So I rewarded myself for writing 2 essays by doing even more writing... Huge thank yous to Merlenyn for your suggestion to include the chapter number in the title so we can all stop getting confused by the damned prologue!
Chapter title by Frankie Goes To Hollywood (imagine Yuuri and Victor skating to this at the start of the chapter!)
Enjoy!
Two weeks passed in a blur to find Yuuri and Victor in somewhat of a routine that suited them both down to the ground. After a joint morning run to the rink, grabbing breakfast on the way, the two skaters share a table in the small kitchenette off one side of the rink before stretching out and heading to either the rink itself or the spare room upstairs. The evenings were spent with time in the nearby gym or in a roller rink the pair had found a few streets away from the rink. In the time they had spent together, Yuuri had become more used to Victor's presence to the point where he no longer flinched every time their hands touched or blushed whenever eye contact was made. Victor took advantage of this mercilessly and took every opportunity to be close to Yuuri in whatever way he can, from the lightest touches of fingers skimming an arm to giant glomping hugs whenever he needed a cuddle.
One particular evening found Victor and Yuuri walking back to the flat, arm in arm, wearing matching legwarmers. The two were returning from 80's night at the rink which they had decided to attend for fun more than practice or stamina training. Victor had surprised Yuuri with the legwarmers just before they had left for the rink however it took a fair amount of time to actually convince the younger man to put them on. Yuuri felt more comfortable when he saw the majority of the other skaters wearing equally neon accessories when they arrived at the rink. The night had been a huge success, with the two ice skaters spending the evening twirling around one another while performing some of their favourite step sequences from previous routines to wow the audience of other roller-skaters.
Yuuri held the door to their building's lobby open for Victor who breezed past him in a swirl of silver and neon pink. Victor had barely taken two steps into the lobby when he was hit by a heavy weight at top speed and knocked to the floor. Wet stripes appeared on Victor's face as he tried to recover and he heard Yuuri suck in a harsh breath. Victor opens his eyes to be met by big dark irises and a mop of light, chocolate brown curls. Victor laughed with joy as he greeted his beloved companion Makkachin. After being sure to pay a considerable amount of attention to his dog after being away for a few weeks, Victor looked up to introduce his best friend to his current housemate. However, Yuuri had slipped away into the depths of the building and had left Victor floundering on the floor, alone with Makkachin sitting firmly on his chest.
"Oi, old man." Not entirely alone it would seem. "Plane food is shit and I'm hungry, feed me." A sharp voice was heard coming from the boy slumped just out of site in one of the large sitting chairs in the corner of the lobby. Victor pushed Makkachin away but rested a hand on top of his head to maintain contact.
"Yuri? What are you doing here?" Victor made his way over to the blond and sat in the seat opposite, despite the young skater's attempts to not engage eye contact.
"Well, your mutt hardly booked itself on a plane and got here by itself." Yuri replied with a sarcastic drawl. Victor could see Yuri glance in his direction before doing a double take. "What the actual fuck are you wearing?" Victor glanced down at his own body and saw the pink accessories standing out against his sweatpants.
"Oh, Yuuri and I went to an 80s event at the roller rink and we dressed up! Speaking of, did you see where he went?" Victor swung his head from side to side, searching every corner of the room for a sign of his new friend.
"You mean your new toy? He took off upstairs when the mutt jumped you." Victor returned his gaze to Yuri's sharply.
"First of all, Yuuri is my friend, not my toy. Secondly, Makkachin is a dog and not a mutt. I will have you know he is a pedigree poodle. Actually, Yuuri said that his dog looked a lot like Makka so he's probably a bit overwhelmed. Thirdly, having two Yuri's here is going to be confusing and therefore I shall have to come up with a suitable nickname." Victor touched a finger to his chin while he pondered potential names.
"You should just call him Piggy seeing as he is morbidly overweight." Yuri said with a snicker.
"Oh no Yuri, the nickname is for you, seeing as Yuuri has had the name the longest." Victor elaborated with a smirk.
"WHAT? No. You've known me longer so Piggy should get the stupid nickname!" Yuri shouted. Victor's eyes lit up playfully as he thought of the perfect nickname for the little Yuri.
"Got it. Yurio. You shall henceforth be known as Yurio." Victor stood up and ignored all of the newly dubbed Yurio's protests and began to walk towards the staircase. "If you want food you are going to have to come upstairs." Victor called Makkachin over with a whistle and began the journey up the flights of stairs to Yuuri's floor without looking back to see if he was being shadowed. Once Victor heard a set of heavy footsteps behind him, he continued his conversation with his rink mate.
