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“We are not going out in that forest at this time of night. Do you not know what lives there?” Yuri snapped, scowling up at Viktor and hating ever inch he has to look up. Fuck him and his height.
“What, are you scared, Yura?” Viktor asked, grinning. He looked too smug. Yuri was going to punch that look right off of his face one day, and he’d deserve it. And Yuri would relish it.
“Of course not, asshole,” Yuri said. “But unlike you, I actually have an ounce of self-preservation.”
“Yura, there’s nothing in these woods,” Viktor said, sighing and running a hand through his hair. It was getting long again.
“You’re an absolute moron.”
“Suit yourself.” Viktor shrugged and turned, stepping towards the tree line.
“Go get yourself killed,” Yuri grumbled. “See if I care.”
Viktor made no cheeky remark when Yuri started to follow him to the trees. He just smiled and kept walking. Yuri scowled and complained the whole time, but Viktor didn’t mind, not at all. They crossed the tree line, far too confident for as dark as the forest was and the time of night that it was. Or, Viktor was the confident one. Yuri was strangely reticent. His gaze shifted around them.
The forest was too dark. Perhaps if it had been a full moon, they would have had better light, but it was barely a crescent. Only the barest slivers of light made it through the canopy. Shadows stretched along the forest floor and loomed above them. Branches rustled in a light breeze that swept by. Yuri shivered and pulled his jacket further around him. People have disappeared in this forest. Never to be seen again.
And he was freezing.
And Viktor was a fucking moron. He was grinning as they walked through the trees. Forget moron, Yuri thought. He was fucking insane.
“The fuck are you grinning about?” Yuri grumbled. “You’re gonna get us both fucking killed.”
“Where’s your sense of adventure, Yura?” Viktor laughed.
The laugh cut short, and Yuri snorted. About time Viktor started taking the danger seriously. He was about to snark at him, too, when Viktor pressed a hand on Yuri’s shoulder.
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Yuri scowled. “You’re hideous laughter?”
“No—”
What sounded like a cry of terror echoed through the trees, bouncing off branches and surrounding them. They couldn’t tell where it came from.
“That,” Viktor finished. “Someone’s here.”
“Yeah, and they won’t be for long,” Yuri said. “I told you that this place was dangerous. People have disappeared here. People have been killed here.”
“We should help!” Viktor started forward.
“And where the fuck do you want to start looking?” Yuri snapped, grabbing onto Viktor’s sleeve. “You’ll get us lost! Or worse, killed!”
“But if we don’t, someone else could die!”
Viktor tore his arm away from Yuri and flew through the forest, stumbling occasionally on a root or tiny knoll in the grass. Yuri swore, loudly, but followed after Viktor, regardless. Someone had to make sure this asshole didn’t get killed.
Viktor and Yuri broke through the brush, landing in a clearing just in time to see an abnormally large wolf lunge at a white horse with an inky mane and a—
Horn. A unicorn.
Clearly this pure animal was in danger, even as it danced away from the wolf. Without much thought, Viktor bent and scooped a rock up into his hand and aimed, throwing it at the wolf and nailing it right in the side of the head. The wolf yelped, losing its footing and stumbling, landing with a wooshing thud on the ground. Viktor had only a moment to feel guilty.
The unicorn reared and kicked its front hooves at Viktor, placing itself between Viktor and the fallen wolf. Viktor stood back, hands raised and palms flat. He swallowed the rising lump in his throat as the unicorn’s mother-of-pearl horn gleamed in the light of the crescent moon. What an unfortunate fate, to be gutted by a unicorn of all things.
“Now look what you’ve done,” Yuri hissed. He wasn’t hiding behind Viktor, of course. Absolutely not.
Behind the unicorn, the wolf shrank into a human body. Said human sat up, rubbing his head with a frustrated pout. Blood dripped from his temple, where the rock had struck him.
“That was so rude,” he whined. “I never expected to be attacked while playing with you, Yuuri. Your suitors are starting to get dangerous.”
