Otabek Week
@otabek-altin-week
Day 5: Family and Friends
also, from this prompt picture
A/N: just some introspection.. enjoy.
my silence is filled with our stories
Sometimes, he is emotional sponge.
Otabek has known this when he was seven years of age. His shirt was wet with his older sister’s tears and their hours together dwindled into eating ice cream and watching shitty horror movies throughout the night. His sister thanked him the day after. He remembers the slight hopeful smile graced her face as though he took away the pain she poured hours before.
He was slightly miffed, at first, but understood later on when he was in Detroit, where his rinkmate and new found friend, Leo, broke down into heavy waterworks at the devastating phone call of his grandmother’s death. Never in his short life had Otabek experienced the death of a loved one, but as he saw the dread at the bereavement of Leo’s grandmama, a sharp stab of pain lingered in Otabek’s chest as he stayed overnight at Leo’s, drenched in his friend’s raw sorrow.
Otabek also realizes that pain cannot be abated with just an advice. When he stayed by JJ’s side throughout his emotional turmoil during Skate Canada, no words can ever compare to the thoughts that ran through JJ’s mind. Powerless and unable to help, Otabek sat down and slowly placed a hand on his back, rubbing circles across as he did so. JJ gradually calmed down and managed to perform without injury. They took a stroll by the town with Isabella after, Jean more jubilant than the day before and their friendship tethered by an unbreakable chain.
Sometimes it isn't just about pain. Sometimes it's the mundane things. Phichit rambles about his pet hamsters, both of their love of countries, and his struggles in his courses with Katsuki took up the hours they spent inside and outside the rink in Detroit. His visits to Almaty were always enriched with his mother's chatter, his friends' dramatic entails of their relationships, and the giggles of his sisters over his nonexistent love life in the backyard. His knowledge of steep mountains, rivers, and extreme sports grew during his nature expeditions with Emil. Even the contemplative quiet that he shares with Katsuki and Seung-gil are treasures to be cherished.
Otabek doesn't mind that he's someone with little words, because their stories and emotions fill the gaps of his own wordless presence. It's comforting, it's endearing, and it's a wonderful experience to be with them.
But as he watches Yuri's animated expressions as he rambles away the complaints of his day, Otabek can't help the spark that thrums out of each syllable and the widening smile automatically springing on his face. Every star is significant, but Yuri is a blackhole invisible to the naked eye yet gravitates Otabek's attention towards him with a force stronger than anything he'd ever imagined. Yuri's emotions reel him in, that in return, he gives back his own in tenfold.
Maybe Otabek has met someone like Yuri, and maybe there are attributes of Yuri he finds in other people, but it’s the essence of Yuri that he also yearns for sometimes. Whatever that is, however nameless it is, a small part of him is certain that this spark that thrums within will continue to strengthen as each waking moment with Yuri passes by.
Sometimes, even being an emotional sponge can reach through the deepest parts of themselves, and the people they’re close to.