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“Looking for love?” Chris wrapped his arms around Viktor’s waist, a soft scratch of glitter where Chris’s mask rubbed against his chin. The masks had been his parents’ idea, to hide Viktor from his potential suitors, for a more… real connection. They wanted Viktor to be able to choose the man or woman he truly wanted, and to not have to worry about their appearance.
Viktor would have done that without the masks, but his parents insisted. So their guests filed in one by one, intricate masks over their face. Some just covered their eyes, some their whole faces. Viktor’s covered most of his face, easily hiding the fact that he was the prince in the way that his hair was pinned behind his head, not allowed to fall into his eyes in the signature style the kingdom knew.
Really, it was all… too much. He already had enough. But his parents didn’t approve of Chris’s family being good enough for them to marry into, so Viktor had to find someone else. Viktor and Chris had, at one point, entertained the idea that someone would be open to the two of them but… that was looking more and more like a lost cause. Viktor just needed to find a husband, and they could remain each other’s friends. Viktor fiddled with his mask, watching the fall of pale blue glitter from it and sighing. “I’m supposed to be.”
“Am I not enough?” Chris swooned at his side jokingly, laughing as Viktor immediately reached to catch him. They barely glanced through the crowd before Viktor pressed a kiss against his friend’s lips, knowing the masks would hide them well enough. Even Viktor’s hair didn’t stand out in the crowd of noble men and women. Men and women alike with silver hair surrounded them, it was the one place that they didn’t have to fear how noticeable Viktor was.
No one could tell the man in the peacock-feather mask was the prince, or not that the man in the purple mask that he was kissing was someone who had been deemed multiple times unfit to marry Viktor. No one spared a second glance when Viktor wrapped his arms around Chris’s waist, pulling their bodies close together in an uncoordinated version of a stuffy old dance.
The two were flushed, laughing with each other, when he stepped into the ballroom.
The man was dressed head-to-toe in a black silk suit, the red and silver accents immediately drawing attention to how well-built his body was. His mask was silver, it almost looked metallic, edged in a black trim and detailed with red glitter that even from this distance Viktor knew was set in an intricate pattern.
Chris and Viktor both fell silent, and Viktor knew that their eyes were drawn to the same man, who looked awkward and out of place in his fancy clothes. “Who is he?” Chris whispered into Viktor’s ear, and Viktor could only shrug.
“I’ve never seen him before.” Or, maybe he had, but the mask and suit distorted so much of his body that Viktor couldn’t tell who the new arrival was. All he knew was that he was beautiful, and he could tell that no matter what he was wearing. Viktor clung to Chris’s shoulder, leaning forward. “You have to talk to him.”
“Why can’t you? This is your ball!” Chris turned to face Viktor. He looked confused, but Viktor groaned, fisting his hands by his side to keep from messing with his hair that the stylist had taken so long to put so meticulously in order.
“I know it’s my ball, that’s why I can’t talk to him, Chris! He’ll think I’m just trying to court him – “
“Aren’t you?” Chris raised his eyebrows.
“No! I mean – I don’t know! I have to court someone.” Viktor leaned against Chris overdramatically, groaning as Chris’s arms fell around him, holding him up. Viktor hummed. “Maybe he’ll agree to both of us.”
“Don’t get too hopeful, Vitya,” Chris answered, kissing Viktor softly before straightening up his back. “I’ll go talk to him. But if you want him, you get to court him.”
Viktor hummed, standing up beside Viktor. “And if he does want me? Do I ask him if he’s open to both of us?”
“That’s up to you.” Chris straightened his mask, walking away to the handsome stranger beyond them.
Viktor walked behind him, finding a place along the wall that was close enough to the two where he could stand, waiting for his cue to enter the conversation. Chris said something to the stranger, extending a hand toward him and asking him to dance. He looked nervous for a second before nodding, taking Chris’s hand and leading him forward into a dance.
The two danced in silence for a few minutes, and Viktor stared at him. He was so graceful, like he was meant for this dance. “What’s your name?” Chris asked, tilting his masked partner into the fall the dance called for. The man fell into his arms, easily pulling himself back up.