"Does Yakov know you're here by the way?" Victor stopped outside Yuuri's door and fumbled in his overflowing pocket for his copy of the front door key that had been cut for him the week before. Yurio slouched against the wall next to the door and tutted at Victor's lack of organisation.
"He couldn't stand the mutt's whining any longer and sent me over with it to tell you that he has given up on you completely and doesn't want to hear from you until you have a time for him to pick you up from the airport back home. I have a flight back this evening though because apparently Yakov wants me dead." Victor had managed to detangle his key from a set of headphones and unlocked the door. Yurio sulked into the apartment and went straight to the kitchen on the hunt for a snack. Makkachin on the other hand, bounced into the room and started snuffling around, seemingly tracking a scent that he had picked up on. Victor dropped his coat of on the rack by the door and wandered after Yurio.
"How did you know where the apartment was?" Victor opened a cupboard that was just out of Yurio's reach and handed him an energy bar.
"I had to message Piggy's roommate and ask him. I hope you're proud of yourself for making me stoop to the level of talking to the enemy." Yuuri sniffed and plodded out into the main area to flop onto the sofa. Victor just laughed and followed him into the room to see his dog snuffling around Yuuri's bedroom door. Victor had been sure that Makka was tracking the hamsters but it seemed that the pooch was more interested in the other man in the flat.
"Makkachin, stop. It's probably best to leave Yuuri alone for a little bit." Makkachin wandered over and followed him over to the sofa where they both sat down. The dog reached over and put a paw on Yurio's leg, recognising the name. Yurio spluttered in protest but made no attempt to move the paw. "No Makka." Victor laughed, "Yurio." Victor over pronounced the name while pointing to the young blond. He then pointed at the closed door. "Yuuri." Makkachin followed his finger and woofed softly before laying his head down on Yurio's leg.
"What the hell?" Yurio looked down into the dog's eyes and sighed in resignation as he allowed his hand to fall into the mess of curls. "Fine. But don't get used to this, ok?!"
"You did bring Makka's food and toys over for him, right Yurio?" Victor asked, his pet owner instincts kicked in as he realised that Makkachin was probably hungry from the long flight. Yurio turned to look at him with a blank expression. "Oh for crying out loud." Victor stood from the sofa abruptly and Yurio followed suit, jostling Makkachin which caused the dog to fall from the sofa.
"Come on! Yakov practically pushed me onto the plane with the dog and told me not to come back with it. I didn't even get to pack anything for myself!" Victor looked back in understanding and wandered over to Yuuri's closed door without another word and knocked lightly.
"Yuuri? It's me. Yurio forgot to bring any of Makkachin's things so I'm going to go out and get some stuff for him. Is that ok?" Victor spoke softly so as not to freak the young man out. A few seconds passed without any kind of noise from Yuuri so Victor spoke again. "Yuuri? You don't have to talk to me but could you knock on your desk or the door or something so I know you're still alive?" Victor waited again and heard two hesitant knocks sound on the door. Victor leant his forehead on the door and imagined he could feel the heat of Yuuri's own head from the other side, as if his position had been mirrored. "Can you knock twice if it's ok for me to go out with Yurio to grab a few things?" Another pair of knocks were heard and Victor sighed softly. "Ok, thank you. I will leave you alone now." Victor withdrew from the door slowly and trailed a hand over the grains of the wood.
Yurio had returned to the sofa and was slumped over one arm with his head upside down, facing outwards and hair falling away from his face in a curtain. Victor stood in front of him with his arms crossed.
"What do you want?" Yurio muttered, his face turning slightly red due to the build-up of blood in his head. Victor shook his head slightly and lifted Yurio into a sitting position by his shoulders.
"You and I are going out to get some stuff for Makka seeing as you were the one who left them behind." Yurio huffed but got up from the sofa and followed Victor towards the front door. Victor slipped his jacket back on and grabbed his keys off of the side table. He debated taking Makkachin on the journey with him but he wasn't sure if the American stores would allow the bouncy dog into the building and Victor sure as hell wasn't going to leave him outside with Yurio. Victor turned around and looked his dog in the eyes. "Ok Makkachin. You are going to stay here and look after Yuuri alright? Stay." Makkachin sat down obediently and wagged his tail in farewell as the two skaters left the building.
Victor and Yurio had spent around an hour out of the apartment. Victor manage to navigate them both to a pet store that he had seen on his many walks to the rink with Yuuri. After many rotations around the aisles, Victor had filled Yurio's arms with a number of chew toys and treats as well as day to day food for the overgrown puppy. The two Russians took Victor's purchases to the counter and bought everything he had chosen for Makkachin, barely sparing a glance at the total price. Yurio very quickly realised that the only reason he had been brought along was to be the bag carrier as a mountain of shopping bags were shoved in his direction while Victor had a meaningless, small talk conversation with the cashier.