The unicorn turned its head, to check on the human. It—Yuuri?—tossed its head and treaded over to the human. It lowered its head and touched the tip of its horn to the scrape on the human’s head. The scrape healed instantly, and Viktor, of course, marveled, even as the unicorn helped the human to stand. Though… Was he really human? He’d just been a wolf a few moments ago.
“Uhm.” Viktor blinked at the creatures in front of him. “Sorry, I— thought you were being attacked?”
The unicorn snorted and seemed to roll its eyes while the human cackled.
“I’ve never seen you before,” the human said. “You’re not one of Yuuri’s suitors, are you? Either of you?”
The unicorn nudged the human, looking entirely too much like it had been offended.
“Oh, right,” the human said with a laugh. “You look too young. How old are you, anyway? Twelve?”
Yuri bristled from behind Viktor. “I’m fifteen, you asshole.”
“That’s not my name!” It didn’t sound like he was very offended. In fact, he seemed to be laughing. “Despite what Yuuri calls me. I’m Phichit!”
“And why should we care?” Yuri hissed. “Come on, Viktor, let’s go. It’s freezing. Clearly no one hear needs your misguided help. Jackass.”
“Viktor, huh?” Phichit grinned at Viktor. “You’ve got an arm on you. I’d be impressed if it hadn’t hurt so much. Actually—you know what? I am impressed. No one’s jumped to Yuuri’s protection like that before, not even people that liked him. Well, not that Yuuri’s ever needed the help. But he is a beauty, isn’t he?”
“…Are you trying… To matchmake? With a horse?” The words tumbled from Viktor’s mouth before he could process them, but really, what else was he supposed to say?
“A horse?”
That voice was new. Viktor blinked at the source. The unicorn was gone, but in its place was a man. A very pretty man—who could still be easily identified as the unicorn by the spiral horn from his forehead and the white, whip-like tail that ended with a tuft of the same inky black silk that made up the unicorn’s mane—which was now a messy mop of hair on top of the beautiful man’s head. Viktor felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Phichit just grinned.
This was Yuuri.
And he was beautiful.
“A horse,” Yuuri repeated.
“S-sorry,” Viktor stammered, the apology feeling like it had been yanked from his throat.
“Apology accepted.” Yuuri sniffed with a lash of his tail. Viktor’s eyes were drawn to the movement, but that didn’t keep him from noticing the small uptick of Yuuri’s lips. The unicorn was laughing at him—and without making a sound, at that.
“Viktor.” Yuri snarled. “Let’s go. We’re going to get fucking frostbite out here.”
“Oh. Right.” Viktor turned, but paused. “Uh. It was nice to meet you? Yuuri. And, uh—sorry, Phichit. About the rock.”
“Hey, no big.” Phichit waved his hand. “I’m fine. Yuuri’s roughed me up worse than a pebble to the head. We’ll see you later, though, Viktor! And the little one!”
“I’M NOT LITTLE!”
“I still can’t believe he threw a rock at you,” Yuuri said, flicking his tail as he sat at the outdoor table with Phichit and sipping his hibiscus tea.
“Well, it did look like I was trying to kill you,” Phichit laughed with a shrug. “Maybe I should have been a less dangerous looking animal.”
“Sure, and how would that have been fair?” Yuuri asked. “Then it’d look like I was the one trying to kill you.”
“Hey, maybe I should fight you as a platypus!” Phichit threw his head back as his laughter broke into cackling.
“…Can platypuses even fight?” Yuuri tilted his head, reaching for the plate between them.
This was their usual routine—the day after a midnight spar, they would park themselves Plisetsky’s and order tea and a whole plateful of desserts to share. The cinnamon buns were almost always Yuuri’s. He plucked a deliciously gooey one from the middle of the plate and took a bite of it. Frosted cinnamon goodness melted on Yuuri’s tongue and he couldn’t help the delighted moan pulled from his throat. He really couldn’t—cinnamon buns, especially warm and gooey ones—were just so good.
