A story from my AO3

Please enjoy ^^

Ever since he was a boy, Yuuri Katsuki had always wanted to be a herpetologist. He was fascinated with reptiles that stemmed from collecting little lizards from his backyard during the spring and keeping them for a couple of days so he can draw them and study them.

At eight years, old he begged for an iguana as a pet for his birthday. He was given a green iguana that was still young, a year old to be exact. He playfully named it after himself but with an 'o' at eh end, it was met with mixed results.

Yurio the iguana had a temper, he would glare at the boy whenever it was feeding time and would always slap Yuuri with his tail every chance he got. But after a year, he grew fond of his caretaker and would often spend almost all day sitting on Yuuri's shoulder whenever he didn't have school. He also acted as a model for Yuuri's sketches and would spend his time admiring the finished results.

Yurio was also very protective of Yuuri. He once bit a bully who tried to push him around, Yuuri was thankful for the iguanas acting when the mother of said bully tried to take his friend away. All Yurio had to do was act like a docile lizard to convince everyone he was not a 'dangerous monster'.

At eighteen, Yuuri decided to volunteer at his town local zoo where they recently opened a reptile rehabilitation center. They took in animals who were neglected by their owners or helped reptiles who were on the verge of extinction by rebuilding their species before releasing them back to their natural habitat.

All he had to do was clean their cages and make sure that they had plenty of food and water. The days were long and he wasn't paid but it was rewarding to him because he was surrounded by the reptiles he lived as a boy. He tried not to get too attached because he knew that his volunteer work was only temporary and for some reason Yurio always got jealous if he smelled another reptile on Yuuri, he was such a little kid but made him smile.

But during the first year he ended up befriending some of the animals and loved them despite their sliminess and scales to the point of giving them names before they would leave to be released back into the wild.

His favorite was small beautiful silver snake with the most breathtaking blues eyes he had ever seen. No one knew what type of snake he was, he didn't have venom in his system so he was safe to handle and when they first brought him in they thought his eye color meant it was time for him to shed his skin. But that never happened, he would only slither around the glass case he was in out of boredom. From what Yuuri knew the snake was brought in after being found injured at a park not far from the zoo, the poor thing looked like he was attacked by a wild animal judging from the massive injuries on the silver scales. But by some miracle he was still alive but was miserable during his time recuperating, he would coil up in the corner of his little glass cage. Never interacting with anyone who would bring him so the cage could be cleaned and wouldn't even move when he was presented to the children at the zoo.

Yuuri felt sorry for the silver snake so one day he decided to play some music for the reptile during feeding time. It was an aria called Stay Close to Me and it worked wonders with many of the reptiles because of the soft vibrations of the tenor.

When it was over the snake uncoiled, and wrapped himself around Yuuri's wrist, almost nuzzling against him with his head. It surprised the man but it made him smile to see that the once sad snake was happy.

Sadly, the snake was only there for six months before it was time for him to be released. The silver snake looked sad as he was lifted out of his cage and placed in a carboard box.

"Don't be sad," Yuuri said to it softly, "You're going home and that's the best thing in the world to happen."

The snake looked at him with his mysterious blue eyes and stuck his fork tongue out. Yuuri gave a gentle pat on the snake's head.

"I think your parting name will be…. Victor."

The snake, now called Victor, wrapped around Yuuri's hand one last time before sinking into the box to be transported.

"Goodbye victor, who knows we might see each other again," Yuuri gave a soft chuckle as the box was picked up and placed in a car.

He waved as the vehicle drove off before going back to work.

Yuuri spent a good five years at the zoo, the volunteering gave him credit for school and it helped him graduate early.

Today was his last day at the exhibit, he was preparing to move from his family home in Tokyo to go live in a house his mother inherited in Hasetsu. He already made the arrangement and needed to go home to prepare Yurio's habitat for the long journey since they were leaving that day. He knew his little friend was going to love it, the house was located near a forest and he knew that Yurio might want to feel grass and climb some of the trees.

"Hey Yuuri!" A voice boomed in the reptile room.

The now twenty-three year old didn't jump or flinch since was long used to his boss Takeshi's booming voice.

"Heard you're leaving us!" The man wrapped in arm around the smaller man shoulders casually, "Is that true?"

He gave Yuuri a shake, his glasses almost fell off his face.

"Y-Y-Y-Yea!" Yuuri could muster out before slipping out of the grasp.

"I finished school early and decided to move," He fixed his glasses and picked up the rest of his supplies, "The house is near the forest so I thought I start my research there."

Takeshi laughed loudly and the reptiles jolted from the vibrations.

"Going into the field already? Alright, how about we get some drink to celebrate?"

Yuuri smiled but politely declined, "I have to get Yurio's habitat ready for the move. Besides, he hates it when he smells alcohol around me."

That statement made his coworker raise an eyebrow, "You talk about that lizard of yours as if it were your son or something."

"Really?" The younger man chuckled and scratched his cheek, "I've had him since forever so maybe he is like my kid."

Takeshi looked at him and shook his head, "You've been around reptiles long enough you seriously need a girlfriend."

Yuuri blushed and continued to pack his supplies.

"Yurio? I'm back!" Yuuri announced as he dropped his backpack near his bed that was stripped of the bed sheets and comforter.

Sitting inside the screen cage was a medium sized iguana glaring at him in greeting. For some reason, Yurio was yellow despite being a green iguana. Yuuri took him to every single specialist he could think but they could figure out why he was this color. But that didn't stop him from loving and caring for his friend.

Yuuri walked to the large case and opened the door and stuck his arm in. Yurio slowly walked up the arm before resting on Yuuri's shoulder.

"Sorry I was gone longer than usual. Were you lonely?"

The iguana responded by leaning against the man's cheek before pulling away.

"Well don't worry, I'll be around more often now with this move," He said softly, he gave Yurio a piece of banana before preparing to move the habitat.

The movers came and took the stuff that was packed in boxes and made sure the habitat was secured before moving them in the van.

Yuuri said goodbye to his parents and sister before going to the car his parents gave him. Yurio was secured his little carrier with enough food and water to last him the trip although it was clear he wanted to stay on his owner's shoulder.

"alright," Yuuri fastened his seatbelt and gave one more wave goodbye to his family before starting the car, "Ready Yurio?"

He was given a glare but he still smiled.

"Lets go."

And with that, he started the car and drove off, the moving van not far behind him.