Chapter Text
Finals week was accompanied by the usual whirlwind of late night study sessions, breakdowns over piles of illegible notecards, and desperate trips to the on-campus convenience store for energy drinks made with ingredients that probably were not fit for human consumption. Viktor, trying to balance his study schedule and mentally berating himself for choosing two classes with a final on the same day (the hour break in between them was not enough and he should have known that when registering), was not able to dedicate the proper amount of time to reuniting with his fry-making future fiance.
Devastatingly, this meant that winter break had arrived and he was expected to return home for three weeks for the holidays. While he didn’t live far from his university, he was unsure the love of his life would continue working over the break, leaving him with little chance of seeing him for nearly a month. After hugging Christophe goodbye and blowing him a kiss farewell at the train station, his roommate promising to send pictures of his cat often, Viktor returned to his car and drove to his own house.
He arrived without the fanfare he was definitely deserving of, walking in through the front door with his suitcase in tow and receiving a nod hello from Yakov and an aggressive glare and middle finger from Yuri, both of whom were seated on the couch watching some television show. But Makkachin, who he had not seen in four long weeks, immediately recognized what a momentous occasion his homecoming was and sprung from her seat next to Yuri so she could launch herself at Viktor, whining excitedly and trying desperately to lick his face.
Ah, it was good to be back.
The beginning of winter break mostly consisted of Viktor sitting around the house and doing essentially nothing for the majority of the day. Having a bit of a respite from school was something he refused to take for granted, dedicating himself to soaking up each and every second of rest he could. He slept in, he went for lazy evening walks with Makka, and he finally started that book he’d had on his to-read list for months. Yuri finished his high school semester a few days after Viktor had arrived home, also choosing to practically enter hibernation when he finally got the opportunity.
The difference between the two of them was that Yuri had been absolutely adamant about getting a job, and had finally managed to land one just before break began. Viktor had listened to his rants about needing his own money more times than he could count, knowing his brother had his eyes set on a variety of items ranging from a new pencil organizer to a leather jacket that would not be cheap. And so when the three of them ate dinner as a family every evening, Viktor and Yakov were subjected to Yuri’s vented frustrations with his coworkers.
Viktor was often far too preoccupied with trying to discreetly feed Makkachin scraps under the table to really follow along with what was being said, instead managing to nod and shake his head at the correct intervals. Yakov was mainly the one getting riled up right alongside Yuri, encouraging him to show those idiots who was in charge. Honestly, considering Viktor’s impulse control, it was just sad that he was the calm and stable one in the family.
What he did manage to catch were furious, curse-word laden complaints about Yuri’s coworkers who possessed a variety of nicknames Viktor assumed were lovingly assigned by his brother.
“Fucking Katsudon changed his shift and so I got stuck working with That Jerk again instead.”
“Katsudon made me work the cash register and I was forced to count quarters for an hour.”
“If That Fucking Bastard doesn’t stop taking selfies with me in the background I’m going to stick his phone in the fryer.”
“Katsudon and That Fucking Bastard tried to get me to sing along to some stupid song with them and so I had no choice but to lock the pig in the bathroom.”
“I hate my job, I’m the only one with any common sense. Katsudon couldn’t take orders if his life depended on it.”
It honestly seemed like Yuri held some sort of grudging respect, if not a bit of a liking, for both Katsudon and That Fucking Bastard, based off the small half-smile he aimed down at his dinner plate between rants. Viktor was fairly certain he actually hated “The Jerk” though, if only because of how much visibly angrier he’d get when talking about him.
The first week of break came and went, and sooner than he would have liked Viktor’s birthday rolled around. He wasn’t one for big celebrations, but still felt his heart clench in his chest when Yakov and Yuri presented him with an obviously homemade cake after dinner and made him blow out the candles. Makkachin’s tongue lolled as her eyes begged for a slice, but Viktor exercised restraint and gave her one of her treats instead. While many would argue his dog was thoroughly spoiled, Viktor was nothing if not a responsible pet-owner.
He continued to find various ways to occupy his time, ranging from reading to falling down Wikipedia rabbit holes on obscure subjects. In his boredom he decided to paint Makkachin’s nails one day, which just led to wet polish smeared around the house and Viktor spending the next hour cleaning it up.
When Yuri came home one day with a Happy Meal box in hand, Viktor raised an eyebrow.
“What are you looking at, dipshit?” Was the response he got.
“Did you go to McDonald’s for dinner? Yakov won’t be happy if you spoiled your appetite, you know.”
“I got to take free food with me after work, I wasn’t going to pass it up. Stop trying to parent me!” Yuri sneered.
Viktor furrowed his eyebrows, “Did you guys have a party or something? Why did they give you McDonald’s?”
This only earned an even more furious glare. “How the fuck did you even get into college? Are you that stupid? I work at McDonald's, you geezer.” Yuri huffed, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. “I knew you were balding like an old man, but I didn’t think you’d develop dementia so quickly.”
Viktor’s jaw dropped as he raised his palm to his forehead defensively, his brother storming upstairs before he could reply. His hairline wasn’t receding, he had just always had an especially… spacious… region above his eyes! So mean.
It was a few moments later that the implications sunk in. There was only one of those stores in a twenty mile radius, which meant his brother must work at the same location as his soulmate.
Oh, his break just got so much more exciting.