Advisory and Adversity for megume_legume
Author: gingenary
Title: Advisory and Adversity
Recipient: megume_legume
Skaters/Pairings: Alexei Yagudin/Brian Joubert + possibly one-sided Evgeni Plushenko/Alexei Yagudin
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 1,603
Warnings: Implied sex
Prompt: Yagudin/Joubert + Plushenko - in which Brian knows he's just a convenient substitute, used by Yagudin to continue to goad his rival Plushenko.
Disclaimer: The events portrayed in this story are fictional and do not reflect on the actual people written about.
A/N: I'm really exactly pleased this, but here you go:
Summary: When Alexei Yagudin is forced to retire due to injury, he continues his rivalry with Evgeni Plushenko by assisting French skater Brian Joubert. It turns into a mess of emotions when Brian and Alexei start sleeping together.
It had been the first competition of the 2002-2003 season for Alexei Yagudin. Winning everything he'd entered the year previous had the Russian in good spirits, but still he was always training hard to stay on top--to prevent Evgeni Plushenko from beating him like he had so many times before.
He'd go to scary extremes to beat his adversary--there was even one instance where he stopped eating in attempt to get the better of him--but today was not fated to be a battle of the Russians, because Plunshenko hadn't entered Skate America.
He only had the other skaters to worry about, and frankly, he wasn't actually worried.
Little did he know that would be the day the curtain closed on his competitive career.
Little did anyone know that one French skater Brian Joubert was going to win and prove himself to be a contender.
Alexei may have been out of the game now, but it didn't take long for him to come up with a plan to continue on and beat Plushenko after retirement, even if his gain was only by association.
It wasn't long after Brian Joubert had lost his first coach when Alexei Yagudin came to him to offer his help.
"I know what's like to skate against Zhenya...to beat Zhenya. And I can help you do the same," he had said. Brain had already found another coach at this point, but he definitely did not want to give up the chance to work with Alexei Yagudin. In the end, he hired him as an "advisor." They found themselves comfortable working with each other fairly quickly, and Alexei made sure to get a lot done. Joubert was going to beat Plushenko--he'd make sure of it.
----
Brian wasn't sure how Alexei had convinced him to go drinking with him after practice(it certainly wasn't like he found Alexei convincing because he was charming or anything) , nor did he expect what he found when he woke up the next morning. Which happened to be a naked Russian laying on his stomach next to him. And snoring rather loudly(that was certainly something he could've gone without).
On top of that, upon sitting up Brian noticed he too was naked, and that there was a certain discomfortable feeling in his lower region.
Well. So that's what happened.
Brian didn't have long to sit and ponder the consequences of the previous night's drunken actions, because his bedmate was starting to wake up(his first clue was that it was suddenly a lot quieter).
"Morning," came a muffled voice--his was face pressed into the pillow he was tightly clutching(and Brian thanked god that it had been the pillow and not him that the Russian was holding so tightly, because that would've made this so much more awkward than in already was)--"Did you sleep well?"
Brian took a deep breath,"...well enough."
At this, Yagudin picked up his head, resting it on his elbow. He yawned, smiling in contentment," That is good..."
Brian merely nodded, still unsure of what to make of the situation.
" Are you hungry?"
" Huh?"
" I could cook something..." Alexei offered.
"...It's my house, if anyone's going to be cooking it'll be--"
Alexei frowned," Brain, we are not at your house."
"...Oh."
Without warning, Yagudin got out of bed, immediately searching for some pants to put on(thank god, because Brain didn't want to have to worry about...staring...any longer), and, flashed Brian another smile," Come, I will cook. I insist."
With a nod, Brian decided to focus his attention on dressing him out and think later.
----
Brian found himself waking up next to his advisor with increasing frequency, and the more it happened, the less it took to convince him to let the Russian into his pants. Although their current status would best be described as "fuck buddies," they did have the occasional moments that almost made Brian want something more out of it. He continually told himself not to go there--sleeping with a member of his staff was probably dangerous enough, after all. Getting emotions into it wouldn't help at all. Besides, he couldn't help notice that whenever they got into anything, something always seemed off about Alexei...
