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Victor and Yuuri have two and a half weeks of rest after they get married.
It was Victor’s idea—Yuuri had been stressing himself out even thinking about having to leave so soon after the wedding, going on and on about how there were just too many things to do, because they were going on a vacation across an entire continent and there were just too many things to do and “that doesn’t even include the actual wedding,” and Victor listened to all of it in stride, shrugged, smiled, and said, “Let’s just stay for a bit, then.”
Ironically, Victor was usually the bigger worrier when it came to things like this. He’d worry about being late to events or whether or not the plane would land or if Yuuri was actually okay with their current date location and so on and so forth. With the wedding, however, his confidence in everything working out was almost eerie. When Yuuri questioned how he could be so calm about everything, Victor just laughed and replied, “At the end, we’ll be married, I don’t think anything could ruin that.” That response alone was enough to ease Yuuri’s anxieties for a few days.
Still, Yuuri worried and worried, and Victor got more and more antsy each day, so excited at the idea of finally marrying Yuuri that Yuuri sometimes wondered if Victor would keel over from how happy he always seemed to be. Victor would always make sure to tease Yuuri when he caught Yuuri mumbling a few jealous expletives under his breath about Victor’s nonchalant attitude. Unfortunately for Yuuri, that somehow only made him love Victor more.
Their wedding, of course, was beautiful and overwhelming. Not too large, but not too small either. Intimate, but inviting.
Yuuri wondered how he and Victor made it through the day not dying from dehydration from how much they both cried. Yuuri’s family was loud and cheerful, loving enough to make up for the lack of family attending from Victor’s side, Makkachin acted as their ring bearer (which made everyone in the audience coo over the sight), Yuri made a surprisingly emotional speech that made Victor weep even harder, Phichit somehow got drunker than anyone and spent the whole night laughing and making others laugh, and Victor and Yuuri were married and it was everything they ever wanted, something so simple yet so deeply profound.
Yuuri was relieved that they had the time off. After the wedding, guests filtering out and leaving them their love and well-wishes, Yuuri was so happy he now got to go back to their house and just rest. Victor with him all the while, the two of them finally done with the wedding Yuuri will never forget and would never want to.
They now got to celebrate their marriage, in the peace of their own home, without having to worry about their trip or packing everything or every other stressful thing that came with travel.
Instead, they could just be. Together.
Married.
Unintentionally, Yuuri is quiet when he makes his way out of bed the morning after their wedding. For once, Victor is still asleep, his leg strewn across one of their pillows, and Yuuri lets out a smile at the sight, pausing at the end of the bed as his heart races in his chest.
He's married to this man now. Actually married. Promised to love another and be together for as long as they love and live. Yuuri knows this is how it’s been between the two of them for a long time already—marriage has never been the final way of saying how much they loved each other, but it’s official now, in the eyes of society. The world will treat them as they are now: married.
Suddenly, Yuuri feels so overwhelmed he wants to cry. Not in the way he cried during the wedding or the way Victor cried harder when he saw Yuuri joining him. Not in the way he teared up when they had their first dance. Not even in the way when Victor first told him he loved him, or in the way Yuuri felt when Victor asked to marry him, officially this time, holding up new rings for them to exchange.
This time, Yuuri stands there and starts to cry because this is just another thing in the long list of things the two of them will do together. Victor wants this just as much as Yuuri does. Has wanted it for so long. Yuuri wants it, too. He doesn’t think he’ll ever stop wanting it. A part of him knows Victor won’t ever stop wanting it either.
And as Yuuri stands there, staring at his husband, Yuuri doesn’t think he’s ever loved ice skating as much as he does now in this moment.
Because while skating has been nearly his whole life so far, the sport is the sole reason he was able to meet the rest of it. Yuuri knows he never would have met Victor if they didn’t meet the way they did. Maybe he could be a romantic and try and claim they would have, but Yuuri knows better. There never would have been any real chance of them meeting if Yuuri didn’t also become a pro ice skater. Besides, Yuuri probably wouldn't have even learned English. They wouldn't have even been able to speak to each other, let alone fall in love with each other.
