Nikolai trudged up the steps to his apartment, willing his feet to keep moving. After skating practice that day, he and his very new girlfriend, Aliya, had gone out on a date. But even though the prospect of an official date had loomed over his head, Nikolai still hadn't been able to fully keep his exhaustion at bay. Luckily for him, his girlfriend also seemed tired, and they had agreed to go home early after a short dinner together. He had walked her home, trying his best to make it to his own door before collapsing.
As he got closer to it, however, he heard a raucous throng of voices coming from the other side. Curious, he stopped just outside the door to listen.
"...since he got in last, he won't get as big of a cut." His older sister's voice was speaking authoritatively as he leaned an ear to the wood.
A voice he recognized as his coach (and girlfriend's father) replied, "Although I am disappointed since my guess was the most accurate, I understand. Those were the terms I agreed upon."
Nikolai frowned. Terms? What terms did Otabek agree to?
Another voice spoke, this time his papa's. "Well, since I was the first one to place a bet, does that mean I get the biggest cut?"
His sister replied, "No, Papa. Your guess was way off. I have to run the calculations again, but you'll be lucky to get much of anything."
Victor protested, "Aki, that's not fair!"
She snorted. "Yes it is! Your bet was…" There was some faint rustling before Aki continued. "You thought it would be two years ago!"
Nikolai heard a laugh, and was surprised to identify it as his otousan. Yuuri said, "Really, Vitya? How was that supposed to work out when Aliya was still in Moscow?"
Now Nikolai was thoroughly puzzled. What did Aliya have to do with any of this? It seemed like they had placed a bet on something, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Mystified, he decided to keep listening to try to figure it out.
Otabek spoke over Victor's protests. "At any rate, what did you guess, Marrok?"
The voice of his sister's boyfriend chimed in now. "I'm afraid I lost. I only got in on the bet when I found out you all were moving back here, and I placed mine much too far in the future. I thought Nika would have a harder time with the whole situation than he did."
Wait…they were talking about him? And Aliya? The pieces started coming together as he heard his papa snort, "What, you don't think we had a hard enough time as it is?"
"Of course not, Victor. I simply meant I thought it would take him longer to come to terms with his feelings."
That did it. They were definitely talking about him and Aliya. Feeling wide awake now, he grabbed the doorknob and pushed it open decisively, entering the apartment with a flourish.
Five sets of eyes turned to look at him, surprise evident on each face (except perhaps Otabek's). Shutting the door so the excited Makkachin wouldn't escape, Nikolai glared around at each person in turn. "Would someone care to explain to me what is going on here?"
Aki, who was sitting in front of the coffee table with a stack of papers and envelopes, was the first to react. With a big smile, she rose up and said, "Why, Nika! You're back awfully early, aren't you?"
Kicking off his shoes, Nikolai glared at her as sternly as he could. "I'm so very sorry I interrupted your meeting about me with my untimely arrival."
His otousan chimed in. "Now, Nika, don't be like that. You know we're always delighted to see you."
He narrowed his eyes at this platitude. "Then by all means, continue what you were doing. I wouldn't want to think that I'm being a bother." Striding over to the group in the living room, he plopped himself down on the love seat, staring around at the assembled people.
Aki shrugged. "Okay. Well, then I suppose I'm ready to divvy up the prize money."
Nikolai snapped, "What prize money?"
His sister looked at him with her signature gleam of mischief in her eyes. "Why, the prize money for our betting pool, of course! We were trying to guess when you and Aliya would actually start dating."
Although he had surmised that something of this vein was going on, the full explanation still knocked Nikolai for a bit of a loop. He stared at her for a beat before sputtering, "Excuse me? You bet on whether or not Aliya and I would date?"
His papa waved a hand dismissively. "No, no, no. We knew that was an eventuality. We bet on when it would happen. Otabek ended up being the most accurate. He got the month right. But since he didn't get in on the bet until a couple weeks ago, he doesn't get as much of a reward as those of us who were making more long-term bets." He smiled. "I think I did fairly well, considering how early I placed my bet."
"That's not the point here! How could you all place bets on something like this?" Nikolai's outrage made it hard for him to concentrate on a single point of annoyance.
His otousan at least had the grace to turn red. He rose up, trying to placate his son. "Now, Nika, I know that this seems perhaps…a little childish…"
"That's exactly what it is! Childish! I can't believe all of you! I expected more out of…" Nikolai trailed off as he looked around at the assembled members. He wasn't really sure whose name to invoke as the level-headed one of the group. Ignoring this failure, he continued, "Does Yuri know about this?"
The group all looked at each other, and Otabek spoke carefully. "It's not really something that has come up with him."
Nikolai smirked. "Oh, I see."
His sister started towards him. "Nika, you wouldn't dare!"
Calmly, Nikolai pulled out his phone. "Wouldn't dare what, onee-san? I can't imagine what you, the bookie, would be accusing me of."
He started to unlock his phone, but before he could pull up his contacts, he felt a body tackle him around the waist. Startled, he looked down and saw his sister hanging on him. She screeched, "Quick, I'll hold him! Papa, grab the phone!"
Victor sprang up, darting over to the loveseat in an attempt to snag his son's phone. Nikolai held it out of reach as high as he could, yelling protests about his privacy. His otousan started scolding all of them as Makkachin began barking, and Marrok and Otabek sat looking amused.
Through the chaos, Nikolai couldn't help but grin. These people may be morally bankrupt and crazy, but they were his precious family.