Work Text:
The alarm clock was persistently playing a pop song. Usually it wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that the alarm clock was set up at an unholy hour like eight in the morning. That song had plagued Yuuri all week until he had decided to just give in.
He turned it off, letting his arm dangling off the bed. His determination faltered for a moment at the cold prickling at his skin and was waiting for him outside the duvet. He could just stand there and pretend he didn’t hear the alarm clock, but he already knew he would come to regret it later. When he had finally found the motivation and the strength to get up, Yuuri took in his surroundings like he had expected to wake up in a completely different place. The bed was empty – ordinary administration; Viktor had the habit to anticipate the alarm clock, getting up at least twenty minutes earlier and Yuuri sincerely didn’t know how he could do that. On the floor there were still the discarded clothes of last night, luckily enough he didn’t drink that much to empty his mind.
(but he still remembers vividly fumbling with the keys, Viktor’s laugh in his ear – the sound of crystal glasses gently clinking together.)
He got up, fishing blindly from the closet some old grey sweatpants and a white shirt he had often used for working out. What drove him straight to the kitchen, dragging his feet across the wood flooring throught the small living room was the smell of coffee. And like a certainty that welcomed him every morning and still could leave him tangled in his own thoughts, was Viktor, sitting at the kitchen table, a book in a hand and the cellphone in the other.
He showed a smile.
“до́брое у́тро” Viktor said, and Yuuri showed a nervous smile, dragging himself towards a mug left on the counter. The coffee was still warm, he had probably just made it. On one side of the cup, there was a yellow post-it with a tiny pink heart on the bottom right corner. Yuuri tried hide his smile behind the ridge of the cup. He always needed a couple of minutes between leaving the bed and taking the first sip of coffee before starting any kind of conversation, especially if Viktor wanted to test his linguistic improvements this early. Even though he only said "good morning" and there wasn't much to answer to that.
“до́брое у́тро” replied, pretty sure he nailed it pretty well this time, and Viktor showed the biggest smile.
(and Yuuri thought to himself: “when will I ever get used to see that tiny, adorable dimple at the corner of your mouth or the way your eyes just light up like Christmas lights?”)
Viktor kept on reading in silence, eyeing the cellphone from time to time as to check and doublecheck that he hadn’t miss a message or an email. From the colour of the front maybe he was still reading the book he had borrowed from the library a week before.
“Why is Makkachin on the couch?”. The Russian lesson could end there, he had still a whole day to get teased by Viktor for his pronunciation.
(“say it one more time, please, just once, once” and Viktor pressed his chest against Yuuri’s side, showing one finger, the faint hint of a laughter in his voice.
And when Yuuri repeated that single word, Viktor laughed and laughed, and Yuuri caught himself thinking how could someone be such an ass and still be so adorable)
Yuuri strode toward the dog. Makkachin had just raised his head, leaning it to one side and looking at him puzzled.
“I don’t know, I’ve found him there this morning”
Yuuri stopped in his tracks, turning around to shoot a glance at Viktor, who was just now pretending to read. Sometimes he would look at him with the corner of his eye, just to see if he was still watching.
“Viktor-”
“Yes, babe?” raising his head from the book like he had just noticed Yuuri was staring at him.
“Don’t ‘babe’ me, we’ve talked about this,” and he put down the mug just to take the dog’s face in his hands. “your place isn’t here on our couch” and started shaking him just slightly at every word. When Yuuri stopped, Makkachin licked the top of his nose, like asking him to forget he was there and let him sleep just for another couple of hours. Or weeks.
“See? He even gave you a kiss as an apology!” Viktor called from the kitchen, like a lick on the nose was really enough to forget the whole thing. Yuuri gave up: they’ve tried to discuss about that, but it was like talking to a wall: once he’d found them on the couch sleeping, one of them was even snoring – and it wasn’t the dog. He retrived his mug from the floor and walked over to the kitchen table, sitting next to Viktor. “Your mother called last night, but apparently neither of us heard it” and he showed a knowing smile.
Yuuri hid his behind the mug, before taking another sip.
“I’ll call her back later” he replied, closing slightly the book Viktor was reading just to check the cover – also because he kinda liked distracting him. He tried to turn the pages just to see what point he had reached, just to hear him saying something on the lines ‘don’t make me lose the mark’. He had tried several times until he got tired and in the end Yuuri remained in silence next to him. What remained of the coffee was already cold. At some point he took Viktor’s phone and logged out from his Instagram page just to log in with his own. He had a lot of notifications on the picture of last night – they took a selfie on their way home. Needless to say, Phichit had been the first one to add a comment: a whole parade of colorful hearts.
“I look older in that photo” said Viktor, shooting a glance at the screen.
“That’s because you are old” and Yuuri was on the verge of laughters when he heard the following soft gasp. He gave him a quick peck on the cheek, returning to scroll through his dash like nothing happened. “Don’t worry, I like old men better” he added in a low voice and Viktor just giggled like a child who’s just heard a secret he wasn’t supposed to listen to. Yuuri felt like his heart was going to burst into his chest at that sound and asked himself at what point he would stop to feel like some boy experiencing his first crush.
“Shall we go? We still have to get dressed“. Viktor finished the chapter and closed the book. Yuuri bent his arm to grasp Viktor’s hand, his eyes fixed on the ceiling and his head leant against Viktor’s arm. He gently caressed his skin with the thumb. With their hands intertwined like that, Yuuri could feel the gentle bite of the metal on Viktor's finger.
He didn't have to check to know that the ring was there.
“Five more minutes” he sighed, closing his eyes.
And Viktor thought: “why not ten, or fifteen, or even five more days like this” and Yuuri: “how about an entire lifetime like this“
*
(Viktor spent the next five minutes asking himself what he did to be so lucky, to feel like he was just in the right place, at the right time. With the right person.)
(Yuuri was asking himself the same thing.)