Tuesday Morning

When my alarm blares in my ear and I roll out of my lovely bed, I had completely forgotten. I hear a tiny yelp as I walk to the kitchen, seeming to be coming from the dining room. I quickly recall how yesterday afternoon had went, and I spring towards the cage holding my adorable little poodle. The puppy violently wags its tail at me. I smile at him before crouching down to open the cage hatch.

The dog pops out and bounces up and down on the spot before quickly glancing side to side and then slowly inching towards me. I gleefully twiddle my fingers at him as he puts a paw on my legs and sniffs me. "Heyyyy, buddy!" I coo. He carefully looks me in the face before leaping into my and smothering me with slobbery doggy kisses.

I laugh it away, keeping my mouth shut as I do, because hygiene. I eventually squirm out of the pup's grasp and get to my feet. He looks up at me for a moment, and then prances around someplace else in the room. I didn't even seem to think about how much he'd want to scan the house. It's no problem, really.

Though, I haven't even came up with a name for him yet, and it's really bugging me. I want to call him something other than buddy, pal, and pup. Maybe I'll think up some names today at school. Oh! Why don't I just ask Yuri?

You open tonight? :) I text him.

I wait a few minutes before I see: Yeah, what's up?

You'll see. I smirk as I text him the meet time at my place, and then I slip my phone into my pocket to get ready for work.

Once I reached the school from my home, I had caught a terrible cold, had lovely rosy cheeks thanks to the overpowering wind, and also had a bit of a cough. Just what I needed.

Before class started, I had entered the staff room to pick up the tests I marked from last week's Biology test. Mr. Barteli had glanced over at me after a few too many distracting sniffles and throaty coughs. "You sure you're up for teaching today, Viktor?" It might sound like he was asking a nice question, written out like I have for you, when really his tone of voice was the most bitch-ass it could get.

I had opened my mouth to respond by saying, "Yes, of course", but I was rudely interrupted by the same cranky man.

"I don't think you are." He answered, arms folded across his chest in a cocky manner. "If you're still like this tomorrow, we can't possibly let you come in the rest of this week and risk giving all those kids the same shitty winter sickness." Hah! That was a first. I always thought Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes Barteli would rather die than let a cuss-word escape his lips.

"Okay, class," I sniff, "I've got your tests marked here." A tickle easily finds its way into my throat, and my eyes begin watering in a flash. I rush out of the classroom just in time to let out some real disgusting barks off into the crook of my elbow… right in front of no other than Mr. Barteli.

"I swear, Viktor," he quietly grumbles, "get away from those children before they get the same dang disease!"

I stop and stare into his riled, aged eyes. "Why do you hate me so much, John?"

He scoffs before giving me a tired grin. "We have enough children here as it is." After having said that, he brushes past me toward my Biology classroom. "I'm covering your class. I already talked to Mason about having you return home."

I watch him make his slow, old way down the hall and wonder why he has to be such a troubled individual. But hey. How stupid would I be to complain about getting a free rest of the week off?

The evening came faster than I imagined possible. My good next-door neighbor, Jean-Jacques, looked after my poodle when I was out for, like, half-an-hour to teach. I insisted he accept the handful of dough I held out to him, but he selflessly shook the money off. Go figure: He's Canadian.

If Yuri's on time, he should be here in roughly ten minutes. Everything is all ready to go. The kettle already had hot water inside of it. Laid across the marble island is a bowl of olivier salad and some special dessert hiding underneath a lid. I had so much time today to think of what was perfect enough to make for tonight. A neat cloth is spread across the dining table, with the dishes and utensils all ready to go; I didn't forget the low-budget candle in the centre of the table either.

Am I rich AF? Yes. Why do I need to have a home-dinner instead of a more formal one at a restaurant? Because it's more heartfelt to make a homemade meal for someone. Plus, I feel poor, no matter what. But I'll go more into my wealth and heritage another chapter.

While I wait for him to arrive, I give my pup a tiny treat and pop him back into the cage. I place it someplace safe and then take a seat on the coach. All of a sudden I hear a gentle knock on the front door. A sly grin creeps on my face as I stand up and go to where the knock came from. I open the door to see a shivering little Yuri Katsuki with sopping wet hair. At this point his hair was practically crystallized, his face a pale, almost blue tone. I rush him inside as if I had just seen an impaled man enter the ER, and I quickly sit him down and fetch him a hot drink.

"Tea or hot cocoa?" I ask him from the kitchen.

"R...really… I'm fine."

At hearing this, I slowly roll my eyes. But not in that ticked off 'You're an irritating bitch sorta way, but the type that says a million different things, like: I can't believe how selfless you are, This is why you need a good man, and I don't know what I'd do if you did this to yourself all the time. That kind of stuff.

I scoop a couple of spoonfuls of hot cocoa mix and dump it into a "Mr." mug; the one I bought in a pair with a "Mrs.", but I scratched out the 's' because I knew that would never happen. I vigorously stir the mix with the water and then toss in marshmallows.

"Thanks, Viktor." Yuri mumbles with a sleepy-looking smile after I hand him the mug.

I run a hand through his wet hair and place a small kiss on his forehead before walking back to the kitchen and quickly pouring a mug for myself. (It was the x-"Mrs." mug.)

I hear loud, long sips coming from the living room. It's impossible to hide the grin on my face when I return with my own drink. It drops a bit when I ask, "What made you wanna come here with wet hair in the freezing cold?"

Yuri lightly chuckles. "Work went later than I thought it would… I had to come here pretty much straight from work."

I give him a sympathetic smile and take a sip of my hot cocoa. I swallow my mouthful and decide to pose the question. "What would you name somebody?"

Yuri's mid-sip immediately turns into a coughing mess. I jump to my feet to go to him, but he waves me off. Soon, he regains his regular breathing pattern. "A name?"

"Yeah."

"Like… for a kid…?" he slowly mumbles.

"Mm-hm. Well… for a pet."

Yuri looks more than slightly relieved, and I still have absolutely no clue as to why he reacted that way. I dunno. He sits back a little and puts his mug down on the side table. "Depends. I need some context."

I stand up and begin walking towards my bedroom, leaving Yuri sitting on the couch, staring at where he last saw me. I peek back around the corner and beckon him with my hand.

"This is… amazing." Yuri mumbles as he gazes at all the different parts of my room. A walk-in closet, king-size bed, countless awards and medals from past school years… His eyes shimmered at the sight of everything.

I shrug and take a seat on my bed covers. "It's always been this way for me. My parents were two… very rich people." Yuri nods, his eyes concentrated and in awe. "But the real reason I brought you here is to get your opinion…" I pick up the dog cage and place it in front of Yuri. "...is to find a name for this lil' guy."

He gawks at seeing the tiny poodle and his hands fly up to his mouth to show it. "This guy?! HE'S ADORABLE!"

I open up the hatch and the pup leaps out and at Yuri's feet. He laughs and crouches down only to be slobbered all over. "He loves meeting new people." I say, giving Yuri a grin and then leaning down to run my fingers through the pup's curly, tangled fur.

"Makkachin."

"Hm?" I look over at Yuri who has a fixed gaze on my poodle.

"Makkachin. It's Japanese for 'loyal companion'."

After taking one more good look at the excited pup, I knew full-well how perfect the name fit. I shuffle Makkachin back into the cage again and lock it up. I glance over at Yuri and quietly mutter, "Want to get out of here?"

The edge of his mouth turns up and he gently takes hold of my collar, our faces only centimeters away. "Hell to the yes."