Riding the high of Victory! Yuri faces his biggest challenge yet...dating!?

Green robes were thrown on, and the enamored duo slowly made their way upstairs. Makkachin squeezed his way between them and the wall to race them up, and was sitting quite happily on Victor's big bed when they finally arrived. With their doors being only a few feet apart, Yuri glanced inside his own room for a moment, and a thought struck him.

Victor felt the hesitation to go in, and turned back curiously, "What is it? Forget something?" He wondered, coming back the way he'd come. He slid his hands over his partner's waist and gently kissed his neck as he nestled in against the younger man's back, "Or do you want to squeeze onto your bed instead?" He teased.

"No, I just..." Yuri started, rubbing his cheek against his fiancé's brow, "It's kind of weird to think of how useless my own room now is. I've slept in a room by myself every day of my life; even when I was training in Detroit with Phichit-kun, we had our own rooms."

"It can sometimes take a little while to get used to sharing a space with someone, but..." Victor explained, hands roaming around his partner's front to hug him back against his chest, "I think you'll get used to it pretty quick. There's a lot to like."

"I like it already." Yuri answered, turning in place to face his silver love, and started to nudge him backwards into the repurposed banquet hall, "I pushed you away for such a long time, but now..."

"...Never again." Victor finished, nose to nose until he felt the bed on the back of his legs.

"Bridging the divide between us...literally and figuratively." Yuri described, watching those blue eyes lower as the Russian sat down. Makkachin eagerly came up and hopped up against Victor's back, panting happily over one shoulder as his human laughed. "Ever since those first days," Yuri started again, loosely curling his fingers around the hands that slid into his own, "My heart would pound in my chest... I thought at first that it was out of sheer terror and disbelief...and I'm sure that was part of it, but..." He added, looking down at that longing face, "When I let myself realize that it was because of how happy I was, I could hardly imagine that it would ever get any better than that. How could it?"

"How indeed?" Victor wondered, slipping out from under his dog's affection, and started to scoot back on the bed until he found his pillows at the head.

Yuri came up alongside on the Russian's right, and sat on the edge, "Did...you ever wonder what happened to me...?" He wondered, looking down at first as he contemplated his next move, "I mean, after seeing how physical I was with you at the Sochi banquet, and knowing how I was with you over the first few months of you being here...there must've been a moment where you wondered what was wrong with me."

"Wrong? No..." Victor shook his head, and lifted the hand he'd retaken-hold of and kissed the fingers there, beckoning his partner closer, "You were pretty drunk back then. I thought maybe you were just more open when you had some liquid courage; your distance afterwards was just the difference between being sober and being sauced."

Yuri made a face at him, but pulled his legs onto the bed and under the covers as he shuffled nearer, "I went from dry-humping you in public to running away in private."

Victor laughed at the pointedness of that truth, and flopped back down into the pillows, drawing in a happy breath as he looked out through the big window behind him, "Alcohol makes brave men of us all." He said, looking down and to the side again as Yuri fidgeted with the blankets, "So what do you want to do?"

"Do?" Yuri echoed in confusion, slumping over his outstretched legs, looking on that pale face and exposed chest. His cheeks went pink and he looked away again, smiling nervously, "...Well, get used to things, I guess. I'm going to wake up in this bed tomorrow morning, but I'm still going to wonder if what's happening is real. This is all just...so fantastical... I could never have thought this would happen, even in my dreams."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Yuri looked back, then forward again as Makkachin rolled onto his back in front of him. He squished the poodles cheeks as that big pink tongue licked at his wrists, "...Be patient with me..."

"I waited a year for you," Victor pointed out, rubbing his right hand across his partner's back, eyes following the gold glint on one finger, contrasted by the green of the fabric behind it, "I don't intend to scare you away by getting overzealous. I'm in this for the long-haul."

"...Is there anything...I can do...?" Yuri asked nervously.

"Don't think I'm unreachable, or that you can't do anything unless I start it." The silver answered simply, turning his head on the pillow, bangs slipping over his half-lidded eyes, "All of me is yours. There's nothing of me that's off-limits; there's nothing you can't ask, and plenty you can do without asking at all."

"Oh... Uhm...well," Yuri stammered, his cheeks getting a bit pinker by the second.

"What is it?" Victor purred, seeing that anxious mind getting to the very edge of a request, and dying to know what it was.

"It would sound absurd to you, after everything..." Yuri went on, fingers still weaving through the curly brown for on Makkachin's cheeks.

"What is it?" Victor asked, curiosity eating him alive.

Those nervous eyes turned back again, looking at that perfect physique, "If I... I..." Yuri stammered, practically choking on the request. He clenched his teeth and drew a breath, holding it tightly until he felt that hand moving across his back come to a stop, and he let it go in exhaustion, "...I want to...see you... I mean, I've seen you, but not up close; not really. But I don't..." He started, swallowing a nervous breath, "I mean, because I've never been with anyone before, I need...t-time...to make my way through everything regular couples do..."

"I'll never do anything you don't want me to do." Victor reassured, "You can tell me to back off if I'm going too fast, and you can ask me to do things for you."

"...Can I..." Yuri struggled, lifting his knees under the blanket to bury his mouth against, as though the sheets might filter any stupidity that might come out of him, "Can I touch you without...making it seem like I want it to lead to anything...? I mean, I'm just-"

"An artist trying to find his way around a new canvas?" Victor finished, pushing up onto his elbows until he could wiggle out of the sleeves of his robe, and laid back down again, "Getting a mental picture, like a blind man learning about what something looks like with just the use of touch."

Yuri let out that breath, and nodded, "Y-Yeah..."

"Of course." The silver answered happily, "I am your canvas."

Relieved to hear that understanding, spoken out loud in a way that Yuri couldn't even describe coherently in his own head, he twisted around where he sat on the bed, and let his eyes roam over the exposed skin above his fiancé's navel. He watched every rise and fall of the Russian's chest, the way the muscle moved under pristine skin, and how tightly it clung to that athletic frame. Every abdominal was so sharply defined, the intercostals, pectorals, even the ridges of muscle under the deltoid, curving around the edge of each shoulder before turning into biceps. Those cherry-hazel eyes drank in every inch of that perfect body, but something struck him, "...You don't have a mark on you."

