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He’s beautiful.
Yuuri can't stop staring at him, so much so that he's completely stopped in the middle of the sidewalk because, well. Honestly? He doesn't know if he's able to look anywhere else. The man who has captured his attention is tall, all long limbs and slender frame. His silver hair shines bright under the sun, looking soft to the touch.
Oh, how Yuuri wants.
Yoshi and Kuro are whining at his feet, paws scratching at the sidewalk around his shoes. When he finally manages to snap himself out of it -- it's not like he doesn't see beautiful people all of the time, which is the most embarrassing part of completely losing himself like this -- he reaches down to pet the both of them apologetically.
"Sorry, guys," He says. "Let's get home and have some water, yeah?"
Yoshi and Kuro yelp at him happily, almost like they understand. He wouldn't put it past them, in all honesty. They're both too smart for their own good.
Yuuri chuckles quietly at the both of them before starting the walk home.
When he glances back, the attractive man's gone. It's for the best, he tells himself. Losing sight of the man is a much more appealing outcome than getting punched in the face for staring at him for too long, anyway.
(Or at least, this is what he tells himself.)
---
The first time Yuuri actually manages to talk to him is entirely Yoshi’s fault.
Kuro is laying down in the shade under the tree, and Yuuri’s trained him enough to know that he’ll stay there until he gets bored or Yuuri calls him over. Yoshi, on the other hand, isn’t as trained.
She’s only eight months old. Yuuri knows that he needs to be patient with her.
He keeps her close to his side until he can trust her to go off like her brother. In all honesty, that might take a while. She’s still a puppy, after all, and there’s only so much time Yuuri has to extensively train her outside of his job at the ice rink.
At least she learns fast.
Yuuri’s too busy thinking about how he really needs to devote more time to training his dog that he doesn’t even see the root. He only knows that it’s there once he falls face first into the cobblestone path and he accidentally drops her leash during the fall. Yoshi looks at him in concern, already starting to pad towards where Yuuri’s (horrifyingly) sprawled on the ground, but then a playful sounding bark sounds through the air and she’s rocketing in the other direction.
“ Yoshi! ” Yuuri calls, even though he already knows it’s useless.
She may be loyal to a fault, but her curiosity is just as strong. She’s not well-trained enough to know how to ignore it.
Yuuri allows himself a few more seconds to mope on the ground; the fall hurt , before he pushes himself up on shaking hands and feet. He doesn’t seem to have injured anything too badly, though his head is pounding and his right ankle twinges a little when he takes a step.
He ignores it.
He needs to find his dog.
While Yoshi is pretty friendly for a Shiba, she can get territorial around dogs she doesn’t like. Reigning her in when she’s riled up is almost impossible -- the last time she ran into a dog that rose her hackles Yuuri almost ended up with a restraining order -- and he curses himself for not thinking of clipping two leashes to her in case this sort of thing happened.
It would look ridiculous, of course, but surely he wouldn’t drop both leashes.
By the time Yuuri catches up to her, he freezes when his brain finally processes what he’s looking at.
Yoshi is at the feet of a tall and slender man, bouncing around excitedly. That in and of itself is a little troubling, but what makes his breath catch is the familiar silver of the man’s hair. This can’t be happening.
Yuuri hasn’t seen the man for a few days -- he’s stopped himself from going to the same dog park, though it’s not like it apparently even mattered.
He clenches his fists at his sides, gives himself a little pep talk ( you can do this, he tells himself, you interact with plenty of attractive people on a day to day basis ) and walks over there before he can properly work himself into a panic attack.
“Yoshi!” Yuuri calls, coming closer. It’s then that he sees the very large poodle lying down next to his dog. Yoshi doesn’t exactly do well with dogs who aren’t Kuro, but now she’s wagging her tail, pawing at her new friend playfully.
She doesn’t even look at Yuuri, her attention is solely focused on the man and his dog, which is embarrassing. Now he has no choice but to go over there and talk to him, and just the thought is enough to make his palms sweat. Yuuri was hoping he could stay over here and avoid this entirely.
He also can’t help but wonder if this is all just a carefully constructed illusion, and soon Yoshi will wake him from his reprieve by attacking the man and his dog.
He doesn’t like that idea at all, and it’s what drives him to close the last bit of distance between them.
“ Yoshi ,” he repeats. It catches the attention of the silver-haired man who had been too distracted looking in amusement at Yoshi’s excited dancing. And, oh. Oh god . He’s even more attractive in person.
The man’s eyes are a startling, dazzling blue; they remind Yuuri so much of the ice at the rink that he feels a little dizzy. His ears start to heat from both the attraction and mortification he feels at putting himself into this situation. He’s definitely stopping by the pet store on his way home to pick up a second leash.
There’s no way he’s letting this happen again.
“Hello there,” The man greets, a thick accent coloring his English. Yuuri can’t be sure, but it sounds Russian. “Is this girl yours? She’s absolutely gorgeous.”
It’s ridiculous, but the compliment, even if it isn’t meant for him, makes him flush.
