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Yuuri idly flipped through his magazine while Victor watched the news. Well, it wasn’t really his magazine. Victor had picked it up from a convenience store nearby because “even a break from skating shouldn’t mean a break from the real world.”
After Yuuri had won the Grand Prix Final both of them had no idea what they were supposed to do. At all. So they decided to lay low in Hasetsu with Yuuri’s family and figure out what they were doing with their lives. Currently that meant lounging around and doing nothing, not that Yuuri really minded. So long as he was with Victor he didn’t care what they did, although he was sure Victor would always have grand aspirations and goals. It was a conversation Yuuri wasn’t really looking forward to, but right now was comfortable.
Yuuri snorted as he came to the next article. Really, Victor considered this keeping in touch with the real world? It seemed more fake than anything, but he had insisted that Yuuri read these kind of things too. Yuuri turned the page and found a pink and curly title that read “The Only Relationship Quiz You’ll Ever Need.” He would be lying if he said that this didn’t interest him slightly, especially since he and Victor had recently decided that “dating” and “relationship” were accurate terms for what they had. “Victor, have you read this one yet?”
Victor lazily glanced over his shoulder at the cover of the magazine. “No, let me see it when you’re done. I really want to read that article about celebrity weddings,” he said before turning back to the television.
Yuuri rolled his eyes but found himself still thinking about the quiz. Sighing, he grabbed a pen and started filling out the questions. His eyes grew wider and wider as he finished and threw the magazine down onto the table. The sudden noise drew Victor’s attention and he raised an eyebrow at Yuuri. “What is it?” he asked.
Yuuri could only stare at the magazine in horror. “There was a relationship quiz. I took it for us. We got a 6.”
Victor’s surprise melted into a smile. “Well, that’s not quite up to my standards, but it’s not that bad, either.”
Yuuri gulped and looked away from him. “Not 6 out of 10. 6 out of 30.” He looked hopelessly down at his hands, opening and closing them. Suddenly his hands were not alone and he looked up to see Victor holding them.
With a small sigh, Victor squeezed their hands gently. “You think that a magazine quiz can truly rate what we have? You think that I don’t love what we have? That I don’t love you?”
“No, no- that’s not what…” Yuuri lost himself in Victor’s blue eyes and couldn’t find the words to convey how much he loved and appreciated Victor. No, he had found those words plenty of times. He couldn’t bring himself to admit just how deep his insecurities lay, just how much he feared that one day he might wake up and Victor would be gone, no matter how true he knew Victor’s own words of love were.
Victor pulled Yuuri close and kissed the top of his head. “Don’t try to overthink it, okay? You’re going to need more than a stupid magazine quiz to push me away.” Victor kissed him tenderly and Yuuri ran his fingers through his hair and really tried not to think about it.
It didn’t work.
That night, as they lay together in Victor’s bed, no amount of gentle touches could help Yuuri relax. Finally, Victor ran a finger down Yuuri’s cheek and asked, “Are you still thinking about it?”
Yuuri’s face flushed, which he was glad Victor couldn’t see in the dark. “Yes,” he whispered, trying to turn away in shame. Victor grabbed him mid-move and pulled him close.
“Tomorrow, let’s start addressing the quiz questions. I want you to feel comfortable.” Victor rested his chin on Yuuri’s head. “Now get some sleep, please.” Yuuri blinked back a tear and nuzzled into Victor’s chest, closing his eyes and letting himself relax.
The Only Relationship Quiz You’ll Ever Need
2 point for true, 0 points for false
1. You go out on frequent dates
2. You’ve done karaoke together
3. You have done lots of PDA
4. You’ve held hands in public
The next morning, Victor read through the quiz and did a pretty good job of not laughing at Yuuri’s concern. “Well, we could start with these first few easily. Let’s go to karaoke tonight!”
Yuuri blushed but nodded. He still felt so stupid for caring about this, but if it meant spending more time with Victor it couldn’t be all bad, right? They spent the day doing their normal activities around the house, but Yuuri found himself growing more and more nervous as the evening approached. Eventually they were putting on actual clothes and going out the door.
About halfway there Victor brushed their hands together. Yuuri flushed but grabbed his hand, staring resolutely at the ground. He decided that Victor’s hand felt nice, soft while still strong. He glanced up at Victor’s face and saw he was blushing slightly, too. That made Yuuri feel a little better and squeeze their hands. They arrived at the karaoke place way too fast and got a back room. Disastrously, there were only 2 songs that Victor knew, but he stumbled through a few more anyway. Yuuri knew many more but was incredibly shy about singing.