Victor tilted his head slightly, silver strands of hair tousling lightly over his cheek, "I have one or two, but I'll never tell where they are." He teased, "If you ever find them, though, I promise I'll tell you what they are."

"...Can you at least let me know if I would be able to see them, given what I can see of you right now?" Yuri wondered, brows raised.

"You would."

"I see..."

"You can touch if you want, too."

Another nervous lump was swallowed, but Yuri nodded, and moved a bit closer, lifting his right hand up over his fiancé's ridged tummy. Victor twitched slightly when skin met skin, and Yuri pulled his hand back.

"It's okay," Victor laughed, "Your fingers are cold, that's all."

"Oh..." Yuri blanched, and brought his hands up to cup over his mouth, breathing a lungful of warm air against his skin. He then tried again, and he heard Victor hum a happy sigh. Those cobalt eyes closed as Victor savored every brush of that hand against his body, moving slowly from stomach to ribs, tracing the line of every muscle, creating a 3-D picture in Yuri's mind. He roamed over that whole trunk, from abdomen to chest, and pressed his palm to the spot right above his fiancé's heart, feeling the organ beat beneath his skin, "It's so strange..." He commented, earning one eye half-opening in curiosity at him, "How different it is to touch someone...through clothes or on skin... Whether as just friends, or as...lovers..."

"You've done some things that narrowed the gap between the two." The silver commented, "Like after you got your medal and knocked me over."

For a moment, Yuri couldn't think of what it was, and his brows wrankled in confusion, "...I only remember you leering at me as you suggested we do something inappropriate." He said, only to laugh at it anyway, "What do you mean?"

"You sat on my leg."

"I did?" He echoed, thinking back and looking up, "Oh! That! When I said you should stay in with me for another year!"

"Mh."

"Yeah..." Yuri felt embarrassed again, but then did something that surprised his partner. Keeping his hand on the Russian's core, Yuri lifted up from where he sat, came out from under the blankets, and sat across his fiancé's thighs, "...It was something like this..."

Victor watched very carefully, and rolled the rest of the way onto his back, looking up at the man straddling him, "...You've being brave."

"I'm...balancing on that wire." Yuri commented, putting his other hand on that pale hot skin to join the first, and spread his fingers out, "Even though it's not even an inch, there's...something safe about there being clothes and sheets and blankets between us. It's like watching something on television...you can be interested in it, knowing that no matter how terrible, or dangerous, or...intimate...it was...none of it could ever reach out and do something to you."

"We're not exactly separated though." Victor pointed out, arms casually laid out beside him, hands relaxed close to his head, "If you wanted, things could go very differently."

Yuri nodded, but gave a knowing smile, "If I wanted..."

"What are you thinking about right now?"

"...About how...surprised I am...that I feel so at ease, despite how strange this all is." He answered, "And how lucky I feel...that in spite of how far away you always were from me, that now...you're right here. Closer than I ever imagined, and...being so patient with me. Letting me figure out how close I want to get, and how quickly, or slowly, and just...letting me look, or touch, and not making me feel like I owe you anything for the privilege."

"...Owe you anything?" Victor repeated, "I don't follow."

Yuri nodded, and carefully started letting his hands slide forward from their perch on the Russian's stomach. Fingers grazed the crest of each pectoral, and came together where thumbs and the first few fingers pressed between those two muscles over Victor's sternum, "My view on all this is pretty biased, seen only from the perspective of someone who's never done it before. But... It always seemed, at least in America, where if a girl went out with someone, she felt like she was obligated to do something physical for her date. Some of the guys seemed to think that was an unspoken rule; he buys her dinner, and she..." Yuri's words trailed, and his hands stopped moving, the tips of his fingers just under Victor's collar-bones before he pulled them back again, gripping the edge of the blankets where they came over the man's frame, "She would have to go down on him for it."

"Have to?" Victor asked, incredulous, "Why would she have to?"

Yuri shrugged unknowingly, "The rules of dating are a bit different out there, I guess. No good deed goes unpunished."

"Apparently some folks forgot how courting is supposed to go." Victor supposed, reaching for the hands that had pulled away from him. He threaded their fingers together, and rubbed his thumbs against that nervous skin, "That's not how I operate. I would never even think to keep track of that sort of thing. If I buy you dinner, it's because I want to make you happy, not because I want to trap you into something you don't want to do. I'm looking for your smiles, laughter, and joy. You should never feel like you have to do anything for me. That would make me unhappy."

"I don't know why, but...I feel like that's something I already knew about you." Yuri answered, "Though my anxious mind is always churning out dark ideas, my heart seems to be completely at ease with you. I...can sense that you're a generous spirit. I mean, there was this image I had of you in my mind from before you came into my life, when I had to put together your personality based on what I saw of it at competitions or on television. There was always this worry at the back of my head, this doubt I had over the things that, maybe, I was missing about you. But you never deviated from the imaginary boundaries I had about you."

"Well, there's a saying..." Victor explained, getting cozy under the weight over his legs, "'I want to be the person my dog thinks I am.'"

Makkachin lifted his head briefly, as though understanding that he was being referred to, and his tail thumped lightly on the bed-spread.

"But in truth, I just want to be the person you think I am," Victor added, "And I want it to be because I am that person, not just some construct that isn't real."

"Are you worried...?"

He nodded slightly, "Truthfully, having gotten this far with you...to finally be able to share aspects of myself with you that I couldn't before... I worry that you'll think less of me, because you'll be seeing things that don't show on television, and have no place at competition."

"...What do you mean?"

"Even though I've been with other people before, I don't think I've ever been as close to them as I feel to you." The silver explained, "I have my private fears that there are quirks about my personality that even I don't know about, because I've never been in this position before. As nervous as you may feel about being with me, for all the reasons that you have, I'm nervous, too. So I just hope...that if I mess up, you'll forgive me."

