, no," he held up his hands in front of him. "I didn't mean to be rude. Right now is a confusing time for me." The frost slid easily into a more curvy pattern. "Next year is the Olympics. I'm troubled because I don't know what I should do now. I didn't mean to make you...ah...worry."

"I didn't mean to make you..." She mimed an explosion with both hands, by her face, since she had no word for it. "But at least it looks good? I, uh. I'm Terry. I can pretend I don't give a shite about figure skating, if that would help?" she offered with a small smile.

"No, don't pretend. I should just be happy that I was able to make one person smile with my skating." He gave her his best brave smile, and some of the ice melted away. "Ever since I...changed, there are so many people online saying it's not fair for mutants to compete. So I've been a little down." That wasn't saying half of it. Yuuri tortured himself reading forums for hours almost every day.

"Do people know you're a mutant?" Terry asked quietly.

He gestured at his face, where the frost was receding but not yet vanished. "I can't control it," he explained with what he hoped was a casual shrug. "So it's impossible to hide my change."

"But do they know?" Terry asked again. "This place is great to learn control."

He shook his head. "It's already out in the open. Last year, I finished my season poorly. And when I get emotional this just...happens. There are photos in a lot of magazines. It was live on television, too."

Terry grimaced sympathetically. "I'm sorry. That must've been awful."

"It was not a good day," he said, a little taste of Japanese understatement. The frost began to creep back ever so slowly. "Ever since then, I have not been sure what to do. Mama and Papa found out about this school and talked me into coming here." He missed his dog most, of all things.

"It's a good place," Terry told him, completely honest. The corner of her mouth ticked up into a small smile. "I mean, it's a school, but it's a good place. They're teaching all of us how to handle our powers. And we're safe, here."

"I'm just glad that I was already used to American school. It's very different here than in Japan." He was hopeful that they really could help him control his powers. That might give him some confidence to go back to skating. And maybe stop all the gossip online.

"What is it like over there?" Terry asked curiously.

"My town, Hasetsu, is very small. Everyone is very friendly to each other there. I think one of the things that makes me most homesick is...ah...Americans don't have the same sense of changing seasons?" He frowned a bit, searching for words. "We have festivals through the year in Japan. Holidays here are not the same. Even Christmas is different here."

"How do you celebrate Christmas, then?" Terry bit down on her bottom lip, then huffed out a laugh. "Sorry, I don't mean to interrogate you in the middle of the gym. I'm just curious." She hesitated, then offered, "How do you feel about hot chocolate?" It was the right weather for it.

"I love it. American hot chocolate is so sweet!" He caught himself and was suddenly embarrassed to get over enthusiastic. "Especially with marshmallows."

"Let's go raid the kitchen?" she offered with a smile.

"I...think I'd like that. Thank you." He let his ice blades melt and came over to her. "Yuuri Katsuki, by the way. It's very nice to meet you."

"Terry Cassidy," she answered with a smile, and led the way towards the kitchen. "It's lovely to meet you."

"What a pretty name," he said politely. "And very kind to take the time to talk with me."

"You're the kind one, indulging me after I interrupted your practice," Terry pointed out with a smile. "Can you make anything out of ice? You ought to meet Bobby. Ice is his thing, too."

"Oh? Perhaps you can introduce me." Yuuri brushed his face self consciously. "I can't make anything. Just the skates."

"That's not nothing," Terry stated encouragingly. "It's amazing. And you'll get better at it, you'll see."

"My hope is more...to get rid of it, as much as possible. Maybe then people will stop saying that mutants cheat at sports.

Terry frowned a little. "Get rid of it?" She pushed her way into the kitchen, holding the door open for Yuuri before moving to get some milk out of the fridge.

He nodded. "As much as possible. So that I never have to think about it again. And it wouldn't distract me anymore, from skating."

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Terry stated with a small, sympathetic smile. She remembered feeling that way herself, and it had been awful. "They're really very good at teaching us control here." Milk poured into two mugs, she stuck them in the microwave.

"I realize it may seem insensitive. Please, I truly do not have anything against mutants. I'm so very happy for people who live happily with their mutations. It's only personal for me. Right now it's hard not to think that my...abilities...are ruining my career." His face went a bit frosty again, and he rocked back and forth on his feet. "I like hot chocolate because it makes milk not taste...um. I don't like milk very much. But it's best for coffee and cocoa. In the dormitories, we used to only make it with hot water from the electric kettle."

"Oh! Are you sure?" Terry asked, glancing back at the microwave. "We can fix you one with water, if you'd rather." She thought that tasted horrible, but to each their own. "Or there's some... not dairy milk."

He shook his head. "The chocolate is so sweet, it complements the milk taste in a nice way. I also like sweet lattes from Starbucks. Coach..." He faltered for a moment. "I should really eat less sugar. I gain weight easily. But...well, I'm not competing this season, and everything in America is so sweet! I used to hate it, but now it's what they call a guilty pleasure."

"I try to jog everyday to make up for my sweet tooth," Terry admitted with a small smile. "And we've got a lot of workout equipment. Do you know Yuri? Yuri Plisetsky? He uses it a lot."

Yuuri's mouth was suddenly dry. Crackled-looking frost raced over his skin. "Yuri Plisetsky goes here?"

Terry's eyebrows raised at his reaction. "Otabek Altin, too."

"I didn't know that." He looked up at her, wide eyed. "Why didn't I know that?" Frankly, he didn't even know either of them were mutants.

"Because they haven't come out and you're only after getting here?" Terry suggested.

Yuuri clasped his chest. What did a heart attack feel like? Ice was spreading out from him across the counter he was leaning against. "I..."

"Are you all right?" Terry asked, reaching out to him but stopping just short of touching him. She wasn't looking for him to freeze her fingers.

"Umm..." Yuuri gave himself an internal shake, and made an attempt at an apologetic smile. "Yuri Plisetsky is a little...intense. And he has always beaten me very badly every competition season. I didn't think I was going to have to see him anymore unless I go back to skating."

"Intense doesn't have to be bad," Terry said quietly, pulling her hand back. At least he didn't look as if he was freaking out anymore. "I'm sorry that it was, with you."

The microwave beeped, and she turned to get the mugs out and fix the hot chocolates.

"I tell myself it's part of being in competition with each other always. Although I do have friends, too. My best friend Phichit...he's amazing. He put Thailand on the map in competitive figure skating all by himself. Maybe someday he'll visit. He's like you...very kind." Yuuri suddenly realized how idle he was being. "Please, is there anything you need help with?" He didn't know the kitchen, but he was just a bit taller than her. Perhaps she needed something on a high shelf.

"Don't worry about it," Terry told him, giving him a smile over her shoulder as she stirred cocoa in the first mug. "Unless you want a snack with this, in which case, feel free to rummage in the cupboards. I think there might be marshmallows in that second one there," she nodded towards the one she meant.

He eyed the cupboards and decided against it. He didn't want to take anyone else's treats. "I should do less snacking."

"Hot chocolate is enough of a treat in itself, anyway," Terry stated, and handed him one of the mugs with a smile. "Here you go."

He took it from her and blew on the top. "Thank you. For all of this. I feel a bit better."

Terry smiled warmly at him. "I'm glad. Any time you feel down, just come find me and whisper 'cocoa' to me, and we can do this." Her expression turned playful. "I mean, any excuse for a hot chocolate, right?"

He nodded and returned her smile, slightly smaller than hers. "Any excuse."