Viktor hummed and kicked his feet, tilting his head back and forth. He took the wooden pencil from between his lips and scratched down some letters, following the instructions in his book. When he lazily fluttered his wings, the light from above reflected off of their iridescent surfaces and aqua light scattered onto the carpet. Viktor ran his fingers through a lock of the long, long hair that was pooling on the floor.
"Very good," Yuuri praised, eyes soft from behind his glasses. Viktor's lips curled into a smile. "Your handwriting is already looking better than mine," Yuuri remarked. Viktor didn't know if that was entirely truthful, but he felt like he was glowing anyways.
"Thank you."
"Alright, let's try this last one."
"C-a-t. Oh! Cat."
"Good job."
Viktor copied down the word into the space provided. Over the past few weeks, he had learned so much and was improving in leaps and bounds. Each letter and word he learned felt like a veil was being lifted off of an ancient artifact, revealing its knowledge to him.
Viktor yawned, leaned back, and stretched. Something caught his eye, and he looked out the window.
"It's snowing," he remarked.
"The weather has been colder than usual, hasn't it?" Yuuri replied, and Viktor nodded with a quiet hum.
"Do you think it will stay? The snow from the other day has started to melt," he mused. Yuuri mulled this over, leaning back in the sofa.
"If it snows more tonight, then probably?" he estimated.
"I hope so." Viktor smiled so purely and sweetly, and his eyes glittered as if they were filled with snowflakes themselves. "I wish the city had more places where the snow stayed clean and fresh."
The sheer number of people living within city limits and all of the grime that came with them prevented picturesque, fluffy white snow. Suddenly, Yuuri had an idea and his heart sped up in excitement.
"Viktor! Let's go where there is snow!"
VIktor's face brightened and he beamed. He stood up, wings fluttering. "Let's go right now!" he exclaimed.
"Eh? Right now?" Yuuri asked, surprised. He had been picturing the next day, or that weekend.
"Well, why not?"
Yuuri could not come up with a reason, so he just laughed in defeat and pushed himself onto his feet. Viktor moved to leave the room.
"Hold on, we need to pack."
In the end, they could not decide whether they wanted cucumber sandwiches or cucumber sushi, and so they made them both. Somehow Yuuri ended up with cream cheese on his cheek. Viktor gently wiped it off, and shortly after absentmindedly rubbed his nose. He blinked in confusion when he found it sticky with cream cheese.
After having a laugh about that, they finished preparing lunch within no time. It was fairly obvious which sushi Viktor's inexperienced hands had rolled, but looks were not what counted. Yuuri nestled a box of sweet buns wrapped in paper within a picnic basket, as well as a lidded glass dish housing seasoned and steamed kabocha slices. With the addition of the cucumber dishes, a bottle of apple cider, chopsticks, and red cloth napkins, Yuuri flipped the basket's flaps closed.
While he had been finishing packing, Viktor was changing into some warmer clothing. He emerged from his room shortly after Yuuri was done with the preparations. His eyes were clear and he held his chin high, holding an aura of confidence and happiness that would have been unimaginable when they first met.
He smiled dazzlingly and spun on his heel to show off what he was wearing, a cherry-colored velvet dress with sections that were striped with white and red like silken candy canes. The maroon lacing down the front was echoed in other parts of the gown, and frilly white lace at the wrists and collar tied everything together. A dutch braid arched over the top of his head, his hair drawn into a simple ponytail at his nape and fastened with a matching maroon ribbon. The locks fell elegantly in silver waves down his back, carrying the light-catching twists and bends left from the braid it had been in earlier.
"What do you think?" Viktor asked, a glint in his eyes and a playful smile on his lips, where he pressed his left index finger mischievously. His lacy white gloves fit his fingers perfectly.
"Ah- um.." Yuuri stammered, flustered. At last, he murmured "Beautiful…" as he stared down at the picnic basket. He felt very warm, and fiddled with his shirt cuffs.