"I think we both have that fear." Yuri affirmed.

"Don't ever think that you can't tell me something." The Russian added, "That you can't ask me to back off or reconsider what I'm doing. I want you to be completely at ease with me. ...But keep in mind, as we learn about one another in this new way, there's going to be times where each of us will make mistakes. It's bound to happen."

"Yeah..." Yuri agreed, slouching somewhat where he sat, brow furrowed, "But...let's try not to let that little dark cloud get in the way of things. The only brakes I want on this thing we have, is me getting comfortable with it all. I have enough anxiety to keep us occupied for a while."

Victor smiled at that, "I think that's one of the things I'm looking forward to most; watching you and I grow into us. I'm super excited to see where we go together."

Smiling, Yuri nodded, and sallied up a little bit of courage to act on that excitement. He held his fingers a little tighter where Victor held them, and moved them up towards the pillows. He came down over top of his partner, his thumbs grazing the edge of silver hair. He reminded himself of their union in the onsen, and how much he learned just from those minutes, and did his best to act on that new insight. A gentle nudge of noses started things, and he slid the tip of his own upwards, into the dip at the bridge and up onto Victor's brow, where he kissed that forehead. He came back down though, and tilted his head, feeling the butterflies in his stomach before finally letting himself lower down to those soft, warm lips. He could feel that kiss returned, lips pressing into him, and breathed a happy sigh. He attempted that morph between the end of one kiss and into the start of another, and pressed a little harder into the second. Victor lifted his face a bit higher, and smiled as Yuri rose up again.

"Would you mind if I did a little touching?" The silver wondered, feeling the tickle of loose black strands against his cheek, "Nothing below the belt...just the same as you did to me."

That hue of pink darkened, but Yuri shook his head, and lifted to sit upright again. He wasn't surprised by how easily Victor's hands pawed at his chest, sliding under the open folds of that green robe still clinging to him. When it slid higher though, and pushed the fabric away from his left shoulder, Yuri couldn't help but notice something. He'd known it already from their days in the hot-spring, but having that direct correlation between hand and body, it just seemed more stark than ever.

"What is it?" Victor purred, fingers sliding along the back of his partner's left arm as that sleeve came further away, "You look really nervous."

"It just...occurred to me." He started, "I'm so much smaller than you."

"...Does it bother you?" The silver asked carefully, sliding his fingers back up again.

"No..." Yuri answered, though hesitantly, "I guess I just never really thought about it. To be the smaller one in a relationship."

"What would you have thought if it were the other way around?"

"That I could use my size to keep my partner safe. That I'd have to be vigilant so it never seems like I would use that extra strength to overpower anyone."

"Mmmh... That is a fine line to dance along." Victor agreed, "That's my responsibility now though. I must protect the cinnamon roll."

"Cinnamon roll?" Yuri balked, "Is that what I am?"

"As close as you can get." Victor laughed, sitting fully upright so he could wrap his arms around his partner's lithe frame, and kissed at the side of his neck with a nibble for good measure, "You're sweet and soft and warm and perfect and amazing~ And I want you all to myself. No sharing."

"V-Victor..." The younger man gasped quietly, realizing that the soft and warm attention on his neck gave him a weird tingly feeling all over.

"Oh~ Is this a sensitive spot for you?" The Russian purred, nibbling a bit more just under his partner's ear, "I think I just found my second favorite place to kiss you." He mused, feeling every muscle in Yuri's core get tight as he helped turn the man to lay him down in the blankets again. All the while, he stayed on that perfect neck, kissing and tasting that skin, and loving every gasp he got as reward for his attention. When Yuri's knees started to come up though, he backed off a little, and offered a nuzzle against his partner's nose. He set his hand gently over Yuri's waist and looked adoringly into those over-stimulated eyes, "I'm really going to enjoy learning about all these buttons you have." He said, stroking his thumb across bare skin, "This first one is going to be a real pleasure to tease."

Yuri practically had to catch his breath, and gave a nervous smile, "I didn't even...know that was one until now..."

"This will be rewarding for us both then."

.

Catching up from the loss of sleep after traveling, combined with having that velvet-soft body pressed behind him, Yuri slept like a log. It was practically a sandwich, with Makkachin in front of him, and Victor behind, keeping him warm from both sides. He woke briefly as he thought he heard an alarm, but it was gone again as he fell asleep right away. The next time be woke up though...

It was almost noon when Yuri finally roused for good. He was still in Victor's room, but as he sat up and looked around, he realized Victor wasn't there anymore. He reached for his glasses, and then for his phone to turn the buzzer off.

...Where'd he go? I could've sworn he was still here on the last snooze alarm...

He checked his email first, then Instagram. A few posts down, he balked to see a photo on Victor's feed that showed a selfie of the man, with himself - albeit unconscious - in the background.

v-nikiforov

[picture]

v-nikiforov All tuckered out from his first major win at a big international competition. My lovely Yuri Katsudon~

#Hasetsu #GPFSilverMedalist #SleepIsRequired

He shook his head with a nervous smile to see the thousands of Likes already, and checked the time-stamp...nearly 2 in the morning. Butterflies flew around in his stomach...at least until the growling of hunger scared them away. He barely registered the tease of a few posts expressing how jealous many followers were that he was getting to sleep with their skating hero.

Quietly, Yuri made his way out of the large room. He stopped briefly to take a look in his own room again, feeling that same strange sensation as he had the night before. That odd realization that the room was no longer necessary; that he'd effectively moved out of it as he moved on to a new and unknown part of his adult life.

His ears perked up the sound of people talking further inside the resort though, and he snuck closer to the source, climbing down the many flights of stairs until he found the first floor. Soon, he could tell that the voices were coming from the kitchen area, and he peeked his head in to see Victor there learning to make pork cutlet bowls from Hiroko.

He taste-tested what they'd made so far, and he let out a happy sigh, "Vkusno~! You're so good at this!"

"You're a natural at cooking, Victor! This is all you!"