After only an hour they were mostly sitting in silence and holding hands. The room next door was having the night of their lives, with raucous laughter and singing leaking into their room. Yuuri looked away and whispered, “This was stupid, I’m sorry for suggesting it, we should go.”
Victor brought their hands up to his face and brushed his lips against the tips of Yuuri’s fingers. “No, this is not stupid. I’m enjoying myself. Are you?”
“Yes, I love any time I spend with you.”
Victor chuckled lightly. “As do I. And don’t apologize for your feelings. You can’t change them, so don’t feel bad about it.” He leaned in and gently pressed their lips together. Yuuri closed his eyes and allowed himself to fully enjoy the moment when Victor pulled away abruptly. He giggled and whispered, “we have an audience.”
Yuuri turned and made eye contact with their waitress, who was staring at them. She gasped and ran away, nearly dropping her tray. “I think that counts as PDA,” grinned Victor, and Yuuri couldn’t help but return the smile.
5. You’ve fallen asleep watching a movie together
Victor brought home a few DVDs from a rental store (seriously? Was he 27 or 47?) and let Yuuri pick one out. Yuuri picked the most boring one, a history documentary. Victor cocked an eyebrow at him but put it in his player. They curled up on Victor’s couch and Yuuri immediately regretted his decision. He wanted them to fall asleep, not be bored to death! After a few minutes Yuuri wiggled his way in between Victor’s legs and fell back on his chest. Victor started to idly toy with Yuuri’s hair as the movie went on. As much as Yuuri desperately wanted to fall asleep, his body felt like a live wire being so close to Victor. He could hear his heartbeat and feel his breath brush the top of his head. Being enveloped in Victor’s embrace finally got to be too much and he turned to hungrily kiss him.
Victor kissed him back, and Yuuri tried to deepen the kiss with his tongue when Victor broke away laughing. “What about #5?”
“I was never perfect anyway,” muttered Yuuri as he continued to assault his boyfriend with kisses. Victor gave in and pushed him backwards without breaking their kiss. Yuuri gripped his back, happily forgetting the movie. Eh, a makeout session was so much better than 2 points.
6. You’ve had breakfast in bed together
Yuuri’s eyes bolted open when he smelled something burnt. No, this went beyond burnt. Someone burnt food and then tried to cook it more. He bolted out of Victor’s bed and ran to the kitchen where he saw his boyfriend running around and cursing in Russian.
Yuuri counted at least 3 dirty bowls and one overflowing pot. He quickly turned off the stove and peered into the nearest bowl. Had that been food at one point? Victor gave him the second most sheepish look he’d ever seen, second only to when Maccachin hears “steam buns.” “I’m sorry, Yuuri, I wanted to make you breakfast in bed, but I was too ambitious and I…. oh no! Are you okay?! Did you burn yourself?” he exclaimed as he saw Yuuri brushing away tears.
“Hahaha! Victor! This is ridiculous!” Yuuri laughed. He held his stomach and dabbed at his eyes with his sleeve again. “What were you even trying to make?”
Victor pouted slightly and crossed his arms. “I hadn’t gotten that far.”
Yuuri tried to get his laughter under control. “Shouldn’t that be the first thing you get to? But thank you for trying.” He couldn’t help but giggle again.
Victor stuck his tongue out at him. “Fine! Laugh all you want. I’ll eat it myself!” He grabbed the nearest bowl and ran away, but Yuuri was close behind.
“I’m sorry! Please let me eat it! It’s for me!” he laughed as he chased him across the house. When he finally caught up, he wrapped him up in a large hug and tickled his sides. “Give me my food!”
Victor laughed and almost threw the bowl at him. “I give up! Here’s your reward!”
Reward was a strong word for the bowl of goo, but Yuuri dutifully choked down a spoonful. “Hmm, interesting flavor. What did you put in this?”
Victor sighed and then laughed. “I can’t remember!”
“Let’s go see if we can salvage any of it,” Yuuri said, offering his hand. Victor took it and they went back to the kitchen and decided that Victor had only burned 75% of the rice. Their romantic breakfast in bed of plain rice wasn't glamorous but it was still perfect.
7. You’ve worn each other’s clothes
8. You’ve given each other massages
Yuuri felt very conflicted today. On the one hand, he was absolutely ecstatic to wear Victor’s skating jacket. Not that he had ever thought about it, before. Honest. But he was very nervous about Victor wearing his. He had washed it recently, right? Did he check the pockets? Maybe it wasn’t too late to do that now… He was startled out of his thoughts by Victor turning over groggily to face him. “Good morning,” Yuuri whispered.
Victor whispered back, “Good morning,” before pecking him on the lips and snuggling closer under his chin. “I had a wonderful dream.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I dreamed I was dating you.”
