Work Text:
Yuri had been to the Old Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard many times. His grandfather had fond memories of going, and he had shared that experience with Yuri when they had the means. (It also may or may not have been what kickstarted Yuri's love of tigers. He had been young enough that his memories were a little fuzzy.)
The circus was a riot of color and noise, incredible acts and breathtaking stunts. He didn't really have the time for them anymore, but he still recalled those outings with fondness and an echo of childish delight.
He did not feel the same fondness for the three ring circus of an ice show that Victor was staging. The chaotic energy that suffused the production almost made Yuri want to withdraw.
But only almost.
The thing was, when Victor asked skaters to be in an ice show, they showed up. He demanded excellence, and often popped up with new programs that his performers needed to learn, but he paid better than anyone. His own appearance at an ice show came with a sharp spike in ticket sales. The shows he produced were always sold out, at prices that few in the business could command. Doing just one of his shows was equivalent to doing several well-paying shows, and usually with less of a time commitment. (That commitment was more intense in the exchange, but Yuri didn't know any skater who wouldn't seriously consider dropping a previous engagement for appearing in one of Victor's shows.)
But this year's theme for Onsen on Ice was 'pragma', which Victor had channeled all of his repressed wedding fervor into, and Yuri was one of the selected grooms.
He probably should have expected it. The summer after Onsen on Ice: Yuri of Russia vs Yuuri of Japan , Victor had gotten it into his head to throw another ice show at Ice Castle. Predictably, given new levels of soppiness he and Yuuri had reached, Victor had decided to continue with the love theme and chose 'ludus' to give him an excuse to choreograph a playful pair skate. The year after that? 'Mania'. (At least that theme had given Yuri a chance to dust off his Welcome to the Madness exhibition skate, with Otabek reprising his role.)
Yuri had played a role of prominence in Onsen on Ice since its inception. He had listened to Victor's absent brainstorming during the skating season. He'd even participated in testing some programs when Victor had baited him into it, which really should have been a clue the size of Mother Russia.
Despite those things, Yuri had not expected to play a role as one of four grooms in an overly elaborate fake wedding on ice. ("Four grooms is better, Yurio," Victor had waved him off when he'd tried to argue that maybe Mila would be a better pick. "The symmetry of when we meet each other in the middle!") When it became clear that Yuri wasn't going to be able to change Victor's mind about his position, Yuri had started planning a campaign to get Otabek in as the fourth groom, if only to save his sanity.
He hadn't needed too.
("Of course Otabek is the fourth," Victor said, a hint of confusion in his furrowed brow as he finished attaching Makkachin's leash to her collar.
"It will be nice to see him again," Yuuri said as he passed, hip-checking Victor to make enough room for himself and the laundry basket.
"He has the best coordination with you, and you have the best coordination with us. And we already know he looks good in white," Victor added with a wink.)
After that, well. Yuri couldn't leave Otabek alone with those lunatics. No matter how much the idea tempted him.
◊◊◊
"Beka, save me," Yuri hissed, the door to their room sliding shut with a bang.
"From what?" Otabek asked, not bothering to lift his head from the bed.
"The triplets!"
Otabek snorted and pressed his head deeper into his pillow, muffling his words. "You love those girls."
"I don't love it when they ambush me—"
A knock on the door interrupted his rant, and Yuri gritted his teeth, knowing who was there.
"Otabek!" one of the triplets called out in her choppy English. "Is Yurio in there?"
Otabek sighed and levered himself up from the bed with a faint wince. Yuri felt a brief moment of guilt; Otabek had more to learn than he did, given that Victor had started choreographing for this just after Worlds. He was doing great with the material, but he was bound to be exhausted.
Still, that didn't keep Yuri from ducking aside in relief as Otabek opened the door to stare down at the triplets.
"I think Yura went for a soak," he said firmly. "He's not here right now."
A chorus of disappointed whines filled the air. "There's a competition online asking for pictures!"