Yuri was in awe of how well the man blended, even after the many months they'd spent there to train. Now, it really was like he was family, not just a guest to entertain.

"Frankenstein's Monster finally rises to mingle among the commoners." Mari said jokingly from behind, catching Yuri severely off guard.

After he'd peeled himself off the wall, the terrorized skater heaved a sigh, "You scared me half to death."

"You need a job that gets you up in the morning." She pat his head as she passed to go into the kitchen with a few orders for lunch, "The resort's back open, so you should help, or find something to do outside."

"Oh! Yuri~!" Victor finally took notice, holding up his new prize, "Good morning-afternoon-time! Hungry?"

"You're letting me have katsudon again already? But haven't won anything since yesterday..." Yuri wondered.

"Last night was for your Silver Medal, but this one's for beating my Free Skate record! I think it's a good excuse to have your favorite food!" He beckoned his fiancé to the next room and placed the bowl on the low-sitting table, proud of his handiwork and hoping Yuri would like it. When the younger figure finally sat down, Victor looked eager, "Eat quickly, but not too quickly. We're going to go run after this. Every bite is another hundred yards."

Yuri balked, "Every bite!?"

"If we're going to Japanese Nationals after all, we need to make sure you don't get a squishy tummy." Victor quipped. He crouched down behind his partner, happily plunked his hands down on the man's shoulders, kissed the side of Yuri's neck, and headed back to the kitchen.

Yuri gaped as the Russian moved off, and he looked down at himself...parting the folds of his robe just to make sure his athletic core hadn't become a marshmallow overnight somehow. Seeing that he still had abs, he layered the pieces together again and heaved a sigh of relief...and looked at the katsudon skeptically. He pulled a pair of chopsticks into his fingers and held them over the steaming food, picking up one of the breaded pork cuts. Brown eyes looked at it with lust, drool starting to slip down out of the corner of his mouth...and he succumbed.

By the time he was done, and given half a chance to digest so he wouldn't cramp up in the middle of the afternoon's first round of work-outs, the sun was at its apex. It turned out that the run was just a ruse though... They did run, but in the end, it was just one way Victor employed to get away from the resort.

The cold winter weather made running less strenuous, making it easier to go farther or faster than it would be in the middle of Hasetsu's summer months. Victor ran them up the frozen rocky beach, Makkachin at their heels the whole way, only to walk back along the nearby road with their fingers laced together.

"I noticed that you don't wear gloves anymore." Yuri said sheepishly, "How come? You used to always wear a pair. Aren't your hands cold?"

"Can't see my engagement ring with gloves on." The Russian pointed out, "But you knew that."

Yuri's cheeks were a bit pink, but he stepped a little closer, rubbing his shoulder against his fiancé's, "I just wanted to hear you say it."

"Is there anything else you want to hear?" Victor wondered inquisitively, leaning his head down so he could look at his partner more evenly, "Yuuuuri~?"

"Say things in Russian." He suggested.

"Hah? Like what?"

"Anything."

"Čto-nibud'."

"What's that mean?"

"Anything."

"Victor."

He just laughed, "Then tell me what you want to hear."

"I don't know, pick something interesting...some common saying or phrase from back home." Yuri suggested again, looking for him to be creative.

"Okay..." Victor lifted his free hand and put a finger on his lip as he thought, but then picked something, "Ne ošibaetsja tot, kto ničego ne delaet."

"That sounds ominous." The younger figure teased.

"It means, 'He who makes no mistakes, makes nothing at all.'" Victor answered, slowing down a little as he felt Yuri do the same, "It's fitting, right? Net ničego nevozmožnogo, Yuri. Nothing is impossible."

Hazel eyes just watched him, as though the words had hit some deeper level that he hadn't anticipated. Eventually, Yuri nodded, his visage gaining a happy smile, "Not anymore."

They eventually made it to the yard outside Hasetsu Castle, moving to sit at the same bench they'd been on shortly after Victor had originally arrived. Yuri brushed the snow off of it with a bare hand, shook it, and putting those frosted fingers into the armpit of his coat to try and warm it up again as they sat down, only to feel his partner take it back and put it between both of his own hands.

The Russian blew a warm breath between them, making Yuri's skin feel better rather quickly. With his lips still against his skin, Victor looked past their hands, watching his fiancé closely. Seeing the flushed cheeks and the nervous, but willing eyes, he reached his right hand forward and gently brushed it against one cheek, "I can't tell if you're blushing for my sake, or you're just cold."

"It's probably way colder in Russia anyway." Yuri pointed out, halfway avoiding the question as he gave a goofy anxious smile, It's going to take a while to get used to this... Even when he does something so simple like warming my hand up, it makes my heart beat so much faster than normal...

Makkachin flew by after that, kicking up more snow as he dove into a large pile that had been shoveled aside to clear the path earlier in the day. That drew Victor's attention away suddenly, and he reached down with a laugh to scoop some snow into his hands, tossing it above at the big brown dog. Makkachin jumped into the air to bite at it, and at each successive snowball that got tossed his way after that, until he finally bolted off again in another direction to dive into another snow-pile.

Yuri had flopped down into a snow-bank while Victor was having his fun, and calmly looked up into the white-grey sky; the clouds that would no-doubt drop even more snow onto Hasetsu later on in the afternoon.

It's so weird... Hasetsu normally doesn't get much snow at all, even in winter, but ever since Victor came...

Suddenly though, the Russian was blocking his view, looking down on him from above, "Daydreaming? I wonder what about."

"Hm?" Yuri hummed, blinking a few times as he watched the man descend to lie down next to him in the cold white fluff, "Oh, I was just thinking about how it's going to snow again later." He turned his head slightly, "It's normally not cold enough to snow at all; usually it's just rain...but then you literally brought winter back with you, arriving at the head of a rare April snowstorm. It's kind of poetic, in a way, considering that you came to get me back on the ice."

"I guess you guys celebrate Christmas here, too, since you mentioned it before." Victor said simply, reaching one arm back to settle it under his head, keeping his hair off the ground; his other hand went in search of Yuri's, finding it easily and clasped around it fondly, "Right?"