----
Though the first three competitions he had skated in didn't have the best turnout--two fourths and second--Brian finally won two events. Exclusively French, true, but definitely the confidence booster he--as well as the people he worked with--needed.
----
Then came Europeans. This was it, what Alexei had gotten involve with Brian for. The day where Brian would face off against Evgeni Plushenko, and he could see if all their hard work had done what he'd intended it to do. Evgeni probably wasn't intimidated by Brian at all, so Yagudin couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he found himself beat by someone working with his former nemesis.
As Brian's turn to perform drew near, he was, like always, topless. Alexei had always found that amusing; he'd heard about his strange insistence on not wearing a shirt before a performance when he used to compete against him, but he never imagined Brian was so deadly serious about it.
Alexei tapped his foot anxiously,"I'm confident in my work. You can do it."
Brian nodded in response,"I will win today, and then I will win Worlds."
"That's the spirit," Alexei replied, chuckling.
----
Brian couldn't help but notice that day that when he wasn't on the ice or about to be, all of Yagudin's attention was on Evgeni Plushenko. He knew of the bitter rivalry they had--how could anyone in the skating world not?--and yet, something about his preoccupation with the other man did not come across as hatred or anything negative like one would expect. Something was definitely unsettling about the way he stared at his worst rival so desperate and longingly.
...Oh hell, That was it, wasn't it? His obsession with being better than Plushenko had also manifested into something else. He knew the entire arrangement to help him was just to get the best of Plushenko, and he knew he probably didn't mean as much to Alexei as the Russian meant to him, but it hadn't crossed his mind that...
Well, damn.
----
In the end, Brian became the European champion.
Alexei(who was beside him with joy and going on about how happy it made him that people were pointing out his influence on Brian) had proposed a celebration, to which no one objected. And when everyone else had gone, Alexei managed convince Brian(who was pretty sure he was making a bad decision, but considering it his celebration he decided to do whatever the hell he wanted and deal with whatever came of it later) to join him in a different form of celebration.
He swore at some point that night he had heard Alexei muttering the name "Evgeni."
----
After that night, Brian decided he was going to keep himself out of the Russian's bed. Still, it was pretty disheartening that his unplanned fling had ended with him so attached to his advisor.
----
Brian found the practices leading up to worlds to be unbearable. Not only had Alexei been openly flirtatious with Brian with increasing frequency(It appeared to Brian--but he told himself this was probably just wishful thinking, because Alexei probably didn't feel anything of the sort--that it was to convince himself that he had feelings for Brian, not Evgeni), but just knowing that he was a mere substitute, just something used to get the attention of the one Alexei seemed to actually desired made him uncomfortable to work with.
And with Worlds coming up, everyone was starting to get a little tense. Alexei seemed the most anxious out of everyone(except for, of course, Brian himself), and Brian had noticed he'd been consuming more alcohol than usual--and the usual was frankly, a lot--so he had politely pointed out that was probably not helping. The only thing this accomplished was getting the Russian mad at him.
Great. That was just what he needed.
----
Worlds came and Brian only managed second, beaten by none other than Evgeni Plushenko.
Alexei insisted on drowning his sorrows. He had even invited Brian along, but Brian declined.
He just wanted to get some sleep. In his own bed. Alone.
----
After a long time of mulling it over, Brian finally decided it would be in his best interest to get Alexei out of his life so he could move on. The skating help he'd given him had proven to be invaluable, but he couldn't work with him any longer. Plus it wasn't like he didn't have reasons--excuses, really--for one, Alexei didn't get along with his choreographer, Nikolai Morozov, at all. Brian could just claim that it was too detrimental to his training.
----
When it came down to it, Brian wasn't sure what to expext when he broke the news to Alexei.
They talked briefly, awkwardly, neither looking the other on the eye, and before Yagudin left he pressed a quick kiss to Brian's forehead, and whispered against his skin,"I know you'll do it someday."
With that, the Russian turned and left Brian dumbfounded and staring.
After that relationship, Brian swore he was giving up men.