Yuuri affectionately knocked the top of his head. “That’s called reality, idiot.”
Victor nuzzled even closer. “I also dreamed that today was switching jackets and massages day.” Yuuri tensed slightly and Victor pressed soft kisses to his chest. “It was very nice in my dream.”
Hearing that, Yuuri relaxed a little. “Oh yeah? What else did you dream?”
Victor contemplated the question for a moment. “Maccachin was a giant crab. And we lived in a seaside cottage with Yurio and his 3 pet tigers.”
Yuuri couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow. Quite a dream.”
Victor nodded and swung his legs to the edge of the bed. “Yes! Now to make the good parts reality!” He began rummaging through his closet, tossed his skating jacket on the bed, and ran to Yuuri’s room. Yuuri tentatively slid his arms into the jacket and zipped it all the way up. It smelled just like Victor and hung off his body.
Victor ran back into the room and struck a pose in the doorway wearing Yuuri’s jacket. “Well? Who makes the better katsudon?”
Yuuri chuckled. “It’s certainly a look, especially with nothing else but boxers.” Victor huffed back onto the bed.
“Well it’s obviously you, Yuuri, but I think I’m a close second,” he said as he resumed wrapping himself around his boyfriend. Yuuri relished in the weight of Victor’s head on his chest and their legs all mixed up above the blankets. He had almost drifted back to sleep when he felt a hard poke against his side. “Hey, Yuuri. Don’t think I forgot that today is also massage day!”
Yuuri sighed and sat up. “Okay, okay.”
Victor grinned and tugged at his arm. “I’ll do you first. Take off your jacket and lay on your stomach.”
Yuuri hugged the jacket close and blushed. “What? No! That’s not necessary!”
Victor smiled wider in reply. “It’s too big for you, there’s too much excess fabric! It won’t be a good massage otherwise.”
Yuuri raised an eyebrow. “Just for the massage right?” The glint in Victor’s eye didn’t lessen his suspicions as he took off the jacket.
Victor shed his jacket, too. “See? Now we match, no need to be nervous.”
At this point Yuuri knew Victor well enough to guess where this was going, but he rolled his eyes and laid down anyway. Fighting would do him no good, not that even wanted to.
Victor wasted no time straddling him and rubbing his shoulders. It did feel good, and Yuuri relaxed into the touches. Victor was actually pretty good at this, and all the tension from the morning left his body. His eyes sank closed and his mouth hung open. Victor’s hands began traveling lower and lower, and when they reached his ass he let out a low moan. As soon as Yuuri realized what he had done, he immediately tried to wiggle away and die of embarrassment.
Victor caught his shoulders and kept him in place. “Oh, Yuuri, you were just starting to enjoy it! Don’t leave now!”
Face burning, Yuuri still tried to squirm away. “I don’t think that’s where I need a massage.”
“I’m the one with coaching experience! Don’t you trust me?” He leaned down and whispered into his ear, “You’re so cute, moj miliy.”
It was no huge secret that Yuuri thought that Victor speaking Russian was the hottest thing in the whole entire world. If Victor wasn't playing fair, then neither was he.
Yuuri let his body go limp so that Victor released his grip, then he flipped them over and straddled Victor’s chest. Between kisses he whispers, “You knew what you were doing to me. This is what you deserve.”
Victor just smiled and kissed him back, clearly enjoying the punishment.
9. You’ve picked out each other’s outfits
10. You exchange gifts regularly
Yuuri looked through Victor’s closet. With a deep breath, he supposed that he should just pick clothes out for his boyfriend like he would pick out clothes for himself. Hm. He liked the way v-necks showed off Victor’s collarbones, so he definitely went for the stack of those. What color? His hair looked beautiful against maroon. Now for pants. Nothing crazy, just black? He picked a pair of soft sweatpants and carefully laid the outfit on the table next to the bed. That wasn’t so hard!
Victor came into the room, a pile of clothes hugged against his chest. “I’ve got your clothes for tomorrow, Yuuri! You’ll look wonderful in them, as always of course.” Yuuri blushed and pointed at his own stack of clothes.
Victor nodded in approval. “I also brought your present!” He revealed a thin package from behind the clothes and shoved it into Yuuri’s hands. “Open it, open it!”
Inside was a beautiful silk necktie with a simple yet elegant pattern. Yuuri was relieved it wasn’t anything crazy expensive like he was dreading. “I didn’t like the one you were wearing before, and this one just screamed ‘Yuuri’ when I saw it!”
“Thank you, Victor,” he said. “I love it. I'll be sure to wear it.” Victor beamed at the praise. “I've got yours here, too,” he offered, holding his present out. Victor practically grabbed it out of his hands.