"Well, a little bit... We don't do it like in America." He explained, "The first Christmas I spent in Detroit was really weird."

"Really? How so? I bet it's different from Russian Christmas, too." Victor wondered, turning onto his side..

"Well... In America, it's this...awkward...almost disjointed celebration, where half the people think it's a religious thing and the other half think it's a gift-giving thing. One family might have a Christmas tree and Santa Claus decorations, and the family next door would have a manger out. But...here in Japan, Christmas is more like...a time where people just spread happiness around, if that makes sense." Yuri did his best to explain, seeing his fiancé nod and smile, "And Christmas Eve is...well...it's...uhm..."

Victor caught on, "What is it?" He teased, leaning in closer to set his free hand over his partner's chest, lying closer next to him, "Christmas Eve is...?"

"Well..." Yuri continued to stammer, "It's...a romantic day, where couples give each other presents and spend time together."

"Oh? Couples, huh? Like us? Interesting~!" Victor hummed happily, leaning in a little closer, fingering the edge of his fiancé's chin, "I'll have to get you something special then." He was looming directly overhead, inching his way closer, his fingers moving further and further up. He gazed into those brown eyes for a moment...and he lowered himself down to meet the man's lips with his own. He held there for a while, brushing his fingers against Yuri's pale but rosy cheek, moving them down to cup against Yuri's side. He brushed the tips of their noses together lightly and smiled, "Though I don't know what I could get that's more special than what you've given me." Victor said, pulling his partner's hand out from where he'd been holding onto it between them, and kissed the ring on it before settling his chin on Yuri's chest, feeling it squish down against the winter jacket. He paused for a moment, just looking at the man adoringly, "You've given me my L-words."

"...L-words...?"

"Life and love." He answered easily, "Things I've been ignoring for a really long time." He shifted a little, and moved his right leg to settle it gently between his fiancé's, "Look at us..." He said, quieter, closer, "...It's almost like we're making love already..."

Yuri wasn't sure how to answer that, or if he even should. Instead, he raised his left hand up from where it had been lying uselessly in the snow until that moment, and brushed the back of his knuckles against the Russian's cheek, "You keep saying stuff like that...and then it happens."

Victor huffed a laugh, "Really? What else have I prophesied?"

"You suggested we should sleep together...and now we do. You asked if you should kiss me...and then you did. You said my request at Fukuoka Airport was like a marriage proposal...and then it turned into one. Then there's the Makkachin steamed-bun scandal..." He said with a wry laugh, and cupped his hand around the man's head lightly, fingers combing through soft silver hair, "Maybe you can tell the future."

"Then I can't wait to see when my latest prediction comes true." Victor mused, leaning down to kiss him again before helping to pull Yuri back up to his feet, "Let's head back to Yu-Topia. We can grab our skates and go on to the Ice Castle. We need to make sure you're ready to take Gold at Nationals next weekend."

Yuri paused, but then nodded, "...Actually... Speaking of Gold and Nationals..."

"What is it?" The Russian wondered, looking over the side of his shoulder as they started walking again.

"Well..." He muttered nervously, "The last time I went to Nationals, I came in 11th place. Minami-kun wiped the floor with me. But this time...I'll be going in with a score that completely eclipses any of the other competitors. Even if I mess up somehow, I'll still probably come away with Gold..."

"That's a good problem to have." Victor joked, reaching to settle his arm over his partner's shoulders and hold him close, "But you sound like it's one you'd rather not have."

Yuri returned the gesture with his own arms around his fiancé's back, but he kept his eyes low to the scarf in front of him, "I'm going to be the oldest skater in my bracket, and the most experienced. If skating at Nationals is just a repeat of Regionals, then it'll be less of a competition and more like...a joke." He said pensively, turning his head up to look at his partner warily, "If I win Gold there, I don't want you to kiss it."

"Really?" Viktor answered, surprised.

Yuri nodded, "It won't feel like I had to fight for it. So...unless someone got shockingly good over the last year… I'd rather wait until I win Gold at an international event."

Victor kept his eyes on the man silently, seeing how serious Yuri was...and sighed, "Well, okay..."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

.

The following days proceeded much the same way the first few had. Getting up sometime around noon, working-out until the Ice Castle was free, and then skating until the later part of the evening. Yuri focused as much as he could on mastering the quad Flip, and even started practicing the even-harder quad Lutz.

"You're letting the Flip become muscle memory too soon, Yuri." Victor scolded comically, sliding around where the younger skater was quietly cursing himself, "You keep turning the Lutz into a Flutz."

"I know."

"Just do it like you did when you skated to 'Aria' last year."

"It's not like I don't know how it goes." Yuri chided, "I just feel like I should keep working on the Flip for now, until I can get the 3+ GOE on it like I said I wanted after Rostelecom. The Lutz is harder for me to pull off. I've never even done it in competition."

"You keep trying to do it without the right set-up." The Russian pointed out, "The Flip is easy because all you have to do is skate backwards in a straight line. Maybe you should just turn the Lutz into a pattern, and always go into it with the same connecting move, rather than just trying to force yourself to remember what edge you're on. All that effort means you're thinking about it too much, and that inevitably leads to you falling."

"A pattern? Like what…?"

"Well, you do your Axels from an outside spread-eagle… Do your Lutzs from a deep 3-turn. Make that your muscle memory, so you always know you're on the correct edge when you toe-pick." Victor skated up close, leaning over his partner's back, hands coming up under the man's arms to gently pat his chest, "The less you have to think about it, the better. So...deep breath, relax, and try again."

Yuri nodded and slipped forward, moving around the short end of the rink to line himself up with one of the opposite corners.

"Go deep on your outside edge," Victor suggested, "Force it low so you can't accidentally slip onto the inside edge right before take-off."