Otabek made a soft hum of understanding, though he held firm as Axel peered around his legs into the room.
"Yeah, one of Yuri's Angels said she'd give her firstborn kid for new material! We want a new sister!"
"I think you need to talk to your mom about that," Otabek said, gently herding them away from the door.
"Mom doesn't want to have another baby," Loop said dismissively. "This is way better!"
"Don't tell Yurio we're looking for him!" Lutz commanded, hooking elbows with both of her sisters. "He makes better faces when he's surprised!"
With an ominous cackle of laughter, the triplets disappeared back down the hall like a stampede of tiny elephants.
It was a long moment before Yuri felt that the girls wouldn't make a quick about face to double check if he was in the room. His shoulders relaxed in increments as Otabek closed the door again and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Yuuko is fucked," Yuri said, wondering if she knew of the triplets' desire for another sibling. He had a feeling the answer was no.
"Or not, as the case may be."
It took Yuri a second. "Beka— That's terrible." He did laugh a little, though. Considering how often he knew Hiroko had the girls over, it was probably untrue, too.
Otabek shrugged, gingerly lowering himself to the ground to sit next to him. "I think they're going to be disappointed when your fan doesn't offer up a real baby." He said it like it was an inevitability that they would eventually get a picture of him. He was probably right.
"They'd have to find her, first," Yuri said. "Hey, do you want to go down for a soak?"
Otabek lifted a hand to wobble it back and forth. "The water sounds nice. The getting undressed and scrubbing off sounds like hell."
"That's a terrible excuse," Yuri chided. "You'll feel way better if you do." He stood up, and offered his hands to Otabek. "I'll even help."
"My gracious husband, attending to his marital duties?" Otabek asked wryly, even though he did take Yuri's hands, locking their fingers together for a better grip. There was something intimate about it that Yuri liked, even as he pulled Otabek to his feet and let him balance his weight against Yuri's.
It was a bit of a surprise to realize that sometime in the last year, he'd gotten taller than Otabek. Not by a lot, but just enough to be able to feel the difference in how he was looking into Otabek's brown eyes.
Yuri's heart thumped in his chest. Oh. He hadn't—
"We're not even fake married yet," Yuri said around a suddenly dry throat. "We've just been doing the dress rehearsals."
Otabek didn't miss a beat. "My gracious fiancé, then."
"Yeah, your gracious fiancé will scrub your hair for you," Yuri said, averting his eyes as he turned for the door.
He didn't let go of Otabek's hand.
Otabek did let go, either.
◊◊◊
"Yurio!"
"Get off, old man," Yuri snarled as Victor slung his arms around his neck and hugged him from behind. It was one thing when he did this when they were clothed. It was another when he could feel Victor's dick brushing up against his back.
"Victor," Yuuri sighed, and it was even more irritating that that was what got Victor to back off.
"Yuuuuri!" Victor countered with a smile. How the two of them could hold a conversation using only their names was a minor mystery Yuri had no interest in solving.
Yuri scooted a little closer to Otabek as Victor drifted away. It wouldn't stop Victor from trying again, but it might give him another target.
"How are you feeling?" Yuuri asked, directing the question at Otabek.
"Sore. But not as bad as I was a half-hour ago."
Yuuri smiled. "There's nothing quite like a hot soak after practice."
"You're doing very well," Victor added as he settled and tilted his head back to look up at the sky. "When the others show up on the weekend, I imagine you'll have everything down, actually."
"Thanks."
It was hard to tell if the red across the bridge of Otabek's nose was a blush or the heat of the open baths.
"Not that he expected anything different," Yuuri said.
Yuri snorted. "He was planning to have you in it since April," he revealed, then thought about that for a second. "You should have sent him stuff then, Victor."
"I thought about it, but the choreos weren't complete. I didn't want to send you something half finished."
"What?! You didn't mind making me skate shit that was half finished!"
Victor shrugged. "You were there, so I could make corrections on the spot. It was much easier to work around one missing piece than two."
