If you're doing the vampire requests, what number 38 for the new AU were talking a out, the Fledgling one? ( any character with Remy) (And it's alright to say no!)
Summary: Otabek hadn’t wanted to mentor a fledgling wizard, but thanks to a bureaucratic nightmare, he has one anyway…
DO NOT REBLOG IF YOU SHIP OTAYURI ROMANTICALLY IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.
Otabek hadn’t wanted to take on a fledgling.
Sure, most wizards his age started mentorships. It was generally considered mutually beneficial—the fledgling would get to learn from someone closer in age, and the mentor would get to practice in case they wanted to have an apprentice later on.
But Otabek hadn’t wanted to take on a fledgling. He wasn’t good with kids, didn’t really remember much about being a kid, and liked peace and quiet.
And yet, he was getting one, because this poor kid got lost in a bureaucratic nightmare and didn’t have a mentor. That, Otabek could feel bad for—a little kid wanting desperately to have a mentor, going through all the procedures, and then getting caught up in a bunch of crap.
So here he was, taking on a fledgling, and fifteen-year-old Yuri Plisetsky would be arriving today.
Otabek sat back on his couch and looked around the room again. The place was pretty clean, partly because he just didn’t own much of anything, and he had straightened up a back room for this kid to sleep in. Being able to do magic helped with that part, especially the part about, y’know, having a bed. There really wasn’t much else he could do to prepare for this mentorship.
There was a knock at the door, a rather tentative one to be honest. That was strange. Otabek had never heard of the Mentorship Bureau officers being tentative…
He went up to the door and opened it to reveal a kid with messy blond hair and no officers in sight.
“Are—are you Yuri?” Otabek asked. There was a part of him that wondered whether this was just a lost kid. He had never heard of a fledgling coming to a mentor’s house without any officers.
“Yeah. I know, I’m supposed to have officers with me, but that whole thing got screwed up so I had to come on my own.” Yuri zipped his jacket up further.
“Oh—oh, yeah, come on in.” Otabek stepped aside to allow Yuri to walk in. “Sorry; I was just a little shocked not to see any officers or anyone with you.” He closed the door behind them, noting how very small the backpack Yuri had brought with him was. “How far did you have to come? Did you get here on your own?”
“Wasn’t that bad,” said Yuri. “I’ve gotten decently good at teleportation; that covered the most of it. Got a little lost a town over and had to get help from a pretty sketchy looking dude in a coffeeshop, though.”
Otabek blinked. “You can teleport long-distance?”
“Yeah?”
“I could barely teleport across the room at fifteen—you are fifteen, right?” Holy shit, this kid is talented.
“Yeah, I’m fifteen. But I needed to learn how to teleport, so I learned.” Yuri’s tone was flat in a way that Otabek hadn’t expected from someone his age. He sounded like a soldier.
“Who taught you?” Otabek asked. “Do you have a teacher yet?”
“Sort of, but not really,” said Yuri. “Yakov has a bunch of apprentices right now, and I’m both the youngest and not formally his apprentice, so I ended up teaching myself a lot of what I know. He got me started on teleportation, but I taught myself from there.”
“That… is incredibly impressive,” said Otabek. “What else have you taught yourself?”
At this, Yuri’s face lit up. Clearly he liked talking about what he could do. “Well, I can do pocket dimensions—did one on my backpack—”
“—Is that why it’s so small?” Otabek asked. “You did a pocket dimension?” Is this kid for real?!
“Yeah. It’s not a great one; you can feel it sorta wobbling like it’s about to explode, but it held up while teleporting so I’m not going to complain.”
“Can I take a look?” Otabek asked. “I’m pretty good at pocket dimensions myself. If you want I can help you make stronger ones.”
Once again, Yuri’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, sure!” he said, grinning. “Here.” He shrugged the backpack off and handed it to Otabek.
Sure enough, the bag was vibrating, a sign of a slightly less than stable dimension, but seeing as it had teleported long-distance, that was perfectly normal—in fact, Otabek was shocked that it wasn’t vibrating more, especially given how small the backpack itself was, and given that it was made by a fifteen year old kid who had taught himself how to do it.