Blades scratched along the frosty white surface of the rink, and Yuri started building speed. He eyeballed a part of the colored logo within the ice, marking a spot to take off from, and then changed directions with quick footwork; left forward inside edge, swiveling 180* to glide into a left backwards outside edge...low dip, right leg out behind, but not too high...kick down, vault off the toe, spin four times...and to his great relief, landed on his right blade with only a slight wobble.

Victor clapped, "Amazing, Yuri~! You'll do that perfectly in no time!"

.

"So what kind of food do you have in Russia anyway?" Yuri wondered, following his partner through the grocery store, watching him browse the meager selections of the International aisle.

"Nothing that's here." Victor answered, "Oh well. Only a few more days." He pulled away and started walking back towards the main aisle, keeping Yuri's hand close between them, "Even if I found something here, it probably wouldn't be the same anyway. I'll get you something authentic when we get to St. Petersburg."

"Still hard to believe I'm actually moving there." Yuri said, that 'seeking' look in his eyes that his partner enjoyed so much, "I always had this goal of skating on the same ice as you… But soon, I'll be training at the same Skate Club as you...with you."

"Hey, I'm looking forward to this too you know." Victor pointed out, bumping his fiancé's shoulder with his own.

"It's a little different for me..." Yuri explained, "You haven't exactly worshiped the ground I walk on since you were 12."

"Maybe not." The Russian agreed.

"What were you doing when you were 12 anyway?" Yuri wondered suddenly, "I only caught onto you when you were 16 already, and you had just taken the Junior ISU by storm, since you hadn't been in it that long beforehand. Maybe only two or three years."

Victor hadn't answered. The mood shifted a little; his left eye twitched a little under his bangs, although Yuri couldn't see it from his side.

Hazel eyes glanced up curiously, "...Did I say something?"

"Huh? No. It's nothing." Victor smiled, going back to his normal affect again, kissing the side of his fiancé's head lightly, "I just wasn't doing what I love yet. Call it 'Pre-ISU Victor.'"

"Oh..."

.

"Tadaimaaaaaa." Yuri called out, pushing open the front sliding doors of the resort; Makkachin barreled in beside him, shaking the snow off his fur as Victor came in as well. The big poodle barked twice and then bounded off out of sight.

"Okaeri, Yuri, Vic-chan." Hiroko called back, waving from the doorway of the far hall, "How was skating?"

"Good. We're gonna go upstairs and watch a movie or something." Yuri answered, pulling his backpack off as Victor did much the same, "Holler if you need anything."

"Haaaaaai."

"It's always so interesting to hear you guys talk to each other in your own language." Victor mused, putting his shoes away into one of the cubby-holes near the door, "I should try to learn it more. Most people here already speak English so they all kind of defaulted to it when I showed up. I hardly hear any Japanese at all."

"That's my fault." Yuri said, smiling nervously as they started heading towards the hall to the stairs, "Since this town isn't really known for anything but my skating, everyone automatically knew to use English once you got here. They'd probably just respond in English anyway even if I spoke to them in Japanese first."

"Then I'll have to learn it from the Katsuki Clan," Victor winked.

"You'll be learning the Kyushu dialect then." Yuri informed proudly, "We talk slightly differently here than in other places in Japan."

"Fascinating~!"

Making their way to the upper corridors, Yuri pushed aside the door that lead to the family's living-room on the second floor. After getting a few things set up, Yuri surfed through a dozen or more channels before the Russian had come back with snacks and drinks. Each of them had changed into resort fare by then, intending to go soak in the onsen before the end of the night.

"Find anything interesting?"

Yuri lifted his head a little, but then buckled down with the remote in his hand, "A million channels on satellite and I can't find anything I want to watch."

"Well, come and get comfortable then. You can keep channel surfing until something catches your eye." The Russian pointed out, moving to sit within the 'nest' of pillows and blankets Yuri had made. He reached back for the bottle of sweet-potato shōchū he'd swiped from the wine closet, and poured two small glasses. By the time Yuri had turned around and sat on the blanket close by, Victor was holding the second glass out in offering.

"Oh, thanks." He said quietly, taking it in hand and then turned back to the television. Yuri clicked a few more times on the remote, and didn't even notice as Victor snuck one long leg around him. He yipped in surprise as the unseen leg suddenly curled around him and pulled him closer, squishing up the blanket where it slid across the hardwood floor and turned him slightly. By the time the slide stopped, Yuri was half-facing the Russian, holding his glass up close to himself reflexively.

Victor just clinked the glasses together, "Kanpai, Yuri."

"Y-yeah, kanpai."

Victor downed his pretty quickly, and reached back for the bottle to fill it a second time, "One of the many things I'm glad about having come to Hasetsu for is this shōchū." He said happily, pouring the glass and setting the bottle back on the low table behind him, "Every place I've been to has its own unique drink, but I think I like this one the best."

"...Really? You're not just saying that because I live here?" Yuri wondered, giving him a curious, if not skeptical look, "You can get shōchū all over Japan."

"But this stuff is made here. In Kyushu." Victor pointed out, taking a sip before setting the glass down and reached again for the man in front of him, "I like Japanese plum wine, too, and I've gotten some ever since I first came here, years back." He paused, looking up and away suddenly, "Oh look, there's a dog on TV that looks like Makkachin."

"Eh?" Yuri's head turned, seeing nothing of the sort, but abruptly felt hands go under his arms to spin him the rest of the way around. Half a second later, his back was against the Russian's chest, and Victor was snickering to himself where he'd set his chin behind a shoulder. Yuri side-eyed him, "You tricked me."

"Only to get you to turn around." He purred, moving his hands a bit further up his fiancé's chest, taking full advantage of the loose-fitting garment, and let his fingertips slip in underneath to touch skin, "I think it's better like this."

"I would've gotten here eventually." Yuri insisted, taking the tiniest sip from the shōchū glass still in his hand, paying no mind to those roaming fingers.

"You still get nervous." The Russian pointed out. He leaned forward a bit and set his chin against the top of Yuri's shoulder instead, brushing his cheek against the man's neck, "I'd thought you'd gotten used to me by now."