Fondly, Yuuri knows Victor would believe the opposite. Victor would probably claim they were fated to be, that they would have always found and loved each other, that he’d fall in love with Yuuri at a fan meet-and-greet or that they’d meet in some random country and realize they were soulmates even if they couldn’t fully understand one another or they’d dream of each other and meet on some fantastic quest that ends with a proposal or wedding. Yuuri would laugh and tease him, but Victor would insist on it, eyes bright, and maybe Yuuri would actually be convinced the feel the same way by the end of the conversation. Sometimes, Victor is so easily able to convince Yuuri to believe in things he hadn’t before. It’s just one of the many things Yuuri loves about Victor.
Victor stirs in his sleep, turning around and reaching out blindly, and when his hand finds no warm body next to his, a sleepy noise of confusion leaves his lips, but, still, Victor makes no move to wake up.
Yuuri thinks back to a week ago, Victor suddenly breathless with feeling as he held Yuuri’s face in his hands and smiled, so openly thankful to be loved by Yuuri and to love him in return. Yuuri sometimes thinks they’re the sappiest people on the entire planet.
Victor stirs again and Yuuri wipes at his tears, feeling a bit ridiculous for just standing there by their bed crying. He glances at the time. Not even eight in the morning yet. He’s absurd.
"Yuuri?" Victor mumbles suddenly, lifting his head as his hands move aimlessly around, finding nothing yet again. Victor still hasn't opened his eyes. Yuuri quirks a smile.
"You look so pathetic."
Victor huffs, still not opening his eyes as he stops moving his hand and turns onto his back.
"Can't a man miss his husband?"
The way he says husband makes Yuuri grin; Victor sounds so giddy.
Yuuri is quick to get back into bed, immediately wrapping his arm around Victor's stomach, who sighs contentedly at the touch.
"We're married," Yuuri replies, just as giddily. Victor laughs and finally opens his eyes, blinking cutely at Yuuri who hasn't stopped smiling.
“We’re married,” Victor replies softly, so softly it’s almost a whisper, as if it’s a secret only the two of them share. He turns so he’s facing Yuuri now, his arms wrapping around Yuuri as well, returning the gesture.
“I think I’m a bit hungover,” Yuuri admits, giggling a bit as he does. “I also think that if I keep thinking about how much I love you, I’ll never stop crying.”
Victor laughs. “I’m pretty sure I married you again in my sleep just now. Maybe I’ll dream about that every night.” He sighs happily. “That’d be so nice.”
Yuuri rolls his eyes, but he’s just as happy, Victor’s body warm and comfortable and right tucked against his.
"Do you think we would have fallen in love even if one of us never became an ice skater?"
"Yes, absolutely," Victor replies immediately. Yuuri's smile softens. He knew it.
Yuuri hums, leaning in to gently press his lips to Victor's. "Maybe you're right after all."
Victor doesn't question both his query and response, instead just taking Yuuri's face in his hands, just like he did a week ago when they were just waiting to be finally married, and pulling him in even closer, both of them melting into the feeling just as they do every single time.
They spend their first day married in bed, tangled up as they talk and talk like they haven’t done this hundreds of times before. There’s something different about knowing that they’re married now, though. Knowing that they’ve promised to love each other for as long as they live. Knowing that they’re both in this just as much as the other is.
Victor keeps joking about having children just so he can laugh at the way Yuuri’s face turns white at just the thought. Makkachin joins them at one point, sleeping soundly between their legs as Yuuri and Victor go over their favorite parts of the wedding, exclaiming excitedly when their favorite moments align.
They order take-out and watch one of Victor’s favorite movies in bed together, making out lazily, Makkachin resting in the corner of their room, worn out from the walk the pair of them just took him on. They laugh over the texts all their friends and family are sending them, some of them posting photos that Yuuri is sure he will die of embarrassment over later. He didn’t realize his heart eyes were quite that obvious. Victor’s are worse, though, so that almost makes up for it.
It’s just so nice. Being with Victor is so nice and, truly, nothing has really changed except for the time off, but they move around each other and exist like everything has changed.
Yuuri loves it; it almost reminds him of when they first got together, but one hundred times more immense. They kiss all the time, their hands never leaving the other’s, and Yuuri’s convinced they’ll become two souls in one body if they don’t stop touching each other.
He’s happy. He’s in love. He’s every cliché in the world, but that doesn’t make it any less earnest.
