Prompt: I may have been watching too much Yuri!! On Ice

AU: Ice Skating AU

TW: Remus, a lot of sexual innuendoes

WC: 2,013

Date: February 15th, 2020

Note: I know a lot of people use Dukexiety as the ship name, but I personally prefer Virus, I think it is super cool, so sorry if you use a different name.

The first time he had seen Remus ice skate, was a day Virgil would never forget. Remus threw himself at the ice as if nothing and no one else existed, as if there were no consequences for his actions. It was mesmerizing and terrifying. Virgil already had a love for the ice, but when he saw Remus skating like he was alone in the world, Virgil almost wanted to join him. It was a small spark that turned into a full fascination.

"Virgil, keep your leg straight!" His coach, Logan, called as he landed his jump. "Just because it's a basic jump doesn't mean you should treat it with any less importance! Perfection is key."

He was silent for a moment before nodding. "Yes, coach," and he went into it again. Virgil had been training since that day he had seen Remus on the ice. He had completed in a few regional competitions but this was the first time he was actually considered a contender for the top spot. The Press was saying that Virgil might even be able to take the gold this year, the stress and anxiety were getting to him. He hadn't been this terrified since his first competition.

"Mind if I use the rink a little bit, Anxiety." He knew that voice and it sent a shiver down his spine.

"This is our practice time, Remus," Logan said, crossing his arms. "You and your brother have the rink in an hour." The two of them had been in the same country, even the same city, but Virgil typically tried to avoid Remus, not because he wasn't interested in the man. It was the opposite actually. Remus was a distraction and Virgil wanted to be strong enough on his own two skates before making a move towards Remus.

"Your no fun slow Lo, ohh I rhymed. Besides, what if I want to skate with the little emo?"

"Considering you are insulting him, I don't believe that is in his best interest."

"Insulting him, me? No..."

Logan's eyebrow raised, "Then what was that you just called him?"

Virgil had come closer, stopping at the wall. "It's an old nickname from my first competition." He felt his mouth dry out as he looked over Remus, a stripe of white dyed into his hair for his new routine.

"That doesn't sound like a very sporting nickname. How did you acquire something like that?"

Maybe it was just the hard work and the coldness of the rink but Virgil felt his face flush. "I ended up losing my lunch on the ice after finishing my routine. It was pretty well known that I have an anxiety disorder, in fact, they like to play it up nowadays in competition, make me into some big deal because I'm competing despite my anxiety. That's why I had to get a new coach, my old one kind of gave up on me after that." He just shrugged, "Anyway, Remus started calling me Anxiety after that." They didn't meet often, especially since Virgil didn't make it out of the lower competitions, but Remus always seemed to find him on event days. It was the one day he couldn't hide, apparently, he also couldn't hide today.

"Does that not bother you?" When Logan said that Virgil almost thought he saw a flash of concern in Remus' eyes.

"Not really, I mean it's the truth, right? I don't really let it define me anymore, but I don't mind since Remus is the only one who calls me that."

His face quickly twisted into a smile as Remus slammed his hands on the wall. "Skate with me."

Virgil felt his mind shutting down for a moment, "No, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Oh come on Anx. Just this once, we can tell the fuddy-duddy to go away and you and I can have some fun time on the ice." He reached out and touched Virgil's face. "You make such strange faces on the ice when you are focused. I want to see them up close."

Virgil wasn't sure if he should be flattered or grossed out. Was it weird he felt both?

"There is no stopping you is there?" Logan asked with a sigh, "I will leave the decision up to you Virgil, but if you decide to spend time with him we will be practicing early tomorrow."

He took his time deciding before nodding. "I was distracted anyway."

Remus giggled, quickly taking the guards off of his skates so that he could join Virgil on the ice. "This is going to be so much fun." He took Virgil's hand and began to pull him out to the middle of the rink. "Try to keep up." He was so energetic, where did he store that massive amount of energy that drove him forward?

They stopped in the middle and Remus got into position, Virgil did as well. He had seen Remus skate this program before, it was one of his easier ones, but that didn't make it any less nerve-wracking. As they began to skate in tandem, Virgil's mind began to race. This wasn't safe, his mind was screaming at him that he could get hit, but his eyes were fixed on Remus.

Next was the step sequence, and then a triple axel, but Remus was building up more speed then he would need for a triple. Virgil couldn't help but watch as Remus launched himself into the air, completing a quadruple axel and then a backflip, which was illegal in competition, by the way.

Both of them skidded to a stop and Remus had a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Why do you do it?" Virgil asked.

"What?"

"Why do you do needlessly dangerous moves like that. It only gives you deductions, you could be top in the division if you didn't do things like that. You could probably win the four continents with your ability to do quads and your stamina."

