Yuuri has never been a morning person. Quite the opposite, in fact, he usually requires over three alarms to force his eyes open before noon. He's lost count of how many times he's kept Victor waiting –how many times Victor has teased him about 'giving Aeroflot a run for its money'-. It's horrendously embarrassing, but no matter how much Yuuri tells himself he'll do it right next time, the pillow's magnetism is always too powerful, and Morning-Yuuri is a terrible, selfish man who cares more about the comfort of his bed than the fact that his lifelong idol is waiting for him.
Which is why it's so odd to find himself wide awake, facing a digital clock that spells 7:30 in the morning. It's not like there were any changes to his usual –disastrous- sleeping routine last night, so there should be no reason for his body to decide to wake up this early. Of course, Yuuri wouldn't be so preoccupied contemplating on the oddity if he could at least be happy about making it on time to morning training on time for a change.
The joke of it is that today is his day off.
He hears the bedsheets rustling and a soft sigh exhaled to the back of his head.
Their day off.
Yuuri's lifelong idol recently turned husband, Victor has always been his polar opposite when it comes to sleeping. He never stays up past midnight and always rises with the first light of day and the sunniest disposition Yuuri has ever seen on any person at 6:30 in the morning. Usually, by the time Yuuri's just barely dragged himself out of bed, rubbing the sleep off his eyes, Victor has already gone for a morning walk with Makkachin, picked up the newspaper, showered and cooked breakfast for two. Which is why it is so off-putting to find him still soundly asleep, hair disheveled and spread over the pillow, his soft breaths tickling Yuuri's face.
He stops himself before he can wake Victor up. It's such a rare treat to get to watch Victor sleep after all. Even though he often goes to bed much later than Victor does, his eyes are so tired by then he doesn't stop to contemplate and instead passes out immediately. And it's not like he could get to see much even if he tried, given the darkness of the night and his poor eyesight.
Now, though, with the sunlight that filters inside their bedroom, he regrets all the times he has missed the beautiful sight of Victor, skin glowing, his posture completely relaxed, a small, natural smile drawn on his lips, his chest rising and falling rhythmically with every breath he takes. He looks peaceful, almost angelic. When the light catches on his gold ring –the ring Yuuri gave him, all those months ago in Barcelona-, Yuuri's heart skips a beat and he's struck with the realization, once again, that this beautiful, kind, talented and ridiculous man chose him to spend the rest of their lives together. Sometimes, he still has a hard time believing it.
Absentmindedly, he reaches to push Victor's fringe off his face, and allows his fingers to wander close to the whorl atop his silver hair. Touching him like this grounds him to this moment, this reality in which Victor is right here, human and imperfect and everything Yuuri ever wanted.
"Is it getting that thin?"
Yuuri gasps and pulls his hand away, startled. Victor blinks rapidly, his eyes a little cloudy with sleep.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Yuuri mutters, feeling a rush of shame at being caught red-handed.
Victor shakes his head and smiles. He grabs Yuuri's hand by the wrist and brings it closer to his face, leaning his cheek against Yuuri's palm. "Yuuri waking up so early? Should I take that as a good or bad omen, I wonder?" He teases.
Yuuri huffs indignantly. "I'm gonna cook us breakfast." He declares with a pout, sitting up at the edge of the bed.
To his surprise, a pair of arms holds him by the waist, preventing him from moving. "Yuuuuuri!" Victor drawls, his head pressed against the small of Yuuri's back. "It's a rare chance, let's stay in bed all morniiiiing".
It's a horribly tempting offer. "Makkachin needs his walk though. And we have to eat at some point." He argues weakly.
Victor groans, tightening his grasp on Yuuri's waist. Then, suddenly, he shifts, and next he knows, Yuuri's finds himself lying sideways on the bed, in a mess of sheets and limbs, Victor laughing airily behind him.
"Makkachin can share a lazy morning with us, he won't mind if his walk is postponed for the afternoon. Right, Makkachin?"
Right away, Yuuri hears the sound of paws on the carpet and feels the mattress bounce and creek. Victor finally lets go of Yuuri's waist and turns around. "Tell Yuuri you just want to stay in bed and enjoy our day off." He says, as Yuuri turns around too, and watches Makkachin lick Victor's cheek enthusiastically. He smiles, warmth filling his chest as Victor plays with Makkachin's ears. "Noooo, stop, Makkachin, you're supposed to show Yuuri you want to laze around with us!"
