Work Text:
February 2nd, 2023
“You know, you might be the only person I know who can get away with having a combination stag party and birthday party,” Victor pointed out, smirking over the back of the couch at his husband. Yuuri chuckled, shaking his head as he continued to tap away on his laptop at the table.
“It’s not my fault that my birthday happens to fall on the day of love and romance, Vitya!” Chris replied, his voice thick with feigned innocence. “After all, romance is what we are celebrating!”
“Your requests for this party were, and I quote, ‘I want to get absolutely sloshed while watching pretty people dance in their thongs’. Truly romantic, Chris.”
Yuuri snorted and Victor turned to wink at him before focusing back on the phone call.
“I see no conflict,” Chris said petulantly. “I don’t recall protesting any of your requests for your stag party.”
“Literally our only request was ‘in Barcelona’,” Victor pointed out patiently.
“And did Phichit and I not deliver?”
Victor smiled to himself as memories of his stag party filled his thoughts. “You did.”
“So…”
“So burlesque clubs and plenty of booze it is,” Victor capitulated.
“Why are you giving Chris a hard time, love?” Yuuri asked after the conversation had finally wound to a close.
Victor smiled as Yuuri dropped onto the couch beside him, automatically raising his arm so Yuuri could cuddle up against his side.
“Done with edits?” he asked, nuzzling his face against Yuuri’s silky strands.
“Mmmm, for now,” Yuuri agreed. “It’s just a guest article, but I want to make sure everything’s right before I submit it to the editor.”
Victor made a face. “Y’know, I don’t have a Master’s degree, but isn’t editing, you know, the editor’s job?”
Yuuri made a face. “Um, sometimes? But sometimes they’re more like… the content curator? It’s different for journals and magazines than for, say, fiction… Also, you’re changing the subject, Mr. Nikiforov.” Yuuri raised an eyebrow in Victor’s direction.
“I’m just interested, darling! You know I love how smart you are!” Victor protested.
Yuuri flushed. “It’s just an article on chronic figure skating injuries, it’s not like it’s something I really had to do much research on!”
“Says the retired World Champion who literally never suffered a serious injury,” Victor replied lightly. Yuuri winced slightly, glancing up at Victor.
“I was teasing, sweetheart,” Victor continued soothingly. “We’ve talked about this.”
They had. Extensively, both in private and with their therapist, Dr. Petrova.
Yuuri rolled his shoulders, forcing himself to relax from the tense posture. “We have. Your injury wasn’t my fault, you don’t blame me for your retirement…”
“And I love you, very very much.”
Yuuri smiled brightly up at him. “And I love you. Now stop stalling. What’s up with Chris’s party?”
Victor returned the smile, dropping a kiss on his husband’s pretty lips before settling back against the couch. “I honestly don’t have an issue with anything Chris wants to do, I mostly just want to make sure it’s actually what he wants and not…” he paused, searching for the right words.
“Not something he’s doing because of his reputation?” Yuuri suggested.
Victor beamed down at him. “Exactly, darling! Masumi is a lot more low key than Chris, I don’t want this party to turn into something that could cause an issue. They’ve waited almost 2 years for this, they both deserve to enjoy the entirety of their wedding rituals.”
Yuuri nestled closer to him, his brow furrowed in thought. “You know, as much as we talk to Chris, it’s odd that we don’t know Masumi better.”
“Mmmm,” Victor hummed in agreement. “As public a person as Chris is, he’s always kept his and Masumi’s relationship pretty private. And when things were bad between you and I, I think Chris avoided flaunting his love life.”
Yuuri nodded thoughtfully and Victor spared a moment to be grateful that after more than 2 years, they were able to talk about their temporary separation without hurt or vitriol.
“So, how do we get to know Masumi in less than two weeks?” Yuuri queried, his voice completely serious.
“Ah… I mean, I don’t have his number but I could DM him on Twitter or Instagram,” Victor replied, stymied by the dilemma.
Yuuri grinned up at him. “Orrrr, we pack our things and head to Geneva a little early. I could do with a change of scenery, maybe it’d help me finish up this article.”
“What, my practical husband being wildly spontaneous?” Victor teased as Yuuri blushed.
