Virgil fidgeted nervously, feeling the familiar nerves of competition in his gut. However, there was something new there after his discussion with one of the other skaters, Chris. He looked down with a frown as he thought about what he said about 'keeping Roman to himself'. It was true, the world of skating was expecting, hoping, the champion would return to it. While being his coach, he couldn't compete, but Virgil wanted him to remain his coach.

He watched his friend, Patton, perform his routine, only falling once on his most difficult jump but still getting in four rotations. He was really giving it his all this season, and Virgil felt certain then that the people who wanted to see Roman skate would never be satisfied by his. The people cheering for him wouldn't be satisfied by his old skating either.

Virgil was jogging as he thought this through, focusing. If that's the case, I want to be hated as the man that took Roman from the whole world, he thought with a determined look in his eyes.

Roman watched him curiously as he jogged, barely acknowledging Chris as he came up beside him. "Roman, is he alright?"

"Shh!" was the only response he received as they watched Virgil for a moment. "I've never seen Virgil like this."

It was soon time for Virgil's skate. He was standing at the wall, getting a brief pep talk from Roman. He had his hand placed gently over the skater's talking quietly with a smile. "The time to seduce me by picturing pork cutlet bowls and women during your skate is over," he said. "You can fight with your own personal charm. You can envision it just fine, can't you?"

He rubbed his thumb gently against his hand as Virgil didn't reply. Suddenly, he grabbed his hand and pressed his forehead against Roman's. His eyes met his, fear nonexistent. "Don't ever take your eyes off me."

Without another word, Virgil was skating to center, leaving Roman to watch as he reached up to touch his forehead. He's far too different today, he thought. What's flipped his switch?

Soon enough, the routine started. Virgil put any and all of the eros tucked deep down into his routine in that moment, concentrating on successfully seducing Roman. When he snapped his head in his coach's direction, he gave him a playfully lustful look that made his eyes widen slightly.

He started to dance, moving swiftly across the ice to the music as the announcers spoke. They can laugh at me all they want. They can think it's not like me. But everyone really wants to know the new me, don't they? he thought, spinning gracefully.

Roman's face brightened as he saw it. "Perfect!" he said quietly to himself.

The routine continued, Virgil completing his step sequence flawlessly and moving onto the second half of the number where all his jumps were. He landed his first one, the triple axel, flawlessly and continued to move onto the quadruple Salchow. He rarely ever landed it in competition, but this time, he did, earning a round of cheers and applause from the watching audience.

I'm the only one who can satisfy Roman, he thought as he skated. I'm the only one in the whole world that knows Roman's love. I'll prove that now.

Virgil successfully completed his jump combination of a quadruple toe-loop followed by a triple toe-loop, not even missing a beat. He moved on, flawlessly. His short program had the highest difficulty rating in history but didn't miss a step. Roman cheered loudly, heart racing as made his way to the 'kiss and cry' as it was called. The two of them sat together as they waited for Virgil's score. He glanced at his student, smirking at his bewildered and breathless expression.

He leaned in close to him, not even caring as the cameras flashed. Virgil softly spoke. "Did you look away...?"

Roman chuckled, making him look at him with a delicate hand pulling him by the chin. Their eyes met he smirked at the younger skater. "I could I look away from a performance like that?"