"The basket is beautiful, isn't it?" Viktor teased. Yuuri lifted his eyes. "Well, let's take this beautiful basket and-"
"You're beautiful," he said softly. Viktor froze, smile still in place on his lips. Clearly, he hadn't anticipated that Yuuri would actually repeat himself.
"Thank you," he replied quietly, eyes tender and cheeks pink.
In that moment, Yuuri wanted to say a lot more, do a lot more, than merely call him beautiful. He refrained, and instead picked up the basket. "Mn," was all he managed to reply, and the two of them walked to the entry hall. Yuuri put on a navy blue coat, and Viktor pulled his heavy cloak over his shoulders. They shared a quick glance, each turning away when they realized the other had also looked.
They flagged down several taxi carriages, but it took a considerable amount of convincing to get a driver to finally agree to be a part of their spontaneous adventure. The ride would be a few hours, but Viktor seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the journey. To either side of them, the snow had been pushed into banks tinted with mud. The carriage bumped along the cleared road, and the pair of them swayed where they sat.
In their time together, Yuuri realized, they had never travelled beyond the city and its surrounding suburban areas. Viktor had one of his delicate hands pressed against the cold glass window, eyes coasting over the features of the passing landscape. His mouth was slightly open; he seemed mesmerized. The rolling hills were blanketed in thick snow. Farms, houses, and trees dotted the vast ocean of white that stretched out in all directions. It seemed so otherwordly, almost imaginary. His hand laid over Viktor's, Yuuri wondered to himself if this was what the surface of the moon looked like, wondered if there was ever lunar spring. Was there still life up there in the distant sky?
The trees, sparsely distributed from being cleared for farmland, gradually began to thicken. Most were coniferous, with a few deciduous twisting their naked branches like arms outstretched. With a pang of sadness, Yuuri could not help but consider when the last time was that Viktor had seen so many trees. He suspected years, if not decades, and leaned closer into Viktor's warm frame, squeezing his hand.
Within the hour, they arrived at their destination. People enjoyed coming here to camp and get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. That was more of an activity for warmer seasons, but some individuals still participated in ice-skating on the small lake nearby. The ice was not thick enough for it at the moment, Yuuri suspected. It really was a shame, because although he had not gone and done it in a while, he loved to skate. He was too self-deprecating to ever admit it, but he was rather skilled. He wondered if Viktor would care for it too, if given the chance.
They would have to come back at some point; with spring right around the corner, Yuuri was uncertain that there would be a good opportunity until the end of the year. The image of VIktor elegantly gliding along the reflective, serene lake was an alluring scene to imagine. Even more so was the dangerous thought that followed: Yuuri's arm around Viktor's waist, teaching him patiently and intimately. It was enough to make Yuuri's feeble heart skip a beat.
The carriage rolled up to a cleared area near the lake's edge and came to a halt. Viktor leaned over Yuuri to get a better look at the lake, eyes wide and effulgent. His cloak and hair draped over Yuuri's lap as he did so, but if Viktor noticed than he did not care.
"Wow! It's… so big," he said, staring in amazement. "That's all water?"
Yuuri nodded and smiled. "But it's frozen right now, as you can see." Yuuri moved to open the door, and Viktor hastily retreated to get out of his way. The instant the door cracked, chilly air permeated the space. They stepped down into the powdery snow, squinting in the sudden brightness. The sun wasn't out, but the white, holeless, unending sheet of clouds above their heads was still enough to light up the snow to where it was difficult to look at.
Yuuri turned to the carriage driver, Viktor behind him. The horses swished their tails, the reins limp against their muscled flanks. The driver had already hopped down and was fetching blankets for them. Without looking up, she said, "How long will you be?" Viktor and Yuuri exchanged glances.
"Uh…" Yuuri thought things through. "Two hours, at most?" It was probably too cold for any more than that. The driver pursed her lips.
"I will just wait here, then."
"Are you sure…?" Yuuri asked.
"What else should I do, go all the way back to town and then come all the way back here? Or perhaps I should just abandon you in the snow?"
Yuuri's cheeks burned. "No, I suppose not."
The driver finally looked up. "It will be fine." She moved her gloved hands as if shooing them away.