Work Text:
8 am: Phone alarm rings. Viktor gets up. I hear the shower start. I go back to sleep.
9 am: Another alarm. I don't get up.
10 am: Another alarm, this one louder and more frantic than the first two. I get up and throw on running pants, athletic shirt, jacket. I put my ring on my finger and comb through my hair, brush my teeth.
Why do I still look so tired? I could have gone with him to the rink if I weren't so lazy if I weren't so god damn-
Oh! I hear barking. I guess Makkachin is ready to go out. I whistle for him and he follows, smiling.
Outside is nice! The wind is less like a stranger knocking into me and more like a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Makkachin certainly doesn’t mind it, taking off with me as we start our daily run. Despite his age, he keeps up well. But what if that isn’t always the case? What if one day he collapses on our run and he doesn’t wake up? What if he dies and Viktor’s so upset he leaves me? What if…
Oh! I have to stop at this crosswalk and wait. Cars rush through the intersection and the resulting wind gusts are much less like reassuring pats on the shoulder and more like strangers knocking into me. I breathe nonetheless and pet Makkachin who sits obediently beside me. Viktor trained him well, though poodles really are known to be well-behaved dogs or at least from what I’ve seen. I place a hand on Makka’s head and he wags his tail.
10:45 am: I walk back into the apartment and rest, if only just for a few minutes. There’s leftover pirozhkis, a gift from Yurio and his grandfather. I grab one and take a bite. A few days ago he knocked on the door and barged on in, giving Viktor and myself hardly any time to even process his being there.
“These are for you. I guess since you’re living here now I should give you these- they’re the best pirozhkis around and don’t forget it!” I saw a quick smile and a light in Yurio’s eyes as he handed the bag over. Who knew this kid’s kindness lies in baked goods?
11 am: I change into sweats, grab my bag, and start the walk to the ice rink, sadly not accompanied by a friendly poodle.
11:15 am: I sip some water, lace up my skates, and step out onto the rink.
“Yuuri!” Viktor greets.
“Hey piggy!” Mila follows. Yurio hardly spares a glance but he definitely noticed me. Whatever, he’s off in his own world right now. As is Georgi, who stretches and speaks to Yakov off to the side. Viktor skates over to me and grabs me by the shoulder. His individual practice time had just ended and now he was in full-on coach mode.
“Let’s go!”
12 pm: I am kneeling on the ice, catching my breath after a failed triple toe-loop.
“Ah, Yuuri. What are you thinking about now?” Viktor asks as he watches from about ten feet away. “You don’t usually miss those.”
“Nothing really. I’m good!”
“Are you sure you’re not worrying too much about anything?”
“I’m worried you’re gonna leave me for someone who can always land a triple toe-loop,” I say as I stare at the ring on his finger.
“Yuuri I’d never! But get up and run that again.”
1:15 pm: I take a break and as I step off the ice Viktor hands me my water bottle while I sit down on the bench.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask. He has this adorable grin on his face and I can’t help but smile back.
“Sometimes I just see you and think about how proud I am, I guess.” He kisses me on the forehead.
“Gross!” Yurio shouts from inside the rink.
“Hey Yurio guess what I love my fiancé!” Viktor retorts.
“Really? No shit! Hey everyone Viktor and Yuuri are in love!” Yurio announces throughout the rink.
“Yuri! Ignore them and focus on the routine,” Yakov says. I drink my water as Mila comes up and whispers “take a fucking sip, babes.”
3pm: My practice is over. I clean myself up and sit back on the bench to watch as Viktor finishes running through a routine with Yakov. He’s stunning, as per usual. I almost resent it but really he’s too beautiful for me to complain, even when looking at him from a competitive standpoint.
3:25 pm: We say goodbye to everyone at the rink and start walking home.
“How on Earth am I gonna beat you?” I ask Viktor as we head through the parking lot toward the sidewalk.
“Yuuri, you know I’m writing your routine perfectly for combatting my own. You’re going to give me a run for my money.”
“So self-sabotaging, Vitya.” I grab his hand and smile.
“I think I’d almost rather be proud of you standing above me on the podium than earn another win for myself.”