“I seem to recall surprising you a time or two,” Yuuri muttered.
Victor smiled fondly. “That you have, my love. That you have.”
February 10th, 2023
“Well, this is a surprise,” Chris said drily as he took in Victor and Yuuri on his doorstep, 3 days before their planned arrival.
Victor flashed his signature heart shaped grin. “Well, you know how much I love surprises!” he chirped breezily.
At his side, Yuuri rolled his eyes. “Hi, Chris, ignore him. It was my idea.”
Chris laughed. “Huh. Well that IS a surprise, dear friend. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Yuuri looked uncomfortable, shuffling from foot to foot as he glanced over Chris’s shoulder.
“The pleasure’s mine, I’m afraid,” Masumi said from behind him, his deep, smooth voice sending its usual thrill down Chris’s spine.
Chris turned to glance at his fiance, coat already donned and no glimmer of surprise floating in Masumi’s amused eyes.
“Ah, this smacks of a conspiracy,” Chris purred, turning back to smirk in Victor and Yuuri’s direction.
“Yeah, those seem to be a thing in this universe,” Yuuri muttered under his breath.
Mas pressed a kiss to Christophe’s cheek before brushing past him to join Victor and Yuuri.
“Sorry love, I’m being willingly kidnapped,” Mas said sardonically in lieu of explanation.
Chris waved his hand in acquiescence. “Have fun, boys. Behave!”
He watched, bemused, as his fiance disappeared with his friends. “Well, Angele, we appear to have the night to ourselves!”
The white cat flicked her tail, brushing up against Chris’s ankles in a bid for attention which Chris was more than happy to supply.
***
Masumi looked amused when he returned a few hours later.
“I’m glad to see you in one piece,” Chris said in greeting as he accepted a kiss from his fiance.
“It would take a good bit more than Victor Nikiforov and Yuuri Katsuki to do me in,” Mas said with a chuckle.
Chris merely smirked at him. “You say that now…”
Masumi pulled him closer, eyes sparkling. “I do recall your stories, my love. And their stag party. And their wedding…”
Chris grinned. “Fine, fine, you’re more than a match for that pair.”
“I’ve been dealing with far worse for years,” Masumi teased.
Chris drew back with a dramatic gasp. “Are you accusing me of being a worse influence than Victor Nikiforov?”
Mas rolled his eyes as he pulled away. “Truth is hardly accusation, darling.” He held up a bottle of wine, shaking it in Chris’s direction in question.
“Yes, please, dearest,” Chris agreed. “Though I suppose I must reassess my theories about your evening if you’re still up for a drink with me.”
“Your friends apparently wanted to get to know me better before the party,” Masumi said dryly. “I fear our previous meetings may have involved too much, ah, conviviality for them to properly recall me.”
Chris sipped at his wine thoughtfully. “I know Victor met you at a few competitions. Yuuri, as well, at least once or twice…”
“Yes, when the three of you were still competitive athletes. The focus tended to be more on skating than personal lives.”
“Ah. And what about your personal life were they digging into?” Chris asked, curious.
“I believe they were trying to determine whether I was comfortable with your plans for tomorrow evening or if they should, ah, dial things back a touch.”
Chris couldn’t hold back the deep laugh that shook its way out of his throat. “Oh. Oh dear. And what did you tell them?”
Masumi sniffed primly as he loosened his tie before taking a sip of his own drink. “I told them that we’d spoken about your ideas and that I was happy with whatever brought you joy, of course.”
Chris snuggled against his fiance’s side, polishing off his wine before nipping at Masumi’s ear. “Well, darling, can I tempt you into bringing me some joy now?” he purred.
***
“Yuuri.”
“No.”
“Yuuu~uuri!”
“Vitya, there are children present!” Yuuri hissed.
Victor rolled his eyes. “Darling, that is literally not true. We’re in a strip club. Yura is the youngest person here and he’s nearly 23.”
Yuuri muttered something under his breath and Victor grinned.
“What was that, lyubov moya ?”
Yuuri groaned. “I said ‘this is a burlesque club’.”
Victor beamed. “Of course you did, dearest.”
Yuuri glared at him. “Yura has seen me strip once already and that is one time too many for my actual student to see me mostly naked.”
