Yuuri was just finishing cleaning up lunch when he felt arms snake around him from behind. He jumped a little in surprise, then relaxed into the hold as he felt a head lower onto his neck. Reaching a hand awkwardly behind him, he fondly patted the silver head he loved so much as a voice murmured in his ear, "Hey, luchik?"

Heat ran down his neck. He suppressed a shiver as he responded, "Yes, Vitya?"

"Are you busy right now?"

Expectation started to grow in his abdomen. "No, I'm not."

"Great! Then you can help me with another challenge!"

Yuuri's hopes came crashing down all at once, and his shoulders slumped. Feeling this, his spouse protested, "Aww, lapochka, don't be like that! I thought you had fun with the last challenge we did!"

Yuuri paused for a moment, then mumbled, "Well, I guess it wasn't all that bad." Twisting himself around in Victor's arms, he said, "All right, what's the challenge this time?"

The blue eyes crinkled in delight. "I knew you'd come around, muzh moy! This one is pretty easy. We just set up the camera and let it record."

Yuuri furrowed his brow in confusion. "So why do you need me if I'm not recording?"

"Because for this challenge, we both run in opposite directions and see who Aki follows."

"But why would we do that?"

"Oh, it's just a fun thing to see which parent she will follow." Victor smirked. "Or are you afraid that she'll pick me over you?"

Despite knowing that his husband was baiting him, Yuuri felt a flicker of annoyance. "What do you mean, Vitya? I'm the one who stays home with her when you go to work."

"Yes, so she'll want to stay with me even more since I'm here." Victor gave his husband his best podium smile, and Yuuri felt his competitiveness rise.

"Fine. I'm in. Where are we setting up?"

"That's the spirit! I think we should probably go to the parking lot so we have some space."

"Fine by me. Let's go. I'll go get Aki, you get Makkachin's leash." Pushing gently on his husband's chest, Yuuri disentangled their bodies and went to find their daughter.

They both busied themselves with their tasks, and a few minutes later were standing in the parking lot, with Victor setting up his phone on a box he had brought outside with them. As he was adjusting the angle on it, he asked, "Do we want to put Makkachin with us?"

Yuuri shrugged. "It's up to you. This is your challenge."

Victor considered this. "Well, then let's leave him here. I don't want him to knock over Aki when they both run after me."

Yuuri raised his eyebrows. "Confident, aren't you?"

His husband stood up, apparently satisfied with the camera, and smiled. "I guess we'll find out in a moment. Are you ready?"

Shifting Aki on his hip, Yuuri nodded. "Come here." He set Aki down on the ground as Victor came to stand beside them. He looked expectantly at his spouse.

"Ok, I'll count down from 3, and then we do it, all right?"

Yuuri nodded.

"Tri...dva...odin...nohl!"

Both men ran off in opposite directions. Yuuri jogged a few feet, then turned around to look at his daughter. Aki was standing where she had been left, looking back and forth between her parents. As he looked at Victor, he waved brightly at her. She turned her back on him and toddled as fast as she could over to Yuuri, throwing her arms around his legs. As she started running, Makkachin broke away from where he had been sitting next to the box, barking as he ran after his little girl. Yuuri looked up at his husband just in time to catch his mouth drop open in indignation. As he picked up Aki, Victor protested at him, "Again! We have to do it again!"

Yuuri tried hard to keep the smirk off his face, but could hear it in his voice as he replied, "Sure, Vitya. Let's do it again."

They reset themselves, this time arranging Makkachin between them as well, since the poodle had decided to participate either way. The two men looked at each other, and Yuuri nodded. Victor counted down again.

"Tri...dva...odin…..nohl!"

Despite pausing longer before reaching zero, the result was the same. Yuuri trotted a short distance away, and turned around to see that both the dog and his daughter were following hot on his heels, Aki giggling as she clung to Makkachin's fur. Yuuri smiled broadly as his husband protested, "What the heck! They didn't even hesitate this time, they just ran right after you!"

Yuuri laughed. "Well, I think they've made their choice then."

"No! One more time!"

Feeling a bit smug, Yuuri agreed, and they reset for the last time. As he looked at his spouse, he saw mischief flickering in those icy eyes, but before he had time to process it, Victor was counting down to zero, and he took off.

This time, he didn't hear the patter of feet following him, but rather a screech of laughter. He turned around and saw Victor, carrying Aki off in his direction, as she giggled and squirmed in his arms. Makkachin followed, dancing around his master's feet and wagging his tail as he watched his little girl. When he noticed his husband looking at them, Victor stuck his tongue out, clutching their daughter to himself with a grin.

Despite himself, Yuuri started laughing at the adorable scene, until he was doubled over. As he laughed, his husband came over to where he was standing, still carrying Aki with Makkachin trailing in his wake. Yuuri disappeared in a bundle of his family members, all of them laughing together. As his bright-eyed husband placed a kiss on top of his head, Yuuri privately decided that he liked this challenge.

Not that he would ever admit it, of course.