"Mmmhhh..." The tense figure mumbled, and brushed his own cheek against silver-grey bangs, "It's...not that..."

"Then what?"

Yuri hesitated, feeling a bit ashamed of himself, "Remember when you asked about my past girlfriends?"

"You had nothing to say about the issue."

"That's because there was nothing to say."

"I know." Victor answered pensively, "That's why I said I would get all your firsts, remember?"

"...Well, er, yeah...but..." Yuri stammered, "The longer this goes on, the more anxious I get that...eventually you're going to want to do other things...and I'm just..."

"Oh." Victor answered, and he lifted his head to look at the man more evenly. Fingers came out of the younger man's clothes, and set down flat on top of them instead, "Well...I guess that's true... I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?" He worried.

Cheeks got darker, and Yuri looked back up to the television screen, "No... I just... I have this nagging feeling that I'm not the dominant one in this relationship, I guess? And before you came along, it had never crossed my mind what it would be like to be with...another guy... Our options are somewhat limited, and...so..."

Victor gave a reassuring squeeze with both arms, "Like I said before, I'll never do anything you don't want me to. It's still early days anyway. It would be a bit unfair to expect you to go through all that when you're barely a week into your first real relationship."

"Victor..."

"I have to ease you into it." He went on adoringly, much to Yuri's embarrassed chagrin. The Russian leaned backwards, and looked on those rose-hued cheeks as Yuri tilted his head back to see him, "It's actually something I'm really looking forward to." He commented seductively, eyes half-lidded, lifting one hand up to play with a few strands of raven-black hair, "Some day, I'll get to be the first and only person to know you, Yuri. What do you think of that?"

"...That it's kind of sad that I'm 24 and still entirely oblivious to this sort of thing."

"That's not what I meant at all!" Victor laughed, "I was thinking more along the lines that...it's as though you've been saving yourself just for me." He went on, arms going 'round his partner's thin frame again as he hugged tightly. He hummed a few kisses against Yuri's bare neck, "So it's still okay if I use my hands for now, right?"

A thousand things and more went through Yuri's mind; responses he could've given to what he'd just heard...but all he could do was rub his cheek against his partner's head, and pat the other side with one hand, "Thank you...for not being annoyed at my inexperience..."

"Never. Your innocence is actually quite endearing." The silver answered, daring to take part of that non-answer as something of an answer in itself. He partly unwrapped his arms from that last hug, and moved one hand up to the bare skin over his partner's heart, gently rubbing his thumb over it as he felt Yuri's frame try to relax. The television continued to play; he wasn't even sure what Yuri had landed on when his channel-surfing had been interrupted. He wasn't aware either of the fact that Yuri wasn't watching it anyway.

Yuri felt where the Russian had started to lean back against the table again - and himself with it - the blanket shifting a little where it had been loosely pulled over the man's shoulders. He heaved an anxious breath, but let himself settle against his partner's chest, taking solace in the protective warmth of his arms where they held around him.

...No matter what we do or where we go, whenever he holds me like this...I feel safe...

He took another sip from his shōchū before he set the glass onto the floor, just past the edge of the big blanket, and brought the remote control back up again to continue where he'd left off. He clicked through a dozen different news channels before finally bringing up TV Guide, and looked at the giant list of channels. He was aware of the fingers going into his robe again, but didn't mind at all.

Victor just continued on with his soft and inconspicuous teases, and moved up some to nibble on the edge of one ear as he slid his fingers further inside the green spa-robe. He'd already managed to wiggle the knot loose that held it together with his other hand, and suspected Yuri hadn't noticed. It was only when the right side of the robe fell away, that Victor sensed Yuri realize what had happened.

A slight twitch, but nothing else... Victor thought, smiling to himself where his mouth deftly touched to skin just under his fiancé's ear, I wonder how far he'll let me go? His smile turned a bit mischievous, Let's find out.

With Yuri sitting between his outstretched legs, Victor crossed them under the man's knees. He lowered his attentive nibbles down the side of his partner's neck, and kissed at the top of one shoulder, then made his way back up again. Yuri just kept scrolling through the TV Guide listings, holding up the remote like nothing was happening. Victor nosed at one ear a little, and nibbled at the earlobe as he slid his hand under the remaining fold of the spa robe. There was a slight flinch, but Victor moved his hand down, felt across Yuri's abdomen, playfully traced a fingertip around the younger man's navel before sliding that finger up the center of his sternum.

Yuri twitched again slightly when the hand came to rest over the center of his chest, knowing full well that his heart was pounding like a jackhammer just a short distance under his skin. He didn't doubt that the Russian could feel it, and indeed he could. Wandering fingers curved to go flat against the contour of his frame, and pressed down against it.

Shh...relax... Victor thought, holding his hand still for the moment, and continued the light kisses on Yuri's neck, It's only me...it's just my hands...

He watched Yuri's legs came up a little, and the remote fell to the blanket; Yuri could no longer pretend to ignore everything. He felt a pressure against his chest as Yuri pushed back against him slightly, head tilting back against his shoulder, tilting away to open up more space for attention. Victor was delighted at the gesture, and made good use of the moment, his kisses becoming a bit wetter as he licked at the skin as well. He smiled wide when he heard Yuri gasp, trailing the tip of his tongue from shoulder to ear. His fingers felt the arousal of one particular nub under the folds of green fabric still clinging to Yuri's frame, and decided to help it along.

Yuri twitched again, even vocalized a nervous breath as he exhaled, but gave no indication he wanted to stop, so Victor took his task a bit more seriously. He extended his middle finger to circle around the nub, occasionally pressing over it on purpose. Yuri gripped at the blanket, and Victor could feel that whole frame started to tremble a little, though Yuri did his best to keep still.

"You okay?" Victor wondered, kissing the words against his partner's skin, "I can't tell if you're shaking because you like it or because you want me to quit."

"Nn-ngh..." Was all the answer that came.