Victor led the young blond back to the apartment, while taking the occasional break for Yurio to adjust his grip on the painful plastic. The pair made it back in one piece, despite all of the younger's threats of mutilation, and Victor unlocked the door to let them both inside. When Victor didn't instantly hear the skitter of paws running to the door to greet him, he was confused. Makkachin couldn't have gotten out and the apartment was hardly big enough for a dog the size of Makka to go missing in. Yurio dumped the bags hastily on the floor before going to resume his previous position on the sofa while Victor popped his head around the door to the kitchen to try and locate his missing dog.
Luckily, Makkachin wasn't hiding in the kitchen, nor did it look like he had been in there to try to steal any foods he shouldn't be eating, but that still left the question of where he had gotten to. Victor's first stop on his Makkachin hunt was Phichit's room. Makkachin was an explorative animal and Victor didn't put it past his dog to have found a way into the room. He opened the door slowly, praying that he didn't find Makkachin in there, surrounded by little hamster bodies. Or worse, not surrounded by little hamster bodies. Thankfully, the room was dog free and the hamster cage was securely closed with all three fluffballs present and accounted for. Victor wiggled his fingers at the tiny eyes quickly before dropping a small handful of food in their bowl to tide them over for the day. As Victor turned to shut the door to Phichit's room behind him, he noticed that the door opposite to Yuuri's room was ever so slightly ajar. Victor tiptoed across the narrow hallway and put a hand against the door handle. After a brief moment of contemplation, Victor pushed on the door lightly to peer into the room.
Victor's eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of light in Yuuri's room and cast his gaze over the room, an exact mirror of the one his was borrowing, minus the giant golden cage that took up the space next to Phichit's wardrobe. He caught sight of Yuuri, curled up on his bed, glasses tucked precariously next to his pillow but Victor could see that Yuuri's eyes were open. The younger skater's eyes never met with Victor's own, his attention solely on the object that was wrapped protectively around his legs. Victor watched and felt his heart squeeze slightly at the sight of his dog and Yuuri snuggled up in bed together.
Makkachin was tucked under and around Yuuri, clearly taking Victor's order to look after him to heart. The dog's head was resting on Yuuri's thigh, and looked up at Victor with a blissed-out expression at the feeling of the skater's fingers carding through the curls. Victor could see Makkachin register his presence and start to wag his tail but with a quick 'stay' motion with his hand, Victor told Makka to remain with Yuuri and slipped out of the doorway.
Victor returned to the main area of the flat and flopped onto the sofa besides the twitchy Yurio who jumped slightly at the sudden intrusion.
"What time are you going to have to leave to get back for your flight?" Victor spoke in a low voice and watched Yurio curiously. Yurio pulled his phone out of the leopard print faux-leather jacket pocket and hit the home button to illuminate the screen.
"Fuck. I probably have to go in like ten minutes." Yurio looked disinterested, despite the fact he was running late. Victor grabbed Yurio's phone out of his hand and pulled up the internet to order him a taxi. Apparently, a benefit of being in America was that there is always a cab around the next corner. In no time at all. Victor was shoving Yurio out of the front door, with another energy bar in his hand, and waved him on his way back to Russia.
Victor spun around and wandered back to Yuuri's door subconsciously and made his way into the room. This time, both Makkachin's and Yuuri's heads turned towards Victor and the sight had Victor's feet moving on their own accord towards the bed. Victor perched lightly on the edge of the bed but doesn't say anything, giving Yuuri the time he needs to feel comfortable enough to talk. Makkachin shifted slightly so that his front legs were resting on Victor's leg while his body and hind legs were still entangled with Yuuri. The latter skater reached over to stroke Makka's fur for comfort.
"He really does look just like Vichhan." Yuuri spoke with a quiet tone. "I'm sorry for dognapping him while you were out by the way, he was scratching at the door and I couldn't bear to leave him alone." Victor reached over and took Yuuri's hand that was resting on the dog's back.
"I don't blame you to be honest, he is undeniably gorgeous and a cuddle monster." Victor winked at Yuuri and pulled the other man closer into a hug. "To be honest, I'm a partial to a cuddle or two as well." Yuuri laughed and curled up closer to Victor and Makkachin.
"Well, they do say that dogs are similar to their owners." Yuuri said with a soft chuckle which sent shivers down Victor's spine. Few words were vocalised between the two, but the comfortable and reassuring atmosphere spoke more in volume that any articulated sentences ever could.
I've got some real good chapters coming up for you in the future so I hope you are super excited! Insert generic plea for reviews/favourites/follows here ;)
BN x