“This is pretty impressive,” said Otabek. “I mean, yeah, it’s vibrating, and there are definitely places where you can improve in making it, but I know people older than both of us who can’t make a pocket dimension like this and teleport it long distance without it completely bursting. And that’s after being taught. I’ve never heard of a fledgling making one like this after learning how to do it on their own.”
“It burst a little bit while I was teleporting,” said Yuri. “My favorite jacket almost got lost to the void.”
“And you fixed it while teleporting?” Otabek asked.
“Not really… I stabilized it a bit, but I basically had to redo it once I landed. That was a pain, and it looked pretty weird, too.”
“Well, let’s get this to your room, so you can unpack it, and you’ll probably want to get a new backpack. This one is tiny; even just a few inches bigger will make it so much easier.” Otabek handed the backpack back to Yuri. “And then I was thinking we start contemplating dinner. How decent are you in the kitchen?”
“Mind-numbingly awful.”
“Crap; me too. We’ll have to figure that one out together.”
DO NOT REBLOG IF YOU SHIP OTAYURI ROMANTICALLY IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.
“I’m really not so sure about this…”
Yuri stood on the edge of the cliff, staring down at Otabek. His mentor had decided that today would be the day he learned how to fly, and what better way to do so than to fling himself off a cliff?
“You’ll be fine!” Otabek shouted from the bottom. “Worst comes to worst, I’ll catch you. But with your talent, I’m sure you can do it. It’s easier than teleportation.”
Yuri didn’t say anything. He had heard that flight was easier than teleportation before, but the notion of jumping off a cliff was obviously still pretty terrifying.
The air in front of him glowed cerulean with Otabek’s aura—the telltale mark of teleportation. Sure enough, they were face to face seconds later.
“Yuri,” Otabek said softly, but firmly. “I will not let you get hurt. If you don’t get yourself flying, I promise I will catch you.”
“How?” Yuri asked. It was a weird question, but for some reason he thought that knowing how he would be saved would help…
“I’ll cast a levitation charm,” said Otabek. “You’ll float down completely unharmed. And then, as an apology, I’ll take you for a ride on my bike.”
“Promise?” Yuri asked, his voice squeaking in a somewhat uncharacteristic manner.
Otabek put his hands on Yuri’s shoulders. “You can trust me, Yuri. I promise. Alright?”
Yuri swallowed. Trust wasn’t something he was necessarily used to—or rather, used to at all. But for some reason, Otabek was different. They had only been living together for a few weeks, but already they had become close friends. To Yuri, it was almost like having an older brother.
And if he couldn’t trust his older brother, who could he trust?
“Alright,” said Yuri. “I trust you.”
Otabek smiled. “There we go. Now remember, deep breaths, focus on flying. You are more powerful than gravity.” With that, he glowed cerulean and faded away, reappearing at the bottom of the cliff.
“You can do it, Yuri!” he shouted.
I can do this, Yuri told himself. I am more powerful than gravity.
He grinned down at Otabek, got a running start, and jumped off of the cliff.
Focus on flying, not on falling. Focus on flying, not on falling. Flying. I’m going to fly. I can fly.
“Yuri! Yuri, you’re doing it!”
Sure enough, Yuri was no longer hurtling through the air, but rather soaring down in a way that he could control. He swerved right, then left, getting the hang of what he was doing.
“Otabek!” he shouted. “Otabek, look! I’m flying!” He looked down at Otabek to try and wave… and that’s when he realized how high up he was.
“Don’t panic, Yuri!” Otabek called. “You’re fine! You can do this!”
But it was too late. Yuri was already starting to panic, and that was what caused him to stop flying and start falling. He began plummeting towards the earth, unable to regain his focus.
“Oh, crap,” Otabek muttered. “Hang on, Yuri! I’ve got you!”
Yuri didn’t hear him, too busy looking around wildly and trying, trying to calm down, but to no avail.
He was almost about to start crying when the falling slowed and he began to drift down like a leaf on the wind.