-END-
Title: Advisory and Adversity
Recipient: megume_legume
Skaters/Pairings: Alexei Yagudin/Brian Joubert + possibly one-sided Evgeni Plushenko/Alexei Yagudin
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 1,603
Warnings: Implied sex
Prompt: Yagudin/Joubert + Plushenko - in which Brian knows he's just a convenient substitute, used by Yagudin to continue to goad his rival Plushenko.
Disclaimer: The events portrayed in this story are fictional and do not reflect on the actual people written about.
A/N: I'm really exactly pleased this, but here you go:
Summary: When Alexei Yagudin is forced to retire due to injury, he continues his rivalry with Evgeni Plushenko by assisting French skater Brian Joubert. It turns into a mess of emotions when Brian and Alexei start sleeping together.
It had been the first competition of the 2002-2003 season for Alexei Yagudin. Winning everything he'd entered the year previous had the Russian in good spirits, but still he was always training hard to stay on top--to prevent Evgeni Plushenko from beating him like he had so many times before.
He'd go to scary extremes to beat his adversary--there was even one instance where he stopped eating in attempt to get the better of him--but today was not fated to be a battle of the Russians, because Plunshenko hadn't entered Skate America.
He only had the other skaters to worry about, and frankly, he wasn't actually worried.
Little did he know that would be the day the curtain closed on his competitive career.
Little did anyone know that one French skater Brian Joubert was going to win and prove himself to be a contender.
Alexei may have been out of the game now, but it didn't take long for him to come up with a plan to continue on and beat Plushenko after retirement, even if his gain was only by association.
It wasn't long after Brian Joubert had lost his first coach when Alexei Yagudin came to him to offer his help.
"I know what's like to skate against Zhenya...to beat Zhenya. And I can help you do the same," he had said. Brain had already found another coach at this point, but he definitely did not want to give up the chance to work with Alexei Yagudin. In the end, he hired him as an "advisor." They found themselves comfortable working with each other fairly quickly, and Alexei made sure to get a lot done. Joubert was going to beat Plushenko--he'd make sure of it.
----
Brian wasn't sure how Alexei had convinced him to go drinking with him after practice(it certainly wasn't like he found Alexei convincing because he was charming or anything) , nor did he expect what he found when he woke up the next morning. Which happened to be a naked Russian laying on his stomach next to him. And snoring rather loudly(that was certainly something he could've gone without).
On top of that, upon sitting up Brian noticed he too was naked, and that there was a certain discomfortable feeling in his lower region.
Well. So that's what happened.
Brian didn't have long to sit and ponder the consequences of the previous night's drunken actions, because his bedmate was starting to wake up(his first clue was that it was suddenly a lot quieter).
"Morning," came a muffled voice--his was face pressed into the pillow he was tightly clutching(and Brian thanked god that it had been the pillow and not him that the Russian was holding so tightly, because that would've made this so much more awkward than in already was)--"Did you sleep well?"
Brian took a deep breath,"...well enough."
At this, Yagudin picked up his head, resting it on his elbow. He yawned, smiling in contentment," That is good..."
Brian merely nodded, still unsure of what to make of the situation.
" Are you hungry?"
" Huh?"
" I could cook something..." Alexei offered.
"...It's my house, if anyone's going to be cooking it'll be--"
Alexei frowned," Brain, we are not at your house."
"...Oh."
Without warning, Yagudin got out of bed, immediately searching for some pants to put on(thank god, because Brain didn't want to have to worry about...staring...any longer), and, flashed Brian another smile," Come, I will cook. I insist."
With a nod, Brian decided to focus his attention on dressing him out and think later.
----
Brian found himself waking up next to his advisor with increasing frequency, and the more it happened, the less it took to convince him to let the Russian into his pants. Although their current status would best be described as "fuck buddies," they did have the occasional moments that almost made Brian want something more out of it. He continually told himself not to go there--sleeping with a member of his staff was probably dangerous enough, after all. Getting emotions into it wouldn't help at all. Besides, he couldn't help notice that whenever they got into anything, something always seemed off about Alexei...