The days after that, they spend dealing with the aftermath of the wedding. They unpack all their gifts, chuckling over some of the notes their friends slipped in inconspicuously. They write and send ‘thank you’ cards while singing loudly to their after-party playlist. They go through all the social media posts, liking and commenting on them all, sharing some of their favorite photos on their own. Some of their fans made decorated cakes for their wedding to celebrate along with them. It’s a simple act of love that leaves both Victor and Yuuri breathless.
Even this, though, is nice. Yuuri wouldn’t have it any other way; he knows Victor wouldn’t either.
They start packing for their trip the end of the week after, finalizing all details for the final time. Their ‘official’ honeymoon is two weeks long, a long trek across most of Central and South America with a brief stop in Europe at the end. They were both equally excited about the locations they decided to visit, compromising only on their hotels and cabins.
Still, even though the planning and packing are stressful, it’s nice. Yuuri will catch Victor’s eye over another folded shirt and they’ll both grin at each other because they know it’s just the beginning of a new chapter, and Yuuri’s heart will race just as it did when he was just a child and saw Victor Nikiforov skate on the screen for the first time.
The day before they leave for their honeymoon, they spend their time in bed again. The past two weeks passed them by like a dream while also feeling at the same time like every other day in their time living together as a couple.
Victor had spent part of the day going over their entire itinerary and inventory again, all of his worrying that was lacking from the wedding planning in full force now, and Yuuri’s heart is so full he’s sure it’ll burst before they can even leave for their trip.
Now, they lie together, bodies slotted together like puzzle pieces, and Victor holds him like he’s something precious, and Yuuri feels like he is something precious for getting to love someone else so precious.
“I’m excited,” Yuuri mumbles sleepily. Their first plane leaves tomorrow at seven in the morning; neither of them looking forward to the long rides.
Victor kisses him for the hundredth time that day; Yuuri’s convinced he’s doing it to ease some of his anxieties about the trip.
“I love you, Yuuri,” Victor says, heartfelt and sweet. Yuuri kisses his neck, tucking himself against Victor, wanting to stay there forever.
“Love you, Vitya,” he replies, feeling every loving emotion all over again. Victor seems to be feeling it, too, because when he leans his head down, Yuuri feels his tears against his skin.
“I really do. I’m so glad you’re mine and I’m yours. I’m so glad we met. I’m so glad we’re married. I’m so glad I’m alive right now.”
“I’m glad you’re alive, too. Would be weird if I was married to a zombie or something,” Yuuri replies, unable to help his smile. Victor lets out a soft laugh.
“Shut up, I’m trying to be sappy.”
“You’re always sappy.”
“You are, too.”
Yuuri’s smile widens. He knows Victor can feel it. “Yeah. Especially with you. Love at first sight and all that.”
Victor shoves at him. “That is not true no matter how much you try to claim it is! Just because you were inspired by me as a kid does not make it love at first sight! I have more of a claim to that than you do!”
Yuuri snickers, always so enamored with how much this claim riles Victor up. “Fine. Love at last sight.”
“What? Is this another weird English saying?”
“Nope.” Yuuri replies, moving so he can kiss Victor’s lips. Victor reciprocates immediately, the air in the room calm and gentle. “It’s just me saying that I’ll love you forever. I don’t know. Like you’re the last person I’ll see who I’ll love like this.”
“Oh.”
Yuuri can tell Victor is considering teasing him a bit, but his silence means he’s feeling too emotional to do any of that, and, horribly, that makes Yuuri tear up. Victor really does love him. So so much.
“I’m excited, too, by the way,” Victor finally replies, voice heavy with feeling.
They kiss again.
“I know. It’ll be fun. I’m excited about after, though, as well.”
Victor doesn’t have to ask what he means. “Me too. Starting our life together as a married couple, officially, I guess. No more honeymoon phase.” Yuuri laughs at that and Victor joins in, knowing why already. He always does. They know each other so well now.
“I think my family is going to tease and embarrass us forever. I don’t see us ever leaving the honeymoon phase.”
Victor nods, kissing Yuuri’s forehead and letting Yuuri kiss his in return. “I don’t either. I don’t even want to.”
“Me neither.” Yuuri grins. “It’s pretty nice after all.”
Victor doesn’t reply to that, the rest of their night not so talkative, and it’s just like every other day that’s been and was.
Nice, which, of course, means wonderful. Loving. Gentle. Earnest. Together.
Married.