Victor sighed dreamily. “Yes, but that was such a good night.”
“Says you,” Yuuri muttered.
Victor chuckled. Even more than 9 years later, the Sochi banquet was a sore point for his husband, owing mostly to Yuuri’s still blank memory of the evening.
“Darlings! You are not nearly drunk enough for our current situation! Drink! Be merry!” Chris threw his arms over their shoulders, the smell of cognac strong on his breath.
Yuuri laughed, a long burbling flow of delight spilling from his throat and earning a grin from Chris.
“We’re supposed to be making sure you and Masumi are the appropriate level of drunk, you know,” Yuuri teased. “You do want to make sure the tab gets handled, right? "
Chris chuckled. “Trust me, darlings, not an issue.”
Masumi chose that moment to make his appearance. “All good, loves?”
Chris cuddled up against him, sighing dreamily, which earned a muted laugh from the rest of the quartet.
“They’re worried about the tab, sweetling,” Chris said, pressing a kiss against his fiance’s jawline.
“Nononono! We’ve got everything under control!” Yuuri protested.
Masumi snorted. “Love, is there something you failed to mention to your groomsmen?”
Christophe smirked. “Oh dear, possibly?”
Masumi shook his head in exasperation, but seemed perfectly composed as he responded.
“Victor, Yuuri, I apologize for the confusion, but I own this Club. Please just make sure to tip my staff well and the rest is my gift to Chris. As he well knew, months ago.”
Yuuri narrowed his eyes in Chris’s direction as Victor threw back his head and laughed in delight.
“You really could have mentioned that, you know,” Yuuri muttered.
Chris grinned, waving a waiter over and ordering a round of drinks. He waited until the waiter had left to reply. “Were you worried I was corrupting my dear Masumi?”
Victor smirked. “Less worried and more that we…”
Yuuri sighed as he interjected “We wanted to make sure Masumi enjoyed his stag party.”
Chris leaned back against his fiance, accepting the drink that the waiter handed him. “You didn’t trust me to know what my own fiance would be comfortable with? I’m a little hurt, darlings.”
Masumi pressed a kiss against Chris’s bleached curls. “It’s sweet, darling. But really,” he added, turning to Victor and Yuuri, “Chris may be more, ah, obvious about things, but we’re well matched, I promise you.”
Victor grimaced in apology. “Sorry. To both of you. We should have trusted Chris when he said this was what you both wanted.”
Christophe nodded solemnly. “Yes, well, I suppose you two are familiar with what happens when partners don’t communicate… oof ”
Chris cut himself off with a grimace when Masumi elbowed him in the stomach.
Yuuri winced. “That’s… fair, honestly. But we did learn.”
“Eventually,” Victor said softly, looking fondly down at his husband.
“Okay, that’s enough soul-searching for one birthday-slash-stag party.” Chris said sternly. “Now, are you two going to help us celebrate or not?”
The quartet clinked glasses, then turned back to watch the stage.
***
“I swear, there was NOT a pole there earlier,” Yuuri said suspiciously several drinks later.
“Chris has his ways,” Masumi said with a happy grin.
“Oh? Are we going to get a show?” Victor asked with a laugh. He raised one pale brow in his husband’s direction.
“The answer’s still no, Vitya,” Yuuri muttered.
Masumi chuckled. “Oh, Chris may have retired from competitive life, but he’s still a performer at heart.”
“You don’t seem phased,” Yuuri said wryly as the lights dimmed onstage.
“I love him,” Masumi said simply. “I wouldn’t change a thing.” He nodded at the pair before moving closer to the stage, resting his elbows on the boards as he watched his fiance strut toward the pole.
Victor wrapped his arms around Yuuri’s waist, resting his chin on Yuuri’s shoulder. “I think I’m very happy they found each other. Chris deserves good things in his life.”
Yuuri turned to press a kiss to his husband’s chin as Chris mounted the pole to a roar of approval (and one snort of disgust that Yuuri was sure came from Yura’s direction.”
“To love,” Yuuri said, raising his glass. Victor snagged his own from the table and clinked it against Yuuri’s.
“To love,” Victor echoed. “Happy birthday, Christophe!”