“Yuuri, it’s a cinnamon bun, not a dick,” Phichit snickered. His eyes gleamed while his sly smile hid behind the top of his to-go mug.
Yuuri choked, dropping the bun in favor of beating his fist on his chest. After several seconds of Yuuri struggling to swallow, Phichit’s laughter stopped and his expression grew wide and fearful. He stood abruptly, the chair scraping against the concrete sidewalk. No sooner than Phichit had taken a step forward, Yuuri managed to swallow the offending piece of bun and down a huge gulp of tea. He pat his chest a few more times, weaker than his frenzied beating. He glowered at his friend.
“Do you have to do that when I’m eating?” Yuuri’s voice was hoarse from the Cinnamon Bun Ordeal.
“I’m sorry!” Phichit squeaked. “I didn’t mean to really accidentally kill you!”
“I’m fine,” Yuuri wheezed. He rubbed his throat this time. “It’s okay. Just—can we not make jokes like that when there is food in my mouth. I would rather not choke to death even if it is one of Plisetsky’s cinnamon buns.”
“Yeah, okay,” Phichit agreed. He nodded fervently, sitting back down in his chair and picking up his hot chocolate. “Sorry, Yuuri.”
Yuuri waved his hand and sipped at the remains of his tea. It had taken almost the rest of his mug to help ease his throat. The rest of the cinnamon bun was waiting for him, and he tentatively picked it up to nibble at it. He offered Phichit a smile. “Make it up to me with another tea?”
“Sure!” Phichit leapt to his feet and rushed inside Plisetsky’s cafe-bakery.
Yuuri shook his head slightly, his smile turning exasperated and fond. Really, Phichit was a menace. But he was his menace, so he forgave him. He always would. Still… Yuuri scarfed down the rest of the cinnamon buns while Phichit was away and couldn’t make him choke again. Or steal the buns. They were his. Yuuri hummed softly once the buns were gone, and he relaxed into the his chair, closing his eyes. His tail swished around, the inky tuft sweeping the concrete.
“Yuuri?”
Yuuri’s eyes snapped open. He turned his head to the side to see who was calling for him. Huh. Yuuri hadn’t expected to see Viktor again. He was prettier in the daylight—not that there was much visibility last night with the sliver of a crescent shining down on them. The sun loved him, that was for sure. The moon might, too, had Yuuri been able to see him under the light of a full one.
“Yuuri!” Viktor grinned, waving with more enthusiasm than Yuuri himself had. Or would ever have, probably. “I thought it was you! What are you doing here?”
“I’m always here,” Yuuri said. “Phichit and I spend the mornings after getting tea and desserts. Well, I get the tea. Phichit is a chocolate hound. What about you?”
“Oh, I wanted to see Nikolai,” Viktor said. “I, uh, may have gotten Yuri sick, gallivanting through the woods last night.”
“Really now?” Yuuri snorted, rolling his eyes slightly. “Why am I not surprised? How is he?”
“Spitting fury.” Viktor laughed. “Nikolai is his grandfather. I came to see him for some pirozhki. They’re Yura’s favorite, so I thought I could pacify and apologize at the same time.”
“How sweet of you.” Yuuri smiled. His eyes flicked to the bakery door. “Well, don’t let me keep you, Viktor.”
“I don’t mind!” Viktor’s smile was dazzling. Yuuri squinted.
“What are you?”
“A… person?” Viktor blinked. His smile fell, but he only looked confused. It was unfairly cute.
“Huh.” Yuuri shrugged.
“Oh!” Phichit had returned. “Hi, Viktor.”
“Hi, Phichit,” Viktor said with a sheepish wave. “Hey, I’m really sorry about last night.”
“Really, don’t worry about it,” Phichit laughed, shaking his head. “I told you, Yuuri’s roughed me up worse. Those hooves hurt. Oh! Here, I got you some honeyed green, for your throat.”
“Are you sick, too?” Viktor asked. Yuuri caught an uptick in his voice. Concerned?
Phichit snickered while Yuuri’s cheeks flushed.