“A present just for me from my beloved Yuuri, what a momentous day this is!” Victor felt all of the edges eagerly. “What could it be? Clothes, a watch, another dog…”
Yuuri playfully punched his arm. “It's a box, stupid. You can't tell by feeling. And I wouldn't put a dog in a box!”
Victor gave him a dazzling grin. “Ah, of course. I'll open it and see.” He ripped open the paper and tore apart the box until he reached the book within and his expression softened. “Japanese Cooking for Beginners,” he read. He looked up and stared at Yuuri intently. “Are you sending me a message? Do you hate my cooking?”
Yuuri snorted. “Is that what you call that attempt in the kitchen? It was closer to torture.”
Victor held a hand up to his mouth in mock horror. “What? I thought you loved my cooking?”
“Hm, I don't remember saying that.”
“Yuuri! You did! You did!”
11. You’ve left notes for each other to find throughout the day
12. You’ve had a romantic kiss in the rain
Yuuri stared at the paper. It was as blank as his mind. Very.
What would Victor want to read from him? Something simple? Sweet? Sexy? Ugh, he had no idea. He wrote the only thing he could think of and folded it up and slipped it under Victor’s pillow.
He heard a knock and Victor poked his head in, asking, “Are you done?” With a smile, Yuuri nodded. Victor slipped his own paper underneath the other pillow. “Look out the window.”
Yuuri looked up and saw rain streaking down the pane. “Ah, I didn't even notice.”
Victor smiled and held out his hand. “Come on, walk with me.”
They joined hands and walked around the block in the rain. The single umbrella barely kept their shoulders dry, and the rain was starting to fall down his shirt. Victor stopped them in the middle of a block and leaned down. “Is this the part where I kiss you?”
“Yeah,” Yuuri breathed as their lips met. Victor tasted like rain and they couldn't figure out how to hold the umbrella without it getting in the way or not covering them completely.
Eventually Victor leaned away and let out a low chuckle. “Well this is significantly less romantic than I had hoped. I'm soaking wet and freezing.”
Yuuri shivered and nodded. “Yeah, me too. Let's go back and dry off.”
They struggled with the umbrella the whole way back, getting even wetter. Once in Victor’s room, they helped each other out of their wet clothes and into dry ones. Yuuri offered to warm up some of his mother’s soup, and Victor did a very good job of supervising (the role in the kitchen he was best at).
Yuuri carried the bowls to Victor’s bed and wrapped them in fluffy blankets. Victor wiggled his toes under Yuuri’s blanket, protesting that his feet were too cold. After they finished eating, Victor grabbed the magazine. “Well, Yuuri, I believe we’ve finished all of the items!”
“Almost all of them,” Yuuri corrected, remembering their failed movie night. Well, failure for falling asleep but success on every other front.
“Almost,” Victor repeated with a smile. “Ah, these last few are where we got the 6 points. ‘13. You enjoy touching each other.’ Well, obviously. Have they even seen us?”
Yuuri blushed and felt Victor’s toes curl against his leg. “Yeah.”
“‘14. You surprise each other.’ I think we’ve also covered this one extensively, yes? The quadruple flip…” Victor started.
“Our first kiss…” Yuuri continued.
Victor smiled fondly. “Yes, I think we definitely surprise each other.” He frowned as he looked at the last item. “‘15. You’ve said that you love each other.’” He put down the magazine and stared Yuuri down. “Yuuri, you know how much I love you, right?”
Slightly surprised by the sudden seriousness, Yuuri replied, “Of course.”
Victor inched closer. “I mean, do you know how often I think of you? How I live for every kiss, every touch, every time you say my name?”
“Victor,” he murmured, touched by the words. “I feel the same way about you. You know that, right?”
Victor took a deep breath. “Yes, of course. I just want you to hear it from me. A lot. Regardless of how we score on some stupid quiz, or how normal our relationship is or isn’t, I love you.”
Yuuri swallowed. “Me, too. I mean, I love you, too. No matter what.”
Victor pulled him in for a gentle kiss, then embraced him against his chest. Victor rubbed the back of his boyfriend’s head as Yuuri ran his fingers through the older man’s hair. “I know we don't know a lot of things right now, but I do know one thing. I want to be with you, forever.”
“So do I,” Yuuri vowed. “You're the best thing that ever happened to me. I want to be with you, forever.”
They held each other in comfortable silence for a while longer, just enjoying the way their bodies fit together.
Victor whispered, “Can I read your note?” Yuuri nodded, and they rummaged under their pillows to grab the pieces of paper. They both unfolded them at the same time, then laughed and kissed each other. Written on Victor’s note was the exact same thing on Yuuri’s: “I love you.”