Blue Echo (Yuri On Ice / Victuuri Mermaid AU)

Yuri, hoping

"This is a blu and this is a bister." Yuri holds two fish in front of Victor. Their full black eyes staring blankly. Their mouths opening and closing slowly. "I managed to catch them alive like you told me last time," he beams with pride as his tail swivels from side to side. Victor stands in knee deep water, soft waves rubbing against his skin gently. He stares at the two — still alive — fish in Yuri's grasp, and remembers when he saw the natare catching fish underwater. The speed he had, the suddenness of it, the deadliness... It's a flicker of memory. So different from the Yuri in front of him. Sweet. Gentle. Watching him with uncertainty as he tilts his head to the side while offering the meal once more. Victor can't help himself. His face breaks into a wide smile and he launches himself to embrace the natare.

"Victor!" Yuri yelps as he rolls back into deeper water from the human's weight. He barely manages to hold on to the fish, flopping desperately to be released.

Victor feels the warmth blossom on Yuri's skin under his touch, but he pulls back, softly sighing as he sits up next to the natare. The water reaches almost up to his chest. Yuri hands both fish over to Victor, who grips them tightly with one hand. "I need more time to make the mixture for your burn." Yuri says as he sits up as well, pushing his tail up to his chest. The fish stop trying to breathe, finally succumbing to the air. "I'm missing the glappy."

"I don't know what that is," Victor comments. Yuri opens his mouth to explain, but Victor places a finger over his lips. "And I don't need to know." The human looks serious for a second before the corners of his mouth turn upwards. "I trust you."

Yuri leans into the touch slightly. The warmth increases and Victor suddenly has the urge to release the fish in his hand into the waves, wanting to touch, wanting to—

Yuri looks up as he moves away from the touch. "Half the day is gone. I need to find it before it gets dark."

Victor nods unwittingly. "I'll cook the fish," he says without thinking, standing up as Yuri starts making his way back to deeper water. A wave pushes him closer to land and another flicker of memory hits him. Night has fallen in this one and darkness is everywhere. Anyone would be terrified of being on the water in the dark, but the fear Victor feels is not of what could be underneath the surface. Its words. Yuri's words. He can't reach the natare in the dark water of the memory. No matter how much he tries. No matter how much he screams Yuri's name. Can't stop the broken words from the creature that saved his life. Those brown eyes he waits to see for days on end. The reason he's still on this island even if he knows he can't survive in it.

"I'm not coming back."

The memory breaks.

"Yuri, wait!" Victor calls out, clumsily hoping over the next small wave. Air leaves his lungs as Yuri turns and starts making his way back.

"I have something for you!" Victor backs up closer to land. "Just wait there, I'll be right back!" He runs to shore, his legs becoming quicker as he leaves the water behind. The hot sand bites the bottom of his feet as he rushes into the brush, to the makeshift shelter he made close to the beach. He drops to his knees by the fireplace. Releasing the pair of fish to the side, and finding the spot he had marked earlier, he starts digging.

-------

Yuri is filled with uneasiness when he sees Victor disappear into land. A small whine escapes his lips and he finds himself reaching out to the vanishing figure.

He shakes the feeling away, recognizing it as the wanting for his aman. The wanting he can no longer escape.

Five days... and one already half gone. In five days he would have no choice but to return to the nest. All the mating pairs where expected to leave their caves and present themselves to the nursing natare. There, his and JJ's well-being would be assessed, their bond as a mating pair would be questioned, and maters would be checked for the first signs of conceiving.