“Uh, no…” Yuuri frowned at Phichit, taking the tea from him. He blew on the to-go cup to cool it down. “He said something while I was eating and I choked. I’m fine, though.”
“That’s good.” Viktor sagged in relief. He blinked between them, trying not to focus too hard on Yuuri’s lips against the rim of the cup. “So… Are you two…?”
Yuuri spit out his mouthful of tea and wheezed, slapping his chest again. Phichit started laughing, despite looking concerned for his friend’s safety. He’d already choked once, after all. He didn’t need his friend dying on him. But, Yuuri recovered, as he always did. He shot Viktor a withering glare.
“Do I need to extend the rule to you, too, Viktor?” Yuuri asked, going back to drinking his tea.
“Rule?” Viktor blinked, tilting his head.
“I’m not allowed to say potentially shocking or incriminating things while he’s eating,” Phichit said, sheepish. “Or drinking.”
“Oh.” Viktor nodded as if it were the most logical thing in the world.
“No, Viktor,” Yuuri said.
“No?”
“We aren’t a thing.” Yuuri snorted.
“Then…?”
Phichit cackled between them.
“He’s my best friend,” Phichit said. “We spar sometimes at night. Full moons are best, though.”
“Full moons…?” Viktor frowned. “Are you a werewolf?”
“Wow.” Yuuri grinned into his tea as Phichit started into his best hyena laugh. “You’re awfully unobservant.”
“What?”
“I was a wolf last night, my guy,” Phichit said, wiping his eyes. “Wasn’t a full moon then.”
“So… What are you?”
“That’s awfully rude.” Yuuri hummed.
“You asked me the same thing!” Viktor pouted.
“I never said I had manners.” Yuuri shrugged. He started to reach for another dessert but stopped himself and frowned. He shouldn’t. He ate all the cinnamon buns already. With a sigh, Yuuri withdrew his hand and returned it around his hot cup.
“But to answer your question,” Phichit said with a grin that was all teeth. “Meet us tonight in the clearing. We’ll show you then.”
Viktor nodded slowly, baffled. “Okay. T-tonight.”
“Relax,” Yuuri laughed. “It’ll be fine, I promise. We’ll see you then. Now go get your Yuri those pirozhki. And take him a honeyed green tea, too. It works wonderfully on sore throats.”
“Y-yeah, sure.” Viktor nodded and stepped toward the bakery doors. He paused and took a last look at Yuuri, took in the way his tail swished and swept the concrete and how his horn caught the sun, sparkling with the iridescence of mother-of-pearl. Yuuri caught him staring, and those round cheeks flushed. Viktor’s heart caught in his throat. He swallowed thickly, and fled by way of ducking into the bakery.
“Well, that was interesting,” Phichit said. “Tonight should be fun, yeah?”
“Don’t give the poor thing a heart attack, Phichit.”
“You made it,” Yuuri breathed, standing in the tiny sliver of moonlight that graced the clearing.
“I was afraid to, at first,” Viktor admitted, stepping closer to Yuuri. “But…”
“But?” Yuuri cocked his head to the side. His bangs slid over his horn. Viktor briefly thought that styling his hair must be a huge pain in the ass.
“I, uh, wanted to see you again.” Viktor rubbed the back of his neck. He paused and looked around. “…Where is Phichit?”
“Uh…” Yuuri frowned, following Viktor’s searching eyes. “…He was just here, where did he go?”
A roar preceded the force of a massive weight tackling the both of them. Three bodies crashed to the ground. Yuuri felt the air punched from his lungs as he made impact with the grass. His vision spotted and he groaned. And, if you ask them what happened later, Viktor will deny any and all claims that he shrieked. They started laughing when a sandpaper tongue scraped over their faces.
“Okay, Phichit, off, off!” Yuuri cried between peals of laughter. “You’re heavy, get off.”
The tiger backed off and sat in front of Viktor and Yuuri. If cats could grin, this one was.
