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“This just in,” Mila looks down at the paper she’s been handed even though the teleprompter has all the information she needs and the sheet is blank. “It’s raining outside! And that’s a downer for those of you who had Valentine’s reservations on the skytop terrace of the most popular restaurant in town. But, you know, I think a good shower can be pretty romantic! What about you, Viktor, how do you feel about rain on Valentine’s day?” She swivels in her chair and tosses Viktor a flirty smile. The station’s test audiences have decided Viktor and Mila need to have more flirty banter on air.
I HAD A DATE TONIGHT, Mila scribbles on the blank page as she grins manically.
Viktor thinks perhaps she’s overselling it, but what does he know? He thought he was bringing all the tension necessary to the studio with his repeated attempts to get their resident meteorologist to date him. Stupid heteronormative focus groups.
“Ha ha, Mila! I think a rainy night is absolutely lovely!”
WHY DID THEY MAKE YUURI GO OUTSIDE, he writes back. I MISS HIM.
“It can be dangerous if it rains too much, Vitya!”
FUCK THAT I WAS GONNA PUT OUT TONIGHT.
“Of course, of course, and to let us know what to expect for the forecast tonight we have Channel 9 Action News’s very own Yuuri Katsuki live on the street!” Viktor can’t stop himself from glancing over to the green screen out of habit. SO WAS I, he writes. ( “Yuuri, are you there?”
The monitors behind the cameras showing them the playback go split screen. Viktor can’t help but bite the edge of his pen when Yuuri’s wonderful face appears.
GET A ROOM, Mila writes. “Yuuri! It looks very cold out there,” she says, “and so rainy!”
Yuuri squints at the camera and it makes his nose wrinkle. He’s wearing a garish yellow raincoat with the station’s logo on the left shoulder. He’s got an oversized microphone in his hand and he’s not wearing his glasses. He’s all wet. Viktor thought this was a punishment but maybe it was a present in disguise.
ALREADY DID.
“I’m in the parking lot.” Yuuri gestures behind him with his thumb and sure enough there are the front doors. Viktor can even see Mila’s car behind Yuuri’s shoulder. The tires are submerged in about fifteen centimeters of murky water. Huh. Yuuri must be standing in it too. Viktor hopes he’s wearing boots. His poor feet. “I don’t know why I’m here? I did a weather advisory twenty minutes ago and we were supposed to get footage of the flooding by the river. Oh.” He looks past the camera. His cheeks go pink. “I mean. Yes, Viktor. I’m here.”
“Wonderful!” Viktor says. He sends Yuuri the same flirty smile he’s been sending him for months. “I hope you’re staying warm out there, Yuuri.”
“Right,” Yuuri says into his microphone, mouth too close. The speakers rustle and squeal. “It’s raining quite a bit. As you can see.” He gestures woodenly at the parking lot behind him.
Viktor laughs. Mila laughs. From behind the cameras, Lilia glares at them in disapproval. ‘Ratings’ she mouths. They angle their bodies a little closer together. “Do you have any tips for any commuters who might be stuck in the water, Yuuri?” Mila asks.
POOR BOY.
“I don’t drive?” Yuuri says. He drops his microphone, and Viktor and Mila hear a terrible splash and a muffled curse before someone cuts the sound out. Yuuri flushes more, stares into the camera in what appears to be a mild case of shock. Viktor wants to wrap him in a blanket. Also, marry him. ‘I’m sorry,’ Yuuri mouths.
HOW IS HE SO, Viktor writes. He picks up the interactive monitor stylus and reaches for the interactive monitor touchpad. Words have failed him. If he draws a crown of hearts on Yuuri Katsuki’s bashful head will the focus groups mind? Will he ever care?
Mila puts her hand over his, forcing him to stop writing. “And that’s all the time we have for Yuuri Katsuki right now!” She smiles daggers directly into the camera, and, Viktor imagines, into Lilia’s throat behind it. “It looks very treacherous out there right now, best to stay home and have a romantic night in, which I’ll be doing soon!”
She winks at Viktor.
Viktor winks back.
GOOD LUCK.
YOU TOO.
Mila actually jumps over the anchor desk after the broadcasting lights go off. Viktor is impressed. She sprints away down the hall and he stands and claps at her retreating back. They’ve been anchoring together for about five years now. He doesn’t know how she’s going to make it to her date with her car surrounded by a miniature lake, but he cheers her on all the same. If anyone can get it done it’s Mila.
He wanders down to the lobby at a more sedate pace. He’s trying to date someone in the building. There’s nowhere else he needs to go, so he can take his time. He stops by the little office he shares with Mila to grab the dozen red roses and gift certificate to Applebee’s he stashed there before the evening news broadcast.
Most of the weather support crew have already trundled back inside by the time Viktor arrives in the lobby. All the faces are at least familiar, and Viktor easily says hello and wishes them a happy Valentine’s day as he wanders over to the large glass doors. He thinks about taking off his suit jacket. Should he sling his jacket over Yuuri’s shoulders? Yuuri would probably shrug it off and then it would get ruined in the flood waters. Also Yuuri is already wearing a raincoat. But the gesture! Viktor wants to drown Yuuri in romantic gestures. Not literally. He does not want Yuuri to drown.
He takes his suit jacket off to preserve the fabric and steps outside. The doors close on all the wolf whistles. The tinted glass makes him feel like they’re alone in the storm.
“Yuuri?” he says.
“Fucking microphone, where did you go?” Yuuri says. He’s kneeling in the water, which means even more of him is completely drenched now. He’s wearing regular shoes.
God he’s beautiful.
“Let me help.” Viktor kneels next to Yuuri and doesn’t really do much more than tap at the water. He doesn’t care about the microphone. They’ll find it once the parking lot drains. It’s already ruined. This is the closest he’s gotten to Yuuri without Yuuri running away in so long.
“Sure,” Yuuri says, focused. Then. “Wait.” Then. “Shit.”
Viktor holds out the bouquet. “Will you be my Valentine?”
The noise Yuuri makes is a cross between birdsong and a dying frog. That’s not a no.
And then he says yes.
And Viktor kisses him for the first time in the station parking lot as twenty or so people watch from the lobby and empty Slurpee cups float by.
And it’s perfect.