For @platonicotayuriweek Day Three (Happy birthday, Yuri!)
Summary: Otabek finds out his fledgling’s birthday.
Notes: For the record, the carrot cake happens to be my aunt’s recipe, and it is The Best Shit Ever.
DO NOT REBLOG IF YOU SHIP OTAYURI ROMANTICALLY IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.
“Wait, hold on. Did you just say your birthday?”
“Yeah, it’s next week,” said Yuri. “March 1st.”
“How did I not know that?” Otabek asked incredulously.
Yuri shrugged. “It’s not that important, is it?”
“Of course it is!” said Otabek. “What kind of mentor doesn’t know their fledgling’s birthday?”
“I didn’t think most mentors did,” said Yuri.
“Well, now I know, and we’ll have to do something special for it, alright?” Otabek grinned at his fledgling. “I promise that this will be the best birthday ever.”
~~~
March 1st
“Happy birthday, Yuri!”
Yuri rubbed his eyes as he wandered into the living room. “Wha—”
Otabek was hovering about six feet up, lying down as though the air was a sofa. “Come join me! The view’s nice!”
Yuri grinned and jumped up. Since that disastrous day on the cliff he had gotten much better at flight and now could fly almost as well as he could teleport—although he did prefer the latter.
“Hey kid,” said Otabek. He sat up and ruffled Yuri’s hair. “Sixteen, eh?”
Yuri shrugged. “Doesn’t feel too different from being fifteen.”
“Yeah... you won’t really feel sixteen for awhile. And then it’ll set in, and you’ll realize that hey, you made it yet another year. But in the meantime, we can party, yeah?”
Yuri bit his lip. He had never really... celebrated his birthday before. It just wasn’t a thing he had done. But he had heard of people celebrating birthdays, and it seemed like something fun...
“Okay, sure,” said Yuri. “I guess we can party. But... nothing too ridiculous, okay? And not a lot of people. I don’t really even know that many people...”
“Kid, you’ve lived with me for months. Have you ever seen another person in this house?” Otabek laughed. “No, no, just us. I don’t know anybody either. But hey, it only takes two to party, yeah?”
Yuri’s face lit up. An entire day partying with Otabek? Yeah, that definitely sounded like a good time. “Definitely—!!!” He yelped as Otabek pushed him away, sending him hurtling through the air.
“Rude,” he said as he regained control. He did a few flips before drifting back down to the couch.
“You’ve gotten really good at that,” said Otabek. “Pretty proud of you, kid.”
“D’you really have to call me kid?” Yuri asked. “I am sixteen, after all.”
“And yet, you’re tiny and you’re my fledgling, so yes, I do have to call you kid.” Otabek landed on the couch next to Yuri and ruffled his hair again. “Besides, you like it.”
“Yeah… I suppose I do.” Yuri sighed. And he did. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but for some reason, hearing Otabek call him “kid” felt… good. “Wait! Tiny?”
“Oh, come on, you gotta admit that you’re pretty small,” said Otabek. “Certainly small enough that I can do this!” And suddenly Yuri found himself floating into the air and landing on Otabek’s shoulders as his mentor stood up.
“Heyyyy,” Yuri whined. “Oh… oh. It’s kinda nice up here.” Otabek snickered. “Don’t tease me! Maybe I like being—”
“—Tall for a change?” Otabek teased. Yuri kicked him. “Okay, okay, fine. I’ll stop.”
“Thanks,” said Yuri. “Okay, so we’re partying today. What exactly does that mean?”
“Whatever you want!” Otabek said brightly. “It’s your special day, Yuri. What do you want to do?”
Yuri grinned. “I want to cook dinner, and I want to make cake.”
~~~
“Are you sure that we use that many carrots?” Yuri asked. “Sure seems like a lot.”
“This is my aunt’s recipe,” said Otabek. “She taught me how to make this when I was a little younger than you, and she made it explicitly clear that you’re supposed to use an ass-ton of carrots. Not in those exact words, but the intention was clear.”
“Alright, if you say so,” said Yuri. “But you were the one who said you were bad in the kitchen.”