“…Phichit?” Viktor blinked rapidly. “What the fuck, Phichit! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“And after I told you not to…” Yuuri sighed, but he couldn’t stop the smile. He turned it to Viktor, whose breath hitched. “So, care to guess again?”
“…Shapeshifter?” Viktor hesitated.
The tiger grinned. It shrank in size and shape, revealing Phichit himself. He was still grinning, and it was still all teeth.
“Impressed?” Phichit wiggled, too excited to stand still.
“Yes!” Viktor got to his feet, offering Yuuri his hand.
“He likes to be a hamster, too,” Yuuri said. He slipped his hand into Viktor’s, shivering at the touch. “He uses his powers for the evil profession of hoarding rumors.”
“Rude,” Phichit said. “Information doesn’t hurt. If I didn’t do it, you wouldn’t have found out about that last guy until it was too late!”
“…Last guy?” Viktor frowned.
“Uh.” Yuuri pulled himself up, using Viktor as leverage. He dusted himself off. “Yeah… That would have been… Very bad.”
“’Very bad’ doesn’t even begin to cover it,” Phichit hissed. “I had to turn into a dragon to chase him off. Fucking trophy hunters.”
Yuuri sighed. “That was not a fun week.”
“Trophy hunter?” Viktor asked. “Yuuri, what happened? What did he try to do?”
“He wanted my horn.”
“But that would have—”
“Exactly,” Phichit huffed. “I should have set him on fire. Barbequed him, or something. And you!”
Viktor stood ram-rod straight, suddenly very cold and very scared. “Yes…?”
“Just because you’re pretty doesn’t mean I won’t do the same to you, you hear me?”
“Phichit, really,” Yuuri said, waving his arm. “That’s not necessary.”
“True.” Phichit relented, but he grinned. “You could gut him yourself, I know, but you’re my best friend. I’m supposed to look out for you.”
“I appreciate it, but you don’t have to scare him on day one.” Yuuri couldn’t help the smile. He turned back to Viktor. “I almost forgot. How is Yuri?”
“Same as ever,” Viktor said. “A little ball of hellfire and fury. I have no idea where he got his vocabulary from, honestly. But he was mollified for about an hour. The tea was a great idea, thank you. And Nikolai’s pirozhki are magic.”
“That’s good,” Yuuri said, nodding. “I’m glad to hear it. Now… It’s not a fight night, so we should get out of here. I’m getting cold.”
“Sure.” Phichit stretched out and folded his hands against the back of his head. “I’m pretty sure the pizza place down the block from our apartment is still delivering. I’ll head back and get that started. Don’t be afraid to gut him!”
“Phichit!” Yuuri hissed.
Phichit walked off, cackling into the night. Viktor stared, bewildered.
“Is he always so…?”
“Always.” Yuuri laughed. “Would you like to join is for pizza?”
“I’d love to,” Viktor said. He smiled and squeezed Yuuri’s hand. “Can I ask you something first?”
“Sure.”
“Could I…” Viktor hesitated. “Could I touch your horn?”
“Viktor!” Yuuri frowned. “Absolutely not. And I thought you were a gentleman.”
“I’m sorry!” Viktor dropped Yuuri’s hand and flailed backwards. “I didn’t know!”
Viktor continued his frantic apologies. His cheeks burned in shame. It wasn’t until he realized that Yuuri was laughing that he stopped flailing and pouted.
“Sorry, sorry,” Yuuri said whenever he could manage air between laughter. Viktor noticed that his cheeks were dusted pink, but his eyes sparkled. And—a smattering of freckles danced across the bridge of his nose. Oh, God, Viktor was gone. Yuuri had no idea. He continued his laughter, though it had subsided to giggling. “Your face was priceless.”
“Yuuri…” Viktor sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest with a pout marring his pretty face.
“But, to be serious about it, you…” Yuuri fidgeted. “Can’t. It’s… A very intimate thing to do. I don’t know you that well. Now, come on. Do you want pizza or not? Phichit’s not going to wait for us.”
“S-sure.”