"I don't really care about being top, honestly, I'm more of a switch anyway." He gave Virgil a smirk, "I care about making a statement. What about you?" Remus began to skate closer. "Why do you skate?"

"That's not..." Virgil backed up a bit, Remus was too close for his gay heart. "That's not really your business is it?" He frowned, pulling at the sleeves of his jacket.

"Then how about a game? If I can beat you in next week's competition, you will tell me why you skate. I want to unlock those secrets."

"What if I win?"

"Hm.... I will do one thing that you ask me to do." He again slid closer, putting a hand on Virgil's hip. "Anything." It was a safe bet, he didn't think Remus could resist completing banned elements and Virgil was getting consistently better.

"Remus, stop being weird with other competitors. We don't need another restraining order," A voice shouted from across the rink and they both turned to look where Roman was standing with his arms crossed.

"Looks like my lesser half is here. I can't wait to see you in the competition." He winked at Virgil before skating away and Virgil swore he could hear the blood from his heart drumming in his ears. Falling in love with a hurricane was a dangerous thing to do, yet all he wanted was to watch it pave its course in this world.

"Virgil, our time at the rink is over. We have more to do today." On the opposite side of the rink, Logan stood with Virgil's bag and the anxious man nodded, skating off to his best friend and coach. He only had a week to prepare, could he really do this?

~*~

Virgil sat watching Remus' performance, he had already completed his own and had reached his personal best in both the short program and the long program, but he already knew he had lost. Yesterday, in Remus' short program, he hadn't intentionally done anything that would have caused him to have a deduction. He managed his jumps properly and had landed everything. Remus had also scored a personal best.

It was surprising that the thing that he wanted to do was to make a stir because that was exactly what he was doing today. For the first time in his career, Remus was playing by the rules. His movements were fluid, his transitions were seamless, and it made the difference in their abilities all too obvious to Virgil. He turned and walked off, not even watching the rest of Remus' performance as he went somewhere quiet to calm down.

"Virgil, Virgil, what happened?" Logan asked after catching up to him, kneeling down to the man sitting on the floor.

"It's fine. It's fine. I'm fine," he lied, fingers clawing into his legs. What was Remus going to think when he found out that he was the reason why Virgil began skating. Would he laugh? Would he pity Virgil? Remus was so chaotic it was so hard to predict his reactions.

"You know I am better with facts and data than I am with emotions, and the data in front of me suggests that you are not, as you would put it 'fine'"

"Lo, can you drop it?" He took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself before his breath was lost. "I thought for once I could win. I overestimated my abilities."

Logan frowned and sat next to Virgil, pulling him into a side hug. It was awkward but he knew Logan meant well. "You did phenomenal today, your scores are a reflection of your continued improvement. You were able to land most of the triples that you attempted. I am having trouble understanding."

"But he still won."

"Who?"

"What is he going to think of me now? I wanted to impress him, I wanted to show him that I can take risks."

Logan was complete at a loss as to what was going on but he had a slight idea when he saw Remus literally waltzing over to them.

"What did you think of my performance today? I'm not really a fan of playing by the rules, but if it means getting to learn your secrets." Remus dropped to his knees, crawling towards Virgil. "Then I'll happily do what I need to."

Logan understood, or at least he thought he did. "Now is not a good time Remus, you should be getting your results now anyway."

"Oh, I already got them, came ahead of little Anx here which was all I needed. Don't worry, it won't happen in the bedroom." He winked and Virgil hid his face in his hands.

"Remus give me 10 minutes, okay?"

Suddenly Remus dropped the seductive act. "You okay?"

"I just... I need to calm down a bit."

"Okay." He said, standing up, "I'm going to go wait for them to announce the results. You should get in there soon as well."

Remus got first and Virgil got second, something no one had been expecting before the start of this competition. As they were all headed to the locker room to change Remus caught Virgil's wrist. "Look, if I upset you... it was just harmless flirting."

"You're the reason."

Remus looked completely confused.

"You're the reason I started skating, you're the reason I continue to skate. You inspire me and I just wanted to show you how far I had come." He pulled his hand out of Remus' gently. "Sorry, I know it's weird."

Virgil turned to walk away but Remus grabbed him again, pulling him closer and not hesitating to kiss Virgil hungrily. When they finally separated he sighed. "Damn it, if I had known that was the case I would have done this ages ago."

It was Virgil's turn to be surprised.

"I've been watching you since your first competition." He giggled, "Despite being nervous and anxious you went out and skated with all of your heart. So much passion for something, I've been trying to get you to look at me ever since."

Virgil blushed, "I never stopped."

AN: I have been watching so many figure-skating videos trying to make sure my information was right with this one-shot. If I got anything wrong please let me know because although I love how artistic and amazing it looks for someone to figure-skate, I am not immersed in that world. Also, one of my discord friends was helping me with this story and so she made me art for it! I love it so much!