“I’m sorry if she’s caused you any trouble! I dropped her leash when I fell--”
The man cuts him off, “are you okay?”
Yuuri blinks. He hadn’t expected that question. “Uh, yes?”
It gets him a laugh. It isn’t what he was going for, but it’s rewarding all the same.
“You don’t sound very sure.”
Yoshi’s moved so she’s sitting next to the poodle. Yuuri shakes his head at her, a quick flash of blood and yelling going through his head, but she seems calmer than he’s ever seen her. Maybe she’s managed to find the one dog in all of Hasetsu that she can put up with. He wouldn’t put it past her; Yoshi’s mischievous.
And it’s not like she’s hurting anyone by sitting there. It’ll hopefully be a stepping stone in teaching her to be civil towards other dogs.
“I’m okay,” Yuuri manages, after a long moment. It’s a blessing straight from God.
“That’s excellent news~” The man enthuses. He doesn’t sound like he’s being sarcastic, and it makes Yuuri feel completely out of his depth. “Your dog is quite the beauty. What’s her name?”
Yuuri is not feeling jealous over a dog. He isn’t . It’s simply a coincidence that his chest feels tight.
“H-her name’s Yoshi.”
The man smiles at this, looking both unfairly beautiful and amused. “Very cute.”
“She is,” Yuuri agrees.
“I wasn’t talking about the dog.”
Yuuri’s cheeks must be scarlet by now, and he finds himself fumbling with what to say next. Yoshi must sense his distress because she (finally) tears herself away from her new fluffy friend to trot over to Yuuri’s feet.
Not wanting to take anymore chances, he grabs onto her leash and wraps it around his palm four times.
Five times. He's only being cautious.
“Oh,” Yuuri begins. He realizes that he doesn’t quite know how to finish it. “Um.”
“Adorable,” The man coos. He actually looks like he means it; it’s quite perplexing. Yuuri isn’t used to being considered adorable. Usually find him a bit too chubby for that, but the man’s compliments fills him with a warmth he hasn’t felt in years . The man gestures to the poodle at his feet. “This is Makkachin.”
“I have a poodle too,” Yuuri blurts, instead of talking about how cute Makkachin is. She is cute, which is the worst part. He’s always been awful at small talk, but this is an all time low. It’s absolutely mortifying.
“You do?” He sounds excited. “Are they here?”
“He’s under the big tree at the edge of the park,” Yuuri explains, heart pounding. “Unlike his sister, Kuro is well-behaved."
The man smiles again. It’s warmer this time.
“I would love to meet him.”
“You would?”
“Mhm,” The man hums, “Would you be willing to introduce us?”
Yuuri blinks.
“You’re serious?” He asks.
“I am,” The man confirms, sounding even more amused.
If he’s being honest, Yuuri expected this conversation to go pretty horribly, ending in either tears or blood, maybe both. The fact that he’s not making a fool of himself -- or rather, he probably is and the man is too nice to tell him about it, which, admittedly, is more likely -- is nothing short of a minor miracle.
Yuuri is pretty damn abysmal at social interaction.
It’s even worse when the person is physically attractive. The first time he met Yuuko when he was a child, he tripped over his own feet when he saw just how pretty her eyes were.
He was seven .
“You can meet him, “Yuuri finally says. Feeling flustered and unable to control his mouth, he continues, “He’s over here. He’s old so he might not greet you immediately.”
“Well, I’ll just have to greet him, then.” Yuuri wonders how he can make everything he says sound like that . The way his accent wraps around his words sends liquid fire shooting through Yuuri’s veins.
It’s simultaneously heady and comforting.
“O-okay,” Yuuri mumbles.
Yuuri starts walking towards the giant tree Kuro is resting under before he can away like he really wants to. He has no idea why this man wants to meet his dog. The sensible part of Yuuri is thinking that this is a horrible idea. The part of him that finds this man way too pretty for his own good, however, is louder.
He’s always been weak for pretty things.
The man is at his side in an instant, the corners of his mouth are still lifted in a smile. Yuuri finds he has to look away; the sight is blinding in the best of ways.
“I’m Viktor,” he introduces, holding out a hand.
Should he take it? Obviously Yuuri should take it, right? It would be rude not to take it. The weight of his indecision is enough to stop him in his tracks, Viktor stopping with him. For some reason he can’t seem to make his hands move; it’s like they’re frozen in time, one hovering awkwardly in front of him, the other hanging limp by his side.
It’s only when Viktor starts to pull his hand away that Yuuri panics and shoves his hand forward in an attempt to grasp the other man’s hand, only he nearly punches Viktor right in the chest in his effort.
His cheeks go scarlet.
“Oh, god,” Yuuri mutters to himself. He wonders how much his family and friends would miss him if he threw himself off of Hasetsu Castle.
Not much, hopefully.
When Yuuri chances a glance at Viktor’s face, he doesn’t even seem deterred in the slightest. The laugh that sounds above Yuuri’s head isn’t malicious at all. If anything it’s happy. He grabs Yuuri’s hand for him, curling their fingers around each other’s.