“For the most part, I am,” Otabek replied. “But the carrot cake, I can do in my sleep.”
“Wait, hold on,” said Yuri. “There aren’t any raisins in this, are there?”
“Yuri,” said Otabek, “I would rather eat my own shit than put raisins in your birthday cake.”
~~~
A few hours later…
“Happy birthday to—”
“—Don’t,” Yuri begged. “Otabek, I lo—you’re awesome, but you sound like a cat being poked with a burning stick.”
“I can sing, actually,” said Otabek as he placed the cake in front of Yuri. “But whatever. Blow out your candles.”
Yuri took a deep breath and extinguished all the candles in one go… only for them to relight. He tried again, and again, but they kept relighting.
“Okay, okay, just let me blow out my damn candles,” said Yuri, glaring at a giggling Otabek.
“Oh, fine,” Otabek sighed, casually waving his hand toward the cake. “Go on, then.”
“Thanks,” said Yuri, blowing out the candles.
“Did you make a wish?” Otabek asked. Yuri nodded. “Good. Don’t tell me, though, or else it won’t come true.”
Yuri nodded, although he didn’t think it would come true anyway.
“There we go,” said Otabek. Yuri grinned. There we go always meant good things—always meant encouragement. And it usually meant that he was about to get his hair ruffled.
Sure enough, he felt a familiar hand on the top of his head, ruffling a little more gently than usual.
“Now let’s cut into that cake.”
~~~
They were on the couch, sitting side by side, Yuri’s head having almost drifted to rest on Otabek’s shoulder, watching a movie. The little carrot cake that was left was safely stored away, most of it having been consumed by Yuri.
“Yuri, earlier you cut yourself off while saying something,” said Otabek. “I was singing badly and… were you about to say I love you?”
“I—yes,” Yuri admitted. “Wait—no, no, not in that way, I—”
“I know,” Otabek said gently. “I know it's not like that.”
Yuri nodded. “It's just… you're the first real friend I've ever had, and… you're kinda like a brother to me. That's what I meant.”
His heart pounded in his chest. What would Otabek say?
“Well, that’s pretty convenient,” said Otabek, wrapping an arm around Yuri’s shoulders, “because I feel the same way about you.”
Yuri blinked a few times. “Wait—seriously? You do?”
“Of course,” said Otabek. “Why wouldn’t I?” Yuri shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, but in reality he was holding back tears. He hugged Otabek tightly, burying his face in his mentor’s chest.
Otabek wrapped his arms around his fledgling’s back, holding him close. “Hey, don’t cry,” he said. “It’s your birthday, isn’t it? We’re supposed to be having fun.”
“I’m happy,” Yuri mumbled. “I’m really happy.”
“I’m happy too,” said Otabek. “You’re a really awesome kid, Yuri. I’m really glad to have you here—as my fledgling, my friend, and if you want to be brothers then I’m glad to have you as my brother, too.”
Yuri nodded into his chest. They stayed there for a few more moments, and then went back to their movie.
~~~
By the time the movie ended, Yuri was sound asleep, half lying down across the couch the long way and using Otabek as a pillow. Otabek’s first thought was to wake him and tell him to go to bed, but the younger wizard seemed so peaceful that waking him felt very, very rude.
Instead, he very carefully scooped his fledgling into his arms, and carried him down the hall to the door they had covered with drawings of cats and a sign reading “YURI’S ROOM” together, and, after making sure that Yuri wasn’t wearing any of his favorite shirts, turned his clothes into pajamas—there, that could be his birthday present, a cool new set of tiger pajamas, damn Otabek, you never even got him a present; you’re a shitty older brother—and tucked him underneath the covers.
Yuri stirred slightly, but didn’t wake. He rolled over onto his side, facing Otabek, with a little smile on his face.
I'm so excited to participate in @platonicotayuriweek!! My first fic is queued and my second will be soon! I'm going to put all of them in the same AU as the first one, and I'm calling it the "Fledgling AU." It'll make sense tomorrow! You can find all the fics on my blog with the tag #fledgling au, and I'll probably also put them on Ao3!
