Pitter Patter | Victuuri Adoption AU

Reality

"What can I call you?" I ask, barely audible.

"James is fine," he shrugs, casually guiding me into a twirl. "Don't call me JJ," he warns, sweeping me off balance but catching me before I can fall.

I stare up at him helplessly.

"I said not my niece, Casa Nova," Uncle Yuri skates up to us, hammering the split second of helpless captivation back into reality. "That's enough touching," he rolls his eyes and separates us at arm's length.

"I was only having a conversation," James replies cheekily, although strategically stepping beyond pointblank smacking range.

Uncle Yuri shoots him a warning glance before rounding on me.

"You got a feel for the ice?" he demands.

I shrug and nod.

"Finish the lap on your own," he instructs.

*****

By the end of the practice, my feet are blistered and my legs feel like cold, wet spaghetti. Somehow, I'm expected to walk home now. But it's July in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The weather is cool rather than subzero, for once, but the sky is already opening. And unprepared as I was today, I have a small backpack with my phone and my wallet, and that's about it. No umbrella, no change of clothes, no anything better than a hoodie I left by my street shoes.

"Uncle Yuri, can you give me a ride home?" I ask an empty office.

Where did he go?

"Uncle Yuri?" I call around the sitting area at the front of the rink. "Mr. Plisetsky?"

There's not even so much as someone working the front desk to help me find him. Did the rapture strike while I wasn't looking? Where did everyone go? As if solely to prove me wrong, James pops up out of seemingly nowhere.

"You're looking for Mr. Plisetsky?" he asks, zipping up a jacket with sporty Canadian decorations over his own street clothes.

I try very hard not to find his outfit attractive, but all my effort does is yield a raging blush.

"I'll take that as a yes," James snickers. "You just missed him. He was in a rush to get back to the studio. He said he was late... among other more colorful things. But the ice is free if you're gonna stay, you just won't have his help."

"Oh, uh—" I'm at a loss for words.

I didn't hear much of what James said. I was too busy trying to hide my face. He looks at me now with an unreadable expression. Now I realize he's got the perfect opportunity to make fun of me.

"You're awkward," he scoffs, plunging my self-esteem below the zero mark. "I like you," he adds, confusing me.

If that was supposed to help me in any way, shape, or form, it did the opposite. As if just to fluster me further, James closes the distance between us and bends until he can breathe in my ear.

"Am I making you nervous?" he exhales in my ear, amused by the resultant goosebumps on my arms.

I long for my hoodie and my shoes. I should text Poppa and wait outside for someone to pick me up. But James has me in a kind of trap. I take a step back only to realize there's a wall there, hitting my head hard against smooth cement. James chuckles and takes a step back for himself.

"I didn't mean to frighten you," he lifts his hands apologetically. "Are you okay, Valkyrie?"

"I..." my voice falters. "I'm okay. I need to text my Poppa and ask for a ride home—"

"Why don't you stay?" James tilts his head. "I can show you how to lace up your skates."

"I can google it," I argue weakly.

"Don't be stupid," he laughs, finding a seat at a bench near the door and motioning for me to sit beside him.

Tying a skate is harmless enough. What could possibly go wrong? I collect my things and reluctantly take up the other side of the bench.

"Come closer, doofus. Let me actually show you," James laughs.

Unwillingly, I scoot close enough for our breath to mingle. For a moment he looks like he might kiss me and the thought incurs all kind of panic and inner turmoil. My stomach suddenly pitches over and threatens to purge itself of my breakfast. The nausea must show on my face.

"Relax," James chastises me. "Put on a skate— this is really easy— just watch me."

But I can't watch him. My heart is threatening to keel over, and I wouldn't be surprised if it did in my current condition.

"James," I interrupt, airless and lightheaded. "I feel really weak, I need to lie down."

"Weak?" he frowns, getting up, although not fully understanding why. "Are you okay, Valkyrie? Are you gonna pass out?"

I don't want to admit my heart condition to him.

"I'll be fine," I cough, lying down.

"You're really pale..." James is worried now. "There's a vein twitching in your neck—"

Automatically my hand flies up to my neck to massage the vein. I sit up too fast, the room spinning and threatening to topple over.

"Valkyrie?" James questions. "Can you hear me?"

I realize I haven't spoken in a long time. I can tell James is trying to talk to me, but it sounds like it's coming from the other side of a glass tank. I'm gonna faint if I don't act fast. I shut my eyes tight and take a big breath. I have to pinch my nose and lips completely closed and exhale with a fair amount of force.

After the third try I think my ears pop because I can suddenly hear again. And when I blink around, James is dumbfounded, kneeling in front of me. He probably won't ever flirt with me again after this.

"Valkyrie?" he dares ask.

"Yeah?" I sniff, shaking my head and blinking hard again.

"Are you okay, I was just about to get your phone and call your Poppa, like you said," he extends my miniature backpack toward me as he says it.

"Oh," I force an extra cough. "Thanks, JJ."

Some color returns to his face.

"Doofus," he grumbles through a small smile.

"Poptart was better than doofus," I protest, regaining a foothold in my confidence as I scroll through my contacts.

I shoot Poppa a text while James tries to press what happened out of me.

"Do you faint easily or something?" James demands.

"Sure," I shrug, since that's not wrong.

What am I doing? James is beyond my league in many senses, and even if we were equals on any playing field, my older sister would kill me for mumbling and blushing around him all the time. He's surely trouble. But why doesn't he feel like trouble?

"That didn't sound very convincing. Please tell me? Come on, Valkyrie, that was really scary for me— I thought you were having a seizure. What was it actually?" James brings me back to reality.

Before I can open my big mouth and say something else stupid, which seems to be the only sort of thing I can say around James, Poppa calls me back and I have to answer.