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Victor could barely remember what it felt like to walk Makkachin alone. It had only been a few years since then, and they still took the same path, but still, he had no memories of those walks. Things changed when he met Yuuri.
When he met Yuuri suddenly he wanted to remember those domestic moments. He wanted to carve every moment they had together into his brain like a sculptor creating a masterpiece from marble. He wanted to remember every time they made dinner together, every moment Yuuri laughed at something he said, every change in cadence of Yuuri’s voice. He wanted to be able to pull out these memories like a calendar because suddenly his life was significant. He had been famous as Victor Nikiforov since he was young, but had not been significant until Yuuri had first called him Vitya. (He’d said it first when asking where the spare lightbulbs were. Needless to say, Victor could not remember where he’d put them since he’d replaced that and most other pieces of information in his head with the date and time of that event.
Victor waited by the door as a sleep-ruffled Yuuri rushed to pull a sweater over his head, pushing his glasses askew. Victor reached up with the hand that was not holding Makkachin’s leash and adjusted it. Yuuri turned a little pink and thanked him while reaching for his coat. When their coats, shoes, and hats were properly on, they walked down the stairs in their building to go outside.
It had snowed the night before. Since they lived in the city, though, the sidewalks were pretty clear. It was still very cold and Victor immediately noticed that Yuuri was shivering. Winters in Japan could get cold, but not Russian cold. He handed Yuuri Makkachin’s leash and unwound his scarf and placed it around Yuuri’s neck and then handed him a spare pair of gloves that were in his pocket before taking the leash back.
“Vitya you’ll freeze!”
“I am used to the cold, my dear. However, I could not bear to see you cold when I could do something about it. Please wear them? For me?”
Yuuri sighed and gave a small smile to Victor before putting on the gloves and securing the scarf more firmly around his neck.
They could not hold hands in Russia. They were both out and the public knew of their relationship, but that did not mean that they could afford to be openly affectionate. It made Victor’s heart ache. All he wanted was to reach the few inches to Yuuri’s hand and hold it to show the world that he was the luckiest man alive for being able to hold Yuuri’s hand. Instead they suffered in silence, sending each other small glances and smiles whenever their hands would brush (which would happen perhaps more frequently than normal).
When they walk into the park, however, they noticed that no one is around. Yuuri stopped to tie his shoe and Victor continued for a few steps before stopping. Before he could turn around, however, he felt cold, wet snow on the back of his neck. He turned to see Yuuri holding some snow in his hand, smiling mischievously at Victor, who dropped Makkachin’s leash and grabbed some snow of his own, narrowly missing Yuuri’s second throw.
It was an all-out war. They both played dirty and ended up trying to stuff snow down each other’s’ coats instead of throwing it. This was only stopped by Makkachin leaping on the two of them, causing the small family to fall into some snow on the side of the path. Yuuri was laughing under Victor, who smiled and stared at Yuuri’s face desperately trying to capture the sight and sound of his beloved. Yuuri’s face was pink from both cold and exertion, his hat had fallen off revealing messed up hair. His eyes were closed and crinkled at the sides. His mouth was caught in a smile as he laughed, a tinkling sound that struck Victor’s soul like magic.
How did I get so lucky? Victor thought. What good deed did I do to be blessed with this man?
As they helped each other up and began the trek back to their apartment, Victor tried desperately to remember what his walks with Makkachin were like before Yuuri, but he couldn’t remember and he hoped to whatever god existed that he would never have to remember those times again.
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight
We’re happy tonight
Walking in a winter wonderland…