"Lapochka, are you busy?"

Yuuri glanced up at his spouse from his seat on the couch. "Not particularly. Why?"

"Good!" Victor beamed as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I have a challenge for us to do!"

Yuuri didn't even try to repress his sigh. "Again? I thought we were done with those."

He was met with a blank stare. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, you haven't bothered me since we did that challenge with the car. I heard that there were a lot of people laughing at your reactions online, so I thought you were done."

Victor smiled sheepishly. "Yes, there were a lot of people who thought that was funny. But they really loved your camera work, as always! So of course I need your help with this next challenge." He leaned down, giving his husband his best puppy-dog eyes. "Come on, zvezda moya, it will be fun! It's another parenting challenge. And it will only take a few minutes. Please?"

Yuuri gritted his teeth. This damn man knew that he couldn't resist those striking blue eyes. "Fine, I give in. What do you want me to do?"

"Yay!" A quick kiss was pecked onto his lips, and his husband straightened up, bouncing in place a little with excitement as he explained, "So for this challenge, we walk up to Aki and hold out our hands, and see what she does."

"That's it? We just hold out our hands?"

"Yep!"

Yuuri was perplexed. "How is that a challenge?"

"Aah, milyy, the point is that you let the kid do what they want. It's just the cutest! Some of them give kisses, or put their head on their parent's hand. I'm sure that Aki's reaction will be super adorable!"

Although he was still skeptical, Yuuri levered himself out of his seat. "I suppose that sounds easy enough, at least. I'm assuming you want me to video?"

"Da! You run the camera, and we'll both hold our hands out and see what happens. Oh, but let's start with Makkachin first!" Victor pressed his phone into Yuuri's hand. He looked down and saw it was already open to the camera function. He felt a small flicker of annoyance at the fact that his husband had predicted his acquiescence so accurately. To cover for this feeling, he turned to the poodle who was lying on his bed across the room. Starting the video, he walked towards Makkachin, holding his hand out with the palm up. "Is this right, Vitya?" he asked.

"Yep! Now shh, we aren't supposed to say anything." Victor walked beside him, also holding his hand out as they reached the snoozing dog. Makkachin put his head up at his masters' approach, thumping his tail a little and sniffing their hands as they stopped in front of him. After a few seconds, Yuuri murmured, "How long am I supposed to keep recording this? He isn't really doing anything."

"Just keep going," Victor replied out of the corner of his mouth. Almost as if on cue, Makkachin sat up, thumping his tail harder. He nudged first Victor's and then Yuuri's hands, clearly asking to be pet. When there was no response, he shifted on his haunches, and then put one of his paws into Victor's hand. The Russian man suppressed a laugh, but didn't react otherwise. Makkachin removed his paw and shifted it to Yuuri's hand instead, this time laying his head on top of it too.

This proved to be too much for Victor. With a squeal, he patted Makkachin's head, exclaiming, "Aww, what a sweet little puppy you are! Good boy, Makkachin!" The poodle's tail thumped even harder, and he jumped up to lick Victor's face, knocking into the phone as he did.

"Whoa!" Yuuri quickly stopped the video, doing his best to keep from dropping the phone as the enthusiastic dog wriggled between them.

Laughing, Victor turned to his husband. "Did you get that?"

"I think so. Are you ready to go do Aki now?" Yuuri was impatient to get back to the book he had been reading before being interrupted with this meme nonsense.

Pushing Makkachin down, Victor stood up. "Sure. I think she was playing in her room the last time I saw her. Come on, dorogoi!" Taking Yuuri by the hand, he pulled them down the hallway until they were in front of their daughter's room. Nodding conspiratorially, he pushed the door open. Yuuri compliantly turned the video on and followed him inside.

Aki was sitting on the floor, surrounded by a small pile of toys. She looked up as her parents entered, and Yuuri was just in time to catch the smile spreading across her face. As they approached, Aki chirped, "Hi Papa, hi Tousan."

Neither of them responded, but held out their hands simultaneously. Aki looked at both of them, then at their outstretched hands. Tentatively, she put one hand into Yuuri's, then looked seriously at Victor's hand. Her free hand was occupied by a stuffed eagle, one of her favorite toys. Her little brow furrowed as she contemplated her options. Then she slowly leaned her head forward, and gently bit one of Victor's fingers.

Instantly, Yuuri burst into laughter. His husband started to protest loudly, "Hey, Akiya, what is this all about? You hold Otousan's hand, but all I get is a bite?"

Without removing her teeth, Aki looked up at her papa and giggled heartily. Unable to keep the amusement out of his voice, Yuuri turned off the camera and asked, "Is this enough for you, Vitya?"

"Yes, I have been wounded enough." Victor's dramatic declaration didn't match the smile that spread on his face as he exclaimed, "Now come here, you little troublemaker! I'll show you what happens when you bite Papa!" Freeing his hand in one smooth motion, Victor started tickling Aki, making her scream with glee as she squiggled, delighted to be playing one of her favorite games. Yuuri watched them, chuckling. Maybe this challenge had been worth his time, after all.