“Don’t go losing for me, I swear I’m not worth it.” I realize what I’m saying as soon as I say it. What if he does figure that out? What if he discovers I’m really not worth it and beats me and stops coaching me and-
“Oh please, you’re worth everything.”
“Wow, gay much?” I respond.
“Yuuri we’re engaged.” I stop myself before I can say “more like enGAYged.”
5 pm: We stop in a local store and pick up some ingredients for pasta and salad. A little old lady works the register closest to the door. She smiles out of recognition and I can almost see that same appreciation in her eyes that I see every time we walk in.
“You’re young and in love,” she said to us one time on our way out of the store. “That’s one of the most wonderful experiences I can think of.” Her eyes had the most cheerful gleam when she noticed we were wearing matching rings.
We grab everything we need and head over to her register. The last item Viktor hands her to scan is a bottle of water.
“That’s for you! Please keep it!” He says as she rings up the bottle.
“Thank you very much. You two are always such nice young men.”
6 pm: I chop up onions. Viktor boils the noodles. The sun casts an ocean of oranges and pinks into our kitchen as it sets. Everything is beautiful.
7 pm: I sip my tea after dinner. I take my medications. 300 mg of those small white oval-shaped pills and 200 mg of those longer yellow pills and I can’t remember their names for the life of me. Viktor takes Makkachin out for a short walk.
8 pm: I dissociate in the shower. Nothing out of the ordinary, I guess. Luckily for me I put the conditioner in my hair before my mind decided to bail on me.
“Yuuri! You’ve been in the shower for over half an hour!” Viktor calls from our bedroom. Our bedroom. How strange is that? I wash the conditioner out of my hair and step out of the shower.
9 pm: Viktor and I watch a documentary about service dogs! His arm is around me and I’m laying my head on his chest while the show plays on his laptop. Makkachin is curled up on the other side of me, paying no real attention to us or the laptop.
“These dogs all have jobs, Yuuri! They are all so talented! Makkachin should get a job.”
“You’re right, he should. He doesn’t even pay rent. What a freeloader,” I say.
“He might be too old to get a job though. Too weathered by this harsh world.”
“Oh please, I go out and deal with the world every day. If I do it then so can he,” I respond.
“Yuuri no, we have to be kind to him. He’s a wise old friend.”
“Hear that? Vitya just called you old. Are you gonna take that?” I ask Makkachin. He perks his head up for a moment then lies back down. On the screen, a poodle puppy starts his training program. He’s excitable, running around inside his foster family’s home and trying to paw his way out of his training gear.
“Hey Yuuri, do you think poodle puppies are called ‘poodlings?’ That would be cute wouldn’t it? Poodlings?”
“I want to hate that but I can’t. It’s adorable and you’re adorable,” I respond.
“I still can’t believe you named your poodling after me when you were little, Yuuri.”
“I can’t really believe it either I was so gay!”
“Hehe. Was,” Viktor responds.
I shush him and kiss him on the cheek.
10 pm: The documentary ends and Viktor turns his computer off. He sets it on the bedside table and lays back down next to me. He’s already tired.
“Hey Yuuri, guess what,” he says.
“Hm?” I turn over to face him as he smiles.
“Did you know that you’re really beautiful?” He asks.
“I mean I really should know that at this point since you make a point of telling me every day.”
“But do you know it?”
“Sometimes. I really wish I could see myself through your eyes, Vitya.”
“Well spoiler alert you’d see that you’re beautiful and I love you very much.”
I might as well soak in the praise. He’s good at showering me with words and making me feel just a bit more okay.
“Hmmm, how much do you love me again?”
“Yuuri I love you enough to give up my skating career at least temporarily and fly to a foreign country and immediately start hitting on you because I see so much passion and talent in you.”
“Yeah well I love you enough to practice every day and push myself further just so I can have a chance to skate with you and talk to you and coexist with you.”
“Hm… I love you enough that you’re here right now and this is the most right everything has ever felt. This is it. This is the satisfaction I’ve needed for so long. I wake up every day wanting to thank you, Yuuri.”
“You’re welcome, but also thank you, and also I love you,” I say.
He kisses me and we kiss and kiss until we’re tired enough to fall asleep, still unwilling to let go of each other.