The movement makes a satisfied heat settle at the bottom of Yuuri’s stomach.
He somehow manages to find his voice, “Yuuri,” he whispers.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Yuuri,” Viktor rumbles. “My nephew’s name is Yuri. A coincidence, no?”
“Oh? Does he have silver hair too?” He asks before he can stop himself.
The question obviously isn’t one that Viktor expects. His unfairly blue eyes stare at Yuuri in shock, his pretty pink mouth open in surprise. It’s then that Yuuri notices just how close they are. He can see the shine of recently applied chapstick on Viktor’s lips.
He wonders what flavor it is.
“I’m the only one with silver hair, unfortunately,” Viktor sounds rueful. Yuuri has no choice but to bite down on his own lip to keep from telling Viktor how much he loves his silver hair. “Do you not like it?”
Yuuri waves his hands frantically -- it’s only when he does this that he realizes he still hadn’t let go of Viktor’s hand. However, if he thinks about that for too long, he’ll give himself a concussion.
“No!” Yuuri almost yells. “Um, no. It’s -- it’s nice. I like it.”
Viktor smiles at him (or rather, he never stopped); this time, though, it’s warm like the katsudon his mom makes whenever he’s feeling low. His heart pounds painfully in his chest at the thought, almost like it’s trying to escape.
“I’m relieved,” Viktor puurs.
“Relieved?” repeats Yuuri, more than a little confused.
“Well, it would be incredibly awkward to want someone’s phone number who thought I was unattractive,” Viktor explains, though it backfires spectacularly because absolutely nothing about what he’s saying is making any sense to Yuuri at all.
Viktor finds him attractive? There must have been a mistake. Yuuri must only be hearing what he wants to hear.
“Um. Come -- come again?” he croaks.
Viktor’s smile widens at his stuttering.
“You’re very cute, Yuuri. I would love to take you on a date.”
Yuuri’s quiet for several long moments. He doesn’t think anyone can blame him.
“Me?” He asks quietly. He still can’t believe it, but he also needs to hear it again .
“This can’t be the first time you’ve been propositioned before,” Viktor’s tone is full of disbelief.
And, well. He’s right. It isn’t.
It’s not the first time Yuuri’s been -- kind of asked -- on a date before, but it is the first time someone as attractive as Viktor has taken an interest in him. Yuuri is usually asked out by cute girls who fumble through his name and boys who are quiet and soft. There’s never been anyone who’s been cut from marble like Viktor is.
He can’t exactly tell Viktor all of this, either.
“It’s not,” Yuuri says, not knowing how to elaborate.
Viktor chuckles. “Then this can’t be very surprising, kotyonok .”
If only he knew.
Wait.
What was that?
Yuuri thinks it might’ve been a term of endearment. He’ll have to look it up when he’s back in the safety of his own apartment.
“I think we might have to make it a double date, if you say yes,” Viktor continues, after a few beats of silence. Before Yuuri can so much as tilt his head in confused, he point to where Makkachin and yoshi are curled around each other, obviously having taken some initiative once they realized their owners wouldn’t be moving again for a while. Yoshi’s head is resting on Makkachin’s paws and even though it seems to be a recurring theme today, Yuuri’s frozen in place again.
She doesn’t even act this way around Kuro. He’s had her since she was a little over two months old.
Yuuri chances a glance at Viktor and finds that he’s already grabbing his phone to take a picture of them, but Yuuri’s still caught on the sight of them.
“Yoshi’s never done that before,” he whispers.
“Hmm,” Viktor hums. “Cuddled with a strange dog?”
He asks it like Makkachin regularly does this. Yuuri can't decide if that's troubling or hilarious.
“Been nice to a strange dog,” he clarifies, absentmindedly. “She must really like Makkachin.”
Yuuri can’t even find it in himself to be surprised. His dog would pick the dog of the man Yuuri’s stared at. She would do that just to spite him.
“Then I don’t think we should risk not seeing each other again. Do you?”
Viktor is grinning at him now, the force of it so strong that it makes crow’s feet appear around his eyes. The sight of it is what spurs Yuuri into motion. He should say yes to Viktor.
It’s not like this opportunity will come up again.
He’s going to say yes. If he can get the words out, that is.
Yuuri clears his throat, fully committing to throwing in the proverbial towel now,
“Yes.”
Viktor’s eyes start dancing. “Yes?” He asks, raising an eyebrow.
“I’ll go out on a date with you, Viktor,” he clarifies. His voice shakes.
Either Viktor is too happy to notice, or he’s too polite to say anything about it -- which he knows is much more likely -- instead, he reaches out to grasp on of Yuuri’s wrists, bringing it up to his mouth to gently place a kiss on his knuckles.
It’s ridiculous. And corny. And Yuuri should probably hate it, but it does nothing to stop the smile from spreading across his face, big enough that his glasses press into his cheeks.
“With the dogs?” Viktor asks.
Yuuri notes the way that Yoshi is now asleep against Makkachin’s paws and laughs.
“With the dogs,” he confirms.
Viktor kisses his knuckles again.