( He flinches; his shoulders tense and shudder just the once with the rifle's shot. He glances back, expression carefully blank. Victor's more than capable of disguising his thoughts and feelings if he has a reason to, or does by default when he's simply too surprised to know what to think or feel. Right now, the distance is necessary.

Because he won't pretend there isn't a fission of worry for Yurio that leaves him tense and looking to Bucky. Accepting there's some measure of comfort in the fact Yuri won't be forgotten down here, though that's hardly a guarantee of his state of being. Victor won't expect miracles. Just hope for them. )

We've been rinkmates for years. ( It's the other details he's registering, slowing down his replies. Yuri's been here a few weeks, same as me. Only Yuri had also been on the ship. Except... he reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose for a moment, feeling a headache coming on. His hand drops away and he glances back over his shoulder.

Except there is more than one universe. Is there more than one possibility of the people he knows and cares about existing in similar, or even wildly different, realities? He knows Earth can. It would explain how Yuri could be here even when he wasn't only here. It's a thought he keeps to himself, focusing instead on the practical reality they're caught up in. )

Thank you. I'd only started taking self defense in the last few months... circumstances change. I'm not surprised to hear he's been adapting.

( Even if in his heart of hearts it's nothing he would have wished on Yuri Plisetsky. He wants to see him succeeding and surpassing all expectations on ice, not taking to the battlefield.

But Yuri is his own person. Victor shifts his stance, voice pleasant, even in tone. He doesn't like any of this. He can shove that down as much as possible too. )

Do we need to worry about disposal? Further unwanted guests?