----
Though the first three competitions he had skated in didn't have the best turnout--two fourths and second--Brian finally won two events. Exclusively French, true, but definitely the confidence booster he--as well as the people he worked with--needed.
----
Then came Europeans. This was it, what Alexei had gotten involve with Brian for. The day where Brian would face off against Evgeni Plushenko, and he could see if all their hard work had done what he'd intended it to do. Evgeni probably wasn't intimidated by Brian at all, so Yagudin couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he found himself beat by someone working with his former nemesis.
As Brian's turn to perform drew near, he was, like always, topless. Alexei had always found that amusing; he'd heard about his strange insistence on not wearing a shirt before a performance when he used to compete against him, but he never imagined Brian was so deadly serious about it.
Alexei tapped his foot anxiously,"I'm confident in my work. You can do it."
Brian nodded in response,"I will win today, and then I will win Worlds."
"That's the spirit," Alexei replied, chuckling.
----
Brian couldn't help but notice that day that when he wasn't on the ice or about to be, all of Yagudin's attention was on Evgeni Plushenko. He knew of the bitter rivalry they had--how could anyone in the skating world not?--and yet, something about his preoccupation with the other man did not come across as hatred or anything negative like one would expect. Something was definitely unsettling about the way he stared at his worst rival so desperate and longingly.
...Oh hell, That was it, wasn't it? His obsession with being better than Plushenko had also manifested into something else. He knew the entire arrangement to help him was just to get the best of Plushenko, and he knew he probably didn't mean as much to Alexei as the Russian meant to him, but it hadn't crossed his mind that...
Well, damn.
----
In the end, Brian became the European champion.
Alexei(who was beside him with joy and going on about how happy it made him that people were pointing out his influence on Brian) had proposed a celebration, to which no one objected. And when everyone else had gone, Alexei managed convince Brian(who was pretty sure he was making a bad decision, but considering it his celebration he decided to do whatever the hell he wanted and deal with whatever came of it later) to join him in a different form of celebration.
He swore at some point that night he had heard Alexei muttering the name "Evgeni."
----
After that night, Brian decided he was going to keep himself out of the Russian's bed. Still, it was pretty disheartening that his unplanned fling had ended with him so attached to his advisor.
----
Brian found the practices leading up to worlds to be unbearable. Not only had Alexei been openly flirtatious with Brian with increasing frequency(It appeared to Brian--but he told himself this was probably just wishful thinking, because Alexei probably didn't feel anything of the sort--that it was to convince himself that he had feelings for Brian, not Evgeni), but just knowing that he was a mere substitute, just something used to get the attention of the one Alexei seemed to actually desired made him uncomfortable to work with.
And with Worlds coming up, everyone was starting to get a little tense. Alexei seemed the most anxious out of everyone(except for, of course, Brian himself), and Brian had noticed he'd been consuming more alcohol than usual--and the usual was frankly, a lot--so he had politely pointed out that was probably not helping. The only thing this accomplished was getting the Russian mad at him.
Great. That was just what he needed.
----
Worlds came and Brian only managed second, beaten by none other than Evgeni Plushenko.
Alexei insisted on drowning his sorrows. He had even invited Brian along, but Brian declined.
He just wanted to get some sleep. In his own bed. Alone.
----
After a long time of mulling it over, Brian finally decided it would be in his best interest to get Alexei out of his life so he could move on. The skating help he'd given him had proven to be invaluable, but he couldn't work with him any longer. Plus it wasn't like he didn't have reasons--excuses, really--for one, Alexei didn't get along with his choreographer, Nikolai Morozov, at all. Brian could just claim that it was too detrimental to his training.
----
When it came down to it, Brian wasn't sure what to expext when he broke the news to Alexei.
They talked briefly, awkwardly, neither looking the other on the eye, and before Yagudin left he pressed a quick kiss to Brian's forehead, and whispered against his skin,"I know you'll do it someday."
With that, the Russian turned and left Brian dumbfounded and staring.
After that relationship, Brian swore he was giving up men.
-END-