“Yuuri,” he answered without a second thought, gracefully pulling himself from the next spin and wrapping his arms around Chris’s waist, with all of the skill that a dancer should have. Viktor set his hand over his heart from where he was leaning against the wall, staring at the two. They really made a pair, the two of them. He wanted to go to them, to join their dance, but he had to wait.
The prince and reason for this ball couldn’t just interrupt a dance, in the hopes of joining. These formal dances didn’t call for three people, but Viktor would find a way to make an exception to that. He wanted to feel himself in the dancer’s arms, wanted to feel himself twist and turn and dip and –
“And yours?” The dancer, Yuuri, was speaking again, a small smile upturning the corners of his lips. Viktor wished he could see his eyes behind the shadow of that mask, wished he could learn who this man was. And everything else about him. He wanted Yuuri to be the one, to join him and Chris and –
He was getting ahead of himself.
“Christophe Giacometti,” Chris introduced as they transitioned into an effortless waltz.
Effortless, that is, until Yuuri stuttered over his feet, clinging tighter to Chris. “The prince’s friend!?” His voice had risen in value, and Viktor winced, turning his head away from them for a moment, as if in fear that he’d somehow be recognized, even from such a distance, so buried among the crowd.
“Is that a problem?” Chris questioned, his eyes on Viktor now. If Yuuri was so thrown off by Viktor being the prince, how would he react to the fact that Chris had just been kissing the prince? Or the fact that the prince desperately wanted to kiss Yuuri too? To take Yuuri and Chris both back to his room and –
Getting ahead of himself.
“I was just… I didn’t know you’d be here. It makes sense, since this is his ball, but I just –“ Yuuri ceased his stuttering, shaking his head. “It’s not a problem. I just find the prince... attractive.”
“Attractive,” Chris repeated, louder, for Viktor to hear it. Viktor laughed softly, covering his mouth to not reveal the fact that he was listening, to not show who he was. “Don’t we all. His ridiculous hair, and his eyes, god, Yuuri, you have good taste in men.”
Chris then made eye contact with Viktor, nodding his head. The waltz was slowing to a stop, the next song starting. Viktor stepped forward, standing behind Yuuri. “Viktor,” Chris greeted, winking at him. Yuuri stumbled backwards into Chris’s arms, staring up at Viktor with wide eyes.
“Don’t bow or anything, please. It’d make all these masks so useless if people knew who I was.” Viktor held a finger to his lips, winking at Yuuri, who looked slightly like he was caged in. “May I have this dance?” He extended a hand to Yuuri, who slowly reached out to take it, falling into position with him quickly. Chris backed away from them a few steps, swaying on his own.
“Yuuri, was it?” Viktor asked, keeping up with the simple movements of the dance. Yuuri nodded before his eyes went wide beneath his mask, groaning.
“Were you listening to me and Chris?” he asked, sounding humiliated. Viktor only smiled, twirling the man in his arms before pulling him closer. All as the steps commanded, of course. He definitely didn’t tug Yuuri a little closer, so he could feel his breathing against his collarbone, and his heart beating against his own chest.
“Mm, only a little. You find me attractive?” Viktor didn’t allow Yuuri to stutter for long, dipping him and finding the pull back up an excuse to lean their foreheads together. “That’s lucky, because I think you’re entrancing.”
“You can barely see me,” Yuuri mumbled, a blush falling over his cheeks. It brought out the red tones to his mask and suit, making Viktor feel faint in his arms. Still, he kept swaying, kept up with the steps.
“I can see enough. That’s what this was about, wasn’t it? Not judging by physical appearance? Or maybe it was just hiding me from everyone else. Letting me make my choices,” Viktor purred, dipping Yuuri lower than entirely necessary, making eye contact with Chris long enough to see him laughing.
“I don’t know why you have this ball anyway,” Yuuri muttered, putting his head on Viktor’s shoulder, apparently giving in to their more-than-strictly-necessary familiar dance. “My sister seemed convinced that you and Giacometti were to be married.”