Yuri grumbled a little as he sank deeper into the water.
"Aw, Yurio, don't be mad at your darling husband," Victor chided, jokingly.
"Fiancé," Yuri spat back, before it dawned on him what had just come out of his mouth.
Victor looked delighted.
"At last, you accept my love!" Victor crowed, water sloshing as he leaped for him.
Otabek had enough sense to try to dodge, but didn't get away fast enough.
"No roughhousing in the baths!"
◊◊◊
It was the beginning of the end. Prior to Yuri's slip of the tongue, they had all been treating their programs as characters to play. Sure, Victor and Yuuri had been a little more into the idea of getting married (Yuri was still of the belief that Victor was trying to get Yuuri to move faster with their actual wedding), but the delineation between the programs and their real lives was crisp and clear.
That was no longer the case.
Victor called him fiancé like a tease, hanging off Yuri like he normally did with Yuuri. Otabek only called him fiancé in private, and he didn't mind that, it had been their joke. And Yuuri...
Yuuri started calling him that too, something like a playful smile lurking at his lips when they sat down for dinner.
Yuri could have handled Victor making a spectacle of himself, but Yuuri calling him his fiancé, a lilting timbre to his voice as he smiled across the table... Yuri's old crush, angrily buried at the Sochi Grand Prix Final, reluctantly woke up and made his heart skip a beat.
"Eh?" Mari asked, looking between the four of them as she handed Yuuri a full tray of food. "Did I miss something?"
"No," Yuri gritted out, shaking his head so that his hair covered the red tips of his ears.
"It's nothing," Yuuri agreed, setting a bowl of katsudon in front of Otabek.
"Because there is no way all four of you are going to fit on your old bed."
Yuri choked, which at least was more dignified than Victor, who ended up spraying his drink across the table.
"Mari-neesan!"
Mari crossed her arms over her chest. "Is this how you're getting out of a Shinto wedding? Hire a real priest to get you married during an ice show? Have you even asked dad for the family register?"
"Mari, it's not like that," Victor said weakly.
"I guess it makes sense that my ridiculous little brother would prefer to get married on the ice than at a temple," Mari continued, ignoring him completely.
Yuuri made a sound like a dying whale, and dropped his head to the table. Predictably, Victor went to comfort him, though he didn't look much better.
"Well, congratulations," she finished, dipping her head in quick acknowledgement. Her eyes slanted to Victor and Yuuri, and when she saw they weren't looking, she winked. "You sure didn't leave me a lot of time to find a wedding gift."
Yuuri's dying whale sounds got louder.
With a smile, Mari took the empty food tray and headed back to the kitchens. She tossed out a final "Welcome to the family, Yurio, Otabek!" as she crossed through the door.
"I like her," Otabek announced. His cheeks were red, but he was smiling.
Mari was the best.
"Well, she's apparently going to be our sister-in-law, so I guess that's a good thing."
◊◊◊
(Later that night, when Yuri was sure Otabek had gone to bed, he allowed himself to want. Just a little.
Wanting Yuuri was easier than he remembered, but he knew more about him now than he had as a kid staring up at glossy posters. Yuri knew how he looked when he woke up, knew how he took his tea, knew how he focused, and knew how he fretted. It was so easy to fall into wanting Yuuri, now that he knew what his affection would sound like directed at him.
Wanting Otabek was newer; he hadn't really thought of it before, still too enchanted by having a friend who knew him so well. But that made it easy, too, because they got along great and Yuri loved getting Otabek to smile. The idea of wanting him fell into place like it had always been there, just waiting for him to notice.
Wanting Victor should have put a bad taste in his mouth, but no, that was easy too. Victor who had encouraged him and spent time with him and never seemed to mind Yuri's prickliness. Victor who loved so unselfconsciously, now that he had given himself permission to step away from his image.
Yeah. Yuri could see himself married to all three of them.)
◊◊◊