Yuuri giggles, already feeling he might not be strong enough to pull himself out of this bed for a long while. Makkachin woofs and, surprisingly, plops down on the mattress, happily stretched to show his belly.
"Oooh, good boy, Makkachin!" Victor applauds, grinning, and proceeds to scratch Makkachin's belly with enthusiasm.
The room is filled with laughter and light and Yuuri feels, for the millionth time now, that there is no place, no time in the whole universe in which he could ever feel happier. Even the little voice that occasionally creeps into a remote corner of his mind and starts whispering things at him –that he doesn't deserve this, that there is no way such happiness could last for much longer- is absent today. He can't remember the last time he felt so utterly content and fulfilled. Maybe –just maybe- this might be even better than a gold medal.
"What's in your mind?"
Yuuri blinks and pulls himself out of his thoughts to see Victor once again lying by his side, looking at him with the most tender of smiles. It still makes Yuuri's heart jump.
"Nothing, really. I'm just… happy."
Victor's eyes widen, his cheeks gaining a healthy rosy blush; like he's surprised. Yuuri loves surprising Victor. His expression softens into a warm smile and he reaches to grab Yuuri's hand lightly.
"I'm happy too." He says as his fingers lace with Yuuri's. And Yuuri feels overcome with such peace and bliss it doesn't seem to fit in his chest. It's like he could stay here, lying in bed and staring into Victor's eyes and forget about the passing of time in its entirety.
That thought is wiped off his mind when Makkachin bounces over Victor's body, panting and sniffing before finding Yuuri and dragging his tongue all over his face. Yuuri laughs and lets go of Victor's hand to protect his eyes from the overly enthusiastic onslaught.
"Makkachin says he's happy too." Victor supplies, laughing. He sits up and nudges the dog lightly. "Be nice, Makkachin, it's lazy time." He adds, finally getting Makkachin to lie down between the two of them.
Yuuri chuckles, his fingers carding through Makkachin's fur.
"We really are," Victor says, his tone unexpectedly solemn. Yuuri tilts his head to meet his eyes and finds him looking down at him, tender as ever, but especially affected. "Happy. And so grateful… that you came into our lives."
Oh.
Yuuri's heart clenches tightly in his chest. Before he can even realize it, he's crying tears of joy.
"Yuuri?! What's wrong? Did I say something-?"
He shakes his head and laughs, trying as best as he can to wipe the tears away. Victor can be such a worrywart sometimes. Especially since that time in Beijing. It seems like it was ages ago when he first told Victor –crying, angry and terrified- that all he needed was that he stayed by his side. And Victor has done exactly that.
"I'm… I…" it's so hard to form words to describe all of these feelings overflowing from his heart, so warm and overwhelming. So much more than he ever hoped he could aspire to. Yet, here he is. Dime-a-dozen figure skater Katsuki Yuuri, feeling he's the happiest man alive.
He sits up, leans in, kisses Victor's lips gently. It's always been much easier to express himself through actions, rather than words. Victor hums and cups his cheek with one hand, tilting his head just slightly so. They pull away with a soft sigh and Victor immediately comes closer to press their foreheads together. Yuuri closes his eyes and breathes in deeply, the moment profoundly soothing. And soon, they're lying on the mattress once again, holding each other close, Makkachin entangled with their legs, in quiet contentment, neither of them having any idea of what time it is, nor feeling the slightest bit preoccupied to find out
"You know, we could order takeout instead of cooking breakfast."
"Takeout? For breakfast? That sounds like a grievous violation of the dietary rules, coach."
Victor snorts "You have your coach's special permission to break the rules in the name of lazy mornings." He says, punctuating it with a wink.
Yuuri wraps his arms around Victor's chest and buries his nose in his neck. "Hmmmm, but if you order takeout you'll have to get up to open the door."
"Oh, good point. So, what, we starve?"
"Sounds like a plan."
Their laughter fills the room immediately. And Yuuri thinks that maybe making a little extra effort to wake up early is very much worth it.
The end
This was a commission for glyphmax, who wanted a short Victuri fic with cuteness and lazy mornings. I don't have a whole lot to say about it, just that I really love the thought of Victor and Yuuri lying in bed in the morning, just looking into each other's eyes and pondering how lucky they are to be together. It's been a while since I wrote Fluff without Plot, but I hope everyone enjoys it :D Let me know what you think!