“Call him Chris,” Viktor corrected, feeling Chris’s arms around his waist. It was a dance for three, something that wasn’t strictly allowed, but what here was? “We’ve always had a more… open relationship when it came to marriage. We never were quite the best fit for marriage. Something about…”
“Too little property?” Chris offered, “Ah, or maybe it’s the financial instability, though, if my property is unstable, then I’d like to see what stable is, considering –“
“Chris,” Viktor scolded, turning his head back to look at him. Just because their families didn’t get along and didn’t respect their wishes it didn’t mean that Viktor could live for Chris speaking poorly about his family. “The matter is, we can’t be married.”
“So you need someone else.” Yuuri frowned, though continued to dance with Viktor. The movements were stiffer, like he was thinking too hard about something. Having Chris speak to him was too much, this wasn’t going to work, he was going to have to find someone else to court – “And you threw a ball?”
“My parents thought it was best.” Viktor stepped away as the dance ended. He looked between the two of them before breathing out slowly. “Would you like to join me to a quieter room?” he requested, and Yuuri nodded, confused and hesitant. Viktor led them back out of the ballroom, walking the familiar corridors until they reached a space far from the ball.
Viktor opened the door to allow them into the study, shutting the door behind them. It was quieter than the ballroom, better for a conversation like this.
Viktor looked between the two of them before breathing out. It was now or never. “I have to choose someone to marry tonight, and I’ve made my choice.”
“You… want to marry me?” Yuuri looked between the two of them.
“You only have to marry Viktor,” Chris immediately cut in with an explanation. “And if you don’t want anything else, we won’t push it. We’ve had our fun, and he has a kingdom to run. I’d never want his husband to be uncomfortable. I only request to remain his friend, nothing more.”
“Really?” Yuuri looked surprised, like he had expected Chris and Viktor to continue to have an affair behind his back, even if he disagreed to the three of them all being together.
“We’re not bad people, Yuuri, our families just disagree with each other.” Viktor sat down, waving his hands in front of him for Chris and Yuuri take the empty seats. Viktor untied the shimmering blue ribbon from his head, letting the mask fall into his hands and he set it onto the table between them. Chris immediately did the same, but Yuuri’s mask remained on.
He tugged his hands against his shirt, obviously thinking about it. “And you’re sure that your family would agree with me?”
“I…” Viktor paused, before nodding. “You were invited. They only invited marriageable people my age who they approved of, so by the fact that you are here, you are approved.”
“And… why me?” Yuuri sighed.
“Because I have to pick someone tonight, and you’re the most unique. You surprise me, Yuuri. You’ve got a body and grace and confidence like a dancer, but you’re nervous. You’re beautiful, even though I can see nothing about you other than your eyes. You intrigue me. And if I have to pick a husband from first glance, I believe you are the one,” Viktor answered, looking at him honestly his breath stuck in his throat. He didn’t dare look past Yuuri to Chris, didn’t dare think about either of their thoughts.
Yuuri tugged on the blood red ribbon of his mask, letting it fall to the table with Viktor’s and Chris’s, swallowing before looking up at them. He turned to Viktor first. “I agree to marry you.” He hesitated, clearing out his throat before confidently looking up. “But I want you both.”
“Yuuri?”
“You two clearly love each other,” Yuuri said. “And you know nothing about me yet. I don’t want you to ignore me –“
“I would never.” Viktor laughed softly at the fact that he and Chris had both interrupted, and Yuuri’s soft face was graced with a smile, too.
“But I want you to still have each other. And I want you to… maybe learn to love me. If that’s… this marriage is as good as arranged, but I want to give it a try. With both of you. Viktor, you’re beautiful, and you’ve excited me from the moment I first saw you, years ago, standing by your parents’ side, giving a speech. Chris, I… don’t know much about you, but from the way that Viktor looks at you, you’re something special.” He smiled shyly. “And I enjoyed our dance tonight.” He breathed out one more time. “So I will marry Viktor, but we’ll all be together. And we’ll… see how it goes.”
“Yuuri,” Viktor breathed, pushing forward to lean their foreheads together. “May I kiss you?” Yuuri nodded, and Viktor immediately met their lips, kissing him softly. “I’ll have to talk to my parents, and we’ll get a ring, and arrange how we will make this contract and –“
“My turn,” Chris cut into Viktor’s babbling, grinning at Yuuri, who leaned in to kiss him as well.
They’d give it a try.
And something gave Viktor the feeling it was going to be a very good arrangement.