Title: Precipice
Fandom: Yuri!!! on Ice
Rating: G
Word Count: 544
Characters/Ships: Yuri Plisetsky, Victor Nikiforov, gen
Summary: After Yuri's GPF win, Victor visits with some advice.

Yuri is on his bed flicking through the multiple pictures of his medal he's taken with his phone when there's knock at the hotel room door. He groans as he levers himself up to answer it, hoping it's not another fangirl who's somehow managed to find him. It's not much of a relief, though, when he sees Victor Nikiforov through the peephole.

“Have you come to apologize now that you know I'm the best skater in the world?” Yuri drawls after opening the door. He leaves Victor standing there and flops back onto the bed.

“You're not the best skater in the world,” Victor tells him matter-of-factly as he invites himself him.

Yuri rolls his eyes, pointing at the gold medal hanging off a chair on the other side of the room without looking back up from his phone. “The people who gave me that would beg to differ.”

Victor huffs. “Everyone knows you did well, Yuri, but you can't let it go to your head. You won the Grand Prix Final this time, but it's not necessarily because you're the best in the world. You may or may not even be the best skater on the Grand Prix circuit.”

“You're biased,” Yuri retorts, still not looking at him. He finally decides on a picture and begins to type out an Instagram post. Suddenly, Victor snatches his phone away, and the boy glares up at him. “Give that back, you dick.”

“Listen to me,” Victor says, eyes hard. “No one wins on inherent talent. You worked hard – like everyone else out on that ice. And you got lucky. Mistakes can happen to anyone, at any time, but they didn't happen to you when it mattered.”

“Unlike some competitors I could mention,” Yuri says, smirking and thinking of JJ Leroy's pathetic short program.

Victor's frown deepens. “That's exactly what I mean. Fame and success can be fleeting; I want you to enjoy this, but I want you to be realistic about it, too. You never know what's going to happen next.”

Yuri sighs and lays back on the bed. “It's not like you're not biased anyway,” he mutters. “Clearly you wanted the other Yuuri to win.”

That finally makes Victor look away. “I won't deny it,” he says, and his voice is calm. “To see your student win a gold metal is a special thing; just ask Yakov.” There's silence between them for a long moment before he looks back. “I am proud of you, Yuri,” he says finally.

Yuri looks up at him and doesn't know what to say. He would have insisted he didn't need Victor's pride, but he can't deny that it feels good. And it's not like he didn't already know the things Victor has just told them, didn't already believe and fear them. “Whatever,” he settles on.

Victor breaks into a smile. “Anyway,” he says, suddenly lighthearted as he gets to his feet. “Yuuri and I are going to dinner to celebrate, and we want you to come with us.”

It's on the tip of Yuri's tongue to say absolutely not until it occurs to him that just being there will be like rubbing his gold in his Japanese rival's face. “That sounds great,” he agrees with a grin.