The right hand continued gently, especially when Victor felt his partner's grip on his knees, in one moment holding tight, in another, sliding up his thighs and down again to start the process over again. Victor half-opened one eye, peering through his bangs, and watched as Yuri's legs rubbed against one another where his knees had been bent upward. He knew that there was only one reason Yuri would be doing that, and gently moved his left hand over towards them. Fingers went between Yuri's knees, and he was surprised to find those legs parting as easily as they did, even if they didn't part that far. It only took half an inch for his fingers to get between them, and he traced them down the inside of one thigh. A few seconds at a time, a few inches at a time, he eventually got to the bottom of those legs, and felt the edge of the thing that had made his fiancé so squirmy. Even though it was only the side of his hand that felt it, he knew what it was...and he didn't doubt Yuri felt it, too.

The kisses and rubbing continued, and the television continued to play, forgotten, adding a weird background noise to their little session. With a few slides up and down those tense but permitting thighs, Victor turned his hand around, and moved his palm down again, careful to keep a feel on something so Yuri would know where he was the whole time. When he got low again, this time it was the side of his hand with a thumb, and he extended it out, taking a chance to feel the length of the aroused flesh he'd brought out to temptation. He pressed his thumb down against it, and Yuri clenched his legs together, pinning that hand where it was, and squeaked a surprised breath.

"Shh..." Victor calmed, kissing that sensitive spot under one ear, and cupped his hand around the thigh that had captured it. He rubbed his thumb gently, and soothed those tense muscles until the vice relaxed and he was free again. There were still a few pulses of tension, as though those legs pressed against themselves with the pounding of Yuri's anxious heart. But, Yuri hadn't given any indication he was ready to push that hand away, and Victor slowly moved it back down again. The first test of his fiancé's resolve came then, and Victor slid three fingers very deliberately from well-between Yuri's legs, up the length of that hidden flesh, and then back again, this time with his palm pressing down to the tip. When he pulled his fingers back again, he felt for the edge of the green spa-pants, but paused there, "Oh...it's wet."

Yuri's whole body clenched up suddenly, and his knees clenched tight. He practically seized in the middle of a gasp, but Victor breathed a quiet laugh against his bare neck.

The small finger went under the edge of Yuri's clothing, barely feeling the subtlest beginnings of throbbing flesh and coarse hair, "You should let me help you with that."

"NO. NO NO." Yuri yelped, his face redder than ever before, and his glasses fogged up. He flailed and protested, and his hands clenched around the blanket under them, yanking on it so hard that it pulled the whole thing right out from where they both had been sitting on it. Yuri fell forward with the massive comforter, thinking it would come down over top of him and shield him from sight, and it did...but so did Victor.

The momentum of the pull had forced the Russian forward, coming down over his partner's back, and landed his hips right up against Yuri's backside, even as the blanket finally came to rest on top of both of them. Still amused by the whole thing, Victor took it in stride, and brought his hands up to the crook of Yuri's legs, "Oh, is this what you wanted instead? I thought you meant you weren't ready..."

"EEEEAAAAHHHH." Yuri flailed again, pushing away just as he felt the Victor press hard against him. The blanket finally came down over his legs as he escaped the man's clutches, and he glowered at the man dubiously, but only got an amused wink in response. Saying nothing, Yuri held the blanket tightly around himself and literally caterpillared out of the room, sliding forward where his arms were curled under his chest, then brought his knees forward in turn, and repeated it until he was out the door.

Victor watched him go, propping his head up in the palm of his hand, elbow lazily set on the table where he'd twisted around, "I'll have you begging for it one day! Just watch!"

"Not today...!" Yuri called back, his voice muffled equally from the blanket as it was from the fact that he'd gotten out into the hall and around the corner already.

The Russian laughed again at the whole thing, drained the last of his shōchū and rose up to go after the spooked skater. He had a good idea where his young fiancé had escaped to, and indeed, found him stuck at the bottom of the stairs to the 3rd floor. Victor crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall, smiling to himself where he saw the burrito with its 'head' pressed to the first step, "It's going to start to hurt if you don't do something about it." He teased.

Again, Yuri twitched at the suggestion, "What, so you're going to stand there and watch me?"

"Well, if you won't let me finish what I started..." He continued to tease, shrugging up his shoulders, "What else can I do?"

Yuri could do nothing but listen to the sound of bare feet coming up on either side of him, and felt two arms wedge under his sides. He squeaked in surprise as he was hoisted upward off the floor. In disbelief, Yuri found himself slung over Victor's shoulder, staring at the corner of the wall, "V-Victor...!"

"Back to our room we go." He mused, starting up the flight, "That's where you were trying to go, right?"

It was already awkward enough to be hefted up like a sack of potatoes, but Yuri's face just went red again when he spotted his sister come into view at the bottom of the stairs.

She blinked at him, "...Yuri? Were you the one that screamed?"

"M-Mari-nee-chan...! Tasukete...!"

"Why are you being carried around like that?"

Victor suddenly turned around up, comically banging Yuri's head against the wall as he went, "It's fine! I'm taking care of him."

Mari just leaned and crossed her arms, giving smug look at her brother's expense, "You bagged a big one there. You look like you're about to eat him."

One finger over the Russian's lips, but he just laughed, "That's not a bad idea!"

"VICTOR-" Yuri barked in terror, and started flailing again. He couldn't wiggle far given how he'd wrapped himself up in the blanket, so all could do in the end was whack his head against the wall a second time. He went limp, having rendered himself half-unconscious, and flopped against the Russian's back, eyes swirling.

Mari was almost in tears laughing, and she waved as they disappeared behind the wall on the upper floor.

Yuri finally came around again as Victor heaved him onto the big bed in the old banquet hall, dropping him with a soft thud against the blankets, and curled up behind him right after. He was still practically shaking with embarrassment, even as his partner was adoringly rubbing one hand up and down his back.

"You should let me finish-"

"NO." Yuri protested from within the sheets.

"But you let me already for so long..."

"NOOOOO."

"So what are you going to do then?"

"NOTHING."

"How sad..." The Russian continued to tease. He wrapped his arms around the blanket-burrito and pressed his cheek to his partner's back, "Maybe next time."