Raspberry bush

(You are Malinin)

February 13, 2026, Milan. Olympic Games.

The tension from the final skate and the seating announcements still hung in the air. Outside the arena, the evening city hummed, but here, in the silence, all that could be heard was the pounding heart of the man who had disappointed the entire country.

Ilya Malinin sat alone in the empty hallway leading to the service exits. He was still dressed for the free skate, but the medal he'd been promised now seemed so far away. Eighth place—Malinin. A place that would have been unthinkable just an hour ago now burned with a chill. The quadruple axel, his signature move, had become a disgrace today: one fall, and then another. The whole world watched as the "god of quads" fell from Olympus.

He covered his face with his hands. His thoughts were in disarray. The pressure he'd spoken about in interviews had crushed him. The state he'd hidden from everyone was reflected in his TikTok reposts. He'd let everyone down: his parents, his coaches, the country that had so longed for this gold.

The footsteps were almost silent—the soft soles of sneakers on cold tiles. Ilya didn't look up until a shadow blocked the dim light of the emergency lamp.

• Ilya.

The voice was quiet, calm, with a barely perceptible St. Petersburg accent. Ilya would have recognized it in a thousand—he'd heard it when Pyotr Gumennik calmly and judiciously spoke about his skates and some strategy.

“Go away, Petya,” Malinin’s voice trailed off. *“Don’t.”

• But Gumennik didn’t leave. He simply slid slowly down the wall and sat down next to him, on the cold floor, shoulder to shoulder. Ilya felt the warmth radiating from him. *

“You know, I’ve been looking for you,”* Pyotr said simply. He didn’t look at Ilya, but leaned his head back wearily against the wall and stared at the ceiling. *“I thought maybe it’s... well, it’s hard for you alone.”

“Is it easy for you?”* Ilya chuckled bitterly. *“You skated clean. Five quads! And they... they simply downgraded and stole your medal. They called you in for a doping test. I would have simply exploded if I were you.”

• Pyotr shrugged. This topic is biased